Chapter 24 Fireflies #2
“Oh, um, honey, who is that family back there?” Nicki whispered to Tyler, motioning to the tattooed Mexican man with his beautiful wife, two kids and a baby. “Is that… um, is that the leader of a cartel?” she asked discreetly.
“Oh, did I not mention?” Tyler asked cheekily. “It’s customary for allied leaders to attend each other’s milestones and special events. It keeps the peace between borders. Lorenzo is a good friend. In fact, we’re going to their daughter’s Christening next month in Mexico.”
“Great!” Nicki quipped. “What did I just marry into?” she teased.
Tyler put his arm around her and brought her into him closely as he whispered into her ear. “The arms-dealing territory owners of the northwest. And you’re the Queen of it all. You have my heirs inside of you. There’s no turning back now.”
“OK, I’ll meet you upstairs in 5 minutes.”
“Fuck yes you will.”
Nicki shooed him away and walked over to greet Tanisha.
“Now, you just look stunning, girl, for real! Congratulations. On everything,” Tanisha said.
“Thank you, Tanisha. What a year it’s been, huh? Thank you for being with me through all of it. And for being the best maid of honor anyone could ask for.”
The girls embraced sweetly.
Tommy walked up to Nicki next.
“Tommy!” Nicki shouted and hugged him tightly.
“Hey…sis,” Tommy teased, releasing her hug. “Congratulations,” he added.
“Thanks, honey. Best best man ever,” she said.
“I don’t know about that!”
“I do. I love you, Tommy,” Nicki said, giving him another hug.
“I love you too, Nick. I’m really happy for you and my brother. And to spoil my nephews, I can’t wait for that! I’ll teach them to ride horses and everything!”
“Yeah, maybe in your dreams!” Nicki shouted, playfully pushing him away.
Tommy laughed and ran off to the crew over at the lively bar tent.
Nicki glanced back to the house, then back again to the guests enjoying themselves.
She put on a sneaky smile before she disappeared in an instant.
Nicki knocked quietly on Tyler’s office door, opened it and saw him sitting on the bed, in that black vicious suit, surrounded by bouquets and bouquets full of white roses.
“Oh my God, baby!” Nicki shouted and ran over to him. “Wow, you knew I would cave and this would happen here at the Compound, didn’t you?”
“Well, I prayed that it would, baby. Especially this room in particular.”
Nicki looked around the room full of roses, and Tyler helplessly sitting among them. She stood and she held his head against her chest. They embraced lovingly, hearing the muffled music and laughter from outside.
“Why this room, baby?” Nicki asked.
“Because so many times I had escaped to this room to think about you, alone. Because in my mind, I was able to have you the way I wanted. And it was in this room that I fell in love with you. That night you fell asleep here, when the roads were covered in black ice. And I kissed you when you were sleeping. And I wished I could kiss you when you were awake. I wished we could be together. It was killing me that I thought we couldn’t.
Until it was obvious there was no other existence possible. ”
Nicki wiped a tear from under her eye.
“I knew you kissed me that night. I felt it. And I wished you would do it again. I wished I could have kissed you back. But here we are, my love. We’re married now.
In this room that you had decorated in my favourite flowers, because you are always so observant, thoughtful, and kind.
So kind, especially when no one is watching.
A truly good man. The man who paid for Cliff to fix his teeth.
The one who had the casino choose my kid’s center for their charity.
The man who paid for the cleaning lady’s mother’s hospital care.
The man with the biggest lion’s heart. The heart I fell in love with. ”
Tyler reached up and kissed Nicki’s lips fully, closing his eyes, absorbing all of the love she was pouring into him.
Nicki lifted the bottom of her dress gently and slipped onto his lap just as soon as he undid his belt. They remained kissing while he unleashed his pained, erected shaft.
She sat over him slowly, continuing the soft kiss, and tightening her hold around his neck.
It was the gentlest touch they had experienced of each other. Soft, light, delicate. Careful of their clothes, and their volume and their breathing. Up and down Nicki moved slowly, grinding onto him. He pressed her down, breathing into her neck, without a word.
Tyler held her tightly close to him and shut his eyes.
She kissed his cheek, feeling both of their arousal rise into the mutual, beautiful release, sealing their union. The quietest and sweetest of releases. Maybe the most meaningful.
“I love you,” they each said at the same time. Holding each other they both cried quietly.
Nicki cupped Tyler’s face as he came down, still inside of her. He trembled. She wiped a tear from under his eye.
“We are married now. Officially, legally, physically. I will never leave you. I will never leave our children. I hope you know that I love you as much as you love me. This life and its hardships are not yours to bear alone. I will be with you until I die.”
Tyler nodded, unable to speak. Finally allowing someone else to carry some of what he had borne his whole life. Her strength was that of a true lioness. His lioness. His wife. The mother of his children.
He was no longer the lonely Alpha King. Here he rested his head in the loving hands of his wife, surrendering the burdens he had carried alone for so long.
A partnership of trust and care and loyalty and love.
A family.
The next round of delicious hors d’oeuvres were served with more Champagne to the wedding guests who couldn’t be more delighted. The dance floor was full with the kids even spilling over onto the grass. The sunset featured orange clouds with sharp silver linings over the lake.
Nicki watched the happy guests, waving back at them before her eyes drifted over to the brothers.
Tommy’s authentic dimpled smile reached his ears as he pushed Tyler around on the lawn and he pushed him back.
The memory of her and Tommy in the lavender fields came floating back to her. Nicki allowed a chuckle to herself at Tommy’s fear of death when they were in Montana together.
“I’ll always remember us in the lavender fields, Tommy,” she whispered to herself, looking at them in the distance, unable to believe that not one but two incredible men had shared their heart with her.
She smiled at their unbreakable brotherly connection and only prayed that her sons would share a bond that strong.
Nicki rubbed her tummy, looking at them playfully punching each other into a winded bro-hug.
A little while later, Tommy checked up on things at the front of the Compound, making sure everything was secure. The armed guards were at their posts as expected and everything seemed under control.
Tommy took in a deep breath, and ran his hand through his hair. Taking in a quick moment of quiet since his lakeside cabin was unable to be used as his usual escape to solitude. The empty front porch of the Compound would have to do.
Boon ran up to Tommy from the other side of the house.
“Hey, buddy!” Tommy said, giving Boon a kiss on the snout and a rough rub on the head.
Boon happily licked him back and jumped up excitedly. He barked loudly and motioned for Tommy to follow him.
“What do you want, buddy?”
Boon kept barking loudly at Tommy, in a confusing attempt at communication: bum wagging happily but with an anxious bark, walking backward. He dipped his head when Tommy tried to pet him and yelped loudly instead.
“What’s wrong with you, boy?” Tommy asked, reaching to pet Boon’s head again but the dog moved back further. Boon finally gave up and ran into the backyard to rejoin the party.
“Weird dog,” Tommy whispered, leaning over the wooden front porch railing.
A breeze brushed past him, quieting the muffled music and laughter from the wedding.
A taxi pulled up, inching slowly at the edge of the driveway.
“Pfft. Late much,” Tommy scoffed to himself.
One of the armed guards and a security member with the guest list approached the car door, verifying the guest through the window.
The guest list holder nodded to the other guard and they motioned to open the taxi door.
The guards moved to the side as the tardy mystery guest stepped out.
It only took a second.
The arrow hit Tommy directly into the heart, bludgeoning the center of it, piercing all the way through and out the other side of his back.
He let out a faint breath and wobbled like a plank, but remained planted.
Tommy instinctively pressed his hand onto his chest as he saw the blonde-haired flower-child in a long yellow dress approach the front of the gate.
She held white lilies in her hand and looked like a lily herself.
Her golden sunshine hair was long, and some strands were dreaded, matching her Bohemian look.
A dreamcatcher necklace decorated her tanned, balmy skin over her chest.