Sinners at the Altar (Sinners on Tour 6)

“We need to leave!” he shouted over the metal version of “Twist and Shout.”

She nodded. “Just let me get my bouquet.”

She rushed back to the table and grabbed her pretty-much-demolished bouquet before heading to the stage with Sed on her heels. They waited for the current song to end and then climbed the stage to orchestrate their final tradition of the day.

“All the single ladies are needed in the mosh pit,” Max said, winking at Jessica. “Time to toss the bouquet.”

Jessica waited until everyone who wanted to participate was standing before the stage. She already knew who she was aiming for, so she took a mental snapshot of the crowd and turned to face the opposite direction. She tossed the bouquet over her shoulder and then spun around to see if she’d hit home. Aggie stood staring at the bouquet in her hands as if she didn’t recognize what it was. Score! Jessica barely suppressed her victory dance. Aggie received numerous congratulatory pats, but she didn’t seem to notice or remember how to blink. It was only when Jace approached her and gave her a playful shove that she awoke out of her stupor.

Jessica laughed when Jace interlaced his fingers and stretched his arms in front of him, limbering up to catch the garter. Jessica was directed into a chair on the stage, and Sed knelt on the floor between her feet.

The look he gave her could have melted the polar ice caps.

“All right,” Max said in a farcical emcee voice, “it looks like the bachelors need to line up for the delivery of their life-without-parole sentencing.”

Most of the younger men entered the dance floor only when shoved forcefully in that direction. Lawyers and rock stars alike fidgeted as they waited for the verdict.

“Jace,” Jessica whispered to Sed, and he nodded.

He nibbled on his lower lip, as if hungry with anticipation while he waited for his cue. His cue was a chorus of “take it off, take it off” from the married gentlemen in the room. Sed delved beneath her skirt. Not just his hand but his entire upper body, including his head and both hands—which he immediately put to good use.

“What is he doing under there? Is he using his teeth?” Max asked.

“Yes!” Jessica squeaked. And that wasn’t all he was using.

His mouth moved against her inner thigh, his tongue swirling against her skin between nibbles. The fingers of one hand tugged the garter slowly down her thigh; his other hand moved to the rapidly swelling flesh between her thighs. One finger found her cleft and slid its length, starting at her mound and working its way back until it slipped a scant inch inside her. Her jaw dropped in surprise as her body went from willing to eager in the span of a second. Her mouth opened wider as his mouth began to work its way up her thigh, closer and closer to the throbbing ache at her center. He wouldn’t really put his mouth there in front of hundreds of guests, would he?

Oh fuck, he would. No one could see what he was actually doing under the wide skirt of her gown, but they had to be able to tell where his head was and where it was going. Dear lord, she should probably stop him before… His tongue flicked against her clit, and she nearly exploded out of the chair. Probably would have if he hadn’t been gripping her thigh with one hand.

He suddenly withdrew, leaving her disoriented and needy for his body. The man was far more daring than most—she loved that about him—but one day he was going to go too far. At least he hadn’t made her come in front of everyone.

Still kneeling at her feet but no longer beneath her skirt, he grinned up at her crookedly, clearly challenging her to admonish him for taking such liberties. She wiggled her eyebrows at him instead, and he laughed. He mouthed, You rock, baby, before climbing to his feet. He leaned in to kiss her before lifting the garter he’d received at Eric’s wedding over his head in victory.

Everyone cheered until he turned to face the bachelors and took aim. Instead of shooting at Jace, he slipped his finger into the stretchy band and let it fly high. Being one of the more vertically challenged in the crowd, Jace was at a disadvantage. That didn’t stop him from making a dive for it and landing hard on the wood floor with one hand extended, the garter gripped tightly in his fist. He climbed to his feet and stared directly at Aggie, pointing at his chest and then at her before making a twirling motion with his finger. She beamed a wide smile at him, a flush staining her porcelain-white cheeks, and nodded.

“Wanted to make him work for it,” Sed said to Jessica as he helped her to her feet. “Is it time to get naked now?”

“Oh, it’s past time for that,” she said.

She snatched the microphone out of Max’s hand.

“Thank you, everyone, for coming,” she said. “Now it’s my turn to do just that. Enjoy the rest of your evening. I’m sure I will.”

The guys got her joke immediately, but she wasn’t sure if many of the women had caught on to the double entendre. But she didn’t have time to explain it. She needed her husband and she needed him immediately. She tossed the microphone to Max, who had definitely gotten her joke, if his appreciative grin was any judge, grabbed Sed by the jacket, and headed for the exit at a run.

While they waited for the limo outside, Jessica pulled Sed against her and kissed him deeply. One hand clung to the back of his head, the other began to work the buttons of his shirt. She wasn’t going to wait until they got home to have him. If the limo didn’t hurry the fuck up, she’d be having him right here on the sidewalk in front of the reception hall.

“Really, Jessica?” Her mother’s voice was like a bucket of cold water over her head. “I have never been more mortified in my life.”

Jessica kept right on kissing Sed, hoping her mother would take a hint and get lost.

No such luck.

“You have got to be the biggest slut to ever wear white on her wedding day.”

More stunned than outraged, Jessica went still. Her mouth remained pressed against her husband’s. Sed yanked her away from him and shoved her behind his body.

“I don’t give a fuck who you are, lady. No one talks to my wife that way,” he growled, cold venom dripping from every word. “You apologize to her and then get the fuck out of her life. She won’t be tolerating your abuse anymore. I won’t allow it.”

Jessica stiffened as his words sank in. That was probably the most controlling thing she’d ever heard anyone say in her entire life. And it was such a huge and blessed relief that she began to shake uncontrollably.

“Apologize?” her mother screeched.

“Now!”

She narrowed her eyes at him before looking at Jessica. “I’m not sorry I called you a slut,” her mother said, “but I am sorry you married an asshole.”

Her mother stomped off, and Jessica stared after her, so astonished she could scarcely breathe.

“Are you going to let her talk to me like that?” Sed asked in a teasing tone.

Actually, no, she wasn’t.

Jessica grabbed her skirt in one hand and raced up the stairs, catching her mother by the arm before she could reenter the building. She spun her around and could tell by the open-mouthed look of shock on her mother’s face that she wasn’t expecting Jessica to retaliate. Not when she’d so soundly put her in her place.

“I put up with a lot of bullshit from you because you gave birth to me,” Jessica said, “but you’ve laced my life with poison for as long as I can remember, and I’m through with it. Understand? And maybe my husband brings out the slut in me, but unlike you, I don’t choose a man to love based on how well he can financially support me. I am happiest when I’m with him and the most miserable when I’m anywhere near you.” Jessica barely paused to suck in a breath. She had to get this out quickly because even though she argued with her mother, she had never made it personal. This was personal. And she was going to make it count.

“For the record, Sed is not an asshole. If you think he is, then you don’t know him at all. He’s caring and protective and challenging and a tad egotistical, but there isn’t a vindictive bone in his body. So go fuck

yourself, Mother. I’m sure it will be more pleasurable than screwing that perverted sleazeball you call a husband.”

She didn’t give her mother time to collect herself enough to fire back stinging words of retaliation. And maybe when Jessica’s heart rate returned to normal and her thoughts cleared of rage, she’d feel bad for saying such horrible things to her mother, but at the moment, she felt light as air as she skipped down the steps and into the waiting limo.

Sed slipped into the car beside her just as a large crowd of guests swarmed out of the building to wave farewell. The driver shut the door, and Sed rolled down the window. She and Sed waved at their friends and family—and a few Hollywood actors neither of them knew—until the limo pulled away.

“Are you okay?” Sed asked, stroking her hair gently.

“Are you filing for an annulment after witnessing how poorly your wife treats her own mother?”

“Of course not. She had it coming.”

“Then I’m more than okay. I’m perfect.”