“I love you,” I tell him, when he rocks his hips and I clench around him, my heart beating a staccato beat against my ribs. I’m panting and already prepared to climax with every move he makes within me.
“I love you, Megan,” he says, his breathing ragged and his voice hoarse.
“I love your voice,” I tell him. “I love the way my name sounds on your lips. I love the way you look at me, like you adore every single bit of me.”
“I do,” he whispers. “I love everything about you.”
Our bodies move in rhythm together, as if we were meant for this moment, and hell, maybe we were. Just two souls that somehow, some way, are more whole together.
My pants and low moans mingle with his as ecstasy explodes between us. His grip on me tightens and he breathes heavily in my ear, consumed in bringing me to bliss along with him. I’m swallowed whole by pleasure and the nearness of Carson, his forehead on mine, his strong fingers shackling my wrists, our breath and heartbeats mingling.
Gently, he unfastens my wrists and rolls over, bringing me to his side. We’re still panting, the blankets strewn about us like billows of white sand on a shore.
Tears fill my eyes and I hold onto him tighter, knowing this man is going to be my husband, that I’ll wear his ring and raise children with him, that I’ll wake every day and go to sleep every night by his side.EpilogueCarsonA cool wind rustles leaves on the lawn of the McCarthy family mansion when I step outside on our wedding day.
“My God, look at you,” Maeve says, holding her hand to her mouth. I frown at my shiny black shoes, the pressed tux, and crisp white shirt. I’m not much for fancy clothing, but I let them fuss all about me for this one day. I mean, it’s not every day a bloke gets married.
“Thank you,” I say to her with a smile. She looks over my shoulder and waves her hand.
“Oh, Carson, look,” she says. I turn to see my Breena, dressed in a wee pink dress. She wears pretty little white shoes that match the white flowers in her hair. She runs to me, but trips on the hem of her little gown. Maeve gasps and Breena goes sprawling, but I quickly bend and catch her just in time. She falls heavily into my arms with a little gasp.
“Saved!” she breathes. She gives me a ferocious hug. “You saved!”
I smile to myself and hug her closely. “Aye,” I say, though I wonder sometimes if she’s the one who saved me.
“Don’t you look a picture,” Maeve says, reaching for Breena, but she won’t let go.
“See the ring, daddy?” Breena asks. “Where is it?”
“Uncle Nolan’s got it,” I tell her. “You’ll see it at the church.”
Megan’s decided to go the traditional route and get married at Holy Family. Some of the other girls have chosen the garden with the trellis, but Megan says she wants “the bells, the incense, my heels to click on that ancient wooden floor, my man standing in front of that marble altar, and the ghosts of our ancestors floating about.”
I’m not so sure about the ghosts of our ancestors, but I know my own mum would’ve been pleased we got married in the church. There’s nothing Maeve or I can say to detach Breena from my neck. For some reason, she’s a bit clingy today. Maybe she knows that today’s the day things change for us.
When we get to the church, Fiona and Sheena are standing outside, dressed in the lovely olive green dresses Megan picked for the wedding. Sheena’s holding her baby to her chest, and I think she might even be nursing the babe on the steps of the church, but I’m focused on Fiona.
“Little bit of help?” I ask her with a grimace.
“What, detaching the little barnacle from your neck?” Fiona asks, tickling Breena. “Come with Auntie Fiona and we’ll get you a front row seat,” she says. “But you have to hurry before the big boys come and take them all. And if you’re extra special good, I’ll let you carry my flowers.”
And just like that, Breena lets go, takes Fiona’s hand, and toddles off, waving over her shoulder. “Bye, daddy!” I almost wish she hadn’t let go.
“Bye, Breena,” I say. Keenan, Cormac, and Nolan arrive all at once, and my heart swells. I was loyal to these men as brothers before I knew we shared a father. But now…
“There he is,” Nolan says with a grin. Instead of the usual chin lift or fist bump, he gives me a big bear hug. “Congrats, brother. It’s something else, the two of you getting married, isn’t it, though?”
“Aye,” I say, my eyes growing misty when Cormac slaps me on the back and Keenan embraces me as well.