He added, “And we’ll take her back to her house in Mahalia’s cage.”
That settled, I could give in to the urging of the bird-like wife under my arm. Oaklyn wasn’t an old lady anymore, not in my mind. She was a wife, which was an old lady and then some. I knew I would never regret having caved in to the love that had taken ahold of me last winter. My resolve was doubled when Oaklyn revealed, somewhat anxiously, that she was pregnant. I had always wanted kids, deep down, but hadn’t dared to presume it would ever happen to me. That’s why I had gathered all my men around me. I was the oldest Lost Boy out at Liberty Temple, the den father. I was the alpha bad boy of the pack. But now I only had Deloy with me. I couldn’t believe how much I was looking forward to the arrival of my new kid. We had purchased our house from Gideon, and my weight room would be turned into a nursery.
Oaklyn said, “Remember that time Maximus was shooting that commercial, and we went down to the Virgin River?”
“How could I fucking forget?” Something occurred to me. “Did you want a repeat performance?”
Oaklyn beamed at me. I knew the ceremony had made her nervous, and she was experiencing the comedown, the relief, now. Sort of like subdrop after a scene. “Of course. But I’m not walking a mile down that cliff.”
“No. I was thinking more of going behind that rock.”
We headed toward the red boulder. No one dared stop us newlyweds, and people were heading back down the path to the parking lot. There were no tables or chairs to put away, just a lot of booze.
“What time should we head to Carmel tomorrow?”
“Whenever,” I said lightly. We were spending the first night in Vegas at the Venetian. Neither one of us was a big gambler. We just wanted to revel in the relaxed, upbeat atmosphere, maybe see the Blue Man Group. We’d never been to Vegas.
“Hey!” yelled Slushy, running over in his patent leather shoes. You’d think he was the groom, the way he was dressed. Deloy was behind him, also duded up in a tux with a frilly shirt. “Just one more item before you go balling behind that pinnacle.”
Under my arm, I felt Oaklyn giggle. “Balling behind a pinnacle.”
Slushy didn’t laugh. “Ah, young Doc Holliday here was wondering one last thing.” Slushy nudged Deloy with his elbow.
“Yes,” Deloy said, his lower lip trembling. I knew that look. This was some serious shit. I let go of Oaklyn to fold my hands before my crotch respectfully. “We need to know what you’re going to do about Hosea Cluff.”
Hosea Cluff had been identified as the last body in the mine. Deloy also identified him as acting in several of Pratt’s darknet sex tapes. He’d been an associate of Deloy and Kenyon Stout. Like most Lost Boys, no one had missed him.
“Right,” said Slushy. “Do you intend to use the body as leverage in future negotiations with the town council?”
I said, “I know Gideon would like the body out of his mine. He’s getting tired of people trying to break in to steal the bones. I think the latest stance is that we’re going to move it somewhere safe. Like you said, future negotiations.”
“All right,” said Slushy. “Don’t tell me where.”
“Plausible deniability,” I said, grinning. That was one of Slushy’s favorite sayings.
“You got it, hot stuff,” said Slushy, shaping his hand into a gun and shooting me.
“Okay,” said Deloy, cheering up. He was trying to drag Slushy away. “You have fun balling. I’ll hold onto Lazarus to make sure he doesn’t bug you. Come on, Slushy.”
“Is there an IKEA around here?” Slushy asked Deloy as they walked away. “I need a new computer desk for my office.”
“Isn’t your office behind an archery range?”
“Well, technically, it’s next to the archery range. Being behind it would be hazardous.”
We scurried behind the rock before anyone else could bother us.
“Ah, my wife, my wife,” I said over and over, pinning Oaklyn to the still-warm rock with the power of my hips. I was up like a hammer in seconds, all the tension and emotion of the day draining from me and into my cock.
She wrapped her long arms luxuriously around my neck. “My husband.” I swear her eyes were full of stars when she said this. She seemed to like the sound of it. “My husband.” She was as wide open as the sky above where just a few evening stars were beginning to appear. Half a mile away in the parking lot, bike engines were rumbling to life, idling, then vanishing down the scenic drive. Hefty dinners of prime rib or fish were waiting at the Elks Lodge.
I rolled my erection from side to side against her satin-clad pubic bone, my hands full of her ass. Her hands scrabbled at my belt buckle. We never had to worry about rubbers now, even if before it had been sort of half-assed anyway.