Faithful (45 page)

She sucked in a breath of air as I kissed right below her belly button.

“Lean against the wall, Ellie.”

She barely whispered, “Okay.”

I picked up her right leg and put it over my shoulder as I started to kiss the inside of her thigh.

“Oh god,” she said as she grabbed my hair.

I just wanted to make her feel good. I wanted us to get lost in each other.

The moment my lips touched her, she started making small moans that were driving me crazy. It didn’t take long before she was calling out my name. I picked her up and carried her to the bed. I got undressed and then slowly crawled on top of her. I took my time entering deep into her body. I wanted so badly for her to get pregnant. I placed my hands on her cheeks as I planted soft kisses all over her face. Once I was buried deep in her, I started to move.

She grabbed my ass and bit down on my bottom lip. “Faster, Gunner.”

It didn’t take long before we were both coming and whispering how much we loved each other. I stayed on top of her for a few minutes, catching my breath, as she gently moved her fingertips up and down my back.

Then, someone knocked on the door. She tried desperately to keep from laughing. I shook my head for her to be quiet.

“Gunner? Ellie?”

“Oh. My. God! It’s like he has some sort of radar!” Ellie whispered.

I covered her mouth, so Gramps wouldn’t hear her.

We waited for another five minutes before I jumped up and began getting dressed. Ellie ran by me and started the shower.

I followed her, reached in the bathtub, and turned it off. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t want to smell like sex, Gunner!”

I started laughing. I grabbed a washcloth and ran it under hot water. “Spread your legs, sweetheart,” I said as I gently cleaned her up. I looked up at her, and she had her eyes closed while she bit on her lower lip.

Fuck! I want her again.

When I stopped and turned on the shower, she looked at me, confused. I stood up, grabbed her hand, and brought her into the shower with me. Picking her up, I pushed her against the shower wall and started to make love to her again.

“We need to sneak away more often.”

“Oh, that can be arranged, sweetheart.”

After we came back into the reception area, Jeff and Ari looked at us. Ari’s mouth dropped open. We walked up, and I grabbed Jeff’s beer from his hand.

“You horny bastard. You had to sneak away with my sister during our best friend’s wedding reception?”

I just looked at him.

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Did you do it in the shower? Your hair is soaking wet in the back, Ells. Have I taught you nothing? Shower cap, bitch!”

Ellie started laughing as her cheeks flushed.

“Ah hell, come on. I don’t need to hear this shit!” Jeff got up and made his way to the bar.

Ari winked at me before she followed Jeff.

Sharon walked up and smiled.

“Where’s Alex?” I asked.

“Grace finally sweet-talked me into giving her up. Where did you two disappear to? Garrett went off looking for you,” she said with a wink.

Ellie’s flush deepened as her mother grabbed her arm and started walking off with her. When Ellie looked back over her shoulder and smiled at me, my heart dropped to my stomach.
I’d laid down my life to always see that smile on her face.

I saw Scott sitting in a chair, drinking a beer. I went over and slapped him on the back. “So, how did the dance go?”

He shrugged his shoulders. “When we finished dancing, I asked her if we might be able to talk, and she just turned and walked away from me.”

“Dude, did you go after her?”

He shook his head. “No.”

“Did you ever think she might have wanted you to follow her?”

Scott just looked at me. “Why in the fuck wouldn’t she just tell me to follow her? Am I supposed to read her damn mind?”

I nodded. “Yep.”

Scott threw his head back and sighed. “Holy hell, I can’t do this.”

“If you care about her and want to have a relationship with her, you’ll do it.”

Scott turned and looked at me. Then, he stood up and smiled. “Well, Heather told me she saw Jessie walking down to the beach.”

I gestured to the boardwalk. “You know what to do.” I watched as Scott took off toward the beach to look for Jessie.
I hope that stubborn girl gives him a chance to explain everything.

When I glanced over to the entrance of the ballroom, my heart dropped in my stomach.
What in the fuck is she doing here?

I stood next to Elizabeth as she went on and on about the babies. All of a sudden, I felt someone staring at me. When I looked up, I saw Victoria standing at the entrance of the ballroom.

What in the hell is she doing here? God, give me the strength not to pound the fuck out of her.

I glanced around the room for Josh. I saw him talking to some friends from college. My head snapped back to Victoria.

I turned back to Elizabeth. “Excuse me, Elizabeth. I need to take care of something.”

When I started heading over to Victoria, Gunner jumped up and came to my side.

He took me by the arm and leaned down into my ear. “Heather, why don’t you let me take care of her?”

As we kept walking toward her, I turned to Gunner. “I’m tired of these crazy-ass, good-for-nothing, stupid bitches. I’m going to finish this.”

Gunner let go of my arm, but he kept walking along with me. When I was standing in front of Victoria, the smile that spread across her face made me sick to my stomach. I grabbed her arm and pulled her right back out the door and down the hallway, taking her away from the ballroom.

“Let go of me right now,” Victoria said.

I stopped and pushed her against the wall. “Listen here, you crazy-ass nutcase. I don’t know how you found out where we were getting married, and I don’t really care. You showing up here is the last straw. He doesn’t love you. He doesn’t want you. We. Are. Married.” I pushed my wedding ring into her face. “We are having twins in September. We are in love, Victoria. He is my life, and I am his. You are nothing more than some slut who used to give him head in her car as a means to keep him around. Do you really think he wants to be with you? I feel sorry for you. Do you know why?”

She just stared at me as her smile faded. She glanced over toward Gunner and then back at me.

“I feel sorry for you because you’re chasing after someone who wants nothing to do with you. It’s pathetic. Try to have a little bit more self-respect, Victoria. If you do, you just might find someone is out there for you. Someone will love you for you, not just because you give good blow jobs.”

Victoria opened her mouth to say something but then closed it.

“Now, I’m going to ask you politely to leave my wedding reception and never, ever contact either Josh or me again. The next time I see your face show up somewhere you aren’t invited, I’m going to make sure you’re the patient and not the nurse. That goes for all my friends, too. You even so much as look in Ellie’s direction, and you’ll regret it for the rest of your life. Do I make myself clear on all of this…Tori?”

She just stared at me. My hands were shaking, and I tried desperately to hide the fact that I was trembling from head to toe. I was surprised my voice hadn’t cracked, but with Gunner standing next to me, I’d found the strength I needed to just tell this girl off.

“I just…I only wanted to say I was sorry to Josh.”

“He doesn’t want nor does he need your apology.”

Victoria stood up a little taller and tilted her head.

“Shall I walk you out, or have you removed?”

She looked over at Gunner and made a face before she turned back to me. “Fine. I’m leaving. You can have him. He sucked in bed anyway.”

Something inside me snapped, and I slapped her across the face as hard as I could. My damn hand was stinging and still hurt from the last time I’d hit this girl. “Go fuck yourself, you bitch,” I said.

Victoria put her hand up to her face as tears were filling her eyes.

“I suggest you leave now before I do what I really want to do to you.”

Victoria moved and started to make her way out of the hotel. I put my left hand on the wall to hold myself up as I tried to catch my breath.

Gunner squeezed my shoulders as he leaned down toward my ear. “Holy hell, girl. You just made me so damn proud, Heather!”

“Jesus H. Christ!” Ari said.

I turned and saw Ari leaning up against the wall. She was smiling from ear to ear, and I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“I knew you had that shit deep down inside you!”

Gunner and I both started laughing. He reached for my hand and smiled as he kissed the back of it. He brought Ari and me in for a hug.

I slowly pulled away and looked at Gunner and Ari. “How in the hell did she know where and when the wedding was?”

“Evil witches like her use their wicked powers to find shit out,” Ari said with a smile.

“This shit stays between the three of us. Nobody else needs to know we had a visitor today,” Gunner said.

Ari and I both said at the same time, “Agreed.”

It was finally time for Josh and me to leave the reception. The best part of the evening was when Ellie’s mom had caught the bouquet.

Josh and I were standing in the elevator as he looked over at me and winked. “Are you happy, Mrs. Hayes?”

My heart dropped when he called me that. I smiled and wanted nothing more than to be in his arms. “Yes, very happy!”

The elevator stopped, and the doors opened. An older couple walked in and smiled at us. “Oh! Congratulations!” the woman said.

“Thank you!” Josh and I both said at the same time.

“So, where are you going on your honeymoon?”

Josh tilted his head at me and shook it.

I started laughing as I held up my hands. “I swear, I didn’t!”

The older couple looked at us with confused expressions.

When he slowly let that panty-melting smile of his cross his face, my heart melted.

“It’s a surprise. I haven’t told her yet,” he said, never taking his eyes away from mine.

“How romantic. You’re a very lucky young lady,” she said as she smiled at her husband.

“Yes. Yes, I am.”

The doors opened, and the older gentleman called over his shoulders, “Get in lots of baby-making practice!”

Josh and I both laughed as the doors shut. Before I could even say anything, he pressed the stop button on the elevator and then pushed me back against the wall.

“I love you so damn much.” He captured my lips with his.

I wasn’t sure how long we stood there, kissing, before the phone in the elevator started ringing. Josh pulled away from my lips and pushed the stop button back in and started the elevator again.

When the doors opened up on our floor, he reached down, picked me up, and carried me to our suite. He was kissing me as he tried to put the card into the reader. He finally got it open and took me inside.

“I’m so damn glad no one else is on this floor,” he said with a wink.

“Why?”

He gave me that crooked smile of his and winked again. “’Cause, baby…you’re going to be calling out my name all night!”

After he slowly put me down, I turned and let out a gasp. The room was filled with lit candles and bouquets of roses. A bottle of grape juice on ice and chocolate-covered strawberries were sitting on the small table. The bed was covered in rose petals, and it smelled like heaven.