Page 23 of Tice’s Kind of Trouble (Obsessive Protectors #2)

Tice

Three Years Later

The overlook was meant for this moment. Splendor all around the most perfect creature on earth. My fiancée.

Bethany stands at the edge of the grassy bluff, her white dress catching the wind like she was made to be worshipped by the sky.

That’s my woman. That’s my wife. I haven’t even said the words yet, but my soul already knows.

Has known for years. But we wanted to wait until the rescue organization was well-established, and she could take a LONG honeymoon where I plan on keeping her naked most of the time.

So now is the time for the day I’ve craved in my marrow.

It’s not a big crowd. Just Kane, Eagle, Chase and his girl, plus a few others from the Teams. Close-knit. Safe. Exactly how I wanted it.

My heart, my Bethany, turns, catching me watching her like a starving man, and gives me a smile that damn near buckles my knees.

I swear the butterflies swoop in to see her better. I know I want to. She’s stunning. Sunlight glints off her hair, and my lungs stop working again.

My walk toward her is slow, controlled. Not because I’m unsure. Because I need to make this moment last.

My boots crush the wild grass beneath me, and every step I take feels like a vow. Permanent. Unshakable.

Her eyes are wet, glowing, sweet. There’s a slight tremble in her hands as I take them in mine.

“You ready, baby?” I murmur, my throat tight with love for this woman.

Bethany nods, but her voice catches too. “I’ve never been more ready.”

The officiant starts talking, but truth be told, I don’t hear a word.

My entire universe has narrowed to the woman in front of me.

The pulse in her throat. The way her chest rises and falls like she’s just run a mile.

That little quiver in her lip that tells me this means as much to her as it does to me.

“I take you, Bethany, to be mine. Always. No matter what comes.” Tears claw at my voice. “I’ll protect you, hold you, carry you if I have to. You’re it for me, baby. You’re my reason. My home.”

A single drop slips down her cheek, and I hurry to catch it with my thumb before it falls.

When she speaks her vows, she barely gets through the words, but they pierce straight into the part of me I never knew needed healing.

“You make me feel safe,” she whispers. “You make me feel seen. Loved. I didn’t know what forever felt like until you.”

That’s it. I’m done for.

“By the power vested in me…” the officiant says, but I don’t wait. Can’t wait a second longer. I pull my wife in, hands cupping her face, and kiss her hard.

Showing her all of me. This newly born man.

With a whimper, her arms lock around my neck. Like she always does, her mouth opens to mine. The kiss is fire and hope and home all rolled into one desperate, perfect collision.

When I lift her off the ground and spin her once, her laugh breaks something open in my chest.

We’re married.

She’s mine. Mine.

Bethany presses her forehead to mine, whispering, “Tice, I love you. The minute we can go, I want you to take me home.”

I grip her tighter and kiss her once more, already walking toward the truck, her train dragging along my shin, not caring that Chase is cheering like a maniac and Kane’s pretending he’s not wiping his eyes.

“Yes ma’am. Let’s go home.”

Forever, the second chapter , starts now.

And I’m never letting her go.

Next up Chase’s Kind of Trouble.