Command (Storm MC #7) Page 18

  Madison agreed with me. “Too true, but like I said, Scott has blown me away this week while we’ve been arranging this wedding. I’ve seen a side to him that I’ve never seen.”

  “You and Scott organised the wedding?” Roxie said.

  “He did most of it and just asked for my help on a few things,” Madison replied. “I think Wilder did a lot of running around for him, getting stuff for the reception sorted out.”

  “King’s here,” Velvet announced, peering through the curtains in my lounge room.

  Butterflies fluttered in my tummy. Not nervous butterflies, though. These were of the excited kind – the butterflies you felt when you couldn’t wait for something to happen.

  A few moments later, King’s boots sounded on the front steps and then he knocked on the door. Cassie opened it and greeted him, and I didn’t miss the way his eyes lazily checked out her body. “Well, hello there,” he murmured.

  Cassie shook her head. “You bikers just don’t give a fuck about subtlety, do you?”

  He grinned and it had to be said, King had sexy covered. It wasn’t just the muscles he barely hid underneath jeans and a fitted black tee that screamed ‘hot biker dude’ that qualified him as sexy in my mind, it was more about the ease and confidence with which he moved, and the attitude he projected that even if shit was going down, he had it covered. And the effortless way he moved between the different emotions he felt – nothing seemed too hard for King. “Subtlety doesn’t warm a bed at night,” he said as he entered the house.

  “It sure doesn’t,” Cassie agreed as she shut the door and followed him.

  King’s gaze met mine and although he was a hard man, I saw some soft in him today. “Scott Cole is a lucky bastard,” he said, his eyes remaining steady on mine. I had to give him credit – he didn’t lower his gaze once. The man clearly had respect for his brother.

  “Thank you,” I said with a smile.

  He nodded once. “You ready, beautiful?”

  “Almost,” Madison cut in. “We just have to finish taking care of her borrowed and her blue.”

  King hit her with a frown. “Her borrowed and her blue? What the fuck is that?”

  “He speaks my language,” Roxie said with her signature sarcasm.

  “Wedding traditions,” Mum advised him and then said to Madison, “I took care of her something blue last night.”

  This was news to me. “What is it?”

  “I stitched the date of your first date with Scott and today’s date into your wedding dress. In blue.”

  My eyes widened in surprise. “How did you know the date of our first date?”

  “I asked him.” She watched me with the look of a proud mother – the kind of look that said, ‘You did so well, he even remembers dates’, because to my mother, remembering the special moments meant everything to her.

  Madison’s face resembled the way I felt. She stared at my mother in utter surprise. Turning to me, she muttered, “J has a lot to learn from my brother. Okay, so we have blue covered, and I have these if you want, for the borrowed.”

  She passed me a beautiful pair of earrings. “Are these yours?” I asked.

  “Yes. I wore them when I married J, so they have some meaning. We could hand them down to our daughters when they get married - God willing we have daughters - and start a Cole/Reilly family tradition if you want.”

  Family tradition.

  Love rushed through me and I threw my arms around her. “I love you, Madison Reilly. I would love to start that tradition with you.” When I let her go, I reached for a tissue because tears finally threatened to ruin my makeup.

  Madison smiled at me, through her own tears. “Quick, King, you need to get her out of here before we all become blubbering messes.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” he said. “Nothing worse than crying females.”

  As I scooped my dress up and walked downstairs to the car – Scott’s Charger – my heart was full to almost bursting levels.

  We’d all made it through the storm and now I got to live my happy ever after.

  22

  Scott

  “I do.”

  Harlow beamed up at me as I said the words I never thought would come out of my mouth. She stood in front of me, in all her beauty, and I was sure my heart would explode out of my chest. I thought I’d felt everything I’d ever feel for her already, but I was wrong. In that moment, I knew this truly was just the beginning of a whole new range of emotions. And as much as I was a man who’d gotten through life up until Harlow without feeling or expressing love, I was fucking down with feeling all of this. So long as she is by my side.

  I hardly heard the words the celebrant said after I said my vows, but I sure as fuck heard her say, “You may now kiss the bride.”

  Pressing my lips to Harlow’s, I growled, “Mrs Cole.” She then showed me how much she loved those words on my lips with the kind of kiss that should be made illegal. When she finally let me go, I said, “Fuck, baby, you do know I have to walk out of here in front of everyone we know, right?”

  She hit me with that sexy grin of hers and nodded. “Yes.”

  Shaking my head at her, I returned her grin and muttered, “Thanks to that kiss, I’ll be doing it with a raging hard-on.”

  “Nothing you’ve never done before,” she threw back.

  She had a point.

  The celebrant distracted me from my thoughts and moved us to sit down and sign the wedding certificates before finally announcing us as Mr and Mrs Cole.

  Taking hold of my wife’s hand, I walked us down the aisle, which was a long stretch of red carpet the boys had sourced for me.

  Harlow leaned in and said, “You picked the exact right spot for our wedding. I’ll never forget the first time you brought me here, and now I’ll never forget it as the place you made all my dreams come true.”

  Fuck.

  I figured the park at Wynnum that I’d brought her on our first date was a great location to exchange our vows, but I hadn’t factored in how much it would mean to her.

  “I hope I can make all your dreams come true, sweetheart.” I’m gonna work my ass off to make that happen.

  She tightened her grip on my hand. “You already have, Scott. I’m living my dream.”

  Like a fucking drug straight to my veins.

  And like the junkie I was, I craved every high Harlow could give me, and would do whatever the fuck it took to ensure I got that high every day for the rest of my life.

  When we made it to the end of the red carpet, I stopped her and took her in my arms. “I love you, Harlow Cole. I love every-fucking-thing.” I placed my hand on her belly. “And the fact you’re going to be the mother to my child makes me the happiest man on this planet. I’m the one living my dream.”

  A dream I never knew I had.

  A dream I’d go to the ends of the earth to protect.

  Her beautiful green eyes searched mine, whispering a million promises, and then finally they twinkled with mischief, and she said, “Scott Cole does sweet really, really, really good. Who would have known?”

  “That secret stays with us,” I bossed her.

  “And there’s the man I love, all bossy and shit.”

  The man I love.

  I’d never get tired of hearing her say that.

  Brushing my lips across hers, I said, “Okay, Mrs Cole, we have a reception to get through, and then I’m going to take you home and bless your body with my mouth and my tongue.”

  “And your cock?”

  I chuckled. “Fuck, woman, that dirty mouth…” I moved my mouth to her ear. “Always with my cock. I’ve been waving that thing around like freaking King Shit since the day I met you.”

  I’d repeated the words she’d said to me the night she first set foot in Indigo, and I wondered if she would remember. When her mouth fell open and she gasped, I knew she had.

  “You remembered that all this time?” she asked, clearly stunned.

  “There’s nothing about you,
baby, that I don’t remember.”

  And there wasn’t.

  Harlow James had stumbled into my life and turned it upside down, and I’d remember every step of our journey. I might have been the one who’d taken command of our relationship, and bossed her into being with me, but she’d taken command of my heart and would always own it.

  Epilogue

  Harlow

  1 Year Later

  “Sit with Uncle Blade while I go and see where Daddy is,” I said to Aurora as I made my way to where Blade sat with Layla.

  His eyes lit up when he saw us approaching, and his arms automatically stretched out to take my daughter from me.

  “Thanks,” I said. “I just want to go and find Scott, and then I promise I’ll be back for her.”

  Layla grinned. “Don’t rush, Harlow. Honestly, he can’t get enough of her.”

  I watched as Blade blew raspberries on Aurora’s belly, and decided Layla wasn’t lying. “Looks like babies might be in your future?”

  Blade diverted his attention from Aurora for a moment and said, “Yes, they are, but my wife seems to think we should wait a little while longer before we start trying.”

  Layla sighed, but I could tell she wanted this as much as he did. “All I said was that I wanted another six months or so to get my bar operating at more of a profit, and then we could start working on a baby.”

  “It’s a good thing I’m a patient man,” he muttered before going back to playing with Aurora.

  “It’ll happen,” Layla mouthed and I nodded in agreement before leaving them to go and find Scott. I knew it would happen for them because Blade was a man who made sure he got what he wanted. And as much as Layla was a kick ass chick who pulled him into line when needed, we all knew she needed Blade as much as she needed the air she breathed. They were a couple you just knew would last forever.

  “Harlow!” Velvet called out from the table where she sat with Nash.

  Changing my direction, I headed over to see what she wanted. “What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to tell you that Scarlett’s done an amazing job!”

  Looking around at the decorations in the restaurant, I agreed. Scarlett had brought Trilogy to life. “She really has.”

  “She might be a moody bitch, but she’s pulled off a great party today,” Nash admitted with only a small amount of grumbling in his tone. It was no secret that he and Scarlett clashed, but he always gave credit where it was due. “Fuck knows how Wilder manages to work with her as closely as he does and not kill her, though.”

  At my suggestion, Wilder had hired Scarlett just after Scott and I got married. I decided Storm’s restaurants could do with an image update, and after seeing examples of Scarlett’s decorating talents, I knew she was the right person for the job. She hadn’t wanted to work for Storm, but her dwindling finances had dictated a need to find work, and the universe had conspired to bring us all together.

  The rest was history.

  Well, maybe not. Maybe there was more to this story. I watched as Scarlett argued with Wilder over something and wondered how long it would take those two to admit their attraction. They’d known each other a year now, and the sparks were wild.

  “Have you seen Scott?” I asked Nash.

  “No, but check with Griff. He’s with Sophia at the bar,” he suggested.

  “Thanks, will do,” I said.

  A few moments later, I met Sophia’s gaze and smiled. Griff sat facing the bar and Sophia stood in front of him with her arms around his neck. I’d known her for a year now, and I swore she seemed happier every passing week. The same could be said for Griff. He’d gone from a man of few words, who I hardly knew, to one of my closest friends over this past year. “Hey, Harlow,” she greeted me. “Great party.”

  “It would be if I could find my husband,” I grumbled.

  Griff turned his head. “I saw him about ten minutes ago, out in the kitchen. Try there, otherwise ask Wilder.”

  My impatience was kicking in.

  I need to do this now.

  “Okay, thanks. Oh, and your house warming is next weekend, right?” They’d recently built a new home and had finally moved in.

  Sophia beamed. “Yes, you guys are coming, aren’t you? For the love of God, please tell me you are. I’ve got so many people coming who I don’t even really know, partners of work mates and friends of my sisters, and you just know I’m going to spend all day rambling about shit if I get nervous. I need you to be there, Harlow, to help centre me and tell me to calm down.” Her eyes bulged with desperation and I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. Sophia was uniquely her own woman and it was one of the many things I loved about her. The way words just fell out of her mouth always made me smile. Especially that. There should be more women like her – we could all do with the honesty.

  I reached out and placed my hand on her arm. “I promise I’ll be there.”

  She exhaled her relief. “Oh, thank goodness.”

  “I’ll be back soon, but I really need to find Scott.”

  She waved me away. “Go.”

  A couple of moments later, I pushed through the door that led to the kitchen. It was a hive of activity, but Scott was not out there.

  Damn.

  Where is he?

  I pulled out my phone and sent him another text, my third so far.

  Me: Where are you???? Stop ignoring me or else I will withdraw husband privileges for at least a week.

  His reply came through swiftly. Funny how threats like that always worked with men.

  Scott: I could go a week, but you couldn’t.

  Me: Ha! You wanna test that theory?

  Scott: Sure. I give you two days at the most before you come begging for my cock.

  Me: Tell me where you are and I will come begging for it now.

  Scott: I’m in the car park.

  Me: Are you hiding from me?

  Scott: Fuck no.

  Me: Lucky.

  When I finally caught sight of him, my heart swelled with love. My hand absently moved to my stomach as I stilled and watched him.

  He was with Lisa and they both had their heads under the hood of his Charger. She was listening to him intently while he pointed at various parts of the engine and explained something to her. Memories of my own father doing the same thing slammed into me, and tears pricked my eyes.

  I walked the short distance to them, and they both turned their heads when they heard me approaching.

  “Hey, Harlow,” Lisa said with an easy smile.

  “Hi, Honey,” I returned her smile before looking at Scott. “Hey.” God, I love this man. Hard.

  He leant over and kissed me. “Sorry, sweetheart, Lisa’s assignment is due at school tomorrow and she was struggling with one part, so I wanted to explain it to her before I got carried away with the party.”

  Lisa loved everything to do with cars and had chosen to do one of her assignments on car engines. Scott had been helping her with it for weeks and I’d decided there wasn’t much on this planet better than watching a man helping their child. Although Lisa was not our child, we both treated her as if she was. Her mother had come a long way, and I was confident in her recovery from drug addiction, but we would never stop thinking of Lisa as part of our family.

  “I’ve got it now, so I’m going to go back inside and hang out if that’s okay,” Lisa said.

  “Sure, darlin’,” Scott agreed. Jerking his chin towards the restaurant, he added, “Don’t let that boy treat you like shit, or I’ll be having words with him.”

  Lisa blushed. “I won’t.”

  I smacked him as we watched her run inside. “Did you have to say that?”

  His laughing eyes came to mine, and I sucked in a breath at the crinkles that decorated them. Those damn crinkles. They get me every time. “It’s her first boyfriend, Harlow, and I’m going to make damn sure she learns straight off the bat that she’s entitled to have expectations of being treated a certain way. No boy will ever walk all over her if
I have my way.”

  “Do you know how much I love you, Scott Cole?” I asked as I pressed my body against his.

  He took hold of my face and angled my mouth to his. “Almost as much as I love you,” he murmured before kissing me again, this time slower and deeper.

  My tummy fluttered, just like it always did when he kissed me. I moaned into his mouth. “Baby, I have something to tell you.”

  He pulled his face away from mine and said, “That you’re glad you married me one year ago? That this is the best first anniversary you’ve ever had?”

  “You are playful today, aren’t you?”

  He shrugged. “Life’s good, Harlow. Storm’s had a year of no huge problems, I’ve got a beautiful baby daughter, a happy family and a sexy-as-fuck wife whose favourite thing to do is wrap her lips around my dick…I’ve got all the reasons in the world to smile.”

  I let his words work their way through my soul, loving how good they felt. And then I whispered, “I’ve got one more reason for you to smile.”

  The world around us quietened and slowed as he processed what I said. He stayed silent for what felt like an eternity, before finally demanding, “Tell me.”

  I reached for his hand and placed it on my belly. “You’re going to be a daddy again.”

  His eyes searched mine as his lips slowly spread into the Scott-Cole smile I lived for. “I’m going to be a daddy again,” he repeated what I said.

  “Yes.”

  Sliding his arms around me, he pulled me to him again. “This is the best first wedding anniversary I’ve ever had,” he said as his eyes flared with more of the playfulness I could easily get used to.