1 year later

The most amazing year of my life is coming to a close this summer, right before the high heat turns Paris boiling hot.

Ajax and I are getting married, and my whole family will be here for the ceremony - both my sisters and even an aunt and uncle from Minnesota. Ajax had flown them all in especially, just for me, and I couldn’t be more grateful. Obviously, he’s already met Lexi and Lily when we flew back home for their birthday. My sisters were not just impressed, they were left speechless when they met my royal fiancé. I know they had their doubts, but as soon as they met Ajax in person, they fell for his charm just like I did. He is fast friends with Lily, and with Lexi, he has a quiet kind of understanding and companionship.

We spent the past year traveling through Europe. I’ve been to Venice, I’ve fed the pigeons in St Marc’s square. I’ve swum with dolphins in Spain. I saw Goya’s paintings in person, and Ajax arranged for a private viewing of the Louvre for us, which was absolutely incredible. I strolled down boulevards, shopped in expensive boutiques and bought gifts from artists working beside the rivers running through the towns and cities we visited.

It has been an incredible fourteen months, filled with happiness, laughter and too much giddiness to put into words. On our expeditions, and late at night, in the hotel beds, I fell in love with my fiancé over and over again. Not just because of his charm, but because of his sharp mind, his raucous laughter and the way he loves me fully and without reservations.

After our first time sleeping together, Ajax begrudgingly agreed to start using protection. His father would have gone ballistic if I’d gotten pregnant, but thankfully, we didn’t conceive the first night we were together.

Thankfully… If I was being honest with myself, I spent that whole month hoping he really had done it; gotten me pregnant on the first damn try. But no such luck.

A couple of weeks ago, however, he refused to put a condom on when he was fucking me. With his cock buried deep inside me, he told me he didn’t care if he knocked me up, and filled me full of his sticky baby batter. I knew we shouldn’t have, but I didn’t want to stop him…

And now I am two weeks late, and Ajax has not a damn clue about my missing period.

I chew my bottom lip nervously as I think about how big of a problem this could be. Thankfully I’m not showing yet, so nobody has noticed that I’m late but me… And we are getting married today. If I play things right, I might be able to get away with saying it was a honeymoon baby. Ajax never needs to know…

“Cassie? You seem a million miles away!” Lexi laughs nervously, and I turn towards her, giving her a reassuring smile. “Not getting cold feet, are you?”

“Of course not,” I say in response. In fact, I’ve never been surer this is exactly what I want. “I guess I just feel a bit weird… Woozy.”

And as I say it, I realize it’s true, and the world sways before me as I nearly collapse. My sisters are quick to catch me, and Lily handles me a paper bin when I retch. I nearly vomit, but I hold back.

“Nerves?” Lexi asks anxiously, rubbing my back. “You poor thing, this is such a big deal, of course, you’re nervous…”

“Not at all,” I croak, thinking that nausea and dizziness are most definitely from another thing altogether. “I think I just… Maybe ate something.”

My excuse is barely plausible and they give me strange looks which turn knowing the second they meet each other’s eyes.

“You’re not…” Lily gasps and our sister joins in.

“She can’t be,” she says firmly, then gives me a long, searching look. “You’re not, are you?”

“I…” I whisper, looking away in embarrassment. “Well, I might be.”

My sisters cause a commotion, jumping up and down with excitement and giving me tight hugs as I giggle and tell them to quieten down.

We spend the next hour with professional hairstylists and makeup artists pampering every inch of us. My sisters look amazing - Lily is wearing a gorgeous purple dress that fits her perfectly, and Lexi is a tight long baby pink gown that looks incredible with her sleek dark hair. I tell them how amazing they look and they return the praise, complimenting me on my custom-made Vera Wang wedding gown, and my beautiful Giuseppe Zanotti heels. They swoon over my hair that’s done with our mother’s pearl pins, the very ones I wore for Ajax during our dinner. My makeup’s perfect, and I feel incredible. I know all eyes are going to be on me today, but I don’t care. I know I look amazing.

“Alright,” Lexi stands up. “I think the limo is here. We ready to go?”

“Ready,” I nod, getting up and leaving a trail of sighs as I move down the stairs towards the car.

For a second, I almost think I hear two heartbeats in my body, both beating with pure joy at the thought of finally marrying Ajax.

* * *

“And do you, Ajax Charles Winchester, take Cassandra Rose Voile to be your lawfully wedded wife?” the minister asks, and he looks right into my eyes, winking at me.

“I do,” he says, in a heart-warming moment that I know will be displayed on TVs time and time again. “The question is, does she?”

He’s already running this wedding the way he wants to, and I love it. I know his father’s squirming in his seat uncomfortably, but despite all the court’s rules and regulations, we’ve managed to make this wedding so uniquely ours.

The banquet hall at the reception as well as the church is filled with pink roses - my favorite. And on the tables, there are centerpieces with roses in three shades of pink, one for each one of us sisters. We’ve written our own vows, and I cried when Ajax read his. I think he may have shed a tear in secret when I told him mine, too.

In my gorgeous dress, I feel like his perfect bride, and he whispers in my ear repeatedly that I’m every dream he’s ever had come true.

“Do you, Cassandra Rose Voile take this man to be your husband?” the minister turns his attention to me, and I smile sweetly.

“I do,” I say, and the crowd cheers for us.

Later on, as we’re descending the church stairs as people throw rose petals, I’m transported to a place where it’s just the two of us merely by looking into Ajax’s eyes. His gaze carries a promise he’s been threatening me with for weeks… He’s going to make love to me all night, and he’s going to make sure I’m pregnant by the morning. But little does he know, there might already be another life in my belly, and he will soon have an heir.

He whisks me away the first second he gets, in the limousine driving us to the banquet hall. His lips are hot against mine, and his hand slaps my knees apart, searching for the warm wetness of my pussy. I feel like a slut in my expensive dress, but I giggle and let him nonetheless because this is what I’ve been waiting my whole life for. Twenty-two years of waiting for him to call me his wife… And now I belong to him, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

“Tonight, you’re mine,” he groans against my lips, and I whisper his name when his hand reaches between my thighs. “And you’re going to thank your lucky stars for every second of pleasure I give you…”

My body shivers at the thought and I open my legs invitingly, showing him my bridal lingerie that makes him groan out loud.

“You’re going to be pregnant by fucking tomorrow,” he warns me again, going in to kiss me again.

But I stop him with a finger to his lips and give him a sheepish smile.

“There… There’s something I need to tell you,” I admit, and his face turns pale and ashen.

“What?” he asks worriedly, and I take his hand in mine and look into his eyes.

“I…” I start, my words trailing off into nothing. “Do you remember a couple of weeks ago, you didn’t want to use protection?”

He nods slowly, and as I pause, the biggest smile starts to appear on his face and I giggle shyly as he realizes what it was I wanted to tell him.

“You’re pregnant?” he asks.

“I think so,” I admit. “I haven’t taken the test, but all the signs are there…”

He stares at me for a long moment before kissing me deeply, claiming all of me with a simple touch of his lips to mine. I let go, letting him have all of me freely, and when he pulls back, he’s grinning wider than I’ve ever seen.

“Emerson!” he calls out to the driver. “Open the damn roof!”

I try to protest as the driver opens the roof of the limousine, and then suddenly, my husband is halfway outside the car, grinning and waving at the media following the car.

“I’m going to be a father!” he announces, and I hear commotion as people shout questions. “That’s right! She’s pregnant! My princess is having my baby!”

I fold over in laughter and pull him back in, and suddenly we’re a mess of limbs and hot tongues and searching fingers, and I’ve never loved him more, and I’m so, so very certain that my smuttily ever after has truly begun…