by Flite, Nora
The wooden ramp from the dock to the Annie May stretched in front of me. I had an unblocked view of the commotion. Ben was standing on the ramp dressed in a wrinkled pair of black pants and an untucked white shirt, his red tie knotted around his throat like he'd tied it with one hand while driving.
Behind him, looking unsure what to do, was my wedding coordinator—a lovely woman named Mindy—and one of the boat's staff. They were trying to coerce Ben to follow them down the ramp. He ignored them, facing off with two more staff who were chatting into their phones, probably calling for help. “Let me on!” he yelled again. He flapped a piece of paper in their faces. Pink and white... my digital invitation he'd printed himself.
My mom gave me a tug. “Don't go up there!” she warned me. “You're the bride, it's not your job to play security!”
I shook my arm to get her loose, taking another step forward. “These heels will still look great after I jam one into his forehead, trust me.”
“Let someone else handle this, Maya.”
That was a nice idea. But I was worried that if I waited for someone to fix this, it would be too late. Ben was swaying, shouting, red-faced. He'd come here to hurt me and he knew exactly how to do it.
Aubrey stomped down the ramp, her earrings glinting as they bounced on her ears. Ben saw her coming. His smirk was toothy, it faltered slightly when my friend got right in his face, ready to brawl. “Get the hell out of here, asshole!”
“I was invited—” She snatched the invite and threw it into the water below. Ben was briefly stunned, but his eyes darkened, his voice matching. “You bitch. You think you're helping her, huh? She's too much of a coward to let everyone see her, the real her, so she sent you?”
“What nonsense is that? Move on, Ben. You two are over with. Stop stirring up shit, it's not cute.”
His chest puffed up. “You think you know everything about Maya, don't you? You've got no idea. No one does. I'm going to fix that.”
My heart was racing but his threat sent it into overdrive. “Stop him,” I said out loud, but only my mother could hear me. We were alone, watching from a distance as my ex prepared to do the one thing I was terrified of. He was going to spill the secrets I'd trusted him with when we were lying in the dark. Things I'd only told him because I'd loved him, and I'd thought, naively, that he'd loved me.
Aubrey backed up when Ben lunged forward. More people had arrived—guests who knew me gathering at the bottom of the ramp, wanting to get on the boat for the wedding, ready to share a moment of bliss that was quickly turning into my personal nightmare.
“Go home, Ben,” Aubrey said.
“Not yet.”
“You're not going to get a chance to make some grand objection to her wedding.”
Ben stumbled up towards the boat. “Tell her I'm here! I want to see her, to see the look in her eyes when I tell all her friends and family the truth about her! Maya!” he shouted, lips curling cruelly. “Maya! Get out here! Or are you too scared to let everyone see the real you? Shouldn't everyone know, if you're so proud of it?”
I clutched at the front of my dress. It was too tight, everything was too tight. I couldn't breathe.
“Go. Now.” Aubrey stated flatly.
“She's twisted.” Ben laughed in a broken way. “Do you think her fiancé knows? I thought he did, but maybe he doesn't. Maybe I'm the only one who knows Maya's messed up little head.”
Hot shame made me stumble; my mother caught me, looking from my face, to the scene on the dock. “Maya, calm down, you need to breathe,” she soothed me.
I sensed her unease. In a second, she... and everyone... was going to learn my kinky perversions. Ben was eager to spill what he'd called my sickness. He was determined to wreck my wedding. I should have been more worried he'd try something like this after what happened at my apartment. I was so stupid. So blind. Now it was too late.
Someone broke from the crowd at the base of the ramp. The tall woman stormed up to Ben from behind, and without a word, she jammed her hip against him so hard he toppled sideways. With a pathetic scream, he landed in the river.
“Is that who I think it is?” I asked.
“Yeah. That's my sister,” Mom replied in amazement.
Jemine folded her arms, casting a disgusted look at Ben as he sputtered, swimming towards the shore. “What a pain in the ass,” she shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. “This is a wedding, not a daytime talk show. Who cares what some jilted ex has to say?”
Aubrey's mouth had fallen open. Now she laughed, shaking her head in shock. As my aunt walked up the ramp to pass, my best friend held up her hand. They high-fived, both of them grinning, and the crowd took that as the cue to file onto the boat.
“Come on,” my mom said, pulling me into my room. “Don't let anyone see you before the ceremony.”
I gripped the railing. “Wait.”
“Maya, please, what now?”
“Just... one more second.” Leaning over the boat, I gazed down into the murky river. Ben was finally at the shore where some security guards had arrived with a paramedic and a ladder. They lowered it down, motioning for him to climb it. He started to, but his hands slipped, and he looked ridiculous as he struggled up the rungs with his drenched outfit clinging to his body. People on the dock were taking photos. His whole face was glowing crimson from humiliation. His tie got tangled on his arm; he fell back, one of the guards snatched at him, and all it achieved was Ben's shirt getting ripped off before he tumbled, again, into the river.
My mom stood next to me. “You're smiling.”
“Am I?” I asked innocently.
“You know... I'm so glad you didn't marry a joker like him,” she sighed. We shared a look, and then we both laughed, hugging each other tight.
“Okay,” I said, lifting my chin high. “I'm ready now.”
The ceremony was a blur.
I don't know why I spent all that time choosing flowers, and center pieces, and table clothes. There could have been nothing on that boat except me and Conner, and I would have been just as happy.
But I knew some moments would be crystal clear for me as long as I lived. Like when the band began to play. It was the group that had performed on the Annie May the night Conner brought me here. I'd wanted them for the wedding, but I was worried they might not want to do a musical mash-up with Cynthia Southerbee.
To my delight, they were excited to work together.
With my chin shaking from emotion, I walked down the aisle of cherry blossoms strewn across the top deck of the boat to the sound of gentle guitar strings and brass. Friends and family sat on either side, all eyes on me, their joy enhancing my own.
I clutched the bouquet of blue tulips and baby's breath for comfort. My grandfather's happy smile was my focus. He'd wrapped a white ribbon around his cane. Taking my fingers in his, we walked slowly towards the end of the boat.
Towards Conner.
Towards my future.
THERE WERE UNCOUNTABLE stars in the sky. I tried anyway, leaning on the boat's railing as the wind cooled the sweat on the back of my neck. The hour was late but people lingered, dancing on every level of the boat, and even the dock below, where the Annie May was moored.
On my way to the top deck, I'd passed my mother and aunt. Their bodies were hunched close, heads bent as they spoke in whispers. I didn't know what they were saying but their body language made me think it was good stuff. Important stuff. I hoped, anyway.
There was a gentle scuffle behind me. Fingers brushed my bare shoulder, teasing a curl of my hair-do that had come undone during our first dance. “Hello, wife,” Conner chuckled.
I thrilled at that. “Hello, husband.” I'd kissed him so many times today; I kissed him now, and I'd kiss him again soon. “Is everyone drunk?” I asked.
“Most people. The boat is slowly clearing out. Mindy is politely telling them it's time to go, while informing me if they don't all disembark, I'm paying for another hour.”
“I'm glad they want
to stay,” I said, gazing back up at the stars. “I get it. I'm tired, but I also never want our wedding to end.”
“I could keep renting the boat but after a few weeks, it will be costly.” He grinned as he put his elbows on the railing next to me, following my eyes to the black, inky sky. “Are you looking at something up there?”
“Kind of.”
“Kind of?”
“It's silly,” I said, chewing my lip. He arched his eyebrows, which made me smile through my blush. “I was just thinking they looked different.”
“The stars?”
“Yeah. Don't you think so?” Propping my chin on my fist, I studied the twinkling lights, marveling at them where they hung in space. “Maybe it's because we're on the boat and it's not raining this time. Or maybe it's all in my head. I don't know, I just... think they look brighter tonight.”
Conner was silent. When I looked over, I saw he was staring at me with adoration. No mask, no attempt to hide it, this was a man head over heels in love. “They're not brighter, Maya. You are. You're what's different. Do you feel it? This happiness? It's coming off of you in waves, and I don't doubt for a second that it's so intense, it's reflecting off of the stars in the sky for the world to see.”
I was dumbstruck. What was the point of words? This moment required nothing but our hearts beating to our personal song, our silky lips linking together like magnets. This was what it meant to love with all you were.
“Let's get out of here,” he said in a hush.
Rational, practical, perfectionist me would have cautioned against leaving before we'd said goodbye to all the guests. There was paperwork to sign, gifts to gather, hugs to give.
I kissed my husband beneath the stars. “Take me home.”
Chapter 23
A Million Ever Afters
I'D SPENT A LONG TIME weaving myself into my corset-style wedding dress. It took one minute for Conner to rip it off of me. The snow-white layers of lace and tulle crumbled to the floor like a cocoon.
I stood in the middle of it. Reborn.
Ready for him.
His eyes devoured me. “My beautiful wife,” he breathed. “You didn't wear panties to your own wedding?”
I trapped my bottom lip in my teeth, glowing pink under his observation. “Everyone says the bride gets her way.”
“All day, as you walked the aisle... as you danced in my arms... were you dripping wet, waiting for me to find out?” His tone went deep as a black-hole. “I'm going to love making you scream my name tonight.”
“Tonight, unlike other nights?”
“Yes.” He grew more serious by the second. “Tonight is different. Tonight we're finally married.”
My knees softened, legs shaking. He had such a carnal look on his face I was overwhelmed. He was right—this felt different.
Hooking his fingers in his tie, he tugged it loose, fingers removing his vest, his shirt buttons, until he wore nothing but his belted black pants and dress shoes. “Get on the bed.” I did, but when I laid down, he shook his head. “On your knees, spread them. I want to look at my wife's pussy.”
My legs slid over the silky sheets. The surface of my skin vibrated, my anticipation making me breathe faster and faster. The bed felt creamy as cake frosting on my inner thighs where it cupped my snatch.
His nostrils flared wide. Winding his belt from the loops, he wrapped it around my middle. He dropped to his knees, yanking me towards the end of the bed. “Ah!” I gasped.
Conner looked longingly at my pussy, he was a few inches away from it. He breathed out warm air—I wiggled with a whimper. “I've been wanting to eat my wife's pussy since she slid a ring on my finger.” He squeezed my thigh on purpose, making me look at the simple white gold band he wore. I'd trembled violently when I pushed it to his knuckle during the ceremony.
He spread his tongue flat on my clit. I twitched automatically, the belt locked me against his face. Conner licked my pussy up and down, devouring it like it was a lollipop with a secret hidden in the center, a secret he had to discover.
His palms mauled my ass-cheeks as he dipped his lips along my vulva. I followed his motions with my hips, rocking on his face, driving myself towards a fast orgasm. Closing my eyes tight, I bridged my upper body, shoulders jamming onto the mattress.
“Look at me.”
My eyes snapped open at his command. He stared at me from between my thighs, irises roiling like the center of a typhoon. “My wife's cunt is delicious,” he panted.
I tore at the blankets as I came, knees vicing his temples, legs taut down to my curling toes, and he still nibbled my swollen clit until one orgasm rolled naturally into a second.
Conner threw the belt aside, pushing me up the bed until my head was on the fluffy pillows. His chin was dripping—he kissed me, let me taste myself.
He shoved his pants down his pelvis, then his briefs, his shaft jutting proudly against my belly. His attention left me for a moment while he reached into the bedside table.
I laid my hand on his. “No condom.”
He scrutinized me, flipping the foil packet back and forth. “You're sure?”
“More than ever.”
His grin split his face; he threw the condom across the room, sweeping me into his arms. He was the comet to my crater. I couldn't move beneath him as he spread me wide, nudging the pre-cum-slick tip of his naked cock along my entrance. I'd felt him condom-free in my hand, in my mouth, but that was comparing fast food to a gourmet 5 star meal.
“Conner! Conner!” I sang his name, and it was the last thing I said that made any sense. His shaft buried in me in its full glory. Every vein, every inch of warm skin, he gave it to me. It was mine.
His heart pulsed through the root of his cock. “You're so tight,” he panted. “What a hungry pussy you have, sweet girl. I'm obsessed. Did you know? How fucking obsessed I am with you?”
I bit the pillow and squealed.
“Maya, fuck... Maya, Maya...” He called my name between each thrust. It changed in my ears. “My wife, my wife...”
At the altar we'd spoken our vows for an audience. I'd shed tears, laughed nervously, all through each sentence written for him. But in the darkness of his bedroom, nothing but sweat and breath between us, we spoke our true vows. This wasn't a performance. It was a shredding of the last remnants of anything holding us back. He knew me as I was—down to my bones. And I knew him.
“I love you,” I groaned, my hips rising to meet his. I'd been a giant knot of pleasure with no where to go—then I came, the release so massive I went limp. He kept pounding me, making up for my worthless muscles with his wild lust.
He kissed my ears, my temples, whispering against my skin so softly I heard nothing but a frantic rumble. His cock expanded in me. “My perfect wife,” he hissed. I heard that clear as a bell.
His seed filled me up, spurt after spurt of thick, wet heat. I had a crazy thought I blamed on my over-stimulated brain. This idea that his essence was swimming up me, through me, creating something new as we laid there hours after becoming man and wife.
But that was stupid.
That wasn't how pregnancy worked.
And still... I loved the idea.
Conner propped himself above me on his hands, his prick buried inside me still. His forehead was damp from exertion. The way he smiled at me made me blush—I cupped the nape of his neck, dragging him close for a long, tongue tangling kiss. “I love you,” he murmured.
“I love you, too.”
He cringed as he slid his semi-firm cock free, but he stayed between my legs, on top of me. “Now that it's too late for you to run off, I have something to say.”
“Haha, very funny. Like I'd run away from this.” I kissed his chest, smiling to ease the mood. He didn't smile back. My nerves began to itch. “What do you need to tell me?”
“The day I proposed to you. The first time.” His fingers tenderly dragged a curl of red hair from my forehead. “Do you remember how you whispered Neptune to begin the scen
e?”
I swallowed loudly. “Of course I do.”
“You said something else first.”
Conner watched me closely, like he could see each thought as it flashed behind my eyeballs. I knew what I'd done that day. “It was a mistake,” I whispered. “The waitress behind you was distracting me.”
“A man's heart is fragile, Maya. And never more so than when he gets on one knee and offers himself up to a woman.” He planted a kiss on the corner of my mouth. It was lighter than a snowflake. “That day, I asked you to marry me, and before you began our roleplay... you said yes.”
“I didn't mean it, though.”
“I think you did. I took your answer and I gripped it tight. In my soul, all that time you insisted we were a fake engagement, everything inside of me screamed it was real.”
My hands slid down his broad back, following the indentation of his spine. His silky skin brought a comfortable distraction. I didn't know what to say... or what to feel.
“Conner,” I said slowly.
“Yeah?”
“I tried to think it wasn't real, up until it was, because it was safer that way. I was terrified of being hurt.” He crushed his weight on top of me, making it hard to talk, but I did my best. “Thing is, I was hurt. Fucking crazy hurt. And I wouldn't have been if, on some level, I didn't think our engagement was real from the beginning, too.”
“That makes me so happy, Maya.” His face was buried in my hair—he inhaled the scent of me. His final admission... his last secret... took the rest of my energy away. I was bone-tired and it was glorious.
“It was a mistake,” I reiterated, closing my eyes as sleep began to claim me. “But what a happy mistake it turned out to be.”
THE WEDDING GIFTS WERE stacked around the living room. Aubrey had delivered them early this morning. She'd knocked gently, saw I was half-asleep in my satin robe, and had moved quickly to bring everything inside before making herself scarce.
