Father Blake laughed. “I just don’t see it.”
“Well, we both love her. That’s enough to have in common, isn’t it?”
The older man nodded and patted Eric on the thigh. “Are you ready to get married?”
Eric smiled, his stomach suddenly a jumble of nerves and excitement. He closed his hand over the rings and squeezed. “I am now. Thanks for saving my ass, Father Blake.”
“Watch your language in the house of the Lord, son,” he said, rising to his feet.
“Sorry,” Eric said at once.
"And for the love of God, stop calling me Father Blake. I'm not a priest."
Eric's heart sank. Great. He'd insulted the man. Was it possible for him to get absolutely everything wrong with Rebekah's parents? Because he was doing a spectacular job at fucking things up. He opened his mouth to apologize again, but Whatever-honorific-the-man-preferred Blake continued.
"Members of my congregation call me Brother Bill," he said and blessed Eric with a warm and welcoming smile. "But you; you should call me Dad."
Again Eric couldn’t find the ability to speak, so he just smiled and nodded. Father Bla— Brother Bil— Dad left the room and closed the door gently behind him, leaving Eric alone to collect himself. He prayed he wasn’t one of those douchebags who fainted at his own wedding. He was feeling a tad light-headed and incredibly overwhelmed. He opened his hand and stared down at the two silver bands, tracing them with one finger. He knew these rings would mean as much to Rebekah as they meant to him. He only wished he could give her half as much as she was giving him by offering the one gift he’d never dreamed of having—a real family. What did he have to offer her in return? Just one banged-up heart and any material possession her heart desired. He hoped they would be enough.
There was a knock at the door, and it opened before he could answer it. Sed popped his head around the gleaming mahogany structure.
“Are you decent?” Sed asked.
Eric grinned, suddenly feeling calmer for no reason other than Sed always had a strange settling effect on him. “I’m never decent. You know that. Is it time?”
“Not quite. Jessica decided Rebekah needed a veil and took off in my car to find one.”
“She’d better hurry. I’m not sure my nerves can take much more of a wait.”
Sed closed the door and took a seat on the bench beside Eric. “You’re not thinking about backing out, are you?”
“Not at all. I just want to get this over with and get on with our lives.”
Sed chuckled. “I can relate to that. Jessica’s mother is driving me insane with reception preparations. Seems your mother-in-law is a ballbuster too. We can commiserate for all eternity.”
Eric laughed. “I think Mrs. B has settled down a bit now that she’s figured out Rebekah isn’t going to marry Isaac, no matter how much she wanted her to.”
Sed squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. “The woman seems pretty taken with Trey, considering he’s the one who ruined Isaac for all women.”
“She’s recovering nicely since her mental breakdown at her daughter’s fake engagement party.”
Sed nodded empathetically. “I don’t envy you, but I still say my future mother-in-law is ten times worse.”
“What about Jace’s? Have you met Aggie’s mom?”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Be sure to invite her to your wedding. She’s a party waiting to happen.”
Sed chuckled. “I just might. Jessica’s mom is so worried that some low-class loser will show up at the reception, she’s rewritten the guest list three times.”
Eric lifted a brow at him. “Has she seen your friends? We’re all low-class losers.”
“Who happen to have a lot of money, so that’s okay by her. She keeps adding A-list actors I’ve never met and taking Sinners’ road crew off the guest list. Without our road crew, we’re nothing. Those guys work their asses off for us. What’s weird is that Jess’s mom is not a part of high society. She just wants to be. Her ridiculous posturing drives Jessica crazy. Every time Jess talks with her mother, she gets pissed.”
Eric grinned at him, knowing how much Jessica’s temper pushed all of Sed’s buttons—good buttons, bad buttons, and everything in between. It especially wreaked havoc on his lust button. “Which I’m sure makes her completely irresistible to you.”
Sed laughed. “I’m just glad her anger isn’t directed toward me for a change.”
“Do you want a little advice?”
“From you?” Sed laughed, and then his face hardened. “Yeah, I guess I do.”
“Put your foot down with Jessica’s mother. It’s your wedding and your reception; you should celebrate it with the people important to you.”
“I just want Jessica to be happy,” Sed said. “I don’t even need a wedding. It’s all for her.”
“Is she happy with her mother running the show?”
Sed made a sound almost like a growl. “Not at all.”
“So let her mom pick out the table decorations and the champagne, but make it clear that the guest list is yours. Don’t compromise. Put her in her fucking place.” It occurred to Eric how odd it was that he was offering Sed advice. Sed had never needed nor wanted his advice in the past. This wedding shit must really be eating the guy up if he was listening to anything Eric had to say.
“I still think you and Brian have the right idea,” Sed said. “Quick and painless.”
“Not quick enough. You realize I’d probably be married by now if your woman hadn’t decided Rebekah needed a veil.”
Sed pounded him on the back enthusiastically. “A thirty-minute wait isn’t so bad. Try putting up with this bullshit for eight months.”
“No thank you.”
“So what was her dad doing in here? Threatening your life? At least I have only one insane in-law to deal with.”
Eric shook his head, and his hand tightened over the rings still clutched in his fist. “He was welcoming me to his family. He’s a great man.”
“Well, Dave has informed everyone that he will be attempting to put you out of your misery on a regular basis, so be prepared.”
Eric chuckled. “He’s all talk. If his little sister is happy, he’s mush, and I guarantee his little sister will be happy. I’ll make sure of it.”
Another knock sounded on the door. “Yeah!” Sed called.
The door opened, and Trey peeked through the opening. “Did you finish having the sex talk with him yet?”
“Yep,” Sed said and climbed to his feet. “He now knows which hole to stick it in.”
“All of them?” Trey said.
“Yep, but we went over the proper sequence,” Sed said, giving Eric a hand up and another encouraging pound on the shoulder.
“Take the ass first, right?” Eric said, glad they were joking around. It helped with his gargantuan case of unexpected nerves. “And then it goes right in the mouth.”
“Repeat after me,” Trey said. “M-P-A. Mouth. Pussy. Ass.”
“P-A-M?” Eric asked.
“Not unless she likes the taste,” Trey said.
“M-P-A,” Eric said, pointing to imaginary body parts in the air. “Mouth. Pussy. Ass. Got it.”
“I prefer M-V-P,” Sed said. “I’m not much for A.”
“What’s M-V-P?” Trey asked.
“Mouth Vagina Pussy.”
“Aren’t V and P the same thing?” Eric said, scratching his head as if confused.
“Yeah, but I always take two goes at it,” Sed boasted. “First I make sweet love to the vagina. And then I fuck that pussy raw.”
Someone cleared his throat in the doorway.
“Hey, Mr. Blake,” Trey said, as if they’d been discussing the World Series MVP and not the one Sed frequented. “Is it time to start the ceremony?”
Eric could count on one hand the number of times he’d seen Sedric Lionheart blush. It seemed he would finally get to use the fingers of both hands to record the activation of Sed’s blush-
o-meter. He was so red Eric could have toasted a grilled cheese on the man’s face.
“Yes, it’s time to start,” Father Bl—Dad said before he shut the door again.
“Really smooth, Sed,” Eric said.
“Do you think he heard me?” Sed whispered.
“The entire church heard you,” Trey said.
“Oh God. I’m going to Hell for sure now.”
“Was there any doubt before?” Trey asked.
Sed chuckled. “Well, at least I’ll be in good company.” He wrapped an arm around Eric’s shoulders and escorted him out the door.
Eric scanned the pews.
Myrna, Aggie, and Jessica were seated in the front pew on his side. On Rebekah’s side sat Isaac, who stole a glance at Trey, stiffened as if someone had slapped him in the face, and then diverted his gaze to the front of the church where Mr. and Mrs. B were already standing at the altar. Jace was also up front waiting for Eric. He gave Eric an encouraging wink as Sed and Trey abandoned him to sit in the front pew with the women. Brian was nowhere to be seen. And neither was Dave, which Eric thought odd. His perplexity vanished—as did the rest of the world—when the massive double doors at the back of the church opened and a wheelchair whirred into the aisle. The first note of the wedding march wailed from an electric guitar that could only be under the skilled fingers of Master Sinclair. But even the sounds faded under the thudding pulse in Eric’s ears as he glimpsed his bride standing beside her brother’s wheelchair. Her lovely face was obscured by a gauzy white veil, but he could feel her gaze on his and he couldn’t look away or do anything as ordinary as breathe.
Don’t faint, he thought as she took a step in his direction. Do not faint.
Chapter Six
Rebekah’s heart fluttered in her chest like the wings of a butterfly as she stared down the aisle at Eric. She grinned when she noticed he was wearing his Converse and a T-shirt under an expensive tuxedo. Perfect attire for him. Perfect man for her.
Dave’s wheelchair sputtered and zoomed, sputtered and zoomed as he tried to keep pace with Brian Sinclair’s electrifying rendition of the wedding march. Rebekah tore her gaze from her waiting groom to look down at her brother.
“Having problems?” she whispered.
“I hate this thing,” he grumbled before hooking an arm around her waist and tumbling her onto his lap. She patted the wide skirt of her dress down, laughing as Dave zoomed up the aisle at a more constant speed. They must have made quite a sight because every person in the room was laughing by the time they arrived at the front of the church with her train dragging the floor beside his chair. They waited for Brian to finish his Wedding March guitar solo and then her dad said, “Who gives this woman to this man?”
“That would be me,” Dave said.
Dave tipped her off of his lap, and she swept her dress out of the way of his chair. He surprised her by clutching her forearm and hauling himself to his feet. He took her hand, placed it on his arm, and labored forward three steps. He handed her off to Eric. “Take her, she’s a pain in the butt, and all yours,” he said before lifting her veil. “I love you, baby sis,” he said.
“I love you too.”
He kissed her cheek and forced his uncooperative legs to take several more steps before collapsing in the pew next to Isaac, leaving his wheelchair abandoned in the aisle.
Rebekah smiled when Isaac’s eyes met hers. She was so glad he was there. They were no longer lovers, but he was still her dearest friend. She hoped one day he and Eric could get along. They were a lot more alike than they were different. Neither of them seemed to recognize that, but she did.
She lifted her head, and her breath caught. The smile on Eric’s face could have cleared the cloudiest of days. It made her glow beneath its radiance.
She stared into his loving blue eyes as her father outlined the expectations of marriage and as they repeated their standard vows. She was scarcely aware of what she was saying, but she felt every word deep in her heart.
“Do you have the rings?” her father said.
Rebekah’s heart skipped a beat. They’d forgotten to get rings!
Eric turned to Jace, who handed him two slightly tarnished silver bands. Her lip quivered when she recognized them, and she tore her gaze from Eric’s palm to her father’s misty-eyed stare.
“Daddy?” she whispered.
He smiled and nodded reassuringly.
She couldn’t believe he was letting them wear the rings that had been passed down his side of the family for five generations. She knew how much those rings meant to him. He wouldn’t have given them to Eric unless he truly accepted him as part of the family. Oh, thank you, Daddy. Thank you.
“Wear them well,” her father said, and then he blessed the rings and their wearers with words she’d heard dozens of times. Yet this time the lifelong blessing, the forever blessing, was for her and Eric. Before she could get too choked up, her dad said, “Do you have anything you’d like to say to Eric as you take him as your husband?”
Rebekah nodded, her vision blurry through the tears in her eyes. She took the larger of the two rings from her father’s palm and slipped the ring onto Eric’s left ring finger. Her heart gave a little skip of joy to find it fit his long, slender finger perfectly, as if he were destined to be a part of the family. She stared up into Eric’s eyes as she said the words she’d prepared. The ones she would later have tattooed on her skin.
“Eric, I promise to live beside you like there is no tomorrow, love you like you’re the only perfect man on Earth, and laugh with you like no one is watching. You bring so much joy into my life, give so much love, awaken my passion, stir my soul, rock my body.”
She heard her mother click her tongue with disapproval, but she didn’t care. These were her words to Eric, and they had nothing to do with her mother or anyone else.
“You’re my heart and soul, Eric. I can only hope that I will make you half as happy as you make me. I want to spend my whole life trying. I pledge my heart, my soul, my life to you, my love. My husband.”
Eric gnawed on his lower lip, looking at her like he’d just won the lottery.
“Do you have anything you’d like to say to Rebekah as you take her as your wife?” her father asked.
Eric jumped, as if he hadn’t realized they weren’t alone. Rebekah completely understood that feeling.
He swallowed hard, took the ring from her father’s hand and with trembling fingers, slid it on her left ring finger. He blew out his cheeks, squeezed his eyelids together, and then opened his eyes to gaze into hers. His trembling lessened as he stood there for a long moment just searching her gaze and then he spoke.
“Forever was just a word until I met you. Now it’s a promise. A dream. My cherished reality. I love you forever, Rebekah. My love. My wife.” He lifted her hands to his lips and kissed her wedding band, staring deep into her eyes. “Forever.”
“Forever,” she repeated, unable to take her eyes off his.
Her mother sniffed loudly behind her. There were several other sniffles from the front pew.
“Do you all have allergies or what?” Eric asked. His voice sounded extra loud in the quiet church.
Rebekah’s laugh was accompanied by several others.
Eric glanced at her dad. “Well?” he said, eyes wide with expectation.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.”
“Fucking finally,” Eric said and drew Rebekah against his body.
To a background of laughter, catcalls, her mother’s open weeping, and one incredibly sensual guitar solo, Rebekah Sticks kissed her husband for the first time. The press of Eric’s lips against hers was even more tender, emotional, and passionate than she’d anticipated. Her throat and eyes ached with unshed tears. Happy tears. The happiest.
Eric’s strong arms tightened around her, drawing her closer, enveloping her in love and tenderness and heat. She couldn’t ignore the heat between them.
“G
et a room!” Trey yelled.