by Claire Adams
“How many guests?” Mom asked. I realized I had finished my drink and stood to get another.
“Not a lot,” Maddie said, and I was thankful for her answer. “We were thinking under thirty. Close family, obviously, but neither of us have that many friends.”
“Twenty would be ideal,” I said. “We want to keep it small.”
“More peanut butter cake for everyone,” Maddie said, and we exchanged a smile as I poured whiskey into my glass. “And Gavin will be reading the first chapter of his story,” she added.
“I’m what?” I asked and took a seat.
“Oh, you are?” Mom’s face brightened, and she leaned toward me. “That’s wonderful! I’ve been looking forward to it so much. This night is going to be so wonderful, isn’t it?”
I chewed on my lip and looked at Maddie. Her smile was tilted to the side; she was clearly happy with herself.
“Yeah,” I said. “Just wonderful.”
“I forgot to ask, are you having it at the church at the end of the street? We haven’t gone in so long, I’d be surprised if they let you in,” Mom said.
“I don’t think they’d turn us away,” I said. “But no, it’s going to be right here, behind the house so that you can go.”
After realizing that the only venues that were available for the weekend were all at least 30 minutes away, I had decided to have the wedding in my backyard. I mentioned it to Maddie over text not wanting to make it a big deal, but she had been far more excited about it than I had expected.
“It’s going to be beautiful,” Maddie gushed. “We’re having wildflowers brought in and hanging over a canopy that’ll be on top of us and classic wooden chairs for the guests. A marble dance floor, floating lanterns, and a golden fountain of the god of love with rose vines climbing his body. I have it all planned.”
I leaned back in my seat and raised an eyebrow. It seemed Maddie had stayed up late with her own planning as well.
“Everything sounds amazing,” Mom said. “A beautiful wedding for a beautiful couple to start their life together.”
“It’ll be something,” I murmured and finished my second glass. The night was coming to a close, and Maddie and I both took turns saying goodnight to Mom.
“Call me if you need any help planning,” she said as we stood in the doorway. “Your father and I only had a court wedding, but I’ve always wanted to plan a real one.”
“I’ll call you with any questions I have, which will be a lot,” Maddie said. “I promise.”
Karen closed the door behind Maddie and us, and I walked back to my house in silence. She walked several feet in front of me, and I was finding it difficult to divert my attention away from her backside. She swayed slightly, but her hips still moved in a seductive way that made my mouth dry and hands twitch.
“The first chapter isn’t ready to read aloud,” I said as I closed the door. She opened the storage container on the side of the couch and pulled out a blanket and pillow.
“It’ll never be ready with that attitude,” she said and made her makeshift bed. “You and I both know that reading your story’s the only thing that could make the night even more special for her.”
“Yeah,” I agreed and walked across the living room. She stopped abruptly as I stood in between her and the couch, and a moan escaped her lips as my hands trailed down her back and cupped her ass. My other hand pressed on her neck, ever so small, but it was enough to rouse my cock, and I slid a hand down her collarbone, across her chest, and dipped beneath her dress.
“I need to wash those sheets,” I murmured as I pulled her close. “We might as well sleep in the same bed until I do.”
One of her hands gripped my shirt with a weak fist as I pushed her sleeve off of her shoulder. Her skin was warm beneath my touch, and her hands trembled, but she didn’t move. She wanted it as much as I did.
“Okay,” she said.
I tore the rest of the dress off her, leaving only her bra and panties, picked her up from below her knees, and carried her upstairs to my bed.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Maddie
I didn’t deserve the passion I felt with him pressed against me. Being a taker of sorts, I ignored my guilt and dove head first into lust. It was the only thing that could burn away my thoughts.
“You smell so good,” Gavin murmured, his handsome face pressed to the side of my neck. “Like vanilla and roses.”
“So poetic.” I smiled and ran my fingers through his hair as a moan escaped me. The tight grip he had on my ass felt so good, so right.
“Hush. Pain my ass.” I could feel him smiling, and it warmed me. He laid me down on the bed and reached up, running his strong hands up my sides before cupping my breasts over my bra and squeezing. “You look so good. Like a princess.”
I snorted and arched my back, reaching back to undo my bra as he leaned over and kissed up my stomach. “I’m thinking more the evil queen.” I ignored the nerves bubbling up inside of me. I should have denied him access to my body, but I was falling in love. If I wasn’t already there.
“Thank you for helping me with my mother.” He brushed his thumbs over my pert nipples before pressing himself to the front of me and sucking one deep into his mouth.
“Promise me you won’t thank me again? Please?” I whispered and gripped the back of his head, holding him in place as he worshiped my breast.
His strong fingers slid in between us, the back of them rubbing across my pussy, playing with me as I twitched beneath him. “Not happening.” He pressed against the wet center of me, playing with me in a way that had me itching for penetration. Some part of me wanted to beg, but I remembered he hated beggars.
“Get a condom. I want you inside of me.” I leaned down a little and kissed him as I stroked the side of his face. He tasted like mint and lust. I opened my mouth and invited him in, sucking on his tongue and emulating the sex I wanted so fucking bad.
He pressed up and flattened me to the bed, his body so big and heavy. Strong chest muscles flattened my breasts and made it almost hard to breathe. If I had to be suffocated, he was the best way to go out. I loved it.
“You’re so bossy even though I’ve warned you to stop it. You don’t listen well. You know that?” His eyebrow lifted, and I could almost see the faint hint of a smirk lifting the side of his perfect mouth.
I bit my lip and nodded, my eyes widening and he moved back to his knees and tugged me down toward him. “What are you doing?”
“Whatever I want to do.” Lust burned through his gaze as he reached down and slipped his fingers into the side of my panties, turning his hand to rub the pad of his fingers along my entrance. He tapped my center, popping his finger in and out no more than an inch. The pressure felt so good, but I wanted more. I was a greedy bitch. Surely he remembered.
I moved to my elbows and cried out as he finally pressed a thick finger inside of me. “Another one,” I cried out. “I want another one.”
He nodded and smiled. “I’m aware of what you like, Maddie. Relax and let me have you.” He pressed another inside of me, fucking me so slow it hurt. The soft bump of his fist against the soft skin just beneath my pussy as he pressed his fingers deep inside of me left my heart racing, my nerves on edge.
I tried to catch my breath as he watched me watching him. He reached back and pulled his shirt off with his free hand before hovering back over the top of me for a long kiss. The firm press of his tongue inside of my mouth combined with his fingers drilling into me, opening me up, owning me was more than I could handle.
“I’m going to come,” I moaned against his lips.
“Such a good girl.” He smiled and licked at my mouth as he picked up the pace on his fingers. “I can hear how wet you are. Feel it. Smell it.” He breathed in deeply as his eyes darkened.
“Shit,” I cried out as my stomach contracted. The world exploded, pleasure consuming me as I dropped to my back and gripped the sheets. I lifted my hips, milking his offering for all it was worth as
my orgasm continued to blow me apart.
“Wow. That was fucking hot.” He leaned down and kissed me as he petted my pussy for a few more seconds. “Get on your hands and knees for me. I like to grab your hair.”
I mumbled my response and rolled onto my side as waves of pleasure raced through my core. So far beyond good. The man knew exactly how to beckon me to yearn after him. He would be the center of my fantasies for a long time to come.
“Hands and knees, Maddie,” he barked out.
I rolled over and moaned softly as I forced myself to the position he wanted. I shuffled back until my feet dropped off the side of the bed, and within seconds, he had the thick head of his cock pressed against my opening.
A whimper left me as one of his hands raced up my back into my hair, the pressure of his fingers against my skin leaving chill bumps in their wake.
“Someone needs a good, long fuck.” He pressed in a little and paused as his breathing got off.
“Me,” I whined and pushed back, sliding down the full length of his cock. He stretched me open, which pulled at my clit and sent my head spinning again. “Fuck.”
“Exactly,” he whispered and slid out of me before setting a pace that had my ass bouncing against his stomach and the bed shaking from the strength of his thrusts. I reached between my legs and fingered my clit as he pulled hard on my hair and rode me until the room exploded in bright lights.
I heard him urging me on somewhere in the distance, but the haze around me was too thick. I was so close to approaching my third orgasm when he stopped, stiffened behind me. His grip turned rough, biting into my skin.
“Don’t stop. I’m so close.” I glanced back to find him locked in his own orgasm. So hot.
Not one to give up an opportunity, I undulated my hips forward and moved down to my elbows on the bed, stroking his thick cock until my own orgasm him. I rode him through it as he groaned and grunted behind me.
The minute I stopped, I collapsed on my stomach on the bed, and he pulled out, running his hand down the back of my leg. “I’ll be right back. You want water?”
“Please?” I crawled up into the bed and slipped under the sheets, turning and pressing my face against his pillow before breathing in deeply. The scent of him buried in my lungs was almost as good as him buried inside of my body.
“Here.” He paused beside the bed and handed me a towel. “Clean up.”
I took it and cleaned up the evidence of our sex before accepting the bottle of water he’d been drinking. I finished it and pulled the covers up toward my neck as he watched me.
“What? You want me to go to the couch?” I sat up. “I can.”
“No. Not at all.” He set the bottle down and walked around the bed, his body bare and so far, beyond sexy. How he didn’t have a woman in his bed already was a huge surprise to me. He was the full package deal, the kind of man I could only dream about being with.
I rolled onto my side and curled up, facing him. A million conversation starters ran through my mind, but the minute he laid down, he turned his back to me, and that was it. No goodnight, no snuggles or one last kiss. He gave me just what I deserved.
Nothing.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Gavin
It was the day before my wedding, and while any normal groom would have been either freaking out at an unnecessary bachelor party or enjoying their last night of freedom, I was at Ron’s house with a glass of whiskey in one hand, and a necktie in the other.
“Doesn’t your tuxedo come with a tie already?” Ron asked. I shrugged and sat the tie on his kitchen counter.
“It does, but this gray one is special,” I said. “It’s Mom’s favorite.”
“Gray on black,” Ron murmured. “I guess it’ll work for a wedding.”
Ron hadn’t been too surprised when I told him about the wedding. He understood the direness of the situation, and how important it was to speed up these things within the next six months.
“Just don’t try and speed up any babies,” he had joked. “You gotta wait the whole nine months for them, at least.”
It hadn’t occurred to me whether to not Maddie would have been interested in children until that moment. It didn’t matter, of course, but I couldn’t help but imagine her as a wonderful mother. Any children she had would be well-taken care after she received the rest of her money at least. I had told Ron not to worry about that, and our conversation had continued. I was thankful that he didn’t seem to be looking too deep into our relationship. Apparently, he expected any sane man to fall for Maddie, and he had complimented me in a way that didn’t make our relationship any more awkward.
“How is she doing?” he asked after I finished my glass. For a split moment, I wondered which woman he meant.
“Sick,” I said. “The news cheered her up, at least. But she hasn’t gotten any better.”
“Is it still six months?” he asked. “Or has the doctor said anything differently?”
“She hasn’t wanted to go back,” I said. “She says she already knows everything that she needs to know, so there’s no reason for a doctor’s appointment.”
“I bet that pisses you off.” Ron frowned as I refilled my drink. “Gavin, it’s not even noon yet. Got the wedding jitters?”
I nodded my head absentmindedly. “This time last year I was coming to terms that marriage wasn’t for me,” I said honestly. “And I was more than okay with that. I was actually a little excited that I could live a life for myself and no one else.” And now it seemed like I was living it for everyone else.
“You really love her, huh?” he asked. I realized the three of us hadn’t actually hung out in the time that Maddie and I set up this arrangement, and that Ron had no idea how we acted with one another. So far our charade had only been for Mom’s viewing pleasure.
“She’s special,” I said. “But you knew that. What I didn’t know was how she was going to make me feel.”
“How does she make you feel?” he asked.
“Like this entire time I’ve been waiting for the rest of my life,” I said. It was obviously a lie, but he needed to think that we were truly in love. “It feels like I’ve been waiting for her to start my life.”
Ron nodded as he listened to me. He wasn’t the romantic time, neither of us were, but he smiled softly.
“That’s some heavy shit,” he said. “Crazy that she’s been beside you this entire time, huh?”
I desperately wanted to tell him the truth, but I knew that it had gone too far. Tricking a dying woman, my best friend, and practically the entire world that we were in love? At this point, I wasn’t even sure who the bad guy would look like. Sure, Maddie was the one receiving the money, but I was the one willing to pay for a fake relationship. It looked bad on the both of us.
“How’s life with your woman?” I asked, desperate to get the attention off of me. “Still dating the open swinger club?
“She isn’t in a swinger’s club,” he said. “Close, but we don’t switch off partners.”
“I’m sure she wouldn’t be against it,” I said. He shook his head.
“I know you got this fairy tale romance shit going on, but I’m telling you, what we got is the real deal. She fucks who she wants, I fuck who I want, and yet we still find the time to fuck each other. If Maddie weren't my baby cousin, I’d encourage you to suggest it, but frankly, the thought of Maddie in any way like that makes me sick.”
I chuckled. “No thanks, anyways. I’m not the sharing type.”
I had never been the jealous type either, but the thought of Maddie in the arms of another man made me somehow both uncomfortable and enraged.
“She was pretty pissed when I said I’d have to reschedule our date night tomorrow,” Ron said.
“I’m sorry for the late notice, but I need you at the wedding,” I said. “Moral support and all.”
“I know, I’m fucking with you,” he said. “I’d be pretty pissed if I wasn’t invited at least, or even asked to be your best man, ev
en if it wasn’t a grand gesture like you see on the internet these days.”
I laughed. As soon as I arrived at his house earlier I had blurted out my insecurities about the wedding, he had consoled me, and I asked him to be my best man as I poured myself a whiskey. Definitely not a grand gesture.
“I’ll make it up to you somehow,” I said.
“Don’t worry about it. Well, maybe just let me stay in your mansion while you’re on your honeymoon,” he suggested.
“Honeymoon?” I asked. “Shit, we haven’t even talked about that. We probably won’t have a honeymoon for another few months.” Not to mention our annulment process might have started by then.
“I understood,” he said. “Does she have her wedding dress yet?”
I slammed my drink on the counter. Did she? She hadn’t mentioned it, and I hadn’t bought one for her. I pulled out my phone with the intent to message her when Ron pulled it out of my hand.
“If she doesn’t have it, go pick her up and take her shopping,” he said.
“What, is that supposed to be a romantic gesture?” I asked.
“You’re fucking hopeless,” Ron said and laughed. “Yeah, it’s a romantic gesture, now go get her in your car and take her to the fanciest wedding dress shop in town.”
“This sounds expensive,” I said and slipped on my shoes.
“Weddings generally are,” he said and nearly pushed me out of his house. He closed the door behind me, and I got in my car and drove toward Maddie’s apartment.
Ten minutes after calling her and telling her to meet me outside, Maddie finally emerged from her apartment’s doors and got in the car.
“What’s this about?” she asked. She was in a light green floral dress that barely touched her mid thighs, and I had to squeeze my hand and refrain from putting my palm on top of her smooth skin. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun with wisps sticking out on the sides, and she smelled of soap and shampoo. I must have called her as soon as she was out of a shower. My cock twitched at the thought of her soapy body and my hands over it, but I forced it out of my head. There were more important things to do.
