“We’ll talk later,” I murmur, and kiss Nat’s forehead as I walk back down the hall.
She’s going to know what it feels like to be loved like that if it’s the last thing I do.
***
I clasp Alecia’s hand tightly as Leo walks a nervous Meg down the aisle. I talked Alecia into sitting next to me during the ceremony as my date last night while I was buried inside her and she couldn’t even remember her name.
Playing dirty? Damn right.
It worked.
The sun is setting behind us, casting everything in gold, making Meg’s auburn hair shine. She’s on Leo’s arm, walking to “Baby, I Love Your Way” being played by Leo’s band, Nash.
The guitarist, Jake, is singing the lyrics in his rough voice, perfect for the song, and for Meg.
She’s smiling brilliantly, her eyes pinned to my youngest brother, whose eyes have gone glassy.
Of all of my brothers, I’ve come to learn that Will is the one that isn’t afraid to show his emotions. Whether he’s happy, sad, hungry, angry, it doesn’t matter. He doesn’t hold back.
I couldn’t respect him more.
“Who gives this woman to this man?” The pastor asks when the music ends.
“I do,” Leo responds, kisses Meg, then joins his own wife next to me.
“Unca Will!” Olivia exclaims and points to Will excitedly.
“Yes, baby,” Nat whispers in her daughter’s ear as Will turns and winks at the toddler.
“Dearly beloved.”
The pastor speaks of love. Commitment. The sanctity of marriage.
The promise.
And I can hear him, but all I can focus on is this woman at my side, with her hand in mine, and all of the promises I want to make to her. Telling her this now would send her running into the hills, but Alecia is it for me. I love her. I can’t imagine my life without her.
If that’s not commitment, I don’t know what is.
“And now, the vows. Megan, I’ll ask you to recite your vows first, please.”
The pastor steps back and all our eyes are pinned to Meg as she takes a deep breath and stares up into Will’s eyes. She grins.
“I wrote it all down, but I just realized that I don’t need to read a piece of paper to tell you how I feel about you.” She swallows hard and her face sobers. “I take you, Will, to be my husband. I vow to always be honest, to be fair, to be spontaneous, and to always hold you in the highest regard. I promise to dream with you, to support you, and to always be your biggest fan. I will be your faithful partner, your unyielding encouragement, and your forever love.” She blinks and one tear falls down her cheek, but Will catches it with his thumb and rubs the apple of her cheek tenderly. “I promise you this today, and every day, for the rest of my life.”
“Will, your vows, please,” the pastor says kindly, as Will brushes a tear of his own away.
“Megan,” he begins and has to pause to swallow hard. “I hope you understand today how very much I love you. I wonder if you’ll ever truly understand how much of me belongs to you. You are the delight of my life. Loving you is an adventure that I wouldn’t miss for the world. I’m honored, my love, to take you as my wife today. I vow to spend the rest of my life giving back to you what you give to me every day. To be your constant companion, your most trusted confidant, and your truest friend. I vow to never keep score. I vow to accept you, to honor you, as you are, for the rest of my life. I will be faithful to you, forsaking all others. I will choose you, always.”
“Wow,” Jules whispers, and wipes the tears from her face.
Meg and Will exchange their rings, their faces bright with smiles and tears, and finally, the pastor says, “You may now kiss your bride.”
Will sweeps Meg right off her feet and into his arms, kissing her soundly, and making us all laugh.
“Atta boy, Montgomery!” his teammate yells, as we all stand and applaud.
“It’s my honor to present Mr. and Mrs. Will Montgomery!”
***
It’s time to take my woman upstairs.
The crowd is thinning considerably. At just after two in the morning, Will and Meg are still dancing in the middle of the floor. Most of Will’s teammates are still here, talking, mingling, and hitting on a few of the nurses that work with Meg at the hospital. All of the food and cupcakes were long ago inhaled. I lost count hours ago of how many bottles of wine we went through tonight.
I know it’s in the hundreds.
I’m so damn proud of Alecia for not only pulling off the event, but for making it spectacular.
My eyes find her, smiling and talking with Blake and Emily, at the empty cupcake table.
“Emily,” I say as I approach, “can you finish up here?”
“I can’t leave—”
“Yep,” Emily says, interrupting Alecia with a broad smile. “Blake will help me.”
“There are still guests here. I have to stay.”
“No, you don’t.” Blake pulls her in for a hug. “You kicked ass today, Leash. Go celebrate.”
“Are you sure?” Alecia asks Emily.
“Absolutely.”
Alecia turns to me, and for the first time today I can see the exhaustion settling in. If I have my way, she’ll sleep for three days straight.
“Let me say goodnight to Will and Meg.”
I nod and watch her walk to my brother and new sister-in-law. They both hug her tightly, and wave at me as she returns to me, tucks her hand in mine and says, “I’m ready.”
She doesn’t speak as we walk into the house and up the stairs. The silence is comfortable.
Welcome.
I reach around her to open the door to my master suite and gesture for her to go in before me and smile when she lets out a gasp of surprise.
“What is this?” She turns those wide brown eyes to me in wonder.
“A celebration, tesoro.” I close and lock the door behind me and lead her further into the room. Candles flicker around the room, the only light in the space. Pink tulip petals have been formed into a heart on the bed, and right in the center of them are…
“Shoes!” she exclaims and hurries to the bed. “Oh, my God.”
“What is it?” I press my chest to her back, my hands gripping her shoulders, and kiss the top of her head.
“There are blue boxes in those pretty pink shoes.”
I grin. “Indeed.”
“And the pink shoes are strappy.”
“Right again.”
She crosses her arms and grips my hands with hers, holding on tight. “We’re celebrating Will and Meg with designer shoes and blue Tiffany boxes?”
“No.” I turn her to face me and cup her face in my hands. “We’re not celebrating the wedding, cara. We’re celebrating you.”
She frowns in confusion.
“You were amazing, not just today, but during this whole process. You should be so proud of yourself, sweetheart.” I kiss her soft forehead, her nose, and then gently lay my lips on hers, kissing her lightly before pulling back. “Don’t you want to open the boxes?”
“Desperately.” She chuckles, and turns back to the bed.
“Wait. Let’s get comfy. I’ll rub your feet while you open the boxes.”
“Wow. This is a lot of pampering, Dominic.”
“You haven’t seen anything yet.” I wink at her and help her get comfortable, leaning against the pillows. I pull her shoes off her small feet, sit on the bed, and begin kneading the arches.
“Oh, God.” Her eyes close and she leans her head back against the headboard. “You’re seriously good with your hands.”
“If you fall asleep, you won’t see what’s in those boxes.”
She bites her lip and raises her head and looks at me.
“You didn’t have to do this.”
“Yes, I did. Open them.”
First, she examines the shoes, her eyes bright with feminine lust for such things, which makes me laugh.
“I kind of like looking at them l
ike this,” she confesses. “I mean, the blue looks so pretty in these pink shoes.”
I raise a brow and wait for her to finish admiring the shoes, and finally she can’t resist any longer. She tugs one box out of a shoe.
“Oh my,” she breathes when she opens the box. “There’s a lot of pink happening around here tonight.”
She’s quiet for a long minute, her lip gripped in her teeth as she simply stares at the white and pink diamond necklace nestled in the blue box. Her brown gaze shoots up to mine as she reaches for the other box.
“Lots of pink,” she says again, when she sees the matching bracelet.
“They match the pink shoes,” I whisper, and continue to knead the muscles in her calves. “Your calves are tight.”
“I was walking in heels for roughly fourteen hours today.”
Finally, without another word, she simply climbs over to me, into my lap, and wraps herself around me, clinging on tightly.
“I don’t know what to say,” she whispers.
“You don’t have to say anything.”
“They’re so beautiful. Thank you so much.”
“They’re going to look amazing against your skin, cara. That’s why I chose pink. You wear pink so well.”
She buries her face in my neck and kisses me gently. Now is the time to tell her how much I love her.
But instead, I stay quiet, plucking pins from her hair until it’s falling around her shoulders and plunge my fingers in it, pulling it to my nose.
“You smell amazing.”
“You smell amazing,” she replies, her nose still pressed to my skin.
“You were remarkable to watch today. You were so in control, so focused.”
“That’s my job.”
“You’re excellent at it.”
She smiles against my neck.
“Are you going to let me lay you down and help you get more comfortable?”
“I’ll let you lay me down and make love to me,” she says with a small voice.
You don’t ever have to ask me twice.
I tip her onto her back and hover over her, helping her shimmy out of her beautiful blue dress and matching underwear, until she’s spread out under me, the pink tulip petals around her, her golden blonde hair fanned around her head, looking like nothing short of an angel.
“You take my breath away,” I whisper.
She grins as she works on the buttons of my shirt, shoving it over my shoulders and tossing it aside, then making quick work of my pants. When I’m naked at last, I settle over her, bracing myself on my elbows, my heavy cock nestled in her slick, hot folds.
I brush imaginary tendrils of hair off her forehead and cheeks with my fingertips, sweep my nose over hers, anything to touch her.
I’ll never get enough of feeling her skin with mine.
“Dominic,” she whispers, then gasps as I move my hips, just a bit, sliding through her wetness.
“Yes, my treasure.”
Her eyes flare at the term of endearment.
“Are you more comfortable hearing it in Italian, tesoro?”
“I guess I’m surprised to hear it at all,” she replies truthfully.
“You are my treasure.” I kiss her cheek, then drag my lips down to that sensitive spot by her ear. “You are the best part of my life.”
Her hands glide up and down my back, then her fingertips follow the same path, making me even harder. I rear back and sink slowly inside her waiting heat, watching her gorgeous eyes as I press in as far as I can, then rest there, watching her.
“So proud of you, Alecia.”
“Thank you.” Tears fill her eyes and she closes them.
“Don’t close your eyes,” I whisper and brush a tear aside. “You don’t ever have to hide from me.”
“I’m not.” She shakes her head lightly, then looks back up at me, with her heart wide open for the first time.
It’s magnificent.
“Do you know how much you scare me?” she asks, her voice barely a whisper.
I begin to move, filling her, then pulling out, in long, smooth, sure strokes. Her breath hitches, her fingers dig into my back, and she clenches around my cock in the most delicious of ways.
“You are everything,” I say into her ear, as I make gentle love to her. “And yes, tesoro, it scares me too, but not having you scares me even more.”
“Me too.”
I grip her hand in mine, lacing our fingers, and press it down into the bed as I begin to ride her harder, but not faster. I press the base of my cock against her clit and grind down, and that’s all it takes for her to fall over the edge, coming hard, taking me with her.
I love you.
Chapter Fifteen
~Alecia~
I’ve been waking up to his handsome face for more than two weeks now, and it never fails to take my breath away.
Or make me squirm in pure, unadulterated lust.
I mean, look at him. He’s all dark skin and hair against my white sheets, gathered at his waist, giving me a prime view of his defined abs, sculpted arms, and magical hands with long fingers.
He’s shown me what my body was made for. In the week since the wedding, he’s spent every night here in my bed with me, leaving each morning to go back to the vineyard, but he always returns every evening for dinner, wine, conversation, and the best sex of my life.
I can’t resist dragging my fingertips down his rough cheek, enjoying the way the scruff feels on my skin.
With his eyes still closed, he grins, flashing that dimple, and captures my hand in his, bringing it to his lips.
“Good morning,” he whispers against my palm.
“’Morning,” I reply and lean in to kiss his shoulder. “We need to get up soon. Baseball game today, remember?”
“I remember.” He pulls me into his arms, into what I consider my spot, cozied up against his side, my head on his chest and arm wrapped around his ribs, where I simply fit just right. “But we should do this for a little while first.”
“Do what?” I nuzzle my nose into his neck and take a deep breath, enjoying him.
“Just be,” he says, and kisses my head.
“This is nice,” I whisper.
“Mm.”
“I’m not gonna be available every night next week,” I say regretfully.
“Oh?”
“It’s summer, so I have events every night next week. Except Wednesday.”
“I have an event at the vineyard on Wednesday,” he says with a sigh. “We’ll survive five days apart, cara.”
His hand travels down my back to my ass and back up again, into my hair, then down once more, lulling me into sleep.
“Tesoro,” he whispers in my ear as he rolls me onto my back. His fingertip brushes down my temple and cheek. “Wake up.”
“Hmmm.”
“We slept another hour.”
“We did?” I ask groggily and stretch, still not opening my eyes.
“We need to get ready to go.”
“Okay.” I don’t move. I simply lay here and enjoy his hands on me, in this space right between sleep and wakefulness.
“This isn’t waking up,” he says dryly.
“I’m awake.”
“I wish we could just stay here all day, cara, but it’s kind of a big day for Matt and Nic. We have to go.”
“I want to go,” I reply and crack open an eye to find Dom hovering above me, that dimple winking at me, his blue eyes happy and pinned on mine. “Hello, handsome.”
“Ciao, bellissima,” he replies and flashes that charming grin at me.
“Dear God, I love your Italian. It’s sexy as hell.”
“It is?” His voice is heavy with sarcasm.
“You know it is.”
He brushes his fingertips down my chest to my stomach. “Hai la pelle più morbida.”
“What was that?”
“You have the softest skin,” he whispers and plants a kiss on my shoulder.
“We don’t have time for thi
s,” I warn him with a grin. Jesus, his lips are incredible.
Instead of answering me, he grins wolfishly and suddenly stands, pulling me with him. He tosses me over his shoulder and stalks into the bathroom, starts the shower and when the water is warm enough, sets me down in the large stand up shower.
“I could have walked,” I inform him.
“But then I wouldn’t have carried you,” he replies, and reaches for my shower gel.
“Are we conserving water?”
“Smart girl.” He lathers up his hands along with a wash cloth and begins to drag both over my skin, cleaning me up.
“That feels nice,” I murmur, watching him.
His lips twitch as his hands glide south, over my belly, over my smooth pubis and into the most sensitive part of me.
“Dom!” I gasp and grip onto his arms, holding on tight.
“Yes?”
“Holy shit, you’re good at that,” I groan as his free hand glides down my ass, and now he’s reaching me from both sides, rubbing my clit from the front and plunging fingers inside me from the back, and it’s the most incredible sensation. He plants his lips on my neck, then bites me there, licks his way up to my ear and says in a firm, direct tone, “Come.”
Jesus, who could refuse him? I come hard, shuddering against him. If he weren’t holding me up, I’d fall into a boneless mass on the tile floor. With my forehead leaning on his chest, I struggle to find my breath, and my legs.
“Damn, babe,” I say with a laugh. “That was fun.”
“Yes, it was. Now, no more distractions. We have to go.”
“But, what about you?”
He winks and slaps my ass playfully. “I’ll collect later. Trust me.”
***
“Heyyyyy, batta, batta, batta!”
“Um, Bryn, this is batting practice. You can’t heckle the players during practice.” Matt shakes his head at his sister-in-law playfully.
“I can too. It’s the freaking White Sox, Matt.”
“Hey! I love the White Sox,” Nic says with a frown. We’re all here, all of the siblings with their spouses, and Nic is the only one wearing a White Sox shirt. The rest of us are in our Mariners gear.