It's amazing how time hemorrhages away in this little cell. I haven't been so numb or detached from the world since the night Nelson died, and Bart sent me away, protecting me the only way he could.

I'm the only prisoner here tonight. Split Harbor rarely ever has more than the odd drunken fist fight or a man wanted on petty crimes passing through town. There are only eight, maybe ten cells. I'm by myself back here, stuffed into a box that hasn't been updated since the 1930s.

Seeing how this is the town's first murder case in more than fifty years, I worry I'm about to become it's most famous inmate. Until they put me through a kangaroo court and shuffle me off to the nearest Federal penitentiary, anyway.

This can't be happening again.

Oh, but it is.

I'm losing her. Ruining her life for a second time because I'm leaving against my will. I'm being torn away, again, only this time I can't come back. Even my big brain isn't likely to hatch a jailbreak scheme.

I stand up, stretch, and walk to the edge of the cell. My hands grip the bars. Staring through the gaps, I let my head fall, wondering how big a mistake it was to come back here at all.

No. Don't you dare, I tell myself.

Whatever happens, it wasn't wrong. I couldn't have lived another day with my success, my billions, without letting her know the truth. It's her kiss on my mind for God only knows how long, hating the fact that I'll never have those lips again as long as I'm stuffed away behind bars. It doesn't matter because I cherish the memory.

I'm remembering last night, our very last in Seattle, when I hear footsteps. The sheriff coming toward me isn't a surprise, but I have to blink to check my vision when I see the other man at his side.

“Back up a bit,” Sheriff Dixon says.

My old best friend stands next to him with his arms folded across his huge chest. Soon as I move, we watch the old sheriff produce a set of keys, jam one in my lock, and undo the door with a deafening crack.

“What's this? What's going on?” I ask, keeping my distance.

“New evidence. There's no reason to hold you while it's pending investigation,” the old sheriff says reluctantly. He turns to Matt. “I want both of you to find him. Only way we stop the Draytons from shooting down this case before it gets off the ground is if they're sent a message, loud and clear. They can't interfere, and it's our job to make sure they understand.”

I don't get what's going on. Before I can even ask, the old officer heads down the hall, leaving us alone with my door half open.

Matt waits for me to step outside. “I was wrong about you, Ryan. Wrong about my sis, too, thinking you'd driven her crazy all these years, thinking you were innocent. She showed me the dirt you had on Reg and Nelson. Mom backed up your story. She knew, all these years, and didn't say a fucking thing.”

He sounds like he can't believe it. I know I can't, and it's like the floor crumbling beneath me, one more twist in the longest, meanest winding road of my life.

Words won't do for what I've got to say. I throw my arms around him, giving the boy I grew up with a brotherly hug. “Forget it. We don't need to dwell on anybody's past mistakes. What did the sheriff mean when he said we need to send a message?”

Matt looks at me and smiles. “It's open season on the next asshole in line to screw this town over. Let's go have a little heart-to-heart talk with Kara's ex. Way more courtesy than he deserves after the sonofabitch threatened her.”

My hands are already fists before we're outside, heading for his truck. Only thing I can think about is how I wish I'd done more than just tie him up with his mistress at that hotel in Marquette.

Too bad. Tonight, it's better late, than never.

* * *

He's working late at the office tonight. Working, for real, the lone figure we see through the dim lit window on the third floor of Drayton Financial.

Matt gives me a look as he parks the car. “You ready?”

“Lead the way, Corporal. We'll corner him and figure out the rest from there. Just save some for me,” I say, brandishing the brass knuckles he's loaned me. “I have plenty to give.”

Matt nods, jumps out, and I'm following close behind him. It's a good thing I've stuck to my gym routine religiously. I wouldn't have a chance at keeping up with the quick, built marine any other way.

We're relieved there's nobody at the front desk. It's too late. We won't need to use the story we'd prepped, and we can save all our words for the bastard who deserves them most.

The Drayton office suffers from the same flaw everywhere in this town has – the doors are unlocked. I make a mental note to change corporate policy at Punch so we never have a crazy issue like two men bursting in after hours, eager to knock sense into a CFO.

He never sees us coming until it's too late. Matt steps aside, standing next to the wall, his hand on the pistol at his side in case Reg tries anything crazy. He gives me the honor of kicking the door open. My foot flies into it like a missile.

Who knew Venetian leather was so good at being a battering ram?

“What the hell?!” Reg jumps up, looking around in a panic, his lean, wiry body twitching when he sees me coming. His arms go up, and he screams when he sees I'm not alone. “Oh, God. I put you away!”

“You put yourself on suicide watch, shithead,” I snarl.

In a second, he's cornered. Grabbing him by the collar, I whip him around, slamming him into the wall with a satisfying boom.

He's whimpering. He thinks we're going to kill him. For now, I'm more than happy to let him believe it, too.

Of course, I'm not a killer, whatever happened with his sick great uncle years ago. Despite the damage Reg has done, I want to believe he doesn't share the same wretched tastes as his older relative, even if he's inherited Nelson's arrogance.

“Walk with me,” I say, pushing him toward Matt. My buddy takes his other arm, and we lead him out like a puppet, down the elevator to the parking lot.

“You scream, you tell anyone what's going down here tonight, you're done. I'll see the inside of a cell before I let you get away with what you did to my sister and my best friend,” Matt tells him, motioning to the gun in its holster.

The asshole stays quiet the whole way out to the truck. Before we lead him to it, we bring him to his car, where he stops and looks at us with questions in his eyes. “Why here?”

“Open your trunk,” I say, stuffing his hand into his pocket for him, searching for his keys.

He doesn't understand, but he will soon. Reluctantly, he reaches for the fob and taps the button to unlock it. I pop it open and start rummaging through. There isn't much inside, so it doesn't take long to find the bag with the shoebox.

My gut feeling was right. I tear off the lid and see a fresh new pair of candy blue high heels inside.

“For Amy?”

“Yes,” he hisses, clenching his jaw. “I don't see why that's relevant.”

“Shut up,” Matt barks, turning him around, pushing him toward the truck. We hang onto him so he can't bolt, and I clutch the shoebox underneath my arm.

His icy silence persists as he's wedged between us in the truck, all the way out to the forest, undeveloped land just a few miles from the Armitage lighthouse. He doesn't start weeping until we're parked on the gravel road, noticing how isolated it is out here. Matt gets out, waiting for me to do the same, and drag him off his seat. I remember to carry the shoes under my arm again.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” he whines.

“Sorry you got caught?” I look this loathsome piece of shit up and down. It's hard to believe anything he says, even when he's shaking.

This time, his silence is deafening. Matt helps me drag him out, and we take him into the forest. We all walk half a mile before we find the perfect clearing.

“Please don't kill me, guys. I had to protect my family. I was just defending myself after what you did, Ryan. Jesus, you can have her! I never loved the little bitch, just wanted a trophy wife.”

Matt beats me to the first punch. He hits him in the face so hard Reg rocks back, staggering back into my arms. I grip the prick tight, forcefully turning his head so he's looking at the Marine.

My eyes go to the brass knuckles on my hand. Christ, I need to get them off. If I start hitting him now, I'm not going to stop, and then I'll really be a murderer.

“You call her that again, next time it'll be lead going in your skull,” he says. “She loved you once, asshole. Fell for your lies. You come near my sis again, and I swear, I'll kill you.”

He's quiet. Good.

The total lack of response says it's my turn. I push him down in the dirt and decaying leaves, falling on top of him, picking his head up by the neck so he can listen, and listen good. I let him feel the heavy, cold brass lining my fingers before I pull it off, pressing it harder into his cheek.

“You, Reginald, are done. We gave the FBI the truth about your sick dead uncle. It's going to take every weak, miserable fiber in your body to fight your instinct to squawk once the trial begins. We're going to nail your family to the fucking wall, and the entire town's going to know about it. Your parents are going to lose a lot of money. You'll be lucky if you can ever show your face around here again, without the good people turning their backs, or maybe worse.”

“Look, if it's a settlement you're looking for –“

“No.” My fist crashes into the back of his head, knocking him face first into the dirt. “I want justice, asshole. Peace. I want your fucked up family to pay for its crimes because if Nelson did what he did with innocent girls, there's a lot more corruption for the FBI to find, and chances are you've benefited from it. I know he got them here with his charities, the same fucking reason I wound up in this town to begin with.”

“I'm...I'm not Uncle Nelson. Whatever he's done, it isn't me,” he says, venom running into his voice. “God, what's wrong with you? All this over her? I didn't do anything. I never meant to hurt her. She would've had a comfortable life. Nice justice you've got. Attacking a man over his family's sins.”

Matt and I share a look. In any other situation, seeing the huge marine roll his eyes would be hilarious, but not here.

Neither of us are interested in an ethics lesson from this cheating, miserable prick.

“Did I say you could speak?” I ask, rubbing his face into the ground, messing up his hair as much as I can. “Did I ask for your fucking moralizing, when you thought nothing of cheating, manipulation, tearing me away from her? When you and your folks probably knew what Nelson did, and let this town think he didn't deserve what happened?”

Matt steps behind me, and I'm glad he does. I'm afraid he'll have to hold me back from murdering the trash whose face I'm ramming into the ground again and again. Good thing I pulled off the knuckles.

His choking stops me. He's coughing and sputtering, his nose full of dirt and leaves.

Snarling, I roll him over, straddle him, and reach for the shoebox. “You're right about one thing, and only one – you're not on trial here for Nelson's crimes. But I'm damned sure not going to let you get in the way, retaliate, and try to cover his tracks any more.”

His eyes go huge when he sees me pulling out the heels. His face is scratched, his lip bloody, several new bruises promising to overwhelm the makeup on his jaw he put there for sympathy, to make me look like a crazier, more violent beast than I really am when the woman I love is under siege.

Unfortunately for him, he doesn't have to exaggerate much.

“No, no...I don't understand. Those shoes...what're you doing?!”

“Insurance, jackass,” Matt says, pulling out the protective stuffing inside them. He crouches behind me and gets to work on ripping off Reg's shoes, down to his bare feet.

I nod. “You're going to wear the shoes for a change, ass. We'll take pictures, and you won't move a muscle. Because if you decide to do something stupid again after we warned you not to, if you or your folks stick their noses into the investigation, the case, or come gunning for me, Kara, or any of the Lilydales ever again, I'll make sure these pictures hound you like a dog. You're so uptight about appearances, yeah? You won't have a reputation when every employer, every investment firm, every fucking politician you want to bribe knows what you look like in blue.”

He screams and thrashes while Matt stuffs his feet into the slim shoes, several sizes too small. It takes five minutes to get it straight, and by then I'm sure his toes feel like they're about to snap.

Smiling, I look down at his work. Matt smiles, gives me a thumbs up, and we both reach for our phones.

The reprobate has gotten the message. His eyes stay closed and he doesn't move a muscle the whole time we circle around him, snapping pics from every angle. I end with a snapshot of his face, just as his eyes pop open, scared and beaten.

Matt gives me a knowing look. We're done here. It's time to go home, and wait for further word from the sheriff or the FBI investigators who'll surely be calling me soon.

“Wait, wait. Where are you going?” Reg calls after us, his words like mush in his beat up mouth. “You can't just leave me like this?!”

We've only taken a few steps along the path we came when I stop, turn around, and look at the worm twisting on the ground. “Like hell we can't. Your phone's in your shoebox. Use it to call your gold digging mistress.”

His eyes bug out. I smile. “Enjoy her while she lasts. I've seen enough chicks in the corporate world to know she's only putting up with your bedroom antics because you're keeping the heels and fancy dinners coming. Soon as they're gone – and they will be, once the FBI digs through your family history – she'll run so fast she kicks dust in your face. After everything your family did to me and Kara, several years alone will do you some good. Maybe you can clear your head, figure out your shit before it's too late.”

It's not hard to hear him struggling to get up in those heels clenched to his feet like vises. We just keep going, get in the truck, and leave beneath the moonlight.

We're heading back to the police station, where Kara's probably still sleeping. Matt left her there in the waiting room to get me in the back, after the sheriff made his choice. She's blissfully unaware I was being released to give her ex the kick in the balls he deserves.

I don't give him a second thought. Only thing that matters is having her in my arms tonight, back in my bed, a smile on her face because she knows, beyond all doubt, that everything is finally going to be okay.

* * *

“Ryan? Don't tell me – I'm dreaming?” She rubs her eyes before she'll believe it's me.

I could wait, let it sink in.

No, screw it. I haul her up off the seat, sweeping her into my arms.

There's nothing worth saying that these kisses can't for the next five minutes. Matt stands behind us, a smile on his face. I'm grinning like a damned fool the whole way through it, my lips conquering hers, knowing the universe is righting itself, one little piece at a time.

“They had you locked up,” she says when I let her catch her breath. “I don't understand. How?”

“An old friend helped me out,” I tell her, motioning to the gentle giant as he walks over. “Sheriff Dixon deserves some credit for doing the right thing, too.”

“We've got to get busy protecting ourselves,” she says, slipping out of my arms, grabbing her purse on the chair. “You know they'll come after us. The Draytons are in a fight for their lives, and they know who's responsible for what's coming.”

“Babe, wait.” I grab her by the wrist. Bringing her hand to my face, I lay my lips on it, planting a reassuring kiss. “Reg is done. Matt and I made sure he's not interfering with anything again.”

She gives us a desperate look, one after the other. “God. Tell me you didn't...you know.”

There's nobody around, but she's smart enough to lower her voice, realizing we're still standing in a police station.

“He'll live, and he won't press charges,” Matt says, throwing a brotherly arm around her shoulder. “All you need to know, sis. I'm not wasting another minute on his corrupt ass. Let's go home.”

“We'll talk to the FBI in the morning, I'm sure. Is it too late to open up Grounded?”

She blinks, not understanding where I'm going. “I'm the manager. It's never too late...why?”

“Because the bars in this town close too early on a Sunday to let me buy my friend a proper drink,” I look at Matt and he smiles. “Coffee will have to do for now, plus a few slices of that awesome cherry pie. I want you to bring your mom and the kid, if he's around. I can't wait anymore. We're sitting down like a family and smoothing things over tonight. As the man you're going to marry, I won't let anything come between us and our wedding.”

“Shit.” Matt pauses, then slaps me on the back so hard my knees lock. “I'd say you're moving too fast, but you were always the one for her, Ryan. We've waited five years too long to make it happen.”

We're both smiling, but it's nothing compared to the angelic grin on her face. My eyes eat her up a little bit at a time. As heartwarming as this is, and as pleased as I am to see her happy, I can't stop the lewd thoughts pulling at me from the inside out.

“Call your mom, guys. I want to sit down tonight. All of us.”

I want to take care of the last thing between me laying down the woman I love for a few hard hours in the sheets.

They both reach for their phones. I stand against the wall, ready to put one big happy family back together after an eternity apart. I'm ready for the nice.

The naughty's coming straight after.

There's nothing like the hours I spent in prison, thinking I'd never have her lips or her legs around me again, to make my dick stand on end.

This night isn't over until we find a bed, even if it blurs into morning. I'm going to be inside her, celebrating our love, our promises, our future.

* * *

“Amazing to see you again, Mrs. Lilydale.” I take her hands as soon as she steps through the door.

Her eyes light up like I've returned from the dead. I'm not sure who's got the tighter grip.

“Ryan!” she throws her arms around me. “I'm sorry, son. I did you wrong.”

“You kept a promise,” I whisper, as soon as she pulls away to face me, tears brimming in her eyes. “I kept mine. The Drayton's won't be bothering us anymore, and I'm going to marry your daughter. Only thing I've ever wanted.”

I release her. Kara comes over and helps her shaken mom to the table, where there's a fresh cherry pie and a giant steel thermos of coffee. I take a seat next to her, reaching for her hand underneath the table.

We talk past sunrise. There's a lot of catching up to do.

I hear all about Matt's exploits in Afghanistan, how hard the Lilydales fought to hang on since Bart died, how bad a blow it was when the divorce hit, and how Matt's ex still keeps the kid most weekends out of spite.

That last one makes me take a slow, smooth sip of coffee that burns my throat. When we've wrapped up loose ends, I'm going to get him the best lawyer in the state to wring more time with his son from the cheating bitch.

By dawn, Kara starts to doze. She's cuddled up next to me, a smile on her face, when Matt stands up, rubbing his eyes. “Time to get some sleep. It's my last week on leave before I'm on active duty again.”

“You earned it, man. Couldn't have done any of this without you.” I put out my fist. He bumps his on mine.

Just like old times. I came here for Kara, but I've gotten my best friend back too. “Whenever you're ready to retire from the service, call me. I'll do whatever it takes to help you set up something new. If it's in the cards for Bart's Auto coming back, deal me in.”

“Nah, Ryan. I can't take your money, even if I think you're fit to join the family.”

“Then let me help apply for a loan, or get you a deal on a place,” I say. “Don't answer me now. Just think about it. When the time comes, you'll tell me. Worry about the big picture, and I'll do the details.”

He nods respectfully, a small, understanding smile on his face. That's the last I thing I see before he turns his back and marches out the door. Mrs. Lilydale sits across the table smiling, sipping her coffee. She's tired, but the reunion keeps her awake, one we all thought we'd never see.

I look at my girl carefully, making sure she's asleep on my shoulder, before I lean in and ask the question I've been dying to pop since she stepped through the door. “There's something I need. Do you know what happened to Kara's old ring – the first one I gave her when we got engaged all those years ago?”

Smiling, she nods. “Locked away in my drawer. Your locket's there too. She couldn't stand the sight of them after she thought you weren't coming home. I kept them safe...just in case.”

I reach for my wallet, pulling out a business card that has my personal address for the new office in town. “Please, when you get a chance, I'd love it mailed here. I've already got her a fancy new ring, but it isn't enough. I want her to have the ring I always meant her to wear, too. As far as I'm concerned, the last five years apart didn't happen. I'm using everything I can to remind her we were always meant to be, Mrs. Lilydale.”

“It's time you started calling me Bets if you're going to be my son-in-law.” The warm smile pulling at her lips brightens her face, smoothing away the sadness accumulated in her wrinkles. “You'll have it by tomorrow, Ryan. Bart would've been so happy to see how wrong he was, you know.”

I think about him when she grabs my hand. It's like I can feel the old man's ghost, big and approving, standing over all of us as he watches the impossible happen.

“I know, Bets. Hell, I'm honoring his memory by making this girl the happiest woman in the world, every single day we've got left on this earth.” I lean down and kiss Kara's forehead.

It wakes her softly. Perfect timing because it's past six o'clock now, and the morning crew is coming in through the back of the cafe.

Soon, we're saying goodbye to her mom, and heading for my car. I'll have to keep looking over my shoulder in case Reg is stupid enough to ignore his final warning, but it's not slowing me down.

I'll have the girl in my arms claimed, wed, and worshipped by the time the winter thaws.

For the first time in my life, the wealth and success finally means something. The millions upon millions in my accounts are more than just bare numbers on a screen. I'm going to spend every damned dime giving her the moon, and then doing the same for her folks.

Good looks and money always bring power. It's worthless if it doesn't make her skin hot and happy to the touch every second her hand's in mine. Driving to our hotel, I try to comprehend how fucking lucky I am, having a second chance with the most beautiful bride in the world.

No matter how many times I roll it over in my mind, I still can't get it. But I'm damned sure not going to forget.

Ever.

* * *

Church bells ring all the way down the coast. Several barges down the Superior shore blow their horns. A hundred thousand people in half a dozen towns know the hour has arrived.

Nobody except our gaggle of guests hears the most explosive, heartfelt rendition of Here Comes the Bride. That's for us, our friends, and our family, but it seems like the entire universe knows what's happening, down to the fire in our hearts.

Mine becomes an inferno the second I see her heading down the makeshift path strewn with flowers. That creamy, skin tight wedding dress clings to her like an angel's gown, making her a white shadow against the Armitage lighthouse's dark grey brick in the background.

I have to take my eyes off her, and face the priest, just to keep my dick from ripping through my trousers in front of half the town.

God, what a woman.

Hell, what a town.

What a wedding.

It's hard to believe the changes over the last six months. This décor, music, and atmosphere are more than anything I imagined. It's all coming together perfectly. Easy when you own the place where you're getting married.

The Draytons abandoned the historical fund and half the other charities in town as soon as they were busted. A hundred years of wealth and haughty reputations spiraled down the drain after the FBI proved Nelson's crimes. The Feds stripped away the assets he'd gotten from the sex trade, easily about ninety percent of their wealth, or so the papers said.

They even lost the lighthouse. It's mine now.

When it isn't open to the town, like today, I know it's the best wedding present I could've given us.

The music keeps going, and she's getting closer. I fix my eyes on hers, watching that beautiful veil ripple behind her golden hair. Behind her, there's Bets, little Holden bouncing on his grandma's lap. My mother-in-law reaches up and wipes a tear, just as Kara reaches the altar.

I step up, taking the last of the veil that's covering her face, drawing it back behind her head. When she sees me, blush fills her cheeks, and I have to fight twice as hard to control the raging erection in my pants.

It takes the song forever to end. Neither of us mind, content to relish the moment. I take both her hands in mine. Squeezing, rubbing, promising a thousand kinds of naughty and nice. She looks into my eyes and mouths one word.

“Soon.”

A jolt runs through my spine. Can't come fast enough, hauling her into bed, stripping off the delicate white layers covering her beautiful body like the icing on our cake.

I'm never going to let these hands go. They're going to be in mine while we're taking our vows. They'll be tangled in my fingers while we're walking to the limo, heading for the reception. Later, they'll be clenched like they're going to break when I have her, pinning her little hands above her head while I take her good and hard.

Fuck later. I want it now.

Luckily, I want to make us official even more. We turn to the priest as the music dies down, and he smiles, the same warm glow on his face we've seen during the rehearsals.

“Dearly beloved,” he begins. “We're gathered here today to unite two hearts once lost in holy matrimony, Ryan Caspian, and Kara Lilydale.”

My eyes flit to the side. Matt stands there in military dress, my best man and best friend. He gives me a subtle smile and flashes a thumbs up.

I know the boys and girls from the office are cheering me, too. Leonard, Becky, and so many more who got rich on the way up, making Punch Corp a world leader in new technologies.

They helped me achieve that dream. It's been a stepping stone to this one, but now I have to do the rest alone. Wouldn't have it any other way.

“Ryan,” the priest says, turning to me. “Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife...”

For better and for worse.

In sickness and in health.

To have and to hold.

Till death do you part?

Each phrase hits like lightning. The full, outrageous enormity of what I'm about to do stabs through my ribs, so sudden I have to lift her hand to my lips, and plant a kiss on her precious skin.

I love this woman. I'll never doubt it.

Through hell, through heaven, through five years of loss, through six glorious months back together, and all the years we had as kids. I'll love her to the end of time. I know it more than I've known anything in my life.

I can't keep them waiting. My hands lock tight on hers, pulling her closer, and for just a second, I'm lost in her jade green eyes.

“Obviously, it's a 'yes.' Kara, I love who you were, who you are, and who you're bound to become. Love that you're going to be by my side the entire time, having my kids, and being the best girl any man stuck on this rock could ever wish for. Didn't think it was possible to love you more, Kara-bou, but I do today. I love that you're mine forever, and you're going to remember it every time you're flashing those rings.”

That's right. Rings. Plural.

She's wearing both wedding rings. Our past, present, and future are reconciled on her hand.

Her face twitches. I reach up and gently clasp her chin, wiping away the tears that come down. We're lucky the priest speaks slow, prepping for her part, because she's in no condition to say anything for the next sixty seconds.

“Do you, Kara, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband...”

To love and to cherish.

To worship and adore.

Today and all your days.

The crowd coos softly when I pull her into my arms. It's all I can do to steady her as she's shaking, overwhelmed with the same wave that hit me a minute ago.

Five years of pain go up in flames. We did it.

Against the odds, against the assholes, against the world, we won. There's no love like the one worth fighting for. Today brings us so much closer to winning the battle for good.

I give her a look, rubbing my thumb softly along her cheek. Don't rush. Whenever you're ready.

Her eyes open. She looks at the priest, before turning her eyes my way again. Next to me, Matt sniffs. I think the big marine is holding in his own emotional storm.

“Love you, Ryan, and I'm proud to be your wife. I never thought I'd be standing here today, marrying the one, the right one, the only one who's ever believed in me and didn't give up. So many things tried to get in the way, tried to take you away from me, but they didn't. I believe it's fate, and there's nothing like it to make me believe you're the only man I'll ever call my husband. Too many people have loved and lost. We won, and it's a once-in-a-lifetime win for our hearts.”

There's my girl. I'm smiling at her eloquence, the sweetness in her voice. Mostly, I'm actually able to control the need to haul her into bed right now because those eyes on mine are about more than just sex.

So much more. I clasp her hands, waiting for the priest to say the final words.

He speaks legalities. Then what everybody gathered has been waiting for.

“Please, kiss the bride.”

Like he even has to ask. Like I wouldn't turn the world over on its ass just to get her, pull her into my arms, and push my lips down on hers.

Everything explodes the instant we kiss. She's swept up in my embrace amid the cheers, the laughter, the tears. She's crying, letting loose everything she's held inside while we kiss, but it doesn't interfere with her tongue.

It's hot on mine. Desperate. Wanting.

I take her mouth, letting my hands roam across her body. Tonight, as soon as the big day's finished, I'm going to fuck my wife like she's never had it before. And if she's going to give me the wedding gift I think she is, I'm going to be sore for the next week.

* * *

We're trying to eat our cake, stopping every minute for about a hundred people clinking their glasses, wanting us to kiss for them yet again. We indulge them, but it's really for ourselves. They can't see my hand on her thigh, clenching through the thin white fabric, ready to shred her pretty gown the second we're alone.

Smiling, I pick up my fork, and feed another bite into her mouth. Can't take my eyes off those lips. They're pink and perfect and ready to be wrapped around my cock.

Streams of people come by to give us their well wishes. We hear the chatter all around us, too, the latest town gossip.

Turns out Drayton Financial botched a couple hundred annuities for the town's wealthiest citizens. They've been slammed with so many lawsuits they'll probably never recover, and that's nothing compared to the restitution fund the FBI set up to claw back money made off Nelson's victims.

Nobody's seen Reg since the night we left him in the woods. I had a private investigator trail him a couple months ago. The man tracked him to Chicago, where he's wasting the last of his family fortune on high end escorts and thousand dollar heels, drinking himself into a sorry stupor most nights.

I'd feel sorry for him if he hadn't crushed my girl. I'm grateful I get to rebuild her, love her like he didn't. God help me, I'm still a little jealous, every second the miserable prick is alive and breathing.

I don't let Kara mention him, nor does she bother.

“I haven't seen them this happy in years,” she says, leaning into me, motioning to Bets, Matt, and Holden several tables down.

I throw my arm around her and nod. “The family's fixed. Only a matter of time before your brother decides to leave the service and settle down. Hope he finds a better woman, someday.”

“Me too,” she muses, sucking her bottom lip. “That could've been me, Ryan. I might've made his mistake, marrying the wrong one. If the timing was different, or I'd turned you in the first time you showed up on my doorstep...I could've lost everything. And if I'd screwed up, gotten a kid into this mess...God.”

“You didn't,” I growl, laying a hand on her cheek. “Only kid coming out of you is going to be beautiful, and happy babe. We're going to make the happiest little things on earth.”

She reaches for my hand, clenching it tight, giving me a look that makes my dick jerk. “Are you sure you're ready for this?”

Her voice is just a whisper. I lick my lips, staring through the crowd, wondering when we can slink off without anybody noticing our absence.

“Kara, baby, I've been waiting my entire life,” I say. “We made our mistakes, screwing around with the wrong people, thinking we were dead to each other. That's all over. We're married now, and you'd better believe I want to build a family like yesterday.”

“I hope we can be good parents. Daddy died so young, and you had it rough, moving through all those orphanages.”

“Just tells us we know what family means.” I rub her thigh beneath the table, waiting until she does the slow turn, her big green eyes burning. “We don't half-ass, Kara-bou. After everything we've been through, we can't. I love you with all my heart, and our son or daughter's going to share it all, because they're part of us. Maybe our best parts. Real question is, are you ready to get the hell out of here?”

She smiles, pushing her fingers into mine. We kiss one more time before I help her up, making our way through the crowd one more time. She's more ready to go than I am, her skin glowing with the warmth that tells me she's dripping wet. Her lips open in a silent moan every time my hand reaches her back, winds its way down, and flies off just above the top of her ass.

“Is our boat ready?” I ask the limo driver, as soon as we slide into the back.

“Absolutely, sir. The captain reported in about an hour ago, and told me to let you know there's even a fresh bottle of Dom chilling on ice in your private quarters. They're waiting for you to board.”

“Great.” That's all I say before the car jerks down the winding road leading away from the lighthouse.

It's only a quick drive to the marina. Good thing, too, because I can't keep my hands to myself.

Kara doesn't stop me. She puts her little hands over mine when it goes between her legs, pressing the dress dangerously close to her pussy.

She's about to be mine for the thousandth time with me in her, and the first time as my lovely wife.

I'm ready to fuck her so hard our yacht almost capsizes. Every inch pulses, throbs, screams to be inside her, from my swollen balls to my pierced tip. It aches to mark her from the inside out.

We're ready for marriage, ready for a family, ready to make our love mix blood.

“I love you,” she whimpers, trying to stop my hand from stroking her through the bridal layers. “God, I can't wait.”

Neither can I. She's breathless, blushing, going beet red and hot to the touch with primal need. When I push her hand away and rub slowly between her legs, I feel the dual rings clinging to her fingers. Something about having her wearing my symbol makes me want to rip through her dress, pull down my pants, and fuck her right here in the back seat.

But it's our honeymoon, and she deserves better. I'm putting million of dollars to work this week to make her swoon, and give us the best send off into the future money can buy.

It's a small price to pay for happiness, for love, for the bright dreams I nursed in the dark all those miserable years.

We've worked like dogs to get here. Tonight, we're working on our family, and I'm going to shoot every hot drop of come I have into her.

* * *

“Please let the crew know if there's anything you need, Mr. Brooks” The Captain escorts us to our room personally once we're on the ship.

“It's Caspian,” I remind him with a smile. “That's the old name. I know it'll take time for the real one to sink in, and I'll keep correcting the world until it does. There's nobody I'd rather be than Ryan, wed to the lovely Mrs. Caspian.”

Kara nuzzles her face into my shoulder, drunk on my words, or a little too much wine back at the reception. Doesn't matter to me, as long as she's feeling good.

“Ah, of course. My apologies. I've followed the tabloids, of course, but old habits die hard. Have a wonderful night, and please let us know if you need anything,” he says, putting his hands up in apology before he heads down the hall.

He's not the only one making the adjustment. It's taken everybody around the office months to start calling me Ryan, or Mister Caspian, ever since I set the record straight.

I'm a new man, leaving Tanner to die in that other world, the lonely, miserable one I've left behind for good.

Names are just words. But mine's the only one I want hanging on her lips tonight, tomorrow, and every night after.

“Let's see the bed where I'm going to have my wife for the first time,” I tell her, pushing my keycard against the scanner lock. The door pops open.

Before we cross through, I lift her up, carrying her over the threshold. No, this yacht isn't our home, but it's going to be the first place we're living as man and wife for the next week as we cruise the Great Lakes. It's also where I'm planting my seed deep. My balls tighten, burning a little hotter at the thought.

She laughs as I carry her into our spacious room, and throw her down on the silver sheets. The bottle of Dom sits next to the bed on ice, as promised. I'm not interested in having a drop unless it involves slurping it off her naked body just now.

“Careful,” she pleads, feeling the eager force in my hands when I start tugging on her dress.

Lucky for her, I'm a disciplined man. I take my time, careful not to tear a single scrap of her dress as I lift it away, piece by ivory piece, stripping her down to the bare, beautiful skin I've been craving on mine since the second I saw her coming toward the altar.

“Don't know how you wore them all evening,” I tell her, sensing the wetness in her panties when my fingers go between her legs. “You're soaked, Kara. You've been craving my cock for hours. Admit it.”

“Mmm, guilty,” she purrs, wrapping her arms around my neck.

She grabs at my tie, lifting it out of my jacket. Grabbing her wrists, I spin her around and pull her down on the bed, making her straddle me.

Her bra cup comes down easily when I push the right side. Wise choice, considering I've fulfilled all the requests I've had this evening to please be gentle with the clothing. My mouth finds her hard little nipple, takes it between my teeth, and sucks.

Kara grinds her pussy into my bulge. Her feral moan singes my ears, and soon I'm snarling, tearing her bra away by the strap. I throw the lingerie over her shoulder to the floor, pulling her ass onto me while my mouth goes to work, alternating each breast.

My tongue flicks each bud, softening them, already eager to move to her clit. If it isn't as hard and swollen as the ends of these tits, it's going to be soon.

She oozes into lust with a breathless moan, panting every time her hips lurch into mine. I resist the urge to buck back. There's a wildcat moving on top of me, and I'm damned sure not going to risk going off anywhere inside her, throwing my seed into her womb.

This isn't just honeymoon fucking tonight. We're here to breed, and knowing I can give her my kid causes my pierced dick to leak like mad down my shaft.

“Ryan, yes!” her hand covers mine when it goes between her legs, tugging at her panties.

“Stand up,” I say, lifting her off me. “Take the edge of the bed, and bite the sheet, love. They're going to hear you scream through these thin walls when you come on my mouth if you don't.”

The filthy thought causes her back to arch when she obeys. I'm smiling, standing behind her, dropping to my knees. Fuck, I want them knowing. I want the entire ship to hear the frantic monkey sex we're going to be having all night, and I think she knows it.

I don't give a damn who hears us, sees us, or strokes themselves off, wishing they could fuck their wife half as hard as I take mine. We've suppressed our love long enough, and tonight's our night to put it on parade.

My fingers hook her panties in the center. I'm waiting. Refusing to jerk them down until her legs start shaking.

Only takes my lips falling down above her ass for about three seconds before it starts.

There she is. My panting, begging, needful little wife. Beautiful and helpless, trembling for every inch of me.

She buries her face in the bed, suppressing a scream, when her panties hit her ankles. My face moves into her before I've even got them off. The hot, wet bundle remains in my hands while I'm growling, pushing my tongue into her, tasting the pussy that's going to be clenching, sucking, and coming on my cock all night.

There's no words for this sweetness. My tongue strokes long and hard, teasing her clit when she starts to arch. Her feet leave her panties behind with slow, halting steps.

My hands clasp her ass, and my elbows hug her thighs, keeping her legs open for me. I eat my fill, and fuck, she tastes amazing.

My tongue lashes her clit every time she moans for me, quickening when the moans become screams.

Her shrill vibrations cut through the bed. The room sways gently around us, a sign the ship is out on the water. We're going out to sea, just as she's coming.

Growling, I fuck my tongue into her delectable cunt again and again. Her pussy convulses a few seconds later, tempting me to bring her off.

Naturally, I do.

I lick, suck, and grind my face between her legs. Her hips buck, twitching as her body fights for control. I don't stop until she's given everything up.

It takes forever before the trembling in her legs dies down. Then I'm on my feet, caressing her spine, kissing my way up her back. She collapses on the bed, sucking in oxygen, while I undress. It's a mercy when I free my cock from the trousers holding it in all evening.

It's needier than it's ever been in my life.

When I'm naked, I grab her by the waist and turn her around. She gasps, seeing how hard I am, past ready to fuck her into nirvana and back.

Her fingers go around my cock. It jerks in her hand when the warm gold rings press into it. I take her chin in my hand, tilt her up, and pull back before she can kiss me.

“You really want it, don't you, baby girl?”

“I want your baby, Ryan. Please.” Her eyes shine big and bright, green gems twinkling with wicked truth.

“Yeah?” I push her hand off, grabbing my cock in my fist. Pre-come trails out as I move it over her, depositing it on her belly, just above the spot where her strip of hair begins. “Then take every fucking drop I put in you, love. First of many I'm going to put in that soft little belly. First of many nights you'll be savoring this dick as Mrs. Caspian, my knock out, gorgeous, horny wife.”

She bites her lip. I can't hold back when I see the tension in her face, the insane need in every square inch of her skin.

I pull my cock back, tugging her legs around me. Then I'm sinking in, angling my way to the edge of her womb, making her gasp when the head of my cock presses as far as it can go.

Discipline is the only reason I've earned my money and won her hand in marriage. Too bad even I have limits.

I can't hold back as soon as I'm in her hot, wet center. My hips roll on, instinct taking over, the need to claim her, fuck her, and knock her up pounding in my temples.

It's in my veins and in my sweat. Grunting, I quicken my strokes, feeling her clenching around me in a matter of minutes.

“Ryan! Oh, God.”

Oh, fuck me. I almost lose it when she explodes on my cock a second later, clenching the sheets so she doesn't fall off, stabbing her heels into my muscular ass. My cue to fuck her harder.

Now, I drive into her, running on pure lust. I fuck straight through her first O and into the next. The second time, she's grinding her clit into me each time I thrust deep, stopping long enough to make her burn so good.

“Please,” she whines between her teeth.

I slow my strokes just long enough to palm her face, bring my lips to hers, and taste the insatiable need in her kiss.

She wants this as bad as I do. I know it, down to my balls, and they churn like they're full of lava the instant I pull away.

“You'll get it when you come for me again,” I tell her.

Her eyes are wide, telling me she can't possibly do it again. She doesn't know I've got one more surprise.

When my strokes speed up, I reach between us, pressing my ring finger into her clit. There's a lot a man can do when he owns a technology company. My platinum wedding band looks no different than any other wealthy man's on the outside. Inside, I've had a sophisticated circuit installed, designed to make this ring scream when it reaches the right temperature.

It vibrates on her clit. Her legs tighten around me when she realizes what's happening, and I watch her head snap back, making me catch a fistful of those golden locks.

Her lips form a ring. She wants to scream, cry my name, or just beg me again. I make out the most important word, the same one flashing in her eyes when she looks at me again, right before her lids go down and they roll into her head.

Please.

“Come for me, baby. Take every fucking drop from my balls.” I'm growling, ramming myself balls deep, letting the fire coursing up my spine hit my brain a second later.

We're sharing fireworks.

Coming together.

Coming fierce.

Coming so fucking hard it makes the dense sea rocking our ship seem like a breeze.

I lose myself in her. My balls spit fire, and the same flames consume me. There's yesterday, tomorrow, and the next decade all at once.

My seed flows thick. Furious ropes spit from my cock and blaze into her. Kara's pussy massages every inch of me, making me growl while I'm spilling it all.

It's cool in our room, but we're both red and dripping sweat when I remember how to think. My lips go down on hers while we cool down, tasting what's mine. There's room to be tender after I've ravished her like an animal.

She's so warm, skin burning beneath my hands. When I pull out, I walk across the room, grabbing the champagne and two glasses. I also take a handful of ice.

“Suck,” I tell her, popping an ice cube into her mouth. She takes it like a good girl, turning it over with her tongue, tempting me to kiss her and fuck her all over again.

No, I need to pace myself. It'll be dawn before I'm done with her, before my balls are dry. And then we'll be coming above deck to enjoy ourselves at the first port tomorrow, before we head back here for another night tangled together.

That's how it's going to be every night until I know my seed takes. We're smiling, sipping our champagne, my free hand against her thigh, ready to pull her legs open for me again as soon as we're ready.

“Is this honeymoon everything you imagined?” she asks, mischief dancing in her eyes.

I smile, knowing it's the same thing she asked me after our first time, so long ago. But she's not that virgin girl anymore.

When I look at her, I don't just see my beautiful wife. I see all the Karas I've known, every one I've fallen in love with.

There's the kid who slid in the oil the first day we met, her face as innocent then as it is now. There's the woman I first asked to marry me, young and radiant, ready for a life together. There's the darker, sadder, unhappy girl I found when I came home, the one it's taken months to wipe away.

Then there's my bride. Mature, beautiful, and finally happy. My woman, future mother of my children, and eternally, irrevocably mine.

Whole again. Every single part of her. My hand drifts down to her hip, feeling the tattoo that used to be a broken heart.

“I'm glad you got this touched up in time for the wedding,” I tell her, kissing her shoulder.

She beams. “My heart's not broken anymore, so I kinda had to. You never answered my question.”

I'm laughing. She can't be serious, wondering if I'm so far over this honeymoon, I'm halfway to Jupiter. Isn't it obvious?

“Babe, it's more, and I think you know it,” I say, wrapping my arms around her. “We couldn't have appreciated this as much as we do if we hadn't paid the price to get here.”

Her smile softens. She's quiet for a moment, thinking to herself, rolling my words around in her head.

When I brush my lips across hers, she looks at me, the smile I want to devour taking over her face. “It's strange that you're right. I never would've imagined anything good coming out of those years – but here we are. Where would I be without your perspective?”

“Married to some jackass I'd have to kill to get you back,” I tell her, moving my hands down, pulling her on top of me. “I'll blow every speck of fame and fortune I've accumulated all these years to keep you, Kara-bou. Don't ever doubt it.”

Her lips merge to mine again, just as she sinks down on my cock, tall and hungry. “You're lucky I'm a bargain, then, and we get to live your crazy billionaire lifestyle without you running dry.”

“No, babe. You're priceless,” I growl, moving my hips, loving how her nails stab into my shoulder. “If you don't believe that now, you will. Love you more every day since I asked you to marry me again, and that's a damned fine return on investment.”

Several strokes in, she's too lost in pleasure to quip back. I take her lips again with a smile, knowing I've got her where I want her, the only place we ever ought to be.