But I don’t care. I’m too caught up in this moment, too caught up in this man standing before me. Drew repeats the vows the minister says and I press my lips together as I listen to his familiar, deep voice, my vision blurred by tears. I can’t stop them. When it’s my turn to repeat those same sacred vows, my voice wavers, the words thick in my throat, and I see the shimmer of tears in Drew’s eyes, too.
Oh God, we’re a couple of total saps, but I don’t care. We’re in love, damn it. We’ve fought too hard and struggled for too long and we’re reveling in the moment. If we want to cry over our sacred vows to each other, over this, the most important day of our lives, then it’s our prerogative.
Drew’s intense gaze never leaves me as he entwines his fingers tightly with mine, just as tightly entwined as our hearts are. I can’t believe this moment is finally happening. We make promises of love and devotion, both with our words and our hearts and minds. When prompted, I whisper “I do” in my still wavering voice, and Drew smiles at me, squeezing my hands. The two of us, we’re destiny. Fate. Kismet. Whatever you want to call it.
The smile that breaks out across his face when I say those two words steals my breath. My heart. My soul. All of me irrevocably now belongs to him. He slips a band on my finger, the diamonds that surround it so big that I audibly gasp. I hadn’t expected this and I send him a questioning look, but he only smirks at me in return.
My man is constantly full of surprises.
“I love you,” he whispers. “I didn’t want you to ever forget it.”
“With diamonds this big, I never will,” I whisper back, making the minister laugh.
Minutes later, when Drew whispers those same two words that mean he now belongs to me, I slide the platinum band I picked out for him a few days ago onto his ring finger, solidifying our relationship. My heart fills to bursting.
It’s a moment I’ll never forget. Etched into my memory for all time. The sunset, the beach, the look in my husband’s eyes, the way he said he loved me.
We’re freaking married now. My legal name is Fable Callahan. Drew Callahan is my husband.
Wild, huh? I am one lucky, lucky girl.
And I know it.
Drew
It probably sounds dumb, but this night with Fable, our first night together as a married couple, has more significance than any other night I’ve been with her. And we’ve had some major moments. There was that first night in Carmel when she finally broke down all my walls and we had sex. The night when I went to her place in the pouring rain and begged her to let me inside.
The night when we were finally together again after being apart for a couple of months. Until now, that night meant the most to me by far. To lose her and then get her back …
I could go on and on. There’s no turning back now. We’re together. She’s mine and I’m hers, and she’s going absolutely nowhere.
She’s doing whatever preparation a bride does for her groom at this very second, locked away in the bathroom. She’s been in there for almost an hour and I know she took a shower; I heard the water running. I paced the hotel suite, stood out on the lanai checking out the view, finally deciding f**k it when she was taking so damn long.
Now I’m lounging in bed completely naked and waiting for my wife. I’m impatient, eager to get her beneath me. We’ve been so busy, me with training camp and then both of us in full-on preparation mode when we decided to do this wedding thing.
Practice has been tough. We’ve both been stressed. Our life keeps changing and I’m blown away by it all. I think she is, too. We tend to fall into bed in an exhausted heap together, going right to sleep. Or we have hurried sex—not that it’s bad, but I haven’t necessarily felt connected to Fable lately.
I hope to rectify that.
Finally, the door opens and she walks out, a f**king vision in white silk and lace. The nightgown is long and clings to her shape, thin straps cross her shoulders, and I swear the entire front is made of nothing but sheer lace. As in, I can clearly see her ni**les.
I almost choke on my tongue just looking at her.
“What do you think?” She sounds nervous as she does a little twirl, revealing the back of the gown, and holy f**k, I’m done for. Her entire back is exposed, it dips so low, almost to her ass, and my fingers itch to touch her.
“Come here and I’ll show you exactly what I think,” I say when I finally find my scratchy voice.
A smile teases the corners of her lips and she comes to me, the scent of her filling my head, driving me wild. Her hair is down and has a slight wave to it, her face scrubbed free of makeup with cheeks pink from the sun. Her skin practically glows under the faint light from the nearby lamp and I reach out, relief and love and lust flooding my veins when she curls her hand in mine.
“Where did you get it?” She knows exactly what I’m talking about.
She shrugs those pretty, slim shoulders I want to kiss. “Jen took me shopping before we left.”
Fable had gone back home for a few days to spend time with Owen before we flew out. The kid was pissed, complaining that he wanted to go to Hawaii. Not that he was mad at us, but he just … wanted to go to Hawaii. “Well, wherever she took you, I approve.”
She laughs, the sound soft and so deliciously Fable, my skin warms. “I wanted to look pretty for you tonight.”
“You look pretty for me every day and night,” I say automatically because it’s true. Not only is she beautiful on the inside, but she’s f**king gorgeous on the outside. I see the heads that turn when I show up anywhere with Fable beside me. She barely looks at them. Her eyes are only on me.
“You are too sweet.” She dips down and gives me a kiss, but I don’t close my eyes. No, my gaze is locked on her chest, the way the front of her nightgown gapes with the movement, and I catch a glimpse of bare skin and tempting pink ni**les.
“Are you checking me out?” she murmurs against my lips just before she pulls away.
“Wearing something like that, you knew this was going to happen.” I give her hand a tug and yank her down so she’s sprawled across me, nothing but hot, smooth skin and silk and lace fabric. “And wait until you see what I’m wearing.”
She wiggles against me, making my c**k rock hard, and I clamp my arm around her waist, holding her still. Carefully I roll her over so she’s on her back, her long blond hair splayed all over the pillow, her green gaze soft as she stares up at me. I kick the covers off and crawl on top of her, kissing her before she can say a word, my tongue tangling with hers for long, consuming minutes until I finally come up for air.