Sinners On Tour 06 Sinners at the Altar (10 page)

As much as Brian liked hearing the guards reminisce about ass-
whuppin’s they’d delivered and received at the hands of friends, he was awfully glad to see his beautiful new wife step off the elevator a few minutes later. He didn’t even care that Jessica was with her. Soon he and Myrna would be alone together in their hotel room and Brian could pretend he was okay about Trey, without everyone watching.

Chapter Ten

Back in the hotel room, Myrna circled the suite to turn off all the lights except the lamp next to the bed. Brian sat on the edge of the mattress and fiddled with the alarm clock.

“We have to be up in two hours,” he said, his voice hollow with exhaustion. “Sorry our wedding night didn’t go so well.”

She sat beside him on the bed and took the alarm clock out of his hand to set it on the nightstand.

“Me too,” she said. “But we can take an extended honeymoon in a few months.
Once the tour is over. And Trey is better.”

He lifted his head, allowing her to see his dark eyes strained with fatigue. The bruises around them weren’t helping him look any more alert.

“I could try to make love you to you if you want,” he said.

“We don’t need to have sex again,” she said and almost laughed when his shoulders sagged with relief. The poor guy was used to having to satisfy her insatiable sexual appetite for him. “I’ve had plenty of sex today, but I do need to make love to you.”

She scooted off the bed and settled on the floor at his feet. She untied one of his boots and pulled it free, tossing it aside before massaging his instep through his soft, white cotton sock. He murmured a sound of pleasure in the back of his throat. She repeated her attention on his other foot and then urged him to lie back on the bed with his legs dangling over the edge so she could unfasten his jeans. He lifted his hips and she tugged them off. Staring up at her wearily, he held his arms open to her.

“Come here, wife. I need to hold you, remind myself that you’re really mine, and think about all that’s good in my life when everything else has gone to shit.”

She blinked back tears, her heart panging with empathy. She knew he loved Trey—not in the way she’d been fixating on for most of the day, but as a friend, a colleague, and someone he could always depend on.

“I was going to massage your back,” she said. “Help you relax.”

“I’ll feel most relaxed with your head right here.”

He patted the center of his chest, and she couldn’t deny that she very much wanted to rest her head over his heart. He tu
gged his shirt off, and she shed most of her clothes. She left her panties in place, hoping to remind her eager pussy that she didn’t have to fuck Brian to show him how much she loved him.

They snuggled together beneath the covers, her head on his chest and his heartbeat thudding steadily against her ear.

“I’m sorry I behaved like a regular asshole at the hospital,” he said, his voice rumbling through his chest. He covered his eyes with one hand and sighed.

“That was behaving like a
regular
asshole? What are you like when you behave like a
huge
asshole?”

He chuckled halfheartedly. “You don’t want to witness that.”

She stroked his belly absently, willing her mind to calm down so she could get some sleep.

“What am I going to do if he doesn’t recover?” Brian whispered.

“I told you not to let yourself think like that.”

“I can’t help it.”

“He’ll be fine. He’s Trey-motherfucking-Mills. A little head injury won’t keep him down for long.”

Brian traced lines over the bare skin of her hip. “Maybe once he’s better we can invite him back into our bed. It would be okay when it’s not our wedding night, right?”

Myrna bit her lip. As sexually fulfilling as her threesome with Brian and Trey had been, it had been more of a mind-fuck than she’d anticipated. “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said after a long moment.

“Why not? I thought you enjoyed it.”

“I did,” she admitted.

“Well, I enjoyed it. He enjoyed it. What’s the problem?”

She was almost afraid to say it. “He loves you.”

“I love him too.”

The words slashed her heart to ribbons, even though she was almost certain they were talking about different kinds of love. “But are you
in
love with him, Brian?”

“Huh?”

“Nothing,” she said, afraid that by discussing it, Brian might realize he
was
in love with Trey. She couldn’t lose Brian. Not now. Not when she’d finally given him her heart. It would destroy her.

Brian was quiet for a long moment. “Do you think he’s actually in love with me?”

She bit her lip and nodded. “I know he is,” she said, mortified when her voice cracked.

Brian’s arm tightened around her, but he didn’t say anything. She was almost in tears by the time she found the courage to say, “I’m so afraid he’ll end up coming between us, and I feel so bad for feeling that way—especially now that he’s hurt—but I can’t help it. I don’t want to lose you, Brian. I
can’t
lose you. I just can’t.”

There. Her greatest fear was now out in the open. A hot tear leaked from the corner of her eye, and she dashed it away angrily.

“You won’t lose me, baby, and Trey won’t ever come between us. I’m in love with you. I was never in love with him. It was just sex, Myrna. Even when Trey and I fooled around as teens, it was just sex.”

For Brian maybe, but she was sure it had meant a lot more than that to Trey. “I know,” she said, though her heart was still clouded with doubt. “I just… It makes me jealous to share you with him. Don’t you get jealous when he touches me?”

“No, I get a raging hard-on when he touches you.”

Yeah, and that wasn’t normal.

“But when Sed touches me—”

Brian stiffened. “Did he fucking touch you? I’ll break his goddamned fingers.”

Myrna slapped his belly. “No, he didn’t. Why are you so jealous of Sed, but not Trey? I don’t understand.”

“Because…
Because he’s
Trey
.”

As if that explained anything. “And?”

“Well… I trust him implicitly with every aspect of my life. Even with you.” He tipped his head to kiss the top of hers.

And yet Brian claimed not to be in love with the man.

“But if you’re not comfortable allowing him into our bed—”

“I’m not,” she said hurriedly.

“That’s fine. We’ll find something else to give us pleasure.”

She snuggled closer to her husband’s chest, her heart swelling with affection. She believed what Brian said. He wasn’t in love with Trey. She had nothing to fear but her own insecurity.

“All I want is you, Mr. Sinclair.”

“You have me, Mrs. Sinclair. Always. If there ever comes a time when I feel Trey might threaten our happiness, I won’t hesitate to set him straight.”

“Promise?” she said, feeling a bit juvenile for asking, but she needed him to say it.

“I promise. I’m yours, Myrna. Only yours.”

She was counting on that. And counting on Brian to never break her heart. She knew if he did, she’d never take a chance on love again.

“And I’m yours, Brian,” she whispered.
“Always.”

Sweet Love of Mine

Epilogue to
Wicked Beat

A Sinners
on Tour Encore

by
Olivia Cunning

Chapter One

Sitting at a red light, Eric banged his head to the music blaring from the speakers and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel of his beloved ’67 Corvette. He followed the song’s drum progression around the circle with his improvised drumsticks and reached over to the passenger seat to tap his cymbal—Rebekah’s pert nose. His
most
beloved giggled, which warmed him far more than the California sunshine streaming in through the car’s open convertible top. It also prompted him to use her thigh as his cowbell and her nose as his cymbal again.

“You’re in a good mood,” she said, smiling crookedly at the dashboard.

Well, what did she expect? He was in love. He paused his
live
in-traffic performance to look at her. Really look at her. His Rebekah. His heart.

She couldn’t possibly love him with the same all-encompassing intensity
with which he loved her, but he was okay with that. He was used to being unloved. And Rebekah hadn’t done anything to make him doubt her feelings. On the contrary, she did things to remind him of her devotion on a regular basis. He just had a hard time wrapping his head around the idea that someone could love him. Correction: that someone
did
love him. Perhaps if he stared at her long enough, his head would catch up with what his heart already knew.

A breeze caught her chin
-length blond hair—accented with splotches of purple dye—and blew it against her adorable face. She pushed the silky strands aside impatiently and tucked them behind her small ears. Everything about her was tiny. Except her heart. And her sexual appetite. Two characteristics he happened to hold in high regard. When Rebekah realized he was staring, she turned her head to him and he immediately got lost in her sky-blue eyes.

Eric released a content
ed sigh, certain that he had a loopy expression on his face, but he didn’t care who knew he was one hundred percent invested in this woman. He saw forever in those eyes. He could scarcely believe she was his, really his. He hadn’t had to kidnap her or drug her or anything. He lifted a hand to touch her face and make sure he wasn’t just imagining her gazing at him with adoration. But that loving look really was directed toward him. He wanted her to look at him just like that forever.

Only forever would do.

When they’d been waiting for her biopsy results at the hospital that morning, he’d thought his world might end then and there. Her oncologist’s concern of metastasis had been a false alarm, so Eric had decided he wanted to celebrate her clean bill of health by marrying her. Immediately.
Our forever starts now, baby.
But as they made their way across town toward the courthouse to make it official, he thought perhaps he’d been a bit hasty. He wasn’t sure if Rebekah was as keen on the idea as he was. He hadn’t consulted her, after all. He had just assumed that she was as ready to be legally wed as he was.

The car behind Eric’s honked obnoxiously
, reminding him that he was supposed to punch the gas pedal as soon as the light turned green. Normally he’d have sent the impatient jackass a one-fingered salute, but nothing could put a damper on his spirits today. Not when the woman beside him was alive and healthy and
his
.

“I love you,” he said before he dropped his hand to the gearshift, slammed it in gear, popped the clutch, and took off with an impressive squeal of tires.

“I love you too!” Rebekah yelled, clinging to the dashboard as the car fishtailed slightly, found its grip, and jetted forward.

Unfortunately, traffic was too thick to have any real fun and Eric had to stop at the next light. And wait. God, he was sick of waiting. While
he drummed his overabundance of energy into his steering wheel—
again
—a faded wooden sign hanging over a storefront on the next block caught his attention:
Malachi’s Costume Emporium
.

His pulse surged with excitement
, and he glanced at Rebekah. Would she go for it? A regular courthouse wedding was a bit too
normal
for the two of them, but perhaps…

“I have an idea,” he said.

She stiffened and peeked at him from under her long lashes. She was usually gung-ho for any crazy idea that crossed his mind, so he wondered about her uncharacteristic hesitation.

“What kind of an idea?” she squeaked.

“Maybe we should get married in costumes.”

“Costumes?”

“Yeah, costumes!” The idea was really catching on with him. “Wouldn’t that be fun?”

“I’m not sure,” she said and worried her small hands together.

He lifted an eyebrow at her. She wasn’t having second thoughts about marrying him today, was she? Maybe he shouldn’t rock her boat too much. He knew her emotions were all over the place after that appointment. But he couldn’t help but want to make their wedding as memorable as possible considering their complete lack of planning and provisions.

Not waiting for her to be sure, Eric parallel parked in one of the five unoccupied spaces in front of the costume shop and turned off the engine.

“Come on,” he said, taking her hand. “Let’s go see how much trouble we can get into.”

Still she hesitated.

“Don’t you want today to be special?” he asked.

She tore her gaze away from the store window, which had several costumes on display, including some fancy old blue dress that Rebekah
had been examining with interest. Her eyes bored into his with all the enthusiasm for life and adventure that he’d come to expect from her.

“It’s already special,” she said. “Marrying you will undoubtedly be the most memorable five minutes of my life.”

“But don’t you want it to be an experience unique to us?” He leaned in closer, hoping to sway her with his
obey me
,
woman
look.

She just laughed
at him. “Will it make you happy?”

He beamed a grin at her. “It will.”

“Okay,” she said. “Then I guess I’ll make a fool of myself.”

His brief kiss of gratitude soon turned into a hands-pawing, tongue-mingling, cock-r
aising expression of his undying lust for the woman. His heart raced as he tugged her closer. Kissed her deeper. Loved her a bit more every moment they were together for making him so deliriously happy.

When had he become such a fucking sap?

She tore her mouth from his and sucked in a deep breath. “Easy there, tiger,” she said. “You’re making my panties all squishy.”

“Mmm,” he said in appreciation. “Those are my favorite kind of panties.”

Maybe they should forgo the selection of costumes and get to the courthouse as soon as possible. He had a sudden urge to start the wedding night festivities sooner rather than later.

A bell over the door jangled as they entered the musty-smelling shop. A wrinkled old man in a white shirt, black suspenders, and red bow tie sat behind a long wooden counter near the door. On second glance, Eric noticed the thin man’s eyes were closed. Was he actually asleep sitting up?

“Are you open?” Eric asked loudly.

He didn’t stir.

“Are you
alive
?” Eric yelled.

The man started and smiled a greeting when his slightly cloudy eyes squinted at the pair of them.

“Welcome to Malachi’s Costume Emporium,” he said from his seat in a tall ladder-backed wooden chair next to the wall. “If you need assistance, let me know. Otherwise, enjoy your browsing experience.”

He rubbed his beak-like nose with the back of his wrist, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes
once more. Within seconds his breathing had become deep and even. He was undoubtedly asleep again.

Eric glanced at Rebekah to share a moment of mutual surprise at the proprietor’s trusting disposition—he supposed costume
-shop business would be especially light in December, but still…

Rebekah wasn’t paying attention. Some costume had already caught her eye. She released Eric’s hand and immediately gravitated toward the ugliest wedding dress Eric had ever seen. The yellowed
and limp lace collar looked like an enormous bib that covered both shoulders and half of the front. The skirt was layered with wide ruffles and some net-like fabric that looked as if had been caught in a paper shredder. Rebekah touched the ugly thing as though it were made of solid gold.

His heart panged as he realized what was bothering her. She didn’t want to get married in a courthouse. She wanted a real wedding.
One with flowers and bridesmaids and a church and an extravagant white dress.

“You look around,” he said. “I need to call Jace and let him know we’ll be at the courthouse a little later than anticipated.”

His best man and witness wouldn’t appreciate spending his entire day waiting at the courthouse while he and Rebekah goofed off in Malachi’s Costume Emporium.

“I should call my mom and let her know too,” she said, turning the dress to
stare at the equally ugly reverse side. Five bows exploded from the rump in shameless celebration of the dress’s gaudiness.

“I’ll call her,” Eric said.

Rebekah tore her gaze from her strange obsession and blinked at him with her mouth hanging open. “
You’re
volunteering to call
my
mother.” She pointed at him and then at her chest.

He’d had a moment of bonding with Rebekah’s mother at the hospital that morning, and he wanted to use it to his advantage before he screwed something up and she went back to hating him again. He figured he had a couple days in Mrs. Blake’s good favor.
Tops.

“Yeah, I’ll call her. No problem.”

Rebekah shrugged and went back to worshiping the ugly wedding gown.

Eric bit his lip as he watched her, wondering how to make her happy. He had a pathological need to bring her as much joy as she brought him. He figured it was time to call in a few favors. He stepped outside to make several calls because he didn’t want Rebekah to overhear his sudden change of plans. He hoped his friends would be willing to drop everything for him today and wondered how long he’d be able to stall his bride at the costume shop while they made
his plan happen. His stomach was doing all sorts of acrobatics as he dialed his soon-to-be in-laws’ house and waited for someone to answer. He prayed his hesitant bride liked his impromptu surprise. He’d be crushed if he couldn’t make her burst with joy by the end of the day.