by Katie Ashley
So after we finished with the necessary paperwork, we all piled into the limo and took off for the Venetian. We had our wedding reception dinner at Zefferino’s, one of the restaurants inside the Venetian. I’m sure we would have gotten a few stares considering Lily was still in her wedding dress and veil, but it didn’t take too long for fans to spot us. I knew that within a few moments, Lily’s and my secret wedding would explode all over social media.
After downing his beer, Jake cocked his head at me. “Any chance you let the label know you were getting hitched?”
“No, I sure as hell didn’t. Some of those fuckers cost me my relationship with Lily. I wasn’t about to let them try to interfere today.” Lily took my hand in hers and squeezed it. I’m sure she was glad I hadn’t involved the label handlers either.
He grinned as he shook his head. “Man, I’d love to be a fly on the wall when this shit hits the fan with Marcus and the others.”
“You’re impossible,” I muttered.
After dessert and coffee, we said goodbye to the guys and Susan. Then Lily dragged me over to the canal so we could go on a gondola ride. “You seriously want to do this?”
“Yes, I do. It’ll be so romantic.”
“At the moment, the most romantic thing I can think of is taking you upstairs and getting you out of that dress,” I teased.
She smacked me playfully. “That’s not romantic.”
With a resigned sigh, I paid for our tickets, and we moved forward in the line. At the sight of us in our wedding finery, people were all too happy to let us go in front of them. We first objected, but after they insisted, we finally inched up. Once we got into our gondola, our driver turned back to the people waiting in line. “Let’s give a round of applause for the lovely bride and groom!”
A cheer went up through the crowd as people clapped and whistled. “We love you Brayden!” was screamed by two girls at the end of the line.
Ordinarily Lily would have been embarrassed at being called out, but since it was her wedding day, she seemed to be enjoying it. As the gondola glided across the water, Lily lay her head against my chest. “One day will you take me to Venice so I can ride in a real gondola on the canal?”
I smiled down at her. “I think that’s a promise I can easily keep. I never knew you wanted to go that much.”
She nodded. “I love Italy. I love the idea of traveling anywhere in Europe.”
“We have a European tour coming up.”
Her brows arched in surprise. “You do?”
“Yep. As my wife, you’re more than obligated to come along.”
She laughed. “If it works out with my teaching schedule, I’d love to.”
At the mention of teaching, I sighed. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
“I just hate that you have to go back home in a week. I want you out on the road with me. Can’t you quit your teaching job?”
She gasped. “Why would I want to do that?”
“Seriously, Lily, you don’t need to work. I make plenty enough money for the two of us.”
“But I just started teaching. And I love it.”
“Don’t you love me more?”
“If you loved me, you wouldn’t ask me to choose. You would want me to do the thing that made me happy, just as I supported you all those years.”
Deep down I knew she was right. Her dream since we first got together was to be a teacher. I could tell just how passionate she was about teaching from the way she spoke about it. Leaning down, I kissed her gently. “I’m sorry. You’re right. You deserve to do what makes you happy. I can’t imagine living a nomadic life on the road with me and the guys would be that thrilling.”
“I’ll come out to visit you every weekend. I promise.”
“And during the summer, you’re completely mine. Right?”
She grinned. “Oh yes.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it.”
When the gondola ride was over, I happily climbed out and then helped Lily with her dress. I had one thing on my mind, and that was getting the honeymoon started. We would be leaving Vegas in the morning for our next tour stop in Reno, so we had to make use of the time we had.
As I started tugging her toward the elevators, she balked. “What is it?” I demanded.
“I need to do some shopping.”
I groaned. “You have got to be kidding me.”
Wagging her eyebrows, Lily jerked her head at the store we were in front of. “Oh, okay,” I replied, with a smile. She ducked into Victoria’s Secret alone. Pacing around outside, I waited for her to make a choice…or several choices. At this point, I didn’t need to see her in any sexy lingerie to get me up and running. Right now she could be wearing a burlap sack, and I’d still blow my load. There was something about getting to make love to my wife for the very first time that was so fucking sexy.
After what felt like an eternity, Lily emerged with a bag and a secretive smile. “Now are we ready?”
“Yes, Mr. Impatient, we are.”
Taking her by the arm, I once again hurried her to the elevators. Even though I had just been with her last night, I couldn’t wait to be inside her again. Of course, this time was monumental because it was the first time we would be making love as husband and wife. It felt a little overwhelming, kind of like the first time we were together.
When we got to the suite, I put the keycard in. After swinging the door open, I grabbed Lily around the waist. “Brayden, what are you doing?” she demanded.
“I’m carrying you over the threshold.”
She laughed. “But this is just a hotel room, not our house.”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Still wanted to do it.” When I set her on her feet, she glanced at me over her shoulder. “Unzip me, so I can go put on your surprise.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I muttered. I didn’t want to just unzip her. I wanted to tear off her dress and start going at it right there on the floor.
Once she was unzipped, Lily slid out of her dress, revealing her strapless bra and underwear. “You’re killing me, babe.”
“Just wait,” she teased before grabbing the bag and running into the bathroom.
I groaned and then started working at getting out of my suit and tie. When I had stripped down to my boxers, I waited patiently on the edge of the bed for Lily to appear. Nothing could have prepared me for when the door opened. It was like an extreme moment of Deja vu. She was wearing lingerie that looked almost exactly like what she had worn for our first time. “How did you…?”
She smiled. “I was actually going for something in black or red when I saw this.” She swept her hands to her thighs. “Real garters this time instead of just the stockings.”
“I’m digging them.”
With a laugh, Lily crooked her finger at me. “Come here, Mr. Vanderburg, your wife would like to touch you.”
“She would?”
“Oh yes, very much.”
I rose off the bed and went over to her. “We really should open a bottle of champagne or something.”
“Later,” she argued.
“You don’t want to take things slow?”
“I want to consummate our marriage.”
“Well, I think I can oblige you on that one.” I brought my lips to hers in a soft kiss that grew passionate in barely an instant. We tumbled onto the bed in a tangle of arms and legs. Like magnets, my hands went straight for Lily’s breasts. I kneaded the sensitive flesh, causing the nipples to harden under my touch. As I began to untie her bodice, Lily ran her fingers through my hair, pushing it out of my face.
When her breasts were free, I dipped my head to suck one of her nipples into my mouth. Lily moaned, scissoring her legs beneath me, searching for friction. While I continued sucking on her nipples, I brought one of my hands between her legs to stroke her over her panties. She arched her hips against me. “Please, Brayden, I want you inside me,” Lily begged.
Realizing her need, I slid off her panties and pulled off the bodice. I then ros
e up sit in the middle of the bed. “What are you—” she began, but I silenced her by lifting her up to straddle me.
“This way I can see you and touch you.”
She smiled as she rose up to take me inside her. After I slid all the way down, she began to move on and off of me. As she did, she kept her hands in my hair, her eyes on mine. While I arched my hips to meet her movements, I couldn’t keep my hands still. I ran my fingers up and down her spine, I cupped her buttocks to lift her harder on and off of me, and then I stroked her clit until she was screaming my name as she came around my still pumping dick.
It didn’t take me long to finish, and I kept my eyes on hers until the very end. When it was over, I collapsed onto my back, bringing her with me. “So what do you think about married sex?”
“Mmm, I think it’s pretty amazing.” Propping her head up on her arm, she gave me a wicked a look. “I wonder if it’s just as good in the Jacuzzi tub or against the wall with the great view of Vegas outside.”
I grinned. “I don’t know, but you can sure as hell bet we’ll try it to see!”
BRAYDEN
The Present
Giovanni shifted the notepad on his lap and reached for a bottle of water. After he took a swig, he motioned to us. “Once again, any time you two need a break, feel free.”
I rose off the couch and stretched my arms over my head while Lily took a sip of her Coke. “Yeah, that last bit was a little intense.”
At the feel of Lily’s hand on my lower back, I turned around. “It’s hard reliving it all again. Isn’t it?” she asked, softly.
“Only the parts where I was such an asshole.” I cringed. “I’m still not sure I deserved a second chance.”
“The real you did, and I was happy to give it to him.”
“He thanks you from the bottom of his heart.” I winked at her as I sat back down. We turned to Giovanni who was watching us intently.
When I cocked my brows at him, he merely smiled. “I’m sorry. It’s just in stolen moments like those, I see that you guys really are the real deal, and this isn’t just some cleverly spun PR story.”
I couldn’t help laughing. “No, if I was going to have someone write this, I would sure as hell not have the part where I was a bastard in there.”
Lily swatted my arm playfully. “In the end, it’s worth it because we see how far we’ve come, and that what we had was worth fighting for. My dad always said, ‘Anything worth having is hard work’.”
“That’s true. It took some hard work to get us started, but once we did, it was pretty smooth sailing,” I replied.
Giovanni nodded. “Let’s see. So you guys got married in Vegas, but then I see you had another wedding a month later here in Georgia?”
Lily groaned as she buried her head in her hands. “Yes, that would be correct.”
Giovanni glanced from her to me. “Another tough story to relive?”
Peeking at him through her fingers, Lily replied, “Only if you consider that our families were furious with us for eloping and demanded we have a proper church wedding.”
“Preferably where Elvis did not officiate,” I added.
With a chuckle, Giovanni said, “Oh, I see.” His gaze met mine. “Does that mean your parents finally came around about you marrying Lily?”
I nodded. “Yeah, it took them fucking long enough to get with the program. When Paul died, I think they finally realized that there was never going to be another girl for me, and that if they wanted to be a part of my life, they would embrace Lily.”
“I think it also had to do with the fact that they didn’t want to miss out on any future grandchildren,” Lily said, with a smile.
“That is true. Hell, they’ve been better grandparents than they ever were parents to me.”
“That leads us to another one of my questions. Your son, Jude, was born a little over a year after you got married.”
“Fifteen months to be exact,” Lily corrected.
Giovanni nodded. “Since you had been together for so many years, did you intend on starting a family right away?”
I chuckled. “Not exactly.”
“We always wanted a big family, but no, Jude was a complete and total surprise. One of those birth control failure mysteries.” Lily made a face like she didn’t like her wording. “I mean, he was very wanted. It’s just it was a surprise.”
Patting her leg, I said, “At the time, I was only seeing her once or twice a month, so I guess you could say my stored up swimmers were really potent.”
Lily squealed, her hands once again covering her face. Giovanni and I both laughed at her reaction. “Hey, it’s what happened with the Baby Boomers after WWII. Kinda makes sense it would be the same way for us,” I rationalized.
“So you conceived when you weren’t actively trying?” Givoanni asked.
“That’s right,” Lily replied, fanning her reddened face with her hand.
“I like to call it, ‘That teeny, tiny .1% of birth control pills non-effectiveness’.”
Lily huffed at my side. “Yeah, well, I like to call it an unexpected miracle.”
I grinned at her. “Actually, we call him Jude, and even though he’s almost twelve and at that know-it-all preteen stage, we still love him.”
BRAYDEN
The Past
Rolling over in bed, I snuggled closer to Lily’s warmth. I lived for the weekends that she got to come along on tour with us. They seemed too few and far between lately. I was going to have to talk to her again about coming out every weekend, rather than every other one. More than anything, I wanted her to quit her teaching job, but she refused. I know it was because she loved what she did so much and had worked hard to earn her degree. But at the end of the day, I was a selfish bastard who wanted her with me twenty-four seven. And it wasn’t just my dick that needed her with me all the time either.
Even though we’d been together at least three times last night, I still wanted more of her. The old cliché that absence made the heart grow fonder was certainly true, especially when it came to my dick. Shifting her long, blonde hair off her shoulder, I then started kissing a wet trail along her neck. My hand slid around her ribcage to cup her breast. When I squeezed it, causing the nipple to harden, she moaned.
Her reaction caused me to buck my morning wood against her backside. Instead of warming up to me, she shifted away. Frowning at her back, I said, “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she murmured, drowsily.
“Was I too rough last night?”
She shook her head. “I’m just tired that’s all.”
In our seven years together, she’d never refused me. She was always just as game as I was, especially when I had been gone on the road. Drawing circles on her back with my finger, I said, “Talk to me, Lily.”
She glanced over her shoulder. When I saw the tears pooling in her eyes, I sat up straight in the bed. “Oh God, I was too rough last night, wasn’t I? If I hurt you, I’m so sorry.”
“No, it’s not that.”
“Then what is it?”
“Please don’t hate me.”
Her words sent fear crashing from my head down to my toes. “No matter what it is, I could never hate you,” I replied honestly.
That statement caused her to burst into tears. Her body shook with the strength of her sobs. Unease prickled over me, and the worst thing I could ever imagine entered my mind. “Is there someone else?” I demanded.
Lily’s eyes widened. “NO! No, of course not. How could you think that?”
“You don’t want to have sex with me, then you ask me not to hate you, and then you burst out crying. What the fuck am I supposed to think?”
Lily opened her mouth to respond, but then she clamped a hand over it. Throwing back the sheets, she raced from the bed. “You can’t go out there naked!” I shouted after her. The last thing I needed on top of everything else was for my bandmates to see my wife naked.
At the slam of the bathroom door, I shot off the bed. When I
got to the hallway, a bleary-eyed Jake and Rhys peered out of their roosts at me. Of course, I could still hear AJ snoring. He could sleep through an F-5 tornado. “Dude, what the fuck is going on?” Rhys demanded.
“I wish I knew,” I grumbled.
Motioning to the bathroom, Jake gave me a wicked grin. “I haven’t heard that much gagging since the last girl who thought she could deep throat me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re a disgusting prick who has delusions of grandeur.”
Jake chuckled and then disappeared behind his roost curtain. I rapped my knuckles lightly on the door. “Lils, are you all right?”
Her response came in the form of the toilet flushing. A few seconds passed before the door opened. While her eyes and nose were red from the crying, her face was white as a sheet. She had managed to slip on one of the bathrobes that hung behind the door. Of course, I was still butt naked in the hallway with my junk hanging out. “Babe, are you all right?” I repeated.
“I-I’m pregnant,” she stammered.
The world around me came crashing to a halt. Just like the first time I met her and she took me out, I felt the world grow dark around me. No, no, no. Surely, I had heard her wrong. Once I had managed to recover, I demanded, “What?”
“She said she was pregnant,” Jake called from behind his curtain.
“I didn’t ask you,” I growled.
“Then take it to the bedroom.” He poked his head out. “And congrats, Hot Mama.”
A nervous giggle escaped Lily’s lips at his words. “Don’t tell me you’re happy about me having a baby?” she asked softly.
“Why wouldn’t I be? It ain’t mine, so I’m thrilled.” He stared pointedly at the two of us. “Aren’t you happy?”
I threw up my hands in frustration. “This is so fucking wrong! Damn, this bus. There’s no fucking privacy!” My voice had risen an octave to where I was practically shrieking. Glancing down at myself, I shook my head. “Fuck, this is surreal. I’m standing here with my balls in the wind for one of the most important announcements in my life!”
