My Accidental Forever (Love You Forever Book 5)

by Alexis Winter

  Fifteen

  Harley

  I can’t even begin to explain how happy I am in this moment. He loves me. He loves me and wants to stay married to me! And the best part is that I didn’t have to go through all the stress of a wedding. I got to skip right over the part I hate and just get the happy ending. Most girls would say I’m crazy, but I think I’m lucky. I’m lucky I found him. I’m lucky he chose me. I’m lucky because I get to keep him forever.

  He picks me up and carries me to the bedroom. We’re pulling clothes off each other along the way. My dress gets unzipped on the walk to the bedroom, and by the time we reach the bed, it’s already fallen down around my hips. When he lays me down, he pulls the dress the rest of the way off as he crawls up my body, pressing soft kisses to my skin along the way. He kisses his way up my stomach. When he comes to my breasts, he stops, reaches behind me, and unsnaps my bra. With one swift movement, the material is gone and his hot mouth closes in on a nipple.

  My hands move up to fist in his hair, pulling him closer as his tongue flicks against me. His hips are already grinding against my core, bringing my body alive. I’m practically drowning in my need for him. I can’t believe he’s my husband and we get to spend the rest of our lives together.

  With that thought, it feels like my body is going to explode if I don’t feel him moving inside me soon. I release his hair and move to unfasten his pants. His belt buckle clinks as I roughly rip the zipper down. I push his pants and boxers down at the same time and he springs free. My hand works him up and down. My thumb moves over his tip, spreading the slickness there. Suddenly, his breathing is hard and rushed as he removes his mouth from me. His hands are quickly pushing my panties down my legs, and the moment I’m exposed, I run his tip between my slick folds.

  A deep moaning sound escapes his lips as he moves them up to press against mine. The moment our lips touch, his back arches and his tip slides into me. With one jerk, he’s filling me completely. I let out a relieved moan as I dig my fingernails into his back, wanting and needing more of him. His hands tour my body as he thrusts deeply into me and our mouths never part. It’s like neither of us can get enough of the other.

  My entire body begins to tighten and tingle, and I can tell my release is building higher and higher. When it can climb no higher, it shatters and breaks, raining down on me until it feels like ice is running through my veins. The feeling is so cold it’s white-hot. My lungs forget to work but my heart is racing faster than it ever has before. I whimper into his mouth as I lose all control of my body, and this only makes him thrust into me harder and deeper.

  When my release ends, my body feels weak and limp, but he isn’t done with me yet. No, he rolls us over so I’m on top of him, his hands on my hips. Slowly, he lifts me up and yanks me back down. The feeling is enough to bring my body back to life until I can remember how to move on my own. I place my hands on his chest, my fingers splayed out as I lift, and lower myself up and down his length. When there’s no more of him to fit inside me, I grind against him, hitting all the right nerve endings in my clit. His hands tighten on my hips and I know he wants me to move faster, so I repeat the process until I can’t stand it anymore. I lose myself in him again, calling out his name.

  This time, he lifts me off of him and I fall onto the bed at his side, but he has other plans. He grabs my hips and rolls me over on my stomach. Then he pulls me upward until my ass is in the air. He slides into me from behind and I call out from the pleasure. This position makes him feel bigger, like he’s going deeper. His hands stay tight on my hips as he thrusts into me. I can’t do anything but hold on to the sheets for dear life as it feels like I might just float right over the edge of the earth. His thrusts become faster, rougher, more erratic. His breathing becomes louder and his hands tighten more. I wouldn’t be surprised if I had bruises on my hips tomorrow, but I don’t mind. I like the thought of being claimed by him, branded by his handprints. I feel his sticky warmth spread through me as a loud growl rips from his lips. His hips start to slow but his thrusts have just as much power as before. He doesn’t stop until he has nothing left to give. Then he slumps over my back, pressing soft kisses along my shoulder.

  “I love you, Harley,” he whispers, and hearing those words now feels just as good as they did the first time I heard them.

  “I love you too, Foster,” I reply, completely collapsing on the mattress.

  He falls to my side and pulls me against his chest. He’s breathing just as loud and hard as I am. I can feel his heart pounding through his chest against my back, and I feel the tickle of his breath blowing against my neck. My eyes flutter closed as a warmth spreads through me. For the first time, I know exactly how I’ll spend every single night of the rest of my life, and it looks a lot like this. Just the two of us holding on to one another tightly as the rest of the world passes us by. We’re in our own little world now, and it’s better than anything else I’ve ever seen. The thought of being with one person for the rest of my life isn’t scary anymore. In fact, it’s more exciting than I thought possible. I don’t know exactly how we’ll end up, but I know that whatever happens, we’ll be together and we’ll be happy.

  I finally understand what my girlfriends have been trying to tell me. I didn’t understand before how someone could be so happy knowing they’d be with one person forever, but now it all makes sense. I guess all it took was finding the right person—the one who was made just for me. If they’re as happy as I am right now, then I can see how they could be so confused by how I was. I thought I wanted a life of being single, dating, and partying, but the life I now have couldn’t be any better. Foster and I can go anywhere we want and do anything we want, and the best part is, we’ll do it all together.

  “Harley?” he says my name from behind me.

  “Hmm?” I ask, unable to move an inch.

  “We have to get me a wedding band,” he says, and I can’t help but laugh.

  The last few months have been crazy. There’s been so much change that I’ve barely had time to process it all. We finally managed to get Foster a wedding band. It’s rose gold just like mine. It has two tiny little diamonds on the band. One to represent him and one for me. We even had it engraved with our names.

  After the wedding bands were done, we moved on to finding our forever home. We searched for weeks but couldn’t find anything that was just right. After seemingly turning over every rock, we finally decided to build like we’d originally planned. Foster managed to find the perfect piece of property: 40 acres of land with a gorgeous pond. There’s plenty of room for our home—a rather lavish house if you ask me! After seeing the blueprints, it’s more like a tiny mansion. There are five bedrooms, which will come in handy if we decide to have kids in the future. Plus there’s a living room, dining room, home office, chef’s kitchen, pantry, and four bathrooms, plus a pool and pool house that Foster’s already talking about turning into a gym.

  The shelter will be in the back. We’re going to have several outbuildings for the animals. One will be the main shelter area where the animals are kept. This building will contain my office. The vet’s office will be housed in another building, and it will include an indoor pool that will be used for canine exercise and rehab. There will also be a barn for any horses and farm animals in need of shelter. This is a big job and it will take a year to complete.

  In the meantime, we’re going to continue living at my place since he’s already given up his apartment. It’s a longer drive to his office, but he doesn’t seem to mind much—not since he’s been so busy at work lately. His father stepped down and retired, leaving him the company as promised. One month after taking on the role of CEO, Bianca’s father sold him his company, so Foster’s been working on the merger ever since. The two companies becoming one was a huge move that has a lot of people talking. It’s nearly tripled the company’s net worth and he couldn’t be happier.

  While he’s been swamped at the office and we’ve been working with the construction compa
ny to build our new forever home, I’ve kept my job at the shelter and maintained a normal routine. Our lives have been crazy busy lately, but we’re finally getting some time off because Cora’s wedding is this weekend. Foster helps me load my dress, shoes, and bag into the car.

  “You promise you won’t be late?” I ask grabbing ahold of his T-shirt and pulling him up to me.

  He laughs. “I promise. I just have to go to the office and sign some papers. Then I’ll come home, shower, dress up all snazzy for ya, and be there by the time you walk down the aisle.”

  “You better be,” I playfully threaten, pulling him in for a kiss.

  After several long minutes of kissing each other goodbye, he pulls away and goes walking backward toward the house while I climb behind the wheel to make the drive over to the church. I manage to carry everything in myself and find Cora pacing the floor in her private room. Her wide eyes find me the moment I walk into the room.

  “Getting nervous?” I ask, setting down my things.

  She walks over, grabbing my wrist and pulling me down to the couch. “Harley, you would tell me if you thought I was making a mistake, right?”

  I smile. “Of course not,” I say playfully.

  She gasps and it makes me laugh. “It doesn’t matter what I think, Cora. All that matters is what you think. Do you think you’re making a mistake?”

  “I don’t know! I didn’t think I was, but now I do. Maybe.”

  “That’s just nerves,” I tell her, wanting to soothe her worries.

  “How did you do it? How did you work up the courage to get married?”

  I laugh. “Remember who you’re talking to? I got hammered. That’s how I did it, but I don’t think they’d let you get wasted in a church,” I laugh out.

  She starts worrying her bottom lip.

  “Hey, calm down,” I say, reaching out to rub my hands up and down her biceps. “Why do you think you’re making a mistake?”

  “Well . . .” she starts, trying to think over her reasoning. “First off, I’m scared that he’s not the man I fell in love with, you know? When we were dating, he was always in a good mood. He was always down to have fun and go out, but lately, he’s been so moody. There have been a few times I think he started a fight hoping I’d call off the wedding. He didn’t want to be involved in any of the planning either. He didn’t even want to pick the cool parts of the reception—not the music, food, or drinks. I’m scared to death he’s going to runaway groom me, and that makes me want to runaway bride him first so he can’t.”

  I laugh and shake my head. “That’s not going to happen, Cora. Look, you’re just stressed out from all this planning, and he’s probably stressed out from work and seeing you so stressed. After today, everything will go back to normal and you guys can get your normal lives back. Everyone feels nervous before their wedding.”

  “Not you,” she points out.

  “If I’d known what was happening, I probably would’ve been.”

  She giggles. “Leave it to you to stumble into a marriage.”

  I shrug. “Hey, we can’t all be as cool as me. Some of us just have to do things the usual way.”

  She laughs and shakes her head. “I’m sure you’re right; I’m just being silly.”

  “Exactly. Now come on . . . let’s get you dolled up.”

  She giggles as happiness takes over.

  She sits at the vanity and I work on pulling her hair into a loose updo with a few strands hanging out that I run a curling iron through to frame her face with soft curls. Once her hair is done, I place her veil comb in and move on to her makeup.

  I keep everything light and shimmery. I dust highlighter over her high cheekbones, fill her brows in perfectly, and shimmer up her eyes. We top it off with soft pink lipstick and a layer of shiny gloss. Once her hair and makeup are done, she moves over to the couch with a glass of wine to relax with her feet in a foot bath while I do my own hair and makeup.

  “Where are the rest of the girls?” I ask, running the curling iron through my hair.

  She giggles. “I didn’t want this to be a party. I wanted a little quiet time . . . so I told them to come already dressed closer to the start of the wedding.”

  I laugh and shake my head. “You’re awful.”

  She shrugs. “Oh well. They’re great and all, but you know we wouldn’t get a quiet minute if they were all here right now.”

  “True,” I agree, going back to my hair.

  Cora and I talk while she enjoys her wine and I finish getting ready. Finally, it’s time to put on the dresses. I help her into hers and take a step back to admire it. It really does look perfect on her. I put on my dress and we take a picture. The girls start filtering into the room one by one and two by two until everyone’s arrived and the room is just as loud as a nightclub.

  “See? Told ya,” she says only to me, making me laugh.

  There’s a knock at the door, and with Cora busy with the girls, I go to answer it. The wedding planner is on the other side and I step out to hear what she’s trying to tell me.

  “Don’t panic,” she starts.

  “Panic? Why would I panic?” I ask, feeling the panic setting in.

  “The groom is MIA.”

  My eyes stretch wide. “What? What do you mean MIA? He’s missing?”

  She looks nervous as she nods her head. “None of the groomsmen know where he is. All they know is that he said he was going out for some air and now no one can find him.”

  “Fuck,” I breathe out, resisting the urge to run my hands through my hair. “Okay, you check inside the church—every room you can. Got it? Open every single door. I’ll go look outside and around the property.”

  She nods and we go in separate directions. I make my way outside the church rather quickly, without drawing too much attention. I look around the entire perimeter of the building, half expecting to find him leaned against the wall smoking a cigarette or something, but I come up empty-handed. I make my way out to the parking lot and notice his red SUV isn’t here, but there is an empty spot next to Cora’s silver Cruze.

  Fuck. He really did pull a runaway groom.

  My phone is still in my hand and I call the number that Cora gave me in case she didn’t answer her phone. I’ve never called it before, so he shouldn’t have my number. On the fifth ring, he answers.

  “Hello?”

  “Jimmy?”

  “Who is this?”

  “It’s Harley, you dipshit.”

  “Oh,” is all he says.

  “Oh? Where are you? You are aware you’re getting married in 20 minutes, right?”

  “I’m sorry, Harley, but I can’t.”

  “What do you mean you can’t?” I nearly yell.

  “I just can’t. I’m sorry to have to do this, but I’m not getting married today. Please tell Cora that I’m sorry, but I think we jumped into this a little fast. I tried to tell her many times over the last few months, but I couldn’t get the words out and I ran out of time. I just . . . don’t love her like that.”

  “Like what?” I can feel my anger simmering over now.

  “I don’t love her enough to marry her. I thought I did, but I don’t. I’m sorry it took me so long to realize it.”

  Cora’s the best woman I know and she would make any man a damn good wife. Screw him for not being able to see that. He deserves to have his balls ripped off and handed to him.

  “You know what, Jimmy?” I ask but he doesn’t answer. “You’re nothing but a fucking loser anyway. You think Cora isn’t good enough to marry? Well, let me tell you something. You’re the loser here, not her. All you did was save her the trouble of having to put up with your scrawny ass. You don’t deserve her and you never will. I hope you get what’s coming to you, because you do not and will not ever deserve someone as good as Cora. You got that?” I ask, but all I hear is the line going dead. He hung up on me! That stupid piece of—

  “Harley? What are you doing out here?” Cora asks, coming up behind me.
r />   I relax my face before turning around to address her. “Honey, we need to talk,” I say in the calmest voice I can muster.

  “What’s going on?” she asks, worry now filling her tone as I grab her arm and pull her over to a bench that sits in front of the church.

  “I have something difficult to tell you. I wish more than anything I didn’t have to tell you this, but someone has to, and I’m the only one here, so I guess it falls to me.”

  “Harley, just spit it out. What’s going on?”

  I take a deep breath. “Jimmy left. He’s not coming back. He doesn’t . . . He’s not . . . I’m so sorry, honey.” I reach out and rub my hand up and down her back.

  She’s frozen, staring off into space. “So, he runaway groomed me,” she states flatly.

  “I’m so sorry, Cora, but look at it this way: at least now you won’t be stuck married to that loser.”

  A sob breaks free and it cuts right through me.

  I pull her closer so she can cry on my shoulder. “Maybe you were nervous because deep down you knew this wasn’t meant to be.” I rub my hand up and down her back.

  She nods but continues to cry, and I let her. I don’t know what to say to take this pain away, so I just let her know I’m here. The wedding planner finds us after a while, and the moment she sees Cora, she knows what’s going on. I wave her off before Cora sees her.

  “What am I going to do now, Harley? What am I supposed to tell all those people in there?”

  “You don’t have to tell them anything. I’ll do it.”

  She shakes her head. “I can’t believe this.”

  “Just go home, honey. I’ll take care of everything and I’ll come by as soon as it’s done, okay?”

  She nods and we both stand up to head toward her car.

  I retrieve Cora’s things and take them back out. The girls were so busy celebrating on Cora’s behalf that they didn’t even notice what I was doing. After Cora leaves, I go back inside to explain to them first.