“Hurry up,” I grumbled, which Mia heard and chuckled.
Not long after, Liam was kissing the happy blushing bride, and walking back down the aisle with her. Then it was my turn to walk Thalia down the aisle behind the happy couple. I held my arm out to her; she slid her arm through mine, and offered me a smile.
I grinned back, unable to get my vocal cords to work. I pulled her in closer as we walked down the aisle, the bottom of her dress wrapping around my legs, keeping us together.
No sooner had we reached Liam and Mia, the photographer was pulling us all away for photographs. Something I’d been looking forward to because it would mean I’d get Thalia in my arms again, even, if it were only for a short while.
The photographer had other ideas of course and kept dragging us apart; Thalia on one side of the branch, and me on the other. Why we had to be separated by a fucking tree branch was beyond me. I had to keep reminding myself that it was Liam’s day and to keep my mouth shut.
The photographer finally announced that he’d finished for now so with a huge sigh of relief I walked over to Thalia. She turned and watched me approach with a nervous smile on her lips.
Having her hands in mine made me want to jump for joy, and I realized I couldn’t wait another minute. “Please come and talk to me. I was going to wait until later, to get you alone, but I can’t. I need to talk to you now. Please come with me.”
She had tears in her eyes. “Phoenix, I’d go anywhere with you,” she whispered.
She used ‘Phoenix’. She hadn’t used Phoenix since I’d been a bastard to her. I moved in to kiss when we both froze, having heard my mom shouting at us.
Inhaling I caught her scent as I dropped my forehead against hers. “We can talk later, but please tell me you’re not going to leave me. I’ll go anywhere as long as we’re still together.”
“Oh Phoenix. I love you, and I don’t want to be without you. I really want to make this work between us.”
I took her face into my hands and brought her flush with my body, sealing our lips together. “I love you. I promise I’ll try not to be a bastard to you again.”
“Jack, put Thalia down.”
We both grinned as I turned to my mom, “Yes, ma’am.”
“And no sass. You’re not too old to go over my knee.”
The horror I felt at hearing my mom’s comment obviously showed on my face, because Thalia tried to hide her laugh behind her hands and wasn’t very successful.
“Thalia, honey. Would you mind popping into the house and the room Mia used? She forgot to slip something up her leg before she left.”
“Ah, okay,” Thalia said grinning as we watched my mom walk back the way she came.
With a grimace, I said, “I don’t want to know.”
Thalia rolled her eyes and giggled. “Get your mind off those body parts. Your mom was referring to something the groom removes with his teeth.”
I chuckled, and whispered in her ear, “I know what you mean now, but I can still remove your panties with my teeth.” I straightened up and checked my jacket covered my hardened cock, which was stiff as a fucking spike being so close to her; talking about her panties. “Fuck. You go do what mom asked, and I’ll go back over there. If I come upstairs with you, we won’t be seen for a while, and,” I pulled her in tight to me, “we will talk soon in private.”
After a quick kiss I watched her rush to the house while I walked back over to the wedding goings on, but detoured slightly when I spotted Ryder standing on the outskirts with a beer in hand.
Chapter 64
Thalia
––––––––
As I rushed towards the house my heart felt light as a feather. The huge rock that had been holding it down had disappeared, and I wanted to jump for joy.
I knew it was my own fault we’d been apart these past few days. But I was hurt, and although my first instinct had been to throw myself at him, I couldn’t do that. I needed to think the whole thing through, which I’d done, constantly since I’d said goodbye to him in the forest.
Callie had also told me on more than one occasion how stupid I was being, because I had a hot-as-hell guy confessing his love for me and I was being a stubborn bitch! Eventually, I’d agreed, and then turned the tables on Callie and got her to confess what Reece had done to her. They hadn’t spoken since, and Callie was trying her best not to look in Reece’s direction, but Reece didn’t seem to have that problem, and openly stared at my friend. I started to grin, and decided I needed to talk to Phoenix and find out about Reece’s connection to Dahlia.
With my face displaying an even bigger grin than the bride, I dashed into the house and ran upstairs to the room Mia had dressed in and retrieved the bride’s garter from the dressing table. How the hell had she forgotten to pull that on? I rolled my eyes and exited the room.
Back downstairs, I pushed through the patio doors, and came face-to-face with Rebecca.
“What the hell are you doing here? Haven’t you caused enough trouble?”