Married In Vegas_ In His Arms (The Vault)

by Terri E. Laine

  The interior bus lights flashed on and I watched as a lone figure was urged to leave the bus early from his spot in the back.

  My heart beat like a drum to an urgent climax of a spellbinding music.

  What would he say? What would he do?

  Words dried up in my throat like wilted flowers as he stood in the doorway. His eyes swept over the rose petal message I’d spelled out in dramatic fashion.

  You don’t know what lies ahead until you are staring at your forever. The speech I’d so meticulously practiced a hundred times since composing it wasn’t what I said at all. Maybe the way to fight for him like mother said was in the simplest statements.

  “I’m sorry.” The profoundness of its meaning was a mere whisper, but it held hope for everything in the future. I cleared my throat knowing he hadn’t heard me. “I’m sorry,” I said in a clearer louder voice.

  He didn’t smile as I’d imagined. He took the final step down and slowly walked my way. A gathering storm brewed in my eyes, but I promised myself I wouldn’t cry. Not because of embarrassment, but for him. He wasn’t the bad guy in this situation. If he declined my offer, I wouldn’t push the issue with female tears that people might use to brand him an asshole if he ignored.

  I folded my nervous hands behind my back and found my feet with my gaze. I couldn’t bare the stony look in his face.

  “What do you say, Cam?” a bystander said from behind me.

  This public gesture seemed foolish now. But he taken a chance in front of cameras to ask me. I could do no less.

  It was his feet that stepped into my view first before his hand lifted my chin so our gazes could meet.

  “Be mine?” he questioned.

  He wasn’t asking me but saying the words I’d spelled out using hundreds of petals from the roses he’d sent me.

  I nodded unwilling to speak as I gathered my emotions in a ball I was going to throw into a mental closet.

  “I know I don’t deserve you. But I’m not going to let you go without a fight,” I said.

  His brow arched.

  “Is that so?”

  His finger still rested lightly under my chin.

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  Where there was love between us, there was hope.

  “There’s somewhere I want to take you,” he said.

  It wasn’t an answer, but I let him take my hand and followed him to his car. I’d already taken pictures, and the press was there. Not that I’d invited them. Cameras were always around when players arrived for a game and left it in hopes of sound bites.

  “Where are we going?” I dared to ask in the silence of his car.

  “You’ll see.”

  Chapter 12

  We arrived in front of my mother’s house. It was dark and I assumed she was out with friends.

  “Why are we here?”

  He pointed at the front door.

  “I’d come over that Halloween to offer you a ride. When I walked in and saw you in the Harley Quinn outfit, I thought I was dreaming. That tiny shirt and shorts had me harder than I’d ever been in my life and I knew then you would be mine one day.”

  When I stared at him he said, “Don’t pretend you didn’t know.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “For months, you had me so wound up, I thought I would split in two.”

  “You didn’t hurt for girls.”

  “And everytime I let any of them get close enough to kiss me, they were disappointed because nothing could compare to you.”

  “You waited for me?” I asked.

  “I’d wait a lifetime for you.”

  I thought back to my message. “But you said—”

  “There’s only one forever. You’re it. If you walk away, I’ll give up on that idea. So I need to know if you’re going to run again?”

  For the first time, that answer was the easiest I’d ever give.

  “No, never again.”

  He leaned across the dash and took my chin in his. I pressed my mouth to his and almost pulled away when he didn’t immediately kissed me back. But he threaded his fingers through my hair and drew me to him.

  “I need you.” He groaned and pulled me over into his lap.

  He was hard and I was needy.

  “We can’t here,” I panted and tried to move back into the passenger seat.

  “Don’t move,” he said in a voice that bordered on a demand. He put the car in gear. “It’s only a short drive.”

  My old house wasn’t far from our high school. In less than two minutes he parked in the middle of an empty dark parking lot.

  “Take off your jeans,” he said.

  This time he let me move away to accomplish that task while he pulled down his pants. My core was so wet and ready, I climbed back over and sank on his shaft with no prep work needed.

  “Fuck yeah,” he said as I began to ride him setting my pace.

  The orgasm might have been the finish line, but I wouldn’t have minded taking hours to get there he felt so good deep inside me.

  “Yeah baby, just like that,” he said gripping my waist so tight, I’d likely bruise as I worked my hips to add pressure against my clit with each pass. But I didn’t care. I wanted him and had for years.

  “I’m going to fill your belly with our kids,” he said.

  Panic almost took me out the moment, but Cam understood.

  “If it doesn’t work the first time, we keep trying. And if that doesn’t work, we adopt. We will have a family,” he said.

  Those words may not sound sexy, but they were enough to have me spasming around him as he came.

  I collapsed on his chest breathing heavy. That didn’t stop me from hearing his next words.

  “I love you, and always have.”

  He wrapped those strong arms around me as I said it back. “I love you now and forever.”

  Then his arms fell away and panic widened my eyes.

  “You think I’m letting go?” he said, seconds before crushing his lips to mine.

  Long minutes later, we parted and he reached for something in console.

  We may have been half naked, but it was the most romantic moment.

  “Be my wife, in name body and soul. Be my forever?” he asked.

  “I will,” and let him slip the large diamond ring on my finger.

  “Is this the ring from the black bag?”

  He nodded. I had vague memories of going to a jewelry store after I’d had my Elvis wedding. I remember pointing to a one carat diamond. He wouldn’t hear of it.

  “You know we have to do this for real, Chrissy.”

  I leaned back and punched his chest, ignoring the idea that our parents would want to see us walk down the aisle. “Now that I’m your wife, you have to stop calling me that.”

  It should have been weird to have a conversation while he was still buried deep inside me, but it oddly it wasn’t.

  “Why do you hate it? I’ve always called you that.”

  He had and when I was twelve and so crushing on him it was cute until his friends used it against me. I’d come over to see Eddie, but had gone through trouble of taking time to pick the right shirt that clung just enough so Cam wouldn’t see me as a little kid. But braces and acne worked against me.

  I’d walked into the house and Cam stood there checking me out. I couldn’t hide my blush of excitement and his friend Blaine called me out on it.

  “Chissy’s got a crush on you,” he sang on repeat as I longed for a hole to climb into.

  Cam had only grinned at me before Eddie showed up to stop them. But Blaine continued the mantra every time I saw him until I hated the name.

  When I finished the story, Cam smirked at me. “Blaine had a crush on you.”

  “He did not,” I said.

  “Did too. When you showed up freshman year, you were all he could talk about until I warned him he wouldn’t have hands if he ever touched you.”

  “Wow.”

  “Exactly, besides, you’re my Chrissy, not
his.”

  He drew me back down for a lingering kiss until a tap on the window startled us both.

  We’d been so busy, we hadn’t heard the car pull up. Cam grinned at the cop and all I could think is what he would do if we were asked to put our hands up.

  Cam’s were already under my shirt and molded to my breast. If he raised them, I would flash the cop.

  The police officer signaled for Cam to roll the window down.

  “Sorry officer,” Cam said. “We came back to relive old times.”

  I rolled my eyes. Cam and I had never really been a thing in high school. That didn’t happen until much later.

  “Yes, but this isn’t a hotel.” Then the cop’s voice changed. “Hey, your Cameron McCabe.”

  My husband smirked. “I am.”

  “And that’s your wife,” he said pointing at me.

  I nodded and was happy he hadn’t aimed the flashlight in the dark car. We were still naked from the waist down.

  “Gosh, this sucks. I’m have to write you up for public indecency.”

  “Can you cut us a break. This is our honeymoon.”

  The office glanced at me and I bobbed my head. “There’s no time for a real one with the season and all.”

  The cop sighed. “Okay, I’ll give you a pass.”

  “Thanks,” Cam said. “Hey, why don’t I get you a couple of tickets to a game of your choosing.”

  The man beamed. “Really?”

  Cam nodded. It wasn’t a bribe because the cop had given us an out before he offered.

  He gave Cam his contact information before warning us to leave so we wouldn’t get caught by another patrol.

  We burst out laughing when we were alone again. But when I tried to move, Cam held me still and I felt his cock hardening again inside me.

  “We have to go,” I said on a giggle.

  He thrust his hips up and I was lost again. It was rough and raw and I loved every second about it. The idea of getting caught again seemed to have us both swirling to another orgasm.

  Later, as we drove home, he held my hand bringing my knuckles to his lips and kissed them.

  “You’re moving in right away? It’s temporary, but it will give us a chance to buy us the house of your dreams.”

  I hadn’t really thought much passed finally admitting to my feelings. “What about Jillian?” I asked.

  “She’ll be fine. She’s a big girl.”

  He didn’t know. “We were looking for a new place we could afford. I can’t just leave her on her own.”

  “I’ll buy her a place. Her and your mother.”

  That was terribly sweet of him, but all I’d learned about my mother recently and what I knew of my sister, they’d never got for a total hand out.

  “That’s sweet. But you don’t have to.”

  “They’re family. They always have been.”

  When he pulled to a stop in front of his temporary home and got out, I leaped into his arms.

  There was a difference with him that I hadn't found with anyone else. We were more than friends and lovers. We had always been family and now it was just official.

  When his arms fit snugly around me, I knew my home had always been in his arms.

  Epilogue

  “What if I could reverse time? Would you erase our wedding in Vegas?” Cam whispered in my ear as we danced our first dance at our second wedding. The one we did for the benefit of our family and friends.

  “No,” I said. “Losing you woke me up to the truth.”

  He gave me an adorable little smirk. “What truth is that?”

  “That love can be scary and cruel, but it can be the most beautiful thing if you give it a chance and let it grow.”

  My gorgeous husband kissed me then as other couples joined us on the dance floor.

  When we pulled away, it wasn’t embarrassment that colored my cheek, but the flush of love. He was everything and then some.

  Over his shoulder as he spun me around, I spotted my mother. She gave me a little wave.

  “She looks happy,” Cam said, following my line of sight.

  She did. She’d refused Cam’s financial help and wanted to do something for herself for the first time in her life. I’d inwardly fist pumped when she sent Bill packing. Okay, maybe outwardly too until she begged me to stop. I smiled at the remembrance. I’d helped her get her first job as a waitress. It was the most natural thing in the world for her, as she had a passion for serving people. She loved her new job in a way that put a different smile on her face I’d never seen before.

  Cam twirled me and when I stopped I spotted Eddie and Jillian arguing.

  “What’s that all about?” I asked Cam.

  He glanced at me like I was dense. “What? You didn’t know?”

  “Didn’t know what?” I asked, clueless.

  “My brother had a thing with her a couple of years ago.” I had to pick my jaw up from the floor. “Oh, was she off-limits like I was?” he teased.

  I stopped in my tracks ready to fight with my so called best friend. He’d given me shit over his brother and he’d broken the rules too. And now her comment about him being married in Vegas before made sense.

  “Hold there, gunslinger,” Cam said, stopping me from my march over there. “I already gave him shit about it when he called to warn me not to hurt you.”

  If Eddie only knew that I’d never felt safer than I did with his arms securely around me, he would have never given his brother shit.

  “What happened?” I asked him.

  He apparently knew more than I did. He shrugged.

  “One minute they were hot and heavy and the next they were done. He never told me why.”

  I would get to the bottom of it. But it was our second wedding, something a lot of people couldn’t say they had. I stared into his hypnotic green gaze and said, “I love you, Cam.”

  “I’ve always loved you.”

  The diamond set that sat on my hand was a little larger than what I would have wanted, but it was simple enough not to be gaudy.

  “I want forever with you,” I said.

  “Always and forever.”

  There was an endless amount of love in his eyes. And though on some level it still scared me, I wasn’t afraid.

  “There’s something blue under my dress.”

  He leaned in and kissed my neck. “Yeah, I can’t wait to take it off of you. In fact, we should leave now.”

  His touch was electric, but there was something I had to say before I lost my nerve. Just as love inspired hope, so did life. I’d embraced it despite fear. I’d taken risk that my heart wouldn’t be broken a second time.

  “We’re having a boy.”

  His feet stopped and he gazed at me with so much wonder. Our relationship was unconventional. With his job, he couldn’t be at all my doctor’s appointments once we found out I was pregnant. I’d been marked as high risk and thus had regular ultrasound being extra cautious because of my previous miscarriage. During that visit the past week, our son exposed himself to the technician who’d laughed and asked if I wanted to know the sex of our baby.

  He repeated my words in a stutter. “We’re having a boy.”

  The only thing that might have been wrong with what he said was that he’d shouted it. His hand covered my tiny baby bump hidden by my dress announcing to the world our secret. We hadn’t told anyone except close family and friends and only after twelve weeks.

  “We’re having a boy. That’s my son in there,” he said at the top of his lungs, before wrapping me in his strong arms and kissing me again.

  Then we were surrounded by family and friends as the love swelled in my heart. To think I almost didn’t have this because I’d been a chicken shit.

  “Don’t ever let go,” I said to him as people called out their well wishes.

  “Never,” he whispered in my ear.

  Life, love, hope, and happiness surrounded me as he held me there in his arms.

  Thank You

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like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to read my novel. Above all, I hope you loved it. If you did, I would love it if you could spare just a few more minutes to leave a review on your favorite e-tailer. If you do, could you be so kind and not leave any spoilers about the story? Thanks so much!

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  Acknowledgments

  First and always, thank you to all my readers for your continued support. If not for you, I couldn’t do this. Your mean the world to me. A BIG Thank You!

  To my beta readers, thanks for helping out on short notice. Your feedback is much appreciated. To Samantha and Kelly, Thank you and much love!

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  To Lauren, you make every picture beautiful. I’m always amazed by your talent.

  A THANK YOU to D for squeezing me in last minute as always.

  About the Author

  Terri E. Laine, USA Today bestselling author, left a lucrative career as a CPA to pursue her love for writing. Outside of her roles as a wife and mother of three, she’s always been a dreamer and as such became an avid reader at a young age.

  Many years later, she got a crazy idea to write a novel and set out to try to publish it. With over a dozen titles published under various pen names, the rest is history. Her journey has been a blessing, and a dream realized. She looks forward to many more memories to come.

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