“…what a nice little setup you have, Harper.”
That fucking voice! I hated the sound of it. When Monica had called me last night I should have just ignored it. But if my mom had still been alive I would have wanted her here at my wedding. So I had given in, answered my phone, and then let her guilt me into extending the invitation. Of course I had awoken with the knowledge that I had fucked up. Again!
Harper had been so cool about it. At first I thought she was going to run away from me, like the last time I had forced her to confront her mother and stepsister. But after only a brief moment in which I thought my whole world was going to come crumbling down, she accepted it all. Instead of giving Emmie the go-ahead to kick Monica and Ariana out, she had let them stay. Choosing to ignore them.
Apparently they hadn’t gotten the memo.
I reached the back of the reception hall. A table laid out with champagne glasses was behind Harper. She had one delicate flute in her hand as she stood with a bored look on her beautiful face. Her violet eyes told a different story. She looked lost, alone. Like the broken girl I had met an eternity ago.
There was no way in hell I was going to let her feel like that again!
Monica’s back was to me, just as Ariana’s was. I barely spared them a glance as I pushed through them and wrapped my arms around Harper’s waist. Before she could open her mouth I kissed her, letting my hands drift over her gorgeous body. A body that only I had ever touched, cherished. Worshiped.
When I finally pulled away we were both panting slightly. When I opened my eyes it was my Harper staring back at me, not the little girl who had been her mother’s verbal whipping post. “Hi, beautiful.”
“Hi back.”
I pushed a lock of her sweet smelling hair away from her face. “I was thinking we could cut the cake, throw that pretty bouquet at Dallas’s head, and then head home. I want to make love to my wife in our bed tonight.”
Her eyes darkened at the word wife. “I like that plan. But can I take some of the cake home with us? I really want to share some of it with you.”
“Is it the lemon crème?” She bit her lip, nodding. I swallowed a groan. Lemon. Harper. Our wedding night. I was going to die a happy man tonight! “Take a whole fucking tier, baby.”
Her giggle went straight to my dick and I shifted against her; trying to find a more comfortable position to stand since my dick was now trying to burst through the zipper of my dress pants. “Yay!”
Someone behind us cleared their throat loudly. I finally turned my head enough to give them a sweeping once over. As they had been the last time, both Monica and Ariana were the plastic twins. Fake in a way that shined through to the black soul that was beneath. Their perfume had been smothering, while their makeup was so thick it was on a whole new level of unattractive. True, Ariana—even the way she looked now—would have been my ideal one-night stand back in the day before Harper.
Key words: Before. Harper.
Now there was no woman on the planet who could make my dick so much as twitch other than the one whom I had just put a ring on. “Sorry, ladies, I didn’t see you. My girl outshines any woman here so much that you fake-ass bitches are transparent.”
“Is that any way to talk to your mother-in-law?” Monica demanded in her arctic cold tone.
“Probably not. I’m sure I’m supposed to kiss your ass and even flirt a little. But I’m not the average son-in-law. I don’t kiss ass, and especially not one that has been passed around so many times.” My eyes went to Ariana as I said the last part. She gasped, her face turning blood red with embarrassment. “You’re lucky you got through the door, bitches. One word and you will be tossed out on your asses. I’m sure that all the paparazzi waiting at the gates would love to take pictures of that. How humiliating would it be if you were on the cover of some trashy magazine? ‘Skanky mother-of-the-bride and her disease-infested stepsister tossed out of Rocker’s wedding reception.’ Yeah, that would bring in millions of readers.”
Harper cuddled closer against my side. “Well, I would say it was good to see you, mother, but that would be a lie. Excuse us. We have other guests to tend to.” I kissed the top of her head and we walked around the two women.
“Harper…” Monica hesitated and Harper turned her head just enough to see her mother, “I’m still your mother. You can’t ignore me the rest of your life.”
Harper shrugged. “Maybe not, but I can sure as hell try.” She wrinkled her nose. “And you two should really stop bathing in the French perfume. Seriously, I’ve been trying not to gag for the last five minutes.”
“You ungrateful little mutant!” Ariana took a step closer and I pushed Harper behind me. The look on my face gave her pause and she faltered on her next step forward.
“It’s time for you to leave now, ho bags,” I informed them. The thought alone of this bitch touching Harper made my blood boil. I was five seconds away from hitting a woman for the first time in my life. “Try to do so with a little grace. Or I will have the guards carry you out with your hands zip-tied behind your backs.”
“Well, hello.” Emmie’s voice had me turning my head. She stood with Dallas less than three feet away. The look on her face would have scared the shit out of me if I had been the reason for it. The same look was nearly mirrored on Dallas’s face. “I see someone has over-stayed their welcome.”
Ariana’s eyes narrowed on Emmie. It wasn’t a secret that Ariana’s modeling career had been washed down the drain by Emmie. With only two phone calls from Emmie, Ariana had gone from a somewhat well-known, well paid model in Europe to not having a leg to stand on in the fashion world. “You!” Spit flew from Ariana’s mouth she said the word with such venom. “I’ve been looking forward to coming face to face with you. You ruined my life, you stupid bitch.”
I took a step forward, planning on putting myself between Emmie and any possible danger. Ariana moved faster than I expected, however, and was just inches from Em before I could take another step. Emmie looked calm on the outside, but I could see the rage building in her eyes…
The sudden scream that filled the air had every head turning. Dallas grabbed a handful of Ariana’s dry, bottle blonde hair and yanked her away from Emmie. Still holding her by the hair, Dallas turned the other woman around to face her. “Big mistake, cunt face,” she snarled before punching a struggling Ariana in the face.
Blood instantly flooded from Ariana’s nose and she screamed even louder as she covered her face with her hands. Harper leaned around me to watch the fight, her hands holding onto my arm as Dallas pushed Ariana away from her and punched her again. Ariana fell on her ass, but her eyes were full of hate.
Dallas stood over her, hands on her hips. “Damn, I’ve wanted to do that for so long. If I’d known that it would feel that good I would have done it sooner.”
“That was beautiful!” Harper walked around me and wrapped her arms around her best friend’s waist. “I’d ask you to do it again so I could take pictures of the whole thing, but knowing Ariana she’d get blood all over my dress.”
“I’m pretty sure the photographer got a few shots in, Harper,” Cecil commented drily as he appeared, his eyes narrowed on his biological daughter. It was so hard to believe that Cecil, a man I loved and respected, was the father of the trash sitting on the floor, bleeding. His eyes were disappointed as he glared down at his child. “I’ve officially had enough of your stunts, Ariana. I’m cutting you and your stepmother off as of right now.”
“What?!” Ariana exclaimed, her voice muffled as she continued to hold her hands over her nose. “But Daddy..!”
“Let’s see how your attitude changes without my money to support you for the next year or so, girl. Maybe if you can prove to me you can be a decent human being we will revisit the subject.”
“Cecil, you don’t mean that.” Monica stepped around her now sobbing stepdaughter. “You wouldn’t...”
“Watch me.” Cecil’s voice was cold, hard. His eyes emotionless as he glared at his e
x-wife. I honestly didn’t understand why he still supported the woman after so many years of being divorced, but I thought it might have something to do with his love for Harper.
“Shane, I think it’s time to cut the cake.” Emmie touched my arm. “I’m sure everyone could use some dessert. I’ll make sure security sees these lovely ladies off the property.”
My gaze went from Harper and Dallas, to Cecil and my new mother-in-law, to the sobbing mess on the floor before finding Emmie’s green eyes. “Are you okay?” I murmured, concerned with the paleness of her face. “Did she hurt you?” I hadn’t seen Ariana touch Emmie, but if she had I was going to kill the bitch!
One side of Emmie’s mouth lifted in a forced smile. “It’s just been a long day, Shane. Go, I’ll take care of this mess.”
“I don’t know what I would do without you, Em.” I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I don’t ever want to find out.”
--
The limo was waiting outside.
With the cake cut and all of our guests pigging out on the decadent dessert, I was ready to take my bride home, strip her of the expensive dress she was wearing, and make love to her. I licked my lips, tasting the sweet lemon flavor of the icing that still lingered at the corner of my mouth after Harper had shoved the first bite into my face.
“We’re leaving!” I announced to the room at large, not caring that it was still early.
Harper, who was just a few feet away—which was as far as I was letting her get since her mother and stepsister had been escorted out by three burly men in suits—turned her head to glance at me. From the look in those violet eyes I knew she was anticipating what was about to come just as much as I was. “Let’s go.”
“But she still has to throw the bouquet!” Jenna whined from behind me and I sighed.
“Fine,” I grumbled, feeling like a petulant child being denied my favorite toy. “Throw the damn thing,” I told Harper, my bottom lip pouting out.
She giggled and wrapped herself around me, kissing away my pout. “It will only take a minute,” she whispered, her fingers roaming over my chest as she kissed me again. “Go tell the guys and Emmie bye. While I take care of this.”
I didn’t move. There was no use in telling them goodbye since we weren’t leaving the next morning for Mexico as expected. I wasn’t going to waste a second. As soon as she threw the bouquet I was tossing her over my shoulder and we were going home.
Rolling her eyes at my stubbornness she picked the flowers up from the table behind me as the wedding planner asked all the unmarried ladies to group together. Walking over to the group, Harper turned her back to them and slung the bouquet over her shoulder without glancing behind her…
Dallas’s not so quietly growled curse was all I needed to know that she had caught the flowers. I glanced around for Axton, curious as to his reaction. He wasn’t even looking in Dallas’s direction, but standing in a corner with his phone to his ear talking to someone. He didn’t look happy, and his gaze kept going toward Liam’s general direction. Trouble for sure.
Deciding that I wasn’t going to worry about my friend, I took a step toward Harper. Without even realizing it I broke into a run and scooped her into my arms without breaking stride toward the closest exit. “Now, let’s go home,” I growled against her ear.
She shivered and like always my body went rock hard knowing that she was so turned on. Behind us I heard people shouting, felt the gentle fall of birdseed, but paid no attention to any of it as I slipped inside the back of the limo with Harper on my lap. No sooner than the car was in motion was Harper working on getting my shirt off. There was no way in hell we would be able to make it home before either of us exploded.
I lifted her and set her on the long bench seat, then sat on the floor and started pushing the skirt of her dress up, kissing my way up her legs as inch by inch her skin was exposed. I stopped when I reached her lacy white panties, licking over the damp center before reaching for the hem of the almost-virginal underwear.
The feel of something like a bandage distracted me. Concerned that she had been hurt and I hadn’t known I lifted my head to inspect the bandage that went across her lower abdomen. “What’s this?” I asked her, raising my eyes to capture her gaze in the dim lighting of the limo.
Harper bit her lip. “I wanted to surprise you…” she said hesitantly. “If you don’t like it I’ll have it covered up with something else.”
My eyes widened. “A tattoo?” She nodded. “Fuck, I have to see this!” I gently lifted one edge of the bandage and pulled until the skin between her pelvic bones was exposed.
The sight that greeted me made my breath catch in my throat. My name was written on her flesh, with the ‘S’ designed like a demon’s wing and the ‘e’ like a demon’s tail. It was all blood red with black shading and I knew that Drake had to have designed the ink that now branded my girl. The sight of my name had never turned me on before, but at this moment in time I was sure I was going to explode all over the beautiful creature spread out on the seat before me.
“D-do you like it?”
“It’s perfect, beautiful,” I assured her, tenderly tracing my finger along each letter. “I love it… I love you, Harper.”
Chapter 10
Axton
The background from the wedding was making it hard to hear the woman on the other end of the phone. It wasn’t that I wanted to know what she was saying, but that I needed to know. She wouldn’t have called me unless absolutely necessary. That was the way our relationship was these days.
Gabriella Moreitti called only when she absolutely had to.
I understood her reasons for keeping her distance. I kept mine for the same ones. We had really screwed each other up, and while my friends were all loyal and assumed that Brie had been the one to cause all of the problems we’d had in our chaotic, batshit crazy romance, I couldn’t let her take all the blame.
I had been messed up in the head. Thinking I was in love with one person, hiding those feelings as much as possible by diving head first into a relationship that was only about lust—and yeah, even that hadn’t lasted for very long. Problem was I had been in love with the idea of being in love and Brie had been just as stubborn about her own feelings about someone else. While we had tried to hide how we really felt we had pretended to ourselves we loved each other.
She had seen right through me while it had taken me a few months, but I had finally put together who she had been messed up over.
Now we tried to stay friends, or at least be civil with each other. My friendship with Brie’s cousin, Alexis—or LeeLee as Brie tended to call her—pretty much made sure that we saw each other regularly. Her career kept throwing us together in the rock world. We couldn’t really avoid each other if we tried.
“He’s definitely using again, Ax.” Brie’s ever so subtly Italian accent was more pronounced when she was upset. “I’ve found three eight balls of coke alone and a meth pipe. He has this shit in my apartment! Jordan is here almost every weekend. If he found this stuff…” she broke off, swearing in Italian and I couldn’t blame her. I was cursing mentally myself.
Jordan, Alexis and Jared’s son, was just a few months younger than Mia. I was Uncle Ax to both those little rotten babies and I would kill anyone who hurt them. “I know, Brie,” I told her, glancing toward the table where Wroth, Marissa, and Liam were sitting. Devlin and Harris were standing beside them, talking and laughing as they watched Zander dancing with Shane’s stepmother.
I’d had big plans for tonight. All of them had included Dallas being naked and in my arms. Cursing, I turned away from the sight of my bandmates having a seemingly good time and glared out the window into the gardens Shane and Harper had gotten married in just a few hours ago. “I’ll be there in twenty minutes, Brie. Don’t touch anything. I’ll help you find the rest…”
“Rest? There is more of this shit?” she yelled into the receiver and I grimaced as her shrill voice made my ears ring.
“There’s al
ways more,” I told her honestly. “He hides that shit everywhere. Just keep calm and I’ll be right over.”
“I’m over this!” she whispered so low that I had to strain to hear her. “I’m so completely over this shit.”
“Twenty minutes,” I repeated before disconnecting and pocketing my phone.
“Twenty minutes?” I turned to find Dallas standing behind me. Her hair was a sexy mess, her eyes slightly over bright, and she was carrying the bouquet. Damn, I’d missed her catching it! “Are you leaving?”
“Something has come up.” She raised a brow and I grimaced. “I have to take care of something. There’s no telling how long it will take, but I’ll call you as soon as I’m through.”
When I reached for her to kiss her she took a step back. “Are you leaving because of Gabriella Moreitti?” There was no right answer to that question, I was sure. If I said no, I would be lying. If I said yes, she was going to think all the wrong things. When I didn’t immediately answer her, Dallas laughed. “Of course. I’m an idiot for thinking differently. Not thirty minutes ago you said you wanted to talk, but I’m pretty sure we don’t have anything left to say to each other.”
“You’re wrong,” I told her, wishing I had time to convince her differently. But I knew that if I didn’t get to Brie’s apartment in the time frame I had promised she would probably call the cops. She might love Liam Bryant, but she wasn’t going to let him endanger her nephew. “I’ll call you later, Dallas. I’ll explain everything then, but I really have to get going.”
“Don’t bother. I’m through. Thanks for the sex fest the other night. It was the closure I seriously needed.” She pushed the bridal bouquet against my chest. “Here, take the chick some flowers. I really don’t want them.”
She walked away before I could open my mouth. I took one step, ready to follow her when Wroth stopped me. “Looked like an intense conversation you were having on the phone earlier. Everything okay?”