Page 40 of A Spark in the Ash

“I really didn’t think he’d go through with it, I have to be honest,” Chantel says. “This is the man who has gone on one date in the past three years. I didn’t think he had the guts to jump in with both feet.”

I smile and turn to face Jaxon. I keep up the façade as I grip the front of his shirt and pull him toward me just slightly. Really, I’m checking his temperature. He’s still raging hot, but at least it doesn’t feel like he’s going to burn down the entire building. “He practically begged me to do it last night. I think he would have done it a week ago, but North Dakota has a five-day waiting period on marriage licenses.”

I hope I’m correct on that guess. Knowing Vivian, she’ll have one of her minions fact check me later.

“He hauled me straight to the Little White Chapel as soon as we drove back into Las Vegas,” I say with a smile as I look up into his eyes.

They’re whiter than they should be. I can still see something like panic in them, and from the way his body quakes just a bit, it’s obvious he’s barely hanging on to his control.

He could burst into flames at any second.

“Really?” Chantel asks with an annoyed, disbelieving tone. “The Little White Chapel, Jaxon? I thought you loved this woman. Couldn’t you at least have taken her to The Cosmopolitan?”

“It’s okay,” I say with a smile as I step to his side again. I take his hand so I can continue to monitor his temperature. I can barely stand to touch him. “The place didn’t really matter to me. So long as he had a ring on his finger by the end of the night, and I gained a new last name.”

That sends silence through the penthouse.

The Gray family is possessive of their name and those who are allowed into the circle of trust. They didn’t get any choice in this matter. I can tell it’s making them uneasy that I’ve seemingly seized what is theirs.

“You’re awfully quiet, my son,” Vivian says as she takes a step closer to him. She holds his gaze, evaluating him. He just stares back at her, and he starts squeezing my hand tighter and tighter with every step she takes closer to him. “Are you sure you’re alright? If you have any regrets about last night—”

“Not a single one,” he says in a sharp hiss. Suddenly, he steps around her, dragging me with him, and he makes his way to the couch, adjacent to the one Blake and Chantel are sitting on. He drops down into it, and actually pulls me down into his lap. He wraps one arm around my waist, holding onto me so tight, I’ll likely be bruised later, and takes my hand in his other.

As I look around the room, not a single one of us can hide the awkwardness from our faces. No one seems to know what to say or do about Jaxon’s strange behavior.

His hands are still fire, but at least the light has receded.

“You like my ring, or lack thereof?” he asks as he holds his left hand up, showing off his extremely fresh tattoo.

His family members take it in, and Vivian does indeed look surprised. “It’s certainly unique. Is there a special meaning to the design?”

“Yes,” Jaxon says simply, returning his hand to my hip.

Once again, it’s awkwardly silent.

“We’ll be in town for a few days,” I say, taking the lead once more. “And then we’ll be heading out on our honeymoon.”

I watch his mother’s reaction to that. She swallows once. Her lips thin out a little more. She clasps her hands together and her fingernails dig just slightly into her flesh. “Oh?” she says simply.

I nod and look back at Jaxon with a smile. Adrenaline is surging through my blood so fast I can hardly think straight.

But Jaxon manages a smile, looking into my eyes. “I’m taking Serena to Fiji.”

I barely manage to contain my sigh of relief. There he is. There are the easy lies.

“Fiji is a long way away,” Vivian says. Finally, she walks across the living room and sinks into one of the modern chairs. “How long do you intend to stay?”

“Two weeks,” Jaxon says, looking from me to his mother. “Trust me, you really don’t want us around for at least a few weeks.”

Fire ignites in my lower belly at his words.

Lies. Because we can barely touch each other and kiss without nearly killing each other, much less do what people do on a honeymoon.

Vivian’s fingernails dig farther into her skin, turning it white. She’s silent for several moments that stretch on too long. She isn’t sure what to say. This is a dangerous woman, but her son is twenty-five years old. He’s a man, not a child. And now he has a new wife that holds sway over his life as well.

“Perhaps I can motivate you to cut it down to a week?” Vivian asks. I feel just a little smug when she sounds desperate. “With a wedding gift, and perhaps a new suite for the two of you on the sixteenth floor?”

That’s bigger than I expect. The rest of the Gray family all live on the fifteenth. This is her giving him a little more of a leash.

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