by Amber Lynn
“We were a little surprised to see her show up after that deal at Christmas. I know the girl has always had her heart in the right place, but she has trouble showing it.”
It was hard for others to see the bond between Hannah and Nina, since the two women were so vastly different. Curtis understood what tied them together, even if he didn’t particularly like the fact that they were. Liking Nina wasn’t something on his agenda, but Hannah couldn’t stop talking about her after their dinner and trying to find reasons for Curtis to like the other woman. He figured he needed to at least be able to tolerate her, which alone was a daunting task.
“They made up a few days ago. I guess it’s good that Hannah has someone to be her maid of honor. It was going to look a little weird with three of us standing up with the judge.”
Curtis hadn’t officially asked Brady to stand up with him. He’d asked him to be there and assumed he would sign any paperwork as a witness, but Hannah and Curtis really hadn’t talked about a wedding party. She didn’t have anyone close, other than family, and it seemed weird to have your mother stand with you.
“Nah, if you hadn’t told me Hannah found someone, I would have brought someone else to even things out.”
Brady winked, making Curtis think of the stripper he’d said he had picked out. Hannah would have loved that, which of course was sarcasm. She would’ve come out the back door and immediately turned around and ran from the house.
“Okay, then,” Harvey said with a confused, yet almost knowing, look on his face.
He opened his mouth to say more, but a shrill voice beat him to it. Maybe Curtis imagined the shrillness, because no one else seemed to cringe when Nina spoke.
“Daddy-o, you’re needed in the hallway. Let’s get this show on the road so we can make it to the afterparty. I’ve heard rumors there’s going to be one, so you guys better not let me down.”
Nudging Curtis with his shoulder, Brady chuckled. Curtis had already seen in his eyes and words that he was smitten. He’d done what he could to warn the poor guy, but it seemed he was going to need to find out for himself that Nina was the devil.
“Seriously, you didn’t hit that?” Brady said in disbelief. “There’s something wrong with you.”
Curtis wouldn’t deny that, but not for Brady’s reasoning. He felt sorry for his friend and the games he saw playing out between him and Nina. Both of them were good at the love ‘em and leave ‘em relationship, but Curtis had a feeling Brady was biting off more than he could chew.
“My only advice is to not fall in love.”
There was barely enough time to whisper the words before Nina descended upon them. She took time to analyze every one of her steps down the aisle, probably making sure every rose was in its place. She looked Curtis over, briefly glanced in Brady’s direction, then focused on the arch.
Surprisingly, she didn’t say a thing, just observed and nodded a couple times. Curtis was waiting for her to scream about something being wrong and delay things even more. Other than needing to be at the arena by two, there were no time tables, but Curtis had thought the ceremony itself would move along quickly.
“You ready for this, Curtis?”
Curtis didn’t bother answering Nina verbally, choosing to simply nod. There had never been a thought that he’d have cold feet.
“Good, because I’m only going to tell you this once, and that better be all it takes. I know I haven’t always shown it, but I love that woman in there like a sister and I will do everything in my power to protect her. If you ever break her heart, I will rip yours out of your chest and stomp on it repeatedly, then cut your dick off and shove it up your ass. Do you hear me? Ripping your heart out will probably kill you, but whoever finds you is going to see your fucking dick up your own ass. And I’ll make sure that’s printed in all the papers. People won’t remember you for being a great hockey player. They’ll remember you as the dickwad who died with his own dick up his ass.”
It seemed like she just had to say that part over and over, making sure it was etched in Curtis’ brain. It wasn’t a pretty picture, so Curtis didn’t linger on it, no matter how many times she said it. They both stood there, about five feet apart, watching for Hannah and her father to start their walk down the aisle. By the looks on their faces, no one would assume death was being threatened.
“That’s fine, Nina. As long as you remember the same goes for you. I love that woman with all my heart, and if you ever hurt her again, because let’s face it, you already have sent her crying to me once, I will kill you. I don’t care how people find you or what you’re remembered for. If you make my wife cry again, I will end you.”
A song started playing, which Curtis hadn’t expected. Music had not been discussed for their quick and quiet ceremony. He didn’t recognize it, but he knew enough to know it wasn’t the traditional wedding march.
He was poised to ask Nina what in the world song she’d picked out, a little worried, but nothing else mattered when Hannah and her father turned the corner. Her father being there was an afterthought once he got a good look at his bride. Her in the white dress took his breath away.
Her red hair was curled and pinned up on her head in various spots, and even from fifteen feet away, he could see her eyes popped with added makeup around them. Curtis loved her no-fuss look that she naturally pulled off, but seeing her green eyes look like shimmering emeralds could possibly make him request a little makeup from time to time.
As he ogled her, he registered the music saying something about “beauty and the beast.” He groaned and looked out the corner of his eye at Nina, keeping most of his focus on Hannah.
“Hey, I’m not the one who wanted a princess wedding. It was the best music choice I could come up with on short notice.”
Curtis’ full focus returned to his very-soon-to-be wife. If anyone ever looked like and deserved to be a princess, it was her. He made sure to slip that in to his vows, just to make sure everyone knew.
Chapter 27
“How mad do you think everyone will be when they find out Brady’s little shindig is to celebrate a wedding they didn’t get to attend?” Hannah asked.
She and Curtis were finally alone as they made their way to the arena. Nina had somehow found them a horse-drawn carriage to take them to the afterparty, as Nina liked to call it. The coach was round, pretty much pumpkin shaped, and had pink and white Christmas lights scaling the frame of it.
It was sappy, but at the same time the most magical thing Hannah had ever seen. The fact that she was riding around in it with her husband only added to that magic.
“My question is how mad do you think they’ll be if we take a detour and find a hotel room real quick to consummate this marriage of ours.”
Curtis leaned down and bit at her neck, sending delicious shockwaves through her body. He sucked hard, which had to at least leave a red mark, if not something darker. He knew her neck was her weakness, and he loved exploiting it.
People kept staring at them oddly as they passed, so she smacked his leg and pushed him gently away. The carriage was sure to be causing the odd looks, but Hannah wasn’t exactly comfortable putting on a show for everyone. They’d changed out of their wedding attire, thankfully, and were simply dressed to the nines, riding around in a carriage on a normal Wednesday afternoon.
No wonder people were staring at them like they were from another planet.
“Honey, last I checked, your child is growing inside of me. No one is going to question whether this marriage has been consummated.”
Hannah pulled Curtis’ right hand over so it could rest on the satin of her dress. She’d stuck with the white theme, but without the full skirt, the asymmetrical cocktail dress didn’t necessarily scream wedding.
“And you think pointing that out won’t make me want to take you away and make love to you the rest of the afternoon? All I’m hearing is let’s do it in the back of this carriage.”
Groaning, Hannah butted the side of her head with his. The man
was a sex fiend. It seemed to be on his mind all the time, which thankfully correlated with how often she thought about it.
“Let’s give Brady his afternoon of fun, and then tonight, tomorrow and the next day, you can lock me in the house and see if you can try to get me pregnant again.”
It sounded so stupid to put it that way. Curtis liked hearing and thinking about her being pregnant, though, so she thought he’d go for the challenge. Lord help her if he actually figured out a way to do it.
He growled and gnashed his teeth together loudly in her ear. If they’d been in say a limo, the general lavish mode of transportation after a wedding, their clothes would’ve been long gone and they’d be showing up to the party flushed and totally satisfied. Instead, they were going to be showing up in desperate need of a quick fuck, which Hannah was starting to wonder if it would be possible in one of the out of the way rooms the arena had hidden in it.
They really should have stuck around home for a little bit, but they’d been sent off first because the horse would take longer to get to the party. The wedding participants clearly didn’t see the issue with sending two just married horny people off on their own.
“But I don’t get you all of tomorrow. We’re going to the doctor to see if we can get a sneak peek at George.”
For being sure the baby was a girl, the name George had come out of left field. Hannah had no idea why Curtis decided to call the baby that, but it was his nickname for him or her. When pressed for more information, all he’d say was that it was the name that stuck.
“Well, by nine tomorrow morning, I imagine we’ll need to come up for air. It will only be an hour or two, then you can get right back to work.”
Curtis had great stamina, but there were going to be plenty of breaks in their three-day sex marathon. Hannah was eating for two and still felt waves of nausea a few times a day. It didn’t always lead her to run towards the toilet, but she was more than ready for the morning sickness to come to an end.
“Promise?”
His hand remained on her stomach as they got closer to the arena. They only had a block and a half left, so Hannah took his hand and wrapped hers around it. The three weeks they had before she felt comfortable officially announcing anything were going to drag on. She could already feel that.
“I promise that as long as we get through the party without you taking me in a corner and screwing me in front of everyone, we will have all the sex your body can handle in the foreseeable future.”
He growled again. “Why do you have to put ideas in my head? I thought we’d head down to the locker room and do it in my stall. I have fantasies of taking you from behind while you’re bent over and hanging onto the shelf with my nameplate on it.”
“Fuck me,” Hannah said as he painted the picture.
“That’s exactly what I imagine you saying, over and over.”
It was Hannah’s turn to growl. It was a miracle the pair of them ever got anything done.
Thankfully, the carriage came to a stop in front of the back entrance of the arena. The roughly fifty or so people Brady had invited were all going in the front, so Hannah and Curtis could make an entrance from the rear. For hating the idea of marriage in general, Brady had put a lot of thought and time into the quick reception.
The man driving them around, got down from his perch and quickly opened the carriage door for them. Curtis, in his black suit, which was just as nice as his tuxedo, but a little less formal, got out first and held his hand out for his wife. Hannah loved thinking those words. His wife.
Not in a million years would she have ever dreamed of being Mrs. Curtis Power. The whole day felt like a dream, like a fairytale story come to life.
“So, did I get you wound up enough that we’re going to make this the shortest appearance by a bride and groom at their reception ever?”
He’d helped her out and walked a few steps towards the arena door before asking the question. Rather than their usual hand-in-hand approach, Curtis had her tucked into his side with his arm around her shoulders.
“Just for that, I think we should dance the night away and shut the place down. How long did Brady rent it out for?”
Hannah had thought they’d stay an hour, two at tops, but if Curtis wanted to play, she was ready to play. She hated to dance, and frankly couldn’t, but she would make a show of it for a while.
“You know how many empty rooms we’re going by on our way to the arena floor? I can think of five off the top of my head, just begging for me to pull you into one of them.”
“If you didn’t want a reception, you should have told your best friend to get a life when he suggested one. It’s not like I urged him on.”
“Finally, you guys are here,” Nina said as she turned a corner and practically ran into them. “I knew we’d have a wait, but good lord that carriage ride took forever. Brady has been stalling the hungry masses, but that man has proven he has no comedic skills and needs a total personality transplant.”
Nina seemed even more flustered than usual. Hannah couldn’t blame her if she was dealing with Brady, although Nina didn’t generally let a man get under her skin.
“You’ll get no arguments there. Is he ready for us to come out?”
Hannah hadn’t been the back way, so she wasn’t sure how close they were to the party. She could hear music, but it didn’t seem too loud.
“Let me verify.” Nina took the phone she was holding and tapped on it for a second. “They’re finally here. Are you ready?”
Nina hated giving out her number, so Hannah wasn’t sure who she spoke to. Hannah’s family was there, but she didn’t think they’d been brought in the fold of running the reception. They seemed leery of Brady if anything, which she couldn’t blame them for.
“Okay, try not to tell anymore jokes. We’ll be there in two minutes.” Nina rolled her eyes and hung up the phone. “I swear, he obviously knows he isn’t funny. He should’ve provided the audience with some tomatoes or something to throw at him. If you guys hadn’t gotten here when you did, I was going to call out for some.”
Not only was the man flustering her, somehow, he’d gotten her to call him. Hannah couldn’t remember a time a man had accomplished that. Sure, it was just a quick call to say they were there, but Hannah had seen the way Brady checked out Nina. She almost felt like giving him a pat on the back.
“Yeah, well, he does try. How’s the crowd looking? Obviously, you’re irritated, but are they?”
Curtis knew what little it took to get Nina in a fit, so Hannah assumed he didn’t fully believe Brady was aggravating the masses. Brady had been over to their place multiple times, but Hannah hadn’t sensed a particularly funny side to him. He was somewhat arrogant and womanizing, but a sense of humor was never on display.
“We weren’t able to keep them from the booze, so they’re already enjoying the party. As much as it would help my mood, I’m abstaining in solidarity. Since preggers over there can’t drink, and you don’t want anyone else finding out, I figure it’s best if she’s not the only one without a beer can in her hand. And that’s another thing. This idiot friend of yours just bought about a bazillion cases of beer instead of having a tap. What kind of reception has cans of beer?”
Hannah wrapped her arms around Curtis and squeezed him tight when Nina let the pregnant part out. She wished she was a better liar, or at the very least that Nina couldn’t see right through her.
“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Curtis. You should have brought me on board sooner to make sure this thing doesn’t turn into the disaster it is clearly going to be.”
Nina didn’t even turn around to look back at Curtis. She kept a quick pace in front of them as she led the way.
“If you would’ve started seeing your shrink sooner, or just been less of a bitch to start with, maybe we would’ve looped you in on the wedding plans. I take it you noticed the onions the other night? I saw you eyeing the fork each time Hannah raised it.”
“You did?” Hannah whispe
red before Nina could respond.
“Yup, I didn’t think the dinner would get to the ordering part, so I forgot about your sudden onion craving and how it’d look.”
“Curtis, this is not about me and my issues. This is about that jackass you left running things. Can you believe he felt me up on the way over here? He was driving the car one second, and the next his hand was up my dress. When I swatted it away, he went for my boob. It was like he wasn’t standing there when I gave that whole speech about killing you and shoving your dick in your ass. You better tell him that if his hands touch me again, that’s the situation he’s going to be in.”
Hannah was a little lost in the talk about their past conversation, but it was hard not to laugh. Nina wasn’t used to not having her way, and it sounded like Brady was pushing all of her buttons.
“I told him the thought of having sex with you makes my dick shrivel and you’re a bitch. Believe me, I’m not encouraging him at all.”
The good news out of that statement was that Curtis had never thought about having sex with Nina while he was with Hannah. If she ever got tired, she knew how to cool him off at least.
“Work harder on that. Since he’s your friend, he’s off limits because I don’t want to break his heart and have to hear about it all the time.”
“If you can break his heart, more power to you. He just wants to fuck you, Nina. Rumor is, he isn’t horrible in bed, so you should just get it over with. That way we won’t have to hear you two bitching about what the other one is or isn’t doing.”
Hearing Curtis offer his friend up for sacrifice kept Hannah’s mood in perpetual giggle. Before any of them could expound upon the hilarious conversation, Nina opened a door, letting Brady’s voice finally become coherent. Hannah had heard bits and pieces of conversation that seemed to not be lyrics to whatever song was playing, but she hadn’t made out that they were him speaking.
“And here they are, our guests of honor.”
Brady was only about ten feet away, so he hurried to walk over to them and hand the mike to Curtis. Hannah tried to look out at the crowd and at everyone staring at them, but self-consciousness kept that action short and sweet. There were way more people than Hannah was comfortable standing in front of, which was why she was thrilled for the intimate wedding at their place.