Molly Ramsey’s wedding morning dawned bright, clear, and with just a hint of nip in the air.  It was the kind of day that when you opened your eyes in your warm, snuggly bed and lay there, staring out the window, it promised you that something good was going to happen.  It was the kind of sunrise that invited you to get up and face the challenges life brought you.

Immediately registering the heavy arm still wrapped around her waist, Molly smiled when she moved and it tightened automatically around her.  “You know, if you want me to get to the church on time, you’re going to need to let me out of bed and start getting ready.  Then, you’re going to have to leave, Dev,” she murmured against her pillow.

Last night, despite her best arguments, Devil had steadfastly refused to honor tradition and let her sleep alone the night before their wedding.  Truthfully, she’d barely been by herself at all since their Australian blowout earlier in the week.  Last night, however, when she’d tried to eject him from the premises, she’d found herself arguing with a brick wall.  Threats of impending bad luck and her mother’s wrath had done nothing to sway him.  He’d said that he couldn’t sleep without her anymore and wasn’t interested in any fucked-up wedding propaganda that stated he couldn’t see her for any length of time. She suspected, however, that he was terrified she’d talk herself out of marrying him in the hours they’d be separated.

As if.

Devil Delancy might not be sure of her yet (and wouldn’t be completely until he had a solid gold band welded to her left ring finger), but she was convinced of one thing.  He had her until death they did part (with or without the gold seal on her finger).

May God have mercy on his soul… because she wouldn’t, she thought with a small smirk of satisfaction.

Pushing up on an elbow behind her in bed, Devil kept his arm exactly where it was and hauled her against his chest, curling his body around hers.  Dropping a kiss against one rounded bare shoulder, he shook his head, keeping his lips against her soft skin.  “You’ve gotten ready for plenty of things with me right here in this room.  In fact, I think I’ve been very helpful on more than one occasion, haven’t I?”

“I think you’ve confused helpful with distracting,” Molly replied, shivering as his words vibrated against her flesh.  “I can’t afford for you to distract me today of all days, Devil.  I need to focus, and this has to be perfect.”

“Molly, you could show up to the church wearing a sack and a bad attitude, honey.  As long as you walk down the aisle to me and say ‘I do’, it will be perfect.”

See, when he said things like that, she melted.  And she didn’t have time to dissolve into a puddle of goo in bed with him this morning.

Because she was getting married.  Today!!

“Stop being sweet,” she ordered sternly as he wove the fingers resting against her stomach through hers.  “I know what you’re trying to do,” she added breathlessly as his tongue touched that spot behind her ear that he knew drove her wild.  “And we don’t have time for it.”  She bit her lip as his other hand slid beneath her to cup her breast. 

“Give me sixty uninterrupted seconds and I’ll change your mind about that,” he murmured against her neck as he rolled her nipple between his fingers.

 Oh, that was tempting.  Mostly because Devil was really good when he raced the clock, and she knew Devil was that good because he’d already raced that freaking clock many, many times with her.  And he’d make damn sure it was that good for her.  Twice, if she’d let him and he was inspired.  Glancing at the alarm clock on the nightstand, she bit her lip and weighed her options.

“Chica!  I brought the good java in honor of the Big Day!” an accented male voice shouted from somewhere in the house.  “Rise and shine, mi amiga!”

She giggled when Devil turned his head toward the door and stared at it with horror.  Mannie was a new, but welcome, addition to her wedding party, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.  In a brief amount of time, he’d proven himself a loyal, trustworthy friend and she hated that Sami had never introduced them before now. 

“Don’t bother yelling, Mannie.  I’m betting our girl is getting a different kind of wake-up call as we speak.  The Devil’s wheels are parked across the street,” an amused feminine voice replied loudly as the front door slammed.

“Fuck me,” Devil muttered, wincing as they heard the click of heels on the tiled floor.

Molly knew his curse wasn’t a plea to her, but rather a curse at the fates, and her body shook with laughter.

“Stop laughing,” Devil growled against Molly’s ear as he pinched her ass.

“Devil Delancy!  This breaks every wedding rule known to man!” A furious third female voice – also known as Vivian - bellowed from down the hallway.  “Put whatever you’re packin’ back in your pants and GO!”

The extra exclamation points behind Vivian’s command were painfully obvious to all involved.

“Jesus,” Devil groaned against Molly’s throat as he pulled her back and dropped his head against her shoulder.  “The entire fucking Triple Threat is here.  You gave them keys to the house?  Are you certifiably insane?”

“I told you that we didn’t have time.” Molly giggled as he growled low in his throat.  “And be nice.  That’s my wedding party that you’re cursing.”

“That let themselves into your home while I was trying to find us both some satisfaction.  I think I’ve gotta reason to curse ‘em,” Devil grumbled, lifting his head to frown at her.  “Your friends are messing with my morning sex.  Nobody in their right mind gets between a man and his morning sex.”

“Listen, Mick Jagger.  You found satisfaction three times last night.  I’m pretty sure you’ll find a way to live with this morning’s disappointment,” she noted with a cheery smile at him.

A loud pounding rang against the wooden bedroom door, followed by a yipping bark.  “You’ve got three minutes for one of you to make an appearance in the kitchen or I’m sending Samantha through that door with a bucket of ice water,” Vivian threatened loudly from the other side of the bedroom door.  “I mean it, you two! And Coco is just dying to get his teeth into someone!”

Devil rolled off Molly onto his back with a frustrated snarl.  Shoving a hand through his thick hair, he glared at Molly.  “I must really love you to put up with them,” he informed her grimly as he listened to Sami and Mannie laughing in the hallway.

Reaching for the sheet, Molly covered her body as Devil shoved up from the bed and reached for the jeans he’d discarded on her bedroom floor the night before.  Licking her lips as she watched his firm ass slowly disappear behind a layer of denim, she sighed.  “I’ll make it up to you tonight.”

Looking at her over his shoulder, Devil’s teeth gleamed as he smiled.  “Repeatedly,” he qualified.  “You’ll make it up to me repeatedly.”

“I’m getting the bucket!” Vivian warned impatiently through the door.

“I’m coming, woman!  Christ!” Devil shouted, shooting a hateful look toward the door.  “Let a man get his pants on!”

Molly couldn’t help her laughter as Devil stabbed his arms into the shirt he’d draped over her armchair. Vivian sighed heavily outside the door before they heard her footsteps retreat down the hallway, muttering about horny hotheaded men and their unquenchable thirst for sex. 

“I swear, Molly, I thought it was Samantha that was the woman to watch carefully in that group of yours.  Not Viv!”

“It’s always the quiet ones that you should fear the most,” Molly returned with a grin.  “Vivian is as determined as my mom that today goes off without a hitch.  You are screwing with Vivian’s well-laid plans.  Nobody screws with Viv’s plans, Devil.  Not even you.”

Devil shook his head as he approached the bed and bent to kiss her.  “Sort her out before I kill her, sweetheart.  I’d hate for you to lose a bridesmaid because I strangled the life out of her.  I’ll tolerate a lot, but being kicked out of your bed isn’t going to win her a place in my heart.”

Nipping his lower lip, Molly shook her head.  “You’ll let her live because you love me and I love her,” she replied, unworried.  “Besides, I think we’ve practiced our wedding vows enough.  A few hours of sexual frustration won’t hurt you.”

“I had over a year of frustration, thank you very much, and it throbbed like a bitch,” he retorted, pressing his closed mouth against hers in a hard kiss before straightening and striding toward the bedroom door. 

“I’ve been worth the wait, haven’t I?” Molly asked with a shrug and a wink as she wrapped her arms around her bent legs and rested her chin on her knees, watching him reach for the doorknob.

Devil’s eyes darkened as he turned his head to look at her, his hand freezing on the door handle.  “Every fucking second, Molly.  You were worth every fucking miserable second I waited.  It was a bargain when you consider the lifetime of happy I’m gonna get in return.”

Swallowing hard at the heat in his eyes and the passion in his voice, Molly blinked back unexpected tears.  Oh, he had to go before she did something crazy like launch herself across the room at him and tackle him to the floor. 

“You cry and I’m gonna have to come over there and comfort you, babe,” Devil kept going in that smooth, sexy drawl of his.  “I think we both know how that’ll turn out, so I’m not gonna argue.”

 Quickly blinking to clear her tearful eyes, Molly smiled at him.  “Nice try.  But it isn’t gonna work.  Get out of here,” she ordered with a watery smile, jabbing a finger at the door.

Lips quirking up at her statement, Devil chuckled.  “I love you.  See you later.”

“You will.  I’ll be the one in the long white dress holding an entire flower garden in my hand,” she assured him gently.  Watching him slowly nod, she held her breath until he was out of the room with the door closed softly behind him.

Biting her lip, Molly forced herself to breathe deeply.  She’d always heard that saying about a heart filled with so much love it threatened to burst. 

She’d thought it was bullshit sentimental crap.

Until now.

Now, she understood.  Completely and totally.

Nothing was going to spoil this day.