Love Hurts: The Love Duet Read online

  It was during that time we discovered we were having a girl.

  I had been ecstatic finding out that, so had Zoe, after a bout of crying. Deck went white when we told him he was going to be a father of a girl. Fate played dirty and Decker was getting his just desserts.

  Deck stayed true to his word and left us to the day to day dealings with the pregnancy, a deal he was glad he made when one night he decided to drop in and present Zoe with a litre of peppermint, choc chip ice cream and a block of caramello chocolate.

  It had not gone over well with Zoe, and Deck left my place that night with a tub of ice cream tossed at his head and the offending block of chocolate close to being shoved up his arse.

  Like I said, Zoe and pregnancy did not mix.

  What also didn’t mix with pregnancy was sex.

  Moving Zoe into my place was a dream I never thought would ever happen. Then finally it did and she was under my roof, her stuff mixed with mine and more importantly in my bed.

  The only problem was she had no interest in sex what so ever. Now I could be a real arsehole and go on and on about how hard it was on me because it was. However, seeing Zoe every morning slumped over the toilet heaving what little she had in her stomach and watching her drag herself to work with little or no energy to work an eight-hour shift day after day… well, I had very little to complain about compared to poor Zoe.

  Thankfully the sickness was on the improve and a flush of rosiness was back on Zoe’s cheeks, and her roar was now a dull growl. I could see she was starting to enjoy the pregnancy more, and we even started designing the baby’s room.

  My house had a homey feel to it that it never had before. Zoe’s signature style was making its way through the place one room at a time, which thrilled me. It meant she was with me to stay, and that was a good thing.

  I got to wrap her up in my arms every night, listen to her breathing, and have her hands on my body. For that I was eternally grateful.

  Another reason I was grateful? Today was my wedding day.

  When Zoe and I talked about a wedding, I presumed she would want the big poufy white dress, ten bridesmaids the whole deal.

  But as usual my woman surprised me, teaching me that presuming was a dangerous thing to do.

  “You want to get married where?” I asked Zoe, completely shocked what my Nymph just told me.

  “I want to get married at our special spot. And I just want it to be you and me,” Zoe repeated not looking at me but at the woman’s magazine in front of her.

  This morning was a good morning for Zoe, she woke up feeling only a little queasy but no desire to run to the bathroom to hug the toilet.

  Maybe she was hitting the end of her morning sickness.

  Frustrated that she wasn’t paying attention to me, I walked to her and plonked down on my knees in front of her, and closing the magazine.

  “Baby, don’t you want your friends there to see you get married? My parents or Deck?”

  Zoe’s smile was blinding, another thing that was starting to return after a difficult few months. Fuck I loved her smile, every time she graced me with one I felt like I won the lottery.

  “Nope. I spoke to your mum already and she is fine with it as long as she gets to throw a celebratory dinner for us. Deck said he didn’t give— well you know what Deck’s opinion of weddings is,” she said with a laugh.

  I waited for the familiar spark of jealousy to flood my bloodstream, but it didn’t come. Deck and I were getting along, and that scared me, pleased my mum and fiancée so what the hell.

  He had been to only one doctor’s appointment so far, and other than seeing her at the compound when Zoe wanted to catch up with Vegas, Deck was doing exactly as he promised.

  “Unless you want to have your parents there?” Zoe asked, bringing me out of my musings.

  “Ah, nope. To be honest babe I just want you to be my wife. If this makes that a reality quicker then, I am all for it.”

  Zoe leaned forward and pressed her lips to mine. While sex was off the table, Zoe still craved kissing and some foreplay. My cock wasn’t getting much attention, the memory of her gagging on it and nearly throwing up all over it one night, still haunted me.

  Shivering at the horrid reminder blowjobs were part of my past, for the time being, I concentrated on kissing my woman. One warm hand threaded through my hair at the base of my neck while the other cupped my jaw, fucking heaven. Whenever Zoe touched me, that thought hit me.

  Zoe was my heaven.

  “If your dick gets any bigger in your pants I will have no choice but to kick your arse, fuckhead.” A deep menacing voice penetrated into my Zoe fogged mind, jolting me back from my reminiscing.

  Looking up I saw Darth and Creed staring at me with equally amused and annoyed expressions. Darth, narrowing his gaze at my crotch then back at my face.

  “Mate what are you doing here? I don’t think your bride-to-be would like you to be battered and bruised for the wedding photos,” Creed said, pointing at my boxing gloves.

  “No, she wouldn’t,” I agreed with a shake of my head. “Zoe and Vegas are at the house, I got kicked out so they can do girlie shit,” I explained.

  “Fair enough. Want to use your time before the ceremony wisely with a workout? I promise no punches will be thrown,” Creed said. And while Darth and I chuckled, Creed stayed stoic. The man was in pain, not the physical kind, heart pain.

  The scar on his face didn’t seem as red and angry anymore, which was good. The other day when he had changed out of his sweat soaked workout shirt I couldn’t help notice that his back was covered in a nasty gravel rash. Broken skin, rough gouges all told a painful tale. But they were nothing on the sadness in his black eyes.

  Holding my hand up to my mouth, I used my teeth to unlace the gloves, giving both men a nod.

  “Absolutely,” I mumbled completing my task then started on the other glove. I had a few hours before I had to race to my parents to grab a quick shower then meet Zoe at the wooded area.

  The growling of motorcycle pipes shattered the silence of the park where I stood waiting for Zoe to arrive. The only person here other than me was the marriage celebrant, who currently looked a bit spooked by the loud exhaust pipes of what I surmised was my twin brother’s Harley Davidson.

  What the hell! Zoe expressly said no guests, and I agreed. Suddenly, more pipes broke the sound barrier telling me the Wounded Souls were accompanying my soon-to-be wife and brother.

  Why would I expect the five wise-arse men to respect our wishes and stay away and let Zoe and I have this moment just for ourselves?

  Because you are an idiot Johnston, when have any of them ever done as they were told? I answered my own question silently while giving the celebrant an apologetic smile.

  “They are harmless, honestly they aren’t your typical motorcycle club. All of them are former soldiers but I promise not a gun amongst them,” I assured the small shaking lady, who was now moving closer to me, her hands clutching at her chest.

  She must be new to town if she hadn’t seen the club brothers riding around the town, either that or she didn’t attend strip clubs or need a Harley painted. A small chuckle escaped but then I nearly choked on it when Deck’s bike came into view.

  With a bright blue sky as a backdrop, the most beautiful sight I had ever seen in my life took the very breath from my body.

  Sitting side-saddle style, Zoe appeared wearing a stunning white flowing dress, her long filmy train being carried by the wind trailing behind her.

  On her feet, which were seductively crossed at the ankles, were a strappy pair of heels. From here I could see they were a pearly white, with colourful gems glued all over them.

  I wasn’t sure if I liked Zoe arriving on the back of a bike, not because it was Deck’s but the fact that she was pregnant and still suffering from a bit of sickness. The baby might not be from my seed, but I loved her as if she were mine. The alpha in me was out in full force as I left my post at the bottom of the small hill and st
omped up to where Deck just parked his bike and was helping Zoe off.

  Now closer, I could see the detail of her dress. Satin, fitted with spaghetti straps, yeah, I listened to her when she described what she wanted in a dress. I might be a man, but Zoe was my world and if it was important to her, then it was to me too.

  The swell of her baby bump was only more accentuated by the clingy material, setting a fire inside me and to my cock.

  Fuck, I couldn’t wait to make love to her again after so long. It was more than about just getting my dick in her; I wanted to reacquaint myself and her with that amazing chemistry and connection. What we had was once in a lifetime, I craved her touch, the beautiful bond we created every time we came together.

  Zoe hadn’t seen me yet, she was busy smoothing her dress of the wrinkles sitting on the bike made to notice that I was prowling towards her.

  “Don’t shoot the delivery guy brother. This was all your woman’s idea,” Deck said as soon as he saw the pissed off look on my face, his hands up in a surrender gesture.

  Zoe’s head shot up and I was rewarded and calmed with her perfect beauty.

  Her make-up was more dramatic than she usually wore, deep burgundy lipstick gave her already pouty lips a fuller look. Sparkling pink eyeshadow adorned her eyelids, and chandelier diamond earrings swung against her delicate neck. To finish off her stunning look, her blonde hair had been fluffed to an inch of its life, creating a halo of soft white around her glowing face. I could make out a diamond tiara clip holding the veil in place on the top of her head.

  This gorgeous creature wants to marry me.

  Ignoring the rest of the Souls who were pulling their bikes into a straight line formation behind Deck’s bike, I went straight for Zoe.

  Two steps and she was in my arms, her simple but exquisite dress not doing anything to hide not only her tummy swell but her bullet hard nipples.

  I growled low in my throat and held Zoe tighter against me. Deck had better not have—

  “Stow your green-eyed monster Lawman. The breeze was cold on the way here, that’s all, they didn’t want to miss seeing me get married and I didn’t have the heart to tell them to rack off,” Zoe explained then laid a chaste kiss on my lips. “Today I become yours forever. Nothing else matters but us,” she whispered, her mouth hovering over mine.

  Leaning my forehead on hers, I took a second to breathe in the floral scent of her perfume. It was elegant like her, understated and classical. I would never admit that I sometimes spray some in my car, Deck would have a field day if he found out, but to me having Zoe with me everywhere I go, even if just her smell, got me through the tougher days at work.

  “You, me and our baby,” I murmured, my lips on her soft skin.

  Zoe curled into me, her hands fisted the back of my black, button-down shirt.

  “I love you so much Jason.”

  Squeezing my eyes shut, I willed the tears that were stinging the back of my eyes not to fall. How was it that this pint-sized stunner could turn me into an emotional wreck with a simple sentence? Hearing those words from her, in her sexy rasp did things to my heart I never believed I would feel for another person. I would lay my life down for her, fight any battle to keep her safe, kill any man that dared to look her way.

  “Not as much as I love you Nymph,” I told her honestly. There was no one in this world I could love more than Zoe, or would ever want to either.

  The marriage celebrant smiled at me, her earlier concern for the big bad bikers gone. It helped that Booth made a sizeable donation to the charity the celebrant headed when she wasn’t marrying people.

  “Jason, I believe you have your own vows you would like to share with us today,” she prodded. And then my nerves returned, not because my brother and his club were circled around us watching. Nope, I was worried that the vows I wrote wouldn’t come close to telling Zoe how much she meant to me.

  Wiping my palms down the side seem of my dress pants, then taking her hands in mine, I looked deep into Zoe’s pretty green eyes and spoke from the heart.

  “I never dreamed that I would be so lucky to find you again. To hear the words, I love you coming from your sweet lips. You are more than everything; you are the best part of me, the very beat of my heart. What I feel about you can never be put completely into words baby, but I promise I will spend the rest of my life showing you.” As I spoke my vows, small tears leaked from Zoe’s eyes and down her cheeks, lifting our joined hands, I brushed them away with my thumb.

  “That was beautiful Jason, Zoe you have some things to say.” The celebrant smiled encouragingly at Zoe. When we first met with the lady, Zoe admitted that speaking in public made her nervous. She told how at school she never offered her hand in class and tended to melt into the background. How a woman so beautiful and unforgettable as my Nymph could ever think she was easily overlooked boggled my mind.

  Giving her a smile and a nod, I waited for her to get herself calm enough to talk.

  “Ja— Jason the circumstances that got us to this moment might not be the most typical way to find the love of your life, but for us, it was the perfect beginning. When I first met you, I wasn’t ready for my happily ever after,” Zoe paused for a brief moment to take a deep breath, her tears still fell, but I wasn’t worried. I knew it was a combination of relief that we were finally here, despite our time apart, and the circumstances of our baby’s parentage, and I knew there was a healthy dose of pregnancy hormones at play too.

  Impatiently, I went through the next few steps of the ceremony, slipping my ring on her finger and holding my hand out for her to place mine in its final place where it would never leave in my lifetime.

  Finally, we got to the part that meant more to me than anything.

  “Gentleman and ladies,” the celebrant said with a wink to both Vegas and Mia, who’d both arrived on the back of Darth and Steel’s bikes. I was happy that Zoe’s friends got to see her get married after helping her get ready.

  “May I present for the first time, Mr and Mrs Johnston. Jason, you may kiss your bride.”

  Bringing Zoe close with a tug of my hand, she fell into me with a small shriek, her laughter delighting me.

  “You ready for the rest of our lives, baby?” I asked her loud enough for the group of bikers to hear.

  “I was born to be yours Jason Johnston, it just took a minute or two to find you,” she answered, her hands cradling my face.

  Lowering my mouth, I took hers in a sweet and tender kiss sealing our union. Tonight, I am making love to my wife, until the feeling in my extremities goes numb, or as long as she lets me, whichever comes first.

  Chapter 18

  If my dad were here right now, he would say Zoe was jumpier than a virgin at a prison rodeo, or something to that effect… and he wouldn’t be wrong.

  My father used Australian slang as if it were the Queen’s English.

  Growing up, I got into a lot of trouble at school with my teachers using some of Dad’s colourful sayings. Once, when the lunch bell went, I stood up from my seat and promptly told the teacher that I was off like a bride’s nightie. It didn’t go down well with Miss Martin, or with my mother. Dad and Deck, on the other hand, had been quite proud of me, Dad even snuck a Mars Bar to me that night despite being grounded.

  Good times, good memories.

  But looking at my bashful bride, she didn’t look like she was having a good time.

  “Baby what are you doing jumping up and down like you have some kind of nervous tick?” I may have sounded a bit harsh, but my balls were blue and Zoe was fucking sexy as fuck in her satin dress. The material clung to her every curve and the way it skimmed over her baby bump had me wanting to push her over the arm of the couch and fuck her senseless.

  I was horny and I wanted inside my wife yesterday!

  Zoe stopped walking a path into the carpet and narrowed her eyes at me.

  “Jason give me a minute okay? Things are a little… different, so just wait,” Zoe growled, then resumed her paci
ng.

  My lips twitched but I stopped the smile before Zoe saw it and ripped my head off. I understood the problem she was struggling with, but there was no need. I loved her body before pregnancy, now and I would love it just as much after she gave birth, stretch marks, and saggy boobs and all.

  Being part of the male species, I also understood saying that to her could put me and my dick in mortal danger. So, instead I got up from my seat on the incredibly comfortable couch in the sitting room and made my way to Zoe. The bed and breakfast gave us the best cabin they had to offer at the regular cabin price. This one was much bigger and had a cosy sitting room with an open log fire, rather than a combustible firebox.

  Zoe’s pacing halted when she clocked me moving to her, instantly her hands went to her belly covering the bulge from my gaze.

  Without a word, I gently detangled her arms and pulled them up to my chest, laying her hands flat over my heart, my hands covering hers.

  “Zoe Poe, I wouldn’t a give fuck if you were twice as big as you are now. I could give a frog’s fat arse about stretch marks or whatever else you are worrying unnecessarily about at the moment. All I care about is you are my wife now, and I need very badly to sink my cock into your warm, wet pussy and stay there for a least three days. So, if you are finished traipsing a hole in the nice people’s carpet, can you please take off your dress so I can sink to my knees and bury my tongue in your cunt.”

  Zoe’s eyes went from narrowed to shocked wide in two seconds flat, the pulse in her neck throbbed as her breathing started to come out in pants.

  “You don’t care that I may not be able to suck your cock in fear that I will throw up all over it again?” she asked warily.

  “Baby, I have the rest of my life for you to use your exceptional oral skills and suck my cock. Do I miss your lips wrapped around him? Yes, I fucking do, but for now, I will be happy with fucking my wife and consummating our vows.” As I spoke, I unbuttoned my shirt, leaving it open, my chest on display. Going for the button and zipper of my slacks, I shrugged them down my legs where they pooled at my feet. I’d toed my shoes off when we entered the room, a rule of the bed and breakfast.