Riled Up (With A Kiss #2)

by Anie Michaels

  “Good evening,” the officiant said to everyone. I’d been introduced to the man just a few minutes before, but I couldn’t remember his name for the life of me. And that was fine. Ten, twenty, thirty years from now, I wouldn’t want to remember his name or even what he looked like. I did, however, want to remember the way Riley looked as she walked toward me, how we felt standing in front of each other, her hands in mine, ready to get married.

  “People don’t usually come to Las Vegas to get married in a lengthy service, so I’ll make this short and sweet.”

  His quip made everyone laugh, Riley and me included.

  “Marriage is not just a piece of paper, it is a commitment to be a partner every single day of the rest of your life. Marriage isn’t about a dress or a ring, it’s about two people promising to put the other person above anyone else until death. You kids look plenty happy, and I’m sure you love each other a lot, but I’m here to tell you there will be days in the years ahead where you’ll question that love, where you’ll wonder if you have what it takes to stick it out until the end. Remember, love is a feeling, but marriage is a choice. You must choose, every day, to be true to the one you love, to give your marriage as much attention as it needs, and even when you think it’s fine, put the effort in anyway.”

  Riley smiled at me and I squeezed her hand. Even though this man was a Las Vegas marriage officiant and he probably married hundreds of couples every year, I took his advice to heart. I never wanted to be complacent with Riley. I never wanted to take our relationship for granted or fall away from the closeness I felt with her in that moment. I vowed to work every day at making her happy.

  “Did you want the traditional vows, or have you prepared your own?” he asked us with a smile.

  Before I could answer, Riley spoke. “Is it okay if we just wing it?”

  “You want to wing your marriage vows?”

  She shrugged. “Yeah?”

  He laughed but then said, “Be my guest.”

  Riley turned and handed her bouquet of peonies to Hadley, then took both my hands in hers and looked up at me with the most brilliant smile.

  “Camden,” she started, then stopped to cry a little. Hadley handed her a tissue and she started again after a few moments. “Camden, I think often about how so many things had to line up just perfectly for us to meet the way we did. To think that someone else could have sat down next to you, or that the Kiss Cam could have landed on two other people, or if I didn’t have a loudmouthed best friend who gave you my personal information, we wouldn’t be standing here right now and I wouldn’t be the luckiest woman in the world to be marrying you. But I want you to know that I am well aware of the part I’ll play in our forever. I know life won’t always hand us happiness, so I promise that even in the bad times I’ll hold your hand. I’ll live in the beautiful house you bought us, but I promise I’d be happy with you in a crappy apartment in the bad part of town. When you’re sick, I’ll make you soup, and when you’re sad, I’ll hold you. When you’re angry, I’ll help you plot your revenge, and when you’re happy, I promise I’ll be happy with you. I promise I’ll always keep Guinness in the house, even if it’s the grossest beer ever made, and I’ll always let you win at Skee-Ball. I promise I’ll always put the life we’ve built together first, and I will make you a priority every single day.”

  Not a damn dry eye in the house. Jesus.

  I rubbed my thumbs over the back of Riley’s hands and tried to put two thoughts together.

  “I don’t know why I’m surprised to find myself standing in front of you, speechless. You’ve had that effect on me a lot since that first night we met. But rest assured, Riley, no matter how we would have ended up meeting, the two of us were destined. Nothing as perfect as you and me together could be anything but fate. I’m not sure how I’ll ever top this,” I said, waving my hand around for emphasis, “but I promise I’ll never stop surprising you. I live for the look on your face when I give you something you didn’t even realize you needed. Your smile can make the worst day better, the saddest day happy, and I intend to see you smile every day for the rest of my life. I’m also going to bust my ass to provide for you, not because you can’t provide for yourself but because I want to give you everything I can. It’s the least I can do since you’ve given me everything I’ve ever dreamed of.”

  I heard the females in the chapel sighing, but I continued.

  “I’ll try my best to make sure you have everything you want, but I’ll always be there to give you what you need. I’ll get you out of your head, because I know sometimes you get lost in there. I’ll make you laugh because I know you love it, but also because the sound of you laughing is the best sound in the whole world. I’ll hold you close when you feel like you’re floating away, and I’ll rub the tension from your shoulders every night since you seem to want to carry the world on them all on your own. No one would have loved you like I’m going to love you.”

  Because I couldn’t stop myself or hold back any longer, I pulled Riley toward me and pressed a kiss against her lips, then smiled against her mouth when I felt her arms wrap around my neck.

  The officiant cleared his throat and then laughed. “You, uh, skipped ahead a few steps.”

  “Sorry, not sorry,” Riley replied spritely, making everyone laugh.

  “Do you have rings?”

  Riley and I both turned to our best people to retrieve the bands.

  “Camden,” he said once I’d turned back to face Riley. “Place the ring on her left ring finger and repeat after me.”

  I held the ring at the tip of her finger as he spoke the words and I repeated them, knowing I’d never say them to another woman.

  “I give you this ring as a pledge of my love and commitment. With this ring, I thee wed.”

  I slid the platinum eternity band down her finger and then grasped her hand in mine, watching as she sniffled and smiled all the while.

  “Repeat after me, Riley,” the officiant said.

  I watched as she placed the ring on my finger and looked into my eyes, saying, “I give you this ring as a pledge of my love and commitment. With this ring, I thee wed.” I looked down as the ring slid into place, but something was off. The ring I’d chosen was titanium, but the ring on my finger was platinum. I looked up to Riley and even more tears were shining in her eyes.

  “I hope you don’t mind,” she said through a cry, “but I switched your ring out with another.”

  “What?” I asked, looking back and forth between the ring and Riley. Behind me I heard my mother crying, and I glanced over to see my stepdad consoling her. “You switched my ring?”

  “That’s your father’s ring. Your mom thought you might like to have it.”

  “What?” I said again. “My father’s ring?”

  “Yeah,” she replied, nodding as more tears fell. “I hope that’s okay?”

  I looked back at my mom again, then to Riley.

  “His wedding ring?” I looked down at the ring on my finger. Suddenly it all clicked into place, and along with understanding came emotion. My fist clenched and I brought it to my mouth, pressing the closed fingers against my lips, trying to keep in the sobs that had caught me off guard. Riley was immediately as close to me as she could get, one arm around my waist as the other hand came to my cheek.

  “I’m sorry, Camden. I’m sorry. We thought it would be a nice surprise. I should have asked you first.”

  On instinct, I opened my arms and wrapped them around her, pulling her chest against mine and burying my face in her neck. I cried silently against her for a minute, trying to pull myself together but failing. I’d never experienced emotion so raw before. All the while, Riley was running her hands up and down my back, apologizing over and over.

  Once I’d gained some composure, I pulled back and took her face in my hands, bringing her gaze level with mine.

  “I’m sorry,” she said again. “I can get your new ring. I think Hadley might still have it.”

  I silenced h
er by kissing her again, softly that time.

  “Thank you,” I said against her lips. “I didn’t even know this existed.”

  “You’re all right with it?”

  “Yes.” I smiled, our noses still touching, her body pressed against mine. “Yes. I was surprised, but a good surprised. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  I kissed her again, which prompted the officiant to clear his throat one more time.

  “I’m going to assume neither of you has done this before, so I’ll give you a hint: You’re supposed to wait to kiss until the end.”

  “Sorry, not sorry,” Riley said again, and that time even the officiant laughed.

  It was with tears in my eyes and Riley in my arms when he finally said, “By the powers vested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride… again.”

  So I did.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Riley

  “Would you like another drink, Mrs. Rogers?”

  Shivers raced down my spine at Camden’s words. Not only from the way his breath hit my neck as he spoke, but also hearing him call me Mrs. Rogers. I never thought taking someone’s last name would be such a turn-on, but apparently it was. Something else that became apparent to me as he wrapped his arms around me from behind was that my husband was also turned on by my new last name, the evidence pressed against my ass.

  “I’m good,” I said, grinding my hips into his erection. Nothing too obvious—we were out in public still.

  “Oh no, Mrs. Rogers, I think you’re a little bit naughty.”

  I giggled as his mouth found my neck and he peppered kisses along the sensitive skin.

  “Seriously though,” he said, spinning me around so I was facing him, “can I get you something?”

  My hands slid up his chest, admiring the navy suit jacket he still wore and how well his awesome fucking muscles filled it out.

  My husband was hot.

  My husband was hot.

  “Babe?” he asked, a smirk on his face. “Drink?”

  I bit my lip and shook my head.

  His hands slid down from my waist and back to cup my ass through my dress.

  “Have I told you how beautiful you look?”

  I nodded. “Too many times.”

  “Not enough times,” he argued. His gaze smoothed over me, from my face down my chest and over the rest of my dress. “Fuck. This dress, Riley. It’s the sexiest fucking thing you’ve ever worn.”

  I rose onto my toes, which wasn’t easy in my stilettos, and whispered in his ear, “You should see what’s under my dress.”

  “So, we’re done here, then?” he asked, pulling away and hauling me toward the exit.

  “Camden,” I giggled. “We can’t just leave. This is our reception.”

  He stopped, but only to pull me back into his arms.

  I didn’t complain.

  We’d had a hard time keeping our hands to ourselves, but everyone seemed to understand. Even strangers. Turns out, when a woman in a fancy, even-close-to-white dress and a man in a snazzy suit walk down the Vegas Strip, everyone knows you got married. It was almost as if the entire city was attending our reception.

  We’d gone from the chapel to a fancy dinner where all our friends and family raised their glasses and toasted to our marriage. We ate amazing food and drank our weight in champagne. Everyone was laughing and smiling most of the time. Camden’s mother did sit next to him for a minute, and I covertly eavesdropped as they discussed Camden’s wedding ring. Hearing Cam tell his mother that he was glad to have the ring and honored to wear it made me feel much better about bombarding him. I knew eventually we’d talk about it, have a deeper conversation about what it meant to him to have that ring on his finger, but for that night I was content to let it be. He was happy. I was happy. We had our whole lives to talk about sad things.

  After dinner our parents politely declined to come out and party with all of us, even though we tried our best to convince them. After dropping them back off at the hotel, I commandeered the wedding party and gave Camden my own surprise, taking him someplace I knew he’d love.

  When we’d pulled up to the arcade, Camden laughed for a good three minutes.

  “Come on, Skee-Ball shark, go in there and show everyone how it’s done.”

  And he did.

  We’d played Skee-Ball and air hockey and Pac-Man for hours, and it was the best night ever.

  And it wasn’t over yet.

  “The bride and groom are always the first to leave the reception. It’s tradition,” Camden said, his lips finding my neck again. But he suddenly pulled away and gave me a serious face. “In fact, it’s our weddingly duty to walk out of this establishment right now. Our marriage may be cursed if we don’t.”

  “Well,” I replied, trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably, “we can’t let that happen.”

  He kissed me again, his mouth lingering on mine for longer than necessary, but I didn’t mind. When he finally pulled back, it was with a smile and a wink.

  God, I love this man.

  He took my hand and we made the rounds, saying thank you and good night to everyone. I wasn’t sure when our flight back home left, but I figured someone would fill me in and I would see everyone the next day to go back to our normal lives.

  Well, they’d be going back to their normal lives. I’d be going back married.

  I squeezed Hadley harder than the rest.

  “Thank you for everything, Had. There’s no one else I would have wanted with me today.”

  “Shut up, bitch,” she said, trying to sound tough, but I heard the crack in her voice.

  I pulled back and looked over her shoulder where Justin was standing, staring at her. As soon as he caught me looking at him, he turned away.

  “Everything okay with Justin?”

  “Hmm?” she asked, pretending as if she hadn’t heard me.

  “Are you going to be all right here with Justin?” I knew he would never intentionally hurt Hadley, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t upset her. I wanted everyone to have a good night. “Do you want to ride back to the hotel with us?”

  She scoffed. “Right. And sit next to you guys while you grope each other in the limo? No, thanks. I’ll take my chances with Justin.”

  I gave her a careful look, then decided that Hadley was a big girl and could make her own decisions. I just wanted her all right at the end of the evening.

  “Okay, but use the buddy system. Don’t go back to the hotel alone, all right?”

  “Yes, Mom.” She rolled her eyes at me.

  “Love you,” I told her.

  “Love you too.”

  As soon as we were in the limo, Hadley’s prediction became reality—Camden was, indeed, all over me. I was okay with it though, because ever since I saw him standing at the end of that aisle in the crisp blue suit, I’d wanted to get my hands on him. On his thighs, specifically. All night the blue fabric clung to his thighs, and it was all I could do not to lean over and bite them.

  Yes, bite them.

  Did I mention I’d had a lot of champagne?

  We were too drunk and too in love for seat belts, and I was too turned on to remain in my seat, so I climbed over him, straddling one of his legs, and smirked at his eyes lit up with lust.

  “You’re in for it now, husband.”

  “Is that right?” he asked as his hands started at the backs of my knees and slid slowly up my thighs until he met the edge of my lacy thong.

  “Yep,” I said, popping the P. “You’re my husband, and it is your legal obligation to let me use your body for all my pleasure.” Even as I said the words I rocked back and forth on his leg. I wasn’t going to ride his thigh to orgasm in the limo, but there was nothing wrong with getting a little riled up on the way to the hotel. I could always finish what I’d started once we got there.

  “Well, by all means,” he said, squeezing my ass.

  I kissed him then,
my mouth crashing over his, my hands threading through his hair, and everything about it felt more right than it ever had before. It was different, kissing my husband. As soon as Camden and I were officially together, it hadn’t occurred to me that we’d ever be apart, but kissing him as his wife was a strange and wonderful kind of different. I’d always wanted to kiss him forever, but now it seemed as though that would happen. He was mine. Forever.

  Thinking about the wedding and our commitment, it was strangely arousing.

  I wanted to fuck my husband. Bad.

  In some part of my mind I’d always thought wedding nights were supposed to be loving and sensual. There was supposed to be candlelight and romance.

  Nope.

  I just wanted to be filled with him, to be connected, to feel him inside me knowing it was him and me forever.

  “I can’t wait to get you out of this dress, babe,” he growled just before moving his mouth down my jaw to my throat. I craned my neck, offering him more to taste, all the while my hips moving back and forth as he palmed my ass, his fingers dipping scandalously close to my opening.

  The limo came to a stop and we heard the driver door open, so I climbed off Camden and headed for the door I knew the driver would be opening soon. I wasn’t even planning on trying to pretend I wasn’t dry humping my husband in the back of the limo—it was Las fucking Vegas and I was sure shit like that happened all the time.

  So it was with a big smile that I hopped down from the big limo and held out my hand for Cam. He tipped the driver but said nothing, and we made our way into the hotel.

  It took a few minutes to wind our way through the casino and get to the elevators, but his hand was in mine the whole time. Fortune smiled upon us when the elevator doors closed and we found ourselves alone. His arms were immediately around me and his mouth was instantly covering mine. He kissed me hard and it was exactly what I needed, especially when he thrust his hips against me and I could feel every ridge and outline of his erection.

  The elevator dinged and the doors opened on our floor. We practically ran to our door, but before Camden inserted the key, he lifted me at the waist and my legs instinctively went around his hips, my hands in his hair, my lips on his neck.