Chapter Eight
Lawson
Watching someone start their forever makes me think about mine.
Standing at the chapel behind my best friend, I cannot take my eyes off Lark. Sitting in the front row, she is beautiful in the afternoon sunshine that pours in through huge windows. Outside the breeze is warm, the air fluttering palm trees and crashing the waves on the sandy shores.
We’ve walked down the aisle a few times, the small group getting it all down for tomorrow. Benji walked with Lark down the aisle before we joined him at the altar. I ought to be listening to all they explain to us. I cannot get weddings off my head. The one tonight--which we will make it to, despite her doubts--his tomorrow, and maybe soon, my own.
Lark sits in a lovely silk dress that plunges in front, showcasing her pretty tits and creamy skin. All that inky hair cascades down her back, pulled back from her face with a braid on one side. There is no one in this room, even the stunning bride, who comes close to how beautiful she is.
Standing this close, I smell her skin. The scent of tiny hotel soaps, her perfume, and...me. Even if she took a shower after leaving my room, she cannot wash that off. Because she is mine and once I took her, once I claimed her as such, that scent has clung to her.
“Listen to the pastor, dick,” Benji teases me with an elbow. “Might be you on the alter someday. If you ever decide to become a grown-up.”
Smirking, I nod. Because he is not wrong. I might tie the knot a lot sooner than anyone expected. I am not going to rush things with us because we have all the time in the world to do this together. This is not a one night, one weekend, once in a lifetime thing.
This is a lifetime thing.
This connection between us won’t end after this weekend. Neither of us want it to. We might be too afraid to admit it to ourselves or each other, but we both know it’s a fact. Earlier she pissed me off talking about after the weddings, as if there will be an after without me in her life. Not happening.
“Who knows, weddings spawn weddings, don’t they mate?”
“They say that don’t they? People fall in love at weddings all the time. Romance is in the air, a promise of forever. We all want that, don’t we?”
“You know, I never thought I did. Now, now.... I think I just might.”
“Have you met someone here? It’s been great having you at all the wedding shenanigans, but you have been...missing in action a bit.”
Guilt hits me because he is right. Two of the important people in his life have taken time from his special weekend to be with each other. It has been a few months since I have seen Benji, so I should have been more present. I was looking forward to having a hell of a time this weekend with him before he became a married man. Truth is, nothing else seemed to matter once I met his mother.
“What would you think if I said yes?”
Benji turns, eyes wide as he tugs at his beard the way he does when he’s deep in thought. His eyes scan the small group of loved ones here with us to celebrate the wedding. Coming up empty, bypassing his sister first then his mother, he shrugs. Grinning at me, he twists his beard some more before he tells me what I assumed he might.
“Whoever it is, be good to her. You’re a good man, Lawson. They would have a good life with you. Yeah, you have a wandering spirit. Might find someone who wants to wander with you, brother.”
Nodding, I glance at Lark again. Our eyes clash because hers are fixed on me. I grin when she glances away at being caught. Her creamy skin flushes and I want to kiss her pink cheeks and fuss with her dark hair. I want to go to her there in the pew, hold her hand, kiss her brow and celebrate Benji’s wedding at her side.
“Yeah, I think I might have found her,” I declare with a smirk.
From her perch on the pew, Lark reacts to my words. Good. She heard me. I want her to hear me, to see it when she looks at me. See it in the way I look at her. I’ve looked at her this way since the flight here to the island.
I look at Lark as if she is mine—because she is mine.
Not sure I even fully appreciate it until I think it. Until I look at her sitting there in the chapel, beautiful in pink silk, hair wild and soft, eyes searching mine as they gaze up at me. I know it now. I have doubted a lot of things in my life, who I was and was not, where I belonged in life, but this is something I have no doubts about.
We were meant to find each other, here and now.
Her being Benji’s mother does not matter. All that should matter is what he said. I am a good man, and she is the woman for me. Growing up was the loneliest time of my life. I had a brother fifteen years older who had no time for me and parents who forgot about me often. It wasn’t until I met Benji that I realized what a good friend was, what good people looked like.
“Let me get married before we start planning another wedding,” Benji teases as we watch the girls fuss over the flower arrangements that will fill the room.
“It might be small, Benji but...it’s quality over quantity, innit?”
Looking over the crowd gathered for him, I nod. His sister, his best friend Harley. Tori, her friends Hanna and True. Among the handful of folks here, it is clear he and Tori are loved. His father is gone, as is Tori’s mother, but Lark is here, supporting every single want they ask for.
Hopefully, Benji can be as supportive of his mother.
“You ain’t wrong, brother,” Benji guffaws, eyes softening as they land on his old lady. “I loved her the moment I saw her. My sister, my ma, they read those stories, you know. You write them. I never believed it until I felt it. Until I knew how it felt. How it hits you once you know.”
“Then you believe that someone can feel something, can know without a doubt they’ve found their person?”
“Hell yes,” he remarks as we join the crowd as the rehearsal winds down, heading from the chapel. “Deny it, run from it, lie about what it is all you want. It is what it is. Love, soulmates, finding your person, it happens when it happens. Best thing to do is embrace it.”
Nodding, I am inclined to agree. Embrace it. Hold on to it. Never let it slip from your fingers. Passing Lark as we head out, I reach down to curl my fingers around hers. Letting out a little sigh, she allows it. No one can see us and even if they could, I no longer care. There is no reason to hide this.
“You look positively beautiful, love,” I bend to whisper against her ear, brushing her silky hear back with a nudge of my nose.
“Thank you. You look...you always look so handsome.”
“Trying to impress a certain woman,” I tease, kissing her beneath her ear. “Is it working?”
“Y-yes, it is. It is working.”
“Good. It is now my sole focus. Making you look twice. Seeing your smile. Feeling you come,” I whisper this against her throat, smirking when her pulse leaps beneath my lips.
“Lawson,” she hisses even as her head tilts to give me access.
“Hmm, you love it, beautiful. You soak your pretty pussy if I talk dirty. We love it, don’t we?”
“Yes,” her answer is more a moan than a word.
“Good girl. We’re going to that wedding tonight. We’re going to dance, eat whatever cute foods they have that make you happy, talk about how we would do our own wedding. I’ll take you back to my room where I’m going to pretend we’re the newlyweds.”
Tilting her head back to gaze up at me, she nods. Because she wants this magical wedding weekend as badly as I do. But she also wants what she thinks I am teasing her with. Something I talked with her son about.
Embracing the once in a lifetime chance we’ve found together.
Going to the cigar style bar with the others, we toast to the nuptials tomorrow, to the loved ones who counted enough to be here. We talk about the bride and groom, share stories about our friendships with them and each other. Lark stays at my side as she tips back a whisky or two, beaming at her son and laughing with all of us. Once I think we’ve spent enough time with the party, I sneak us out of there, never letting go of her hand.
“Do you think they will notice us gone?”
“Perhaps. If they do, they might ask questions. I will answer them if they come. Stop thinking of a way out of this, Lark. I am not letting you get out of this without a fight.”
Blinking up at me as we stand together on the beach outside the resort, she smiles. In the pink dress, with her dark hair, she is a goddess in my eyes. I reach out, brushing her hair back from her face as a warm breeze tousles it. Lowering my head, I kiss her softly, drawing her close as the kiss deepens.
“Let’s go crash another wedding, baby. I hope they have mini food at this one too!”
Laughing, we head for the chapel side of the resort. This wedding seems much more casual than the one last night. Flip flops and sundresses, colorful bouquets brighten up the room, and the couple seems ecstatic. They give vows that make us all laugh and sigh at their obvious connection.
We rush out with the others as a soaring song fills the chapel. With a group of strangers, we flood the beach in a rush of joy. To the beat of the joyous song, the crowd laughs as they throw handfuls of colorful flowers over the wedding party. Petals pour down in a rainbow shower as we stand there together, staring at one another. It hits me as hard, as deep, as true as anything has ever hit me before.
I am in love with Lark, and I want this same moment for us.
“We would have flowers at our wedding,” I whisper, hands tangling in her hair as I tip her head back in the sunlight. “Yellow ones. You love yellow, don’t you love?”
“Yes, I do. No one loves yellow so I do,” her voice shakes, her eyes glittering in the warm sun.
Those words hit me right where it counts. No one loved me, so she does. She will. It might not be a profession of love for our third act, but it is close. I will take it. Lowering my head, I touch my forehead to hers as I nod.
“That means I love it too. All the yellow flowers you wanted. Here on the beach or in the chapel?”
“On the beach,” she pants, her hands clutching at my biceps, tugging me close. “In the sunshine. You’re so beautiful in the sunshine, baby.”
“You’re beautiful in the moonlight. In the sunshine. In darkness, whispering my name and the filthy things you want me to do to you.”
“Lawson,” her voice breaks as I brush my mouth over hers, teasing her. “I can’t...we can’t...I mean this can’t.”
“It can. We will. This can be anything it wants to be, love.”
Kissing her hard, I crush her to me as petals tangle in her hair and mine. Our bare feet sink into the warm sand, and it is the closest to heaven I have ever felt. Besides the first time I got inside of her. Lark kisses me back, her tongue greedy, her teeth nipping at my mouth. I love how hungry she is, how brazen she is to take what she wants from me. All I want to give her.
Flowing with the others in the raucous wedding party, we wind up in another hall for their reception. Colors fill the room in balloons, flowers, and twinkling lights. It is like an explosion of the love of the bride and groom. Bright, full of color, fresh and forever.
Music draws us to the dance floor, and I spin my woman in my arms for hours. We kiss and touch and laugh as if we’re celebrating our own special day. Mingling with the others we talk about how beautiful it all is. Lark gushes over the food again, eating tiny cakes, tropical fruits, and decadent meats and cheeses. Spread out on a table, it is a beautiful display as vibrant as the wedding itself.
Wandering out once we’ve had our fill of fun, we wind up on the shores. I was against lovemaking in the water or on the sand, but I cannot deny my girl. Lark pulls at my clothes as we get to the shore, and we wade in as I am lifting her against me. I pull her down and drive my hips up, sinking deep inside her. Our moans get lost in the warm breeze, but not her words.
“Don’t stop,” she pleads as I thrust. “Never, please, never.”
“Not ever, love. This, us, we won’t ever stop.”
We spend hours in the water not just making love but having fun. As the sun sets, we talk about dream weddings, our favorite romances, and everything in between. Our dreams align, our teasing of what our wedding would be like painting a magical picture. A picture I want to see come to life, one better than any romance I could write.
Lark may have borrowed me for the weekend—but I want to keep her forever.