Chapter 4

Randal - Chapter 4

Randal felt good. Not that he wasn't a little stressed, but he felt really good about this. Marrying Laney was going to give him everything in the world that he wanted, even if he had to wait for a while to get it. As he waited in the side room for the quick ceremony to begin, his dad came up to him and observed his tie. His own looked like Heather had tied it, and Randal wasn't sure but thought she could do a better job at it.

"How do you do that so well?"

He told him lots of practice as he worked on his dad's tie. "I wear one every day to school and during meetings. You almost have it right."

It took him less than a minute to get his dad fixed, but he knew that there was more to it than just the tie. Randal hugged him, as he did every day of his life, and told him how much he loved and respected him.

"Thank you, son. That means a great deal to me. I wanted to talk to you anyway." He handed him a small box, and he opened it. "That was your mom's when we first got engaged. I sort of messed up when I gave it to her. I got the horse before the cart, you might say. That's the wedding ring instead of the engagement ring I meant to give her."

"It's beautiful." He didn't bother telling his dad that he'd already purchased a ring for Laney. This would mean so much more to her, he thought. "Dad, I'm nervous. What if she wants to go out west again? I don't want to leave you guys."

"I know that, I do, and I worry about it too. But you have to follow your heart, and in this case, I'm thinking that she has it." He nodded and smiled at him. "You're a good boy, Randal. A teacher that everybody loves. Sometimes a little too much with them moms, but you handle that well too."

"I'm going to have to figure out a way to wear a ring so that everyone can see that I'm off limits more than ever." His dad laughed and told him that wouldn't matter to some. "But it does to me, and I want Laney to never think I'm encouraging them."

"She won't. I bet she might help you out with that too." Randal hugged his dad again. "I'm right proud to be giving her away. When she asked me and not my dad, I had to crow a bit. He is usually the one that gets those kinds of honors."

"Laney loves you, all of you, but she thinks you're the sweetest man she has ever met." His dad flushed a bright red. "Dad, I want her to be safe in all this. And for Heather to have a good home. Whatever happens with this, her going or staying, I'm going to make sure of that."

"Of that, I have no doubt." Randal nodded and looked at the others in the room with him when his dad spoke again. "You sure do have some fine brothers. I could not have asked for better sons had I put in an order for them and gotten them that way. You boys, you're men I guess now, but you'll always be my boys."

Giving his dad another hug, he sat down by the window and watched the snow coming down. Yesterday it had been about fifty and most of the stuff had melted off. Today it was just a light dusting, but they were expecting about ten inches overnight. He was excited to have his first Christmas as a husband with a family. And to bring them to his grandparents' house for the day was just icing on the cake. Things were looking up for him, he thought.

I thought you'd like to know that I've been watching the Price couple. I have to tell you, Randal, they're as odd as it comes. He asked Noah why he'd say that. They are currently sitting alongside of the road having relations. Not sex…I'd never call this sex, but it's nasty.

Randal burst out laughing and everyone in the room turned to stare at him. When he told them he was speaking to Noah, they went back to what they were doing. Randal asked him how far away they were.

I've given them some cash for some gasoline. I do want them to get there, but I don't care to feed their habit. The two of them are very drunk. How did someone as sweet as your future wife come from such a couple? Randal told him that only the father was hers. Well, it makes no more sense than it did before. These people are nasty.

Yes, well, they're going to be in for a rude awakening when they arrive. Anastasia is here with her men, waiting on them to make a move. Then there are three other agencies that also have warrants for their arrest. Noah told him that they'd only be stretched so far. Perhaps, but they'll be put away for a good long time with the crap they all have on them.

The sister, Sally Anne. You should know that she is the one that purchased the heroin that killed them both. That would mean murder, if anyone but you and I knew. I've found their dealer, a very unimpressive young woman that is no longer in business. Randal asked him what he'd done. Nothing but give her the option of going to prison or stopping her dealings. Sadly, I don't think she'll hold to her promise.

Thank you. Every day, it gets harder and harder to keep even kids in my class away from drugs. I hate to have anyone die over this, but there is sometimes only one way to deal with dealers. His dad told him it was time and Randal stood up. I take it you're not going to make it to my wedding.

I'm here. I just saw your bride. My goodness, what a lovely little thing she is. He thanked him. If you would be so kind as to let her know that I need a small taste of her, I'll feel better. There are all kinds of terrible people in the world, and two of them are on their way to you now.

They were all gathered in the judge's chambers, but you'd never think that with all the flowers and people in the room. Judge Williams, a good friend of the family, said that he'd never had such a beautiful bride nor setting to make this right. He stood right in front of the tree that was decorated in the gaudiest decorations that he'd ever seen. But somehow, it was perfect.

There were not just round balls for ornaments, but also small plastic guns and grenades. There were also things like warrants with no name on them, petitions too. Tiny police hats and badges. He had seen it from a distance at first, but knew that seeing it up close hadn't made any improvements on it. It was the sort of oddity that made his day.

Slipping the ring on Laney's finger, he looked at her face as he repeated the words back to her. He was to love, honor, and hold her forever. But when he was finished, he added his own words, ones from his heart.

"I also promise to keep you safe, hold you when you need it, and let you have the lead when you're braver and stronger than I am. Which, I have to tell you, according to my family, might be a lot more than you think." They all laughed. "I will love you for the rest of my days, honor you in ways that no one will ever question, and I will keep you in my heart."

She looked at him then, and he could see her love for him. It surprised him, mostly because she'd never said the words to him, but he felt it all the way to his heart as it wrapped around him. Randal nodded to the judge and he said her part, which she repeated back to him. Randal started to kiss her when he said it was time.

"Hold on, buddy. It's my turn." Again his family laughed, but he held her hands and waited. "I've not been brave in all my years. Stupid at times, yes, but never brave. I'm hoping that with you at my side, I can start to enjoy life. Be loved by someone that doesn't have to, but wants to. To have someone like you enjoy my company and laugh when you think I'm funny. I have never said these words to anyone before, and I'm so glad that I can say them to you now. Randal Calhoun, I love you with all that I am, all that I will ever be, and I love that you have not forced anything onto me that would hurt me. Thank you."

He kissed her then, and then again when it wasn't nearly as satisfying as he wanted. Holding her to him, loving her, they were pronounced man and wife just as one of his brothers popped the cork to one of the bottles of champagne that had been brought in for the occasion.

Randal let her be hugged by his family. His brothers made a big show of welcoming her to the family, and warned her that she was in for a big letdown with him as her husband. Lucky for him, he supposed, she gave as good as she got, and protected his manliness with just as many jabs back at them. He had fallen in love with her all over again.

Holding Heather's hand when she took his, he knew that this was making her just as happy as it was him. She had stability, something that she'd probably never experienced before in her young life. And she had people that loved her.

They were going to have a small reception at his parents' house, but he had plans right now. Searching for the room that Tanner had told him had a lock on the door, just in case he needed it, he took his lovely new bride down the hall in long hungry strides. As soon as he found it and shoved her inside, she was all over him as much as he was her.

"Hurry." He said he didn't want to muss her up. "Muss away. I'm so needy right now I could almost come with just you touching me. Christ, who knew that a wedding could do this to a person?"

He tore her dress from her shoulders. The shiver that she gave him, the show of her need, had his wolf stretching under his skin. When she opened his shirt without unbuttoning a single button, his beast took him.

"Randal? What the fuck is going on?" He'd not exchanged so much as a little blood with her, so he couldn't let her know it was all right. Pawing at her panties, she seemed to understand and took them off. "If he does more than just want me naked, I'm going to kill you both."

His wolf wanted his mate too. So when she was naked before them, his wolf lunged at her and nipped none too gently at her thigh. That was all he needed as an okay to take more of her into him, and his wolf wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to show his mate how much he loved her as well.

"Stop. No more." He took his body back and stood up. "Christ, I had no idea. Someone should have.... No, that would have been a little more awkward than having any other conversation with your grandma."

"Tell me again." She looked at him with a beautiful smile. "Tell me that you love us. Tell me how much I mean to you."

"You make me come like that a lot and I'll say whatever you want." He kissed her on the mouth, then put his forehead to hers. "I love you, Randal. So very much. I cannot believe I thought that I'd never fall in love with anyone, and you come along and make me not just love you, but need you as well."

"As much as I'd like to take you right here against the door, I want to take you home and make love to you in our bed. Several times." She nodded and told him that she was all right with that. "Then when you've rested a little bit, I'm going to start all over. And over and over."

"I'm sorry." He asked her what she was sorry about. "I'm not sure really, but I am. I think because when you took me on, you took on my family. And I came with extra baggage. My sister."

"I love your sister. She's a good girl, and I love having her around. And someday, when we're not being rushed into things, I want to adopt her. Make her my little girl." She told him again that she loved him. "And I you, my heart. Forever and a day, you will be my one and only true love."

The limo was there for them when they left the courthouse. He was glad at that moment that they had the ability to manufacture clothing with just a thought. Otherwise they'd be having to explain why they were both naked, or nearly so.

He pulled her onto his lap when the doors were closed and kissed her. There wasn't time for him to make her his yet, but that didn't stop him from giving her all that he could. Randal thought she came about a dozen more times before they pulled up in front of his grandparents' house, and was glad to see that she was slightly wobbly, because he was painfully full himself.

As soon as they entered the house he knew that something had happened. But what it was he'd have to wait to find out. The celebration had to come first, and he was glad that his family had thought enough of them to hold off ruining things for her. But that didn't stop him from asking Chloe about it.

Her parents have robbed a liquor store. Well, not so much her parents as her stepmother. I've been thinking about this, and I think that her dad is sort of in the dark about a lot of things going on there. I don't know why, because he's not as innocent as most, but he might not have a clue about a lot of it. She wasn't caught, but we know it was her. I think she's pulled this same scam before. While the truck is being unloaded, they take what they want and then run off. The only reason they gave themselves away this time is that one of them dropped one of the cases they were taking. Like I said, I don't know that he was involved, but she was for sure. And I think she is the one that plans and talks him into whatever scam she has cooking. He asked if anyone was hurt. No. No one was around, so that was all they did. I think, as I said, they've done this before, and I have someone looking into it in their home state. Randal, these people are much worse than we first thought if they're both in on this. There is evidence that they might have been in on a bank robbery, as well as the black market for babies.

Christ. Chloe agreed with him. These babies, do I want to know where they got them? Or is that still something that you're looking into?

The local hospital and clinic where they live. Also, there is a baby clinic that she, mainly, goes to as well. Sixteen children all under the age of four have been kidnapped. He took the plate of food that Laney handed him, and he could tell that she knew something was up. But instead of asking him, she kissed him and told him later. She's going to be hurt by this. It looks like her sister was supposed to sell Heather too, but for some reason didn't.

I'll tell her later. He would too, all of it, holding her while he was at it. But there was cake and fun going on now, even if it was a little somber. Randal wanted them to just leave them alone, but he knew that as soon as this was done, he was taking his new family on a long trip. Someplace that no one would know who they were.

~*~

Laney wasn't sure what to do with herself. Her hands were sort of shaky and her knees felt like they were knocking together. But she could do this, she told herself. And the sooner she left the bathroom, the sooner she could be with her husband.

Husband. She had one now. And a good one at that. Looking in the mirror, talking to herself again, she told herself that she was lucky that he knew all about her family before he married her, or he might have run.

"No, I wouldn't have." She looked at him, not even hearing the door open she'd been so nervous. "I wasn't sure what you were doing in here. I could hear you talking and wondered if you had company. Do you usually talk to yourself?"

"Yes. But only in the mirror. I know that sounds off my noodle, but I usually give myself pep talks when I'm about to do something that I've never done before." He nodded but didn't make fun of her. "Do you have any strange habits that I need to know about before I catch you at them?"

"Let me see." He grinned. "I take my lunch to school. Everyday. And while that sounds like something normal, I should tell you that I eat sardines and crackers. Sometimes with cheese, sometimes not. And then for dessert, I have a dozen Swedish fish. I'm addicted to them, but only allow myself a dozen of them."

"Why a dozen? I mean, is that the one serving count on them or something?" He told her he thought it was five. "So you like to be a rebel?"

"No. I would eat an entire box of them at one sitting, but this way, it's my treat." She laughed when he did. "Also, there are things you should know too. I hate hot cocoa. Not just the taste, but the smell as well. And cinnamon. It gives me a headache."

She sat on the counter when he came in the room with her. He sat on the vanity chair and took her foot into his hands. As he massaged it, working soreness out of it that she'd not known she had until then, Laney thought of the things she didn't care for.

"I don't care for foo-foo. I mean, I don't mind some pictures on the wall, a throw over the back of the couch, but no vases of dried flowers. Unless they mean something. I don't buy unless it's on sale, marked down several times, and then I will even ask for more of a discount. And I do not buy things that I don't need, either." He told her that his sisters were like that. "I know. They told me that they came from nothing. Except for Joe, but she still doesn't purchase something without a lot of thought. Why are you doing this?"

"To relax you. You're tense and we can feel it." She asked him who. "My wolf and me. As most shifters, we refer to ourselves as two separate beings. I'm not sure why, but that's what we do. My wolf has thoughts and ideas. Some of them are about you, but mostly it's how to keep us all safe."

"Would it be all right if I asked you some questions?" He nodded and took her other foot into his hands. "What about children? Did you want them? And will they be wolves?"

"I want as many as you want to have. It's your body, and I'd never presume to tell you what to do with it." She felt her foot crack and thought of how good it felt as he continued. "They could be wolves or some part of them. Since you're not a wolf, not even a made one, they could be part to whole wolves. But they'll be immortal, the same as us. And marked. By the demon, Richard."

"Yes, Jas told me about him. I can't believe the trouble your family has had." He smiled at her and sat back on the chair. "Now, my family is coming here, and you know something about that too. Will you not keep things from me? I know that we were at our wedding and then the party afterwards today, but please don't keep things from me."

"I have no plans to. But as you pointed out, today was special, and I wanted it to be that way for you as much as I could." She nodded. "Your stepmother robbed a liquor truck this morning. Not caught, but there is a record of her doing it. Chloe isn't sure if your dad was involved, but to her, it doesn't look like it. Not this time anyway. Also, they've stolen children, mostly babies, and sold them for cash."

He told her everything that he knew, and she wasn't sure she wanted to believe him. She did, but this was beyond what she thought they were up to. And the fact that Heather would have been sold too made her heart ache more. She asked him if there was any way to get the children back.

"Joe and Chloe are looking into it, but I'd not hold out much hope. Unless they have something that belonged to the children, there isn't any way for us to track them down. Joe can find them, but only if there is something of the children's that she can touch that hasn't been washed. I'm sorry." She nodded, hurt about what those parents were going through because of her parents. "I love you, Laney."

"I love you too. But they're terrible, aren't they? I mean, even beyond what I thought they were up to, and that's bad enough, but they're tearing apart families too." He nodded. "And it could have been my sister too. Who knows if there were other children that...? Christ, it boggles the mind to think of who else might be out there that's related to me. My dad wasn't like this before her. I'm not blaming this all on Rosemarie, but he wasn't a monster like this before."

"Perhaps he was, but your mom kept him in line. Or as Chloe and Joe think, he isn't as involved as she is. He might not know the entirety of what she's done or doing." She started to cry and he stood up and held her. "I'm sorry to bring this up now. But I told you that I'd let you know when we got back here."

"I'm glad that you did. Otherwise I might not have been fun." He lifted her chin up so that he could kiss her and she held onto him. "I bet that you're not in the mood now, are you?"

He rocked into her. His cock was thick and hard, and she wanted to touch him. When he rocked into her again, she took her thick robe off and dropped it to the floor. The look in his eyes made the chill she had now seem well worth it.

"I want you right now, against this counter. The wall or the floor. I'd take you in the shower." She giggled and he smiled. "Yes, that did sound like a children's book. But the things I want to do with you and to you are not childish at all."

"Take me, Randal." He lifted her up, his body firmly pressed against hers. When he took her to the bedroom and stood her next to the bed, he kissed her with hunger that matched her own.

He laid her out on the bed and stood over her. She thought that she'd be uncomfortable laying there with him staring at her so hard, but she felt pretty, sexy even. And when he started unbuttoning his shirt, she watched his every move, her mouth watering as much as her pussy did.

"Can you hurry?" He told her that he could, but he was enjoying this too much. "I'm very needy right now. I mean, I suppose I could do it by myself."

"You could, but I'm thinking what I have in mind for you will be so much better." He got down on his knees when he had his shirt off. "I'm going to eat you now. Then when I'm through with that, I'm going to taste all of your body once more, and mark you with my teeth."

She shivered again. Christ, he was going to kill her if just his words could do this to her. As he made short work of her nighty, careful not to tear it too much, she was finally naked. And he still was being so gentle with her.

"I'm hurting." She asked him if she could help him. "Oh, you will. But I want you to know that, because I'm barely hanging on here. I need you with a passion that I've never had before."

"I can live with that." He said that he might hurt her. "I'm okay with that as well. I need you. Very much. Can we get on with it?"

His laughter seemed to break something tense inside of him. He stood up then, pulled his pants off, and fisted his cock. She had a brief moment of fear…he was so fucking huge. When he laid down beside her, she wrapped her hand around him and he moaned. She sat up and then crawled on top of him. She felt his cock stretch even larger.

"Sit on me." She had to figure out how to do that. She'd read about it, of course, riding a man, but since she'd never done it, it was strange. Sliding down over him, she was careful to go slowly, not just to make him suffer as he had her, but to enjoy watching his face. And when she came down hard, with his help, nothing could have prepared her for the most intense pain she'd ever felt.

Randal was talking to her. What he was saying wasn't as important as what he was making her feel. The pain was subsiding now, so she listened to him. She looked down at him when he told her that he'd never do that again.

"Never? That's a very long time to go without sex, don't you think?" He grinned, charming and cute like she knew he used on his parents and grandparents. "I don't know...will I have to find me someone else to—?"

She was suddenly on her back and he was deeper inside of her, his hands over her body, his mouth following the same path. Never in all her life did she think that anyone had been this thorough with her. Not even as an infant and being bathed by her mom.

He made love to her, his hands and mouth soothing any discomfort that she had. And when he took her, his body sliding in and out of hers, Laney came hard enough that the world blinked out for a moment. Then she centered and she knew, right then, that it would always be like this with him. Intense and full of love.

No part of her was untouched, unloved by him. Every place that he nipped at her skin, it wasn't painful but an awakening of her body. Each time he kissed the small hurt, she felt like she'd been given new life, her body came alive. And she knew that he'd do this to her, make her feel like this, every time that he touched her.

"Come for me, love." Her body was at his command. And when she screamed out her release, simply because she couldn't contain it any longer, he held her, his body taking hers even higher than he had before. And at his "again," her mind soared with her body, up to the stars and back again.

Then the world simply winked out. She was sure she had died…every cell in her body exploded and renewed. As she settled in the bed, her body spent, her mind gone, love surrounded her in a cocoon and Laney was safe. And loved. Laney was loved like she'd never been before.

"I love you, Randal." He said that he loved her as well, pulling her body to his. She snuggled to his heart. This was what she'd missed her entire life, someone to love her without any conditions or rules.