Chapter 124

I’d never kissed anyone. Never felt the need. What was the point if it was going to lead to her in my bed? You could get there without swapping saliva.

I didn’t believe in Hallmark love—the sparks, the passion, none of that bullshit. But when I saw Mia walking down that aisle in her dream dress, I swear, for a nanosecond, I believed in everything I despised.

I was a carnal man. I conquered, I possessed. But there was no one—born or alive—my equal except this girl. She was going to be my wife, even if my methods were less than amicable. She was mine. Yesterday, today, tomorrow. Fucking forever.

“She actually showed up,” Dominic huffed. “I was convinced she’d run away when you appointed another driver to get her from the hotel.”

I wanted to glare at him, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the girl in front of me. I simply couldn’t. It was as if I was scared she’d disappear.

She wouldn’t look at me, though. Her eyes remained fixed on the aisle, decorated with various shades of blue flowers and hundreds of tiny candles—just like in her scrapbook. Admittedly, the aisle in her scrapbook was in a waterside castle, if such a place even exists. This church was the closest I could get to mimicking it.

She stood before me, and unable to bear her not looking at me, I tucked my index finger under her chin and tilted her gaze upward.

Her misty gaze met mine, and she froze. Fucking mine.

“Begin,” I told the priest, without taking my eyes off her.

He cleared his throat and began speaking. I can’t say I heard a word; her grey eyes held me captive.

“Have you prepared your own vows?” the priest finally asked, snapping me out of my daze.

“No vows,” I announced. Mia looked like she wanted to shake her head. “She’s mine. Today, tomorrow, and until death do us part. Even after that, I may find a way to escape hell and visit her in heaven, where she’ll undeniably be.”

Chapter 224

Mia blinked, and the tears she’d been holding back flowed down her cheeks.

The priest looked at Mia. “Ms. Carson?”

She nodded almost feebly.

He nodded. “Well then, repeat after me.” He began, “Do you, Alex Whitlock,” Mia’s eyes snapped open, realizing he’d used my real name. “take Mia Carson to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, until death do you part?”

There wasn’t a beat of hesitation in my answer. “I do.”

“And do you, Mia Carson, take Alex Whitlock to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, until death do you part?”

She stared at me for so long, I thought she’d say no and run out of the chapel. She didn’t. She just looked intensely into my eyes before she said, “I do.”

Dominic brought forward the rings. I’d bought a diamond wedding band to match her extravagant engagement ring. I slipped it effortlessly onto her finger, letting my thumb rub against her palm for a second, watching her shiver under my touch.

Her hands trembled as she slipped my wedding band onto my finger—a perfect fit, even though we hadn’t had time to customize it. A fucking perfect fit. Just like us.

“By the authority vested in me by the law and the state, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may…”

I didn’t wait for him to finish. I couldn’t. I did the only thing I’d been thinking about since I saw her. I stepped forward and kissed her.

She seemed taken aback, surprised, because she gasped before her hand quickly went to the back of my neck and her lips parted, granting me the access I craved. I sucked and then gently bit her lower lip while kissing her, leaving her gasping and trembling in my arms.

I felt it—the way my heart pounded, the mantra-like thought revolving in my head: Why didn’t I kiss her earlier? Why did I wait so long?

I kissed her like she was the only person in the world that mattered, because she was.

When I pulled away, her lips were parted. “You…” I didn’t give her a chance to finish; my lips were on hers again, only this time I dipped her down, trying to breathe life into her the way she’d breathed life into mine.

Seeing her dazed and aroused eyes when I pulled away…

“Mr. and Mrs. Whitlock,” the priest announced, but I didn’t give a fuck about the two-person audience of Dominic and Lana.

I held Mia’s hands in mine. “Ready to leave, Mrs. Whitlock?”

She didn’t fight me on it. She didn’t ask me not to call her that. She interlaced our fingers and nodded, as if I’d kissed the argument out of her.

I held her hand and walked her out of the church to the waiting car. We both sat inside, and I held her hand, playing with her band—her wedding band.

I took a picture of her wedding rings and posted it in the family chat: ‘I got married.’

My mother would cry, and my father would kill me—if my twin sister didn’t snap my neck first—but right now, I didn’t care. They’d understand when I explained the circumstances, but like I said, right now, I didn’t care.

Only one person mattered. Mia. My fucking wife.