Page 29 of Breathing


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“Christ,” I rasped as she drew closer. I stepped down from the makeshift altar and met them at the top of the aisle, my throat working as I swallowed. “God, Cannon, you’re…fuck.”

She smiled at me so fucking prettily, it took my breath away. “You ready to do this?”

I nodded and took her hands in mine. “Fuck yes, I am, baby. Let’s get hitched.”

Her laugh was music to my ears. I helped her up onto the altar at the back of the clubhouse and then grasped both of her hands in mine, turning to face her.

“The ceremony of marriage in which you come to be united is one of the first and oldest ceremonies in the entire world, celebrated in the beginning in the presence of God himself.” My lips quirked with a smirk, and Cannon’s lips tilted the tiniest bit. God didn’t exist in this clubhouse. We were all headed straight to Hell. But Cannon deserved every bit of this wedding ceremony.

“Marriage is a gift in that we give ourselves totally to one another…” I drowned the minister out, studying the woman who was about to be my wife. It couldn’t happen fast enough; I was growing impatient.

One thing was for certain… I was never letting this woman go. She was mine—always. She was already my old lady. This—this entire ceremony—was forher. To give her a fresh start so she could see marriage wasn’t full of pain.

Our marriage would be full of happiness and love. I would make sure of it until my last, dying breath.

Cannon squeezed my hands, dragging me out of my head, and I blinked. She quietly snickered. “Whiler, will you please repeat after me…”

I listened attentively, though I knew these words like the back of my hand after rehearsing them so many damn times. Drawing in a deep breath, I tightened my hold on Cannon’s hands the slightest bit. “I, Whiler, take you, Cannon, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, I promise to love and cherish you.”

Cannon blinked back tears, her lashes fluttering prettily over those stunning, hypnotizing blue eyes. I smiled softly at her and squeezed her hands again. “Cannon, please repeat after me…” the minister said, looking at her before glancing at his book.

Cannon didn’t even let him finish, which made me quietly laugh. She smiled at me as she said, “I, Cannon, take you, Whiler, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, I promise to love and cherish you.”

My chest tightened at her words. Though we’d practiced them yesterday and every other day for the past two weeks, they meant so much more to me today. Because today, it was all official. Cannon wasfinallymy wife.

The minister said something about our rings as Antonio walked up to us with the rings on a pillow. I grinned at him. He’d been so nervous about bringing us the rings, but he was doing an amazing job of it. “You’re doing such a good job, kiddo,” I whispered as I took the rings from him. He beamed at me before Joey quickly ushered him to go sit back down beside Alejandro.

When instructed, we eased the gold bands onto each other’s fingers. Cannon hadn’t wanted anything flashy—just something simple. Which was fine with me. Because soon, she would have my name tattooed on her.

Shit didn’t get much more permanent and flashy than wearing a man’s name on full display on her skin.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the minister announced. Fuckingfinally. “Whiler, you may kiss your bride.”

With our family and friends cheering around us, congratulating us on finally tying the knot, I wrapped my arms around Cannon’s waist, leaned her back, and sealed my mouth over hers.

EPILOGUE

Whiler

“Prez, church needs to be moved to mid-afternoon,” I complained as I stepped into the chapel, my to-go mug of coffee in my hand. It was seven in the fucking morning, and I just wanted to still be in bed with my beautiful, curvy wife. Maybe wake her up by stroking my cock between her soft cheeks until she rolled to her back and let me slide between her thighs.

“Quit your griping,” Joey snapped at me, looking as tired as I felt. “I wouldn’t have called you to be here if it wasn’t important.”

“Well, what the fuck is going on then?” I griped as I took my seat at the table. I was the last member to get here, as usual. It took a lot of motivation for me to want to leave my damn bed and the warm body that slept next to me every night.

“Fathers of Mayhem are seeking our help,” Joey began. I took a sip of my coffee. “Sam came across a sex trafficking ring, and it’s pretty big.” The coffee suddenly settled in my stomach like lead. Fuck, that killed my mood. “As you know, these things usually have big officials involved, anything from cops to judges to fucking congress members. Alejandro is already on his way up to their charter, and he’s got a team already working to see who might be financing this.”

“What do we need to do?” Ink asked, leaning forward in his chair, his fingers steepled in front of his mouth.

“Right now, we sit still. When this shit starts going down, it’s going to be bloody, dangerous, and all hands on deck. We’ll up our training. This situation now has our entire focus. When I know more, I’ll call church again. But until then, keep your burners charged, on, and close. Clear?”

We grunted our affirmatives, and he slammed his gavel on the table. I stood to my feet and pushed back from the table, heading out of the chapel, my heart heavy in my chest. Sex trafficking left a sour taste in my mouth.

No one deserved to go through that shit.

“Whiler?” my wife called, surprising me. I’d left her in bed this morning. She wasn’t one to get up early now that she no longer had to.

I quickly looked up. She was just coming in through the clubhouse doors, her face a little pale. Immediately, I set my to-go cup of coffee aside and strode toward her, concerned. Not much got my woman out of bed before ten A.M. these days. If she’d taken the time to not only get out of bed but also make the drive here, something was definitely going on.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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