Chapter 45
FORTY-FIVE
DAISY
I could barely hear the shouts and cheers of my children and Cash’s family over the ringing in my ears. Over the buzz in my heart and the clatter in my spirit.
Could sense next to nothing except for the thrill of Cash’s kiss.
His lips against mine as he kissed me for the first time.
It wasn’t reserved or like he was doing it to put on a show, and it didn’t come close to feeling like he was doing it out of obligation because that’s what the judge had instructed him to do.
He kissed me like he was pouring everything he had into it. The same way as I felt in his eyes when he was staring down at me. The same as I heard in his voice when he’d uttered those words.
“I do.”
I do.
I do.
I chanted it silently as I fisted my fingers into the fabric of his dress shirt. Wondering if I’d tripped and hit my head on the way in because this felt impossible.
Too real and right and everything that I ever wanted.
Fire spiraled through me as his mouth moved against mine.
One of his big, big hands curled around my jaw and the other glided down my back and kneaded into my flesh as he bent me backward a fraction.
The man completely commanded the kiss.
Devoured me in a way that I only dreamed of being devoured.
Right out in public and in plain sight of our families.
His teeth just barely nipped at my lips, and I felt the soft sweep of the tip of his tongue against mine.
A dizzying promise of what was to come.
I couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think.
I could only wheeze out a disoriented sigh when he pulled back a fraction and gazed down at me with those hazel eyes.
“My wife.”
My pulse raced at a frantic beat, and I felt completely disoriented when he pecked another quick kiss on my lips before he weaved his fingers through mine, tugging at my hand as he basically hauled me back up the aisle that led to the massive double wooden doors of the courthouse.
Raven stood and shoved the bouquet back into my hands as we passed. Cash sent a succinct, telling nod to the guys, while the rest of the girls were giving me these little giddy flutters of their fingers and my children were waving and grinning as they stood on the bench to watch us depart.
Cash didn’t waste any time. He led me out into the foyer, our feet clattering on the stone tile before we burst through the exterior doors.
Rays of sunlight speared from above, and Cash didn’t slow as he hurried me down the ten steps that fronted the enormous historic building. Stone pillars supported its facade and bracketed the doors that the rest of the family piled out of.
Still cheering and shouting and giving us well wishes.
Like this was real.
Like what we had promised within the walls of that building had been sanctified and brought into fruition.
Cash didn’t slow. He led me to his bike that was parked next to two others.
My heart jackhammered in my chest.
My mind swirling in excitement and confusion.
He swung his leg over.
God, the man was so gorgeous at the helm.
The longer pieces of his warm brown hair blew in the breeze and those forest-hedged eyes gleamed with greed.
He released me long enough to kick over the bike’s engine before he reached out, took my hand, and gave it a tug.
“Get on, Daisy.”
It was a command.
A claim.
The oxygen fled from my lungs, and I carefully hiked up the skirt of my dress so I could swing my leg over his bike.
He held me steady as I climbed on.
Flames licked through my insides as I pressed my chest to his back, and my thighs burned as I tucked them up to his hips.
He revved the engine, and my children jumped and clapped.
And it was bliss I could feel streaking through me as Cash took to the street. As he wound through the quaint small town and headed up the mountain.
The wind whipping through my hair and the skirt of my dress flapping all around.
Cash’s hard body steel against mine.
His heart banged at his chest. So loud I could feel it thrum against my ear that I had pressed to his back.
We climbed and weaved up the mountainside.
The engine a roar and the metal vibrating us to the bone.
I was terrified to even contemplate what was happening. To think that maybe…maybe he felt the same thing as I did when I whispered those words.
The oath that had wound out from my soul.
The truest confession of my love.
Did he know it then? Did he understand?
We took the two-lane road at an exhilarating pace. The blood in my veins rushing wild as we leaned into the curves, my arms cinched tight around him, no fear in my being because I knew without any reservations that Cash would protect me.
That he would take care of my children, no matter what.
That he…
My stomach twisted in anticipation as he slowed and turned onto the worn trail that led to his cabin. The bike bounced over the rutted terrain while my spirit soared high above it.
He eased down the bank and back up to the clearing on the other side where he pulled to a stop in front of his cabin.
A place of comfort.
A sanctuary.
In it, Cash’s gaze sped through the area, ensuring that it was safe.
When he decided it was, he took my hand to guide me off. “Be careful of the exhaust pipe.”
I fumbled off on the ridiculous heels that I wore. Heels that made me feel sexy and strong and bold. Standing there in the dress that Cash had chosen for me as he turned his attention my way.
His stare was molten.
So hot it singed my flesh.
He was off one beat later.
An unwavering fortress of volatility. His giant body rolled with something I had never seen in it before. An obliterating possession unlike anything I had ever felt.
A big hand came to the back of my neck, and he yanked me toward him, and the man crushed his lips against mine in a bruising kiss.
Desperate and deep.
Lightheadedness swept through me, and he looped his free arm around my waist to keep me standing as he devoured my mouth.
Lips and tongue and teeth.
Plucks and nips as he angled back and forth, taking the kiss deeper with each pass.
Cash edged me up the pathway toward his cabin as he did. His presence all around. My feet barely touched the ground as he climbed the steps and moved across the porch.
I felt like I was floating.
Soaring.
Dreaming.
Surprise jutted out of me when my back hit the outside wall. Cash inhaled it. Breathed me in.
He gripped either side of my neck as he rocked his forehead against mine.
“My wife.” The same two words cracked on his growl.
My wife.
“My wife,” he grumbled again, like he wanted to make it true.
Or maybe he already had.
His thumbs stroked up both sides of my cheeks.
Gently.
Tenderly.
So at odds with the passion that poured out of him when he dove in to take my mouth again.
My fingers sank into his shoulders as he plastered himself against me. His massive body a fire. A saving grace.
My destination.
“Cash?” I whimpered into his mouth.
I realized it came out a question. A plea since I was trying to process what was happening between us. Trying to discern what had snapped between last night and when I entered the courtroom this afternoon.
“Daisy.”
He said my name like it was the only thing I needed to know, before he licked into my mouth.
Blindly, he fumbled into his phone, punching the codes to grant us access into the cabin.
Metal ground as the locks gave.
He tossed open the door.
He barely picked me up from off my feet, my toes dragging on the ground as he pulled me against the hard planes of his chest, his mouth never ceasing in its claiming.
He carried me through the threshold that way.
Not in the traditional bride style, but in a way that was so devastatingly Cash that a rush of affection clamored through my veins.
My fingernails dug and raked as I struggled to get closer to him, giving myself over to the frenzy that had been incited.
The need so severe that we both were rasping.
Grappling and begging.
“Cash,” I said again, that time my own claim.
“My wife. My Wallflower. My best fucking friend.” Every harsh word that dripped out of his mouth was praise.
Gutting adoration.
He flicked back through the locks and reengaged the alarm, then his heavy boots thudded across the floor as he kissed me mad.
He pinned me to the wall outside his bedroom door, the man panting and gasping as he edged back to pin me with his stare. “Did you mean it? Are you mine?”
I lifted my chin. “I’ve always been yours.”
If there had been any amount of reservation left in either of us, it was decimated right then.
Razed by the shockwave of power that suddenly tore through both of us.
Cash moaned the longest sound, one of pain and adoration and giving, and I was in his arms again. He carried me through his door and set me onto my feet in the middle of his room.
Afternoon light infiltrated the room. Fluttery rays of sunshine that streaked in. Glittering motes danced in the spray.
It cast an ethereal glow that drenched the walls.
It illuminated every coarse, rugged line of his handsome face.
The man a bitter, fallen angel with a heart of gold.
“Is this what you want, Daisy? Me? All of me?”
A tremble rocked down my spine. “Yes. Always.”
Those eyes caressed, leaving a searing trail as they roved over every inch of my body.
I stood beneath the intensity, refusing to shy or shrink away.
“Never have seen anything more beautiful than the moment you walked through that door today. Felt like you ripped my heart right out of my chest. But it’s always been in the palm of your hand, Daisy.
Every minute of every day. Even when you weren’t here, you were with me. Could never fuckin’ forget you.”
A blush crept over my flesh.
“I missed you so much.” It left me on a whisper.
His thick throat bobbed as he swallowed. “That’s all I’ve done for my entire life. Missed you. But no more, Daisy. No more denying what has been there all along. No more denying this.”
“What is this?” I needed to hear him say it. I went into that courthouse this afternoon believing our marriage was fake.