“You did this?” I asked when I got to him. He grabbed my hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.
“I thought you did,” he said, his brows scrunching. I shook my head, then we both turned toward Bash. He held his hands up innocently.
“Don’t look at me,” he said. We turned toward Addie and Heather, but they shook their heads, too. The guys smiled at us, but shook their heads no. Finally, we looked at Skye.
“You did this?” Axel breathed. She looked at us shyly, her cheeks tinged pink, and nodded. He let out a choked, sobbing sound and pinched his eyes, wiping the tears off. “Jesus, kid.” He shook his head, laughing breathlessly.
“Uncle Bashy and Addie helped,” she said quickly, pointing at them. She dug the toe of her boot into the sand, smiling softly. “You like it?”
Axel and I looked at each other, both of us smiling so big our jaws were going to ache forever.
“It’s perfect,” I said.
“Perfect.” He pressed his lips to mine and Kiwi whooped a few times, then everyone cheering making us laugh against each other’s mouths.
“Alright, alright,” Bash said, swatting Axel’s shoulder. “Let’s get through this part, then you can make out with your wife all you want.” We barely pulled apart and nodded.
“Wife,” Axel mouthed to me, his face lighting up. “My wife.” My stomach did somersaults as I stared up at him. He was about to become my husband.
Bash kept it simple and a little vulgar, because, well, it was Bash. What else could be expected? The smile on our faces stayed and our hands couldn’t be pried apart with a crowbar.
“Rings?” Bash looked to Skye and she moved forward quickly. She handed Axel a small paper ring and he laughed.
“You took this from my room,” he said and she nodded, giving him a cheeky grin. He shook his head, but when he looked back at me, his eyes melted. “I love you, little bear.” He whispered.
“I love you, Axel,” I said. He slid the paper ring onto my finger, not saying the traditional words he was supposed to, but instead words he felt from his heart.
“Skye made this ring for me to give to you because she was impatient and ready for you to be in our lives forever—I was impatient and ready for you to be in our lives forever. Sometimes life has a weird way of bringing people to you; and I know our lives haven’t been the easiest, that we haven’t always had the happy endings we hoped for. But right now, with you, it’s made all the pain worth it. It’s made every struggle I’ve ever had worth it, to be able to marry you.”
A gross sob left my throat and he grinned. “Damn you, Axel Salvatore.” I wiped at my face as he laughed, squeezing my hand tightly. “You’re the man of my dreams, Ax. You’ve brought me back from death and given me life—You’ve poured so much love and warmth into me that I’m always on fire. I can’t imagine a life without you.” I smiled at him, remembering the words he’d said to me all those weeks ago. “I never want to imagine a life with you and our daughter. I love you, both of you,” I looked at her over my shoulder, finding her chin wobbling, “more than there are stars in the sky, or words in our language, or sand at the beach. You’re my entire world.”
Maybe it wasn’t a traditional wedding, and maybe our kid planned it for us. And maybe our marriage wouldn’t even be considered legal or valid, but I didn’t care. What we had that day went deeper than anything I could’ve imagined. What we did, what we said, and felt, was more perfect than anything I could’ve planned.
Everything about that day was perfect.
13
AXEL
I wrapped my hands around her waist a little tighter, holding her closer to me as we swayed in our room. Soft music floated around us, her cheek resting against my bare chest. Our feet shuffled over the wood floor, dodging Skye’s toys, our surprise wedding playlist on repeat. Koda tipped her head back and smiled up at me, her eyes unguarded and full of so much fucking love I wanted to cry.
“I wish we were vampires,” I said and she laughed.
“You say the most romantic things.” She shook her head, still smiling and I grinned down at her.
“I mean, I wish we were immortal. I wish we could spend eternity together. A few decades with you isn’t enough time.” She kissed the center of my chest, her eyes closing tightly.
“We’ll find each other again,” she said quietly, her lips brushing over my skin. I agreed with her. I loved her too fucking much to ever think my soul could survive without her.
She pushed up on her tiptoes and I met her halfway, pressing my lips firmly to hers. My tongue swept into her mouth and she slid her hands up my chest, locking her fingers around my neck. I lifted her effortlessly and her legs wrapped around my waist as I walked us toward the bed. I laid her back, kissing along her jaw, down her neck, running my hands over her body, under her shirt.
Slowly, I slid it over her head and threw it to the floor as I made my way kissing down her body, sucking gently on her breasts. She moaned quietly and ran her fingers through my hair, tugging lightly on the ends.
She lifted her hips to help me take her panties off, and I knelt on the floor before her. I grinned up at her, my queen, as I wrapped my arms around her thighs, yanking her roughly to me. She yelped and steadied herself on my head as I draped her legs over my shoulders and used my fingers to gently spread her pussy open.
Our eyes locked as I licked her in a long, slow stroke. Her hips lifted and rolled against my mouth as she moaned and spread her legs a little more. I sucked on her little clit, rolling it between my lips firmly before lapping at her again.
“Ax,” she moaned, her back arching.