Chapter Twenty-Six
Eddie
One Week Later
“You must’ve been a cat in another life, Eddie,” Wesley laughs on the other side of the screen. “That’s the only explanation for how you’ve managed to dodge Amber finding out about Pippa.”
Shrugging, I struggle to hold on to the receiver. The thing feels a bit slimy today. “How you holding up?” I question, trying to change the subject. “What did the judge say?”
“What we were dreading,” he said quietly. “Five years. Three if I’m a good boy.”
“Fuck, five years is a long time.”
He laughs. “How little faith you have in me, my friend.”
“We both know you can’t stay out of trouble.”
He just smiles. “I’ve made some friends in here.”
“Did you have to drop the soap in order to make them?”
Jaw clenching, his glare pierces me even through the screen. “Not funny, motherfucker. They’re literally auctioning me off like I’m some damn prized pig. I have to sleep with one eye open right now.”
“Shit, are you going to be okay in there?”
“I don’t know. There’s a lot of bad fucking people here. They’re talking about sending me to Carson City.”
“Damn, that’s federal.”
He nods. “Yeah, I’m as good as dead if I end up there.”
“Can you talk them out of it?”
“Not really. They’re working on sentencing now. I should find out in a few days where I end up.”
A heavy silence settles between us. The mood even more somber.
“I wish you were out here with me instead of in there, man.”
“Me too, Eddie. But hit me with something good. Give me something to look forward to.”
“Well, I bought us bikes.”
“Fuck yeah! How much do I owe ya?”
“Nothing, consider it incentive to be a good boy while in there.”
He laughs. “I’ll fucking try, but no promises. How’s Amber?”
Absentmindedly, I take off my hat, run a hand through my hair, and replace it before answering, jaw tight, teeth clenching. “Not great. She’s been a mess since her and Pippa had that blow up.”
“I’m still in shock Pippa didn’t say anything.”
“I think she’s waiting…”
“For what?” he asks.
“Tomorrow. I think she’s just biding her time until the actual wedding.”
“Fuck, that’s messed up. And what about that Australian dude? Aren’t you pissed that he fucking touched Amber again?”
“Sure, but at least she didn’t fuck him this time.”
“And if she had? Would you still be getting married?”
For a second, I forget to breathe, my anxiety multiplying.
“Eddie? Earth to, Eddie?”
He waves his hand at the screen. “You okay, man?”
After he claps his hands, I snap out of it, barely able to focus on him
“Can we talk about something else? Anything else…”
He opens his mouth to speak, but the bell rings behind him, alerting us that our time has come and gone.
“I gotta go. Keep your head up, Eddie. Don’t let this shit stop you from marrying Amber tomorrow. Promise me.”
“I promise, but only if you promise not to drop the soap.”
He flips me off. “Fuck off, asshole.” But then he grins, both of us wishing we were close enough to hug. I need him right now. I just didn’t realize how much until I saw his smiling face on the screen.
“Don’t get shanked,” I shout after him, but he’s already walking away, leaving me alone to stew in my own thoughts.
I hang up the phone and lean my head against the wall of the visiting room, letting the fluorescent lights bleed into my skull. Wesley’s grin still lingers in my head, but so does the fear that he tried to hide from me.
He’s not okay in there.
And I’m not okay out here.
Without him I feel lost and empty, but without me…
Fuck, without me Wesley really is as good as dead.
Amber’s waiting for me at my house when I get home. She’s been here since her fight with Pippa and Poppy, and even though I know it’s bad luck to see her before the wedding, I let her stay, knowing she’s trying to hold herself together.
“How’s Wesley?”
“He looks like dogshit. But somehow the prick is still smiling. Apparently, they’re taking bets on who can get to him first.”
“Get to him?”
I give her a look. The one where I peruse her body from top to bottom, and she gasps.
“No.”
“Mmm, hmm. I need to get his ass out of there.”
“Didn’t he see the judge today? What they sentence him for?”
“Five years. Three if he’s on his best behavior.”
Amber grimaces. “He’s fucked then.”
“Royally.”
She shakes her head. “I’m so sorry, Eddie.” Maybe she can see the turmoil in my eyes, or the worry that’s giving me wrinkles, because she wiggles her hand into mine and lays her head on my shoulder.
“I feel like this wedding is cursed.”
She’s not wrong, but I’m not about to agree with her.
“Babe, don’t talk like that.”
“I can’t help it. Everything that can go wrong, has. What’s next? I keep waiting for another shoe to drop. I just have this bad feeling I can’t shake.”
“Me too.”
She turns to me, her hand caressing my stubbled cheeks. “Maybe we should—”
I cut her off with a fevered kiss, one that has her blushing the second she pulls away. “Don’t talk like that,” I beg her. “Please.”
“Eddie, I’m just saying—”
“Amber, I’m serious. I want this. If you want this too, then we can’t let the bad shit deter us from getting to that altar.”
“It’s a lot of bad shit, Eddie.”
“Yeah, I know, but overcoming it will only make us stronger.
Her eyes well with tears. “I guess I’m just afraid. What if it all blows up in our faces?”
“Then we pick out the shrapnel and keep going. It’s the only way, Amber. If we continue to let the bad shit get in the way, we won’t survive this.”
Before she can come at me with another reason why we shouldn’t get married tomorrow, I quickly scoop her off the ground, carrying her through my house wedding style until she’s been over the threshold of my bedroom.
“Eddie, what are you doing?”
Her laughter softens the ache in my chest, but not the guilt.
That fucking guilt. It clings to me like heavy smoke, the kind that lingers in the air and silently chokes you.
All I have to do is get her to that altar tomorrow, marry her, and then come clean.
Once that ring is on her finger she can’t just run away.
Our eyes meet as her butt hits the bed, both of us knowing this is considered bad juju.
I’ve never been superstitious, so I just keep going, my hands trailing over the hills of her perky white breasts, ready to remove any clothing that stands in my way.
She doesn’t move.
Just stares.
Her eyes are wide with wonder, chest rising and falling with shallow breaths.
I see the flicker of fear still lingering.
And I know she feels it too. The dread. The storm that’s brewing and won’t be stopped.
The weight of it all… the pressure to smile when it’s the hardest expression to form without faking it.
“Eddie, you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?”
“It was Pippa,” my internal ramblings answer silently.
“Nothing.”
“You look tortured.”
Because I am. If only you knew.
“I’m fine.”
She frowns. “I don’t believe you.” She sits up on her elbows. “Talk to me, please,” she begs.
I am talking. I just can’t say the words out loud.
Her hand gently cups my face, forcing me to look deep into her blue eyes, getting lost in the unnatural shade of robin’s egg I’ve grown so used to.
I can’t lose this.
I can’t lose her.
“Talk to me, please. What’s going on in your head?”
“I don’t want to lose you,” I whisper as my demons goad me to fully confess.
“You’re not going to lose me, Eddie. Tomorrow I’ll be yours forever.”
I wish I could believe you.
“Stop doubting us.”
“Even you’re doubting us, Amber.”
She takes my hand and gently kisses my knuckles. “I know, but we’re both working on it. And that’s all that matters, right?”
I wish that were true, too. But the second you find out…
Just come clean, Eddie.
“Look, Amber, there’s some stuff that I think you should know…”
She presses a finger against my lips. “Save it for after the wedding, Eddie.”
“I don’t think this should wait.”
She moves to her knees then removes her shirt, her eyes dancing wildly. “I’ve had enough shit to deal with the past few weeks. Whatever it is, it can wait. Right now, I just want you to focus on me.”
Her tits pop out as she unclasps her bra, bouncing them a few times to taunt me. When my tongue moves over my swollen lips in lust, she grins.
“Do you think seeing my tits the night before our wedding is equivalent to seven years bad luck for smashing a mirror?”
“I don’t give a fuck about bad luck, baby. Right now, I just want to hold you close and never let you go.”
“Then hold me, Eddie. Hold me and never let me go.”
I press my lips to hers before she can say another word, kissing her like I’m trying to burn away everything wrong inside me.
Her mouth parts, the soft tenderness of her pout instantly soothes my soul, turning it from black to morally gray.
Our kiss deepens, tongues sliding over each other, my touch melting her.
She lets me take control like she always does. But tonight, I need more. I need to feel her own it.
I break the kiss. “Take your skirt off,” I demand.
Her brows lift. “Why?”
“Because I need to see you,” I whisper. “Every fucking inch.”
She doesn’t hesitate. Her hands work fast, unzipping the side of her skirt until it’s off and thrown across the room, exposing her bare flesh.
No panties.
My mouth waters.
I drop my head and suck a single tit between my teeth, tugging until she arches into me with a moan. My fingers twist into her hair, pulling her head back until her neck’s ready for me to taste. She hisses when my teeth sink into her collar, biting down, ready to devour her whole.
“That’s my Drac,” she murmurs. “I always knew you were a vampire.”
“A vampire who only craves you,” I mumble while kissing a path from her navel to her hipbone, trailing my tongue along her skin like I’m marking her for my next bite.
I feel it in my bones—the primal need to worship her.
Even if I don’t deserve it, she gives herself to me.
No anger or resentment, just pure submission.
My mouth hovers just above her center, her scent already making me hard as steel. She wouldn’t be this welcoming if she knew my secret. The same secret that burns my tongue like gasoline, corroding it like acid.
“Eddie,” she whispers, her voice all trembles and moans. “Make love to me.”
She’s never asked before. Not like this.
“Please, Eddie. Show me exactly why I fell in love with you.”
I drag my nose up her body, stopping only when I’m hovering above her, arms a bit shaky, my smile warming the longer I stare into her eyes.
My lips touch down onto hers, and I suck her bottom lip between my teeth, igniting even more of a spark between us.
“That’s one… ah… ah… ah,”
Her eyes roll back as my mouth trails back to her collarbone, that same spot inviting me in as my teeth rake over the sensitive piece of flesh all over again. “Two. I’ve given you two bites… ah… ah… ah…”
Only her and I know what this all means… the significance… the pure nostalgia.
“Eddie, please. Make me come.”
“But I’m not done counting.”
Her eyes darken as her nails dig into my shoulders, forcing me lower, the tip of my cock briefly brushing over her folds.
“Eddie, if you don’t start pleasing me with that beautiful cock of yours, I’m gonna—”
“Don’t worry, baby, by morning, you’ll be counting all the ways I make you come.”
Before she can protest, I’m gripping her thighs, dragging my tongue between her folds, slowly savoring her taste.
She gasps, thighs jerking around my head as they squeeze me between them.
“Don’t stop,” she begs. “Please don’t stop.”
I don’t.
I won’t… not when I can make her remember exactly what we’re fighting for.
I suck her clit into my mouth and flick my tongue against it until she’s writhing under me, nails digging into my shoulder blades. She cries out, trying to close her legs, but I hold them open, spreading her wide so I can continue my feast.
She’s soaked.
Hot and slick against my tongue, I slip two fingers inside her, curling them just right, searching for that sweet spot that makes her fall apart.
I find it without even trying.
She cries out my name, thighs clenching, back arching off the bed. Her orgasm hits hard and fast, and I keep licking through it, drawing it out, forcing another from her before she even has time to come down from the first.
By the time I pull back, her legs are shaking, lips swollen and glistening. I don’t give her a chance to recover. I flip her over, dragging her hips until she’s on her knees. She gasps when she feels my cock pressing against her entrance.
“As hard as you can,” she informs me. “I want you to have to carry me down that damn aisle tomorrow.”
Her naughty wish is my dark and dirty command.
That first thrust is punishing, hitting her back walls as I fill her with my girth. Her warmth encircles me, gripping me so tight I see stars. My fingers dig into her hips as I press her head down, forcing her moans into feathery pillows,
I slam into her over and over, the sound of our bodies colliding like broken echoes through the room.
It should feel perfect.
But it doesn’t.
Because every time she cries out in pleasure, every time she tells me she loves me, Pippa’s face flashes behind my eyelids.
My throat tightens.
Amber doesn’t know.
But she will.
And when she does… this might be the last time I ever get to feel her like this.
I reach around and rub her clit again, pushing her closer to the edge. I need her to come one more time. I need her to fall with me, because I don’t know if we’ll survive the landing.
“Come for me, baby,” I whisper against her shoulder, sweat dripping from my jaw to her skin. “Come on my cock. Let me feel it.”
Her whole body seizes, and she comes harder than we both expect, clenching around me until I’m cloaked in a black veil, my thrusts becoming more than just sex and more like silent confessions.
I thrust once… twice... each one another confession she’s unable to hear.
It’s not until she says I love you that the dam of guilt breaks, and my cock explodes inside of her, my entire body shuddering with the release.
We collapse in a tangled mess of limbs and breath.
She turns to me, face flushed, eyes heavily lidded.
“I needed that,” she says quietly.
I kiss her temple. “Me too.”
But the dread doesn’t leave me.
It just settles deeper into my bones.
Because I know what’s coming.
And no amount of pleasure will stop the pain she’s about to feel if the truth comes out.
I just pray it happens after we say I do.