Banded Together (Rebel Walking #2.5) (9 page)

"You.
Feel.
So.
Fucking.
Good.
 
Damn,
Ev
."
 
The clench of my inner muscles helps send him
into his own ecstasy.
 
I can feel the
heat of his release deep inside just as he reaches for the floor to stop us
from falling.
 

"I'm going to
love
 
lovin
'
on you for the rest of my life.
 
Promise you'll always look at me like
this."
 
I wrap myself around him
completely and devour his lips, reminding him just how much I love him with
every kiss.
 
He guides us to the floor
during my attack and before I know it, we are both breathing heavily and
sprawled out on the floor.
 

"Thank you,
Mr. Walker."

"You're
welcome, Mrs. Walker."
 
His response
lands him a few extra pinches to the side and
me
wrapped up in his arms again.
 
We stay
there for a little while and talk about our future together.
 
Knowing that our life will be full of
adventure and love makes me eager.

We shower together
when we finish; knowing people will be over shortly makes the shower go a lot
quicker than usual.
 
The muscles all over
my body are sore from his mission to make me orgasm so many times, but that is
a sweet soreness that I'll take any day.
 

It isn't long before
the house fills with our friends.
 
The
guys start up the grill and break out the beer.
 
All of the girls surround Heaven and enjoy how precious she is.
 
She has more color today and is absolutely
adorable.
 
I'm not going to lie, holding
her gives me a little bit of baby fever and I look forward to the day we will
have our own.

"How are you
feeling?"
 
Ivy's painful expression
when she moves kind of worries me.
 

"I'm doing alright.
 
My milk came in today, and holy shit, why
don't they warn you of the pain?"

"I'm
sorry.
 
Do you need anything?"
 

"Yeah, I need
to feed her again already."
 
We move
to the spare bedroom and she begins to feed Heaven just as the dresses
arrive.
 
Lilly and I guide the delivery
guys into the living room until they have them all inside.
 
Each one is in a clear bag and
it's
overwhelming seeing all that lace.
 
After the delivery guys leave, I grab a
couple and move them so that Ivy can see, too.
 

"You know you
have to try them all on."
 

"There’s an
ass load of them out there."

"It doesn't
matter.
 
We need to see them all.
 
It's not like I'm going anywhere any time
soon."
 
With Lilly's help, I start
trying on each dress.
 
I'm quick to
decide I don't like the real poofy skirts.
 

When I try on
the
dress, we all know it’s the perfect
one.
 
It's the one that takes our breath
away and brings tears to my eyes.
 
Ivy moves
to hug me, even with a baby breastfeeding on her.
 
My dress is simple, yet perfect.
 
It hugs me in all the right areas and will
make the perfect beach wedding dress.
 

Looking in the
mirror confirms it all for me.
 
I
absolutely love this dress and it’s in this moment that the reality of everything
comes to surface.
 
I'm getting married to
the love of my life.
 
He chose to spend
his life with me and there is nothing greater than that.
 
I plan to spend forever with him, no matter
where life takes us.

There's a knock on
the door and Talon's voice carries through the room.
 

"How's it
going?
 
You need help with those
zippers?"
 

"We have it
under control.
 
Don't you know
it's
bad luck to see a bride's dress before the
wedding?"
 
Lilly moves quickly to
block him from entering.
 
His laughter
fades as he moves down the hall.

"Oh,
Ev
, you’ll make a beautiful bride!
 
I can't wait to see his face
tomorrow."
 
Ivy grabs my camera to
take a few pictures of us.
 
When Macy
arrives, the guys demand to send us off for pampering while they take care of
Heaven. Spending time with my girls is all I could ever ask for in a
bachelorette party.
 

We don't stay gone
very long because Ivy needs to get back for the baby, but it’s the perfect
day.
 
My girls are very important to me
and that's why each of them will be standing on the beach with us
tomorrow.
 
They all have their dresses
ready to go for our big day.
 
Luckily,
Macy was able to find a perfect style for them when Ivy was in the
hospital.
 
To be honest, I don't care
what people wear.
 
I refuse to get caught
up in all the
bridezilla
emotions about everything
needing to be perfect.
 
It will be
perfect because everyone I love will be there.

Our evening goes
just as fast as the day did.
 
It's
usually really easy with our group.
 
I’ve
been watching Luke to see how he interacts with Lilly.
 
I can tell there is something going on and I
take the opportunity to interrogate him the second we're alone in the
kitchen."

"Watch
yourself, big guy."

"Why
Cuz
, what do you mean by that?"

"You know
exactly
what I mean."

"It's all
good.
 
We're just having fun.
 
Nothing to worry
about."

"Tell that to
the Walkers who will have your ass if you fuck her over."

"I won't fuck
her over.
 
Besides that, we're friends
and I don’t want to mess that up."

"I'm going to
hold you to that, Luke.
 
Be nice to that
girl."
 
He seems amused by my
warnings so I'm just not sure how this is going to go.
 
He really
is
a great guy but he has zero intention of settling down.
 
His focus on his music and the gym usually
puts a stop to any type of relationship anyway.
 

"Oh....... I
plan to!"
 
He's trying to use his
teasing tone to lighten up this conversation, but it doesn’t make me feel any
better.
 
I'm going to have to face that
he's going to do what he wants.
 
I'll
just have to keep the Walkers in check if they try to interfere with those two.

The night goes so
well, yet totally different than I expected.
 
To be honest, we can have fun anywhere as a group.
 
I watch our friends interact and the smile on
Talon's face lets me know that this is the perfect party for us right before
our wedding.
 
The bachelor party scene is
a continuous possibility out on the road, but a night like this is completely
rare.
 
I move in to stand beside Talon as
he tells the story of the first night he met me.
 
That damn body shot that started it all.
 
Who'd
have thought?

"I think
this calls
for a shot!
 
Taron
, you and Ivy need to do it up like you
usually do!"
 
Luke decides to
encourage
Taron
for a toast.

"I'm not
drinking, but I'll toast!"
 
One of
these days, Ivy and I are going to have to go out and celebrate everything we
have to be happy about!
 
Taron
grabs the shot glasses and begins to pour a round of
tequila.

"Raise your
glasses to the bride and groom!
 
Brother,
I'm so happy you let us keep her!"
 
Taron
bumps into my side with a teasing grin.
 
We have come so far.
 
Who'd have known I'd bond with that vulgar
male and my best friend would fall in love with him.

"No really,
let’s do this right!
 
I want to toast to
the women!
 
Is everyone ready?
 
Get your glasses in here."
 
We all lean in close to tap our glass in the
center of the circle.
 
Ivy's is filled
with water and everyone else's is filled with tequila.
 
"Here's to those who sit when they
pee.
 
We love '
em
in leather, we love '
em
in lace, but we love '
em
best when they sit on our face!"
 

"I'll drink
to that!"
 
Talon speaks up very
quickly to accept the toast.
 
I watch his
face while we all drink our shots, loving the smooth taste of this tequila as
it slides down the hatch.
 
The glasses
are all filled again and we turn to face Ivy, because we know another one is
coming.

"My
turn!
 
I have one for all of
us!
 
Here's to
lookin
’
like movie stars,
livin
’ like rock stars and
fuckin
’ like porn stars!"
 

"Hell
yeah!"
 
I notice Lilly smile
at Luke as she downs that shot.
 
Well, hell.

"This one is
mine!"
 
Talon takes over the
spotlight and finishes pouring a round.

"Here's to
Eaven
, the only thing that rhymes with her is Heaven and I
can't quite go there, so this one won't rhyme.
 
Here's to the love of my life, the woman who gets me inside and out, the
only girl my eyes search for and the only girl my heart beats for."
 

"
Awwww
."
 
I'm not even sure who said that because I'm so lost in his eyes right
now.
 
His words make me a mushy mess and
I don't even care.
 
I wrap my arms around
his neck and let him pull me up for a very long kiss.
 
Our audience moves away sometime during our
kiss.
 

"Thank you,
Talon.
 
I love your toast.
 
Do you have your vows ready for
tomorrow?"
 
I start to panic a
little because I haven't even thought about mine.

"No.
 
I want us to say what comes to mind in that
moment.
 
That way we both know it's
completely genuine."
 

"Okay.
 
I hope I can actually think at the
time."

"If not, I'll
know."
 
We hear the others start to
return and little Heaven begins to cry.
 
Ivy and
Taron
decide to go home and the others
follow shortly behind them.
 
Tomorrow is
the big day and I can't wait.

Chapter Ten

Talon

This day has been
so damn exhausting.
 
Getting everything
to the lake house has totally worn me out.
 
I can only be thankful for the huge support group we have helping us so that
we can even have the wedding today.
 
I
had no idea how much goes into these things.
 
The caterer has everything in place and our mothers have made the deck
and lake front perfect for our ceremony.
 
I have Rebel Walking set up to play a little tonight and we brought in a
DJ to cover the rest of the evening.
 
Ev
and I will have a great wedding and I know the night to
follow will be even better.
 

The guys have all
arrived in their tuxes and the guests are starting to show up.
 
The preacher is even here, ready to make this
official.
 
I try to keep busy while we
wait for the girls to signal that they’re ready to go.
 
I feel like I'm preparing for a concert,
trying to make sure every single thing is perfect, but in all honesty I know it
will be.
 
We are both easygoing and will
be able to go with the flow of any disasters that may arise.
 

We get the signal
that the girls are ready and I watch as one by one the most important women in
my life begin to be ushered out of the lake house.
 
All of the mothers and grandmothers are
seated first.
 
The groomsmen work their
way to the steps to begin ushering the bridesmaids to the shore.
 
The sound of the waves rolling onto the shore
behind me drowns out the music just slightly.

Luke begins to
walk with Macy.
 
Holden follows with
Lilly.
 
Taron
helps Ivy down the stairs with Heaven and they walk together down the
aisle.
 
I laugh when Ivy takes a picture
of me as she walks.
 
Taron
is holding Heaven in his arms and I can't think of a better place for her to
be.
 
Little Avery tosses petals down the aisle
and walks right up to me for a hug.
 
I
lean down for this precious little girl and let her hug my neck.