Chapter 24 - Faye

I had never seen such a beautiful afternoon in my entire life. I stood at the edge of the woods in a white dress that had a long train with leaves caught in it. Kylie stood to my left, holding a single flower.

Rhiannon had made the bouquets for the wedding, and she had done an incredible job. Especially with the arch that was threaded with tons of peonies. I had nearly forgotten about the ones at home. They still hadn't withered. That was some kind of magic.

Hector was standing with Fred at his side, the two surrounded by a crowd. Many of the girls were fawning over Fred.

Kylie touched my shoulder. "Hey, we haven't talked in a while."

I offered her a polite smile. "I know. I'm sorry. I meant to, but I kept getting busy."

"I'm glad that you invited me even though we haven't been talking."

I looked at my best friend, seeing how much she missed me and feeling it in myself as well. I took both of her hands in mine. "Listen, I'm really sorry I didn't get back to you. It's been hard trying to settle my life here and trying to figure out what I truly want."

She nodded. "I can definitely understand that kind of feeling."

I smiled. "I know you can. You're the first person I would have talked to about it all with, but…"

I traded another glance with Hector, which put butterflies in my tummy and soothed my soul. I felt brave enough to turn back to Kylie and continue, "But I didn't agree with the way that you spoke to us. I didn't like how you doubted me."

She hung her head. "It's my job as your best friend to make sure you're safe, isn't it?"

I squeezed her hands. "Yes, it is. That's true. I just wanted to make sure that you knew it really bothered me when you told me I had Stockholm Syndrome."

She tearfully looked at me. "I'm sorry for that. I can tell that you're really happy and I want you to be happy. I'm just going to miss you."

With a shuddering sigh, I yanked my best friend into a hug and buried my face in her shoulder. The cool October breeze wrapped around us, seeming to comfort us in the wake of my reception. When we parted ways, Fred came up and took his mate under his wing. He held out his hand to me. "Congratulations."

I smiled and sniffled while shaking his hand. "That's the most receptive you've ever been."

He gave me a cool smile and then nodded to Hector. "You've got a decent mate over there."

I laughed. Yeah, "I think he's a keeper."

"We'll miss seeing you around," Fred added. "Promise to write?"

I nodded. "You got it."

Hector stood next to his parents. A crowd had formed between us as I spoke to Kylie and Fred. When I was ready to go back to my husband, I stepped toward the crowd. It parted like the Red Sea for Moses. I walked between the marked path, moving between celebratory pats on the back.

Daria added another beaded bracelet to my wrist. Mortimer held up a sword in honor of our nuptials. I felt funny carrying a giant sword with me to my husband, who I couldn't believe was now actually my husband. But at the same time, it felt perfect. It felt like the best reception.

Hector accepted the sword, holding it up and waving at Mortimer, who had gotten caught in the middle of the crowd where there was now a dance frenzy. "This will match the daggers perfectly!"

Patrick and Darla hugged me. It felt like we'd been part of the same family for such a long time that hugging them felt natural.

"Have you told everybody yet?" Darla asked.

I glanced back at the rest of the pack, who were enjoying their dancing. "Not yet, but I'm about to."

Hector wrapped his arm around my waist. "Good thing you tripped."

I chuckled. "Good thing I pretended to trip."

He looked at me with wide eyes. "You did that on purpose?"

"Of course, I did that on purpose. I wanted you to catch me."

The smile that grew on his face was so wide that I thought that it might explode into a fiery star. "Good thing I apologized."

I gazed up at him. "Good thing you did. Do you still mean it?"

"I definitely still mean it."

For a few more minutes, we watched our pack members celebrate with each other. There was food and music. There was joy and stomping feet. There was an earthquake-like roar that came in the form of conversation and laughter.

As soon as everyone had settled down for their second meal, I stood next to my husband with my hand on his shoulder, holding a champagne flute filled with water. I tapped the side of the glass with a fork. Silence reigned around me. To have that kind of command over people was incredible and intimidating.

I just hoped they would be as happy as we were.

"Friends and family, we have good news." I glanced at Hector, who gave me a nod of approval. "We're pregnant."

A roar of applause detonated around us. Everyone jumped to their feet to shout excitedly, to slap their tables, to stomp the ground. Applause erupted in every direction. The soil itself quaked with the rapturous joy that rattled our pack. The infectious joy made me feel like I was right where I belonged.

Right next to my husband.

Right next to my family.

***

It was so late by the time we got home. My feet were tired. My shoulders ached. My body trembled in that desirous way that I had come to recognize that told me my body wanted my mate. Through the whirlwind of planning a wedding, we'd barely done anything with each other except sleep in the same bed.

I was ready to do so much more than that.

Once we were inside, I turned around and jumped on my husband, feeling his hands swarm my body with enthusiasm. He carried me into the kitchen and planted me on the table. I gasped as his hands went to my waist and squeezed. My head tilted back to invite his kiss. "Yes, do it…"

Nearby, the bouquet that Rhiannon had originally made for me rustled. I paused for a second to inspect the petals. Was I losing my mind? Maybe I had too much laughter and joy. Maybe I was drunk and high on what had just happened. Or maybe those petals were turning into lips and getting ready to say something.

Hector was busy kissing my throat. I caught him for a second and turned his head. "Do those look like lips to you?"

He gasped for air. "Actually, they kind of do."

"I'm going crazy."

He chuckled. "No, I think they're about to speak."

The peonies sighed as their petals withered. "It's a girl. It's a girl."

Hector and I looked at each other. With a smile, we both said, "It's a girl."

Our lips crashed together henceforth, finishing what we started as our bodies writhed. I sought to strip away his clothes, fingers too eager to feel his stern and wondrous muscles to worry about how I was tearing the fabric. As I kissed his naked collarbone, I dug my fingers into his hair, whimpering when his hand parted my thighs. My dress rustled around my legs as he exposed my flesh.

All that tummy teasing had led to no contact. I whimpered under his attentive touch, his fingers swarming between my thighs toward the apex of my legs only to retreat to my knees. I wiggled while tugging his mouth toward my chest. "Please…"

"Please what?"

I grumbled desperately, none of the broken syllables forming words as I yanked down the blouse of my dress to expose my nipples. " Please ."

He wrapped his lips around my right nipple, sucking dutifully as he hugged me tight to his chest. With his right hand still perched between my thighs, he yanked at the back of my dress, ripping the delicate fabric to reveal my back. He smoothed his hand up my spine, straightening my position, causing me to buck right into his palm.

I gasped.

Part of me registered his warm lips on my throat, but I was far more concerned with the fact that he wasn't touching me yet. Whiny grunts surfaced as I tore at his shoulders, scratching him up as the heat took me over. Nothing but desire remained now. Nothing but sheer lust.

And then finally— finally —he swept his fingers over my panties. "Take your clothes off so I can see what's mine."

Titillated by the command, I obeyed him, shredding the fabric of the custom dress we had ordered. I didn't care about preserving it. I didn't care that our clothes were now a torn heap on the ground. What I wanted was him roughly marking my body with his rugged hands and mouth. Each earnest kiss gave way to desperate clawing, the kind of heavy touch that comes after being separated for too long.

He scrubbed feverish circles over my clit as he tilted me back. I mewled when he sucked my left nipple into his mouth, struck by the sharp way he nipped the tender flesh. Instantly, both nipples hardened to nubs as he plunged one finger inside me. A full feeling came with the motion, prompting my hands to round the back of his neck just to hang on.

I bit my lower lip while I gazed lustfully at the ceiling. Popcorn paint came into view, then blurred, then returned. I felt my mouth widen with every stroke, his own satisfied grunts giving me that quickening feeling in my center. As soon as I thought I might burst, he pulled his finger out, teasing my engorged clit with the wet tip of it.

With a gasp, I lifted my head. "That was mean."

He gripped my chin, pushing his soaked finger into my mouth. "I think you like it."

My eyes rolled back as he shuffled between my legs, pressing his hard cock to my entrance. He pushed half an inch inside and paused while manipulating my chin, turning it so my neck would be exposed to him.

He examined my mark with a delicate touch. "Say you're mine."

"I'm yours."

"Louder."

I trembled as I arched toward him, chasing after his cock that he kept just out of my reach. This was getting downright rude.

I struggled to wrap my legs around his hips. "You're being a bully."

He grinned. "And?"

"I'll make you regret it."

"By doing what, Cherry Pie?"

I licked my lips as I slid my left hand between us, reaching for my slit. He watched me with a hypnotized gaze as I replaced his cock with my own fingers—and moaned loudly. Each time I stroked between my folds, I heard him pump his cock, fingers gripping the shaft that I desperately wanted buried inside me. I watched his eyelids twitch, then the lip quiver, and then the resolve slowly melted from his face.

"Are you wet enough for me?" he asked gruffly. "Or do I have to go down there?"

I shuddered as he pushed my hand away and submerged himself in one swift pump.

I whimpered long and loud, a cry of surrender that bounced off the walls and made my desire triple. He reared back and returned with a boisterous thrust that threatened to knock me right off the table, wearing a smile that spoke of his power. I wrapped my limbs around him while he held my gaze, a daring stare that told me there would be consequences if I let him go.

But I was unwilling to lose his rhythm so quickly. Didn't he know that? Wasn't he sure of my dedication now? With our child growing in my belly and his touch keeping me steady, I didn't have a reason to let go. Desperation consumed me with each thrust. I bucked back as often as I could, sometimes ruining the rhythm, but mostly keeping up. To meet him halfway felt like the most joyful union. Every time we parted, I ached with his absence, determined to stay closer than close, to fuse with him.A wolfish snarl filled my ear, and then he bit me. His desperation became evident with every pump as he cradled my body, keeping me steady, doubling the strength of his bite on my shoulder. Such divine pleasure came from the pain in my neck. No longer did it feel like scar tissue. My throat was the most sensitive part of me, rivaling my clit for having enough sensory zones that only seemed to apply to Hector.

I plunged my nails into his flesh, drawing warm blood as I sailed high. He hissed and then growled as he pummeled between my legs, stealing my breath at every turn, turning me into a pile of stiff whimpers. I clawed his back. I grabbed his hair. I wound up as he pressed hard into me, and then—

I clung tight to him as I cried, " I'm coming! "

His steady thrusts turned to a fervent railing that made my stomach flutter. I gave myself to my body, to him, totally lost in the pleasure of the experience that I nearly missed him unloading inside me. Threads of warm come filled me up, the sticky fluid feeling like the bonding agent that made us stick together. This was him filling me with life. This was him blessing me with his protection.

His crushing touch grounded me back as he lifted me up and shakily carried me to the stairs. I kept a tight hold on him, still shivering from my orgasm, still wanting so much more.

"I'll always give you anything," he whispered huskily, "so long as you let me carry you."

I went limp in his arms. "Deal."