Officiating the ceremony was Father Murphy, the kindly priest who had married and buried members from the Kings of Mayhem for as far back as I could remember. He was a cool dude. Not judgy or ready to rain down fire and brimstone at our morally corrupt ways. He took everything in with quiet acceptance. He knew what we were. What we did. And there was no judgment. Although I often saw him do the sign of the cross whenever something rattled his moral compass. And let’s face it, today he was marrying an adult entertainment actress to a biker in a room full of MC family and friends, as well as people from the porn industry. There was going to be a lot of cross signing.
Watching Heidi and Tully exchange their vows, I looked out over the sea of faces watching the ceremony and scanned them for Honey. She was sitting next to Maverick toward the back of the room. He had asked Autumn to be his plus-one, but so far she had avoided his pleas for another date. I looked at Honey sitting there in her breezy yellow dress and couldn’t help but smile. I don’t know why. Just that whenever I saw her, it made me feel good.
She smiled back and I gave her a wink. It felt good bringing her. She was in her second trimester and her belly was swelling more and more everyday. We’d agreed to wait until after the wedding to tell my family about the pregnancy. Honey wanted to meet them at least once before we told them. And I wanted to play it anyway she felt comfortable with. So the wedding was a good opportunity to introduce her to my family, to my world.
We hadn’t touched since the afternoon she’d pounced on me in the kitchen. I had waited for, hoped for, more pouncing, but since she’d created those ridiculous rules, I had to settle for getting up close and personal with only Mrs. Palmer and her five daughters.
Which was slowly driving me crazy with need.
When Father Murphy pronounced Tully and Heidi husband and wife, the public display of affection that followed was all tongues and shameless chemistry. Father Murphy looked a little squeamish, but everyone else in the room cheered and whistled, some bikers taking their own old ladies in their arms and kissing them senseless, too.
The ceremony was followed by a reception in one of Head Quarters’ large studios used for shooting some of the bigger scenes where more space was required. It was a huge room that opened up to a veranda overlooking the river cutting through the property.
Waiters roamed through the throng of wedding guests carrying trays of food and glasses of champagne. Beer bottles were opened, Patrón was shot and bourbon was swilled. From a state-of-the-art sound system, music filled the room and drifted out over the veranda.
The party had begun.
I found Honey filling a paper plate with food from a passing waiter.
“Sorry, I got caught up with the bride and groom.” I ran a gentle hand down her slender arm. “Are you okay?”
Her eyes sparkled with happiness. “Yes, so far I’ve met Indy and Cade, a guy called Hawke—who might or might not have a crush on me now that he knows I bake cupcakes for a living—oh, and a guy called Matlock who has the filthiest mouth I’ve ever heard!”
She was right. Matlock couldn’t talk without cussing.
“Oh, and your uncle, Bull. He came over and introduced himself.” She bit into a piece of southern fried chicken. “He has very nice eyes.”
Bull had freaky-as-fuck eyes. But for some reason, all the chicks dug them.
“You want to meet my mom?”
“You know, every single person I’ve met today has asked me if I’ve met your mom, yet and when I tell them no, they laugh. I get the feeling you’re not telling me something. Is she that scary?”
I couldn’t help but grin. “Yeah. She’s that scary.”
Honey rolled her eyes. “I’m sure she’s lovely.”
“You ready?”
“With sauce all over my face and teeth. Hell yes, I’m ready.” She winked and grinned. She did in fact have sauce on her lips, and when I reached up and wiped it from the corner of her mouth, her eyes danced across at me. She put her plate down on a nearby table and used a napkin to wipe her mouth. “How do I look?”
She showed me her teeth. They were spotless. And she was perfect.
“Beautiful,” I said.
“You’re just saying that to butter me up before I meet your scary mom.”
It was my mouth that opened to reply. But it was my mother’s voice that interrupted. “Oh, I don’t know if I’m that scary, am I?”
Honey and I both jerked our heads to find my mom standing two feet away from us. With a head of raven back curls and deeply hooded eyes that could reduce any man or woman to a smoldering, combusted mess at her feet, my mom was as intimidating as she was beautiful.