Kings of Anarchy

by Caroline Peckham

  I barked a laugh as we took off down the street again and her arms closed tight around my waist as I gave the bike a shot of power and raced towards the church behind Niall. The empty streets certainly made speeding a lot easier and we were somehow lucky enough to avoid any patrolling police vehicles who were out to enforce lockdown too. Though I was willing to bet that had a fair bit to do with the police scanner Niall had in his car.

  When we pulled up outside the huge, stone church, I found the smile on my face practically branded there. I was about to marry the most beautiful, smart-mouthed, badass girl I'd ever seen, piss Saint off better than ever before and get one up on my miserable motherfucker of a grandfather all in one fell swoop. Not to mention the consummating. There was going to be a fuck ton of consummating for sure.

  I took Tatum's hand as I led her towards the front doors of the church, leaving our helmets hanging from the handlebars of my bike while Niall carried our new outfits inside for us.

  The doors were unlocked and when we stepped through them, I spotted Father Bernard and the old organist Mrs Presley lighting candles in anticipation of our arrival.

  "Ah, my children, what a joyous day this is," Father Bernard called as the heavy doors swung shut behind us and our footsteps echoed up the aisle towards him.

  There was no mention of the fact that he'd only had an hour's warning to prepare this and provide us with a second witness - he was professional at least. And Niall had assured me that he would cover all the legal aspects involved too. All we had to do was show up, say our vows, kiss the bride and then go home and consummate the fuck out of it and Tatum Rivers would be mine forevermore.

  "Let's get this over with quickly shall we, Father?" Niall said, grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "My pa has eyes and ears all over the city and I'm willing to bet we're on something of a time restraint here."

  "Is there somewhere I can get changed?" Tatum asked, plucking the white dress bag from Niall's arms.

  "I'll show you to the antechamber," Mrs Presley announced, bustling forward and leading Tatum away. I noticed she was maintaining her distance all the same and I wasn't complaining about that. I had no intention of getting close enough to anyone to risk catching the Hades Virus while we were out here.

  "Do you think she's gonna climb out the window and make a run for it, lad?" Niall asked with a laugh as he lay down in the front pew, tucking an arm behind his head.

  "Not a chance," I replied cockily and I was surprised to realise that I really was confident in that. And not just because Tatum knew she had to go through with this to be safe from my Grandpa, but because I was actually certain that she wasn't going to run from me. Not now. There was a time when I'd been sure she'd run from us one day and never once look back, but I realised that things had changed. We might still be a bunch of assholes who had bound her to our will, but we belonged to her now just as much as she belonged to us. She wasn't going anywhere, and neither were we. One way or another, the five of us just fit.

  I stripped down in the middle of the aisle, not giving a shit about the priest's blushes as he flipped through his oversized bible to find the part he needed.

  The suit I'd chosen was black with a black shirt to go beneath it. Nothing too unusual. But instead of pulling the jacket on, I tugged my own leather jacket over the dress shirt instead and I kicked my boots back on too. I hardly looked like the catalogue version of a groom, but my girl knew that wasn't what she was signing up for with me anyway.

  I began to loop the tie around my neck and then thought better of that as well, tossing it aside and leaving a few buttons undone so that some of my ink was left on show. I wasn't going to pretend during this. I wanted to marry my girl for real, not just for her safety and I wanted to give her a real version of me for it.

  Mrs Presley reappeared with a wide smile as she hurried over to take her place at the organ and Father Bernard beckoned me over to stand before him. I chose a spot six feet away just in case and Mrs Presley placed her fingers down on the keys of the organ and started up the traditional bridal march.

  My heart was pounding in my chest as I turned at the flash of white which caught my eye and I found Tatum standing at the far end of the aisle, clad in a figure hugging white lace dress which spilled into a long train behind her.

  She'd even pinned a veil in her hair and the sheer fabric hiding her face from me made me all kinds of excited to rip it the fuck off and look into her big blues.

  She made her way up the aisle while I fought against the urge to grab her and make her move faster, devouring her with my eyes and licking my lips as I took in the way the material clung to her curves.

  When she finally made it to me, I stepped forward and flipped the veil back so that I could look down at her.

  Tatum bit her lip as she looked up at me and I knew I was smirking at her like the cockiest bastard to ever grace the planet with the presence of my giant balls as the priest started reading out the vows.

  I only gave them half of my attention and Niall yelled at him to make it the abridged version which made Tatum laugh. But my ears perked up quick enough when it came to my turn to make my vows to her, though I may not have totally recited them the way he told me to.

  "I, Kyan Liam Roscoe, take you, Tatum Rivers to be my wife. I promise to be yours and only yours, to make you laugh and smile and come so often that you never want to get out of my bed. I'll protect you from anyone who might ever try and hurt you with the fury of a mad man and the precision of a butcher and I'll die for you without you even having to ask. I don't know how to love someone, baby, so I'll just promise to give you all of me, every dark, ruined, fucked up piece in any and every way that you might want it. And I swear that my heart won't ever beat for another woman the way that it races for you." I pushed the ring I'd already given her onto her finger for the second time today and the look she gave me had my entire world revolving around her. Every word I'd spoken to her was true and even if this whole thing might have been unplanned and more than a little insane, I knew for a fact that I would never regret this choice we were making.

  Tatum reached for me as I finished speaking, winding her arms around my neck even though she wasn't meant to and I smirked at her as I caught her waist and dragged her body flush with mine. But I didn't kiss her, not yet. I wanted to hear her say it too and I wanted our next kiss to be the one that sealed this fate.

  "I, Tatum Rivers, take you, Kyan Liam Roscoe to be my husband," she began and I swear the sound of those words on her lips had me fucking shackled to her already. "I promise to stand with you through all the darkness this world throws at us and give myself to you completely. I'll fight for you and with you and I'll beat your ass when you deserve it. And when you worship me with your body, I'll worship you right back. I never thought I'd bind myself to any man in marriage, so it makes sense for me to be joined with a monster instead. My heart beats for you in a way that makes me feel alive and I promise to make you feel alive every day that we spend together."

  I didn't wait for the priest's permission to kiss my girl, I just grabbed her and kissed her with a brutal intensity that left no room for breath or thoughts or even fucking prayers. I claimed her with my lips and kissed her with the profound depth of this secret promise we were making to each other. I'd already known that there was no turning back for me when it came to her, but now I'd sworn it before the entire world too.

  When we finally broke apart, Niall started whooping and clapping, taking countless pictures on his phone and looking like the maniac I knew he was.

  We signed the marriage register and Father Bernard gave us a fancy ass marriage certificate which I was going to hang in pride of place above my bed so that every time I fucked her in it I could look at it and see those words which said she belonged to me.

  Niall took on the job of phoning Liam and I gave some of my attention to listening to him explaining what had happened while the rest of my focus was on kissing my bride and running my hands over every inch of that dress.

/>   The lace was rough and smooth against my palms and she kept batting my hands away as I tugged at the tiny buttons securing it in place while she laughed in a way that held pure joy and set my heart alight with my own happiness.

  "He wants to talk to you," Niall interrupted me pawing at my girl and I forced myself to take one hand off of her as I leaned back against the pew and pressed the phone to my ear.

  "I hear congratulations are in order," Liam's voice came down the line and I couldn't help but laugh like the smug motherfucker I was.

  "Yeah. Well, I felt like the easiest way to express my feelings about my girl to you were with actions rather than words," I said. "Is this going to be a problem?"

  Tatum's hand curled around the lapel of my leather jacket and she tugged me towards her before running her lips along my neck and making me fight off a groan. I really wanted to be done with this conversation so that I could take her back home and get on with our wedding night.

  "Your disobedience hasn't gone unnoticed, but I appreciate your grit. I won't underestimate you again, lad," Liam said and I could have sworn the old bastard was smiling.

  "So we're good?" I clarified, not liking the twinge of pride I felt at out foxing him. I shouldn't have given a shit what he thought, but I guessed families were kind of fucked up like that. I might have hated mine but deep down inside, a part of me was still that kid who had ached to fit in with them.

  "We're good. I'll find another way to deal with our little problem. And feel free to get a baby in that girl's belly as soon as possible," he added. "There can never be enough O'Brien blood in the world."

  He cut the call before I answered that and I laughed with a mixture of relief and excitement as Tatum's teeth bit down on my neck.

  "So?" she demanded as I tossed Niall's phone back to him.

  "We're free to go," I told her, gripping her ass tightly in both of my hands. "So let's get you back home where I can rip this dress off of you."

  Tatum squealed as I lifted her up and tossed her over my shoulder, carrying her out of the church with a salute of thanks to the priest as I went. I dropped her to her feet beside my bike and she tugged on her leather jacket before gathering up the train of her dress in preparation for the ride.

  "I'm never letting you go now, baby, you know that don't you?" I purred as I tugged her close and kissed her one last time before we got back onto my bike.

  "Maybe I don't want you to," she replied seductively, pulling her helmet on before I could kiss her again. "Now take me home and let's make this union official."

  I didn't need telling twice and I leapt onto the bike, loving the feeling of her arms wrapping tight around me as the engine roared to life beneath us.

  I turned us around and shot away from the city, heading back towards Everlake Prep and what I was willing to bet was a trio of angry motherfuckers. But I didn't give a single fuck about that because I'd just made our girl my bride. And Tatum Roscoe was going to be mine forever.

  T his was possibly the most surreal day of my life and as I walked hand in hand into Everlake Prep with Kyan, the new ring on my finger pressed between us, I had to laugh.

  Kyan looked to me in surprise as I lost my shit, laughing until my stomach hurt and he was laughing too.

  He twirled me under his arm, dancing me down the path, neither of us knowing the steps or giving a damn what the hell we looked like. I couldn’t believe he was my freaking husband.

  He caught my waist as we took the western path towards The Temple and he walked me backwards as I continued to dance up on my tip-toes, but he fell into stalking me like a predator instead. His smile turned to a deadly thing and I knew I had just married a hunter and I would always be his choice of prey.

  "Are you happy, Mrs Roscoe?" he teased, an edge to his voice that gave away the wolf lurking beneath his skin.

  "Yes, for the first time in a long time I feel happy," I admitted.

  "Your pa would have hated you marrying a piece of shit like me, though," he pointed out and I shook my head in refusal of that.

  "He was protective, so he would have liked someone else being protective of me too. I think he would have liked you, Kyan. A lot. Once he got past the leather jackets, the tattoos and the bullshit, that is." I didn't say it with any sadness, not letting in any pain on this day. Crazy as it was, I just wanted to enjoy it. I'd never seen myself getting married. If I had planned it, I probably would have eloped to Vegas. Nah, screw Vegas actually, I'd pick Hawaii.

  He scoffed like it wasn't possible, but his eyes brightened like he quietly appreciated my words. We made it back to The Temple and I moved to walk beside Kyan, wondering how the other Night Keepers would react to this. Blake and Monroe would probably laugh and Saint would probably be more pissed about the fact that I'd missed making him dinner. Or maybe that was wishful thinking.

  Kyan swept me off my feet before I made it to the door, carrying me in his arms like a baby and I gasped in surprise as the skirt of my wedding dress swept up around my legs in the wind.

  "What are you doing?" I laughed.

  "Carrying you over the threshold, baby. I wanna start this marriage right," he said with grit to his tone. He was taking this pretty damn seriously and I couldn’t say I hated that.

  He all but kicked the door open, carrying me inside and I tried to wriggle out of his arms, but he wouldn't let me go, rounding into the lounge where Monroe and Blake had gotten up from their seats with their mouths wide. Saint was... "Where's Saint?" I asked.

  "Here," he growled, materialising like a freaking spectre from the dark stairway that led to his room as he took in my dress, his eyes calculating, assessing, denying.

  "So, we have some news," I said, still laughing.

  Kyan placed me down at last, taking my hand and winding his fingers between mine, his expression deadly serious.

  "Well?" Where the fuck have you been? And why is Tatum wearing that?" Saint snarled, jerking his chin at my beautiful dress.

  Monroe and Blake exchanged a glance of horror and confusion, putting two and two together.

  "So, basically...Kyan's family have this rule where-" I started but Kyan cut over me.

  "We got married. Tatum is my wife," he said possessively and I glanced at him, snorting a laugh as I tried to catch his eye, but he didn't meet my gaze. O...kay. Way to drop a bomb Kyan.

  "What?" Monroe asked sharply while Blake frowned, looking for the joke. But there wasn’t one to find.

  “What do you mean married?" Saint hissed and Kyan yanked my hand up, showing them all the ring as evidence. Saint physically recoiled like he’d struck him as he took in the skull on it.

  "The thing is, we had to-" I started again, but Kyan barrelled over me, taking the carefully folded marriage certificate from his pocket and offering it to Saint.

  "Here's the proof. It's iron clad. Catholic service, real nice priest, wasn't he baby?" He looked to me with a smirk, but there was a glint in his eyes which unsettled me.

  "Yeah, but we had to rush be-" I started again, but Saint cut over me this time.

  "What the fuck is this, Kyan?" Saint waved it at him and Kyan snatched it back, tucking it neatly into his pocket.

  "It's proof that Tatum Rivers is now Tatum Roscoe. My wife. Mine," he growled and a shiver ran down my spine.

  "Kyan..." I tried to catch his eye again, but he wouldn't look at me. His shoulders were like a wall as he glared at the others, waiting for this to sink in. And panic suddenly seized me. Just because I’d married him didn’t mean I belonged to the others any less. Did he think I was choosing him over them? Because I wasn’t able to do that.

  "You're having us on, right?" Blake released a weak laugh. "She's not - you wouldn't have-"

  "I did," Kyan said smugly then grabbed me, lifting me into the air and tossing me over his shoulder. "And now I'm going to make it official."

  "Kyan!" I hammered my fists on his back and he slapped my ass hard.

  "This isn't funny, asshole," Monroe snapped and Saint shot hi
m a frown that made my pulse skip. Shit, he could not see him freaking out about this. But Monroe was clearly beyond hiding his feelings for me as his expression twisted in rage.

  "It's not meant to be," Kyan supplied simply, marching me away into his room and kicking the door shut behind him. He tossed me onto the bed and I yelped as I bounced, nearly falling off the other side of it.

  Kyan grabbed his desk, shoving it in front of the door and the guys started banging their fists on it. He hurried to move the whole bed against the bathroom door and I laughed at his ridiculousness.

  "Kyan!" Blake barked. "Show me that certificate!"

  "Get your asses out here this second," Saint snarled.

  "Tatum, tell me it isn't true!" Monroe yelled.

  Kyan stood at the end of the bed and my lips parted as he started unbuckling his pants.

  "You're taking this a little far, don't you think?" I arched a stern brow at him.

  "Taking what too far?" he growled, his expression sharp and his eyes drinking me in.

  "This whole marriage thing. I love being bound to you and I really did mean what I said in the church, but I didn't walk down the aisle for you because I want to play happy families, move to the suburbs and pop out two point four kids or whatever the fuck married people do." I got off the bed and walked towards Kyan. As soon as I got close to him, he shoved me down onto the bed again and pulled his shirt off.

  "Kyan!" I gasped as the guys continued to shout beyond the door.

  He tossed his shirt aside as I got up again and he caught my arm, throwing me back down onto the bed.

  "Stop it," I snapped, getting angry now. "You're acting crazy."

  "What's crazy about this? You're my wife. You said I do. You're mine. I don't give a fuck about the suburbs or the Volvo or whatever the shit it is I'm supposed to do with you. What I know is that you swore to be mine and I swore to be yours and to make that shit official I have to fuck you. So that's what we're gonna do. We'll figure out the rest later."