Page 77 of Beck and Call

Evie

There were things I dreamed about when I was a little girl. ‘Flights of fancy’ is what my grandmother called them, because it was beyond the scope of what I'd thought was possible in real life. I dreamed I'd meet a handsome prince, and someday he would kiss me under the stars. We'd dance just like they did in my favorite princess movies, and we'd live happily ever after.

My grandmother would tell me there weren't any princes left. My education told me that wasn't true. To which she told me those princes weren't for me. Now, that I actually believed.

"Girl, you best keep your feet on the ground and your head outta the clouds. Spending all your time daydreaming about a man will get you no nowhere fast, just like it did your momma. I want you to dream big, but dream about what you can do for yourself," she would tell me.

My grandma never could have envisioned this. I walked down an aisle strewn with blush-colored rose petals, on the arm of a father I never expected to meet. The room glowed with tall taper candles in elegant silver candle holders.

In front of a stone fireplace dripping with fairy lights, Beckett fidgeted next to a somber man dressed in a judge's robe. In only a few steps we reached the end of the aisle. I turned to face Colter.

"I just found you, and now I'm being asked to give you away. It's hardly fair," he whispered.

I kissed his cheek. "It isn't, but it's better than never finding each other at all. Thank you for being here."

"For you, anything, any time. I better move out of the way though. My new son is looking a bit irritable," Colter teased.

"Yeah, don't call me that," Beckett said, and reached out his hand to me.

Our hands met, and he smiled at me. "Hi," he whispered.

The judge began to speak. The words both familiar and unfamiliar. Then he paused, and Beckett squeezed my hand.

"This is our part," he whispered. "I love you. It wasn't easy for me to say before, but there hasn’t been a single moment when I did not feel it. Love at first sight isn't supposed to exist, except in fairy tales. Then I met you, and a spell was cast over my life. The impossible seemed possible. I fought it hard, because I didn't believe I was capable of love. I've made some mistakes, and I've pushed you every step of the way, but you didn't let me push you away."

He slid a ring on my finger. "With this ring I give you the only thing you've ever asked of me: my heart. It's yours forever."

"You promised me the world, but I gladly accept your heart instead." I put my hand over my stomach. "You've already brought me the thing I wanted most in this world." I looked over my shoulder at my father. "My family. And now we are going to have one of our own. I have everything I've ever wanted, all because you decided to try and mix business with pleasure."

Jana handed me his ring. "With this ring I trade your heart for mine, and I promise to love you for the rest of my life."

Beckett didn't wait for the judge to declare us husband and wife before he kissed me. There was a hunger to his kiss I hadn't yet experienced. I expected chaste and sweet in front of our family, but he was unleashed.

Everyone faded away. He swept me off my feet and strolled down the hallway back to the master suite.

"So, we're going to leave then. I'm seriously uncomfortable right now," Colter shouted after us.

"Don't mind him, I'll feed him and get him drunk. He won't remember a thing," Jana yelled afterwards.

"I better not," he said as she pushed him further toward the door.

The door dramatically opened and closed. Beckett stalked me around the room.

"We're alone." His voice was low and rumbled over my skin.

"It appears so," I replied in a husky voice.

Slowly he pulled at his bow tie, and my blood heated, making my skin feel tight and uncomfortable.

He didn't offer me release, he only continued to slowly undress. One button followed by another until his starched white shirt fell to the floor. "Wife, do you enjoy watching me strip?"

I held on to one of the posts of the large four-poster bed. "Very much, husband."

He pulled his undershirt over his head, giving me an unobstructed view of his carved torso. "It occurs to me there's a ritual we didn't perform."

"Huh?" I asked, forcing my eyes away from his naked flesh.

Beckett untied a silk cord from the curtains. "We didn't tie the knot. It's obscure, but better safe than sorry."

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