Forever & Always

by Jasinda Wilder

  "Ever?" Eden shook my arm. "Are you okay? You don't have to do this. He'll understand."

  I couldn't breathe. I was about to get married. To Caden. I was still trying to figure out how this had happened, how I'd gone from weekends with Will and hidden paintings of Cade and sporadic letters to insane, earth-shaking, life-changing sex with Cade, to getting married, all in less than a month.

  Was I completely crazy? Was I going to wake up and regret this? Should I tell Cade we should wait?

  I pictured myself telling him I wasn't ready, and knew he'd love me, understand, and not even blink. But...

  I was ready. I was terrified, nervous, jittery, but I was also excited, giddy, and eager. I wanted to see his face as I walked the short aisle toward him, in a dress he hadn't seen yet.

  I gripped Eden's hand and squeezed, meeting her concerned eyes. "I want to," I told her. "I'm ready. I'm just...nervous."

  "Nervous? Shit, I'd hope you'd be nervous," she said. "You're about to get married. You're not even twenty! You haven't even told Daddy."

  I didn't want to think about my dad. I hadn't spoken to him in over six months, not because I was mad, but because we simply didn't talk. He still worked insane hours, I was at school, and we just...we didn't have anything in common. "And I'm not going to."

  "Don't you think--"

  I whirled on her. "Eden. Shut up about Dad. I'm getting married to the man I love, and that's all that matters."

  She raised her hands. "Okay, okay. Not like I want him here, either. Shit. It's not like he's been exactly present--"

  "I don't want to talk about him. I want to talk about Caden. I want to go out there and say 'I do.'"

  Eden pulled me into a hug, her dyed blonde hair tickling my nose. "As long as this is what you want. Be happy, that's all I care about. You love him? He loves you? Good enough for me. It's fucking crazy, but if it's what you want, then I'll support you. I might even be a little jealous. He is pretty hot."

  I mock growled at her. "Back off, bitch, he's mine."

  Eden laughed. "I thought we were supposed to share everything! Can't I just....borrow him for a few minutes?"

  I glared at her. "Eden...seriously. Not funny. We haven't even shared clothes since we were twelve."

  She snorted. "I was kidding, Ev. Jeez." She pushed me toward the door. "Go on, then, you damn lunatic. Go marry your man." She moved behind me, adjusted the hem of my dress, and then opened the door for me.

  I took a deep breath and fixed my eyes forward, locking on the tall, broad, ruggedly gorgeous man waiting for me. Less than twenty steps later, I was facing Cade, holding his hands, staring into his amber eyes, barely hearing the words of the officiant. I heard the prompt to repeat the vows, though, and managed to get all the words right without crying. What did me in was hearing Cade say the vows, seeing the sincerity in his eyes and hearing it in his voice. He promised to love me till death do us part, and I knew he meant it. I couldn't help crying then, just a little. A few quiet sobs, my finger brushing the tear away before it smudged the makeup Eden had so carefully applied.

  I slipped the ring on his finger, and he did the same to me. Our wedding rings were simple white gold bands, picked out together. I didn't have a diamond, and I didn't care. I only needed Cade. He'd promised he'd get me one at some point.

  We kissed, and both the officiant and Eden looked away when the kiss went on far too long.

  When we finally broke apart, breathless, Cade brushed a thumb across my cheekbone. And then he took my left hand in his left hand, reached into the pocket of his tuxedo coat, and held out a ring. A thin white gold band, a tiny diamond sparkling in the sunlight. I stared at him in shock, but couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, could only watch as he slid the ring onto my finger, nestled it against the wedding band.

  "It's not much, but you deserve a diamond, even if it is the smallest one Zales had."

  I threw my arms around his neck and held on, whispered against his throat. "It's perfect, Cade. So perfect. Thank you. God, you're amazing."

  "You may have said you didn't need a diamond ring, but that doesn't mean you didn't want one, right?"

  I shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I did, a little. I mean, yeah, of course I wanted a diamond ring. Every girl wants a diamond ring on her wedding day."

  "I just want you to be happy." His eyes sparkled, and he lifted me up, spun me around. "You're officially, permanently mine, Mrs. Monroe."

  "Forever and always," I murmured, brushing his lips with mine.

  Caden

  We'd stayed in the B&B the night before our wedding, and we had it for one night more, but I had other plans. It just depended on Ever. I didn't tell her where we were going, and when I told her it was one last surprise, she just smiled at me and squeezed my hands, turned up the radio, and let the wind from the open window of my Jeep buffet at her hair.

  I pulled into the parking lot of a condo building in downtown Royal Oak, led her into the foyer and up the elevator, to the sixth floor. Ever was quiet, her fingers tight in mine, eyes scanning the walls of the corridor as we walked together. I knocked on 619, and a slim, older woman with sharp gray eyes and red hair in a tight bun answered the door.

  "Caden, Ever, please come in." She shook my hand, and then Ever's. "Congratulations, you two. Young love is a beautiful thing."

  Ever glanced up at me. "Caden? What's going on? Where are we? Who is this?"

  "I'm Lisa Scott. I'm Caden's real estate agent."

  Lisa had been the one hired by my parents' estate lawyer to sell their house, and she'd been the first one I called when I'd come up with my idea. She'd been working nonstop for three days, but she had everything ready.

  "Real estate agent? Did I know you had a real estate agent?" Ever asked. She was confused, and I understood the trepidation I heard in her voice.

  "Lisa sold Mom and Dad's house after Dad died. I was in Wyoming, so she did everything for me." I turned to face Ever, took her hands in mine. "Trust me?"

  She nodded, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Of course I trust you. I'm just...confused as to what's going on."

  Lisa took over. "Well, why don't we start by looking around?" She ushered us into the living room, pointing out the open-plan kitchen, stainless steel appliances and dark granite countertops, sleek cabinets, the floor-to-ceiling windows along one wall of the living room.

  There were two bedrooms, a master and a smaller one, and I kept silent as Ever looked around, poked into closets and the en suite bathroom with the dual sinks, the second bathroom off the other bedroom.

  "What is this, Cade? Why are we here?" She waved at the condo. "This place is incredible, but...there's no way we can afford this. My dad gave me some money to live on when I got accepted to Cranbrook, but it's not enough to even put a down payment on a place like this."

  I ducked my head, not wanting to explain. Lisa left us alone in the master bedroom, and I took a deep breath. "When Dad died, there was...life insurance. I was living with Gramps, working for him, and he was paying me ranch hand wages. Between that and the life insurance payout, I've been able to pay off school. I've got enough to get us this place, but I wanted to make sure you liked it first."

  I saw the shock, then watched her work through it. "This place is expensive, Cade. I love it, but...is it a bit much?"

  I shrugged. "Mom and Dad's policy was...well, not so much that I'm, like, idle rich for the rest of my life. Not even close. But it's enough. I can buy this place and still finish school. If we both work and go to school, we'll be fine. Especially since I'm buying it outright."

  Ever turned away from me and stared out the window at the traffic on Main Street. "Are you sure? I mean, isn't that...all you have? Of them?"

  I stood behind her, wrapped one arm around her shoulders, buried my face in her hair. "It's just money, Ev. It's not...it's not them. It's not their memories. Do you want to live here with me?" I whispered in her ear, and she turned her head to the side, nuzzling against me. "The second bedroom can be yo
ur studio. You can paint there in that sexy shirt of yours all you want. And then I can come in here and take it off you and make love to you on the floor."

  She giggled. "We could get a couch in there, and then you can fuck me on the couch, and then I can keep painting, naked, and you can watch."

  "I like that plan." I burrowed through her black locks and nibbled her ear. "So is it a yes?"

  She nodded. "Yes, baby. Yes."

  Lisa had the paperwork ready, and the keys. After everything was formalized and finished, she left, congratulating us again.

  We spent the next several days picking out furniture and filling our new home with our things, hers and mine, and now...ours. Through it all, I found myself marveling at the fact that this beautiful, sensual, talented, incredible woman was my wife, mine forever. Day by day, we found a pattern. We'd get up early, eat breakfast together, go to our separate classes, come home and make dinner together, and study together and draw and paint and watch TV together.

  Then, about a month after we moved in, on a Saturday, I was out looking for work, something close to home that I could use to supplement the insurance money with, which I knew wouldn't last forever. I'd been gone all day, filling out applications and dropping off my resume. By four o'clock, I was exhausted, stressed out, and sick of smiling for strangers. I drove home, let myself in, and kicked off my shoes, calling for Ever. She didn't answer, but I heard music blaring from her studio.

  I slipped in, closed the door behind me, and watched her paint. She had on the shirt, nothing but the white button-down, her fine ass swaying to the beat as she painted, the hem brushing the backs of her thighs. She paused in her dancing to examine her work, then dabbed her brush into a splotch of pink and dragged it across the canvas, nodding. "Flapper Girl" by The Lumineers came on, and she moved with the song, her brushstrokes mimicking the rhythm of the song.

  I wasn't sure how long I leaned against the door and watched her paint, and I didn't care. Time was irrelevant. Only Ever mattered.

  In the silence between songs, Ever heard my foot scuff the carpet, and she whirled around, smiling at me, waving with her brush, inadvertently smearing paint on her forehead. I laughed, closed the space between us, my feet crinkling the tarp she'd put down.

  Ever watched me approach, her eyes widening, her breathing going shallow. I took the brush from her and the palette, set them down on the tarp. She reached for me, noticed paint on her fingers, and withdrew her hand. I grinned at her, took her hand, and wiped the paint on my cheek. She laughed, and took her fingers from me, brushed at her shirtfront to clean them. I stilled her hands in mine, and then pressed a kiss to her neck, to her throat, above the hollow of her clavicle. She inhaled, pressed her palm to the back of my head.

  I freed the top button of her shirt, then the next, pausing to kiss each patch of flesh. Another button, and now her breasts were bare, her nipples hard buttons in my mouth. Another button, and two more, and then there was nothing between us, the shirt hanging open, loose on her shoulders. I glanced over, made sure the blinds were closed; she was mine, and I wouldn't share the sight of her naked body with anyone. Especially not with what I planned to do with her.

  I stepped forward, into her, and she backed up. I took another step, and she matched it. Finally, her back was to the mirror she'd had me hang on the wall behind her easel for her recent project, a series of self-portraits.

  "Turn around," I told her.

  Ever obeyed, and I watched her eyes widen as she saw us, her torso bare between the edges of her shirt, her tits heavy and pale, the dark pink circles of her areolae with the erect nipples, her flat stomach and wide hips. She sucked in a breath as I ran my hands down her body, over her boobs and down her belly, over the tight mound of her pussy. She'd shaved it recently, and I loved the feel of it freshly shaven, smooth and soft, the labia just begging me to open them and kiss them and slip between them.

  "You see us?" I asked her. "You see how gorgeous you are? How perfectly you fit in my hands?"

  She nodded, her nostrils flaring, her green eyes darkening with heat. "I need you. Get naked for me, Cade. Touch me. Put your cock in me."

  I stripped quickly, and she turned in place, wrapped her hands around my cock, stroked me, fondled me. I stopped her when she moved to take me in her mouth. "Unh-uh, baby. Not this time." I pivoted her to face the mirror. "Like this. Watch us."

  I slid my hands on her body, palming her breasts, then down to slip a finger into the folds of her pussy. She moaned, arched her neck and back, writhing into my touch. Her eyes closed.

  "No, Ever. Open your eyes. Watch us."

  Her eyes snapped open, and she watched my fingers move inside her, stroking her clit, digging deep to find her perfect spot and bring her to the cusp of orgasm. I gripped her hips and pulled her ass toward me. She widened her stance, shifted forward, keeping her eyes on me, on us, and I watched us in the mirror, too, as I slid my cock against the soft silk of her pussy. Her mouth dropped open in a silent scream as I plunged deep into her, fucked deep in a slow slide.

  "God...Cade. Cade. Yes--fuck, fuck, yes," she groaned and growled, her palms flat on the wall beside the mirror.

  I had to work hard to hold back, to go slow. The sight of her bent over in front of me, her ass spread wide and crushed against me, it made me wild. Then my gaze went to the mirror, and I could see her tits swaying and bouncing and jiggling as I thrust into her, a glimpse of my legs between hers, her face, her eyes wide and her mouth open and her expression primal and hot and desperate, and I had to fuck her harder, and she took it and begged for more, for me, pleaded my name.

  I slid out of her tight wet pussy, watching the slick movement of my cock going in and out, and I nearly lost it.

  "Cade...god, I love this. I want more. Dirtier. Do something crazy. Something dirty. Fuck me, Cade. I like it dirty. Fuck me dirty..."

  I gasped and groaned, hard-pressed to stop from coming when she talked to me like that. "What--what do you want, baby? What do you want me to do to you?"

  She started pressing back into my thrusts, her eyes locked on mine in the mirror. "I don't--oh...god...spank me? Touch my ass?" I caressed her ass as I slid into her pussy, and then smacked her left cheek, not hard, but enough to make a resounding crack. Ever shrieked, but it wasn't a pained sound. "God, yes! Do that again!" she gasped. I spanked her again, and again. "Touch me, Cade. You know what I want." I did. I knew. I slowed my thrusts, focused my muscles on holding back, and then slid my middle finger down the crease of her ass. "Yes. Like that. Touch me. I know I'll come so hard."

  I found the tight, hot knot of muscle, pressed my finger against it. Ever shuddered, her counter-thrust strokes stuttering, faltering. She gasped, moaned, and then lifted up on her toes, moving her ass against my finger.

  "You like that?" I asked. "Does that feel good?" I pressed harder, wiggled my finger, and felt the knot loosen, and my fingertip slid into her asshole.

  Ever groaned long and hard, pressed her head against the mirror, trembling all over. "Yes, Cade...it feels so good. You don't even know. You're inside me, filling me all over. Everywhere. I'm gonna come so hard. You fit inside me so perfectly, so right, and your finger, fucking my asshole, it's so good."

  I had to slow, tense, hold back, on the verge of exploding inside her. I wanted to feel her come first. I wanted us to come together. She was close, and I wanted her there with me.

  She pushed away from the mirror, opened her eyes, and met my gaze in the mirror. I worked my finger deeper inside her, and listened to her moans go louder and longer as I thrust my cock inside her.

  "Talk to me, Cade. I need to hear your voice when I come."

  I reached with my free hand, cupped one of her big, swaying tits. "You feel so good, Ever. So good." I wasn't as good at talking dirty as she was. It took me some time to work my way into it. "I love watching your tits bounce when I fuck you like this."

  Ever shifted her rhythm, going from smooth and slow to hard and fast, accentuating the moti
on of her boobs. She did it for me, and I responded by trying an in-and-out wiggle of my middle finger, mimicking the way my cock moved inside her.

  "Yes, baby, like that. I love that." I let go of her breast and watched them both move, jiggle, and sway. "I'm so close, Ev. I'm gonna come soon. I can't hold it back much longer."

  She was breathless, and both of us were sweating, our skin sliding and our sweat mingling. "Don't hold back, Cade. Come for me right now. Fuck me so hard that you can't stop."

  My finger was inside her to the first knuckle, and I slid it incrementally deeper, and she groaned with every motion of my hand. "I love your ass, Ev. Your asshole is so tight, I almost can't move my finger any more." I felt the impending explosion rise within me, and felt my words loosen, tumble out without direction, felt my hips start to piston harder, felt her ass bounce with every thrust, watched in the mirror as her tits bounced so beautifully with the rhythm of our love. "I'm right there, baby. I'm so hard, so deep inside you. Jesus, fuck, I'm coming, baby. I'm coming, Ever, right now. Come with me, love..."

  "If You Want Me" by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova played in the background, my brain tuning in to the music abruptly.

  "Caden...Caden..." Ever rocked back into me, matching my thrusts with her own, matching my need and my passion and my hunger, satisfying me perfectly even as she made me want her even more. I felt her quake, felt her pussy tighten around my cock, felt her body shake and shudder, felt her asshole clamp down around my finger. "I'm coming, my love...I can feel your cock exploding inside me, Caden. Fuck me harder, don't stop, please don't stop..."

  Her words made me wild, primal and unstoppable, and I came in that moment, exploding with the rhythm of her words. She was chanting my name, pushing back into me, thrusting against my gliding cock, panting, screaming. I couldn't take my eyes off us, off my reflection above her and behind her, her face straining and her breasts moving and her soft pale skin, and nothing, nothing had ever been this good, not ever.

  Our eyes locked as our mutual orgasms collided and our souls merged, coalescing through our gazes.

  Time slowed and stopped, and the love I saw shining in Ever's luminous jade gaze was indescribable, overflowing and overwhelming and at once potent and so tender. I tried to let my own expression flow with how I felt, the upwelling surge of passion for this woman, this amazing person who had given herself to me so completely, so trustingly. Our movement slowed, and I slipped out of her folds, gathered her against me. My knees shook, sweat beaded on my skin, my breath came in gasps, but I lifted her in my arms and carried her into our bedroom, settled her gently on our bed. She burrowed into me, let her hand skate over my skin.