Gabe

         “You nervous?” I glanced up from where I stood straightening my tie in the mirror to find my soon-to-be brother-in-law smirking at me.

         “Nah,” I replied dismissively like I wasn’t about to shit my pants. It was a lie. I was sweating bullets. Jasmine still had time to come to her senses. There was still a chance she’d realize she could do better than an old cowboy pushing forty with a kid and one failed marriage under his belt already. 

         Rowan chuckled. “Liar.”

         He was right. Nervous didn’t even begin to cover how I felt. Every day I worried I’d wake up, and this would all be a dream or that Jasmine would start to wonder if I was holding her back somehow. What if she wasn’t ready to settle down just yet? What if she wasn’t ready to be stepmom? She was still young. 

         I had to remind myself those fears were unfounded. Jasmine treated my daughter like she was her own, like she was always meant to be in her life. She never seemed to mind spending Friday nights watching Disney movies or hosting sleepovers for Rory where she set up mani-pedi stations for her and her friends instead of going out dancing or hitting up the bar. Don’t get me wrong; when we were on the road and didn’t have Rory with us, I took her out on the town and showed her a good time. I never stopped dating her, even after I put my ring on her finger. I made sure she knew how much I loved her, how I would do anything within my power to make her happy. 

         Reading my uncertainty, Rowan pushed off the wall and came over to me, clamping a hand on my shoulder. He dipped down to look me in my eyes, his expression sobering.

         “You’re going to be fine,” he assured me. “My sister adores you. I’m not sure why, but she seems to think the sun rises and sets in your ass.” I barked out a laugh and some of the tension eased from my shoulders. It was the release I needed.

         It had taken some time for Rowan to warm up to me after it came to light that I had been seeing his sister in secret. Even after Woody and I reconciled, Rowan still had his reservations, but once he saw I was in it for the long hall, that I worshipped the ground Jasmine walked on, he finally came around, and we’d become good friends in that time. Her other brothers hadn’t been quite as hard to win over.

         My relationships with Nash, Jacek, and Rowan were as different as the brothers themselves. Nash, as reserved as he was about most things, had been in our corner since the day his dad left the imprint of his knuckles on my face. Jacek had been hesitant at first, but it didn’t take him long to accept that Jasmine and I were in love.

         “I don’t know either,” I admitted, “but I’m glad she decided I was worth risking everything for.” I swallowed past the knot that had suddenly formed in my throat. That day she’d showed up on my doorstep with her bags in tow, I knew exactly the level of sacrifice she was willing to make to be with me. I hadn’t thought it was possible, but I’d fallen in love with her even more in that moment.

         There was a commotion right outside the door, and I turned to see Jacek bolt past then skid to halt. He curved his hand around the door frame to stop himself and poke his head into the room to peer inside. 

         “Have either of you seen Nash?” Rowan’s worried gaze flicked to me and I shook my head.

         “No,” Rowan replied, “not since breakfast.”

         “Shit,” Jacek cursed under his breath.

         “Don’t worry. He’ll be here,” I assured them. They both shot me skeptical looks. “He wouldn’t miss this.” If I knew Nash, he was probably dusting the dirt off his jeans from kneeling in front of Audrey’s headstone. I’d known for quite some time that when he randomly disappeared and everyone thought he was out tearing up the town – which he occasionally did, but not always – he was sometimes at the cemetery. 

         When he arrived ten minutes later with bloodshot eyes, a garment bag slung over his shoulder, it confirmed my suspicions. Whenever this happened, his family shot him worried glances. They assumed he was out getting drunk or high, but I knew the truth. It was from the tears he shed in private over the girl he thought would one day be his wife. His grief and guilt were trying to swallow him whole, and he’d been hanging on to the edge of that chasm by the tips of his fingers. 

         It was getting better, though. Over the last two years, he’d made great strides and was healing from the loss of his high school sweetheart. He visited her grave less and less and wasn’t drinking every weekend to numb the pain. I hadn’t found him passed out in the barn on Monday morning smelling of liquor and cheap perfume in a while. That was progress.

         “You good?” I asked as he buttoned his shirt. He nodded, not sparing me a second glance. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the small plastic bottle and handed it to him. He paused and glanced down at it. Recognition flashed in his gaze, and he took the eye drops from me.

         “Thank you,” he rasped, and his throat bobbed with a rough swallow.

         “Any time,” I replied, and I meant it. Nash was a good man. He was just a little lost, but he’d find his way back to good soon.

         “Are you ready to become Mr. Jasmine Hayes?” Jacek asked as we gathered in the living room of the main house, a shit eating grin plastered across his lips. Snickers and snorts of laughter sounded around me from all the men in the room, even my father. It hadn’t taken my family long to realize how down bad I was for her. Both mine and Jasmine’s siblings liked to tease me and claim that she wore the pants in our relationship. They weren’t exactly wrong. She owned me completely, down to my very soul. I would follow her anywhere, do anything she asked, and protect her with my life. 

         “I’ve never been more ready for anything else in my life,” I answered honestly. All jokes aside, Jasmine was taking my last name. I’d made sure she knew that I was okay with her keeping hers, but she’d insisted. 

         “We’re going to be a family. Rory has your last name. I should too,” she’d declared, her chin held high and a challenge in her eyes. I hadn’t dared deny her because deep down, I’d wanted that too. But I’d wanted it to be her choice more.

         Everyone filed out of the house until it was just Elwood and me left inside. He tried to keep his expression neutral, but there was a torrent of emotion swirling in his eyes.

         “This is it,” he announced, covering my shoulder with his abnormally large hand and giving it a squeeze. The gesture, so much like his oldest son’s from moments ago, was surprisingly gentle considering his size and strength. But that was who he was, a gentle giant through and through.

         As long as he wasn’t on the football field or throwing a haymaker at my face for dating his daughter behind his back.

         “It’s your last chance to run. You sure you want to go through with this?” His question was asked in jest, but there was a note of trepidation in his tone like he thought I might actually bail. He should’ve known by now I wasn’t going anywhere.

         “The only place I’m running is to that altar,” I replied resolutely.

         “Good answer,” he said with a smirk, his hand squeezing my shoulder reassuringly.

         “Is this the part where you threaten to end me or cut off my balls if I hurt her?” I asked, only half joking.

         “Nah,” he replied with a look of contentment settling over his features. “I’ve seen the two of you together. You look at Jasmine like I look at her mama. You know she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you, and you’re not going to risk screwing that up.” He gave me an encouraging slap on the back and headed for the door. Before he reached it, he paused and glanced at me over his shoulder. “But if you do, that threat still stands,” he warned before stepping onto the porch

         I chuckled and shook my head. He had absolutely nothing to worry about.  

         The bright spring afternoon greeted me when I followed him outside. The morning chill had burned off along with the dew, but it was still cool enough we wouldn’t bake beneath the Tennessee sun during the ceremony. Spring flowers were in full bloom and patches of honeysuckle dotted the fields. It was the perfect day for a wedding. 

         The old barn in the back pasture had been transformed. The once dilapidated structure was now the ideal spot to say, “I do.” No one was sure exactly how old the barn was, but it had been on this land for decades. It was exactly the type of barn people were converting into wedding venues left and right. When Jasmine and I decided to get married on the ranch, she’d known instantly where she wanted to do it. 

         So, I’d enlisted the help of her brothers and a few of her cousins to restore it. It hadn’t been easy and was definitely a labor of love, but we managed to pull it off. Now that it was completed, there were talks of opening it up to the public to rent out for weddings and events. It turned out Jacek’s girlfriend had a knack for event planning, something we learned when she volunteered to help Jasmine plan our wedding.

         I stood in awe of the old building that had once looked like it might collapse any moment but was now brimming with rustic charm and expertly coordinated decorations. The sight was magazine worthy.

         The ceremony itself was to take place outside in front of the open doors, with the reception to follow inside the barn. When the processional began, the grandparents made their way down the aisle and found their seats. To my relief, Rose was on her best behavior. It wouldn’t have surprised me if she’d shown up in a g-string and pasties and did cartwheels down the aisle. Thankfully, she walked straight to the front in her very stylish –and appropriate– cornflower blue dress and took a seat next to Hazel and Fern, followed shortly by RaeAnne who was barely holding back tears. Those tears would’ve concerned me if it weren’t for the smile on her face and the way she’d taken my hands in hers and given them an affectionate squeeze before telling me she was glad Jasmine chose me only moments ago.

         Next, I made my way to the front, flanked by my parents whose arms were looped through mine. My father hugged me and I kissed my mom’s cheek before they took their places in the front row. From there, the remainder of the wedding party walked down the aisle to an instrumental version of “Iris” by The Goo Goo Dolls. It was the perfect choice for our wedding song because it conveyed the desperate longing I’d felt for her for so long. It was on one of her playlists, and every time I’d heard it while we were on the road, it had felt like a vice around my heart reminding me that the woman in the seat next to me was everything I wanted but could never have. 

         Not anymore. She was about to become mine. Nothing and no one would ever stand between us again.

         When Rory came into view, I got a little choked up at the sight of her in her purple dress with sprigs of lavender woven through her hair, no doubt something Jasmine had helped her with. The thought of my daughter and my bride getting ready together for this big day filled my chest with a warmth I could barely contain. It threatened to leak right out of my eyes.

         She and Asher strode down the aisle, her with a basket of flower petals and him with the ring bearer box. Rory looked like she was auditioning for Swan Lake, dramatically sprinkling the petals in a graceful, dance-like motion. When she reached the halfway mark, she stopped and did a pirouette, sprinkling a handful of petals all around her as she spun. The unrehearsed action elicited laughter from the guest and brought a chuckle to my lips that eased the tightness in my throat. It helped me gather my composure just in time for my first look at my bride. 

         The sound of an excited whinny sounded in the distance, and a hush fell over the crowd. Everyone craned their necks, searching for where it came from. Then she appeared.

         Jasmine crested the ridge on Juniper’s back, and my breath caught. She was a vision in white, her dark hair flowing behind her and the skirt of her dress billowing in the breeze as she rode toward me. It was like something out of a fairytale. It was as though she moved toward me in slow motion, my brain cataloguing every detail from the honeysuckle woven into her hair to my mother’s pearl and diamond earrings that made up her something borrowed.

         I didn’t even notice Elwood waiting for her at the other end of the aisle until Jasmine stopped next to him, and he reached out a hand to help her dismount her horse. She pressed her forehead against Juniper’s nose and closed her eyes for a moment as she ran her hand over the horse’s face and neck affectionately. Then she stepped back, allowing Juniper to be led away, and turned to face me. Her eyes locked on mine, and I held her stare for a long moment, silently begging her to come to me, to put one foot in front of the other and meet me at the altar. My heart hammered in my chest, beating an erratic rhythm that no amount of deep breathing could calm. 

         Then she smiled and took her first step in my direction. The entire world fell away as she walked toward me, her face filled with joy and love shining in her eyes. She was all I saw. The only thing I heard was the sound of my pulse thrumming in my ears, the pace so frantic, I thought I might pass out. This was it. She was about to become my wife. 

         I didn’t look away from her once as she slowly made her way up the aisle. She held my gaze the entire time, conveying more than words could ever express. The look in her eyes was a promise. We only needed to say our vows to make it official, but we were already bound to each other. My soul had already found its other half. This ceremony was merely a formality.

         The sound of a throat clearing drew me out of my haze, and I reluctantly glanced over at Elwood. His eyes were misted over, and his chin was quivering like he was barely holding back tears. He nodded down to where he held out Jasmine’s hand for me to take, and I hastily lifted my hand to curl my fingers around hers. I’d been so lost in her, so awestruck by her beauty and the knowledge she was about to become my wife, that I hadn’t even noticed the minister had spoken. 

         “Take care of my girl,” Elwood implored, though his tone was absent of any doubt or hesitation. He knew I’d do right by her, that I’d give her a good life and always put her first.

         Still, I was happy to offer him my assurances. “I will,” I promised, and he nodded his acceptance before taking his seat next to RaeAnne, who stealthily slipped him some tissues. 

         Then I turned to face Jasmine. Looking at her made my chest ache with longing. I couldn’t wait to hold her in my arms, to kiss her and make love to her for the first time as her husband. I felt like the luckiest man in the world getting to love her the rest of my life. 

         Jasmine’s gaze flicked to the minister and back to me. Her smile faltered and she did it again, this time widening her eyes and nodding her head toward him almost imperceptibly. I glanced over to find him watching me expectantly. Then I realized he’d ask me a question. I’d been so lost in my thoughts again that I’d forgotten to participate in my own wedding.

         “I do,” I answered a little too loudly and hastily, and snickers rippled over the crowd.

         We made it through the rest of the ceremony without incident, and when I got the green light to kiss my bride, I didn’t hesitate. Curving one hand around her hip, I pulled her toward me and cupped her face with the other. I slowly lowered my mouth to hers and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, letting my tongue sweep across them only briefly. I couldn’t kiss her like I wanted to in front of all these people. That would have to wait.

         The rest of the night passed by in a blur. Jasmine tried to get me to sneak away with her to… consummate our marriage, but as tempting as that was, I refused. I didn’t want our first time together as husband and wife to be a quickie in the hay loft. I wanted it to be special. I wanted to take my time with her, to worship every square inch of her body and show her just how much I cherished her.

         And that was exactly what I did once the night wound down and we bid our guests goodbye. I couldn’t get back to our house fast enough. Jasmine had thankfully changed out of her flowy dress with its delicate lace flowers adorning the bodice and tiny fabric buttons running down her back. I wasn’t sure I could’ve been patient enough to undo all of them and not just rip the beautiful gown off her body. The shorter dress was more casual and much easier to navigate than the long, full skirts of her wedding dress.

         As much as I wanted to have her naked and writhing beneath me, I mustered enough self-restraint to undress her slowly and kiss damn near every inch of her skin. I wanted her desperate and panting, her body vibrating with anticipation before I sank inside her for the first time as her husband. 

         Unable to resist the temptation, I kissed my way down her belly and hovered at the apex of her thighs. Her chest rose and fell with ragged breaths, and her eyes darkened with need. I fought the smirk trying to curve my lips as I held her gaze and drank in her needy expression. 

         “I can’t wait to taste you… wife,” I said and her eyes fluttered closed, her head falling back on her pillow as she reveled in the sound of her new title on my lips.

         “Uhhh,” she moaned. The low, throaty sound was drawn out but quickly turned into a gasp when I swiped my tongue up her center and flicked her clit with the tip. She tangled her fingers in my hair and lifted her hips, seeking out more, and I chuckled. I loved how responsive and enthusiastic she was. I rewarded her, bringing her to the edge quicker than I ever had before. 

         She cried out my name as she came, bucking her hips and tugging at my hair, her movements wild and uncontrollable. I kissed my way up her body, settling my hips between her open thighs. Her arms snaked around my neck, and she pulled my mouth down to hers. I kissed her long and slow before pulling back to look into her eyes. 

         “I love you, Jasmine. I plan on reminding you every day just how much you mean to me,” I said, brushing a curl from her face. She smiled wickedly, and that all too familiar mischief glinted in her eyes.

         “I’d rather you show me,” she replied with a suggestive quirk to her brow. 

         “Yes, ma’am,” I agreed, then spent the rest of the night doing just that.

 

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         The next morning, as we packed our bags for our honeymoon, I noticed Jasmine had left something on the counter I was certain she wouldn't want to forget. I didn’t see the bag she kept all her medications and diabetes supplies in, so I went in search of her. I found her in the bathroom, packing up her toiletries.

         “Forget something?” I asked, holding up the blister pack. She’d had her IUD removed last year since it was time to replace it but instead opted to go back to birth control pills. She would definitely need them while we were on our honeymoon because I planned to keep her full of my cum. That thought had me wanting to do things we didn’t have time for if we wanted to make our flight.

         She bit down on her bottom lip nervously as her eyes flicked from me to the pills in my hand. “About that,” she began, reluctantly returning her gaze to mine, “I was thinking of maybe just leaving them here or… getting rid of them all together.” A mix of hope and trepidation swirled in her eyes as she watched me for a reaction.

         It took a moment for what she was implying to sink in, but when it did, it almost knocked the wind out of me. My pulse thundered against my ribs and pounded in my veins. Was she ready to add to our family? We’d talked about giving Rory a sibling one day, but it wasn’t something we planned to do right away. 

         “Are you,” I began, my voice cracking, then cleared my throat before continuing, “saying you want to start trying for a baby?” A tentative smile spread over her lips and she nodded. 

         “A-are you sure? We just got married? Your barrel racing career is taking off.” I tried not to show how much I wanted this. It was her decision. She called the shots here. I wouldn’t try to sway her one way or the other. But damn, if this was really what she wanted, I’d be more than happy to oblige.

         “You’re not getting any younger, old man,” she replied teasingly. She loved to call me that when she was being exceptionally bratty, knowing I’d show her just how much this old man could do to rock her world. But this? This was different. This was a life altering decision and not to be taken lightly.

         I crossed the room to her in three quick strides, tossing her pills onto the counter so I could cup her face in both my hands. “Jasmine,” I croaked, searching her eyes, “you don’t have to do this if you’re not ready. I don’t want you to feel like you have to rush into this because of my age.”

         She rested one hand on my chest and gripped my wrist with the opposite hand. “It was only a joke. That’s not what this is about. I want this. I want this with you. I don’t want to wait. There’s no guarantee it will happen right away. It could take a while and I’m ready to get started now,” she insisted with a stubborn tilt to her chin. Fuck, this woman. She knew exactly what she wanted and didn’t hesitate to go after it. It was admirable and enviable, but even more so, incredibly sexy. 

         “You are so impatient, Little Menace,” I said, dropping a hand to her waist and reaching behind her with the other. Leaning into her space, I met her stare as I plucked the birth control pack from the counter and straightened, holding it up just long enough for her to see it before tossing it into the trash. Her eyes tracked the movement, and the pack made a satisfying ping when it hit the bottom of the receptacle. Her mouth fell open and her eyes widened in shock as they shot back to me.

         “There’s no going back now,” I announced, and her gaze darkened. The surprise in her expression melted away, replaced by something raw and primal. Then she was on me. I caught her by the hips as she jumped into my arms and wrapped her legs around my waist. She crushed her lips against mine, and I slipped my hands down to her ass to cradle her against me.

         “Let’s go, cowboy, I’m ready to get started,” Jasmine demanded.

         “What about our flight?” We needed to leave in the next fifteen minutes, and we weren’t even done packing yet.

         “There’ll be others,” she quipped, and I groaned, satisfaction at her eagerness heating my blood.

         “Good point,” I agreed. Then I carried my wife to our bed, tossed her onto it, and gave her exactly what she wanted.