Sarah had no idea.
Rogue either.
It looked like they were going to have to find out, and soon. Mercedes was being trafficked, and they needed to get to her before she was long gone.
Time was not the eighteen-year-old's friend.
At all.
Chapter Nineteen
Hotel Room
W hen they entered their reserved room, they found a burly man smoking a Cuban cigar and having a glass of bourbon. He was enjoying his time, and he should. Zayn paid him enough to keep him there.
“Your Honor,” he said, holding Stella’s hand.
The man stood and glanced over at him. “Well, son, I was beginning to think you’d forgotten me. Thank you for the little care package you left. Next time, a hooker will do.”
Zayn laughed.
Stella didn’t.
“He’s kidding, sweetness This is Judge Norman Moody. I’ve paid for his services for the next forty minutes.”
“So, this is the lady you’ve chosen to marry in this clandestine service?”
“It is, sir. Can we get started?”
He laughed. “In a hurry, are you?”
“Yes, frankly, I’m expecting her to come to her senses about marrying me. The sooner I get the ring on her finger, the better.”
She wrapped her arm around his body and gave him a squeeze. “I won’t change my mind. Take your time.”
He leaned down and left a kiss softly on her lips.
“Well, if you’re ready,” the man said, pointing at the balcony over Bourbon Street.
“No, we’ll do it in here. It’s safer.”
Then he realized what he said.
“I wouldn’t want her to fall or trip in her heels.”
The man laughed.
“You worry about the little things.”
Oh, he had no idea.
The man didn’t care where he handled it. “Well, then let’s take care of business—if you know what I mean.”
Zayn handed him the marriage license and a folded stack of bills.
“Everything seems to be in order, so let’s begin. I’m pretty informal. How about you do your own vows, you can give her the wedding ring, and then we will call it a night?”
Zayn pulled the second box out of his pocket and popped it open. There were two bands. His ring was simple, titanium like his love for her, and hers was sweet, old, and enduring like her love for him.
“They’re gorgeous, Zayn!”
He touched her cheek with his palm.
“Anything for you, my sweet.”
The man began, “We’re here to bind these two lovebirds together. I’m the judge, you’re the lovebirds, so let’s roll.”
“I, Zayn Thomas Thundercloud, do promise to love you forever. I promise to always be by your side, to always love and cherish you, and most importantly, to protect you. While I believe in your strength and tenacity, I also believe in taking care of what’s mine, and that’s you.”
She smiled at him as they held hands.
“I will give you a life filled with adventure, honesty, and my love. I won’t stray, I won’t leave, and I certainly won’t forget that fate put us together.”
He stared into her brilliant eyes.
“I will love you until I die.”
“Okay, son, slip that pretty ring onto your beautiful bride’s finger.”
Zayn pulled the delicate stone-encrusted band from the box and held her hand in his.
“With this ring, I thee wed, you, sweetness. May no man, or God, tear us asunder.”
She watched him slip it over her finger and to the place beside the beautiful engagement ring he’d gotten her.
“Your turn, miss.”
She stared into his eyes.
God!
How she loved them.
“I, Stella Rebecca Harrington, do promise to forever be your wife. I’m going to be by your side in good, bad, and crazy. I’m going to love you forever, and never leave you alone. You’re my protector, my rock, and my salvation in a world filled with chaos.”
She reached up and touched his cheek. When he turned his head to leave a kiss on her palm, her heart skipped.
‘I love you,’ he mouthed.
Oh, she loved him too.
“Being your wife will be my greatest adventure, my most amazing journey, and I can’t wait to be with you for the next fifty years. You, Zayn, are my all. You are my heart and soul. You just saved me a fifth time—when you chose me to be your wife.”
She took the big, titanium ring out of the box and placed it on his finger.
He grinned like the cat who swallowed the canary.
He was just about there.
“Zayn Thundercloud, let me introduce you to your wife, Stella…” He paused. “Are you taking his name?”
He stared at her.
“I am. I can handle the introductions,” she said. “From this moment forward, I shall be known as Mrs. Zayn Thundercloud or Stella Rebecca Thundercloud.”
“Well, there you go, son. Kiss that girl, I’ll sign this, and you two are hitched.”
Zayn did just that.
He dipped her, found her mouth with his, and kissed his bride.
There wasn’t a more amazing moment in her life. She was married. She belonged, and she had her fairytale.
It came true.
Her prince charming in military Kevlar had swooped into her life and swept her off her feet.
Finally.
When he broke the kiss, there were tears in his eyes. “I finally found my sanctuary. I’m home.”
She loved him so damn much.
When he put her upright on her feet, he tucked her protectively beneath his arm.
“Your Honor, get out. I have a honeymoon to begin.”
The man laughed but he got the message. He gave Stella a kiss and patted the man on the back. Then, he was on his way.
When the door closed, Zayn locked it.
“Well, is the sex part next?” she teased.
That made him laugh.
“We’re just about there.”
“What’s left?” she asked, ticking things off on her fingers as she said them silently in her head.
He moved to her and pulled Stella into his arms. “I’m not a perfect man, but I’ll try so hard to prove to you that you are more than loved—cherished—by me.”
She placed her hand over his heart.
“I know you will.”
“I have something for you,” he said, pulling the bunch of wrapped roses from the bag.
“More flowers?”
“This is your bouquet to throw,” he admitted, placing it in her hands.
“Um, to who?” she asked, looking around. “You’re already married. I don’t think I want you catching it so you can get hitched to someone else.”
He grinned wickedly.
“New Orleans is a magical town. I found you, and I think we should give the single ladies some of that magic.”
He led her out onto their private hotel balcony and pointed down at the chaos. They were in the center of town, and right on top of the action.
“Them?” she asked.
Zayn nodded, and he whistled really loudly.
People all looked up.
“Any single ladies want to catch a bouquet?”
There were squeals as they moved beneath the balcony. There were men trying to stop them.
It was amusing.
“ON THE COUNT OF THREE!” Zayn shouted.
The crowd joined in.
“ONE!”
She turned around and got ready to toss the bouquet to a street full of drunken strangers.
She’d never forget this moment.
Never.
“TWO!” everyone cajoled.
Stella kept her eyes on her husband, and in that moment, he was so damn handsome.
“THREE!”
Stella tossed the bouquet up in the air, and she spun to watch it fall the two levels down to the cheering crowd b
elow. A uniformed detective caught it beneath them on Bourbon Street, and her face said it all.
She hadn’t expected it, but none of the party revelers would dare try to grab it from a cop.
The crowd cheered, and they began throwing beads up to the newly married couple.
Then someone tossed a beer—still in the can.
Zayn grinned and caught it with one hand. “And here is why I love this town. They know what to do with newlyweds. They treat them right,” he said, saluting the unsuspecting cop.
Stella was amused.
She pulled him back into the room, after dropping the gaudy plastic beads over her head.
“Now for my favorite part,” she said, closing the doors that led onto the balcony.
He laughed. “Has anyone ever told you that you have a one-track mind?”
“I never had this problem before. It probably has something to do with my very sexy husband.”
He blushed.
It was hard to see himself through her eyes. He was some guy who got really lucky and found a sweet woman, who looked at him as if he were something special.
“Care to help me out of this dress?” she asked, turning around.
“Oh, I definitely think I’m the man for the job.”
When he moved closer, he found her neck with his lips and left a line of wet, warm kisses there as he lowered the zipper of her dress.
“That’s really nice,” she said, getting goosebumps.
“Know what’s nice?” he asked.
“Hmmm?”
“That I get to do this with you as much as I want, and you can’t say no.”
She laughed when he giggled maniacally.
“Well, I can say no, but I think we both know I’m up for anything.”
She turned around and let the lacy, white dress drop.
He licked his suddenly dry lips. She was wearing white beneath, and he almost wanted to pray to whoever sent him this amazing prize.
“I love lace.”
Oh, she figured as much. “I told you I had some sexy tricks in my luggage. I wasn’t kidding.”
No, she definitely wasn’t. Her breasts were housed in the scandalous lace. He could see the outline of nipples, and that made it even more erotic.
He got hard.
Really hard.
“Stella,” he muttered.
When she reached behind her back, she unhooked the bra and tossed it to him. The beads hung over her full breasts, and it looked…
Jesus.
Like his wildest fantasy.
“I saw a porno like this once,” he muttered. “She wore the beads in bed.”
Well, she could do that.
She moved toward him.
When she reached out and touched his erection—through his pants—he moaned.
“That makes me want to be wild,” he admitted. “Must think about wedding night sex,” he muttered over and over again.
She stared up at him.
It gave her an idea.
“You’ve been sweet, and you’ve been gentle. Why don’t you take your sexy new wife for a spin? Why don’t you let yourself have fun?”
He stated at her.
“Like ‘toss you over my shoulder and screw your brains out all over room’ fun?”
She got wet picturing it.
“Uh uh.”
“Like ‘make you do indecent things with a really large perverted Native man’ fun?”
She laughed.
“Yes.”
“I love this wedding thing. I should have married you sooner.”
“When?”
“Day one. I think I waited too long.”
Well, that wait was over.
“Why don’t we really make this night memorable? You gave me my fantasy courtship. Let me give you the wild night of fornication you want.”
He stared at the ceiling.
“What are you doing?”
“Thanking the Great Spirit. My wife is a nymphomaniac and I’m trapped in a room with her. All I need is handcuffs and I think I’m going to die in here from all the sex.”
She started laughing. “I’m game. Let’s see what my new husband can do. Rock my world, Zayn Thundercloud. Let the wild out. That’s the best wedding gift you can give me.”
Oh, that was going to be his gift.
“I think I like this marriage thing. No, I really love it. Married men have all the good sex.”
She laughed.
Moving toward him, she licked her lips. “You’re overdressed. Let me help you with that since you helped me.”
Stella’s fingers moved over his body, pushing his tux jacket off his shoulders. Then, she focused on the shirt.
Slowly, she tugged it out of his pants.
His breathing increased as he watched her hands move across the starched white shirt.
“Let’s get this shirt off you. Is this your Tux?” she asked.
“Yes, why?”
“I’ll buy you a new one,” she said, ripping the shirt open at the buttons. They went flying, and he actually gasped.
“Jesus. I think I may cum right now.”
“We have all night. I promise it won’t be the first or last time,” she vowed.
He loved this woman.
She was sweet, and in their bedroom, she was wicked as the filthiest sin. It was a perfect match. In bed, he was gentle by nature with her, but life…he had to be dangerous.
He let the passion fill them both.
She shoved the shirt off his shoulders. Stella brought her lips to the bruises across his body from where he stopped a car to save her, and his arm—where he’d been shot.
He’d risked it all for her.
It was a beautiful thing.
“I love the sheer size of you,” she admitted. “There’s nothing sexier than a big, strong man.”
He couldn’t even move. His wife was walking around him in some gaudy beads and some barely there string concoction she was calling panties.
The part that got him the most worked up was that she hadn’t known they were going to do this. She was wearing them just because.
Yeah.
Hot.
“I love when you touch me,” he admitted.
“Like this,” she replied, leaving wet, open-mouthed kisses across his flesh.
He shook.
“Yes, exactly like that.”
She moved around his body, a trail of fire in her wake.
When her hand slipped around his waist from behind, and into his pants, Zayn moaned.
“Yeah, I’m definitely not going to last long. I need lots and lots of practice.”
“Well, that will be on my list of things to do. When you get home…sex. When you get up in the morning…sex. When we go to bed…”
His blood pressure was up. He could feel the artery in his dick throbbing at her words.
“My sweet temptress,” he muttered as she stroked him. “What would I do without you?”
“You never need to know.”
“That is exactly what I needed to hear.” It was because he knew he’d have to fight for her. After tonight, her father was going to want to talk her out of being married. If he didn’t, he’d be shocked. That was going to rub him raw.
Zayn couldn’t lose her.
If Stella left his life, he might as well die. There was no way he could go back to his old life now.
He’d been to paradise by way of this woman. The most beautiful part was she was damaged too. She was a wreck after what happened, and in that destruction, they were building something so amazing.
Standing in front of him, she flicked her tongue over his nipples. She could just reach them on her tippy toes.
“Stella,” he moaned.
She loved the way her name sounded on his lips when he was lost in the pleasure. It was always amazing when she could make this giant man quake.
That was true power.
As she stroked his heated flesh, Stella wanted to make the night memorable. Now that he
was all warmed up, she was going to hand over the control.
“Take me, Zayn. Have your way with your wife. She wants you to be wild.”
That was all he needed.
The switch was flipped.
All the fantasies flooded his mind, making him harder, wilder, and needier of what she was offering him. Tonight, on their wedding night, he could take all he wanted.
Stella was his sexy buffet of pleasure, and he was going to gorge.
All.
Night.
Long.
That was a gift.
She turned and rubbed her bare body against his naked torso. He reveled in the feel of her flesh touching his. Maybe it was the kiss of the beads between them but it was driving him insane.
It was so damn hot.
All he knew was he had to have her, so he began his assault.
It was going to be delicious.
Turning her around, his mouth sought hers. Immediately, he invaded with everything he had. Forcefully, he was taking everything he wanted from the kiss.
From her.
From the night.
Tongues slid heatedly across each other in some erotic, wild dance. His heart thumped in a wild staccato like the drums of his ancestors.
It riled him up.
Drove his need.
His hands wandered until he found the pale smooth skin hidden behind the sinful lace. His angel had a wild side, and he was grateful. He wanted to experience this all with her. Zayn wanted to be wild too.
With one tug, he ripped the G-string from her body. It was her turn to gasp as he used his brute strength.
He ran his mouth across her neck and shoulder as his fingers stroked and explored. When he used his teeth on her throat, she shivered.
He couldn’t help himself.
Her sweet ass was right there, and he always wondered…taking a chance, he smacked that pale skin, leaving a red mark.
Stella moaned and got wetter.
He struck her cheek again, Stella shook.
“Wild like this?” he asked, teasing her throat and ear. The delicious taste of his new wife was an incredible way to decompress after a brutal day.
For both of them.
He wanted to take her mind off of every single problem she was facing.
“Yes,” she replied, as his long fingers slid across the wetness between her legs.
“God! I love being married,” he muttered, as she gasped when he stroked that tiny little bud.
Atonement: The Hunter Mercenary Series (Book One) Page 29
