Rush (Roam Series, Book Four) (22 page)

I thought of West’s words in the car.
You need to work this out… before you get married.
I shifted barefoot on the porch, pushing gently on his massive biceps and searching for his eyes. “I know we need to get moving, but I want to talk to you about… everything… one more time.”

“Everything?”

“Children.”

He tugged the waist of his boxers up slightly. “
You know I want your babies.”

I shifted my eyes downward.
Tell him.
“I…,”

“And I took care of that last night.”

Grinning, I planted one hand on my hip, gripping the sheet at my chest with the other. “You are an over-confident ass, Corporal.”

“
My Marines are first in, last out.”

“Oh,
God.”

“
Oorah
.”

“Knock it off,” I begged, sighing at his stupidly adorable puns. “I just don’t know if I’m… mother-material. You know, I’m so young…
we’re
so young… and just because the world might end, it doesn’t mean I have to turn into a… barefoot baby-factory.”

He
tilted his head back and laughed at the sunlit, morning sky.  “I know you, Vi. I know you better than you know yourself. I’ve seen you with Eva. You do want a child, you just feel guilty knowing she’d be immortal. But… did you ever think that maybe she’d
want
immortality? I wanted it. I
chose
it.”

“You chose immortality
… to be with me.”

His handsome face filled with
the adoring look that I loved so much on him. He held my face in his hands, growing serious. “I’m marrying you today. I don’t care where you came from, or where you’re going. I’m going with you.”

The man standing before me was no longer the boy I fell in love with, dancing in the snow to a choir of Christmas carols. The remnants of war, of torture, of the horrible castle clouded with his evident love for me.

I stood on my tip-toes, reaching for his kiss. “I love you, Logan Rush. You’re right. I wouldn’t go anywhere in this life… without you.”

His mouth took over mine, his arms lifting me against him with an over-protective need. The force of his kiss put away all doubt I had, and made me forget about the impending danger of the past
that was always chasing us into the future.

“Ahem.”

The masculine voice behind me jerked me out of Logan’s arms, and I gasped to realize the sheet had fallen away and that half of my ass was hanging out.

“Dad,” Logan waved, thoroughly amused as I slipped behind him, attempting to cover up.

Mr. Rush turned toward the ocean, the unmistakable grin on his face shielded slightly by his profile. “Okay, kids, we have an agenda. Violet, Roam said the ladies are ready to leave.”

“Thanks,” I disappeared into the house, listening to the vague sounds of Logan and his father talking. I’d managed to slip on a pair of shorts and a button-down shirt (to easily remove after my hair was done) before Logan attacked from behind.

“Hurry. Before they come for us again,” he turned me to face
him and had my shorts back off before I could argue that I was already late for the appointment. Gasping as he moved into me, I clung to him. Even through the inevitable pain, I was unable to stop grinning at the excitement of the day ahead of me.

He fell over me on the bed, diving for my
neck. “You’re not supposed to be
laughing
. You’re supposed to be consumed by my raw-passionate-animal-lovemaking-skills.”

I exhaled with
amusement, meeting his smiling lips as the moment I knew so well was building inside of me. “Logan… you just make me so freaking
happy
,” I cried. I came fast in his arms, and he followed, the low rumble of relieved laughter moving through his throat.

“
Okay, hussy, clean yourself up and get out,” he kissed me once on my nose, and then mouth, smirking. “Maybe I’ll call you.”

I gave him a contrived
, grinning glare, searching for my shorts. “You better show up tonight. If you leave me at the altar, I’ll hunt you down, Logan Rush.”

“
I have nowhere else I’d rather be, Violet Perry.”

He pulled me into one more kiss before I ran to the bathroom.

The ride to the hair dresser was filled with excited chatter from all of the girls. My mom, Roam, Morgan, Eva and I all climbed into the stretched white limousine, and I was glad that Logan’s mom had decided not to come. She made me uncomfortable with her pushy questions, and I couldn’t help but feel that she constantly compared me to Roam the entire time we were together.

“
I dreamt about Grandfather Asher last night,” Eva told me, and I looked down at her sharply.

“Did you tell Dad?”

“No,” she adjusted the headphones on her head. “Daddy doesn’t like it when I dream about him.”

“
Well, what was your dream about?” I glanced at Roam, knowing she was listening intently. Morgan was showing my mom photos of the bachelorette party from three weeks before.

“
Grandfather was teaching me magic. He told me that I am very magical.”

“But we have to keep that a secret, right?” Roam prodded, and Eva nodded, reaching for my hair. Her tiny fingers worked at twisting a braid that she couldn’t quite master.

“But my
king
knows that I’m magical.”

“Will?” Roam leaned closer to us, and Eva nodded. She sighed like an animated
Disney
Princess, throwing the back of her hand against her forehead and falling against the leather seat.

“He is
so
handsome.”

“You see him? In your dreams?” I asked, exchanging glances with Roam.

“No, but I remember him,” she argued. “He told me I’m a princess.”

“Honey, did you decide on all the way up, or half-up?” My mother interrupted, referring to my hair. I swallowed and tugged Eva closer before Roam reached for her.

“Half up.”

I let the women at the salon fuss over me, lost in my thoughts of Cole
Mathison, Logan, and the rest of our lives.
Will the past always intervene? Will we ever get a happily-ever-after?
Logan zoning out in the bathroom had scared the shit out of me. He’d begun ‘disappearing’ when he got back from the castle, and the instances had only gotten more frequent during his leave in December.

On Christmas Eve, I’d found him standing in the middle of the road outside his parent’s house, in only his bare feet in the snow. He’d been completely unresponsive for almost five minutes, and then when he finally turned to me, it was as though nothing had even happened.

Where is he going?

I thought of Cole’s words on the airplane.

He will break- the nightmares will change him.

Though he no longer had the nightmares every night, he still woke up drenched with sweat, remembering some awful way he’d killed Roam in the past.

I shifted my eyes to Roam as the woman behind me painstakingly applied bobby pin after bobby pin to my hair. She sat in the chair, chatting about something with her hair dresser with Eva next to her.

Will
our lives always be about her?

The
envy that had begun in my heart the year that Logan and Roam had spent together once again filled me with bitterness. They both swore that they’d never slept together, but the jealous, immature part of me knew they’d done
other
things, and I
hated
that they had.

Any other girl doesn’t bother me…

Only Roam.

Back at the house, our cottage became our dressing room, and the men were forbidden to enter. Roam and my mom helped me into the
sleeveless, A-line wedding gown, careful not to disturb my make-up or hair. Roam and Morgan wore short, burgundy strapless dresses with a champagne sash, and my mom a champagne gown with a burgundy sash.

“
So beautiful,
” my mother whispered, her bright blue eyes filling with tears.

“Laurel, she needs to eat,” Morgan advised, and in response, I swayed on my feet- a little.

“I won’t fit into this dress if I eat anything.”

“Here, eat this yucky cookie,” Eva produced a
Vanilla Wafer, cringing. “Mommy said I can’t have chocolate chip
anywhere
near your dress.”

I laughed, accepting the box of cookies gratefully. “Thanks, sis.”

“Knock, knock.” I looked up at the open door, smiling at West. He stood just outside the screen, already dressed in his black tuxedo.

“No dudes!” Morgan called.
Roam ignored her, hurrying to the door and letting him in.

“Hey, baby.” He leaned in for a kiss, and she smiled, wrapping her arms around him.
I watched him trace his fingers over the strange birthmark on her shoulder blade.

“Where’s Christopher?”

“I left him with Logan for a few minutes. He offered. I think he needed something to keep his mind off of his nerves,” he turned toward me, his eyes lighting up in the late afternoon sun streaming through the window. “Violet,” he held his arms open, and I folded into them, awkwardly crushing the box of Vanilla Wafers in my hand. “
Thank you for sharing this day with me.
” The emotion in his eyes almost brought me to tears.  “Are you ready, sweetheart?”

“She’s ready,” my mom wrapped one arm around me, lifting her eyes to my dad
and winking.

West nodded, pulling Roam into his arms once more. “Okay. I’ll let them know. Eva, stay right with Mommy, okay?”

Eva snatched the cookies from my hand, shaking the box with teenage-sized attitude. “I will, but Daddy, these cookies are yucky.”

“Enough cookies.
Lunch soon,” he promised, sweeping her into his arms for a kiss before leaving.

Morgan reached for Eva, attempting to straighten the sash on her dress. “Okay, Eva Anastasia, you know your part, right? Not
all
the petals, like at my wedding, just
some
of the petals. Make them last all the way to Logan and Violet, okay?”

“I
know
,” she huffed. I took a deep, steadying breath, hurrying to my purse in the bedroom for a mint to erase the cookie taste.

After a few moments of nervous searching, I overturned my bag, my heartbeat quickening.
I’m getting married. To Logan. Forever.

Finally
.

“Come
on
,” I growled, pushing aside lip gloss and sunglasses. When Roam’s hand appeared in my line of vision, I sighed as she handed me the breath mints. “Thanks, Roam.”

“
Violet,” she twisted her fingers nervously, her long lashes practically touching her cheeks as she blinked back tears. “Please… know… that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for all that happened… for what Logan has gone through… for me,” she wiped at her cheeks, and I snatched a tissue from the nightstand, handing it to her.

“Roam, it’s not your fault.”

“It really is. He felt obligated to stay… in the castle. I have no idea what Troy did to him… when he wasn’t with me. I’m sorry,” she dabbed at the corners of her eyes, taking short breaths. “I wanted to say this earlier, but I just hate thinking… about it…,”

“Stop,” I reached for her, but she shook her head.

“No, I’ll get mascara on your dress,” she sniffed, lowering to the foot of the bed.

“Logan and I have talked about the castle. He didn’t stay because he felt obligated. He stayed because he loved you, and he knew that West couldn’t. Now, stop it, you’re
going to be all red and puffy in my pictures,” I urged, attempting a playful scowl.

She nodded again and swallowed hard, forcing a smile. “Okay.”

She stood and started for the door, and I turned to her suddenly. “Roam?”

Her voice shook as she answered. “Yeah?”

“He’d never hurt you.”

She narrowed her eyes, confusion taking over her green gaze. “I know that, Vi.”

I watched her walk away, uncertainty settling in my heart.

Logan

“
Please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Logan Rush to the floor for their first dance as husband and wife!
”

I
ignored the spotlight, diving into the most sparkling blue eyes I’d ever seen.

My wife.

Violet clasped her hands in mine, challenging me with a grin. Dean Martin’s
Sway
took me right back to the kitchen of the cottage in 1955, and I couldn’t resist dipping her for a crowd-pleasing kiss.

“Logan!” She squealed, tipping her head back. Her
perfect breasts swelled against her strapless gown, and I tango-kissed her all the way from her mouth to her neck.