The sound of a gunshot has me slamming the brakes. I can see one car behind me, the one with Dawson in it, but the other hasn’t made it around the first switchback.

“Keep driving,” the motherfucker beside me says.

His gun never moves from the side of my head, and I want to break the bastard’s arm like a dry stick.

I hit the gas, shaking my head.

It's been poisoned. My mind.

The idea of Blue being shot. Hurt. Begging for help.

Makes it hard to breathe. My lungs blaze. So does my rage.

I take the next switchback so fast the truck skids, back-steering it straight. Knowing I only have a few seconds before the other car’s headlights will round the corner, I have to act.

Right the fuck now.

The cliff is on the passenger side. Keeping one hand on the wheel, I grab hold of the hand he has wrapped around the butt of his gun and use it to smack him in the face.

The weapon goes off, blowing out the passenger’s window.

I smack him with it again.

Again.

Fucking again.

Warmth, his blood, splatters my hand. I ram metal into his face three more times, all the while keeping the truck hugging the hill side of the road.

When his grip loosens, I take the gun away. Drop it in my lap, then stretch across him and grab the door handle.

Fuck. It won’t open. Locked.

I use my knee to steer in order to hit the unlock button. The door opens, and I give his shoulder a push.

He screams, tries reaching for the door. I stomp the gas like a madman, swerving toward the cliff. My tires slide on the loose gravel. I swerve back at the very last second.

The door knocks him against the truck. I make the truck go jagged again, as close to the edge as possible, without throwing us open.

It's enough. The door flings wide open and this time, when it flies back, it slams shut.

Empty. Asshole, gone.

I check the the rear-view mirror, and side mirrors, but don’t see a body.

One down, three to go.

If that shot I heard hurt Blue – if it was even aimed at her – I won’t leave a single Pearl alive in the entire fucking state.

She’s not dead, though.

I know she’s not. My heart wouldn’t still be beating if she was.

I have to press on, get to the shack, eliminate the others before I can go back for her.

My eyes are scalding hot. My chest about to explode.

Blue’s smart. Real smart.

A survivor. Like me.

That’s why we're so good together. Two of a kind. In some ways.

In others, we’re complete opposites, which makes us good for each other.

The truck bounces and skids as I take the last corner. The hill's downward slope is smoother, and I lay on the gas for the short straightaway.

Look behind me before taking the next corner. One set of headlights. Has to be Dawson.

Natalie has to be terrified. I shouldn’t be thankful to have pulled Cleo into this, but I’m glad she’s with her. That has to help.

Dawson has so much to pay for, threatening my baby girl.

So fucking much.

Stay focused, I tell myself. Focus on what has to happen, what has to be done.

I take the last corner and then bounce over another pit in the road. Stomping on the gas, I make a beeline for the shack, thankful I’ve left one bomb under the lumber and boxes in the shed. It's a last ditch measure I'll have to use tonight.

Its detonator is hidden on the top of the door frame. The other triggers, the ones for the bombs I’d buried along the road in the valley, are in the backpack.

The road can’t be seen from the shack, so I go over the placement of each bomb in my head, knowing I’m on my own. The Grizzlies won’t be here yet, but the Pearls are already down there. Possibly dozens of them. A small army of cold blooded killers coming to save their friend, Officer Prick, and destroy the evidence that might flay them all alive.

Dawson wouldn’t be here if they weren’t close behind. He counts on backup.

He's where my focus has to stay. On him. On elimination.

The trees that shelter the shack come into view and I hit my bright lights, scanning the area for vehicles or movement. Nothing.

I park on the north side of the shed, so Dawson will only see the tailgate, and then jump out.

Time to run. There's barely a minute left.

Snatching the detonator off the door frame, I circle back, grabbing the backpack. After pulling out my last gun, I stuff it in my holster, keeping the one from Dawson’s man in my pocket, and then I run out to the trees and hide the backpack.

When the time comes, I’ll have to make it to the top of the little knoll at the end of the tree grove to see the road. I'll know when to trigger the explosions. My jaw tightens.

Headlights wind closer as I run for the shed. I glance up the hill, searching for a second set.

Something's up there, glistening in the moonlight. But it’s not moving, and there aren’t any lights.

I don’t know what to make of that. What to think, except that Blue's still alive.

I refuse to think anything less.

Can’t think otherwise.

I camp just inside the door, where I can watch the car roll to a stop, but Dawson can’t see me.

Come on, you fucking demon shit. I'm waiting.

The passenger door opens. Finally, he steps out. “Albright!”

Silence echoes. He's calling the dead man's name.

“Albright!” A moment later, Dawson says, “Shit. Get them out of the back!”

I watch as the driver gets out and opens the back door. Cleo climbs out first and then helps Natalie out. Wrapping her arms around Nat, Cleo keeps her tight against her as she sidesteps away from the car.

“Eden!” Dawson shouts.

I step into the doorway. “Here.”

“Where’s Albright, you fuck?”

I shrug. “No lights in here. Got lost, maybe.”

“Get in the car,” he tells the driver, Bastard Phil. “Pull it up to the doorway.”

I don’t dare move, but I glance at Cleo.

She whispers to Natalie, who nods.

There's really no place for them to run. The trees aren’t that thick, mostly overgrown brush. Rocks everywhere. Plus there could be snakes inside. Spiders, scorpions, stinging ants.

But I need them as far away from the shed as possible when I hit the detonator.

As the driver pulls the car forward, Dawson swings around, pointing his gun at Cleo and Nat. “You two stay right where you’re at.”

Cleo’s head snaps up, and in that moment, I see where Blue gets her grit.

“And just exactly where do you expect us to go, Captain Dawson?” Cleo says. “Take a little jaunt up here in the hills? And please, stop waving that thing at us! You should be ashamed of yourself. Pointing a gun at a defenseless child.” She steps in front of Nat. “Have you no pride? None whatsoever? You call yourself a man?”

Dawson sneers at her before turning back to me. “Now, where’s Albright? Where?!”

“I don’t know,” I say. “Maybe he’s taking a leak.”

“For a man who's about to die, you’re awfully calm.”

No, I’m not, but I’m playing the part well.

I used to have to play it often. Zen-like calm masking an urge to hurt. That’s how I got the nickname Monk, and that's who takes over now. “I could say the same about you, Dawson.”

“Bullshit,” he says, stepping closer. “I'm not the one dying tonight.”

I nod. “Yeah. Dying would be too good for a fucking limpdick prick like you. You’ll get what you deserve. Prison time. Sleeping next to convicts you put there. Some who used to be on your payroll.” I hold up a hand. “I know you killed anyone who saw your face. Slit their throats.”

Dawson’s eyes widen.

“I’ve seen the pictures, Dawson. Grisly shit. All the men you promised to pay for hauling those young girls out of Mexico. Instead of money, they got their throat’s cut. Bled to death right there at your feet.” I shake my head, mainly to keep his attention on me as Natalie and Cleo inch their way backwards. “Did you think I’d just turn them over to you, idiot?” I let out a sarcastic laugh.

Now, his eyes are huge.

“There’d be no fun in that. No chess match. No kings. No queens. No pawns. No fun.”

The gun in his hand shakes like a rattle.

I smile. “It’s been five long years since Davey died. Pictures can be copied a lot of times. Sent many places.”

Dawson shakes his head. “Enough! Don’t fucking try me, Eden. You're a dead man. And if anyone but you has copies, I’d have caught wind of it by now. Just like I’d have heard about you snooping around to see if I’d filed the OFP, or if Graves' body was really found. There’s nothing that happens in Phoenix I don’t know about.”

“Whatever. Just wanted you to know I've been snooping around.” Movement catches the corner of my eye. At first, I think it’s Bastard Phil, but he’s still behind the wheel.

I keep my eyes on Dawson while trying to make out what’s moving. “Wanted you to wonder where Davey put those pictures he took.” My heart slams into my throat as I realize it’s Blue. Sneaking up the road. She’s crouched low, apparently unhurt. Thank God almighty.

“Other than the one on the front page of the paper, I mean. Where you declined to talk about the cameras you had installed on the border. Why was that? Afraid you might be recognized? That’s when you had to move your crossing points. Found a new place to cross where there were no cameras not under your control.”

I pretend to glance over my shoulder while I’m really getting a better look at Blue, just to make sure it's her. Cleo must notice, too, because she and Natalie are slowly inching backward.

Further and further. A little bit more and they’ll be in the clear of debris.

Thank God again.

“Everything Davey left behind is in this shed,” I say. “I boxed it up real neat. Put it out here. Of course, at the time, I didn’t recognize you. Didn’t know you till you hired me to start cleaning up your messes.” I lower my voice. “Bloody, filthy, evil fucking messes. But your signature was on every one of them.”

“Phil!” Dawson shouts. “What the fuck are you still doing in that car? Get inside that shed! Tell me what’s in there.”

The driver jumps out and storms past me. I regret not running Bastard Phil through the throat with his knife the day I decided to tell him to fuck off. Maybe we wouldn't be standing here.

“Watch for snakes,” I tell him. “Nasty way to go.”

“Fuck you,” he snarls. “You're not so tough when you're outgunned, Monk.”

Just wait, asshole, I think to myself.

I step out of the doorway and around the opposite side of the car from Dawson.

“Hold it right there, Eden,” he says, swinging his gun at me.

I hold up my hands. “I was just giving him more light.”

“What’s in there, Phil?” Dawson asks.

“Can’t tell for sure, but it looks like...a stack of boxes? Lots of 'em.”

“Check them. Now!”

I glance through the doorway, see how close to the pile Phil is while sticking my hand into my coat pocket. I wrap my hand around the detonator and then count to three before I yell towards Cleo and Nat.

“Get down! For God's sake, keep your heads covered!”

Four lives.

Three seconds.

Two screams.

One chance.

Punching the button, I hit the ground. Barely start crawling under the car trunk before there's a noise like the end of the world.

The explosion rocks the mountain. From where I’m at, I can see where Cleo and Nat took cover behind a boulder, and how Cleo’s body has completely covered Nat. Blue's on the ground too, closer now.

While the debris falls, I roll out from under the car. Though I’d love nothing more than to kill the bastard with my bare hands, I take aim at Dawson running for the trees, and shoot him in the knee.

Down he goes. Now.

I jump up and run. Getting to him before he has a chance to roll over, I kick the gun out of his hands.

Jerking both his arms, I twist them behind his back. “Shut the fuck up,” I tell him.

“Yeah, you fucking cry-baby!”

The sound of her voice has me looking over my shoulder, where I see the most beautiful sight of my life. Blue.

She’s smiling. “Hold him! I’m sure there's a few spare zip-ties in his car. I’ll get them.”

“Sure are!” Cleo shouts. “Right in the back seat. They thought they'd put one on me, but let me tell you, I told them Cleo Derby doesn't chafe her wrists for anything.”

Blue returns within seconds. It just seems like hours. So does the time it takes her to zip-tie him. She not only binds his wrists, she ties his fingers, too. Making sure there's zero chance the evil fuck ever slips out.

“Are you about done?” I finally have to ask.

“Almost. He won’t have a chance in hell of getting loose when I’m through.”

Cleo and Nat arrive while Blue stays busy – she’s moved on to using a zip-tie to hold a rag in Dawson’s mouth.

“Daddy!” her little voice sets me off all over again.

I lift Natalie into my arms and hug her so tight.

So. So tight.

“You okay, baby girl? Did they hurt you? Tell me!”

“Yes, Daddy, I’m fine. Cleo didn’t let them touch me.” She kisses my cheek and then points to Dawson. “That man told us you were hurt and that we had to come with him to see you. I thought he was a cop. He showed us his badge.”

“He is, baby girl. Unfortunately, sometimes bad people hide behind good things.”

“That’s what I told her, too.”

I put Nat down and hug Cleo. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough for tonight.” I kiss her cheek before taking a step back and asking, “How do you manage to look like you just stepped out of a magazine even after hours of being held hostage?”

It's true. Her clothes don't have a wrinkle, and there isn't a single hair out of place on her head.

“A woman never tells all her secrets, Eden.” She winks and then puts a hand on Natalie's shoulder as they both step back. They're clearing a path.

Blue steps forward.

There’s dirt on her face. Her hair is a mess. Her shirt, torn. There’s a gun stuck in the front of her jeans.

All in all, she’s absolutely gorgeous.

My throat swells. I try, but words won’t come. My eyes burn, this time with something besides maniac rage.

I shake my head, clearing my throat. “Blue, I heard a gun go off.” I have to clear my throat again.

“That was Kessler.” She shrugs. “Shooting at me. Idiot missed.”

“Where is he?”

“I’m not sure, but I think I hit him with the back of the car. I never saw him in the mirror after I took off, but it sorta felt like I hit something. Could've been whatever the car hung up on, though.” She shrugs again. “Or not.” Glancing over my shoulder, she asks, “Is that the only way out of here?”

She’s pointing up the road. “Yes,” I answer. “Why?”

“Because there's a car hanging off a cliff up there, and I’m not sure where it’ll land. But it could be on the road.”

I grab her by the upper arms. “What?”

Fuck, when does it end? That had to be what I saw glistening in the moonlight.

“I shut off the headlights so no one would see me following and sort of misjudged that one really sharp turn.” She steps closer to me. “Only two wheels went over the edge, but the other, the back one, was skidding over when I climbed out.”

My heart stops. I pull her close.

Hug her. Kiss her. Kiss her some more.

She’s the one who finally stops the kiss I want to last forever.

Holding up a finger, she says, “Hold that thought because this –” She makes a circle in the air with one finger. “Isn’t over. I saw a ton of headlights down in the valley, Brent. And after that explosion, they’ll be heading this way. Pronto.”

Fuck. “Wait here!

I run to the trees and snatch the backpack off the ground. At the top of the knoll, I see Blue's right.

A shitload of headlights the size of a small army rolls on, coming this way. It can’t be close to three in the morning, so the Grizzlies aren’t here yet.

I don’t have much choice. I’ll set off the bombs I’ve buried, and then we’ll have to make a run for it. Hopefully, the blasts will take out enough to give us a fucking chance. Panic the ones who survive into running.

I pull out the detonators and hit the first trigger. Suck a breath and hold it in.

There's a slight delay before the first bomb down in the valley explodes. Then the second.

By the time the third one goes, I’m in jaw-hanging awe. The hills around us light up. None are close enough to make out completely, but I imagine there are dirt bikes, four-wheelers, dune buggies, and damn near every kind of all terrain vehicle.

As the sixth and final bomb goes off, the lights start descending down the hills. Harleys send their deep growls through the valley, and tracer fire rains down on the smoldering wreckage below.

“Your friends?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I say, wrapping an arm around Blue. “They've got the high ground. Cross-Bones came early. They'll clean up real nice.”

She wraps her arm around my waist and we watch the lights for a moment. Then she sighs. “Do you think all those bikers will want to come to a wedding?”

I turn, twisting her about so we're facing each other. “Wedding?”

She nods and grimaces. “My mother expects you to marry me after...” She shrugs. “All this. And she likes big weddings. Won't care one bit if half the guys are wearing leather and tattoos.”

“What do you want?” I ask.

She shakes her head.

My heart takes a tumble. I would've sworn she’d say yes in a heartbeat. “You don’t want to get married?”

She shakes her head and then nods. Bites her little lip.

“Blue, talk to me? Which is it? Yes or no?”

She presses both hands to her lips and shakes her head again.

“What? You can’t talk?”

Shrugging, she nods. Then she shakes her head at me again.

Damn.

She closes her eyes and holds up a finger as if saying ‘give me a minute.'

I get it. She’s been through a lot the past few hours. I was speechless not that long ago myself. Grateful to be alive.

I don't have a ring, just the remains of Davey's turtle stuffed into my pocket.

Fuck if I care. All she has to do is say the word.

Letting out a long breath, she says, “I want...whatever you do.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It’s the only one you’re going to get until you tell me first.”

I smile. That’s my girl. Willing to give up whatever she might want for someone else.

Selfless. Sweet. Beautiful. Infuriating.

Blue. Red. Pink. And mine.

There's only one thing missing from that list, which I'm not waiting another minute to add.

God, do I love her.

This small, blue-haired, gun-toting preschool teacher. I’ve never been more sure of loving her. Tonight, after hearing that gunshot and fearing it was her, I knew exactly what I wanted.

A future. With her. All ours.

She’s shown me that with her, I don’t have to change. Be one thing or the other. I can be me.

Hard-ass when I need to be, or family man. Eden, Brent, or Monk. It doesn’t matter.

She’s there.

She's here with me right now. Staring nervously with the same pale gray-blue eyes I fell for what seems like an eternity ago. She’s the angel for the devil inside me. The voice of reason. The love of my life.

The one I have to – fucking have to – call my wife.

“You already know what I want, babe.” I stand up, kiss the tip of her nose, reaching into my pocket. Then I'm down on one knee again, grasping her hand in mine, pressing that silver turtle against her palm. “I’ve been your fiancé for over a month now. I’m ready for the wedding the second you say yes. Marry me, Blue. Give me all of it. All of you. Let me love you like I've never loved anyone else.”

“Brent...”

I nod. “Tell me, babe. Gotta hear it. Straight from your lips to my soul. Say yes.”

“Yes!” It's barely a hiss. But it's enough.

I jump up, throw her back in my arms, hold on tight, and kiss her longer than it'd take to count the lights dancing all around us, above and below.

It's the strangest kind of fireworks between the stars and the flames crackling in the valley, smoking debris, but it's ours. It's fitting. It's chaotic and scary and exhilarating all at once.

It's everything I've wanted since the second we locked eyes in her class. And it's everything I'll keep till my dying day, smiling like a wrinkled old fool, remembering how our love blew the world apart and outshined Heaven itself for one crazy, unforgettable, heart-stopping night.

“I love you, Blue. Give me a week. I'll take part of Davey's turtle, whatever I can't repair, and have it made into a proper ring.”

She pulls back before kissing me again, the tears in her eyes falling out. “Jesus. You're sure?”

I give her the most solemn nod of my life.

It's one last homage to my little brother, wherever he is, and it's also continuity. Without his sacrifice, I might not be here. There wouldn't be an us. I wouldn't be free from the oppressive weight on my back.

Free and clear to focus on making this woman the happiest on planet Earth.

“Blue, I'm positive.”

She wraps her arms around my neck, bringing her lips close to my ear, speaking straight to my soul. “I love you, too, Eden. You and your everything.”

* * *

“Kiss the bride.”

There's nothing more exciting than hearing those words.

Nothing better than tasting her lips.

Nothing better than pulling my newly-married Blue into my grasp and fusing us with a kiss that promises forever tenfold.

It seems like a whole eternity passes in a kiss.

I can't hear the laughter, the screams of joy, all the friends and family and even a few bawdy bikers roaring in the distance.

Right here, right now, it's me, her, and nothing else.

My feisty, blue beautiful all. My passion, wrapped in her ivory white dress with a fresh blue stripe in her hair.

My temptation. It's hard as hell not to rip off the veil I've just thrown back to own her lips.

Fuck, it's hard not to just pull her out of the whole ensemble and put her where she belongs: under me.

I've never wanted to be in this woman more than I do now.

Every waking second since she became Mrs. Eden.

“God!” She whispers one word, turning away, just as reluctant as me to break the kiss. “We'd better get going. We've got a reception to get to.”

“Yeah. That thing,” I tell her with a wink.

Her hand pulses several times in mine. I lead her down the aisle and we walk through the confetti shower. Nat stands on a chair next to my parents, hurling it everywhere. Country music blasts from the elaborate sound system.

Never been completely my style, but today, it works. It's us, after all our highs and lows and near-death somersaults to this very moment, when forever isn't just theoretical anymore.

I've married the woman of my dreams. I'm walking with her hand-in-hand, past my grinning daughter, my family, a hysterically sobbing new mother-in-law, and big men with Grizzlies MC and US Army patches alike.

It takes almost a million years to make our way through the many handshakes, back slaps, hugs, and congratulations coming from all sides.

Finally, we're in the limo. Blue barely has time to pour herself a glass of champagne before I tug her on my lap, storming kisses up her neck. “Easy, babe. I promised you four hours. My limit. Then we've got ourselves a date with a bed and a closed door.”

“You're lucky I agreed to a short reception. If mom had her way, there'd be karaoke blasting until dawn.”

I grin, loving how she shudders the longer my beard grazes her throat. Encouragement. I plant several more kisses, marking on my territory before I say, “Like I don't already know I'm the luckiest man between here and Pluto. Four hours, babe. I'm pushing it so hard because it's all I can take.”

“Oh?”

Growling, I play with the frilly collar of her dress. One little rip is all it'd take. I'm able to reign in my inner caveman just enough to keep her gown intact. “Need to fuck my wife, Blue. All night. Very hard.”

She bats her hands playfully at my chest, laughing. I show her how serious I am, palming her cheek, bringing her in for another kiss. Her champagne lips taste sweeter than usual.

Good way to get started this evening, too. I'll need a few stiff drinks at the reception just to keep my dick in line.

Let the four hour countdown begin.

* * *

“Brent, what's wrong?”

I can't take my eyes off the scene in front of me. We're lucky we had the dance floor to ourselves for our first waltz, or we damn well might have been upstaged by a very drunk Clara dancing like mad with Scarecrow.

I hadn't seen him for years since. Not since leaving the Grizzlies. The mean, lean young man with the long tawny beard became an even more jacked thirty year old with an even longer beard in the meantime. Possibly the only man on earth capable of shutting Clara's big mouth.

Hand on my face, I turn back to see Blue laughing. “Oh, that? She's having fun doing something besides wagging her tongue. Proves this wedding's really something special!”

“There's your chance, Blue.”

“Chance?”

I swing her around as another song starts, bringing us closer to the odd couple. “You. Her. Gossip. Payback.”

“Eden!” She pinches my cheek.

I close off her gasp, smothering her lips with another feral kiss.

“What? You're telling me you really can't stand kicking up a little mischief?”

“Not here. Sure, she annoyed me, but our guests should be immune from –”

“All right,” I growl, pulling out my phone. “We'll do it your way, then.”

Her jaw drops as I snap a pic. Then several more in quick succession, just as Scarecrow dips Clara low and she runs a clumsy hand through his scruff. “Brent, hey –”

“I'll be sure our photographer cleans it up and posts it front and center all over social media. That'll get some Derbys clucking, yeah?”

Blue's eyes go big. Then she's smiling, wrinkling her nose, trying to suppress a snicker.

“Sometimes, I think you're trying to give the devil a run for his money.”

I shrug. “Yeah, Blue. Except I'm better looking. You knew that long before we said 'I do.'”

She slaps me playfully again. I turn away from the bizarre mating dance between my old biker bud and her cousin, giving her lips my full attention again.

They're more than happy there till a small voice behind me hits my ears. “Daddy? Izzy? Can I cut in?”

“For you, baby girl, anytime. Come here!” I bend down low to take Nat's hands and spin her slowly to Johnny Cash.

Blue gives me a knowing look and saunters aside, casting one last sexy glance my way before she trots off to mingle with her relatives. The night couldn't get more perfect.

I'm left smiling. Teasing my daughter constantly about how the next time we're dancing at a wedding, it might be her own.

Later, I rejoin Blue. We spend another hour talking up our guests. A whole slew of folks from her ma's side I hadn't met at Megan's wedding, Derbys I already know, then men on my payroll, vets from my unit, and guys from the club I used to call home.

Cross-Bones reluctantly takes the huge bear hug I lay on him before we head out. I don't care. “Thanks again, Veep. For everything. Wouldn't be here today if you hadn't sent the cavalry that night. Give my best to Blackjack when you see him again.”

“You're damn welcome anytime. I will. Drop us a line sometime, Monk. Even if it's just for beers.”

“Will do.”

Our limo's waiting outside. Cross-Bones whistles to the guys. I'm a made man, plenty of money to go around, but I'm not sure I'll ever get used to this high class shit.

I'm not Knox Carlisle, the Phoenix billionaire who owns the Black Rhino jewelry company, where I had her ring made using bits of Davey's old turtle. Knox heard about the blowout with the Pearls and personally ordered it done free of charge.

And I'm perfectly okay with that.

Life is good. Especially when we're in the limo again, on a one way trip to our fancy hotel near the airport. Tonight only. Tomorrow, we're bound for Zurich. A city steeped in history, beauty, and art Blue's always wanted to see. I'll be perfectly happy to load up on fresh air and good Swiss beer.

“I hope Nat won't miss us too long,” Blue says.

Makes me smile. She can't help it.

Even on our wedding night, she's got my little girl in mind. I didn't go into this looking to find her a mama, but damn it, I did. There's no one else I'd rather have in Nat's life than me and Isabella Eden.

“My parents will keep her plenty busy, Blue. Probably buy her pizza and tacos every night they're in town, holding down the house, after dragging her to every art museum between here and Tucson.”

“You're right, I suppose.”

“Totally,” I say, pulling her closer onto my lap. “Now, Mrs. Eden, we're close to the four hour mark. We both have some very pressing business.”

I grind my hips into hers, shifting up slightly. She smiles, feeling my hard-on.

So full, so ready, and so wild. Aching like hell to claim my wife's sweet cunt for the very first time.

* * *

Less than a half hour later, we're stumbling into our honeymoon suite. She tugs on my tie, muttering a few words about how she's sorry to see my tux go. Not sorry enough to resist my hands when they start pulling her out of that dress.

We crash down on the bed after we're free. Naked. Frantic.

She sucks me with a vigor I haven't seen for weeks. Maybe it's because we swore off fucking for the past seven days, something she wanted, telling me it'd make tonight that much sweeter.

I put up a fight at the time.

Damn if she isn't right, though. Her little mouth takes me so good, so deep, it's hard not to pop off in the first couple minutes.

Good thing I've got stamina. I'm not the only one looking my finest this wedding night either. Her hair looks damn good.

Feels good in my fist as I gently tug several blue-blonde locks, lifting her away.

Then, I push her back on the bed, spread her legs, and hear the word that makes my cock tingle. “Oh, Brent!”

Oh.

O.

That's what I'm here to deliver. Wedged between her legs, tongue going, lapping at her folds like the sex starved maniac I've become.

Her clit goes between my teeth. I suck until she whimpers.

Hello, Heaven.

But it's nothing like every beautiful inch of Blue quaking as she goes off on my tongue. Her thighs catch my face. I don't fucking stop for anything. She rides my mouth, my beard, my tongue – which leaves nothing to the imagination about how hard we'll be fucking soon.

She's still clenching the sheets when I come up for air, wiping her sweetness off my fingers. “Babe,” I whisper, hovering over her.

Blue's already trying to twist onto her belly. Hot and bothered, ready to put her ass up for me.

Growling, I pin her down, loving how desire flashes in her eyes as they roll.

“Up,” I say, taking her hand, leading her across the room.

I love fucking her from behind. There'll be plenty of that to come.

Right now, I've got something different in mind.

I booked this place months ago. It's a Presidential suite which has probably had a few real Presidents and reams of royals and CEOs calling it home during their stay in Phoenix. These fancy ass rooms need a draw, and the big one here's obvious.

The mirror up against the wall in the bathroom is huge.

Like something damn near out of the seventeenth century. I have to spread her arms wide to flatten her hands along the edges. Love how she huffs a small, uncertain breath as my hand drifts lower, spreading her thighs.

I fist a long lock of her hair before speaking again. “First of many wedding presents, Blue. Soon as I saw the pics of this place online, I knew it'd be perfect.”

“Perfect...why?” Her eyes narrow as I rub my swollen tip against her aching pussy lips.

Fuck, so wet. So ready.

“For this.” I push dead into her with a growl, going balls deep in one stroke. Her voice hitches and the adrenaline hits my system. “Wanted to fuck you first in our favorite position. But I also wanted to look into my wife's eyes the first time she comes on my dick.”

“Oh, God. Oh, Eden.”

I thrust. Slowly, firmly, fiercely at first, picking up speed. My lips graze her shoulder each time she leans into me, and then my teeth come out to play.

No more words. Not anymore.

We're both too lost in the frenzy. In each other. In this crazy sweet chaos we've decided to weave a life from, drunk on every molecule of us.

“Oh. Brent. Oh. Shit!” She's practically screaming.

It's nice to hear her let it all out for once.

Here, there's no worries about Nat waking up down the hall if we're too loud. It urges me on, and I lay into her. Wanting her to scream like a banshee.

We go hard.

Give it so hard my ass clenches each time I drive deep, balls slapping madly on her clit.

She needs to come. Right the fuck now. Because watching her tits bounce wild in the mirror while she's bent over with her ass against my abs is too much.

“Blue!”

“Brent, I'm –”

Fuck! Make that both of us.

Coming so savagely it could shear us in two, if we weren't already one.

I see her eyes flutter shut the very second it hits. Then I feel her heat, her silk, her O clenching my cock.

One more thrust and I'm done.

If there's anything else on this earth better than coming deep in my woman without a rubber, I haven't found it. Don't fucking want to.

My seed wants to claim her at a primal level. The fire ripping through my cock reminds me of that, turning my spine into one long torch running up my brain.

Bliss.

Sweet bliss. Knowing it's just a matter of time before I own her completely, and give Nat a little brother or sister.

Won't be for a few years, probably. We've talked about kids and decided they're at least a year out, maybe two. But fuck, when she's ready, I'll be waiting with every aphrodisiac known to man.

My cock gives a few last fiery jolts. I force my balls to empty inside her and I barely go soft. If I didn't have to spin her around to lay a proper kiss on those lips, I might've just stayed in her and kept going straight into round two.

“That. Was. Incredible.”

I smile at her breathing more than her words. Kiss her with a fierceness that says I'm glad I've done my job, stealing the air from her lungs, rendering her speechless.

“Incredible, yeah. Only the best for Mrs. Eden,” I say, running my fingers through her hair.

“Baby, don't rush. We've got our whole lives ahead.” Her eyes are huge, beautiful, sparkling. “Also, we have to get some sleep by two or three. Our flight's at eight o'clock.”

“Plenty of time to sleep on our way to Europe.”

“Eden –”

“Blue,” I whisper, taking her lips again. The next kiss lets her know I'm not messing around. So does how I squeeze her shoulders. “Let's move this to bed. Got a couple hours to ourselves to find out if Mrs. Eden does a better job than Ms. Derby did at tiring out her husband on their wedding night.”

“Ass!” Oh, but she's laughing.

I lift her up, carrying her across the makeshift threshold, before throwing her down on the mattress.

This, right here, is where we belong. She isn't wrong.

We've got our whole lives ahead to refine, to explore, to do what we do best over and over and over.

And tonight, I know, that's all of it. From the way we kiss with everything in our bones, to how she looks at my little girl.

It's right. It's mine. And it'll always be Blue.

* * *

Thanks for reading Accidental Hero! Need more Brent and Blue?

Then keep reading for two more full length romances with badass heroes I know you'll love. Surprise Daddy and Stepbrother UnSEALed, both included in this special release edition!