Vixen in Vegas (Sinful Novellas) (27 page)

“Nope, I have one,” I told him. “No need to go shopping. Yesterday wore me out.” I smiled at him and hugged him around his neck. Sitting up once more I suddenly felt super giddy. “We’re getting married today.” I stood and threw on a robe. “I’ll be right back,” I said calmly.

Throwing open the door, I rushed out to the main room. Jolie was sitting on the couch talking to Brenda. They had never met previously and I was glad to see that they seemed to be getting on. Stopping right in front of Jolie, I squealed. “I’m getting married today!”

Jumping up and down with me…we screamed like the girls we always used to make fun of. We danced around. I paused and reached out to Brenda to join us. She smiled and stood, seemed glad to have been invited into our circle. “We’re getting married!” We danced around a little more before Ben poked his head out of the bedroom.

“Oh my god. You, too, Brenda?” He teased.

I hugged Jolie and Brenda close. “Thank you so much for being here for us. I couldn’t imagine doing this without either of you.” We parted a bit and I addressed Brenda. “Before I forget…passport?”

She shot a triumphant look at Ben, then reached in her purse and pulled it out. “Here. I can’t thank you enough.”

Hugging her again, I announced, “Ben says we need to get into bathing suits. Let’s go!”

Once we had all changed and assembled, Ben brought us to our cabana. “Damn, I could get used to this,” I said as I looked around. This one was even more opulent than the one at the The Venetian. That was saying something. We had another server who took care of all of our need whether it be drinks or food. There was plenty of food.

We had only been snacking and lounging around in the sun for a brief period of time when Ben announced that our masseurs were here. Sure enough, there was one for each of us, except Ben.

“Hey, where’s yours?” I asked. “You aren’t having a massage.”

Shaking his head, he replied, “You are the only one I want rubbing me down, babe.” Then he came over and planted a kiss on my lips. “You relax and enjoy. I’m going back to the room to rest. Have some girl time.”

Nodding in agreement, I watched him walk away, but once he was out of earshot, I looked at Brenda. “I think he’s getting worse,” I commented. “His sleep schedule is all off. He sleeps more and more. Even when he’s not sleeping, he acts more tired than he has been previously.” I took a deep breath. “I’m scared, Brenda.”

“Are you sure you just aren’t wearing him out in bed?” Jolie joked. “I know that you have a healthy appetite.”

Shaking my head sadly I admitted the truth of our situation. “He hasn’t been in the mood much, or he’s tired, or something, but since the hospital…things have really slowed down.”

Brenda frowned. “You’re right, Sin. It’s not a good sign.”

Grabbing my laptop, I opened the files she sent. One of them had the phone number to the clinic. I had thought that I could wait until after the wedding to call, but now the time seemed right, especially since he wasn’t looming over me.

The masseurs started working on Jolie and Brenda. I asked mine if I could just have a moment to make that important call. He nodded and stepped back while I punched in the numbers. Since it was 9pm in Switzerland, I figured I’d be leaving a message that would be returned later, but to my surprise, within a minute I was on the phone with the man running the study who agreed that given the symptoms I was describing, there was no time like the present to get Ben the help he needed. They could make room for him tomorrow or the next day. That settled that. We could honeymoon any time. The important thing was that I have a groom to honeymoon with.

Then I made a final call to the airlines. We would be leaving from Vegas the very next morning, heading to the airport for 7am, with the flight departing just before 9am. We’d have a connecting flight in Philadelphia, and then fly through the night to land in Lugano Switzerland around the next evening. It would be 19 hours of actual travel time given time changes. That’s a lot of time changes.

Naturally I worried over how well Ben would handle it. Of course, he had me. Hopefully that would help. And I had a massage waiting for me. Not many people had a chance to honeymoon in Switzerland. With that happy thought firmly planted in my mind, I motioned for my masseur.

At 6pm, we were all dressed and ready to go to the Valley of Fire for the wedding. We had a limo waiting for us downstairs. We knew this because we had kicked Ben out some time ago so I could get dressed. We had to ride together, but I wanted him to get as much of the full effect as possible.

We headed down in the elevator. As soon as the doors opened, I had hoped to see Ben standing there waiting for us. Instead, we were met by a lobby full of strangers. We continued straight out the doors to the waiting limo. That’s where we found him, sitting in the back seat making some phone calls.

He stepped out and stood when he saw us. “Wow,” he said as he took my hand. “You look incredible. I can’t believe you are mine.” Leaning in he admitted his one concern. “I’m afraid of kissing you. I don’t want to mess up your face.”

“Hey, this is mostly natural and I can just add more lip gloss as needed,” I commented.

Ben grabbed me, dipped me low, and kissed me deeply. “Guess you’ll need to repaint those lips,” he murmured against my cheek. Then he pulled back and looked at me seriously. “Thank you,” he said. “Thank you for marrying me, thank you for sticking it out. Thank you for loving me back. I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.”

Then we all loaded into the limo and drove out to the Valley of Fire.

It was just as I imagined it would be. It was everything I would have hoped for. Most importantly, it was just like I told Brenda when I was helping her with that wedding: it was all about the feelings. The ceremony passed in a blur; even an hour later as we drove back, I barely remembered it. I knew that we had both chickened out on writing our own vows. We had opted instead to go the traditional route, although I told the minister to forgo the obey part. We all knew where we stood right from the onset.

I remembered the setting…the gorgeous red rocks that did in fact look like they were on fire as the sun was setting. It wasn’t about the words. The words were a technicality, a formality. I had been married to Ben from the moment we met. We were offical the moment he proposed in the ship jewelry shop. We were one the first time we made love…not that time with Jolie. That was sex. That was fun. Oh, but the first time we were alone and able to enjoy one another…it was just me and BE forever.

Thankfully, there are pictures. I’m a little nervous about what they may have captured. There was one moment, when we first came together on the rocks where the sun hit me just right and tears came pouring down my face.

“I love wedding tears,” Brenda had murmured.

“Oh, Sin doesn’t cry,” Jolie said, but I swear she was rolling her eyes when she said it.

It was Ben who handled the situation best. “Oh, Sin. Do you want some sunglasses? This sunset, while beautiful, is hitting you in the eyes, huh?”

Somehow I managed to nod as I grabbed him by the back of his neck and hauling him close enough to kiss a few times.

The minister interrupted. “It’s not time for that yet,” he chided.

“Do we look like we are all worried about formalities around here?” I asked as I wiped at my face.

“I think what she means is that there’s an extra big tip in it for you if you just loosen up,” Ben said. Then he looked at me and smiled this loving smile.

The minister relaxed after that. The official kiss came after many more little kisses. The paperwork was signed. And after a lengthy photography session, it was official, and we were back in the limo headed to the suite.

We had ordered a dinner to be delivered to the room. There was even a server to make it super special. We cut the cakes. Yes, I did eat a slice from each. I told myself it was to settle my stomach. I told myself it was because I had nineteen hours of plane food to look forward to. Really, we all knew that I was eating my emotions.

“Baby, what’s with your nerves,” Ben asked.

At first, I didn’t know what to say. After taking a fortifying swig of wine, I spoke, “We’re heading to Switzerland immediately. We’ll be leaving for the airport around 6:30am. Now say something.”

My words had come out all rapid fire and jumbled. I was afraid that it was spark our first fight. Instead, he looked at me, hauled me close, and kissed me hard on the lips.

“You did the right thing,” he admitted. “I’m really not feeling right lately. After our recent talks, I know I have a lot to live for. Let’s go fix me so that my next challenge is to be an amazing husband and father.”

I nodded and sniffled. “Thank you for that.”

Ben looked at his phone. “It’s almost 10pm,” he told me. “What if we have our dance and then we go to bed?”

“Yes,” I said while nodding feverishly. Then I glanced about. “Where are we going to dance?”

“Oh babe, I’ve totally got this,” he said. Then he took out his phone, hooked it up to portable speakers, and selected a song from his iTunes. “Mrs. Everly? Wait…you are going by Mrs. Everly these days aren’t you?” He asked.

Smiling, I nodded, “Absolutely. It’s an honor.”

“As I was saying, Mrs. Everly, may I have this dance?” He asked as he bowed slightly and held out his hand.

Taking it in mine, I felt something like magic. This was the hand that was going to hold mine the rest of my life. Somehow. Someway. We were going to make it through this. Then the song started playing…Bon Jovi’s (You Want to) Make a Memory.

It couldn’t have been more perfect, more suited to our life. Every moment is a precious memory for us. This night was our biggest memory yet. I lay my head on his shoulder as we swayed to the music. Soon I was singing it to him.

“I love that you can sing,” he said happily. “I swear, every day I learn something new about you, something more to love, another reason to feel utterly blessed to have you in my life.”

What could I say to that? I was terrible at taking a compliment. “Let’s go to bed,” I suggested. “Let me show you how much I love you.”

Looking down at me, he nodded. “We’ll say goodnight to Jolie and Brenda. Then bed. We have to leave early any way.”

The goodnights took no time at all. We hugged and we made promises about keeping in touch. Neither of us was sure how long the treatment was going to take. I knew that soon I would be starting fertility drugs. I might have to come back to California to get inseminated. We’d know more soon enough, once the doctors all spoke but not before.

Walking into our room, I didn’t want to think about any of that. I didn’t want to consider anything past this one moment. It seemed that Ben and I were of the same mind. He paused and looked at me, ready to carry me over the threshold.

“Yeah, rain check on that,” I said without even considering it. He opened his mouth to object and I interrupted. “Hey, babe…let’s save that energy for something really special.” Then I winked.

Once we made it through the door and it had closed safely behind us, we started to kiss, our tongues growing more insistent, our hands fumbling to make short work of our clothes.