Jacked Up (18 page)

If any other man had said that to her, she would have ripped off his junk and stuffed it into his nostrils. But the fact that she just thought Nolan was funny showed her that she was in love with him. There was no other explanation for it. “Ha ha. You’re just amazing, aren’t you? Jackman, party planner, comedian . . . what’s next, dolphin trainer?”

“Sex machine.”

Oh, Lord. She would not laugh. She would not . . . she laughed. “You’re an—”

He cut her off. “Ass. I know. But I’m you’re ass. Want a piece of this?” He lifted the bottom of his shirt up and turned around so she could see the seat of his jeans.

Drool formed in her mouth. Yes, she wanted some of that. Immediately, if not sooner. “I wouldn’t mind having some of that.”

“Then get on in that chapel and let’s do this thing.”

Somehow that was not how Eve had envisioned her wedding. Getting on in and doing it. But it was right. Listen to her gut—that was what Nolan had told her. When she quieted the jet engine buzz of worries assaulting her brain, when she stopped thinking altogether and just felt, she knew this was right. Feeling the silence of peace and conviction was so foreign to her she wasn’t even sure what to do with it. It was akin to an out-of-body experience, and she really wanted to be fully in her body for the rest of the night, so she actually pinched her left wrist. Yep, that hurt.

“Did you just pinch yourself?”

“Yes, and if you make any comment about it, I will cut you.”

“God, I love you.” Nolan took her hand and kissed it hard.

Seriously. She had to marry him. What other man on the planet would be a better fit for her?

They entered the chapel, both grinning and holding hands. The chapel wasn’t hopping, given that it was a Thursday night, so the woman behind the desk greeted them, looking relieved to have something to do.

“Welcome, welcome! Are you interested in purchasing a wedding package for the future or as a walk-in right now?”

“Right now,” Nolan told her.

Eve fought the urge to giggle. She didn’t even get her hair cut on a walk-in basis. But now she was getting married. Without an appointment. She sort of expected her calendar app on her phone to open and swallow her whole in protest.

“I take it it’s just the two of you?” The woman was in her fifties and she was old school Vegas showgirl. Big hair. Long acrylic nails. Chandelier earrings. Bright lipstick. And lots and lots of cleavage. It was a slightly outrageous effect, but her smile was warm and her eyes were genuine.

“Yes, it’s just us. This wasn’t planned. It’s my birthday,” Eve told her. Which technically it was the next day, but that was beside the point. It seemed like some kind of explanation was required. Though now that she thought about it, it was after midnight so it was her birthday.

“Well, Happy Birthday!” She beamed at her. “That’s a nice way to celebrate, for sure. I’m Kat, by the way.”

“Eve. This is Nolan.”

“Nice to meet both of you. What type of ceremony are you looking for? Would you like a theme?”

Eve glanced over at Nolan. If he said he wanted a theme wedding, she might have to rethink the whole thing. But he just shook his head. “I think we just wanted something simple. Eve and I, some flowers, a kiss. We already had cupcakes earlier, so we don’t need cake or anything. What do you think, babe?”

Could it really be that easy? It seemed it was. “I totally agree.” She figured everyone had the right to get married however they wanted, but she would find an Elvis impersonator irritating. She’d never dreamed of a big wedding either, come to think of it. Being a bridesmaid in Elec’s wedding had been stressful enough. She’d probably implode if she spent a year planning a wedding for four hundred guests. “And some champagne.” If she could make her tongue unstick from the roof of her mouth, this whole thing would work better.

“Sounds perfect. Has either of you been married before?”

“No,” Nolan said. “First and last time.”

There was suddenly a massive lump in Eve’s throat. She wasn’t sure where it came from or what point it was trying to make but she couldn’t speak. So she just shook her head desperately at Kat.

Nolan squeezed her hand. She didn’t respond in any way, focusing on the book Kat had set in front of them, outlining the packages available to them. The Traditional Package swam in front of her eyes. Fresh floral bouquet, disc of photos, framed marriage certificate . . . she didn’t care about any of it. She just wanted to be Nolan’s wife. That was what her gut and her throat lump and her heart were telling her.

“Hey, are you okay?” Nolan pulled her slightly away from Kat. “Excuse us a second.” He studied her face. “Are you sure about this? We can leave if you want.”

There were tears in her eyes and she never cried. Impatient with their presence, she brushed at them. “If you think you can get out of this that easily, forget it. You can’t propose then take it back.”

He grinned. “I wasn’t taking it back. I was offering you an out.”

“I don’t want an out.” She didn’t. “And if you try to walk out that door, I’ll haul your sorry ass back in here.”

“I love it when you make false threats.”

Eve softened her voice. “Do you love me? You’re sure?” She found it so hard to believe. It was like the ultimate birthday gift, this amazing guy who had dropped into her lap out of nowhere.

“Oh, babe, yes, I’m sure. I love you. I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t.”

He kissed her, and she felt the tenderness of his lips on hers. Yeah, he loved her. She could taste it.

“I love you, too.” It wasn’t even that hard to say it. The words just sailed out of her mouth without any hesitation whatsoever.

She turned back to Kat. “What do we need to fill out?”

After five minutes and a minor tussle with Nolan when she tried to pay the fees and he told her that her money was no good there and threw her purse under a chair, they were standing in front of a woman named Susan something-or-other who had appeared from the back. Another five minutes and a couple of “I do’s” and that was it. They were married. It took longer to buy car insurance than it did to get married.

She looked at him. He looked at her. They were both grinning.

“You can kiss the bride, you know,” Susan told Nolan.

“Can I kiss you?” Nolan asked her.

It was perfect, the way he asked her.

“Hell, yeah,” she told him.

When their lips touched, all Eve could think was that she wanted to freeze this moment and hold on to it forever. She wanted to breathe in the perfection, the love, the certainty, the giddiness, the desire to be as close to Nolan as physically and emotionally possible.

Nolan broke away and looked down at her, his eyes dark with desire. “That was our first married kiss.”

Married. She grinned at him. “Did it seem any different to you?”

“It was like just as amazing, but with a dash of Tabasco on top.”

“For me, it was like peanut butter fudge ripple.”

He laughed. “That’s a fine compliment.”

Eve looked over at Susan, who was looking bored. Kat was back at the front desk doing something on her computer.

“So now what?” she asked him.

“We get out of here and have married sex.”

Her nipples instantly went hard and her inner thighs warmed. “I’m cool with that.” Or hot with that, more accurately.

He grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the door. Eve jogged to keep up with him, laughing. “Slow down!”

“No.” Nolan was carrying the bottle of complimentary champagne Kat had given them. Then suddenly he was carrying her.

Eve shrieked, her ass suddenly in the air as he scooped her up with one of those impressive arms. “Oh, my God! Put me down.” She was a good three feet off the ground and she squeezed his shoulders to keep her balance, her purse strap tumbling off her shoulder. “You’re going to drop me.”

“Don’t insult me. This is like bench pressing a cotton ball to me.”

She realized that she probably wasn’t all that heavy to him compared to jacking up a stock car. Now that was hot. Her man could
carry
her. Take that, bitches. Wait. Not just her man. Her husband.

A shiver stole up her spine and a serious jolt of heat kicked her down south. Her clit was pressed against his chest. There might be several layers of fabric between it and him but now she very aware of it. Of his hand on the underside of her ass. He was strong, no question about it. Muscular. She felt her inner thighs growing damp as he juggled the bottle of booze and her and yet still managed to open the front door of the chapel and take her onto the Strip.

She almost lost her balance completely, though, when he let out a loud yell and bounced her up and down in his grip.

“Whew!” he repeated.

“What the hell are you yelling for?” she asked, laughing, though it was obvious it was something of a victory yell.

“Because I love you and you’re hot and we’re married!”

Really, was there anything else that mattered? She didn’t think so.

She gave a whoop of her own, regardless of the curious stares they were getting from people on the street. “Your place or mine?”

“Where are you staying? I’m out by the track in a Holiday Inn.”

“I’m in the same hotel we just had the party at.”

“Your place then. It’s closer.” Nolan set her down on the sidewalk.

Eve took stock to make sure she had everything—purse, shoes still on her feet despite being dangled in the air, marriage certificate. Her husband holding her hand. Yep. That was everything.

There was nothing else she needed.

Except for an orgasm. Or two.

Which, given the look on his face, was within her grasp.

Eve smiled as Nolan hailed a taxi.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

NOLAN
wasn’t sure how he had started off the day throwing a surprise party for a woman he wasn’t sure he was allowed to call his girlfriend, and ending it with her as his wife, but he wasn’t going to argue. He’d gotten everything he had wanted and then some.

He knew that other people would say they were insane, but he didn’t believe it. Insane was letting an opportunity pass you by. Insane was debating so long over what you wanted that it disappeared.

Eve was his wife and he couldn’t think of a better end to the day.

Well, except for the upcoming leopard underwear show.

“I’ll get you a ring tomorrow,” he told her between kisses in the backseat of the cab.

“Whatever,” she said, her hands gripping the front of his shirt. “There’s no hurry.”

But a wife needed a wedding ring. Nolan had a split second of panic when he thought about the cost, but he figured he just wouldn’t think about the cost. Problem solved.

“Why did we get a cab?” she asked. “We’re only like two blocks from the hotel.”

Nolan processed that. God, she was right. He shrugged. “Hell if I know. I guess I was thinking we’re in a hurry. Or maybe I just wasn’t thinking. You have a way of making me forget to think.”

She laughed. “I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not.”

“It is.” Nolan slid his hand up her skirt, flicking his thumb across the front of her panties.

She sucked in her breath.

“See? If I was thinking, I wouldn’t have just done that.”

The corner of her mouth tilted up. “Oh, I think you knew exactly what you were doing.”

“Maybe.” He started to peel back the side of her panties, need suddenly gripping him. He wanted her now. Not in five minutes. Now.

“You’re here. Ten bucks,” the driver said.

Really? Nolan pulled his hand out from under Eve’s skirt, sorely disappointed.

“Two blocks,” Eve said with a significant amount of regret. “Told you.”

Ten bucks was a lot of money for that short of a distance, but Nolan wasn’t going to waste time arguing. Not when he felt like if he didn’t get Eve upstairs and naked, his dick was going to snap off and hit the ground.

They made out on the sidewalk. They made out in the elevator. They made out in the hallway while Eve fumbled for her key.

Then they were in.

So they made out.

Nolan hadn’t spent this much time in a frantic lip-lock with a girl since high school. He’d forgotten how exciting it was to just kiss and not skip straight to the good stuff. Kissing his wife had that same feeling as kissing his girlfriend back in the day had. It was worshipful, awed, desperate, wanting more, yet at the same time, wanting the moment to never end. It was kissing with the intensity of knowing that this was really happening, everything you had wanted and desired.

When he was sixteen, he hadn’t been able to grasp that Carrie had been willing to let him stick his tongue in her mouth. Now he couldn’t quite wrap his head around the fact that Eve Monroe had said “I do” to him.

So he kissed her over and over.

Eventually her hands started to wander across his chest and down around his ass. When she squeezed, he felt a serious kick of desire. Then he couldn’t control his own hands anymore. Fortunately, her shirt had buttons, so he undid them as quickly as his somewhat drunk fingers would allow. When they were all free, he yanked her blouse apart and just took a minute to stare at her breasts. Eve produced effortless cleavage. It wasn’t polished and packaged and put on display. It was just
au naturel
, baby, some seriously nice tits in a basic bra. He leaned forward and sucked the side of one. Her response was to cup his ass tighter.

“Wait!”

Nolan froze. That better mean pause for fifteen seconds or less. Not stop. Because he would die. “What’s wrong?”

“I believe I have some new underwear I’d like to try on.”

Hot damn. Nolan pulled back. He gestured to the bathroom. “By all means. As long as you model them for me.”

Eve threw her purse back onto her shoulder and kicked her shoes off. “Of course.” Then she bent back over and grabbed. “Shit. I need these.”

“For what?” Though he knew what she meant.

“For height. So my legs look sexier.” She laughed. “Not that I’m any expert on seduction. Did I ever tell you my first kiss was when I was twelve after I bullied my crush into doing it?”

Nolan couldn’t help it—he laughed. That was so Eve. And so Eve to tell him. “I bet he liked it in the end, didn’t he?”

“I’m not really sure.”

“I can assure you I’m going to enjoy this.” He was practically drooling in anticipation of the show.

“Why are you so different?” she asked, her voice dropping almost to a whisper, her eyes wide and curious. “No man could ever handle me.”

His heart melted all over again. God, he thought she was so beautiful. “Because maybe I’m the first man to realize that you don’t need to be ‘handled.’ You just need to be loved. And that’s all I need, too—I just want to be loved.”

“I do love you, strongman.”

“And I love you.” He started toward her, wanting to hold her. Now. Forever.

But Eve squawked and ran away. “No! I have to change now or it will never happen. And my slutty birthday underwear will be irrelevant.”

“Irrelevant?” Nolan sat down on the bed and took his shoes off. “Honey, sometimes I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“I can’t hear you.”

Why she needed to close the bathroom door was beyond him. It wasn’t like he hadn’t already seen her naked, but he had learned in life that women liked to do certain things in private. They also liked the presentation, to have a big moment of arrival. The man’s role was to appreciate the effort that had gone into it. He could do that.

Naked. Nolan stripped off his shirt and socks. He tossed his jeans in the direction of the desk chair and debated taking his boxers off. He went commando fairly frequently, but he’d worn underwear today and now he was regretting it. If he hadn’t been wearing them, he wouldn’t have to debate anything. Which made his decision for him. Screw it. The underwear was gone.

When Eve stepped into the doorway, every ounce of blood in Nolan’s body rushed south. Holy hottie. She looked amazing. Like a Vegas showgirl, only with less makeup. Her hair was flowing over her shoulders and her eyes were bright. The leopard set had been worth every single penny. The panties barely covered her sex and showed off her long, lean legs and flat stomach. Then there was the bra. There were no words to describe how glorious her chest looked. The word “bombshell” came to mind when he stared at all that astonishing cleavage. She looked so juicy and ripe and ready for the taking. He wanted to lick and bite every inch of her.

He was grateful for her putting the shoes back on. It gave a definite sex kitten air about her. His sex kitten.

“Meow,” he told her. “You are one sexy honey.”

She posed in the doorway. “Thanks. And that is one fine erection you’re sporting.”

Nolan glanced down. Yep. Steel post reaching for the sky. “I could say something really corny right now but I don’t want to ruin the mood.”

“Oh, come on, let’s hear it.” Eve had her arms up on the door frame and she dropped them slightly. “I don’t know how women hold these poses, it’s exhausting.” Suddenly she was doing an Egyptian walk with her hands. “This is more me. I’m not the best at seduction.”

He wasn’t necessarily into the whole setup either. His fantasy was get naked as fast as possible. “It’s working for me.”

“I feel like a stripper.”

“Then come on over here and dance on my pole, girl.” Nolan gave her an exaggerated lecherous nod. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

He patted his thighs.

They both laughed. Eve kicked off her shoes. “Okay, I don’t think this is us. I’m just going to jump your bones.”

“Sounds good to me. Or I could meet you halfway.”

“Nope. Bone jumping. That’s what I’m doing.”

He loved her go-get-’em attitude. Or go get him, technically. “Alright, you won’t catch any interference from me.”

When Eve sidled up to him, her breasts were almost level with his mouth. He would have liked to bury his lips in that cleavage, but she tilted his head up to her and kissed him on the mouth. Then she dropped down and kissed the tip of his penis. His leg twitched involuntarily.

This was a pleasant turn of events. He suspected he knew where she was going with this. Eve shot him a wicked look over the head of his cock. Oh, yeah, she definitely had plans for him. Nolan leaned back, palms down on the bed to let her do her thing. It was going to be hard not to grab on to her and just fling her on the bed, but if she wanted to bone jump, he was going to let her.

Only when she slid her mouth down over him and took him deep, Nolan couldn’t prevent a groan. “Oh, yeah, baby, that’s perfect.”

Her response was to cup his balls in her hand lightly, her fingers brushing across his thighs, then the end of his shaft all while her mouth moved up and down on him. The stimulation, the tease, had him gripping the bedspread and fighting to keep his eyes open. But he wanted to watch her. He wanted to see those pink lips sliding up and down on his hardness, her hair falling across her face. She hadn’t gone on her knees, she was bent over the bed and him, and it made her ass rise behind her head in a perfect leopard print exclamation point to the picture she presented.

“You are so hot,” he told her.

All that hotness and intelligence and she had chosen him.

Seemed like it was her birthday, but his lucky day.