16. For BetterFor Worse
For Better or For Worse
Victoria
“Are you sure you want to do this right now?” I asked. The threatening thunderclouds made me fear we should seek shelter instead of exchanging nuptials.
“There’s no time like the present,” Knox said, corralling me to the altar, which was a tree with hanging vines and pink flowers. “Where is your bouquet?”
“Ummmm… see… what happened was—”
“I swear to God, if you say a stork took it, I’ll scream.”
I twisted my lips and waited for Knox to proceed with our sham of a wedding.
It’s not a sham. Once Knox says, “I do,” we’re locked in for life.
“No response?”
I shrugged. “I’d rather you didn’t scare off the birds with your screaming,” I mumbled as I assessed the sky that was darkening with every passing second. “The only screaming I want to hear from you is screams of ecstasy. Do you want to say your vows first, or do you want me to go first?”
“Ladies first,” he insisted, grabbing my hands and wrapping those rough, calloused fingers around mine.
Here goes nothing….
“I’d always fantasized about becoming Mrs. Ramsey.” Knox’s brow quirked in surprise until his lips slid into a satisfied smile. I refrained from rolling my eyes when his chest puffed out.
Idiot.
“Yes, Mrs. Gordon Ramsay has a lovely ring to it.”
His jaw dropped, and I snickered until his shock was replaced by genuine amusement. “I think Mrs. Knox Ramsey is more fitting. Plus, I think your marriage would fail immediately.”
“Why?” I asked with a curious head tilt.
“Can you imagine the carnage if that man slammed two slices of bread against your ears and forced you to call yourself an idiot sandwich?”
I puffed my cheeks out and blew a raspberry. “When you’re right, you’re right.”
“Thank you. Proceed.”
“Becoming Mrs. Knox Ramsey was never on my vision board, and after suffering heartbreak, I told myself that when it came to my future husband, I would never settle for less than what I deserved. I envisioned a man who was hardworking, loyal, intelligent, patient, respectful, accepting of my flaws, supportive, communicative, and a provider.” I flipped his palms over, and my throat tightened from the surge of emotions that broke through like a rushing river breaking through a collapsing dam.
I sucked my bottom lip in between my teeth when translucent drops speckled his open palms. “Fuck, I’m going soft,” I whispered as Knox wiped away my tears with his thumbs.
“Thank God,” he murmured, making me chuckle. He kissed me before releasing me. I scooped his hands up again and picked up where I had left off.
“I remember going home one night, annoyed as fuck because you kept bitching throughout the evening about a callus you developed from playing tennis. Since then, the callouses have multiplied, not because of tennis but because of your determination to provide for and protect us as we face the challenges of the island and the uncertainty of our future. We don’t know what tomorrow may bring, but I vow to stand by your side and be your companion and confidant as we build a life of tenderness and joy.
We may not have modern amenities like TV, Wi-Fi, and food delivery apps, but we have each other.
And as the song goes, I think I like this little life.
The island may be our forever home, and because my birth control is nearly toast, it might be where we raise a family. ”
“You want children with me?”
I shook my head solemnly. “Not on an island without the intervention of modern medicine.”
“But if we were home, you would?”
“I’d be open to the idea. Can I finish my vows? I was on a roll, and now I’ve lost my train of thought.”
“I apologize. Please continue,” Knox said, looking every bit satisfied with himself.
“In closing, you’re not the man you used to be.
You used to be the first thing I thought about when I opened my eyes, but for the wrong reason.
You’re still the first thing I think about when I wake, but for all the right ones because I know that each new day with you brings affection, comfort, healing, acceptance, appreciation, and laughter.
You’ve earned my forgiveness, respect, loyalty…
and my love. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but… thank you, Knox.”
“For what?”
“For being an overbearing, possessive asshole and canceling my flight to Miami.”
Knox
Lightning streaked across the sky, and the resounding thunder nearly drowned out Victoria’s love confession. But I refused to allow her declaration of love to be lost amongst the elements.
She loves me. This is all I ever wanted from Victoria, but why does her love feel circumstantial and that she loves me by default because she has no one else to choose from?
“Thank you, Knox.”
“For what?” I asked dubiously.
“For being an overbearing, possessive asshole and canceling my flight to Miami.”
I cleared my throat. “No thanks are required. There was no way I’d allow my future wife to embarrass my family name by twerking on tabletops.”
“Hubby, you prance around in a caftan with your fucking dick print showing, and you think I’m embarrassing the family name?”
I grinned smugly and prepared to be punched in the gut. “You sound jealous. Is it the caftan or the dick?”
She snorted and rolled her eyes. “The ceremony has not been completed. I can still walk away from you as a single woman.”
Victoria’s threat cracked open the sky, forcing us to run to the cave for cover.
I fell against the cavern wall and laughed as she sputtered and fought with the makeshift veil that clung to her face.
She eventually yanked it off and threw it spitefully on the ground.
My eyes wandered down her body while she cursed the former swimsuit cover to Hell.
The white sundress embraced her now slender frame, showing off her tightened nipples and the gentle swell of her hips.
“Victoria,” I said suddenly.
“What’s up, Knox Berry Farm?” she asked, squeezing water from her braids.
It’s Knott’s Berry Farm….
“Love makes you do crazy things sometimes, you know that?”
“Oh? Is that why Naomi Lereaux wanted to ice you because she loved you?”
I barked out a laugh and pushed myself off the wall.
“No, there was no love there,” I said, extending a hand to her.
She accepted it and allowed me to pull her into an embrace.
“Love makes you do crazy things like planning a romantic getaway for you and your executive assistant under the guise of a business trip.”
“Mmmm,” Victoria contentedly hummed when I squeezed her ass. I slowly inched her skirt up her hips and was relieved she wasn’t wearing panties.
“I may not have been on your vision board, but you were on mine as soon as you entered my office. I knew I wanted you, and I’d have you by any means necessary,” I admitted as I slowly eased two fingers into her.
She was warm and wet, and her arousal was leaking down my fingers in no time as I prepped her to take me.
“While you were preoccupied hating every fiber of my being, I was busy loving every part of you—every scowl, every satisfied smirk when you put me in my place, every accidental brush of the fingers when you handed me documents.” My thumb brushed against her clit, and she nearly crumbled.
“Not yet, baby,” I whispered against her lips as my taunting caresses slowed.
“I was so unreasonably enamored with you that seeing your name scrawled on documents angered me.” Victoria’s brow tilted in confusion through the lust. “I’d see your last name and wanted to scratch it out and write mine there instead. ”
“Jesus, Knox. You need help,” she moaned, burying her face into my neck.
“I disagree. You said I’m a changed man,” I said, picking her up. Her legs and arms secured around me, and I didn’t hesitate to drop my pants.
“I…I…mmm, I take it back,” she whimpered when I buried myself into her.
“I don’t give a fuck, Victoria. You can take it back,” I replied, thrusting deeply until her nails dug into my shoulders. “I’ll just spend the rest of my life proving it to you.”
I paused my vows temporarily to get a couple of strokes in and savor how she fit me like a fucking glove. We simultaneously groaned in disappointment when I pulled out, but I had a sudden urge to see my soon-to-be wife bent over with her ass slapping against my pelvis.
Seconds passed, and Victoria’s speech slurred as I drilled into her from behind.
One of her hands grasped the side of my thigh, and her other gripped the moist cavern wall.
Her hand slipped down the wall, and in a flash, I was there, catching her wrist and slapping her hand back against the wall.
I pressed my palm against the back of her hand for support.
Because there’s no way I’ll ever let my wife fall.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re on the island or off the island—I will always love…
cherish… protect… and provide for you,” I said between thrusts.
“If you want an addition to our condo with the million-dollar view, then I’ll build it.
If you want a papaya from the tallest tree on the island, then I’ll climb it.
If you want a lobster with claws bigger than your fucking head, then I’ll dive to the depths of the sea to catch it.
My love for you may be viewed by most as unhealthy, chaotic, and obsessive, but you made me this way.
” Victoria tapped on my thigh rapidly, alerting me that she’d be gushing on me any minute and that I needed to wrap my vows up.
“In closing, I know when the jet crashed that you probably wished you were with anyone but me, but for me, it was always you. I take you to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part.”
Victoria’s pleasured wails reverberated off the walls. Her pussy strangled, and I was trying to hold out until she finished, but her orgasm was endless.
Come on, Knox. You have to pull out.
I used the last shred of my self-control and common sense and pulled out. My cum jetted across Victoria’s ass and back, blending naturally with the fabric of her sundress.
“I do,” Victoria responded as she tried to catch her breath.
“As you should,” I said boastfully.
“I know you said you’d tell me your middle name if we were rescued, but as your island wife, I think I should know,” she said. She pulled herself up and slipped her soiled dress off, leaving her as naked as the day she was born and making my dick stand to attention again.
“I suppose it’s only fair. We’ll consider it a wedding present. My middle name is Giovanni.”
“Giovanni?” she squealed. “I didn’t know you were Italian.”
“On my mother’s side.”
“Uh-uh. I need you to spend more time with your mother when we’re rescued because I need her to become my pasta plug. Can I call you Gio?”
“You can call me anything you want as long as it’s not That Man Over There.”
“Giovanni,” she mumbled to herself as she scanned me analytically. “Mhm. I can see it now. I was way off with Sharkeisha.”
“No shit. Let’s go, Wife. The rain stopped. I’ll make dinner tonight. What do you want?” I asked, cleaning my cum off her.
“I want you to swim to the ocean’s depths and grab me one of those Krakens.”
I rolled my eyes.
Let me get right on that.
“Will you settle for an octopus?”
“An octopus will suffice.”