Page 25 of Kneeling to Candy

Determined, I push my way through the throng of women. As soon as I’m in front of Candy, I drop to one knee.

“MARRY ME!” I shout over the music, presenting my goddess with the Ring Pop.

She balks. “WHAT?!”

“LET ME LOVE YOU. MARRY ME. RIGHT NOW.”

Candy’s face lights up like the Milky Way in the country night sky—dazzling beyond anything I’ve ever seen. “YOU SERIOUS?” she shouts back, her face splitting in a big smile.

“DEAD SERIOUS,” I holler with a smile, ignoring the painful strain on my vocal cords.

Candy squeals excitedly before launching herself at me. “YES!”

Her pillow soft lips slam against mine, and I melt. Not breaking the kiss, I stand to my full height. My arms encircle her, pulling her in to deepen the kiss. She matches my energy, her lips and tongue claiming my mouth as her own.

This tough-as-nails woman is picking me—finally.

Heaven at last.

The women around us scream in applause as I hoist my bride-to-be into a threshold carry. Candy peppers my face with kisses as I move us off the dance floor. People part for us, cheering congratulations. It’s chaotic, only heightening the endorphins pumping through my nervous system.

I’m able to navigate us through the nightclub out onto the main strip, setting her on her strappy heels. The cool autumn air whips around us, but my insides are on fire as I stare at Candy.

My bride. My woman. My goddess.

I hold my hand out to her, beckoning her with a smile to take it. She beams back at me, sliding her hand in mine. Two halves becoming a whole.

We mad dash it down the strip to the nearest chapel, laughing like two kids up to no good…

Coming back to reality is a mind-fuck. It feels like the oxygen has been sucked out of the room, leaving me woozy. My ass hits the edge of the bed, where I sit in a frozen state, staring at the Ring Pop on the nightstand.

I proposed to my wife with a goddamn sucker and married her in a drunken haze. How fucking stupid could I be?

This was not how we should’ve gotten married. It shouldn’t have been on a whim, with no family or friends to watch us tie the knot. For a woman who’s been robbed of so many moments in her life, I feel I’ve robbed her of yet another one. Candy deserved the white dress, the cake, the first dance, not some cheap thrill with a sugar ring for her wedding band and a wasted groom.

Gnawing on my bottom lip, I reach for my cell on the nightstand. I open my phone to my camera app and find a plethora of candid wedding picks of the two of us. Though drunk, we appear thrilled in the images.

One picture has me holding the air in my lungs. Someone from the chapel must have taken the picture, since it wasn’t either of us. The two of us are facing each other, foreheads bent together, hands linked, and smiles only for each other. It’s very much us and how we are together.

I close the app, dropping my head into my hands. Candy is going to kill me when she finds out.

Shit. Candy.

She’s waiting for me to join her in the shower. My head whips to the bathroom door, where I hear the water running. Images of her naked, covered in soapsuds, infiltrate my mind. And like a fucking teenager, I’m instantly hard.

Scowling, I peer down at my dick. “Not a good time, dude.”

My dick doesn’t get the message, staring up at me expectantly.

I sigh, ignoring my hard-on. I’ve got bigger problems. How the hell am I going to break the news to her?

Hey, Goddess. You know how you enjoyed the bondage play last night? Well, I’m now your personal ball and chain—legally.

I groan, internally chastising myself for not cutting off the alcohol sooner.

Being married to Candy is not an issue. If I had it my way, I’d have tied the knot with her the night I admitted I loved her.

My worry is how Candy will react when I tell her I’m her husband. The future conversation has my gut burning with indigestion.

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