by Fox, Lizzie
“Decent?” Shane called, and I replied with a yes. Shane entered the bedroom, gasping and closing the door behind him.
“Holy…my god you look beautiful. Seth is going to die, seriously…oh my god!” Shane crooned, and I blushed under the praise. “How do you feel?”
“Hmm…good. I feel good.” I beamed at him, and he slammed into me with a bear hug that only Shane could.
“Ack, so help me, I don’t think I could be any happier if it was my own wedding. In fact, I just might be, because I’ll be drunk and everyone knows I’m the world’s happiest drunk,” Shane said, stepping back and admiring me at arm’s length.
“Aw, you can’t be drunk. Then you can’t do your best man duties,” I said with a mock pout.
He flinched, eyeing me strangely. “But—Seth picked—”
“No, silly. For me.”
“Really? You want me?” I thought Shane was going to explode, bursting at the seams with happiness. He pulled me in for another hug. “I’d so love to do it! Thank you!”
I patted his back gently. “And just so you know, even if Vics and Kieran were able to come, I’d still ask you. So…remember that. You were always my first choice. Obviously, it won’t be like a super formal thing, but I’ll at least make sure you have a flower or something.”
“Oh, you let me handle the flowers. I figured one for your hair—you don’t need that veil stuff. Not for the beach. Though it might look pretty in photos…” He said, hand thoughtfully stroking his chin. “Oh!” He snapped his fingers. “Sandals—I have some! They had these cute footless ones too—just little things that go around your toes so when you’re walking in the sand it won’t be weird.” He quickly went for a bag next to his bed and pulled out a pair of white beaded sandals and a strand of beaded pearls and crystals. “Whichever you like.”
“You were made for this job, seriously.” Shane was pretty tall—about Seth’s height—so I stood on my tiptoes and placed a friendly kiss on his cheek sort of like I did with Seth. Any taller and I wouldn’t be able to reach either of them. “Thank you. For everything.”
“Oh stop.” Teary eyed, he sniffled. “I’m just so thrilled Seth finally found someone, and even more thrilled she ended up being so fantastic. I always loved Christi and Sabrina, but I felt a bit like the odd one out. Now I’m still out, and still odd, but not the odd one out, if you know what I mean.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I get it. And I love Victoria, but…that all reminds me of…” I trailed off, willing the frown off my face that threatened to form. “You know.”
“I do. From what you’ve said about him I think he’d be happy for you, sweetie. Really. You were made to be loved and made to love.” Shane took my hand and dragged me down to the foot of the bed. “We all worried about Seth so much. You take such good care of each other; we all breathe a little easier.”
“You’re all very protective of him, huh?”
“It’s very hard to watch someone with the potential to shine as much as he can be dulled with all that darkness,” Shane said solemnly. “You’re like his whole world.”
“Well I hope not…” I snapped my fingers, glancing down at my chest. “I have an idea.”
“You…lost me darlin…”
I shook my head, pointing to the sun on my chest. It was partially covered by the sweetheart neckline, but not much. I had planned on covering it with makeup, but maybe I didn’t need to. It felt funny having the ink I’d meant for Blake to be present while marrying Seth. But…
“Are you up for another drive?”
He quirked a mischievous brow. “What do you have in mind?”
“Know any good tattoo places?”
He grinned. “I know just the place. Get dressed and we’ll go. And—oh!” He chuckled, reaching into his pocket, and pulled out a black velvet box. “It was ready.”
Excitedly, I opened the box and pulled out the black metal ring I’d gotten for Seth. I peered at the inside, smiling at the little engraving with our initials and a little crescent moon next to them.
“It’s so sweet, my god.”
I closed the box and held it close to my chest. “Good. Now lead the way.” On the way to Shane’s car I sent Seth a quick message saying I’d be late, and I’d show him why when I got home. He said that was fine, he was going to be gone himself, claiming Ian was finally dragging him out “shopping” for wedding clothes. Well, okay then.
19
Jessalie
Seth was smug the second I walked in the door that night. I shot him a suspicious squint. He sat up immediately, as he’d been lounging on the sofa watching TV, looking incredibly bored. Now his smirk was obvious.
I crossed my arms over my chest, wincing briefly at the pain from constricting my muscles slightly like that. “What did you do?” I demanded with a grin.
He shrugged with feigned indifference. “Eh, I just had something to do. Anthony said you actually bought me a wedding band?”
My teeth raked over my lip. “Uh…yeah? Was I not supposed to?”
“No, you totally were. If you wanted to. But… oh hell. I’ll just show you.” He patted the cushion beside him gently, urging me to sit down. I did, and he lifted his left hand: his ring finger was gauzed and bandaged.
I raised a brow. “What’d you do?”
“Well, I know I told you rings sometimes bothered me. I’ll still wear it, promise, but just in case I forget…” He peeled off the bandage and turned his hand over. I think for what—the fourth time tonight—I gasped with shock and amazement.
“You didn’t!” I grasped his hand in mine, careful of the raw skin on his ring finger. I felt my lips quiver and chest tighten with an overwhelming feeling. He had tattooed my name, and a green heart, on his finger. What’s more it looked suspiciously like my handwriting. And aside the base of his pointer finger, he didn’t have ink on his left fingers, meaning this really stood out. “How—is this my signature?”
Grinning smugly, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a scrap of paper, handing it to me. I unfolded it and felt the need to swoon. Like I was going to fly right out of here.
“Seth, Running to the store real quick. Text me if you need something. Love you, Jessalie.” It was a quick note I had jotted him over the week while he was mopey and sleeping; I didn’t even know he saw it. He turned his hand over, revealing the other side: another green heart, and the “love you” part of the signature was scrawled on the other side.
“Are you shitting me? You really did this? Isn’t it like—a cardinal rule not to ink someone’s name on you?” I asked in awe.
He bobbed a shoulder. “Eh. I’m not going anywhere, honey.”
I put my hand over my mouth, letting out a little giggle. “I don’t think I could top this.”
“You don’t have to, Jessie-love. But I’d love to see the ring,” he asked, with a playful smile.
“Nope, you’ll have to wait,” I said with a wink, brushing my finger affectionately over his nose. “Did you get something to wear, or was that a ruse?”
“No, I did. Rather, Ian picked it. Actually, Ian picked it, and Shane had to approve,” he said with a laugh. I joined him; that was Shane.
“Well if he approves, then I guess that’s good.”
“So, you get your dress? Where is it?” he asked hopefully.
“Shane’s. I asked him to be my best…person. Maid. You know?” I said, with a confused laugh. “Whatever.”
“I know, Anthony said he was so stoked. I love that you made my friend so damn happy.” He said, as he re-covered the finger so it could heal. He draped an arm over my shoulders and pulled me into him, placing a soft kiss on my cheek. I leaned into him, and I knew that the neckline of my t-shirt adjusted. I felt his head jerk to the side in question, as his hand brushed aside the material of the shirt. “No. You got inked too? We didn’t go to the same place, did we?”
“I assume not. Ink Masters? In Eau Claire?”
He shook his head. “No, Grays Tats and Piercing?
That’s where I went. Aside from Wes, that’s the only place I’ll go. It’s just down the road. Their head artist knows me pretty well. Obviously,” he added, holding out his arms.
My body shook with laughter. “How is it that we both thought to do the same thing, on the same day?”
He shrugged. “I guess we’re really in tune?”
“I suppose,” I said with a guilty chuckle. We were in tune, but… I still had some secrets.
“So what did you get?” He asked expectantly, peering over my shoulder.
I carefully peeled off the bandage, flinching as the tape tugged at my skin, revealing the ink I’d just gotten.
“No shit?” he asked, looking to me and gingerly brushing his fingertips around the outline of the patch of dark sky, with the full moon and a smattering of stars around it. Much like the sun one on the other side with one difference; a green outline of a heart with an “S” in the middle edged the corner. It didn’t fit the design at all, but I insisted, and the artist even thought it was adorable. Seth’s hazel eyes lifted full of emotion. “That’s… for me?”
I nodded. “I was going to cover the other one but it just felt…wrong. This felt better, and it’s a little higher so more exposed.”
“You were going to cover the sun one?” He said, frowning.
“I didn’t feel…right? But this balances it out,” I offered.
“It’s beautiful. You didn’t have to…really, I think Blake would have been fine with all of this; I’m not intimidated you still have this, you know,” he explained, recovering the ink and setting his hand on my chin as his expression turned soft and seductive. “But, I so love you did this for me anyway.” My lips parted as he leaned closer but he bypassed my mouth entirely and kissed a path from my chin to my ear. “I just love you. I’m sorry, I’ve been sorta shitty this week.” He gently grazed his teeth over my lobe, causing sparks of desire to surge through me. I felt his hand slide over my thigh and creep higher and higher, as he whispered in my ear, “Let me make it up to you?”
“Mmm…” I put my arms around his neck and leaned into him. “What did you have in mind?” I asked with a sly grin.
“Lots, but nothing good. Just very, very dirty,” he said, his voice low and husky, and I shivered when he turned my head with his fingers until I met his lips in a slow, probing kiss. He kicked a leg over my lap until he straddled me and pushed me gently back onto the couch so I was underneath him. A warm feeling of desire and longing pulsed through me, as my breath hitched when he gazed down upon me with sexed up eyes and a seductive smirk.
As long as I lived, I didn’t think I could ever get tired of seeing him look at me that way. It was erotic, and my mind swirled with a mixture of lust and love.
I arched a brow when he leaned in, flicking the end of his tongue over the shell of my ear, and nibbling gently, sending pulses of desire straight on through to my core. My eyes snapped shut without meaning to, and I arched my hips up, needing to feel more of him. “Damn you, Seth Archer… I don’t think I could ever get enough of you,” I said breathily, as one of his hands slid down my front and slipped under my shirt. Gooseflesh warmed and tingled under his touch when he pinched one of my nipples through my bra and palmed the tense mound, eager for him to do more.
Seth let out a little laugh as he brushed his lips over mine and nodded towards the large wall of open windows. “Should we take this upstairs?”
“Hmm?” I followed his gaze and smirked. “Nope. I can’t wait that long.” And I couldn’t. A hot surge of lust ebbed through me, and the nerves between my legs hungered for friction. That ten seconds of running up the stairs? I didn’t want to risk losing it; not that he couldn’t put it back in moments. But there was a certain thrill about being here in the open so exposed, even though it wasn’t really. I was at the end of the road, and unless someone got lost, no one came down here. Still, everything was wide open and if someone did drive by? You could see everything.
“Are you—” Seth began, sitting up slightly and giving me a hesitant look that warred with the plain desire that hefted his eyes and made his chest heave and fall rapidly. I didn’t let him finish; instead, I just sat up myself, grabbed the hem of my shirt, and peeled it off over my head, tossing it pointedly across the room.
“Yeah, I’m sure.” With a heavy-lidded stare of my own, I coyly bit my lip and reached for his pants, unfastening the fly and sliding my hand over the hard bulge I found there. And that was his undoing; his head rolled back onto his shoulders and he groaned loudly. “Fuck it…” he muttered, quickly pushing down his pants the rest of the way—along with his blue boxer briefs—and kicking them aside. His face was flushed, and that piercing was clenched between his teeth so hard I thought he’d bleed. I grinned, laughing gently at his exuberance. “Help me,” he said, moving for my pants, and I helped him along by pushing them down to my ankles and flicking them off with a kick.
He grabbed one of the blankets that was over the back of the sofa, and draped it over us, shooting me a mischievous stare as his hand dipped under my panties and found the tense heat between my legs. I sucked in a breath the second he plunged one of his long fingers in, not even waiting for buildup—which was good, because I was beyond ready. I hitched one of my legs around his waist, feeling his hard length brush against my core and the friction? Divine. “I’m ready, just get inside, please,” I pleaded, and Seth gave a naughty grin as his finger slid out and rubbed the slick, swollen bud on my clit, causing me to buck and moan against him.
“I think I can do that,” He said with a playful laugh. Panting, feeling my heart slam over and over again like a jackhammer in my chest, I opened for him, giving a little whimper, desperately craving him—all of him. He caught my mouth with his in a passionate kiss, a tangle of teeth and tongues and noisy moans, and he caught me off guard as he pushed my panties aside and slid his rock-hard cock inside me with one hard thrust.
“Oh hell yes,” I cried out, meeting his thrust with a buck of my hips, taking him deeper, causing him to break the kiss and fall listlessly on top of me, face buried in the crook of my neck as he groaned with pleasure.
Between scalding hot kisses that heated my blood and rough thrusts with all abandon, I released all my cares and worries and just focused on Seth and only Seth, intrigued with watching his sexy face quickly slip into an expression of euphoria as we rocked against each other. My release had been near for a bit now, and I scratched my fingers over his shoulder, panting, “Harder, please… I’m so close.”
With a devious laugh, Seth slammed into me, propping himself up just a bit more, giving his hips a new, tight angle against my clit, and with another handful of tense moves that made me shake and tremble, I shattered, crying out for him as the world crashed and spun around me. I forgot everything else but him, how he made me feel, and this moment now. I loved him so much, and it just made everything all the better.
Seth came just after me, chasing my release with his own, and groaned a series of hot kisses against my throat. “Holy shit…”
“Yup…” I agreed, trying to find my voice through the noise of the blood rushing through my ears and the feeling of floating subsiding. “I don’t think I could ever get tired of this.”
“Good,” Seth said, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand, still trying to catch his breath. He pushed the blanket back down over our waists to free some of the burning heat we’d caused and placed a smiling kiss on my lips. “I don’t think I could ever get tired of you.”
With a small sigh, I replied, “I hope you’re right.” I tightened my arms around him and buried my face in his chest. If he knew—truly knew—the depths of ugliness I held inside me, he might just change his mind.
But… that was behind me, and I was determined to leave it as such.
“Of course, I’m right,” Seth said, giving me a curious look. “There isn’t anything you could do I couldn’t forgive. Well… with a couple of exceptions but you’re not capable of those things.”
&n
bsp; “Aren’t I?” I asked, with a hesitant chuckle.
“No way. You don’t have the same darkness inside you I have,” Seth replied, nearly bitterly. I reached up and touched his face, still scalding from his orgasmic blush.
“I wouldn’t give me so much credit. No one is perfect, babe…” Little did he know just how imperfect I actually was…
20
Seth
“Damn.” I pushed the door open to our suite we’d be staying in this week while in Milwaukee, and it was clear that Miles Madison spared no expense. The room was opulent to say the least.
Jessie slid by me, her mouth dropped open, and the floral duffle bag she carried fell to the ground. We were at the very top floor, and it only held four large suites; assumedly Miles and his crew had the others. Tall windows lined the far wall with thick, white drapes of the living room and kitchenette area, complete with a small stove, oven, and full-sized fridge. The floor was a shiny black and white marble, covered with thick black rugs. A black table and chairs sat near the kitchen of the open floor plan, and a large black sofa with coffee table sat against a wall, underneath a large, modern abstract oil painting. A large flat screen TV and a tall entertainment center was on the opposite wall, and beyond that was the bedroom.
“This is insane…” I muttered, exchanging a wide-eyed stare with Jessie. I dropped our bags and grabbed her hand; the bedroom was just as plush with a large, four-poster king bed with black and white bedding. A bouquet of white roses sat on the pillows with a card. There was another TV, another sofa, and two nightstands; one of those had a bucket, two glasses, and a bottle of very expensive champagne chilling inside.
“Welcome to the big time, Seth Archer,” she said with a grin, nudging me with her elbow. I couldn’t even speak. As someone who never went on vacations and grew up in a shit house with a leaky roof and mold in the walls, this was unreal. “My god… this bathroom.”
