Ignite

by Kelly Elliott

  Emmit laughed and pulled me closer to his body. “Who gives a shit? All that matters is hearing your name as Mrs. Emmit Lewis and you may now kiss the bride.”

  Hitting Emmit gently on the stomach, I shook my head and said, “So if I stood there before you and totally forgot my vows, you’d be okay with it?”

  “Hell ya, I would be. All I need to hear from you is I love you, Emmit and I’ll love you my whole life.”

  I stopped walking and turned to face the man I loved more than anything in this entire world. “Do you know how happy I am?”

  Emmit’s eyes lit up. “I hope very happy.”

  “Nothing could ruin this feeling I have in my heart. Not even me tripping and falling on our cake or forgetting my vows.”

  Emmit leaned down and gently kissed my forehead as he wrapped me up in his arms. “I feel the exact same way, Addie. Nothing can bring me down from this high. Unless you tell me no to what I had planned for us today.”

  A sinking feeling in my chest had me looking at Emmit with fear. “What did you have planned?”

  “Zip lining.”

  My mouth dropped open as I took a step back. It was in that very moment I realized I was marrying an adrenaline junky. “Zip lining?”

  Emmit nodded his head like a little boy in a toy store. “Yes! Chris, Todd, Ashley, even your dad, are signed up for it.”

  My eyes widened as I tried to let his words fully sink in. “You want me . . . to go zip lining today? The day before our wedding? Zip lining?”

  “Yeah. Across the canyons! Aren’t you excited, Addie?”

  No words. I have zero words.

  I’m going to die before I even get married.

  STANDING ON THE PLATFORM, I watched as my sister took off over the gorge. I could hear her screams of delight as I turned and looked at Adaline. Her face was white as a ghost as she stood there, gripping onto the sides of the platform for dear life.

  “You ready, baby?”

  Her eyes widened in horror as she shook her head. “Hell no. I’m not doing this. I changed my mind.”

  Letting out a soft chuckle, I took a snap shot of her with my phone and quickly posted it on my Instagram. My fans would love this shit! I captioned it One terrified future bride.

  “Seriously? You took a picture of me?”

  “And posted it on social media. My fans will love it.”

  “I’m not marrying you anymore. I withdrawal from this arrangement.”

  Throwing my head back, I laughed my ass off. “You look so fucking sexy, all suited up and ready for an adventure.”

  “Fuck off, Emmit.”

  Jetting my lips out, I gave Adaline my best pout. “Awe, pumpkin, come on. You know you want to do it. Hell, Addie, your father and mother did it!”

  “They’re crazy! They ride motorcycles and do bungee jumping. They don’t count.”

  The guy who was controlling the zip line motioned for Adaline to walk up. “No!” she yelled out as he attempted to control his laughter. “I’m glad you all think terrifying me is funny. What happens if it stops? Or gets caught on something and I plunge to my death?”

  I frowned as I placed my hand on the side of her face. “That would suck considering I got you a pretty kick-ass wedding present.”

  Adaline’s eyes lit up. “You did? What did you get me?”

  With a shrug of my shoulders, I said, “You’ll have to zip line and then of course marry me tomorrow, and then find out.”

  Pinching her brows together, Adaline asked, “Is it a big surprise or a little surprise?”

  Lifting my arms up, I widened my hands and said, “It’s huge.”

  Adaline took in a deep breath as she took a few steps closer to the edge of the platform. “O-okay. It better be worth this!”

  My heart dropped as I watched her get ready to do this. I loved that she was stepping out of her comfort zone just for me. My stomach felt like I had already taken off on the zip line.

  After getting her all ready to go, I turned the GoPro camera on that was attached to her helmet and said, “See you on the other side, baby.”

  And just like that, Adaline was off zipping across the gorge. Screaming bloody murder the entire way.

  “She woke the entire forest,” The guy working the zip line said as I got into position. “So I have to ask you, what’s the surprise you got for her?”

  Looking straight ahead, I said, “I don’t have one. I totally forgot to get her a wedding present.”

  With a small chuckle, he said, “Dude, you are so fucked.”

  “Tell me about it!” Laughing, I yelled out, “Let her rip!”

  The feel of the wind wiping against my face was amazing. The view was unlike anything I’d ever seen before.

  Fan-fucking-tastic.

  As I came to the end, I could see Adaline. They must have just helped her out of the harness. She looked beautiful . . . ghost face and all.

  “How was it, sir?” the guy helping me out of the contraption asked.

  “Fucking amazing!” I yelled as he started laughing.

  “Glad you enjoyed it.”

  As I walked up to Adaline, she held her hand up and shook her head. She looked so damn cute with that angry look on her face. “Don’t you even come near me, Emmit Lewis! I’m not talking to you!” I pulled out my phone and took another picture of her. That was for sure going to be posted on Instagram.

  I threw my head back as I laughed and pulled her into my arms. With a quick kiss on her lips, I gave her a wink. Her smile was about to break when I said, “If you can tell me that wasn’t the most amazing thing you’ve ever done I’ll totally post a video of me saying I’m a total asshole for making my future wife zip line.”

  Adaline narrowed her left eye at me as she lifted her brow. “Really? You’d do that?”

  “Of course I would.”

  The moment her teeth sunk in to her lip, my body came alive. Adaline noticed my reaction as she flashed me a sexy as hell smile. “I may have enjoyed it a tiny bit.”

  Holding my smile back, I asked, “Just a tiny bit?”

  Lifting her hand, Adaline measured with her fingers just a little she enjoyed herself. Within seconds her fingers moved apart a little more. Then a little bit more.

  “Fine. It was amazing. After I screamed my right lung out, I kind of enjoyed it.”

  “Want to do it again?”

  Pushing me away with her hands on my chest, Adaline laughed and shouted. “No! I just want to go back to Laluna and get my nails done and do stuff like that with the other girls.”

  I jetted my lower lip out and pouted as I said, “Kill joy.”

  Adaline laughed as I draped my arm around her neck and guided her out and to the parking lot where our family was waiting.

  “How did you like it, Adaline?” MaryAnne asked. How my brother was able to keep a woman like her was beyond me.

  “It was okay. I don’t think I’ll be rushing to zip line anytime soon.”

  Everyone laughed as Waldo walked up to his daughter. “You’ll get in a racecar at over a hundred miles per hour with this one,” Pointing to me with his finger as he smirked and shook his head, Waldo kept talking. “But you don’t like to zip line. Go figure.”

  Adaline winked at her father as she turned to her mother and mine. “I’m ready for some girl time! Tomorrow is my wedding and I need pretty fingers and toes.”

  Before I knew what was happening, the girls were going to the spa, and the guys were headed to the golf course. Watching Adaline walk off as she laughed at something my sister said to her caused my heart to soar. I’d do anything to make her happy.

  Anything.

  Somewhere between the ninth and tenth hole, I got tired of feeling my phone vibrating in my pocket. Pulling it out, I saw I had ten text messages from Todd. Pulling my phone out, I only had to read the first one to have my heart drop to my stomach.

  Todd: Call me ASAP. It’s about tomorrow.

  Fuck. What could have happened now?

&nb
sp; “Waldo, Chris, I have to make a call to Todd.”

  “Hell no, Emmit. It’s golf time, no work is allowed,” Chris said as he dropped his bag and got ready to swing his club.

  I pushed out a frustrated breath and said, “It’s about tomorrow.”

  Waldo and my brother both looked at me. I had told them both about the stunt Stephanie had pulled. Waldo didn’t agree with me when I said I thought it was best if Adaline didn’t find out.

  As I hit Todd’s number, I took in a deep cleansing breath.

  “Hello, Emmit?”

  “Yeah, Todd it’s me.”

  “I need you to come back to the resort as fast as you can.”

  Closing my eyes, I shook my head. “Why?”

  I could hear Todd letting a breath. Whatever it was, it had to have been big for him to not want to tell me.

  “The wedding trellis on the beach was destroyed last night. I just got the message from the wedding planner. They said it could have been the storm last night caused bigger waves that came up further than they thought.”

  I quickly let out the breath I had been holding in. “That’s it?”

  Todd let out a nervous laugh. “What do you mean, that’s it? Emmit, that was a huge part of your wedding tomorrow evening.”

  My hand pushed through my hair as I let out a relieved laugh. “Todd, I’d marry Adaline in an elevator. It’s fine. I’m positive Adaline isn’t going to be that worried if a storm took out the trellis. As long as there are no storms tomorrow afternoon, we are golden.”

  “Are you sure Adaline is going to feel the same way? With the flowers and all that fabric she had made to put on it?”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “Shit. I guess it would mean more to her. Damn it. Can we not get another one in by the wedding tomorrow?”

  “I’m working on it, but that one was custom-built and hand carved out of solid wood.”

  “I didn’t think the storm was that bad last night. Are they sure it was the storm?”

  “They are pretty sure. It was knocked down and a part of it was gone, so it had to have been washed back out to sea.”

  “Damn it,” I said as I dropped my head down and tried to think of something else. “What about that trellis that leads into the yoga studio? Could we not move that down to the beach and use that?”

  The phone muffled, and I was guessing Todd was asking. “I think that might work. Good thinking, Emmit.”

  I glanced back over to the hole where Waldo and my brother had both tee’d off and started down the fairway. My brother suggested having Stephanie watched and last time Chris called in to check, all was good, so I knew this was nothing to be alarmed with. “Good. I’m glad we got that taken care of. I’ll let Adaline know what happened, so she isn’t thrown off by the change.”

  “Perfect. Sorry to interrupt your day.”

  Grabbing my bag, I quickly made my way over toward Waldo and Chris. “No worries. I’m just glad it wasn’t something far worse. Let’s say some prayers this is our last problem.”

  Todd laughed and said, “Will do. Enjoy your day.”

  Pushing my phone back into my pocket, I tried to push away the uneasy feeling I had wash over my body.

  I’D WOKEN UP EARLY AND taken a walk along the beach. I secretly was hoping Emmit had done the same thing. Keeping with tradition, I stayed in Ashley’s room last night after the rehearsal dinner and the small little party we had afterwards. Emmit’s idea to use the trellis from the yoga study was a brilliant one. It wasn’t nearly as beautiful as the original one, but it would work perfectly.

  The chill in the air caused me to wrap my arms around my body as I faced out over the ocean. The mornings were beautiful here. The sun rose on the other side of the island, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a beautiful sunrise on this side.

  A young couple ran by as they wished me a good morning. Returning the gesture, I turned and looked back at the path that led to Emmit and mine’s beach cottage.

  I wondered if Emmit was still sleeping? Maybe he ended up staying up late like I did. Not being able to sleep from nerves had me up until almost two in the morning.

  Smiling, I let a naughty thought cross my mind. I quickly took off down the path that led to the man I loved. Hopefully he would still be asleep and I could sneak right in and sink down on him. What a wonderful way to wake my future husband up on our wedding day.

  As I approached the cottage, a sinking feeling moved through my chest. I turned and looked behind me, making sure no one was following me. Making my way up the steps, I pushed the door open and peeked inside.

  Empty.

  I took a step into the room and called out, “Emmit? Baby, are you here?”

  The bed had been slept in, so I knew Emmit had to have come back here last night. Spinning on my heels, I started back for the beach when I slammed into a broad chest. Hands grabbed onto my upper arms as I let out a small scream.

  “Jesus, Addie! What in the hell are you doing here?”

  I must have closed my eyes when I ran into Emmit. Opening my eyes slowly, I peeked up at him through my eyelashes. “Hey,” I whispered.

  His face relaxed as he cupped my face with his hands. “Hey, pumpkin. Is everything okay? You scared the piss out of me by being here.”

  My nervous giggle caused me to hiccup, which caused me to laugh harder. “I couldn’t sleep and I thought if I went for a walk along the beach, I might run into you running or something.”

  Emmit smiled as his eyes lit up and his dimple had my knees wobbling. It was then I noticed he didn’t have a T-shirt on. He was only wearing running shorts and his sneakers.

  “I couldn’t sleep either,” Emmit said as he gently rubbed his thumbs across my skin. “I just ran about five miles.”

  Pressing my lips together to hold back my moan, I let my eyes wonder over his body. “You’re . . . sweating . . . a lot.”

  Emmit nodded his head and said, “I need a shower.”

  “Me. Too,” I said as I took a step back and pulled my shirt over my head. I hadn’t bothered putting on a bra because I knew I wouldn’t see that many people.

  Ever so slowly, I pushed my shorts down to reveal that I wasn’t wearing any panties either. Emmit made a grunting noise and quickly picked me up, carrying me further into our cottage. Stopping right by the bathroom, he kicked off his sneakers and pushed his shorts off.

  “Son-of-a-bitch, Addie. Your body drives me insane with desire.”

  Lifting my hands, I dropped my head back as I cupped my breasts. “I want you so badly. Please take me now.”

  Before I could beg him again, I was pushed up against the wall and Emmit was moving in and out of me with such force, I was sure my shoulders would be bruised.

  “Talk to me, Addie. Baby, tell me what you want,” Emmit panted in my ear.

  I loved how Emmit drew out the inner goddess in me. He brought out the side that I kept hidden, but only until he called for it.

  “Fuck me, Emmit. Fuck me harder!”

  Emmit’s eyes burned with fire as he grabbed my ass and dug his fingers in harder and gave me exactly what I asked for. I wanted to scream out when my orgasm raced through my body.

  Ecstasy.

  Euphoria.

  Intoxication.

  Heaven.

  Emmit bit down on my shoulder as he pulled out and pushed back into me harder. With a deep grunt he closed his eyes and said, “Addie, baby I’m going to come.”

  I didn’t want this moment to be over. I wanted more of him. I needed more of him.

  “Please don’t stop, Emmit. Please I want more.”

  Emmit moved in and out of me so hard and fast it felt like we were one. He slipped his hand down and rubbed my clit as he gritted his teeth. I could tell he was trying to hold off for me to come again. It wasn’t long before I could feel myself pulsing around him as he poured himself into me and moaned into my neck.

  I wasn’t sure how long we stood there with Emmit still inside of me. There was something so raw and
beautiful about this moment that neither of us wanted it to end. No words were needed to be spoken between us, we just felt it.

  Emmit pulled back and captured my eyes with his. Those beautiful gray eyes of his held my blue as we both slowly brought our breathing back under control.

  My heart would forever be lost to this man.

  I was his, and he was mine.

  The only thing that drew our attention from each other was Emmit’s cell phone ringing.

  Emmit lifted me some as he pulled out to my whimpering protest. My heart was beating so hard in my chest. I’d never felt so amazing. Emmit had a way of making me feel so sexy.

  Running over to his phone, Emmit swiped it and said, “This better be good!”

  Turning his back toward me, Emmit said, “What? H-how in the hell did that happen?”

  That sick feeling I had from earlier quickly came back.

  “What were you doing, Ashley? Did you see anyone?”

  I quickly grabbed a towel and wrapped it around my body as Emmit glanced over his shoulder at me. “She’s with me. Yeah no, she’s perfectly fine.”

  “What’s wrong?” I asked as I placed my hand on Emmit’s arm.

  Shaking his head, he turned away from me again. “Do what Todd says, Ashley. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes. I need to get dressed.”

  Emmit dropped his phone onto the bed and quickly walked over to the dresser where he pulled out some shorts and a T-shirt.

  “Emmit, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

  His body relaxed just a bit. “No baby, don’t be scared. Ashley woke up to see you were missing. She said she got worried so she went to see if maybe you went down to the early sunrise yoga class. When she got back—”

  Emmit’s voice faded as he shook his head and reached down for his sneakers. “What? When she got back what?” I put my hand over my mouth and asked, “Emmit, is she okay? Are my parents okay? What’s going on?” I shouted as I forced him to look at me.

  His hands rubbed down his face as he let out a loud frustrated moan. Dropping his hands to his side, Emmit slowly shook his head. “Let’s get you dressed first, Addie. Then I’ll tell you as we head back to Ashley’s place.”