Sage: Take the Risk (F&L Story #3)

Sage: Part 37 (Final)

Part Thirty-seven

Only six weeks later...

Saturday, October 9, 2010.

“I can't believe this is what it took to admit that you love me,” Sage sighed against Carey's shoulder, smearing make-up over his tuxedo jacket.  “And you said you wouldn't marry me.  Tsk, tsk.”

He hooked his thumb under her jaw.  “Well, you know...this was kind of my last resort.  I figured if I was desperate enough to get married--”

“Hey!  Insult!”

He smiled and finished, “Then maybe, just maybe, I loved you.”

She reared back.  “You mean you still don't know for sure?”

He shrugged.  “I thought that if you were married to me, I could spend the rest of my life testing my theories on love, and you couldn't say anything about it.  After all, getting married to you was the last thing on my list.  Next comes the sex.  So if I haven’t figured it out after that, then it doesn’t matter anymore.  You're legally bound to me now, Red.”

“Ain't it great?” she said, grinning.

“Yeah, it is, but I had another reason for marrying you so quickly.”

She continued to grin.  “Oh?”

He smiled down into her eyes, drinking in her happiness.  “Now that we're married...”  He bent to whisper in her ear, “I'll finally get to throw away that damn blasted vibrator of yours.”

Sage laughed.  “I don't know, batboy...I've kind of gotten attached to it.  And actually, I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did.  As fast as you put this wedding together, I think you surprised a lot of people.”  She looked around at the small wedding party.  Her parents and his parents chatted on the sidelines.  Eve danced with Dr. LeBoeuf, Emma held onto her husband, and very pregnant Chloe sat with her feet propped up on Daniel's lap, eating wedding cake like it was her last meal.

A plywood dance floor, dotted with a few tables and chairs, sat smack dab in the middle of Aunt Sally's pumpkin patch.  Considering how close to Halloween it was, a steady flow of tractors and hay laden trailers brought pumpkin pickers to the field, who gawked and pointed at the wedding taking place, but none of that bothered Sage.  She finally got Carey as a forever package. 

The past few weeks had been a whirlwind.  She and Carey began seriously dating, going everywhere together, kissing on the couch, in the hallway, over breakfast.  But when the good-nights were said, he left her alone in her own room, aching for him.  No sex.  Just like he planned.

That plan lasted exactly thirteen days. 

One day, he came home, said, “Sage, I can't take it anymore.  It kills me to go to bed alone every night.  Marry me.”

She said, “Okay,” and the next day, he tossed her a diamond ring and said, “I talked to Aunt Sally about getting married out at her place and asked your father for his blessing.  I'm giving you three weeks to find a dress and some bridesmaids.  I'll take care of the rest.”  And just like that, they were engaged.  No “I love you, I need you, I can’t live without you.”  But Sage didn't mind a bit.

Sage turned her gaze back to her new husband.  “So, you did all this just to get laid?”

“Yeah, I did.  You mad at me?”

She rolled her eyes.  “Heavens, no!  If I tell you a secret, you can't get mad at me.  Half the time I wasn't even doing anything with my vibrator.  I'd just turn it on every night and leave it on the pillow or something, hoping you'd get so frustrated, you'd knock on my door.”

He stopped moving.   Annoyance mingled with something dark and lust-filled entered his eyes.  “Why do I have to do the knocking?  I've been waiting on you all this time.”

“Hey,” she said, smacking him on the arm.  “This was all your idea.  If it'd been up to me, we would have been having sex for the last five weeks, and we wouldn't have had to get married.”

He drew her up and swung her around.  “I kind of like being married.  Nobody pestering me anymore about settling down, nobody looking at us like we were going to hell for living together...and now that we're legally joined, what's mine is yours, and you can stop bitching about me buying things for you all the time.”

Sage sighed dramatically.  “And yet, you still don't love me.”

“I never said that,” he corrected.  “For all we both know, I'm in love with you so much, I've created a whole new level of being in love.”

She laid her head on his shoulder again.  “Well, I don't have to think about it any longer.  I love you, Carey Sanborn.”

His arms squeezed her a brief moment before his hands began smoothing down her sides.  “Did I tell you how beautiful you look?  This dress...Wow.”

Sage giggled.  “Momma hates it.  She never did like me wearing pink.”

“A pink wedding dress,” he mused, nibbling her ear and moving down her neck.  “I like it.  I'd like it even better if it was lying on the floor next to my bed.”

“Ah, but we're going on our honeymoon, remember?  No time to go home and change clothes.”

He growled, “We're driving to Eureka Springs.  We rented a bungalow.  We can leave anytime we want.  Besides, changing clothes is not what I had in mind.”

She felt the heat of his body through the layers of tulle and silk.  “And you can't wait a few more hours?”

His lips traveled over her skin.  “I've waited long enough, Sage.”

She arched her neck and closed her eyes to the feel of him, unaware of the stares they were receiving.  “Tell me you love me, or I'm making you wait even longer.”

He snarled, bit her chin and shoved his mouth over hers in a frantic kiss.  “I love you, dammit,” he moaned, coming up for breath.  “I love you so freaking much.  Now, can we get out of here?”

“But the wedding...”

“It's our wedding, Sage.  We can go if we want to.  I don't think anyone will mind.”

“Maybe I'll mind,” she teased him.

“Maybe, I'm not giving you a choice,” he said in a low voice.  “You are my wife.”

She laughed.  “You are such a sexist pig.  I'm not taking that crap from you.”

He stopped dancing and threaded their fingers together.  “Good.  I don't want you to.  So, my lovely wife, would you like to get the hell out of here?”

She nodded, smiled at the man she would be spending the rest of her life with, and said, “Yeah, I do.”

 THE END

*****

All stories in this series here on Wattpad:

Michael and Emma:  Friends and Lovers Series #1 (Emma's story.)

Drink From Me:  Friends and Lovers Series #2 (Eve's story.)

Take the Risk:  Friends and Lovers Series #3 (Sage's story.)

Autumn Storms:  Friends and Lovers Series #4 (Sally's story.)

Read My Lips:  Friends and Lovers Series #5 (Linc's story.)