From Ashes

“You ready to do this?”

“I am! How’s Gage?”

I hadn’t been allowed to see Gage for two whole days, and it’d been torture. I didn’t understand why we were having the rehearsal two days before the wedding, but then the girls and guys a

“Ready to see you, that’s for damn sure. Do you know how many times he tried to sneak out at night?” Adam asked, and Ethan and Tyler chuckled. “When we finally went to bed, we had to take shifts staying awake the last two nights so we could stop him from trying to go see you.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have stopped him,” I teased.

“This will make it better, Cassidy,” Dana said, and handed over my bouquet of stargazer lilies, the white ones filled with pink.

I grumbled at Dana and Tyler checked his wrist. “We’re up.”

My heart stopped.

G AGE

I SMILED AT Dad, Mama, Nikki, and Emily, then looked anxiously back toward the tent. What was taking so long? Ty had gone in there like ten minutes ago.

“You ready, son?” Pastor Rick asked, and nudged my side.

“So ready,” I breathed, and kept my eyes trained on the tent. Now, if my girl will just come out here, I could marry her and everything will finally be right.

Music started playing, and though I wondered how Mama had figured out how to get the music out here without my noticing anything, I didn’t think about it too long. Adam and Dana, then Ethan and Jackie made their way from the tent toward the front where I stood. Amanda came next, and when she was standing next to Jackie, the music changed and I held my breath. I’d been waiting for this for two years, and it was finally here. I saw Ty first, and then they turned and began walking toward me, and everything else faded away as I took her in.

I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as Cassidy, and I’d never seen Cassidy as beautiful as she was right then. Everything about her was perfect, and she was mine. Her lips stretched into a wide grin, and I felt mine mirror them. They finally reached the front, and Tyler put her hand in mine, then went to stand behind me. My eyes locked with her whiskey-gold ones and all I could think about was how this was finally happening, and how our lives were going to be from here on out. I somehow managed to get through repeating after the pastor in all the correct places and saying, “I do.” I placed Cassidy’s diamond-covered band on her finger, and she slid the black tungsten ring onto mine. When the time came, I cupped her cheeks and kissed her like it was the last kiss we’d ever share. She threw her arms around my neck and I just thought, Screw it. I put one arm behind her back and swept her legs out from under her and held her close to me as I continued to kiss her.

We reluctantly broke away but continued to stare at each other when my family and our friends surrounded us and were calling out their congratulations. When I saw the opportunity, I tightened my hold on her and walked us toward the tent at the back of the chairs. As soon as we were in there, her hands were in my hair and she was bringing my mouth to hers.

“I missed you and I love you,” she said in rush before she was kissing me again.

I smiled against her lips. “I love you too, Cassidy Carson.”

Her lips froze and she looked up at me with those wide eyes and a bright smile. “I like that.”

“Love that,” I said, correcting her, and claimed her lips. “And, darlin’, that dress? Good God, I’m go

C ASSIDY

“WELCOME HOME, DARLIN’.” Gage’s gravelly voice sent tingles straight to my lower stomach as he carried me through the door of our home. I hadn’t been in there since we moved in all the furniture, and I’d missed it. I knew Tessa had rounded up the guys and had them move all my things in there that afternoon, as well as move all their stuff out to the main house. She also said she’d stocked it so we wouldn’t have any reason to leave over the next week unless we wanted to.

I wouldn’t want to.

The reception had been a blast, but I’d been eager for it to be over. I wanted to be alone with Gage, alone with my husband. He looked so incredible that I hadn’t been able to stop touching him all night. He wore black slacks and a dark green shirt rolled up the same as the rest of the guys’, but no tie, the top button undone, and a black suit vest. The black and green did amazing things with his hair and eyes, as I’d hoped they would, and it was safe to say my new hubby looked good enough to eat.

We’d danced for hours with our friends and his family. Gage had vetoed the father-daughter dance, but Tyler and Gage had come to an agreement that Ty would get a couple slow dances with me. Other than those two dances with Ty, and a dance split with John and Jim, Gage didn’t let me more than a few inches from him. And that was more than fine with me.

I couldn’t believe just three months before, we’d been at Stacey’s wedding and everything about our feelings for each other and Tyler’s manipulation had finally come out. When I thought about it that way, our relationship had moved fast—crazy fast—but Gage was right . . . we’d already spent too long without each other, and there was no point in waiting; he was all I would ever want. And now he was mine.

Looking back at his green eyes, I smiled softly at him and ran the tips of my fingers over his jaw before kissing his full lips. “Take me to bed, Gage.”

Without another word, he walked us through the house and into the master bedroom before setting me on my feet in front of the bed. I started to unbutton his vest, but he put my hands back at my sides, then brushed the hair away from my neck, bending to place hot, openmouthed kisses there. He made a trail down my shoulder, then around to my back, placing two soft kisses on my tattoo before gripping the top of the zipper and slowly sliding it down.

“You looked so beautiful tonight, Cassidy.”

My breath caught when the zipper hit the end, and holding up the dress with one hand, his other hand trailed along the small of my back, inside the fabric, and around my body to softly caress my stomach. Letting go of the fabric, he let the dress fall into a pool at my feet and turned my body around, all the while keeping both hands on me. His green eyes were so dark I couldn’t see the golden flecks anymore as he pushed me gently onto the bed and moved the dress aside.

Taking a step away from the bed, he undid the buttons on his vest first, then his shirt. When both were done he removed them at the same time and tossed them onto a chair in the corner of the room. My eyes trailed over his ta

His head bent low and latched on to one breast, teasing the nipple relentlessly before moving to the other and doing the same. When he was satisfied with how worked up he’d gotten me, he kissed me long and hard as he pulled my lacy white boy-cut underwear off and placed a knee between my thighs.