White Heat (Lost Kings MC #5) (48 page)

Her mouth tips into the pretty smile I love so much. “Me too,” she says a little shaky. She blows out a flustered breath and smiles wider. “I mean, I’m glad you’re here,”

“No place else I’d want to be.” I lean down and take her lips in a soft kiss, forgetting where we are.

Someone—Damon I think—clears his throat. Heidi giggles.

Hope pulls back and blinks up at me and the overwhelming sense of how lucky I am washes over me.

Lucky that we finally got to this point.

“Let’s get married,” she whispers.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

The actual
wedding
part of our wedding day is a blur. I think I spoke the correct words when I was supposed to. Mostly I just stared at Rock, in awe of how much I love him and how happy I am.

His gaze roamed over me once, taking in the green dress with a slow smile. After that his eyes never wandered from my face. As many times as we’ve been teased about being sex-crazed maniacs, Rock made it clear by that simple action that he was more worried about my thoughts than my body. I think I fell in love with him even more right there at the altar.

After the brief ceremony, our wild biker crowd couldn’t contain themselves another second. Whoops, cheers and congratulations filled the woods. Along with about two-dozen monarch butterflies Trinity handed us to release from a decorative box.

There were a lot of guests to keep up with. Many I’d met before. Some I hadn’t. When I got overwhelmed, Rock ushered me to a quiet area and held me close.

“Come on, Baby Doll. You need to eat something,” Rock suggested, tugging me back to our table. With the fierce look on his face, no one dared approach us as we made our way up front. Trinity had gone above and beyond with decorating the tent. White twinkly lights glittered from above and all around us.

Rock sits me down and pulls his chair close. One of the prospects drops a plate in front of us and Rock feeds me jumbo shrimp dipped in spicy sauce—that he’s careful not to drop on my dress—followed by mushrooms stuffed with crab and brie. 

“Happy now?” I ask as I finish my last bite.

“Yes, sass-mouth.”

“You love my sassy mouth.”

“Yes I do.” To prove it, he leans over and takes my mouth in a kiss that sets me on fire. I’m panting by the time we part and he rests his forehead against mine.

After a second, he hands me a mason jar filled with what I suspect is a virgin margarita. “There’s no tequila in this,” I say as I set it down. His mouth curves into a sly grin.

“No, there isn’t,” he says simply.

Slender arms wrap around my shoulders from behind. “Are you okay?” Trinity asks.

I turn so I can see her better. “Yes. Thank you so much.”

She gives Rock a similar hug, and he grabs her hand before she can dash away. “You okay?” he asks.

“I’m good, Rock.”

After she flits back into the crowd, Rock glances down at my boots. “That was a cute touch.”

“Lilly suggested it.”

“Are you going to put them to use?”

“Oh yes. I plan to ride you later like a good little cowgirl.”

He breaks into laughter. “Good to know, but that’s not what I meant.” He nods at the space people are using to dance.

“You don’t want to dance in front of all your big, bad biker friends.”

He snorts as if that’s absurd. “You know me better than that. Besides, half of them are so drunk, they won’t remember a thing from tonight.”

I point at Wrath, who’s got Trinity wrapped in a tight embrace, making it clear to the world who she belongs to. “Wrath will.”

“He’ll just be jealous of my awesome skills,” he says as he pulls me out onto the floor. We dance the simple country two-step we learned in Maine, even though I’m not sure it’s right for the music that’s playing. Soon he’s twirling me around and we’re being silly more than anything.

Z and Lilly join us. “You’re more coordinated than I would have expected,” I say to Z, who laughs.

“He’s very rhythmic,” Lilly says with a straight face.

The music turns to something slower, and we sway together for a while, before Rock pulls over to one of the s’mores stations Trinity set up for dessert. There’s a cake too and once we’re within two feet of it, Trinity yells for everyone to quiet down so we can cut into it.

“It’s so pretty, I hate to ruin it,” I complain as she hands me the knife. It’s LOKI blue with delicate swirls of silver iced onto it and finished with a crown on top.

“Trust me, I took a billion pictures of it,” Trinity assures me.

I eat the few bites Rock offers me and feed him a few in return. We take a plate back to our table along with a melty-messy s’more.

Rock introduces me to a couple of guys he says came in from another club. Their cuts announce their club claims Western New York as its territory. See? I learned plenty from Wrath this summer. I smile and nod and feel terrible that I forget their names about two minutes after they leave.

Turning, I take in my handsome husband. He catches me staring at him. “What?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Nothing. I love you in your cut,” I say, then drop my voice a little lower. “But thank you for the suit. It’s crazy-sexy on you.”

The smoldering look I get in return warms every inch of my skin.

Murphy drops into the chair on Rock’s other side, interrupting our moment. It’s fine. Soon I plan to have Rock all to myself. They speak in low tones, about what, I have no idea.

Heidi’s hand settles on my shoulder and she leans over to hug me before sitting in the chair next to me.

“Thank you for everything, Hope.”

“You’re welcome, sweetie. Thank you for being in the wedding.”

She grins and pats the side of her head, tucking a few strands of loose hair behind her ear. “It was fun. I’m so happy you’re an official part of the family now.” Her lashes flutter and she glances down. “You’re the closest I’ve ever had to a mom,” she says so low, I almost don’t hear her.

Tears prick my eyes and I sit up straighter, so I can pull her to me for a hug. She rests her head on my shoulder and we watch the rest of the party for a few minutes. “Grams never wanted me to be part of all of this,” she says finally. “But it’s always where I’m happiest.”

“You have a lot of people who love you, Heidi.”

“I know.” She pulls back. “Wrath let Axel off prospect duty for the rest of the night.” She pulls at the skirt of her dress. “I’m going to run back to the house and change. Axel said he’d take me for a ride.”

“Sounds like a plan. Just be careful.”

“We will.”

She stands and wraps her arms around Rock’s neck, planting a kiss on his cheek. They murmur to each other for a minute and she takes off.

I lean over and smile at Murphy, who didn’t get a hello or goodbye from Heidi. “How are you doing?”

He quirks a smile at me. “Good, First Lady. You threw a hell of a party.”

“Oh no. This was all Trinity.”

Rock chuckles and wraps his hand around mine.

When we’re alone again, he puts his arm around my shoulders. “You’ve got chocolate on your face,” he says before swooping in and kissing it away.

“I think you were making that up,” I tease when he stops to stare at me.

“Maybe.” He touches his forehead to mine. “I’ve got a present for you, Baby Doll,” he says in a warm, rough voice.

“Oh yeah?” My question comes out full of dirty intent because I assume he means the present in his pants.

But he surprises me by pulling a small box out of his pocket and placing it in my hand.

Curious, I glance at him before easing the lid off. Inside is a pretty emerald green crown key chain with a key attached.

I take it out, dangling it in front of us.

“It’s to our house, Baby Doll.”

I raise an eyebrow. I thought the house wasn’t finished yet.

“It’s more symbolic, I doubt we’ll lock the door much,” he says with a smile.

“Is it ready for us?”

“Told you first night we were married, we’d be spending in our house.”

I almost knock him out of his chair, I throw my arms around him so fast. “Thank you, Rock.”

Last time I visited the building site, there was still a lot of finish work that needed to be done. I remember what Rock told me about the basement and heat curls in my belly.

I lean over, pressing my lips to his neck, kissing my way to his ear. “We need to leave.”

He grabs my hand. “Why, doll? You feel okay?”

“I need to
be
with you,” I whisper in his ear.

His reaction is pretty damn funny. He rockets out of his chair so fast, it topples over. “Let’s go,” he demands, giving my hand a quick tug.

Laughing, I stand and he sweeps me into his arms. Naturally Wrath—who’d behaved himself most of the night—notices and lets out a loud whistle, calling everyone else’s attention to us.

“Going somewhere, kids?” he calls out.

Completely embarrassed, I bury my head against Rock’s shoulder.

Rock ends up setting me down, so I can say goodbye to our guests. Mara and Damon left shortly after the ceremony. Sway and his crew are drunkenly dancing around, quickly turning half the party into a semi-orgy. Tawny gives me a brief hug, but she looks cranky, so I don’t talk to her too long.

Lilly scrambles out of Z’s lap to give me a big hug. “Congratulations, Hope,” she whispers against my ear. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you.” I glance at Z, who’s got his eyes on Lilly. “Will I be seeing you in the morning?” I ask her. She chuckles and tucks her hair behind her ear. “Maybe.”

“Maybe my ass,” Z says, yanking her back into his lap. I lean over and kiss his cheek.

“Behave,” I warn him and he nods at me.

When I’m finished saying good night to everyone, Wrath curls his arm over my shoulder. “I’ll make sure everyone gets where they need to go, Hope. Go take care of your husband.” He nods his head at where Rock’s waiting for me at the edge of the clearing.

The word
husband
sends a thrill through me. Rock’s my husband.
Finally
. After what seems like forever. He’s mine and I’m his. The enormity of it steals my breath.

Wrath tips my chin up. Frowning down at me, he asks, “You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m good.” Stretching up on my tiptoes, I throw my arms around his neck and give him a hug. At first he’s surprised, but he wraps his arms around me lifting me off the ground a bit. “Proud to have you for a sister, Hope. You’re the best thing that ever happened to him,” he murmurs into my ear.

Damn, I haven’t cried once today. But his words make my eyes sting and my nose twitch.

“Thank you,” I whisper.

He sets me down and plants a kiss on the top of my head.

Clutching the box with my key in one hand, I take off running across the clearing. Rock catches me around the waist, kissing me breathless, then setting me down. His hand slaps the seat of the ATV.

“Get on, Baby Doll.”

I laugh when I finally notice the white streamers, cans and the Just Married sign someone—if I had to guess, Z—tied to the rack.

“We’re going to scare every woodland creature within a ten mile radius,” I joke as I gather my dress, and straddle the machine. Rock gets on in front of me and starts up the engine. People shout to us and I turn and wave. Rock must be eager to go, because he takes off without a backward glance, before I even have my arms wrapped around him.

“Hey!” I yell out.

“Hold on, babe.”

It’s much different than riding on the back of Rock’s bike. For one, we’re not going as fast. Since there are four wheels instead of two, it feels more solid. Well, until Rock decides to drive over a few downed trees blocking our path. I squeal and squeeze him tighter, which was probably what he was after in the first place.

In front of us, warm white lights appear. As we get closer, I see a path of lights leading up to our house.

He parks the machine right alongside the house and gets off first. Instead of helping me dismount, he scoops me up and carries me up the porch steps.

“Get the door, doll.”

Happy for a reason to use my shiny new key, I pluck it out of the box and slide it into the lock.

He carries me over the threshold and sets me down. I can’t take my eyes off him though. “I’ll look at the house tomorrow. Right now I want my husband.”

His hand cups my jaw, thumb rubbing over my cheek. “Say that again.”

“That I want my husband?”

“Yes,” he answers in a hoarse voice before sealing his mouth over mine for a tender kiss.

Tender turns passionate quick and we’re pawing at each other’s clothes.

Rock pulls away first. “Baby, wait.” He picks me up again and carries me upstairs. The house is an open floor plan, so I get glimpses of all the things I have left to do. I’m most excited about finishing the kitchen which currently has no appliances or counters. I picture us hanging out there a lot.

“We’re not going to the basement?” I tease.

“Sorry, not ready. Soon, Baby Doll.”

“I knew you were all talk,” I say when he sets me down.

He gives me a wicked smile that makes my heart race. “There won’t be much talking down there.” His hand reaches round and squeezes my butt. “Lots of screaming and moaning though.”