When the priest finally said the words, “I now pronounce you man and wife,” Forrester lifted Elle up into his arms, and at the same time lifted his own soul up to God and thanked Him for bringing him all the happiness in the world.
He kissed his new bride deeply and passionately, and as he kissed her, the setting sun turned the entire sky a deep crimson. He saw Jackson nod at Sam and Luke. The two boys ran off into the grass and a moment later, fireworks started exploding all over the evening sky.
To say Forrester was happy doesn’t begin to describe how he felt. Becoming a husband, getting the wife of his dreams, those are the things men’s lives are defined by. Those are the very core of a man’s life. Elle was the love of Forrester’s life. She was his wife now. That meant he had to love and protect her for as long as he lived, and that she would do the same for him. She was carrying his child. That meant that the very future of his blood, his legacy, it was all in her hands. She was his prize and his queen at the same time. She would spend her life serving him and making him happy, and at the same time, he would be a slave to her comfort and safety. He would do whatever it took to protect her and bring her joy.
The last thing she saw every night before she fell asleep would be his eyes. The first thing she felt in the morning before opening her eyes would be his lips. He loved her in the truest sense of the word. He loved her in that way that only someone who’s been abused can love. He loved her as if she was life itself.
And he wanted her. She was his now, and he wanted to claim her, body and soul.
There was a dinner planned, dancing, some speeches by the people they loved, and Forrester looked forward to all of it. He looked forward to sharing his first meal with Elle as husband and wife.
But what he looked forward to most, what he craved, was to get her into the honeymoon suite of their hotel. He was going to be merciless.
Chapter 55
Forrester
TIME HAS A WAY OF passing fast when you’re happy. That’s how it passed for Elle and Forrester after the wedding. She moved into the mansion and got to know Lacey, Grant and Grady better. She helped Lacey with her baby while she prepared for her own. Faith was never far away, and the brothers became like actual brothers to her. In so many ways, the Brotherhood became the family she’d always dreamed of. They all looked out for each other, they had each other’s backs, they protected one another.
That made her feel safe. Even just knowing what Jackson had done to Los Lobos made her feel safe.
And she was happy. She was happy and grateful for so many things. For the way Forrester made love to her first thing in the morning. He still blindfolded her before she woke up, and right through the pregnancy he became more and more attracted to her. He was insatiable. He was everything she’d ever dreamed of in a husband, and he took such good care of her she could scarcely believe her life was real. It was like a dream.
He was perfect. Or at least, she thought he was perfect. She thought he couldn’t get any better.
And then he became a father, and everything just multiplied.
There is no easy way to explain how a little baby girl could make a man like Forrester feel. Elle jokingly referred to him as her baby daddy. She’d called him the most eligible baby daddy in the world to everyone, and she knew he liked it. But it was deeper than that. Three days after the baby was born, Forrester got a new tattoo. It was of two sparrows holding a banner, and on the banner was Elle’s name and the baby’s name.
Forrester spent every spare moment he had either with Elle or the baby. During the first week, Elle was pretty exhausted from the labor and she would take frequent naps with the baby in her arms. Without fail, when she woke up, she would find Forrester on the bed next to her, the baby tucked into a little nook between his forearm and his bicep, sleeping peacefully. It was a strange sight, the perfect, unmarked baby sleeping in an arm so tattooed and scarred. It made Elle’s heart want to cry out in happiness.
Forrester told her every day that he loved her.
“I love you, and I love this baby,” he said to her one night, soon after the birth.
“And we love you,” Elle said.
She was sitting on their bed with the baby in her arms. She was wearing a silk nightdress. Forrester was brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed. It always made Elle smile that he put on aftershave to go to bed. He’d said it was to impress her, even in her sleep. It was a nice, peaceful scene of domestic tranquility.
Forrester cleared his throat.
“I don’t just mean I love you,” he said. “I mean more than that.”
Elle nodded. She knew that. She knew that so little could be expressed in words when the heart was full of as much love as they shared.
Forrester sat down next to her. She admired his naked body, the toned muscle, the tattoos. Even now that she was married to him, she still couldn’t help being impressed by his body.
“You know what happened to me as a kid,” Forrester said.
“Of course,” she said.
“It scarred me.”