Page 48 of Ruthless Rebel

Once we’re all situated I wait for the nerves to kick in, but they don’t. In fact, the only feeling flowing through me is anticipation and excitement. I want this, being able to finally call Elle truly mine is all I have ever wanted, and I can’t believe it’s finally happening.

As soon as the music starts, everyone rises, and I turn to find Helen and Lily walking down the aisle first, both of them chosen as Elle’s bridesmaids, but it’s the next two who steal my breath. Cassie takes slow steps towards me, throwing petals out of the basket her dad holds for her, while their free hands remain entwined with one another as they move. Asher looks as smart as always in his gray suit, just a shade darker than my own, but he doesn’t notice anyone but his daughter. She is taking her role as flower girl very seriously, and he is lapping up every second of it, despite his own important role for the day.

There was no other choice when it came to who Elle wanted standing by her side today, and I couldn’t think of a better best man for her. After all, he’s the reason we are even able to be here today, not that he ever sees it that way. He will never not blame himself for what happened to her, for how Cassie came to exist, but for me, I am thankful for him every single second of every single day. Without him, I wouldn’t be marrying the girl I have loved since I was five years old, and I will never be able to repay him for that.

When he reaches the end of the aisle, I lean down and drop a kiss to Cassie’s head, before rising back up and holding my hand out for him to shake. He takes it without pause, pulling me into a one-armed hug that I didn’t even realize I needed, before we pull apart and nod at one another, not one word spoken, yet a thousand said all the same.

Once they take their place, the song switches to the one Elle picked out, and I feel everyone turn toward the back of the room, but I take a deep breath and focus on my brothers. I need these last few seconds before I turn around and the girl of my dreams knocks me completely off my feet.

“She looks fucking perfect, brother,” Jace whispers, emotion staining his tone, and I can hear how much love he has for my girl, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

“You deserve this happiness, Marcus, you both do,” Lincoln adds, looking down the aisle with an emotion I have never seen on him before.Hope.

“You deserve it too, both of you,” I reply, looking between the two of them, praying they can see how much I love them both.

Then I turn, and every other person in the room fades away.

Elle King has always been beautiful, but right now, as she walks towards me in her simple, white lace dress, and her hair all pinned up, she has never looked better. Zack guides her down the aisle with ease, but my eyes stay fixed on her, not wanting to miss a single second of this moment, not when we already lost so much time together, but no more. From this moment on, it will be us and our family against the world, with nothing or no one coming between us.

As they reach the end of the aisle, Zack leans down and kisses his sister's cheek softly, before gently guiding her hand over to mine, and taking a step back.

“Fancy seeing you here,” Elle grins, linking her pinky finger with mine, and I can’t help but smile.

“I mean, we could fit in a game of hide and seek if you like, I’ll even give you a head start,” I joke, letting the years of our bond wash over us.

“Hmm that didn’t work out so well for us the last time we played, how about we just get married instead?” Her words are light and full of life, and it astounds me every day how she has survived what she has and still finds a way to make jokes.

“Excellent idea,” I purr, before leaning in close and bringing my mouth to her ear. “Then we can finish what we started earlier and you can come for me like a good little wife.”

The blush starts in her cheeks and flows down to her chest, but I see the lingering lust in her stare as I turn us toward the officiant and the ceremony begins.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we are gathered here today to witness the joining together of Marcus Riviera and Elle King,” she begins, and my focus zones in on Elle completely. In fact, I’m pretty sure I don’t retain anything she says, until she says, “I believe you have prepared your own vows.”

Elle and I nod with a smile, and as previously agreed, Elle goes first.

“River, I can still remember the very first time I saw you. Jimmy Olsen had just pulled one of my pigtails, and you marched over to him and shoved him down hard,” she smiles, tears already shining in her eyes. “Then you linked our hands together, and I remember thinking wow, this boy is going to protect me from anything. Fifteen years later and I still look at you and get that same feeling. You’re my sounding board, my crutch, the first person I ever truly loved, and though we may have lost our way for a while, I still always knew you would protect me. Thank you for accepting me, for accepting my daughter, and loving me more fiercely than I can even love myself sometimes. I will forever be grateful for having you in my life, and for Jimmy Olsen picking on me that day, because it brought me you. I love you now, then, and always, and I’m so blessed to become your wife.”

Fuck, emotion clogs my throat with her every word, and I can feel tears stinging at the back of my eyes with my love for her.

“Ells,” I whisper, completely taken aback by her words that I have to clear my throat twice before I can say anything else. “You’re the love of my life, I know that now, and I somehow knew that at five years old. I can remember going home the day we met and telling my dad I met the girl I am going to marry, and he laughed and asked if she knew that, and I shrugged, because in my tiny little five year old brain it all made sense,” I laugh, reaching up to swipe the tear now running down her cheek. “Now, he might not have believed me that first day, but I think he forgot how insistent I can be when I want something. We were inseparable after that, and I know he saw it, he probably saw it more than even we did, which is why I know he would have never regretted what he did that night.” The tears are flowing now, and I can feel my own ready to fall, but still I push on. “He didn’t just save you, he saved me, because he knew there was no life I wanted to live that didn’t have you in it, and it might have taken me a while to see that, but I see it now clearer than anything else. He might not get to be here with us, but we get to be here with each other because of him, and I will always be thankful to him for that, because he knew, just like I did, that we were made for one another. I knew it when we were five years old, and I still know it now. I love you Ells, and I promise that my love will never falter or waiver, and that I will protect you for as long as there is air in my lungs and my heart is beating in my chest.”

“River,” Elle cries, squeezing my hand in hers, but I’m still not done.

“Elle, it’s not just a privilege to know you, but an honor, and I know my dad is here with us now, smiling that I finally got my way and get to call you mine. I love you, I love our family, and I promise forever with me will be an adventure.” I pull back one of my hands and hold out my pinky finger for her to make the promise official, and she laughs as she cries.

“Pinky promise?” She asks, as she curls her finger around mine.

“Pinky promise,” I agree, pulling her in close and dropping a kiss to her forehead.

Emotion is thick all around us, and the officiant has to clear her own throat before we go through the motions of the rings, both of us swapping a simple platinum band, before we are finally officially announced as man and wife.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. King,” the woman cries, clapping her hands as she adds, “You may now kiss the bride.”

Cheers and applause ring out around us, but my lips are already on Elle’s, stealing her first kiss for the second time in my life, and feeling even better than the first time I did it.

Elle King. My best friend, my first love, and now my wife.

My wife.

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