Chapter Seventeen
Summit
The sun rose clear and bright on the day of our wedding. As if it would dare do anything different. “Wake up, fiancé.” I gently shook Rowan’s shoulder.
“That’s the last time you can wake me up by calling me that,” he said, rolling over to smile up at me, eyes half closed.
“I’ll miss it.”
“Not me.” He reached up and pulled me down for a quick kiss. “Because tomorrow, you’ll wake up your husband.”
Sounded pretty good to me. Better than good. “Will you still kiss me?”
“Every day for the rest of our lives.”
Neither of us wanted a huge party, just our friends from Chained and work people, which would probably be less dangerous than it sounded.
Also, other friends who were not in the lifestyle.
Everyone from the club had a day life of some kind where they had to deal with the vanilla folks that occupied our town.
And they knew what that meant when they had to mix.
We were getting married in the park, under a beautiful old gazebo with a champagne reception afterward.
Finger foods, cake, very elegant. We were both wearing white tuxedos, and our ties were in the two colors of the backpack.
Rowan’s the deeper blue. And when we arrived, our wedding planner, who just happened to be a daddy, had everything ready.
The rows of traditional white folding chairs were adorned with swaths of blue and white fabric, and the flowers were all white.
It was so elegant that I heard one of the senior partners from my firm murmuring about how rarely an event was done properly like this anymore.
A string quartet accompanied us down the aisle to the gazebo. I’d been a little unsure about doing this, but Rowan pointed out that my bosses would expect an invitation, and this would allow us to invite everyone we cared about, be inclusive.
I liked inclusivity, and when the planning was ongoing, my husband-to-be had a blast. He sat for hours going over Aries’ ideas, making notes and sighing.
At first, he consulted me on every detail, but after a bit seemed to figure out that I was content to let him set up his dream wedding.
Okay, I told him that I was. His joy in setting everything up far outweighed any minor opinions I might have had.
Besides, I had something else up my sleeve.
We’d decided to walk in together, a slightly less-traditional choice, but when Rowan looked up at me, a hint of nerves in his gaze, I knew we were right.
“You look so handsome today, Rowan, and I’m so proud you want me to be your husband.
” I said it softly, just for him, and the tension faded from his eyes. “You’re the best.”
“No, you are,” he replied in the same tone. “I love you so much.”
“I love you, my best boy.”
From there, things went smoothly, and when we exchanged the vows we’d written, I heard sniffling from the crowd. Tears flooded my vision when I pushed the second slim band onto Rowan’s finger then held out my hand for the matching, wider band.
We kissed, and I wanted to take him home right then and make love to him all night. But we had people to see to, champagne and all the elegant canapes, and the three-tier cake with the topper made to match us in our suits.
It was perfect. Rowan and I agreed on that as we rode in the back of the short limo I’d arranged for us. “I can’t wait to get you in bed,” he said. “Although I’m so tired, I don’t know if I’ll be any good at all.”
“You’re good no matter what we do. Just sleeping with you in my arms is wonderful.” I leaned back in the seat and waited…
“Hey, this isn’t the way home!” he finally said. “Where are we going?”
“Where do you think?”
“I don’t know.” We were taking a different route to our destination. “Are we running an errand on the way home from our wedding?”
“No.” I didn’t want him to think “ordinary life” would be starting so quickly. “I have a special surprise for you. In fact, I think you need to be blindfolded.” I’d been unsure of whether to use the blindfold, but it felt right. “All right?”
“I love surprises. Okay, you can blindfold me, but I can’t promise not to scream.”
It was tricky when we went inside and I had to slip his phone from his pocket without him knowing it, but somehow I managed. And to guide him through the empty club and into the hallway where the little room was located.
I paused outside the door and looked in.
Our wedding planner had not stopped with the formal wedding and reception.
Rather, he’d helped me rent out the little room.
Decorated it, set up snacks and crafts and so many fun things, it basically had my little’s name written all over it.
I whipped off the blindfold. “Welcome to the after-party!”
Hours later, we made our way through the crowds in Chained, on our way out while many were still pouring in for the night. And when we got home, he fell asleep in my arms, and it was amazing.