Page 25 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

My whole body went into overdrive, desperate to latch onto this tiny bit of affection. I’d never had anyone make my body tingle the way it did when Asher touched me. I felt dizzy and nearly stumbled in his arms, but he held me tight and slowly ended the kiss, pressing sweet kisses to my cheeks and nose before stepping back.

But there was no smile on his face. It burned with an intensity I knew all too well. He wanted me. But then his jaw hardened for just a moment before his lips quirked up and he turned with his hand wrapped around mine and grinned at the crowd.

I was too dazed to even think about smiling. My heart was thundering in my chest from his kiss. I couldn’t help but wonder what that kiss meant, if anything. I felt him tug on my hand, and then he pulled it through his arm and started walking me down the aisle. I did my best to smile, but my head felt like it was wrapped in a cloud of lust.

“Mrs. Black,” Patrick grinned as he stepped out slightly from where he had been seated. “You look gorgeous.”

Asher’s warning growl had his grin increasing tenfold. I couldn’t help but smile at his playfulness. Since arriving with Asher, Patrick had been the one constant in my life that I could rely on to keep me smiling. He shot me goofy faces and used completely inappropriate humor to keep me smiling. I was glad he was going to be my personal bodyguard.

“Patrick,” Asher growled, then pulled me along beside him.

“What happens now?” I asked.

It occurred to me in that moment that most brides probably smiled at their new husbands and said something silly, or said how relieved they wedding went off without a hitch. I was only concerned about the next step in this whole fiasco.

“Now we go put in an appearance at the reception. We’ll be expected to dance and do the whole cake thing. Then we’ll leave.”

“Leave for where?” I asked, still unsure of what my role to play in any of this would be.

“For the airport. It’s expected that we take a honeymoon. We’ll have to keep up appearances. I’ve already had Patrick take care of getting your things together.”

My heart sank, even though it was silly. This wasn’t my real wedding or honeymoon, but hearing him talk so flippantly about what we were expected to do was just one more reminder that none of this was real. At least, not in the way I thought it might end for me someday.

The limo pulled up in front and the driver helped me inside while Asher kept his distance, walking around to the other side. I got this horrible feeling that now we were married, that slightly attentive side to Asher would soon disappear.

11

ASHER

She was fucking beautiful. As she walked down the aisle toward me, I had a hard time thinking of this as anything but a real marriage. But it wasn’t. It was all fake. I was only marrying her because of the contacts her father had, and even though we both knew that, it still made me feel like shit. She deserved better than some arranged marriage that was planned in one week.

I wasn’t exactly up-to-date on traditions of brides, but I knew planning your dream wedding in a week wasn’t possible. And right now, she didn’t look like a blushing bride excited to get married. She wasn’t terrified either, but that wasn’t a ringing endorsement for me.

The whole wedding was a blur, but the moment the priest said I could kiss the bride, I slammed my lips down on hers and kissed her like she was the love of my life. I forgot about all the guests in the pews and the fact that her father was watching my every move. Something about this wedding would be real, and this kiss was all I could give her right now.

But as they say, one kiss is never enough. And when my lips broke from hers, I knew it would be impossible to stay away. My eyes flicked to Ambrose, and the look of disapproval on his face was enough to let me know I had fucked up. He didn’t want someone that worshiped his daughter. He wanted a man he could control. He didn’t know it yet, but anything to do with his daughter would go a long way in keeping me in check.

I cleared my throat and took her hand in mine, leading her down the aisle. After many nods and smiles and a few jabs from Patrick, we were headed to the front of the church. Bird seed was thrown at us, which was a pain in the ass when it landed in my hair. I led her to the waiting limousine, nodding at Chase. He was responsible for making sure the car hadn’t been tampered with. There was no way in hell I was getting into it without it being checked first.

Patrick closed the door behind us and got into the driver’s seat, while Chase sat in the passenger seat.

“Any issues?” I asked.

“There was a disturbance outside the church, but whoever it was, they were well concealed.”

I felt Jade stiffen beside me and squeezed her hand. “It’ll be fine.”

“Lock has the front vehicle, and Edu is behind us. We’re covered,” Chase added.

“Who are Lock and Edu?” Jade asked in a small voice.

“Men I know. They’re very good at their jobs, and they’ll be coming with us on the honeymoon.”

“Oh. Where are we going?”

“A private island,” I answered shortly.

“That should be nice.”

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