Chapter 19
19
One Year and One Month Later
Lincoln
Being married one month after his divorce wasn’t what Lincoln hadn’t expected from life, but here he was. And he was happier than he ever thought he’d be. His daughter was conspicuously absent from the guests. Janet was getting married to Marshall today, a decision made after the invites to his and Ashley’s wedding had gone out, and Rebecca had chosen to go to her mother’s wedding.
He didn’t hold it against her. Things were still extremely awkward between her and Ashley. They had been ever since Rebecca had found out that he and Janet were getting a divorce and he and Ashley were in a relationship.
He’d been proud of his pet—she hadn’t gloated, even though some might think she would have been perfectly justified in doing so. Later that night, he’d rewarded her by tying her to his bed and using toys on her until she’d nearly blacked out from too many orgasms.
Being with Ashley was far easier than it had any right to be. She was way too young for him, yet it didn’t matter. Physical chemistry had led to love, which had led him to stand at the end of an aisle for the second time in his life.
“Stop fidgeting,” Harris whispered from behind him. Harris was his best man, of course, and the rest of the Spice Doms were serving as his groomsmen. “And don’t forget to breathe.”
Watching Ashley’s friends from the Outlands walking down the aisle, it wasn’t Lincoln’s fault he was feeling antsy. Ashley had wanted to do things the ‘right’ way, which meant spending the night before the wedding apart. It was the first night they’d been apart in months. He hadn’t liked it, even though he’d enjoyed hanging out with Harris and his men.
One thing about Ashley was she’d been thrilled to have the Spice Doms as part of their wedding, not just as guests. She understood they weren’t just his employees; they were like family to him. Planning this wedding had made him realize how often he’d given up what he wanted or let his own opinions and desires be superseded by Janet. Not to say he and Ashley always wanted the same thing, but they both compromised when that happened, rather than him being the only one to make concessions.
It was a whole new way of life.
He couldn’t say he wished Marshall and Janet the best but knew he was better off without them in his life. Things with the firm had been fine without Marshall, and his life had become much better without Janet.
At least Wiley had showed up for his daughter today. That had been part of Rebecca’s excuse for going to Janet’s wedding today. They were ‘splitting events.’ The older man sat stiffly in the front row of the guests with a large space between him and Ashley’s Uncle Kellar, who was going to be her new stepfather in a few months. Lincoln was still highly amused by how that had turned out, though he did his best not to show it. Things were strained enough between family members, and Ashley wanted everyone to get along on her wedding day.
The doors at the back of the room closed after the last bridesmaid walked through. Lincoln jerked to attention, his eyes trained on the doors. His breath hitched in his throat as he saw Courtney reach the end of the aisle out of the corner of his eye, and the music shifted. The doors opened again, revealing Ashley and her mother standing there.
Walking forward, the two women were radiant. He’d grown to care for Sara and was happy to see her so happy. He was especially happy she’d accepted him in Ashley’s life despite everything. She was a good woman.
Meeting his gaze, a smile bloomed on Ashley’s face as she walked toward him on her mother’s arm. The dress she was wearing was a lacy confection that hugged her body, but he couldn’t have described it in any detail. His attention was riveted to her expression and her wide eyes, and he could feel himself choking up.
She was stunning.
Perfect.
His.
When they reached him, Sara turned to give Ashley a kiss on the cheek, then Lincoln got a nod before she went to her seat. Kellar grinned up at her as she approached, while Wiley avoided looking at her or Lincoln. He stared straight ahead as if his life depended on it.
Maybe it did a little. No one here was going to tolerate him being anything but supportive of Ashley.
He’d thrown a fit when Ashley had said she wanted her mom to walk her down the aisle, so Lincoln had pulled him aside and explained the way things were going to be. As a completely shit father, he didn’t get the right to demand anything from Ashley. He was lucky she wanted him there at all.
But that was the past, and Wiley didn’t deserve one more second of consideration from any of them.
Beaming at Ashley, Lincoln took her hand as they turned to the pastor.
It wasn’t a long ceremony, though it was beautiful. Lincoln could have done without the party afterward. All he wanted was to celebrate with his new bride, especially since she’d been saving something very special for him since they’d met, waiting for their wedding night. However, knowing how much the reception meant to Ashley gave him a lot more patience as they went through the requisite speeches, dances, and cake cutting.
She was a good girl and didn’t smash it in his face, though she did boop his nose with some icing—an act which he’d get his retribution for later. He planned on licking icing off of several places.
While they danced, he slid his hand down over her ass and gave it a quick squeeze.
“Stop, my mom might see!” Ashley squealed, trying to wriggle away as she giggled. Lincoln didn’t let her get very far.
“I’m pretty sure your mom knows you aren’t a virgin by now,” he said dryly and completely unrepentantly.
“Well, part of me still is.” His beautiful bride winked up at him, mischief dancing in her eyes.
His cock perked up, and he growled at her, pulling her in close to him.
“If you’re trying to deter me, that is not the way.” All she’d done was make him want to toss her over his shoulder and carry her to their hotel room so he could ravage her the way he wanted to. “Is your plug still in?”
“Yes, and I think you’re very mean for making me wear one all day at my wedding.” She pouted prettily at him.
Leaning down to make sure no one else would overhear his words, Lincoln swayed his body next to hers in time to the music.
“Trust me, pet, you’ll be thanking me for stretching you out when I shove my cock in there an hour from now.”
He could feel the shiver that went through her as she pulled back enough to look up at him and meet his gaze. Her teeth dragged over her lower lip, pupils dilated, eyes hot with need. Lincoln knew what that look meant, and excitement and arousal surged through him.
“I don’t think I can wait that long,” she whispered, lifting her hand to press two fingers against where his shirt showed through the lapels of his tux coat and walking them up toward his neck.
That was all the encouragement he needed. Lincoln bent slightly and grabbed her by the waist, tossing her over his shoulder in one easy movement. Ashley shrieked. Across the dance floor, he could see her mother and uncle laughing. On the other side of the floor, Wiley glared, but Lincoln ignored him and made sure to turn, so Ashley wouldn’t accidentally catch a glimpse of her father as Lincoln carried her out of the reception.
“Thank you all for coming.” His voice boomed out over the music. “Please enjoy the rest of the party! The bar is open for another hour.”
Several people—including his brother—cheered as he stalked out, Ashley draped over his shoulder, one hand possessively cupping the ass he was about to claim. He could feel her shaking on his shoulder as she giggled incessantly the whole way out of the reception.
He didn’t put her down until they got to the elevator, where he pinned her against the wall as soon as he’d punched the button to get them to their room, and took her lips in a rough kiss. Ashley kissed him back with enthusiasm, wrapping her arms around his neck, pressing her lower body against his erection as it thickened.
Damn, he couldn’t wait to get her alone…
The ding as the elevator doors opened made both of them jump back, remembering they couldn’t assume they’d be alone. Thankfully, there was no one in the hallway, because he was pretty sure he had Ashley’s lipstick smeared across his mouth. Ah, well. Not like he cared.
“This way.” Grabbing her hand, he pulled her down the hallway, not that he had to pull very hard. She was as eager as he was. They hadn’t taken more than two steps into their room when he was on her again, his hands sliding from her chin down to her body, seeking out the zipper to her dress… he wanted to leave the skirt on to flip up over her head, but he also wanted access to her breasts. The neckline was high enough to make that difficult without either tearing the dress or unzipping it.
One did not tear a woman’s wedding dress without asking permission first.
Besides, he liked her in the dress and might want to role-play this scene again in the future. Better to keep everything intact.
As they worked on each other’s clothes, he moved them toward the bed, barely managing to keep them from stumbling.
Ashley’s hands were just as busy, working on unbuttoning his shirt, pulling the bottom free from his pants. Lincoln undid the clasp of her strapless bra and pulled it free from her dress, so he could tug the front of her dress down to expose her breasts.
“Oh…” She moaned as he dipped his head down to suck one pert nipple between his lips, using the opportunity to shrug off his jacket and shirt at the same time. Using his hands and mouth to attend to both of her breasts, he switched back and forth between them until the little nubs of her nipples were hard and swollen from his nips.
Then he lifted his head and took her lips in another deep, hard kiss before spinning her around to face the bed.
It was time to claim his bride.