Page 13 of Southpaw Slots

“I asked, do you, Asa McClellend Donovan, take Arianna Bridgette Freidenberg to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

Her sparkling eyes dance to mine as I nod a reply, my voice ringing out firmly to her. “Yes, I do.”

“And do you, Arianna Bridgette Freidenberg, take Asa McClellend Donovan to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

Like a snare drum, my heart picks up with that hope rising. This could be it… But she looks down at the ground, then steals a glance at the audience. Her brother—no. Who the fuck is she looking at?

Oh,hellno. That douche from the garage is here and…wait a minute. She’s looking at him! This bitch is looking at him! Cal said something about a boyfriend. And there he is, sitting inmycasino atmywedding like a fucking stone statue with some weird non-expression on his face. Gripping her hands tightly in my grasp, I refrain from jumping over the pews and pummeling the piece of shit.

With a few rapid blinks, the empress impresses me with her regard once again.

Ha! Fucker. I guess I’m taking your girl, then. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done it.

“I do.”

A heavy sigh of relief floods my chest as she speaks the words, her voice like a little bird’s floating through the air. I just wish she looked a bit happier about it. Meh, she will after tonight, I guess.

Shit. Now isnotthe time for a hard-on. But I bet her pussy smells divine and tastes like sunshine. The silky skin on the backs of her hands makes my thumb tingle with anticipation of what’s about to take place right after this. Maybe I don’t need the champagne. Hopefully, she’s ready to go, because the blood is currently leaving my brain and heading south.

“I now pronounce you Mr. and Mrs. Asa Donovan! You may kiss the bride!”

Without hesitation, I pull her close to my chest, her floral-scented breath riding into my mouth as I steal a quick look at that fucker in the audience.

Watch me steal your girlfriend, bitch.

With one arm wrapping around her tiny waist and the other tenderly cupping the back of her head, I lean in to get the first taste of my wife. Brushing my lips against her, she inhales quickly, her breasts rising between us. The hairs on the back of my neck prickle as I press my mouth into hers, my tongue easing inside her warm entrance, welcoming me.

I’m used to kissing. I’ve kissed a lot of women. But this feels completely different. Not thetechnique. Or the softness of her body against my hardness, or the way she opens for me so easily. It’s not even the absolute match the essence ofhermeets me in this moment.

All the desires for that dream I’ve held back for so long erupt out of my soul, venturing through me and into her. There’s no force involved. No resistance. In fact, it’s like we’re the same. I feel it in the way she moves her jaw with mine as her arms run over my biceps and we dance in sync to somewhere I’ve never traveled. This enchantress holds some secret power over me that no one ever has. And I feel her want it, want me, so I give it up willingly. Because what I want most in this world is here with her.

To be one with my wife.

To matter to someone and for someone to matter to me.

She’s the one.

And as if the Earth itself agrees, it begins to shake underneath our feet, rocking in sudden jolts as loud booms erupt in our ears. But I don’t stop kissing her, only tug her tighter to my chest. Into my protection. The heady blast of this realization causes me to feel somewhere between sober and intoxicated on her energy.

Only when plaster crumbles over our heads and the shrieks of terror interrupt my trance do I loosen myself from her, her eyes glossed over with a daze that matches my own.

The doors blow off the back of theroom as the floor shudders, and I grab her, my little wife, toss her over my shoulder, and run until we hunker under the frame of the door to my lounge. We don’t get earthquakes here in Gnarled Pine. That’s when I know…someone detonated bombs.

“Ace, man. They blew up the front door outside. Entrance is caved in up there.” Cass duck crawls over to me, his voice barely registering over the ringing swallowing my ears. The stench of sulfur bursts in heavy clouds throughout the room.

Glancing up at the chaos ensuing around the chapel, everyone scrambles in random directions, holding their hands above their heads to prevent the dust from pelting them. Everyone, except for one.

My wife’s boyfriend still sits in his seat. But now, he has a smug smile smeared on his face.

He’s dead.

FIVE

ARIANNA

With a firm grip on my bare upper arm, my new husband shuffles me inside the back room, which is a lounge that smells like cheap beer, weed, and stripper sweat. My lips still tingle and my head feels dizzy from the kiss I just had with him. What was that? It wasn’t like anything I’ve experienced before.

Despite a cursory glance at my new surroundings when I turn around, Wyatt’s eyes never depart from my face, stalking us until Asa reaches for the door. My stomach knots watching his approach, worried he’ll get hurt. Abruptly, he charges in, while Asa stands, stunned, at the intruder.

---