©Mira Lyn Kelly

                                                                                                                                         Vaughn

“Allie, we don’t need to go,” I offer, sitting up in bed to watch as my fiancé of six months moves around our room dressed in my T-shirt and a pair of panties. It’d be sexy as hell if it weren’t for the hand she’s pressing to her stomach. Sure, this wedding planning is important, but I don’t like that every time she has to sit down to face it, she looks a little sick. “There’s time.”

She gives me a pitying smile and shakes her head. “Not really. I know the big day isn’t for another six months, but since our invites outgrew the ballroom we booked, we’ve got to figure out where the heck we’re going to have this thing. And Julia’s leaving town again tomorrow. So this is our window.”

“I get it.” I just don’t love it. And truth? The only reason I care about any of this wedding stuff at all is that Natalie cares about it. She wants it, therefore, I want it. 

Bending my knees, I lean forward and wave her over with one hand. “Come back to bed for a minute.”

She raises one pretty brow, and I huff out a laugh. “I’ll be good. Promise.”

Her lips curve into the smile that gets me every time, and she crawls into the space between my legs, tangling her fingers with mine. “I’m fine. I’m just a little anxious. But it’s going to be worth it.”

“Yeah, you excited?”

“I’m excited to finally be your wife.”

My wife. Damn, I love the sound of that. 

And maybe it’s that low rumble coming from deep in my chest that gives it away, because Natalie’s smile takes on some mischief and she bites her lip.

“I’ll be Mrs. Natalie Vassar.”

I gulp. 

That’s so hot. I can’t fucking wait to have her wearing my last name. 

But I said I’d be good, so, bad as I want to pull her onto my lap and make her say it again and again and again… I don’t. Julia’s helping us out in no small way with the planning and we shouldn’t be late. 

Natalie holds up our joined hands and wiggles the finger with my rock on it. “We’ll have matching bands. Wide. Solid. Platinum. One look and everyone will know,” She leans a little closer, peering up at me through the dark fringe of her lashes. “I’m yours.”

Fuck me. I tried, but this girl knows exactly how to dirty talk me past restraint. In the next blink, I’ve got her flipped on her back, the weight of my body resting at the spread of her bare legs. 

“I thought you were going to be good,” she murmurs softly, fingers playing in my hair, the press of her heel at the back of my thigh telling me I’m exactly where she wants me to be.

“Oh, I’ll be good.” I brush my mouth against hers, teasing until she’s breathless, arching beneath me, her lips parted in a plea I can’t refuse. Fisting my hand in her hair, I give in to the crushing kiss I’ve been holding back. 

She moans around the thrust of my tongue and slides her hand down to rub over my straining cock. And then the few clothes between us go and we’re rolling around like it’s the first fucking time we’ve been together in a year.

I can’t get enough of her body, her quiet cries, and the look in her eyes when I push full length into her tight heat. Nothing better.

“So good,” she pants, her hands skating over my chest and shoulders. “Love this.” Her eyes meet mine. “Love you.”

I’m still not used to it. Every time she says those words, it’s like a gift that takes my fucking breath away.

“Love you, baby. So much.” I rock into the cradle of her hips, change the angle and watch as her lips part on a silent gasp and her knees slide higher up my ribs. 

That’s the spot.

I play there, working it with thrust after thrust. Taking her harder. Faster. 

“Give it to me, Allie.”

And then she’s coming apart around me, crying out my name and dragging me along to release with her. 

An hour later we’re showered and changed and only ten minutes late getting over to her brother’s place. That anxious look is back on her face and I’m half tempted to kiss it right off her in the elevator. Thing is, Baxter looks like he wants to lay me out every time I get within breathing distance of his sister as it is. So instead of making love to Natalie’s mouth until she’s half climbing me, I give her hand a squeeze and lean in to kiss the top of her head. 

The elevator opens into the apartment half the team covets. It’s a sweet place, huge, with a great view of the city. Only problem is the guy standing there to greet us.

Baxter gives me a tight smile—because we’re friends now—and then pulls Natalie in for a warm hug. “Julia’s turned the dining room into wedding central. You ready for this?”

For a second Natalie pales and a part of me wants to pull her aside and ask again if this is really what she wants. But then Julia steps out of the kitchen, phone at her ear.

“Send the contracts over and I’ll look at them tomorrow. I’m off the rest of the day.” She disconnects and rushes over for a couple quick hugs hello and then a kiss for her husband where she kind of melts into him. 

When they come up for air, Baxter’s got a kind of dopey look in his eyes that makes me dislike him a little less.

Julia takes a deep breath, rubbing her hands together. “Okay, guys, the clock’s ticking. Let’s do this thing.”

***

                                                                                                                                           Natalie

My sister-in-law is intense. I don’t even know how long we’ve been at it, but Greg and Vaughn have been making phone calls and crossing off line items from the enormous white board all morning. They’re neck and neck for who’s accomplished more, and I’m a little worried about what’s going to happen when one of them “wins.” 

Julia’s sitting to my right, her ginormous binder open between us and an array of brochures spread across the table. 

“I love the Henley,” she says, pointing to a picture of the rooftop rose garden. “But their ballroom isn’t big enough for the reception and in the middle of winter…”

“Right,” I agree, hit again by that same uneasy stomach from this morning.

She moves to the next hotel and then pauses. “Hey, you don’t look so good.”

Vaughn stops mid-call, turning to me. “Allie?”

I wave him off. “Hungry, I think. I probably should have had more than toast for breakfast.”

He tells whoever’s on the other end of the call he’ll get back to them and hangs up. “Want me to pick up some grub—what sounds good?”

A minute ago, anything. But now? Whoa.

Greg ends his call. “You okay, Goon? Looking a little green around the gills.” 

I bite my lip, willing the lurch and roll in my belly away.

Pushing back from the table, I shake my head. “I’m just going to grab a glass of water. But order whatever you’re up for.”

Only when I stand the room starts going brown around the edges and the floor dips.

Vaughn’s already moving, but it’s too late. I’m going down.

***

Ninety minutes later, I’m still sour. 

“I did not need the hospital,” I grouse, but the two giants standing beside my bed with arms crossed aren’t hearing it.

“Baby, you passed out,” Vaughn says, eyes stricken as he looks me over. 

Greg nods. “You don’t even know what’s wrong with you. And we’re already here, so just sit tight and wait for the nice doctor to come and tell us what’s wrong.” 

I look to Julia who’s kicked back in the chair in the corner, hoping she’ll see reason. “The only thing wrong with me is that I need a sandwich.”

Sympathetic eyes meet mine. “I tried to stop them, but once they started fighting over who got to carry you to the car, there was no reasoning with them.”

“I so did not need to be carried.” Too bad my over-protective fiancé wasn’t in a good place to listen.

Vaughn looks to Greg and for the first time, maybe ever, the two men I love most in the world don’t look like they want to tear each other apart. “Maybe she oughta stay the night. Just to be safe.”

“Overnight? It’s two p.m.!” I squeak. I have no idea what happened in that dining room, but my money’s on wedding stress and starvation. Though honestly, I’ve never been affected by stress like that before. But still.

Greg rolls his eyes. “Overnight is a good idea. We’ll talk to the doctor about it.”

Vaughn’s shooting anxious looks my way and then reaching out to touch my leg, my hand, my hair like he thinks he’s never going to be able to again. “Maybe I ought to get a nurse or someone for the house.”

“Vaughn, I’m fine.”

Julia starts to laugh. “I’m betting you are. But this is what you get for scaring the life out of all of us.”

The door to our room opens and the doctor walks in. She’s a tiny little thing who looks like she eats guys like Greg and Vaughn for breakfast. “That’s it. Everybody out.”

The guys start to argue, but Julia grabs Greg by the sleeve and pulls him out. 

Vaughn’s about to have a coronary and I’d rather he hear I’m fine from the doctor himself, so I ask if he can stay.

“Entirely up to you,” she answers, setting a laptop on the small desk in the corner. 

I start with the obvious. “I was just a little hungry and stressed out. Seriously, I know this is nothing.”

She cocks her head. “Well, I wouldn’t say nothing. When was your last period?”

I blink. 

Vaughn blinks. 

And then he coughs, takes a staggering step backward and drops, grinning, onto the bed beside me. “Allie.”

But I’m shaking my head, looking from my fiancé to the doctor and back again.

“No,” I say with a laugh that sounds a little like I might be choking. But she’s got to understand. “We’re really responsible about birth control.”

“Natalie.” He takes my hand. 

“Okay, mostly really responsible. I mean, I stopped taking the pill so once we were married...” Except then I’m thinking about it more and just this morning, we didn’t even stop to think about protection. “Vaughn?”

He’s nodding, the smile on his face as wide as I’ve ever seen it. “Baby, let’s give the doctor a minute before we get too excited.”

My heart’s racing and my belly feels like it’s filled with butterflies. I look into the eyes of the man I love with everything I am and realize I’m already excited. “Pregnant?”

The doctor clears her throat. “That’s what the lab results indicate. And ummm…”

But Vaughn’s already pulling me into his lap, kissing my eyes, my cheeks, and my mouth. “A baby. Our baby.” 

This time the doctor laughs and lets out a sigh. “How about I give you two a minute and then we’ll get a few tests run to see where we are in the timeline.” 

She lets herself out of the room and we’re alone.

Smoothing the hair back from my face with a gentle touch, he searches my eyes. “Are you okay with this?”

“It’s a surprise, yes. And a little sooner than we’d planned. But… yes.” I start to laugh and maybe cry a little too, but those tears are pure joy. And then we’re kissing, holding each other and—

I break away, breathless. “Oh my God, Vaughn, do you know what this means?”

He glances back at the door. “Yeah, your brother is going to kill me for real.”

I shake my head, my smile growing to cheek cramping proportions. “It means… we can elope!”

“Oh hell, yes.” His smile matches mine and when he kisses me, it’s filled with all the love and promises of our future. Eventually, he pulls back. His voice is low and gruff, filled with emotion. “Tomorrow. Let’s elope tomorrow.”

I nod. “I don’t want to wait another day.”

“Say it, baby.”

This man. “Mrs. Natalie. Vassar.”