He paused – more than a little dramatically, damn him.
My heart began to pound, so hard I was sure he could feel my pulse. The thick, white dress I'd picked out started to swelter in the high Tennessee sun, but I sweated through it, hanging on every word, awestruck by the emotion spilling from his voice.
“Baby, you showed me what a damned fool I was. You, and that adorable boy we created. You took me to paradise and straight down to Hades. We burned together. Hurt together. Dragged ourselves over the barbed wire of darker times 'til I thought we'd bleed out.” Pausing, he grabbed my hand, and brought it to his lips.
Great. So much for promising myself I wouldn't cry.
“We didn't. Every time my bones and skin broke, I thought about you, babe. Only you, and the kid we created. We ain't shattering, Summertime. Not now. Not ever. Making this official just throws a fresh coat of polish on what we've had this summer – what we were always meant to. I love you, babe, from my next damned breath to my last. Love you and this family we've got so much it feels like saying 'I do' is nothing but an afterthought, so I've saved it for last. Yeah, woman, I fuckin' do.”
Waterworks? Broke open. Tears flooding, pouring down my face in warm, glossy streams.
I had to kiss him. And I damned sure wasn't going to wait for the preacher man to give me permission.
His arms were waiting when I flung myself into them a second later. We kissed like the whole sky opening up and blinding everything.
Kissed like love.
Kissed like death.
Kissed like we'd been through everything, full circle, and we'd do it all again. Over and over and over until our lives were over, or else our love was done.
And I knew what would come first.
As long as I lived, as long as I breathed, my heart would always belong to this to crazy, gorgeous, incredible man.
“Babe,” he whispered softly. “Look up. We've gotta finish to make it official.”
He kissed me again, more softly this time, and I finally noticed the insane cheers exploding around us.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, fuck yeah!” at least a dozen brothers and prospects shouted in unison.
Bingo stood up next to Grandpa and howled, temporarily going werewolf, instead of just wolf hound.
“Okay, okay,” I said, wiping the tears from my eyes. “Let's do this. I'm ready.”
“Summer Olivers,” Preacher man said, a thin smile on his face. “Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, for better and for worse...”
Come heaven.
Come hell.
Come the end of everything and the start of it again.
Preacher man finished, while my mind imagined the last few lines, my heart singing loud. Joker, and the entire world had their eyes on me.
Smiling, I finally said it, forcing it out through raw emotion twisting my tongue. “I do.”
“Then, by the power invested in me by the Deadly Pistols MC and the state of Tennessee...”
I never heard the rest. We kissed so hard it was like a tornado swept through my body, rattled my bones, and left me moaning into his mouth.
Luckily, a new wild roar in the crowd covered up the last part. But there was no hiding the way he picked me up, swung me around in his big, strong arms, and dug his hands into my ass, pulling me in.
I didn't even care about hiding it, and neither did my brand new husband.
*
“There's history in these grounds, boys and girls,” Dust said, a couple hours later, after we'd stuffed ourselves on drinks and the finest barbecue in Dixie. “You know my great, great granddaddy drilled his regiment in the Civil War here? Come out here with a metal detector, and you'll find all kinds of shit. Stuff that makes you think...”
We were gathered in a circle with all the brothers, me leaning drunkenly on Joker's shoulder, while his Prez gave us a history lesson.
God, these men were full of surprises. I'd have never guessed the cold, fierce Dust was such a history buff, but he kept going, even when half the guys were laughing to themselves, their eyes glazing over.
It seemed like he was the only one here without a date. I'd heard rumblings about the drama between him and Firefly's sister, Hannah. Meg said she was supposed to be his date tonight, but the girl was missing, leaving him the only man in the club who wasn't paired up with an old lady or one of the strippers from the Heel.
Firefly stood next to us, brooding the entire time. Cora kept leaning in sweetly, whispering in her man's ear. Eventually, he relented, relaxing just enough to smile at her, and wrap a possessive hand around the bump growing in her belly.
I'd missed that with Joker when I was pregnant. But I had a feeling it wouldn't be long before he gave me another baby. Next time, we'd experience everything together.
Jesus.
Everything.