Scanning the yard to distract myself from my tied-up nerves, my voice thunders across the yard. “More flowers on the arch, please!”

A deep laugh from behind me pulls me around to face Ronin. “Something funny, Swagger?”

He sits sprawled in one of the white chairs the rental company arranged in the center of the backyard. The archway, covered in white gardenias already, stands proudly between the patio and the grass. That’s where Rayne will enter, and I want her first view of our wedding to be perfect. Guests are beginning to arrive, even though I kept the guest list to a minimum. Close friends only, the people in our lives who could really appreciate all Rayne and I have gone through to get to this point.

Today, our family will unite for the first time. Three Teagues in this home, starting our lives together. And I don’t want it to be anything less than amazing. For her.

“You.” With a smirk, Ronin gestures around the backyard. Hanging lights, flowers everywhere, white Japanese lanterns ready to light the area when the sun sinks below the horizon. My backyard is transformed, and I can’t wait for Rayne to see it. “Pulling an entire wedding out of your ass in a week? Never thought I’d see the day.”

He stands, straightening the button-down I’ve asked all my brothers to wear as they stand by my side. “Happy looks good on you, Brains.”

Slapping my hand, he pulls me into a one-armed hug.

“Can we get in on that, or is it for couples only?” Dare’s voice booms through the yard as he strides toward us, carrying a brew. A grinning Grisham and a gruff-faced Jacob follow him closely. All are slated to be my groomsmen today.

Ronin slings a fisted arm around my neck, trying to choke me. “Find your own bro-mance, Wheels.”

The laughter, the joy…it’s all I’ve ever wanted. At one point in my life, I thought the only way I would get it was by living vicariously through my friends. Seeing them fall in love and get married one by one, while I sat back with the current flavor-of-the-week. But the second I saw Rayne sitting at that desk at the office, my entire outlook had changed.

And then, when I saw Decker and knew he was my son? The pieces of my future slid right into place like the most perfect puzzle.

The band, a steel drum quartet set up in the corner of the yard, strikes up, and everyone begins seating themselves. The atmosphere, casual and light, is exactly what Rayne would have wanted if she’d been able to plan this day. But knowing Rayne, she’s damn happy I took the burden off her plate.

Decker runs up to me from where he’s been hanging out with his friend Jay. Night is close at his heels. I smile when I think about how fast my dog fell in love with the kid. Almost as fast as I had. Ruffling his hair, I pull him to my side. “Ready, bud?”

Decker looks up at me, his face unusually serious. “When you marry Mom, does it mean that we’re a real family?”

His voice, tight with nervous concern and edged with barely-there hope, tugs painfully at my heart. “Absolutely. We’re already a family, Deck. We’re just making it official today in front of all our friends.”

We walk down the aisle, toward the area in front of the seats where another archway, this one strewn with more gardenias and twinkling lights, stands waiting.

“Hey.” Jacob leans over the row of men. “Mind if I walk out on my groomsman job? There’s something more important I think I need to do.”

My mouth drops open. “Seriously?”

He claps my shoulder with a reassuring twitch of his lips. “Trust me.”

Since the answer to that is always yes, I give him a nod. He disappears into the house just as Macy appears on the patio. The band’s music changes, and she steps forward with a big smile on her face.

Next, Olive appears. Her bouquet held at her chest, she strolls forward, smiling at the small gathering of guests as she goes. When she reaches the end of the aisle, she hugs Decker and gives me a huge smile. I return it, happy that I was able to get her here to share this day with her sister.

When I called Olive, she seemed all too eager to cut her business trip short. I don’t know the reason why, but I’m happy she did. Rayne needed her sister here today.

There’s movement out of the corner of my eyes, and when I glance down the line of groomsmen, I catch Ronin shifting his feet. His eyes are laser-focused on Olive. When he catches me staring, he shrugs and turns his attention back toward the patio.

The light, jubilant music changes once more to something more bound in the enormity of this day. The day that the family I didn’t know I had until a month ago weaves a permanent place around my heart.

Everyone stands as the patio doors open, and a collective gasp sweeps over the guests. Rayne steps out onto the patio, her slender arm hooked through Jacob’s strong one.

At the sight of her, I’m hit, the same way I would be if a bullet slammed into my chest. But instead of pain exploding inside me, it’s an enormous balloon of pleasure that I don’t think can be contained within my chest.

Just like always, it’s her hair that I notice first. Dark, thick, and wound into an elaborate braid that hangs over one bare shoulder all the way past her breast. When her eyes catch mine, all the breath leaves me in one sweep, and I bite down hard on my lip to keep myself together.

I keep my gaze locked on hers, and it feels like there’s a tether between us, drawing her closer as Jacob walks her down the aisle. When they reach the front, the minister asks Jacob if he gives her to me, and he answers with a solemn nod.

Then my hands are reaching for Rayne’s and I pull her the rest of the way to the arch.

Staring at her gorgeous face, trying like hell to keep my eyes from dropping to her luscious curves that are damn near killing me in her dress, I commit myself to her. And I listen closely as she commits herself to me. All the rest is a complete blur until the minister informs me that I can kiss her because she’s mine.

Mine. My wife. My son. My family.

Her arms go around my neck, and I lift her into my arms as I finally claim her pretty mouth.

I can’t pull away, even when the applause, complete with whistles, starts. This is my wife. And it’s been almost ten years in the making.

She giggles against my lips as she pulls back. When she realizes I’ve walked us back up the aisle and straight to the patio, her cheeks flush with pleasure. “What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, I turn with Rayne in my arms and address our guests. “Everyone can get the party started. We’ll be back in a bit.”

My groomsmen nearly double over with laughter and I watch as Ronin and Olive grab Decker. Then I’m inside my house with my bride in my arms and heading up the stairs.

Kicking the bedroom door closed behind us, I place Rayne on her feet and stare down at her.

Her eyes are shining as she stares right back. “Jer…”

With a groan, I slam my lips against hers. She answers by digging her fingers into my hair and nipping at my mouth with a fervent intensity.

Backing her toward the bed, we crash down on top of the covers. Pulling away from her lips long enough to kiss a path down her jawline, Rayne moans beneath me.

“Easy,” she gasps. “This dress…is from…Paris.”

Lifting my head, I let my gaze peruse her body, taking in the fact that one of her straps has fallen to one side. Dragging the other one down, I push the silky-soft fabric down to expose my wife’s perfect set of tits. Licking a hot trail around one pebbly, dark nipple, I pull it into my mouth and suck.

Rayne’s fingers tighten in my hair to the point of pain, but it’s the kind of pain I’m starting to live for. Pulling one of her legs up and around my waist, I rock my aching, hard cock into her. Grinding against me, her moan almost drives me over the edge.

“Wife,” I whisper. “Sorry I pulled you away from your wedding reception. I needed to be inside you.” Switching to her other nipple, I bite down, smoothing out the sting with a caress of my tongue.

The skin of her bare thigh feels like satin against my fingers. As I stroke her heated skin, a scrap of lace against my fingers stills me.

Keeping my eyes on hers, I travel down her body, hiking her dress up around her hips so I can see the garter wrapping around her thigh.

“Fuck. That’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.” I admire the white lace, and let my eyes sweep her toned leg down to the gold heels.

“Jeremy.” Her voice is pleading, and my eyes flick back up to hers. “I need you…”

But she’s my wife, and I already know what she needs. Reaching up, I grip the thin straps of her underwear, drag them down her legs, and discard them. I watch her, fascinated, as I trail my fingers up her thigh and through the soaking wet folds of her sex.

“Goddamn, darlin’. Wet as fuck. My wife wants me.” Gravel in my voice, I let my tongue follow the path my fingers took.

At the first breath of my mouth against her pussy, she arches off the bed, and I grab her hips to still her while I lick a path around her clit. When I push two fingers inside her and draw them out slowly before plunging them back in, she cries out.

“Jeremy! Oh, God.”

Swirling my tongue around the most sensitive part of her again and again, and finding a regular rhythm with my fingers, I’m torturing myself just as much as I’m pleasuring her. My cock strains against my pants, and the thought of sinking inside her turns my hands rough and needy.

When her walls start to quiver and clench around my fingers, I pull back and lick my lips. “Not yet, baby. Not until I’m inside you. Raw.”

She gazes at me through heavily lidded lashes. “No condom?”

Going still, I gaze up at her with my hands still squeezing her hips and the taste of her lingering on my tongue. This is a big deal. I know she isn’t on the pill. She told me that she’s never had a reason to be, which only made me want to beat my chest with pride. “Is that okay with you?”

Standing, I unbuckle my belt and loosen my pants. Rayne scoots forward on the bed, making me smile at how mussed her hair is now. She begins to unbutton my shirt with swift fingers. When she’s finished, I push my pants and boxer briefs down in one movement, toeing off my shoes and kicking the pants aside. As my erection finally springs free Rayne’s eyes go dark with desire as she stares. Not bothering to pull off my open button-down, I gently push her back on the bed and hover over her.

“Okay with me? What if I get pregnant?” Her eyes search mine, nerves showing on her face as she pulls her bottom lip into her mouth.

Bending down to pull her lip into my own mouth, I suck on it until she moans. “Making a baby with you…getting to do it all right this time, from the beginning? God, Rayne…That sounds like the best fucking idea in the world.”

Sliding her arms around my neck, she lifts her hips until the tip of my cock is pushing against her entrance. And where normally I would slam into her without pause, I take a second and breathe her in.

Her scent, always sweet floral mixed with the slightest hint of sassy spice, overwhelms me. Lowing my head to her chest, the powerful and rapid beating of her heart astounds me. And when I press my mouth to hers as I slowly press inside her, the connection of not just our bodies, but also our lives and our hearts and fuck, our souls.

I’m about to make love to Rayne for the first time as her husband, and I’m going to savor it like I never have before.

Her eyes wide open, staring into mine, our bodies closer than they’ve ever been, the expression in them tells me that she knows exactly what I’m thinking and feeling.

When I’m buried to the hilt, she wraps her legs around my waist, taking me even deeper into her heat, and we both groan with the pure bliss.

“You’re amazing.” My rough whisper blows across her lips, and her lips curve into a smile.

“I love you.” Her simple words urge me to move faster, and I catch her gasp and kiss her. My tongue plunges into her mouth the same way my cock dives into her heat, deliberate and slow and loving.

When she tightens around me, her body pulsing and milking and quivering, my heart rate actually speeds up. Like I’m some teenage kid who’s never done this before. The thought of pleasuring my wife, of making her come, of making her scream my name, is driving me over the edge and I can’t hold back anymore. Pulling out of her, she whimpers in protest until I grasp the nape of her neck and pull her up until she’s straddling my lap. Pressing her forehead against mine, she hovers above me, and my balls draw up tight with my impending release.

“Rayne,” I choke out. “Ride me until you come, darlin’.” Not knowing if I can hold out much longer, I lift her and set her down hard on my cock to get her started.

Not needing any more direction than that, my wife whips into action, riding me hard, her face lapsing into an expression of ecstasy that I can’t stop watching. Her head falls back, her hands tangle in my hair, and her gorgeous tits bounce against my chest. I can feel the pressure building low in my gut, my abs tightening and my fingers digging into her hips.

“Oh, God!” she yells, and when she grinds into me, swiveling her hips as she comes apart, I can’t hold out anymore.

“Fuck,” I growl as I bury my head in her neck and shoot my release inside her.

Both of our bodies are slick with sweat, and I catch her as she starts to fall backward against the pillows. Following her down, I pull her to my chest and concentrate on taking deep breaths.

“Ohmygod, Jer…we just left our fucking wedding to have sex.”

When I glance at her, I smirk to see her hands covering uncontrollable giggles.

“Wrong. I carried you out of our wedding so I could make love to my wife. Totally acceptable. Are you ready to go back?”

She rolls onto her stomach and props herself up on her elbows. My eyes stray to her full, heavy breasts, and I can’t stop my finger from reaching out to stroke them.

Her eyes track my movements. “I love you, husband. I’m ready to go back if you promise me you’re going to make love to your wife again later.”

Staring up at the woman who now commands my world, I nod. “Absolutely.”

Easiest fucking promise I’ve ever made.