Sinners at the Altar

by Olivia Cunning

  Sed drew Jessica against his length and the instant his mouth found hers, the heavens opened and rain began to pour in a torrent. Jessica was vaguely aware of the startled cry of baby Malcolm, the disgruntled shouts of the wedding party, and the scramble for cover by the guests, but all of it faded as Sed continued to kiss her. She dropped her bouquet to the ground so she could cup his cheek. Cool rain slid down his face, over her hand, down her wrist, and dripped from her elbow. The wind finally claimed her veil, ripping it free of pins and combs and hurling it into the air. She didn’t care. All she cared about was kissing her husband. This disaster of a day might have taken every perfect moment from her, but it would not take her kiss.

  Sed’s tongue brushed her upper lip, and she parted her lips, drawing him deeper. If his strong arm hadn’t been wrapped around her lower back to press her firmly against his belly, she’d have collapsed at his feet.

  He drew away after a long moment and stared down into her eyes, raindrops clinging to his spiky lashes and tracing rapid courses down his strong jaw. The wind had calmed and the rain fell steadily, but it no longer fell in a torrential downpour.

  “You’re so beautiful,” Sed told her, fingers stroking the sopping tangle of her hair. Hair that had been a gorgeous mass of loose curls moments before, but was now wet and limp. She could only assume that her mascara was making her do her best impression of Alice Cooper.

  “If you say so.” She grinned up at him and touched his face. “Why didn’t you tell me how sexy you are in a soaking-wet tuxedo?”

  “I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

  “So you ordered this rain?” she asked, her eyes flipping skyward.

  He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “No, but I think God was afraid if I got too overheated I’d have fucked you right here in front of all our guests.”

  “I didn’t realize a little rain could effectively cool your ardor.”

  “The effect was short-lived.”

  “I’m sorry I was late,” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and nuzzling into his wet chest. “My mother wanted us to wait for Johnny Depp.”

  Sed burst out laughing, the sound rich and deep against her ear as it rumbled through his broad chest. “For a minute, I thought you’d changed your mind. That you finally realized you didn’t want to marry me.”

  She reached up and cupped his face in her hands, staring intently into his eyes. “Never. Who in their right mind would go through all this wedding bullshit if they weren’t one hundred percent committed to loving their spouse for the rest of their life?”

  “Not me,” he admitted with a chuckle. “I’m sorry rain ruined your perfect day.”

  “You don’t know the half of it,” she said, “but we’re here and we’re married. That’s all that matters.”

  “I do love you, Mrs. Lionheart.”

  He claimed her mouth in another kiss. Her entire body trembled against him. Whether it was from the chill of the rain on her skin or the heat of lust swirling through her blood, she wasn’t sure.

  Sloshing footsteps approached and the rain suddenly stopped directly overhead, replaced by the sound of drops against nylon. Sed tugged his mouth away and turned his head.

  “Are you two going to stand out here in the rain all day?” Eric said, holding an umbrella over their heads.

  “Not all day,” Sed said. “Just until I’ve had enough of kissing her.”

  “So all day then,” Eric said with a knowing grin.

  Sed chuckled. “Maybe.” His blue eyes lifted toward to the black fabric above them. “Bit late for the umbrella.”

  “Jessica’s mother was wailing about ruined dresses, so I had no choice but to save her daughter’s poor garment.”

  “It was mostly ruined by baby puke anyway,” Jessica said.

  Sed’s fingers found the zipper at Jessica’s back and eased it down several inches. “She’s welcome to the dress. I just want the woman inside it.”

  “Don’t you dare, Sed,” Jessica gasped and slapped a hand over the zipper at her back.

  “Did she just dare me?” Sed asked Eric.

  “I think she did.”

  “Tell our guests we’ll see them at the reception.”

  “Should I bring her dress to her mother?” Eric asked, winking at Jessica, who couldn’t seem to shut her wide-open mouth.

  “That won’t be necessary,” Sed said with a rakish grin that displayed one dimple. “I’ll bring it to her myself.”

  He eased her zipper down another inch, and Jessica backed out of his reach. “Sed!” she said in warning, both hands flying out before her.

  He ducked his head slightly and ran his tongue along the ridge of his upper teeth, looking as hungry as any voracious predator. “Maybe you should run,” he said in a low growl.

  Her breath came out in a startled gasp, and the tips of her breasts tautened. Her hardened nipples had nothing to do with the chill in the air and everything to do with the tone of Sed’s voice. Jessica pressed one hand against the bodice of her loosened gown and swept up the train in her other hand. She turned and headed for the waves of the deserted beach. She stumbled as the sand pulled at her kitten heels, so she kicked them off and sprinted as fast as she could move—wanting him to chase her. Wanting him to catch her. But not without some effort.

  Cool water washed over her feet as she reached the surf. A hand brushed her arm, and she darted in the opposite direction, laughing breathlessly as she dodged his grip. Water splashed against her ankles and calves as she sprinted down the beach. She could hear his footfalls just behind her. This time when he caught her arm, she turned abruptly and collided with his chest.

  His breath escaped in a startled huff. She dropped her train, not caring that the waves and sand were churning it into a puce-tinged mess, and pressed her palms against his chest. The bodice of her dress slipped low, scarcely covering the white leather of her corset. Still breathing hard from exertion, she looked up at him. Tiny stinging raindrops against her eyelids made her blink.

  “Why does chasing you make my dick so hard?” he grumbled at her.

  “Because it knows when you catch me, it’s in for a treat.”

  She slid her hands down the slick fabric of his red and black brocade vest to find the fly of his trousers. His cock leapt against her palm as she stroked him through his clothes with one hand and fumbled with fastenings with her other.

  He claimed her mouth in a deep kiss, hands gripping her bare shoulders. He groaned into her mouth as she freed his massive cock from the confines of his pants. She loved that he’d gone commando beneath his tux. It let her know that he’d planned on fucking her somewhere besides the privacy of their hotel suite in Malibu tonight. Maybe he had ordered that rain after all. It had turned into a blessing in disguise, allowing them precious moments alone together on a deserted, private beach in a storm.

  She held his thick length in both hands, gently stroking him as he kissed her. And kissed her. Kissed her as if he planned to never stop.

  He tugged his mouth from hers. “Here?” he asked breathlessly. “Are you sure?”

  “Are we being watched?” she asked.

  He gazed over her shoulder to the near demolished wedding pavilion. “Everyone’s gone.”

  “Then yes, here,” she whispered. “Right now.”

  He touched her face, his eyes searching hers. “Are you really mine now?”

  “I’ve been yours since the day we met,” she said. “The only difference is now you have it in writing.”

  He chuckled. “A little insurance never hurt.”

  He leaned in to steal a kiss—and her senses. They sank to their knees in unison. He gently eased her onto her back atop the wet sand. An occasional wave teased her toes and pulled at the train of her dress. Sed tugged his mouth free from hers and kissed a gentle trail down her throat and chest. He cupped one breast in his hand and nudged her corset down with his chin so he could suck her sensitive nipple. They were so tender these days because of th
e pregnancy. Her eyes drifted closed and she gasped, lost in the sensation of his mouth on her. His hand shifted to cradle her lower belly, impeded by the corset cinching her in. Sed was so proud that he’d gotten her pregnant. She could scarcely wait to see him hold their baby—cradling their precious gift in his large, caring hands—for the first time. He would be such a wonderful father. She was honored to have been selected the mother of his children. And to be his wife.

  Sed shifted lower and rested his head on her belly. She stroked his hair gently, consumed with tender feelings for the man and the part of him that inseparably linked them—the life growing inside her. When he crawled down her body and shifted his hands beneath her dress, her tenderness was quickly consumed by lust. His hands slid up her thighs and hips, seeking the waistband of her panties. When he found none, his head popped up and their eyes met over the bunched fabric of her gown.

  “You’re not wearing panties,” he told her.

  “I’m not?” She grinned at him wickedly. “Hmm. I wonder why I made that decision.”

  “Because you’re the smartest woman I know,” he said.

  His head disappeared beneath her skirt. She moaned when his mouth found her. He licked and sucked her clit, quickly making her pussy the wettest part of her body, though it was about the only part of her that had escaped the rain and waves.

  “Sed!” she cried as her thighs began to quiver and the flesh between them throbbed with impending release. “Don’t make me come without you. Not our first time.”

  She almost regretted her request when he pulled back with a loud sucking pop and slid up her body. When he found her and slid deep inside, claiming her inch by inch with repetitive hard thrusts, he filled more than her body. He filled every part of her.

  Sed buried his hands in her wet hair and alternated kissing her passionately and staring into her eyes as he thrust with a slow, deep rhythm that matched the rhythm of the ocean. Her toes curled. Her belly quivered. Her fingers dug into his back so she didn’t drift away in the current of her desire. He churned his hips each time their bodies came together, grinding himself against her, making her moan with pleasure as he rubbed his pelvis against her throbbing clit.

  Waves were creeping ashore as far as her calves now. An urgency consumed them both, as if they were racing the tide. Sed’s strokes hastened—driving his rigid length hard and deep. His fingers—which had been gently tangled in her hair—dug into her scalp, and his tender kisses became hot and desperate.

  He tore his mouth from hers, gasping as he fought for control. Watching the twitch of his eye and the set of his jaw as pleasure consumed him sent Jessica flying over the edge. She cried out, her back arching off the beach as her pussy clenched in waves of bliss. Sed gasped brokenly, ramming into her—once, twice—and then he held himself deep inside as his cock jerked with hard spasms of release.

  Breathing heavily, he collapsed on top of her, crushing her beneath a mass of firm muscles and heated male flesh. She wrapped her love in a warm and rather sandy embrace, holding him tight as she caught her own breath. But not her wits. Her wits were never within reach when Sed was between her thighs.

  “You realize I plan to top this before the night is through,” he murmured into her ear.

  She rubbed her lips against his jaw, her heart thrumming with anticipation. With expectation. He never let her down.

  “I’d like to see you try,” she challenged.

  Chapter Five

  Sitting in the back of the limo on the way to the reception, Sed held Jessica’s left hand between both of his. He stole glances at her as if he were in elementary school and experiencing his first crush. Her dress was soaking wet and stained with dirt and something green he hoped was just algae. Her make-up was entirely gone, except for the two dark smudges beneath both eyes. Her hair was a limp, tangled mess with a twig of seaweed lost in its strawberry-blond waves. He refused to inform her of the ocean’s reminder of what they’d done in its surf.

  His woman had never looked more beautiful. Not even the first time he’d seen her and she’d stolen his heart. She’d been riding a Ferris wheel on the boardwalk and he’d stood there at its base like an idiot the entire time, watching her laughing face return with each loop around. She hadn’t looked more beautiful when he’d proposed the first time or the second. Nor the first time he’d witnessed her sexy O-face or the hundreds of times he’d seen that blissful expression since then. She hadn’t been lovelier when she told him she was pregnant. Not even when he’d stared up the aisle when she’d called his name and he saw her racing toward him in her wedding dress, dazzling in detailed perfection. No, he decided, she was most beautiful at that very moment—sitting beside him quietly, completely bedraggled, and unaware of how giddy it made him that she was his wife.

  Of course, giddy wasn’t an emotion Sed Lionheart displayed outwardly. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel it.

  Jessica fiddled with her wedding ring, rubbing it into her flesh as she stared at her lap.

  “My mother is going to kill me for showing up at the reception looking like this,” she whispered.

  “I thought you decided you don’t care what she thinks.”

  She pressed the back of her wrist to her mouth and swallowed several times.

  “Are you okay?” he asked. The woman had seen her share of morning sickness the first couple months of her pregnancy, but recently it had become a rarity.

  “All things considered.” She dropped her head back to look up at him. “I don’t care what she thinks, but it still hurts my feelings when she yells at me.”

  “I thought she just made you mad.”

  “Well, yeah, that’s how I always react when I get my feelings hurt.” She blinked at him. “All this time with me and you didn’t realize that?”

  “Uh…” He flicked his gaze to his clasped hands, which were resting on his knees. “Of course I realized that. But sometimes you get mad because you’re angry, right?”

  “Sometimes,” she said. “But not often.”

  All those times she’d been spitting mad at him was because he’d hurt her feelings? Why hadn’t she told him that sooner? And why was he such a bonehead that he hadn’t figured it out on his own?

  He slid an arm around her lower back and pressed her against his side. “I’m sorry for making you mad all the time.”

  She released a breathless laugh. “No, you’re not. You purposely make me angry so the passion blazes between us. I’m on to you, Lionheart. I know what you’re up to.”

  “Well, I do think you’re hot when you’re pissed off, but I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”

  “I know you don’t mean it. Otherwise I would have killed you in your sleep by now.”

  He laughed. “I’m glad you’re more intelligent than violent.”

  She looked down at her folded hands and then licked her thumb and tried to rub a spot out of her skirt. “I just hope Mom doesn’t nag me. I’m happy—the ceremony, the beach, now. All the moments I’ve been alone with you today have felt perfect, even if they weren’t what I envisioned. The rest of the day has been one disaster after another. I can’t imagine what will be thrown at me next.”

  “I’ll run interference,” Sed said. “I honestly don’t mind. Your mother can’t stand me anyway. I doubt she’ll ever forgive me for knocking you up before we were married.”

  Jessica snorted. “She still doesn’t believe that I got pregnant intentionally. Like I’m too stupid to remember to take my birth control pills. Just because that’s the reason she had me, doesn’t mean I’ll make the same mistakes she did.”

  “If she gets too unbearable, I’ll send her packing. Okay?”

  Jessica shook her head. “No, I want her there, even though I’m sure she’ll be unbearable. She’s going to be heartbroken that I didn’t wait for her to give me away.”

  “Unfortunate.” Sed smiled. “But not really. It meant a lot to me that you gave yourself to me.”

  Her jade-green eyes widened, as if
she hadn’t realized how perfect that little split-second decision had been. Because the woman struggled to let go of even an inch of her independence, he would never forget her giving herself to him so willingly.

  “It did?” she asked.

  “Yeah, because I know how independent you are. I think by giving yourself to me you’ve finally realized that resistance is futile. You’re mine and mine alone. I’ll never let you go.”

  “As long as I allow it,” she challenged.

  “And how long will that be?”

  She smiled. “Until the day I die.”

  “Beyond death,” he insisted.

  “That’s still up for negotiation.”

  “You know you’ll never be able to resist me with a halo.” He winked at her.

  “A halo? Won’t that get in the way of your horns?” She extended her index fingers on either side of her head.

  “I’ll just wear my halo at a cocky angle over one horn. It’ll be sexier that way. You won’t know what hit you.”

  She laughed and wrapped both arms around his neck. “I do love you.”

  “Beyond death?” he asked.

  She looked up at her eyebrows as if contemplating what his request entailed. “Yes, beyond death.”

  He grinned. “I love it when I get my way.”

  She poked him in the ribs. “I let you get your way,” she said.

  “And why’s that?”

  “Because you’re even more wonderful when you’re happy.”

  “I am definitely happy.”

  “And I’m dedicated to keeping you that way.”

  “I want to do the same for you. So about your mother…”

  Jessica released a heavy sigh and rubbed at her forehead with her hand. A hand, he noted, missing the ring that she’d been wearing for months—the one he’d carried in his pocket for two years after she’d flung it at him in anger. Had she finally decided she could be done with the cheap piece of shit once and for all?

  “I’ll try to get along with her,” Jessica said wearily.

  “And if you can’t?”

  “I’ll ask her to leave,” she said.