I watch as my best friend looks up at her soon to be husband. The love these two have is serious couple goals.
“Welcome,” the minister starts the wedding, moving us quickly through the ceremony. Before I know it, Beckett is bending Julia over in a kiss not meant for minor viewing. “It is my pleasure to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Beckett Karlson,” the minister announces as the guests all stand in applause. They finally make their way out, followed by the wedding party.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look today?” John asks as I link my arm with his as we follow Beckett and Julia.
“Only a time or ten,” I say under my breath.
“How much longer until I can peel that dress off of you?” he asks once we’ve exited the sanctuary part of the venue.
“You’re incorrigible,” I tell him, smacking his chest lightly as I laugh at him.
“Can’t blame a man for wanting what he knows is his,” he says, a little cocky as he raises an eyebrow in question.
“Later.” I giggle as he captures my lips in a toe-curling kiss. “First, we have to do the reception thing,” I tell him between kisses. “The dancing, and cake, and some more dancing,” I remind him.
“As long as I’m dancing with you,” he practically growls into my neck.
“All right, caveman,” I chuckle as he attempts to suck on my neck. “Let’s go before you get carried away.”
“I’ll carry you away,” he quips back.
“Hmmmhmm,” I hum at him as I pull him down the hall to where we’re expected next.
“Can I take you back to the hotel yet?” John asks a few hours later as we’re slow dancing around the dance floor. All of our bridal party duties are finally done, we’ve just been enjoying the evening and time celebrating our friends.
“I suppose,” I tell him as I link my fingers behind his neck.
“About damn time!” he says, shocking me as he swoops me up into his arms.
“John,” I laugh. “Put me down before you hurt one of us.”
“Sorry, babe, no can do. We need to get out of here and now,” he says.
“First, we have to say goodbye,” I remind him.
“If you insist,” he says as he beelines it for where Julia and Beckett are swaying together on the dance floor, only setting me down once we’ve reached them.
“Congratulations on the nuptials, thanks for the party, but we’re out of here,” John announces when we’ve reached Julia and Beckett’s side. I smack his chest once again for interrupting them like that. Julia laughs at us, not able to hide her reaction.
“Thank you both for everything,” she is finally able to get out with a straight face. “This day wouldn’t have been what it was without both of you. Now go, get out of here. Enjoy the rest of your time, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Julia says as she winks at me.
“Have an amazing honeymoon! Call me as soon as you get back to the States. We’ll have to have lunch or dinner and catch up. I want all the details once you get back,” I tell my best friend as I squeeze her tightly in a hug. I can’t believe my bestie is a married woman.
“Of course!” she tells me as she squeezes back. “Have fun of your own, you’re here for, what, another week?”
“Yep, but we’re going to Stockholm tomorrow for most of it. We wanted to visit the larger city and see what it has to offer.”
“I don’t think you’re going to see much except the bed, if the way John’s looking at you has any indication.”
“We’ll see,” I sing song as we finally let go of one another.
John escorts me out and into the waiting car that will take us back to the hotel. Beckett and Julia arranged for the transportation so that no one who drank had to risk it and drive.
“Come here.” John pulls me behind him once we enter our suite. I follow him out onto a private little balcony that overlooks the city. It is so beautiful up here, even if it is nighttime and dark out. The glow of the city lights up some of our view, but we can also see the sky full of stars. I stand against the railing, John behind me as he boxes me in against the cool metal. “Did you have a good time tonight?” he asks, dropping a few kisses to my exposed shoulder. My hair is still pulled up into the updo that the hair stylist came up with this morning, giving him full access.
“I did. It was the perfect day for them.”
“They sure know how to pull off one hell of a party,” he muses.
“That they do,” I agree.
“What do you envision when you think of your wedding?” he asks quietly.
“Something small and intimate. Not a ton of people, just my closest friends and family. Maybe a hundred people, max. On the beach somewhere warm, where we can stand in the sand and pledge our lives to one another for the rest of eternity,” I tell him honestly, thinking about that with him.
“That sounds pretty perfect, let’s do it,” he says, surprising me as he turns me and drops to one knee all at the same time. I gasp, my free hand going to cover my mouth as he slips the most beautiful ring onto my finger.
“Are you serious?” is all I can think to say, shock still holding tightly to my vocal cords.
“Completely. Jill, you came into my life when everything I’d known was falling apart. You helped me navigate the mess I’d found myself in without ever blinking an eye. You’ve been there at some of my worst moments, I want you there for the best ones. Please do me the honor of becoming my wife.” He lays it all out there on the line.
“Yes!” I cry out and he immediately picks me up in his arms, swinging me around as our lips collide. “I can’t believe you just proposed!” I tell him once we break the kiss. “Have you had this in your pocket all day?” I ask, holding my hand out to admire the rock.
“Yep. Now does it make sense why I kept trying to get you out of there?” he asks.
“I guess so, but you had to know that I wouldn’t have left early.” I half chuckle at the idea.
“I know,” he admits, “but, you can’t blame a man for trying.”
“No, I guess you can’t,” I agree with him as I pull him in for another kiss.
“Can I take you to bed now?” he asks against my lips. “I need to make love to my fiancée.” He quirks a brow at me.
“Yes, please,” I tell him, and he pivots, taking me straight back into the suite and not stopping until he deposits me on the floor at the foot of the king-size bed.
“Turn around,” he commands. I do as he says, my body already on fire for him.
I feel as his fingertips ghost across the exposed skin of my shoulders as he searches for the zipper. It feels like he takes forever to lower the thing, exposing my skin inch by inch. His lips cover the skin as each portion is exposed, until finally he reaches the bottom of the zipper. The dress is loose enough now to fall from my body, pooling at my feet. I step out of it, leaving me in the matching bra and thong I bought special to wear under the dress. Besides those two items of clothing, I only have my sandals still on, which I easily kick off. John turns me in his arms, his eyes raking up and down my body, and I can feel them like a brand. Like he’s taking his fill and making sure I know I’m his.
“You are so fucking beautiful,” he says, almost as if my beauty pains him. He flicks the clasp on my bra, watching as it hits the floor. As soon as it does, his lips are circling around one nipple while his fingers roll the other one. I feel every flick of his tongue against my sensitive tip, as if he’s lapping at my clit. My pussy throbs for him as he makes me wait.
I do my best to tug at his clothes, he’s only lost the tux jacket and tie a few hours ago. I manage to get his belt open, then start working on the buttons of his shirt. It doesn’t help me that he’s dropped to his knees in front of me as he continues to suck and play with my nipples. The man is definitely a breast man, or at least, he’s always loved mine.
“Sit,” he instructs a few minutes later as he turns me once again, the bed now hitting me against the back of my legs. I do as he
asks, sitting just on the edge of the bed. I watch as he stands back up to his full height, shucking all of his clothes and kicking them to the side so they’re out of the way. He places a hand on my breastbone, pushing me back until I’m lying back, my legs wrapped around his torso, holding him tightly against my body.
“Now what?” I ask, watching him, trying to determine what his next move is.
“Now, I’m going to make you come on my tongue,” he says, pausing long enough to kiss me deeply. “Then, I’m going to slide my cock inside of you while you’re still pulsing from your first orgasm and make you come all over my cock while I fuck you hard and fast, just how I know you like it. Once we’ve both recovered from that, I’m going to fuck you slow and sweetly all night, until the sun comes up. We’re not missing a moment of the rest of this night,” he says before he kisses me one last time before dropping to his knees again, he slips my thong off before diving between my legs and lapping at my clit. He slides two fingers inside me, and my body clenches at the intrusion. He quickly works my body over, his fingers sliding in and out, hitting the perfect spot with just the right pressure as he sucks hard on my clit. I explode on his tongue. Inaudible words of praise falling from my lips as my body convulses on the bed as my orgasm washes over me.
He slides his fingers from me and I whimper at the loss of him, only to crack my eyes open a sliver and watch as he gives his cock a few strokes before lining up with my entrance, thrusting until he’s fully seated. His thumb circles my clit as he finds a punishing pace as his hips piston forward and back. His cock fills me so fully that I can feel every damn vein that he has, especially with how hard he is at the moment. His thumb presses down on my clit and I explode for the second time, squeezing his cock in a vise grip. “Fuck!” he shouts as he snaps his hips once more, then spilling inside of me. He collapses forward, his head coming to rest on my shoulder. I feel as his lips make contact, raining small kisses along the skin there.
“I love you,” I tell him as I cup his cheeks, pulling his head up so I can kiss him. As our tongues connect, I can feel his cock twitch inside me. I break the kiss, falling into a fit of giggles because of the feeling of him twitching inside me as I do so.
“I love you,” he finally tells me. “Thank you for saying yes. Thank you for being my game changer when I least expected it.”
Epilogue
John
Six months later
I sit on a piece of driftwood lying on the beach, looking out at the ocean. A glass of bourbon on the rocks in my hand as the moon rises in the otherwise dark night sky. As I sit here, I can’t help but think back over the last year, five, ten—hell, the last thirty years of my life—and how far I’ve come. I’ve accomplished so many amazing things. Not a lot of people can claim the wins that I’ve had in my life, just as not many people have been faced with the challenges that I’ve faced in my thirty-six years.
I dig my toes into the warm sand as I watch the waves rolling in and out twenty or so feet from where I’m sitting. Noise behind me grabs my attention, so I turn my head to see what or who is coming out here. I notice my sister-in-law walking out, what looks like a glass of wine in her hand.
“You want some company?” Stephanie asks as she comes around the piece of wood.
“Sure, have a seat,” I tell her.
“Nice night,” she says, and I can tell she’s testing the waters to see if everything is okay.
“It is, just enjoying the fresh ocean air before I call it a night. We’ve got a few busy days ahead of us.”
“You do,” she agrees with me. “Everything okay?”
“Yep, I promise. I’m just enjoying the calm before the crazy.”
“Where did your bride to be get off to?”
“She’s back in the suite with Julia, working on last-minute items. I offered to help, but it quickly became apparent that my help was not really helpful, so she shooed me out of the room for a few hours,” I admit.
Stephanie chuckles as she sits next to me, sipping on her wine. “I’ll give you a small token of advice,” she muses. “A happy wife, means a happy life.”
“I’ve been told that a few times already.” I chuckle before taking another sip of my bourbon. The liquid burning as it goes down, but damn does this taste good. “I don’t think I’ll have any issues with remembering that motto. All I want is for Jill to be my wife, hopefully the mother of our future children, but most importantly, my partner in life. I want to stand beside her in this crazy life, just as much as I want her to stand beside me.”
“You really are one of the good ones,” Stephanie says as she squeezes my shoulder. “I’d like to think that if I wasn’t in love with your sister, and you know, not a lesbian, I’d have fallen for someone like you. You both are lucky to have found one another. Don’t let that love die. I’m here to tell you that marriage is hard. You’ll have fights, sometimes over stupid crap, like who loaded the dishwasher wrong or who moved the remote and now no one can find it. But, then it might be something bigger, like major purchases—another tip, don’t make any without at least talking to her about it first. Even if you make the majority of the money that comprise your finances, she needs to be seen as an equal in your marriage.”
“Sounds simple enough.”
“Simple isn’t the word I’d use, but it can sometimes feel that way, and then the next it is the complete opposite. Another tip, since apparently I’m full of them tonight,” she says on a light laugh. “Don’t ever go to bed mad at one another. Talk things out in a civil manner. Listen, and I mean listen to each other, even when she isn’t using actual words. Women are strange creatures sometimes and will give you clues other ways. Be spontaneous. Come home and whisk her away for a long weekend in another city or dinner out at some fancy restaurant she’s been wanting to try, or the hole in the wall place you heard about from one of the guys or on a tv show. But most of all, love each other through it all. Be each other’s strength during the easy, but more importantly, be each other’s strength during the hard times.”
“I think we’ve got that part figured out. She’s already seen me at my worst with some of the mood swings I’ve encountered and side effects from the TBI. Not many women would jump in feet first to a relationship with someone who was recovering from that kind of injury and the unknown as to how it was going to affect the future like she did.”
“I know, and I knew that when she was willing to help you through all that, she was one of the good ones. Just remember that she needs you just as much as you need her. That’s how this all works. She might be the backbone, but eventually something is going to happen and she’s going to need you to be her backbone.”
“Is that how it is with you and Cindi?” I ask.
“Obviously our situation is different than yours, but it is. We’ve worked through our share of issues. It isn’t easy being in a same-sex marriage. Many people out there don’t think that we’re fit to be parents just because we’re two women. It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears for us to get to the point that we could have our kids, but we persisted, leaned on each other and made it happen. I’d go through all of it again if it meant we’d be where we are at today; even if I am sleep deprived lately,” Stephanie says, laughing.
“I’m glad the two of you persisted. You’ve got some great kids out of the deal.”
“They are pretty great, if I do say so myself.”
“What are the two of you talking about out here?” Cindi asks as she comes up behind Stephanie and me.
“Just life, giving John all my married life wisdom,” Stephanie answers.
“Ooh,” Cindi says as she rounds the driftwood and plops down in the sand so she’s facing us.
“Who’s with the kids?” I ask.
“Kids? I’m supposed to leave someone with them?” she deadpans and rolls her eyes. Stephanie snickers next to me as if I just asked the stupidest question. “Mom’s in the room, but all three are asleep,” she says as she reaches for Stephanie’s glass of
wine and finishes it off.
“How’d they do on the flight?” I ask of my nephew and twin nieces.
“Pretty good, the girls had a few moments during takeoff and landing that their ears bothered them, but nothing horrible.”
“Good to hear. I can’t wait to take Mason out on the water tomorrow, think he’ll want to try water skiing or surfing?”
“I’m sure he will. You know how much of a daredevil he is, and if Uncle John is taking him, he doesn’t often back down,” Cindi says.
“Good, I’ve got some free time in the morning that I can spend with him. How about I come get him after breakfast and bring him back before lunch?”
“That’s fine with me,” Cindi says, looking at Stephanie for her approval, as well.
“Fine with me. What time do we need to be at the rehearsal tomorrow?” she asks.
“Not until late afternoon,” Cindi answers for me. “I think the email that Jill sent said three thirty.”
“That sounds right to me,” I confirm.
“Jill doesn’t need you in the morning for anything?” Cindi asks.
“Not that she’s told me,” I tell my sister before taking another sip of my bourbon.
“Just breathe, man,” Beckett murmurs under his breath. “This feels all too familiar,” he tells me quietly. “I could have sworn that you told me the exact same thing when it was me in your position.”
“Yeah, I think I did. You were about to pass out,” I tell him as we wait for the wedding planner to finish giving instructions to the women in the wedding party. We’ve only been practicing for the actual service that takes place tomorrow evening at sunset for about ten minutes and I’m already ready for the real thing to be here.
I watch as my sister, nephew, and then Julia make it down the short aisle before finally my bride and her dad make their way toward me. The moment our eyes connect, I swear everything around me disappears. All I can hear is the waves crashing behind us, or is that the sound of my blood pulsing in my own ears? I swear, every step that Jill and her dad take get slower and slower as they make their way to the arch I’m standing at.
The Game Changer : Indianapolis Eagles Series Book 8 Page 19
