48. Hayden

Mine. Mine. Mine.

The word thrums through my mind, drowning out War"s voice as he says some shit comparing love and hockey that I'm sure only makes sense to him.

Cassidy"s my wife.

I"m actually impressed I pulled this off and that she went along with it. She didn"t even give me shit about her lack of dress or whine about the fact this isn"t some fancy princess wedding like a lot of girls dream of.

She didn't try to rip my balls off for assuming she'd marry me.

Instead, she"s staring up at me with glitter in her green eyes, looking more beautiful than I"ve ever seen her in a skirt and t-shirt as she holds onto my hand like she never wants to let go.

I can tell she"s trying not to cry and I know she"s thinking about her family, but I hope this is making her happy. That I"m making her happy. Because that"s all I want. To make this woman happy for the rest of our lives together—and the ones after that.

Warren finishes his speech and then looks at me expectantly. "You guys want to do your own vows? Or I can make—"

"No, we"re good," I say, focusing on my wife and letting everything I feel for her, the things I"ve never admitted out loud, push to the surface. "Cassidy..."

She smiles up at me with tears in her eyes and I reach out to brush them away with my thumb before they fall, knowing how much it means to her that she keeps it together. She's strong, my wife. "There"s nothing quite like the way you turn me inside out. This obsession I have for you, it"s turned into so much more. You"re everything, and now you"re mine. Officially. Legally. Fucking irrevocably. I promise to protect you, to fight for you, and to never give up on us. You own my body, but I can"t give you my soul because it"s always been yours. Your name"s etched into my skin and now you should know I'll never let you go."

She bites her lip, clearly trying to keep her composure as much as I am. "Hayden... God, you"re infuriating," she starts, and there"s laughter in her voice that makes my chest tighten and my brother laugh loud enough I side-eye him. "You"ve bulldozed into my life, turned everything upside down and inside out. And somehow, I've loved every second of it. You make me want things I never thought I would." Her fingers tighten in mine. "I promise to fight for you just as hard as you fight for me. And to never give up on us, either. You"re mine now, too, Hayden Vaughn." She jabs her finger into my chest and her eyes narrow up at me. "Don"t fucking forget it."

War clears his throat and then looks between us. "Well, that was... intense. Rings?"

I reach into my pocket and pull out the band I picked out for Cassidy, the one that matches the emerald in her engagement ring. I bought a matching one for me, black titanium with a small emerald set into it that matches hers. It"s subtle, but is just one more thing that connects her to me.

She holds out her hand and I slide the ring onto her finger as she does the same for me. War"s words drift away as I drown in Cassidy"s gaze as she stares up at me with so much emotion it"s hard to breathe.

When Warren finally gets to the part where he asks if we take each other, I nod without hesitation. "I do."

Cassidy's wicked grin tests the limits of my patience as she draws out her answer, but then she laughs and finally says, "I do, too."

Warren grins like an idiot. "Then by the power vested in me by a random website on the internet, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Time to kiss your bride, Vaughn."

Considering my dick"s been half hard since Cassidy showed up, it"s not a surprise that the kiss between my wife and I turns dirty right away. I don't kiss her; I worship her. Consume her. Brand the taste of her on my soul. I"ll never get enough of the way the world disappears like it"s just me and her. This all-consuming need to possess every inch of her and even then, it"s not enough.

Nothing with her will ever be enough.

We kiss until she yanks herself away with a gasp, like she"s been underwater with me until her lungs were on the verge of bursting and she needs the air to survive. But she doesn"t go far, her forehead resting against mine as she shares that much-needed air with me.

"Holy shit, after that I need to get laid," Warren says, laughing from somewhere behind us.

I ignore him, brushing Cassidy"s hair back behind her ear. It"s time to tell her the secret I"ve been keeping.

She leans into me and I don"t even think she"s aware she"s doing it. I bite back my grin, whispering, "There"s one more thing, Princess," into her ear.

She shivers, but says nothing, waiting for me to confess. "You"re pregnant."

I don"t know what I expected. Maybe a knee to the balls or a slap across the face? Maybe a whole mouthful of threats to my manhood or promises of retribution? But what I don"t expect is the laughter.

My wife laughs so hard she has to pull away from me, clutching at her stomach as she bends over. She"s laughing so hard there are tears streaming down her cheeks and she can barely catch her breath.

I stare down at her in shock as she finally starts to calm down, wiping the tears from her eyes as she looks up at me with this grin on her face that makes my heart stop beating for one and then two beats. "You"re kidding, right?"

"No," I say, shaking my head as I look down at her stomach where our baby"s growing.

Sawyer moves up beside me, his hand dropping onto my shoulder and squeezing. ""Fraid not, Sis. I ran the test myself. Hay-Hay knocked you up."

That fire I"d been waiting for sparks in her eyes then and they shift back and forth between my brother and me. "You... ran the test."

Sawyer nods. "Yep."

Cassidy"s gaze cuts back to me, and it"s so sharp it could slice me in half. And fuck if that doesn"t turn me on even more than when she"s all sweet and soft with me. "Tell me what you did." I open my mouth and she cuts me off before I can say anything. "All of it."

"So, I"m just gonna..." Lila interrupts, pointing toward the line of our cars. "I"ll see you guys at the bar."

"Yeah, same," War says as he starts backing away.

"I rode here with Hayden so... guess I"m staying for the show." Sawyer moves to lean against Callan"s gravestone, folding his arms and not even trying to pretend that he"s giving us privacy.

Cassidy ignores them all, still staring up at me, waiting for an explanation.

"I knew you"d never agree to get pregnant without a fight, so I handled it," I admit, not feeling an ounce of guilt for it. She"s going to be pissed at first, but then she"ll realize how good this is for us.

"You handled it?" Her voice is quiet in a way I"ve never heard before. Flat. Hollow. I hate it. I want her fire, not whatever this is. "What did you do exactly? And how? We used condoms."

"We did," I confirm. "Until I took them off when you were coming and too fucked out to notice."

"Anything else?" she asks through clenched teeth.

"I may have slipped you a fertility enhancer or two in your morning smoothies."

She stares up at me, her mouth open in shock as she processes what I"m saying. "You... drugged me?"

"It was only a few times and Sawyer said it was safe. He"s a doctor, so..." I trail off when her eyes narrow up at me like she wants to rip my dick off with her bare hands.

"You fucking asshole!" She shoves me hard enough that I stumble back a few steps. "You can"t just do shit like that! You can"t just make decisions about our lives without even talking to me about it!"

I reach for her, but she backs up, so I tuck my hands into my pockets instead. She needs time to come around to this? I"ll give her a few minutes, but I"m not going to tolerate her putting distance between us, especially on our wedding day.

"I"d say I"m sorry, but I"m not. I"d do it again and again. In fact, I will do it again and again. And now that we"re married, no takebacks." I move forward, letting my fingers drift down the bare skin of her arm until our fingers tangle together. I take the fact that she"s letting me touch her without hitting me as a good sign. "You promised me forever, Princess, and I intend to collect."