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“Shall I continue?” the officiant asks.

I kiss Harper’s cheek and cup her chin for a beat as I look her in her worried blue eyes. “Hey, there’s nothing to worry about,” I assure her, and then I straighten and turn toward the officiant. “Yes.”

Victoria nods her consent as well, and I turn toward Tristan, who pulls the rings out of his pocket and hands them over to the officiant. He claps me on the back with a little solidarity, and inside I’m fucking shaking with rage that the asshole had the nerve to do that.

I’d like to fuck up more than just his goddamn jaw.

“These rings are symbols of your commitment. May they be a reminder of the promises you have made to each other here today. Travis, place the ring on Victoria’s finger.”

I take the platinum band that fits into the engagement ring and slide the set onto her finger as I say, “With this ring, I thee wed.”

She takes the ring we purchased yesterday morning for me, a simple black band, and she slides it onto my finger. “With this ring, I thee wed.” Tears glisten in her eyes when she looks up at me.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride,” the officiant says.

I grab her into my arms and dip her down low as I plant my mouth onto hers, and I don’t let go as she grips onto my arms for support. Eventually I straighten us, but I don’t move my mouth from hers. Instead, I give her just a little tongue—a preview of more to come later, and she kisses me back, offering her own preview to me.

Eventually I pull apart from her before I make things indecent as I hear the clapping of the crowd gathered and I’m reminded that my daughter is, in fact, in attendance here.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the officiant says, “it is now my honor to present to you for the very first time Mr. and Mrs. Travis Woods!”

The clapping gets a little louder, and I think I even hear a few cheers. And I want to be filled with happiness. I am . But I’m also still feeling a little bit of rage, and knowing the asshole is somewhere on this catamaran, trapped here with a mere three floors and less than fifty feet of space from one side of the boat to the other…the space isn’t big enough for both of us. If he doesn’t make himself invisible for the next two and a half hours, he might just end up as shark bait.

I forget about him as I celebrate this moment with my wife.

My wife .

Holy fucking hell, I have a wife .

“Dude, congratulations!” Tristan says, and he gives me a bro hug. Tessa is next, and then Victoria’s family, and I feel like I might pass out for a second. I realize it’s probably just the humidity combined with the tequila, not the fact that Travis Motherfucking Woods is off the market.

But I was off the market the second I met Victoria. There was never another option once she stepped into my life. There was never even another thought once she stepped in.

The crewmembers clear away the folding chairs where the guests watched us get married and it’s swiftly transformed into a dance floor. “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers starts to play.

“May I have this dance?” I ask.

“You may have all the dances,” she murmurs, and a soft smile lifts my lips as I pull her into my arms.

Maybe it’s not the song I would’ve picked if I could’ve chosen from a catalog, but it somehow seems perfect.

“I’m hungry for your touch,” I growl close to her ear.

“Oh I’ll be touching you,” she whispers back.

“Touching which parts?” I ask softly.

“Your cock. With my mouth.”

“Oh my, Mrs. Woods. I suppose I’ll have to return the favor with my mouth on that hot cunt of yours.”

Her eyes seem to glaze over at her new title. “It’s not some eye for an eye thing, husband .” She’s throwing my own words back at me, and I fucking love it.

“We need a plan because I need to consummate this thing with my wife. Stat,” I say.

She giggles. “I’ll see what I can do.”

It looks sweet and tender from the outside as we sway and cling to each other. A ring forms around us of our wedding guests as they link arms and move in a circle as we whisper dirty things to each other.

It’s nearly perfect.

Part of me wishes I’d invited my parents.

I know my dad will understand why we rushed into it.

Still…

Part of me wishes we’d made a bigger deal out of this. And maybe we will down the road. Maybe we’ll renew our vows in a year and throw a huge party to celebrate. It’s the least she deserves.

I dance with Harper next, and Victoria dances with her father. I dance with Lori and Victoria dances with Harper while Vanessa stares daggers at us. Jake hasn’t rejoined her, so he must still be keeping Owen away from us. Smart move.

It’s as I dance with my new mother-in-law that she pulls back and smiles at me. “Congratulations, Travis,” she says. “We’re so excited to welcome you into the family.”

“Thank you.”

“Now I know I said I’m the nice one, but I need to know…is what Owen said true?” she asks.

I sigh. “He had something that didn’t belong to him, so I went and got it. I may have broken some things along the way, very nearly including his jaw.”

She offers a small giggle, and I think she might be a little tipsy. “I never liked that boy, so thank you for doing what I always wanted to do.”

I laugh.

“And I’m not stupid when it comes to what a couple wants to do on their wedding night. I was thinking about having a sleepover in our suite for all the grands…including Harper…if you’d like some alone time. We put in an order for some rollaway beds and we’ve got popcorn and snacks.”

“I think she’d probably love it,” I say. “But Evan and Trudy offered to have her stay with Bella, so I think she’ll want to do that. Maybe tomorrow night, though, if the offer is still on the table.”

“It’s an open invitation, Travis. We’re happy to do anything we can for our new granddaughter.”

I feel an unfamiliar heat behind my eyes at her words. It makes me feel like I didn’t just marry Victoria. I married into her family—the type of family I always wished I was part of. The type of family I never had, jealous sibling and all.

We dance the night away, and we have our first dinner as a married couple with Harper sitting between Victoria and Bella and Tristan beside me.

When the catamaran starts moving back toward the dock and our evening draws to a close, a sense of regret filters through me. I don’t want this part of the evening to end…even though I’m ready to get my bride naked.

I’m also not ready for this night to end, or for it to turn into tomorrow or the next day or the next…because then it’ll be time to head back home, and Owen has already made it very clear what I can expect once I touch foot on Vegas soil again.

And it’s not going to be good.