Twisted Ever After

by Cole, Kayley

  * * *

  Jake

  "Don't lock your knees," my mother whispers, standing beside me at the altar. "You'll end up falling flat on your face like you did at that school play about the giraffes."

  "I was six, Mom."

  "And you didn't listen to me back then either. Some brains are less malleable than others."

  "You studied neurology, not neuropsychology. There's a difference."

  The piano begins to play a song composed by Ellie and my favorite film score composer, Hank Zyman. I straighten up, trying not to lock my knees, as I wait for Ellie to appear.

  When I was young and I still had a traditional life planned out in my head, I thought I'd get cold feet during my wedding. Most lifetime contracts are terrifying, but especially one that you're signing with another person, promising to love them even if she changed or I changed, or we realized life wasn't quite what we thought it was.

  But my feet are toasty warm. There is no doubt in my mind that Ellie is the best woman I will ever meet, except for the fact that she's a damn fool to think I'm the best man she'll ever meet. But I'll take that flaw. I'll take that flaw and cherish it.

  "Where's Robin?" I ask my mother. She gazes around the venue, but just gives an anxious shrug. I look over at the other side of the altar, where Ellie's guitarist is standing. He seems too busy checking out my cousin to notice that our wedding officiant is missing.

  When Ellie appears, it's like the appearance of a shooting star— everyone oohs and ahhhs, and she looks like a fucking goddess, but this is a shooting star that won't disappear. And she's coming straight for me.

  It's a beautiful dress— sleeveless white satin with lace decorating the bodice and a spiral of lace rising up from the bottom of the dress— but it's her beauty that makes the dress irrelevant. Her red hair glistens in the sunlight with such elegance that I can understand why people once thought redheads were devil-tainted. Her face, on the other hand, is heavenly. She could beat me to death and I would barely be able to wait until I was able to greet her in Heaven or Hell.

  And Robin is right beside her, her hand clinging onto the crook of his elbow.

  I'd be envious, but Robin looks up at me like I'm the older brother— someone he wants to impress or, at the very least, make proud. That and the fact that I'm going to marry the woman of every man's dreams is enough to quell any negative emotion.

  She keeps smiling as she walks toward me and she becomes my queen.

  She stops at the altar, turns toward me, and she becomes my goddess.

  And now, with she and any other higher power as my witness, she's going to become my wife.

  "Mr. Jacob Amberden and Miss Ellie Rue.” Robin has let go of Ellie's arm and has stepped in front of us. "The two of you have come here today, in front of your friends and family, in order to commit the ultimate act of love. Today, you will become one in marriage. Now, it hasn't been an easy road, but it's through your trials that you've realized that you can overcome the worst troubles in your life better together, and that you can celebrate your best triumphs better together. We're all gathered here today because we all believe in the two of you and we wish nothing but the best for the two of you as you take your first steps as a married couple.

  As Robin talks about the importance of marriage and companionship, I try to resist the urge to touch Ellie. She's often seemed less than real— who else truly has an altruistic heart in this world?— but as I'm about to marry her, I can't help but think I must have snorted a little too much cocaine and I'm locked in some fantasy world where I get to marry this enchantress and live the rest of my life with her. It feels like I'm being reborn and this next life that I'm experiencing is so much better than my previous one, but then I'd need to actually believe in reincarnation and that I'd done something astounding for my spirit to land right in front of Ellie."

  "Now, Ellie and Jake have written their own vows. Jake?"

  "Right." I stand up a little straighter. "Ellie. Wow. I wish there was something I could vow to give you that you didn't already have. Your love, of course, is legendary. I thought of courage, but we both know that you've dealt with so much without even flinching, so I know you don't need that. You're the smartest person I know, so I couldn't vow to give you knowledge, or even challenge you intellectually. You're also incredibly committed, hard-working, empathetic, passionate— I could go on and on. I wasn't sure what I could vow to do for you because you're just the best person I've ever known. But there are some things that people could always use more of and I know being the best can sometimes be hard— so I promise to always give you every ounce of love I have. I vow to respect you at all times. I vow to put your happiness first. I vow to keep coming home even when it gets hard. And I know how these vows can come undone over time, so I had each one of these vows engraved in glass hearts, and if I ever break one then you can break the glass heart. Put the shards in my bed, or in my glass of water if you want. Just to remind me."

  "I'm pretty sure putting glass shards in your water would kill you," Ellie says. She's still smiling, but her eyes are shiny.

  "It would," I agree. "But breaking that vow should kill me anyway."

  Robin turns to Ellie. "Ellie?"

  "Uh, well, I hadn't quite memorized mine all of the way," she says, pulling a note out from under the bodice of her dress. "In fairness, it's a poem, so…here it goes."

  She gives me a sheepish smile. I smile back.

  "When the world was wild and the kings of the world were

  not yet born, I felt the space between my fingers yearning for you.

  It's easy to describe absence because it's lived inside me for

  Centuries and when we drink our morning coffee,

  I feel that old absence, threatening to migrate back inside me

  But you kiss me, and I know the space between my fingers are meant for grasping onto

  Those nights where your ideas are spiraling in the room

  And your passion is turning everything into a storyboard

  And those nights that we sit outside, your arm wrapped around me

  And I can still feel your love like an old sweater.

  Our love is wild and the king of the world has been born,

  So, when the earth quakes and the tornadoes rip through our lives,

  It's nothing, but temporary turmoil or

  Wild Love."

  Her cheeks are bright pink. I reach forward, my hands on either side of her face. I kiss her with all of the love bursting out of my veins and all the love I've soaked up from her after all these years.

  "Hey, hey! You're not supposed to kiss yet!" Robin whines. "Come on. This wedding has almost been perfect. Give it two minutes."

  I step back from her, Her lip gloss is a little smudged, but she still looks perfect.

  "Now, the rings," Robin prompts. My mother hands one of them to me while Ellie's guitarist hands her a ring. "Now, as you place these rings on each other's fingers, remember that they are a symbol of your vows. It is a reminder of this day, where you have declared your love for each other and vowed to love each other for the rest of your lives. Each time you look at it, remember how much you love each other."

  As I slide the ring on Ellie's finger— a silver band with diamonds sculpted to look like teardrop-shaped leaves— she slides the ring onto my finger— a simple silver band— and I'm amazed at how normal it feels.

  "And now, by the power vested in me by the State of Colorado, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. Now, you may kiss your bride."

  I grab onto her, kissing her with more intensity than before. I keep a tight grip on her, only restraining myself because I can hear our guest's clapping. I know I have all the time in the world to show her how much I love her, but every moment seems incredibly important. Every moment, I want to show her how much I owe her. I want her to know that I'm proud to be her husband.

  * * *

  Ellie

  When Jake and I walk into our house together, it feels like the
whole world is finally at peace— or maybe it's about to explode, but I'm perfectly okay with it. I curl up against him and he wraps his arm around me.

  "Didn't we promise to not drink much?" he mumbles.

  "Yes, we did, but that was before Drew kept clinking his glass and insisting that we kiss every minute."

  "I didn't know you could do so good at hiding near the bar in that dress." His hand slides under the strap of my dress. I had changed into a different dress for the reception— a pale purple V-neck with spaghetti straps and lace similar to my wedding dress. He kisses my cheek. "You gave me a lump in my throat just from looking at you. I was just imagining you were some random girl at a bar and even without knowing how generous and talented you are, I'd find it impossible to think of a line to pick you up."

  "You could say, Hello, my name is Jake Amberden. I have a big cock."

  He laughs. "Is that what works on women nowadays?"

  "It's always worked on us. We just want you men to think we're sophisticated, but really, we're just on a constant quest to find something better than a vibrator."

  "Ah, yes, my arch nemesis. But a vibrator can't do this." He slides a finger down my arm. Goosebumps follow. I force my face to remain passive.

  "That's true, but a friend could do that. I still wouldn't need a man."

  He grabs onto me, pulling me toward the kitchen and closer to him. He pushes me up against the kitchen island and kisses me like a man with something to prove. As his hands graze down my body, I feel like a harp with every one of my strings being plucked and I'm a heartbeat away from the highest note coming alive.

  "Do your friends kiss you like that?" he asks.

  "Only on Sundays," I mumble, an old joke from an old song that I can't remember because my mind is descending into a state of basic instincts. Its new mantra is touch me rub me fill me.

  His hand slides up, easily sliding under my strapless bra. As his hand cups my breast, the metal clasp of the bra cuts into my back. He squeezes it slowly. I can feel my heart beating right underneath it, each chamber being filled with blood and desperate need. Jake's other hand reaches under the skirt of my dress and strokes a line from my navel to the top of my underwear, back and forth like a painter. I press up against him, demanding to be touched more, but he keeps the same rhythm and distance.

  "I was watching you all night. You were breaking my heart every second you weren't solely mine."

  I smile. "I thought we'd dealt with your jealousy issues."

  "Oh, this wasn't jealousy. It was just a man that isn't a fan of voyeurism and who has every intention of stripping you away until all that's left is your soul and clit."

  He pulls on my dress. I raise my arms and he slides the dress up over my head. Before I can respond to him, He grabs me around the waist and props me up on the kitchen island. One of Jake's cameramen mentioned a Biblical verse to me— something along the lines of how a husband and wife become one flesh— but now I'm thinking more about how humankind could fall from grace and still rise up into a better Eden.

  "Get the rest of your clothes off." The authority in his voice is like a crack of thunder, sending a thrill under my skin. As he walks away, I shed my underwear and bra. I drop them carefully on the floor while remaining seated on the kitchen island.

  I wait.

  And wait.

  And keep waiting.

  When he doesn't return, I jump off the kitchen island.

  "Jake?" I call out. I move, each step carefully determined. There were so many potential threats in our lives, it was difficult to not imagine all the scenarios— his brother, my brother, his stalkers, my stalkers, people who thought he was the devil incarnate, people who believed the gossip that said I criticized their favorite musician, or hated me for marrying Jake— eliminating any possibility of them marrying him— and there's always the good old classic thieves.

  I walk up the stairs. As I'm halfway up the stairs and all the heat that had built up in my body begins to dissipate, I remember I'm naked. It's truly the worst situation I could have put myself in.

  "Jake?" I call at the top of the stairs. I check the gym. Nobody there and nowhere anybody could hide. I go to the end of the hall to our bedroom. Nobody. But the bathroom light is on.

  I walk to the bathroom. Nobody is inside.

  I feel hands on my waist, grabbing me, spinning me against the sink edge. A mouth crushes against mine. I struggle for a couple of seconds before I feel Jake's erection— as familiar to me as anything else in this house. I pull away from him anyway.

  "You're a jerk," I hiss. "I thought somebody had hurt you. You do remember you just had a fight in this house, right?"

  "And I won," he drawls. "I was looking for something that could work as a blindfold, but after I heard you calling, I just had to take you by surprise."

  "Then take me," I scoff.

  "Gladly."

  His foot forces me to widen my stance. His cock rubs against my folds. It instantly ignites the heat back under my skin. His fingers press hard against my hips as I look up at the mirror. I can see him behind me, his face concentrated on our bodies and intense desire gracing his face.

  My heart is beating harder and pink is streaking my face. I push up against him. He looks up, gazing at me through the mirror, as he picks up my body pulling me up an inch higher. He presses his cock against my entrance. My pussy begins to throb as he pushes in slowly. With every thrust, my clit rubs against the hard edge of the counter. My breasts are pressed against the sink counter, the left one of them dipping into the sink and the right one rubbing against the granite.

  God, I was so mad at him before, but the adrenaline rush of thinking there was a serial killer in our house must have triggered some effect in my veins because every part of my skin he touches turns into liquid pleasure.

  My toes are barely touching the floor now. With every movement, my feet slap against his calves, but when he buries himself in me, he forces me back up, so my feet aren't touching the floor and he presses his chest against my back. He presses a soft kiss under my neck, then sinks his fingers into my hair. He gives it a small tug, sending a sharp exhilaration through me. When I don't think I can get any higher, he grinds up against me, causing my clit to slide over the edge of the counter. The constant switch between pain and frenzied desire makes me grip onto the edge of the counter, both wanting to push away and grip onto it to stay as close as possible.

  He switches to short thrusts. From his soft grunts, I know he's going to come soon and I can feel my craving turning into abundance, the tension in my body spinning into a missile that could take out small countries.

  "And I won," he repeats into my ear. His soft breath in my ear is enough to trigger the missile. My whole body becomes the rocket, shaking as it breaks through the atmosphere and all that pent-up expectation is exceeded with the elation setting a fire in my veins like my blood is gasoline. The fire blazes between us— a torch being passed— and I feel his cock pulse inside me, filling me up with streams of his seed.

  He collapses, half on top of me. He creates a trail of kisses from my elbow to my shoulder. I look at him through bleary eyes. My whole body feels incredibly sensitive and I'm seconds away from bursting again, but as I keep looking at him— his eyes closing and his body no longer heaving for breath— my body becomes a place of peace.

  * * *

  I wrote some of my vows after Jake hit Robin. I was thinking about leaving Jake, but every time I thought about it, I was overcome with a sensation of loneliness that surpassed the actual notion of being alone. I knew I could never separate myself from him. It started with that line, I could feel that old absence threatening to migrate back inside me, and all those other memories— drinking our morning coffee together, his many kisses, holding hands, the nights I watched him work on perfecting his films or music videos, making the Tornado music video, and, though I excluded it from the vows, the rapturous sex. It all came flooding into my mind. And I knew I couldn't leave him.

  T
here are some people you meet, and they just understand you, tolerate the wilderness in you, they know exactly what makes you tick and what gives you pleasure. And there's just this innate knowledge that you'd rather just be imperfectly human with this one person for the next twenty-four hours than live the rest of your life with everyone else.

  It's absolutely insane, irrational, and impossible. But that's wild love. That’s Jake and me. Forever after.

  The End.

  About the Author

  Kayley Cole is an emerging author of New Adult and College Romance. Writing great stories, listening to your ideas... creating characters you'll love.

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  If you would like to get more information about Kayley’s other books, author news, updates and book freebies, please click here to subscribe to the Kayley Cole Newsletter.

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  If you have enjoyed Twisted Ever After, please consider leaving a review. All reviews are very appreciated. Thank you!

  Also by Kayley Cole

  New Adult & College series —

  CHAT Me (prequel to CHAT Me Exposed)

  CHAT Me Exposed

  CHAT Me L.A.

  Romantic Suspense series —

  Twisted Hope

  Twisted Passion

  Twisted Ever After

  Military Bad Boy Romance series—

  Promise to Protect

  Book #2 — COMING SOON!

  * * *

  Promise to Protect

  SHANE

  I’m out of the Marines now and trying to fulfill the promise I made to my best friend, David.

  His sister and I share a past history, and that lingering physical attraction could also make this promise difficult to keep.