10. Ethan
Ethan
What a day. When Cassie's brothers rolled up on the compound with guns drawn, I figured we were about to bury somebody before the cake even got cut.
Somehow, between Prez and Cassie standing her ground, it never got that far.
I'm glad they stayed for the party, for her sake more than anything, but that doesn't mean any of us let our guard down.
Me and my brothers take turns keeping half an eye on them all night, in case this whole truce is just a long way of getting men inside our gate.
By the time the night winds down, I don't think that anymore.
But I'll keep watching anyway. That's the job now.
Knuckles takes first watch without anybody asking him to, because that's just who he is.
Brax relieves him a couple hours in. Even on watch, though, it's not long before her brothers are drinking and laughing along with the rest of us like they've always belonged here, and it's strange as hell, but it's a problem for tomorrow.
Tonight all I want is my wife in my bed, and I still can't quite believe she's mine to take there.
Prez finds me during my stretch on watch, his cigarette already lit.
"You think they're waiting to make a move?
I don't love having them on our compound, but Cassie seems settled about it.
Whatever they want out of tomorrow's sit-down, they're going to ask for it regardless of how friendly tonight looks. "
"If it's something the club doesn't want a part of, I'll handle it myself.
" I hold his eye. "She’s my responsibility.
I'm the one who brought this to our door.
Black Saints run clean, no guns, no drugs, and I'll take whatever risk comes with that line before I let any of my brothers get caught up in it. "
He blows smoke sideways, considering me a long moment.
"Shotgun." My name still doesn't sound real coming out of somebody else's mouth yet.
"You're my brother now. Black Saints do things together, or we don't do them at all.
Nobody in this club carries a weight alone that the rest of us can help shoulder.
I can overrule the table if I need to. I try never to. "
"We'll keep eyes on them tonight, and they know it too." I glance toward the fire, where her brothers are laughing at something Cash said. "I'm about done with my rotation. Once I hand off, I'm taking my bride to bed. I’ve been staring at her across this yard all night wanting nothing else."
Prez laughs, stubbing out his cigarette. "Go on, I've got it from here. Rosie won't mind losing me a while longer." He claps my shoulder. "Go get your wife, Shotgun."
I don't give him the chance to change his mind. I cross to the knot of women still laughing too loud, a few drinks deep, and slide my arms around Cassie's waist from behind.
"Come here, wifey. Let's go get you out of that dress." I don't wait for an answer, just sweep her up bridal style, and the whole yard erupts in cheers behind us as I carry her toward the clubhouse. Her brothers nod at me, almost respectful, right before the door shuts them out.
"Hell of a day," I tell her, taking the stairs two at a time with her still in my arms. "You holding up okay?"
"Better than okay. I'm about to get thoroughly ruined by the man I married, and my brothers actually celebrated with us instead of starting a war.
" She loops her arms tighter around my neck.
"There's still a deal to be made tomorrow, I know that.
But tonight, can we just forget the rest of the world exists? "
"Whatever you want, wife." I kick my door shut behind us and lay her down on the bed slowly, drinking in the sight of her still in that dress. "Don't take it off. Want to see you like this while I make you mine properly."
She blushes, that same shade she always goes when I catch her off guard. "Good thing I went commando all day, then."
"You what?" I go still halfway out of my cut. "You weren't wearing anything under that dress this whole time?"
"Figured my husband might want a quickie somewhere during the party. My brothers ruined the surprise before I got the chance." She laughs, and God, she's everything.
"I love you, Cassie." I lean down and kiss her, sliding my hand up under the hem of her dress, along the bare skin of her thigh, and she shivers under my palm.
"Show me." Her voice has gone low and rough. "Show me how much."
I settle over her, careful not to crush the dress even though every part of me wants to tear it clean off her, and kiss down the line of her throat instead, over her collarbone, dragging the neckline just far enough aside to get my mouth on her breast. She arches into me, her fingers threading into my hair, tugging hard enough to sting in exactly the way I like.
"Ethan." My name in her mouth still undoes me every single time.
I work my way down her body, hiking the dress up around her hips, and settle myself between her thighs. She's already soaked, has been since the second I locked that door, and I taste her until her hips are rocking up to meet my mouth and her hands are fisted tight in the sheets.
I kiss my way back up her body and free myself from my jeans, easing into her inch by careful inch, both of us going still for a second at the sheer overwhelming fact of it.
She locks her ankles behind my back, urging me the rest of the way home, and I brace over her, staring down at my wife in her wedding dress with her hair spread out across my pillow like she was made for exactly this moment.
"You feel like heaven, Cass." I move slow at first, savoring it, though it doesn't take long before slow stops being an option either of us wants.
"Harder." Her hands slide up into my hair, tugging hard. "I need to feel this tomorrow."
I give her exactly what she's asking for, driving into her deep and steady, her voice climbing with every thrust until I don't care one bit who hears us through these walls.
She comes undone underneath me first, a broken, gorgeous sound tearing loose from her throat, hips lifting hard off the mattress to meet me, and the sight of her alone is enough to drag me right over the edge behind her, her name the only thing left in my head as I follow.
We lie tangled together after, her wedding dress rucked up around her waist, both of us too wrecked to bother fixing it. I brush the damp hair back from her face and press a kiss to her temple.
"Best day of my life," I tell her, and mean every word of it.
"Mine too." She yawns against my chest, already halfway to sleep. "Even with the gunfire."
"Especially with the gunfire. Nothing like almost dying to make a wedding memorable." I feel her laugh more than hear it, and I hold onto her as she drifts off, thinking I could stay in this exact spot for the rest of my life and never once want for anything else.