Attainment

Brayden stops and smiles, obviously pleased with his ‘special job’. I bend down and hold my fist out to him, preparing for another right-hook. He indulges me and laughs, then sits down with Maryann.

As the music kicks in, I quickly stand back up and watch Alexis slowly make her way toward me. I’d been picturing and dreaming about this very moment for years, and it is now that it’s finally happening. In my dreams, Alexis was angelic...beautiful...exquisite. But in reality, watching as she smiles at our family and friends with each step that she takes, she is just pure perfection—fucking breath taking.

The instrumental music piece that is playing as she walks down the aisle is one that Lucy, the boys, and I composed especially for this moment. We’d spent months on it, making it flawless. I sneak a look over at Derek and watch as he performs an air guitar action, prompting Carly to laugh at him. Friggin’ show pony.

Shaking my head in amusement, I roll my eyes with a smile. He is definitely whipped whether he admits it or not.

Alexis stops only feet away from me and has a few moments with Graeme. Part of me envies her having her parents here, wishing mine were here, too. Mum would no doubt be crying happy tears and Dad would be patting her arm. Lochie and Gareth would be standing right by my side, and the day really would be complete. But, as incredibly perfect as that sounds, it is not how it was meant to be. Fate had other plans, plans I would never understand.

Graeme gives Alexis a quick kiss on the cheek before she turns, faces me, and steps up to the altar. Fuck me, she is gorgeous.

‘Hi,’ she mouths, her lips moving seductively yet with a hint of shyness. Shiiiit! I want at those lips.

“Can I kiss her now?” I ask, desperately.

The room erupts into an amused chuckle. I’m glad you all find it funny. I sure as hell don’t. Frustrated at my lack of control, I clench my fist then open it again.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Clark, not quite yet,” announces the celebrant. Now, if he wasn’t the very man who was going to legally bind me to Alexis for the rest of our lives, I would physically remove him from the room for stopping me from kissing her. He should consider himself lucky.

Fighting to refrain from glaring at him, I move my stare back to the love of my life, finding Alexis staring at me, her beauty filled blue eyes looking deep into mine. ‘I love you’, I mouth, having to do or say something to show her how I feel. Apparently, kissing her in this moment is not allowed.

“I love you, too”, she replies quietly as her gaze drops to assess my suit. The way she takes me in with her eyes nearly snaps my dick to attention—nearly. This is my wedding day after all; I do have some form of control.

Alexis hands her bouquet of roses to her sister Jen, then turns back to face me, holding her hands out for me to take a hold. Shit! My palms are still sweaty.

Wiping them on my trousers as quickly and inconspicuously as I am capable of, I take both her hands in mine. She strokes her thumb across my knuckles and again, my dick nearly snaps to attention. Bloody hell! Alexis will always have the ability to charge me with her touch.

Screw this! I raise her hand to my mouth and kiss her wrist, the smell of her perfume intoxicating me. The fight within to cease my lips further progression up her arm is excruciating. She smiles lovingly at me and like a magnet leans in closer. I want to take her in my arms and merge us into one, but the celebrant clears his throat then begins the ceremony.

After exchanging rings and confirming that I never owned my heart to begin with, my heart having always belonged to Alexis, I am now at my absolute last bit of tether. I need to kiss her. I need to taste her. I need to feel her in my arms.

Desperation now plaguing my mind, body, and soul, I mentally give the celebrant a nice big ‘fuck you’ and take her in my arms before he has a chance to finish pronouncing us husband and wife. I kiss her like I’ve never kissed her before—I finally kiss my wife.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Our reception celebrations are a small affair which we decided to have in one of the function rooms at City Towers. Alexis wanted our entire wedding celebration to be at our hotel complex.

As much as I pride myself in our establishment, if Alexis had said that our first night as husband and wife was also going to be in the hotel, I would have probably gagged her—I drew the line at that. Little does she know, we are flying directly to Paris after the wedding reception, and I have a few secrets up my sleeve that I can’t wait to surprise her with.

“Excuse me ladies and gentleman,” Derek announces through the microphone. “Can I ask the groom to bring his bride to the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife?”

Alexis has her head on my shoulder while we sit at our table having a quiet moment to ourselves. As she lifts it up and hits me with yet again, another dazzling smile, I notice something change in her expression—a look I have seen many times before.

“I hope you are wearing that red G-string, Husband,” she drawls.

My eyes widen at her suggestion, and I laugh loudly as I pull her to her feet, leading her to the dance floor. “That was a one-off, Wife. I happily destroyed the uncomfortable piece of arse-floss.”

Placing her hands around my neck, she stands up on her tippy toes to kiss my lips. “You once told me that nothing was absolute.”

“Some things are,” I say with complete reaffirmation as I return her kiss and wrap my arms around her waist.

A familiar sound filters my ears when the music begins, as Derek starts to sing the song I wrote for Alexis, “Thief of My Heart.”

Pressing her head against my shoulder, she squeezes me tightly. “Loving you is absolute.”

“It better be,” I say with a smirk.

Alexis pulls away and wipes a tear which has begun to slide down her happy face. “Bryce, I just want you to know that deciding to go back to work three years ago was one of the best decisions I have ever made.”

Another tear leaves her eye, heading on a journey south.

“I can’t argue with you there,” I agree, wiping it away.

“Giving you permission to kiss me was another.”

“I married a smart woman.”

She scoffs and drops her head for a second then looks back into my eyes. “Spending that week with you and allowing myself to believe that what we had was real, well...that was another.”

I hug her tightly, thankful that she took that very leap of faith. Because when I look back on it now, that decision must’ve have been extremely difficult for her.

Derek picks up the pace, singing the lyrics to the bridge of the song. I too, mouth them to Alexis:

‘Let go and feel it.

Just let go and feel it.

You and I, we are it.

Please let go.’

The timing of those lyrics couldn’t be more perfect, emphasising what we had just been talking about.  Alexis smiles and sings the chorus back to me:

‘You’re all that I want and nothing else.

I’ve fallen hard and will never get up.’