They were giggling again as they rushed back out.
Richard pressed her to the wall the second they were outside. He kissed her hard.
“My wife,” he mumbled into her mouth and then he was sweeping her off her feet and into his arms.
She squealed.
Joy rushed.
Intense.
Profound.
She curled her arms around his thick neck, and he carried her up the sidewalk. The night was all around them, the bugs trilling from their shelter in the trees.
Refusing to set her down, he carried her all the way to the nicest hotel in Dalton where they were staying, right through the posh lobby and up the lavish stairway to the second floor.
He opened the door to their suite, still holding on, whispering, “My wife, my wife,” as he carried her over the threshold.
My wife.
His confession wound through her being.
The proclamation.
He set her onto her feet at the end of the massive, luxurious bed. He tickled his fingertips along her collarbone exposed by the dress.
Chills raced.
Those eyes traced her, took her in, memorized the moment.
“Beauty. Life. Light. Now I know what it all really means.”
“I love you,” she exhaled. “Forever.”
He slowly undressed her while she undressed him.
Reverent hands. Whispered promises. Their forever bounding out in front of them.
He laid her out on the bed, and he climbed over her, hovering an inch away.
Their bodies hummed.
Heat flooded the space.
Liquid.
Molten.
“My wife. My moonflower in the darkest night. You will always be the song of my heart.”
“My husband. My sun that ushers in the day. You will always be the beat of my heart.”
And their spirits sang together. Their bodies one. Their love abounding.
He held her wrapped tight as he moved over her.
Slow.
Treasured.
A revelry.
Sweat drenched their skin, their passion in sync.
He kissed her deep before he curled an arm around the top of her head, held her face with the other.
Nose to nose.
Breath to breath.
Soul to soul.
“I will never let you go.”
Twenty-Four
Violet
“Hey, Violet, over here!”
I jerked around from where I stood waiting on the sidewalk in front of the single wedding dress shop in Dalton when I heard the voice calling my name from across the parking lot. Emily waved furiously from where she, Melanie, and Royce’s younger sister, Maggie, were climbing out of her car, a huge smile of excitement on her face.
While my insides twisted. Caught in a clamp of dread and this messed up hope that I knew I shouldn’t feel. A smidge of guilt for giving in the way that I had, letting that man touch me last night, all mixed up with the residual of that touch that was still coursing through my veins and heating my flesh.
I was a proper mess.
Bags under my eyes. No sleep to be found. Tossing and turning all night. Eyes still red from crying and body still flying from gettin’ sent to the stars when I’d least expected it.
A goner before I’d even known I’d been struck.
I should have known that’s what would happen when I let Richard Ramsey invade my space.
I wondered if she could see it as she approached, Richard’s sister coming up the sidewalk, wearing shorts and a pretty, flowy tank and wedge heels, blonde hair falling around her shoulders. If she’d notice the way I shifted and tried to hide the evidence of the flush I could feel climbing to my cheeks. If his touch might be glowing on my skin like it felt like it was.
Hell, he might as well have been dipping those wicked hands in paint and leaving the proof all over my skin.
“You beat us,” Emily said, the woman exuding happiness.
I smoothed out the skirt of my sundress. “Just by a minute.”
She had her arms out, reaching for me by the time she was two feet away. She squeezed me in a fierce hug. “I missed you.”
Light laughter rumbled out, affection so thick, my mind so muddled that I had no idea what to do. I pulled back so I could grip her by the hands, voice thick with emotion. “I saw you just two days ago.”
“And that’s far too long.” She squeezed my hands tighter. “How is Daisy?”
“As rambunctious as ever. Apparently, there isn’t a thing that will slow that child down.”
Laughing, Mel edged in for a quick hug. “For real, Vi. I am in straight awe of you. That child is a whip. Nothing but a firecracker. I swear, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry when she was trying to convince you she was just fine. You have your hands full with that adorable thing.”
I tugged at a piece of my hair. “There’s a solid chance I’m going gray.”
She giggled and stepped back, her tawny hair held in a sleek ponytail that swished around her shoulders. A coy grin split her pretty face. “Oh, don’t even talk to me about goin’ gray. At least you don’t have to deal with the nonsense of the boys in that band day after day. Good god, I’m lucky I haven’t stroked out. Between Rhys and his constant carousin’, brute nothing but a publicity nightmare, and Richard’s grumbly, brooding ass, it’s a wonder I manage to get any of them out on a stage.”
I ignored the panging in my heart at the mention of his name. “I think she’s askin’ for a raise,” I teased, glancing at Emily.
Emily giggled. “Oh, don’t worry, with the new deal, I’d say she’s sittin’ pretty.”
Mel quirked a brow. “Barely enough to deal with the two of them. I deserve trauma pay.”
“Well, I guess if it’s so horrible, we can find a replacement,” Emily said, words droll. “I wouldn’t want to put you in the position of having to do something you don’t want to do.”
“You wouldn’t dare,” Mel shot out, hand over her heart.
“I just don’t want my best friend to be miserable or anything. I know how much you hate Rhys.” Her brows lifted in suggestion.
I suppressed a giggle. I had no idea how those two hadn’t spit out ten babies by now. Rhys and Mel had always gone round
