Aidan and I leaned toward each other, halfway to a kiss, when we froze and looked at Marilyn. She smiled at us, her eyes sparkling with unshed tears. We stepped away from each other, wanting that kiss to seal our marriage.
“That was beautiful. Now, the rings?”
My heart leapt into my throat. Not only did we not plan for this, but we didn’t have rings. Panic overwhelmed me until I looked at Aidan, digging into his pocket. I narrowed my eyes and cocked my head at him, wondering what in the world he was doing.
Two shiny pieces of jewelry came out of his pocket on my astonished gasp. Aidan winked at me as he set the rings on the book Marilyn was holding. “They have a jewelry store, too. I picked them out while you were getting ready. If you don’t like them Marilyn said we could exchange them.”
I reached for his hand again and my perpetual smile returned. “You’re perfect.”
Aidan winked at me again then we turned toward Marilyn. “These rings are a outward symbol of your love. You wear these rings to tell the world you are part of a union, one half to a whole. I offer up a blessing upon these rings that they forever bind you to each other, in love and happiness. Aidan, please take Claire’s ring.”
He lifted one ring from the book and reached for my left hand. Aidan kept the ring covered under his fingers as he slid it on my finger saying, “With this ring, I thee wed.”
As the band slid to the base of my finger I finally looked down at it. Aidan had chosen a simple platinum band with diamonds and amethyst chips set in the center of the band. It twinkled in the sea of white surrounding us and was the perfect compliment to my engagement ring.
Tears sprung to my eyes again, blurring my vision. Aidan squeezed my fingers, drawing me back to the moment and I lifted my head from my beautiful rings, still new on my finger.
I took the ring Aidan had chosen for himself from Marilyn’s book and repeated his words back to him, sliding his platinum band, with one diamond chip and two amethyst chips inset, onto his finger.
Marilyn’s voice broke through my haze of happiness. “I now pronounce you husband and wife. You can finally give her that kiss Aidan.”
Laughing, Aidan and I collapsed into each other. Our lips met in a frenzied state. I felt like I hadn’t kissed him in forever. His hand slid around my neck, pulling me closer, as his tongue probed my lips. I relented for him, his tongue crashing through my lips as soon as they parted. He held me closer, his kiss promising the pleasure to come. I clutched to him, unable to let go of my husband.
Gah! I had a husband.
I smiled at the thought, unintentionally breaking our kiss. Aidan’s eyes were droopy and sexy, but nothing matched the smile on his face. “What do you say we dance?” he asked, his grin getting wider by the second.
“I don’t know, Aidan. I don’t want to dance to just any old song. I want to dance to-“
I stopped talking when I heard the first beats of At Last, the song I’d told Aidan I wanted as our first dance. He grinned at me like he’d won the lottery.
“They had it. Dance with me, wife.”
I smiled back at him and let him pull me into his arms. During our kiss, Marilyn had moved some of the chairs and there was now enough space in the aisle for us to dance to our song together. Aidan held me tight, our bodies pressed together, our hands clasped and resting against his chest. My other hand rested on his waist and his was low on my back, guiding me around the small makeshift dance floor.
“This is perfect, husband,” I said, not lifting my head from his chest. His steady heartbeat calmed me and fit perfectly with the slow and peaceful tune of the music. We danced slowly, spinning and holding each other close, enjoying the first moments of our marriage.
When the song ended, Aidan kissed me again and we turned to thank Marilyn. She handed us a disposable camera. “We took some pictures. There will be more online, too. I’ll send you the link. All the pictures are royalty free so you can print as many as you’d like and use them for whatever purpose you want without worrying about copyrights. You two were a joy to marry. You reminded me why we set this place up. Enjoy your life together.”
We hugged Marilyn and made our way outside. The sun had drifted low in the sky. With giant grins we headed back to The Mirage for dinner and Cirque du Soleil.
Dinner and the show were amazing. I’d never seen anything so spectacular or fanciful as Cirque du Soleil. Even Aidan admitted it was sensational. By the time the show was over and we were back in the car we both confessed how exhausted we were.
“Something tells me we’re not going to keep that promise about making love on our wedding night. I have a feeling you’re going to pass out of me.”
I yawned loudly, stretching my arms and legs as I did. Tired didn’t even begin to describe how worn out I was. The day had been emotional, but also one of the best days of my life. No, that wasn’t true. It was the best day of my life. Without a doubt. Marrying Aidan was the best decision I could have made.
I settled into my seat and rested my head on Aidan’s shoulder as he drove. We talked about the show and about our last few days in Arizona. We agreed to go back to the Grand Canyon again and talked about spending our last night in Phoenix. Aidan suggested a trip to California, but we agreed we wanted to explore Flagstaff and Sedona.
Before long I drifted off to sleep with Aidan rubbing my knee. When I woke up again he was hovering over me with the hotel looming behind him. “Hey, wife, we’re at the hotel.”
I murmured my disapproval at needing to get up. Aidan helped me out of the car then scooped me up into his arms, bringing me awake shockingly fast. “Aidan, you’re going to hurt yourself. I’m too big for you to carry.”
“Well, first of all, ouch. I’m plenty strong enough to carry you. Secondly, a husband is supposed to carry his wife over the threshold.”
“At home, and not from the car. Aidan, you’re going to get seriously hurt.”
“If you don’t stop moving I might, but if you can stay still, I’ll be fine carrying my beautiful wife to our bed.” My body lit like I’d been hit by lightning at the idea of being back in bed with Aidan. “That seemed to wake you up.”
“I think I’m getting my second wind,” I said as I leaned into his neck. I pressed my lips to his bare skin and kissed just to the side of his Adam’s apple then ran my tongue over the same spot.
“Oh, Jesus, baby. I won’t make it if you keep doing that.”
So of course I did it again. Aidan paused in the middle of the hallway and took a deep breath. I ran my teeth over his collarbone and let my fingers dance over his nipple.
“You’re evil, wife,” he ground out as he started walking again. I eased up on teasing him until we were in front of our door. I pulled my key out and unlocked the door. Aidan kicked it open and charged through. The door slammed shut behind us and Aidan lowered me to the bed, pulling his shirt off as he lowered himself over me.
“I love you,” he said. He held his weight off me but was touching me from head to toe. The heat radiating from his body made me even hotter.
“I love you, Aidan,” I replied before he kissed me.
His lips came down on mine slowly, teasing me the way I’d teased him. His gentle kisses started a slow burn through my body, heat spreading from our lips through the rest of me, fire settling where our bodies met between my thighs. The only part of Aidan that moved was his lips, driving me further and further insane. I groaned in frustration and he laughed.
“Are you getting impatient, wife?”
“Yes, husband. I want to make love to my husband except he’s teasing me.”
“I’m not teasing you. I just want to take my time with you tonight. We only get one first time as husband and wife. I’m not going to rush it.”
He went back to kissing me as my heart filled with the same warmth that pooled between my legs. I ran my hands over Aidan’s smooth skin, memorizing the feel of him, the skip of his muscles, the hills and valleys of his body. As my fingers moved to his chest,
his control slipped. He plunged his tongue into my mouth, bucking his hips into me at the same time.
I moaned at the feel of him, the promise he was offering. He kissed me until I was wriggling against him, desperate to feel more of his body. Together we undressed, stripping all our clothes just my peach thong remained between us.
“I’m glad I didn’t know this was all you had on under that dress. This,” he said as he glided a finger over the thin piece of fabric, “is sexy.”
My hips bucked against his hand, desperate for his touch.
“I love you, Claire.”
“I love you, Aidan.”
With eyes locked on mine he lowered himself between my legs, his breath fanning out over my belly and thighs. He glanced down at me, still covered by my panties, and lowered his face there. His lips closed over me, sucking on my thong into his mouth with the rest of me. The rasp of the fabric over my sensitive skin made my entire body twitch.
His tongue darted out to dig into me, pinning me to the bed. “Oh, Aidan,” I moaned, loving the feeling of him between my legs.
“I will always take care of you first, wife. I need you to come for me though. I can’t hold out much longer before making love to my wife.”
With the last word, Aidan plunged his fingers deep into me and clamped down hard on my clit. All the tension he’d built up in my body released, leaving me shuddering and twitching, soaking my panties through.
As I came down from my glorious orgasm, Aidan settled over me, his erection hard between us. My panties were finally gone I felt my husband nestled between my legs.
“You’re so beautiful, wife.”
“You’re not so bad yourself, husband.”
Aidan slid inside me as we spoke, filling me to bursting. Heat flooded my veins and spilled from my body. I raised my knees to his sides and wrapped my legs around his hips to keep him close. “You feel so good, my beautiful wife. I love you.”
“I love you,” I whispered, the sensations bursting through me more than I could take. I arched my hips into Aidan’s, desperate for the blinding pleasure to release.
Aidan sensed my need and thrust harder and deeper into me, keeping his strokes slow and steady. Fire built inside me with each meeting of our bodies, like two sticks rubbing together. The slow, passionate love making left me panting for breath, desperate to come, whimpering with need.
I pulled Aidan down to me for a kiss, taking control and forcing my tongue into his mouth, aching for a release. His kisses stoked the fire inside me. I broke the kiss panting, crying out. Aidan moved faster, his body crashing into mine and driving me further and further into the tornado of my desire.
“Let go, baby. Let me hear you. Let it out, wife.”
At the sound of my new title my body leapt over the edge, screaming his name and vibrating as I came in a powerful and amazing rush. My response carried the last bit of Aidan’s control and within seconds he was moaning my name and thrusting hard against me, pouring himself into me.
He collapsed onto me, no longer able to support himself. I held him tight with my arms and legs, draining the last remaining strength I had just to hold onto him. When he rolled off me, he turned me toward him and tucked my head under his chin.
“Jesus, I love you. Claire, this is the best day of my life. To have you as my wife… I just can’t even begin to tell you how much I love you.”
I squeezed him tighter and felt the same pull of emotions. “Me too,” was all I could manage. Aidan seemed to understand and pulled me even closer, holding tight to me until his breathing slowed and we both fell asleep.
Husband and wife.
Twenty-Four
The rest of our trip out west passed too quickly. Before we knew it we were back in Winterville and returning to our normal life.
I decided after we got married that I wasn’t going to call my friends. I’d told Mandy we were engaged and she was going to spread the word, but I wanted to wait and tell them all in person that we’d decided to get married.
The Tuesday after we got back, a full week after we’d gotten married, I walked into Bite Me! for our weekly girls’ night. Aidan had Xander going with him to look at the new house so he could get some ideas on what we would need to fix up. We’d decided to use the money from my parents to hire people to do the repairs that we couldn’t do on our own, and Xander said he’d help Aidan figure out what those would be.
Aidan was also planning to tell Xander we’d gotten married while they were looking at the house.
The familiar smell of cupcakes filled my nose when I opened the door to Bite Me! Charlie looked up and saw me first and smiled. She came around the edge of the counter to meet me halfway to the table the rest of the girls had claimed in the corner.
Charlie hugged me then I was passed to Sam then Addi then Lexi and finally Mandy before I was gently nudged into a seat. Charlie set a plate of three cupcakes in front of me while everyone congratulated me and peppered me with questions about the wedding.
“Let’s see the ring,” Sam said above everyone else.
I held out my hand in the middle of the table for them to look at my rings, wondering if they would notice that I was wearing two rings.
“Why did he get you a second ring? Don’t you save that for when you’re married?” Addi asked innocently.
I blushed and Mandy squealed. “No fucking way. You got married, didn’t you?”
I nodded and they all jumped up to hug me again. “How?” “When?” “Where?” came at me in a rush. Charlie vanished but returned quickly with a bottle of wine and six cups.
“Here, I usually cook with this, but it’s good wine. We need to toast.”
Charlie opened the bottle of wine and she and Sam poured glasses and passed them out to all of us. As Sam reached over to me she stopped and pulled her hand back like she was burned. “Wait, you’re not pregnant are you?”
“Jesus Sam, really?” Mandy said, but then she too paused. All five of them turned to me and waited for my answer.
I laughed. “Honestly guys? Is that the only reason you can think that Aidan would marry me?”
“No, of course not,” Lexi said gently. “But we all know you haven’t been together that long and you come back married. It’s a somewhat reasonable question.”
“Well, there were plenty of opportunities for me to get pregnant, but no, I’m not. We aren’t thinking about kids yet. We close on the house in a few weeks and will be focusing on that. We’d also rather enjoy being married for a while before jumping into having kids. We’ve got time.”
Sam eyed me for a minute before finally accepting what I’d said. She handed me the glass of wine and we all raised them. Mandy said, “To Aidan and Claire. To a long and happy marriage filled with lots of love.”
“And lots of sex,” Sam added.
We all laughed and sipped our wine before they started back in with questions about our wedding.
“Aidan proposed at the Grand Canyon. We were looking out over it, just standing there and he asked a guy near us to take a picture, but really the guy was recording his proposal. I thought he was joking, but obviously I said yes. When we got back to the hotel we were trying to decide what to do and Aidan mentioned Vegas was close. I wanted to go see a show so we went. We stumbled upon this cute little chapel and decided to get married. I talked to my parents while we were there and they were okay with it. Once we get the house fixed up we’re going to have a huge party to celebrate the wedding and a house warming party. You guys, it was sweet and wonderful. I couldn’t have planned it better if I’d taken a year, but I’m glad we didn’t wait. I’ve been married a week and I know it’s perfect. He’s perfect.”
“That’s so sweet. I’m really happy for you guys,” Mandy said.
“Aidan was going to tell Xander tonight while they were looking at the house.”
“Maybe he’ll get Xander on board and you guys can get married,” Sam teased.
“Oh, no,” Mandy protested. “Don’t lump me in the
re. I love Xander, but we’re still getting to know each other too. Claire and Aidan have worked together for years. It’s not like this is a sudden thing.”
“That’s what we said too. We’ve been friends for a long time. Getting engaged and married was right for us. We didn’t want to wait because we both knew we were done looking.”
“I’m not looking anymore, but it’s not right for Xander and me yet. I do see myself marrying him, and we’ve talked about it, but it’s not the right time for us.”
I worried Mandy was starting to question her relationship with Xander. The last thing I wanted was for her happiness to be compromised by mine. She was like another sister to me and I didn’t want her to think Xander didn’t love her because they weren’t married yet.
The conversation continued around us and I asked if she was okay. “Yeah. I’m happy for you guys. I just don’t want everyone to push Xander and I into marriage now. I’m worried he’ll bolt if he thinks I’m pressuring him.”
“He loves you, Mandy. He’s not going anywhere. But if you are ready to get married, you should talk to him.”
She shrugged and glanced at the others, still wrapped up in their conversation. “Honestly, I hadn’t even thought about it until you got engaged last week. You and Aidan have been together a shorter time than Xander and I have been and I guess I wonder if he doesn’t love me as much if he’s not ready to commit to me.”
“He is committed to you, Mandy. You know that. You can’t compare your relationship to mine. Like you said, Aidan and I have known each other for years. There’s nothing wrong with you and Xander not being married or engaged yet. Don’t make yourself crazy just because I got married.”
Mandy shook her head and seemed to clear her thoughts. “You’re right. I love Xander and that’s what matters. We’ll get married when it’s the right time for us.”
Lush & Lovely (Big & Beautiful Book 2) Page 19
