Irrevocable (Fated series (can be read as a standalone) Book 3) Read online

  ‘Mum, give it a rest!’ I turned to look at her again. ‘This isn’t real and the purple nail varnish shows this wedding to be exactly what it is. This wedding is a “nearly” wedding… it has all of the pretence of one, but it lacks the conviction to back it up.’ I nodded at them all as we began to leave the cabin. Our walk was quiet as we made our way towards the strangest situation I had ever been caught up in.

  I was getting married, not to a man that I loved and who loved me in return, but to a man who I’d realised had awakened urges in me that I didn’t even know I had.

  It seemed so much more dangerous.

  The wooden double doors opened up in front of me as my dad swept me into the room upon his arm. It looked pretty, decked in fresh cream and lilac flowers that matched my bouquet. Strangely it seemed that someone had taken a lot of trouble over our wedding today. Music started playing as we began our walk, a beautiful song that started with a raw masculine voice accompanied by what sounded like a Spanish guitar. I took in the “suits” gathered at the front of the rows of chairs as we made our way towards them. It had to be said they were all very handsome, but it was the tallest, olive-skinned man standing in the middle who quite simply pulled me towards him.

  My life sucks, huge monkey balls!

  It could only happen to me. I was marrying the man of my dreams, well visual dreams, and it was all a complete lie.

  Knowing our safety could depend on this being convincing I swallowed my last thought and walked slowly, ever closer to the very serious looking man who had turned to watch my entrance. I watched as his eyes swept up my body, he took in everything and more. His eyes once again found mine and his face broke out into the huge smile that I had only witnessed once earlier. It lit up his whole face, his eyes creased at the corners and a small dimple appeared on one cheek. I returned the compliment and gave him the once over. His stubble had been expertly shaped, his hair was smoothed back, in a way that had my hands twitching to allow my fingers to run through it, and his blue-green eyes sparkled. He was wearing a black suit that was unmistakably expensive. The cut and the quality of the fabric was screaming well-made. Even I knew about these things, although my training came from the ladies in the charity shop at home. His knowledge looked like it had been bred into him. The ladies knew expensive when they saw it and had tried to school me in the art of second-hand thrift. His suit however most definitely wasn’t second-hand. The material showed no signs of wear at all, the fabric was pristine. Underneath, I could see he was wearing a smart white fitted shirt. It pulled very slightly over the muscles on his chest that I knew it so expertly concealed. I watched him momentarily fidget with the cuff of his shirt as it appeared from beneath the sleeve of the suit jacket, he pulled on it slightly and then returned his gaze to me. When his eyes returned to meet mine the brilliant, dazzling smile was nowhere to found. His face once again displayed the unreadable expression he seemed to wear.

  He extended one hand towards me. I looked on enthralled as the long fingers opened-up, just awaiting mine. As if on drugs I floated towards him and placed my small hand in his. Once we were side by side, he bent his head down towards me and lifted a loose curl of my hair that had come forward. I watched as he brought it up to his nose and closing his eyes he inhaled.

  Against my ear he let out a small whisper, ‘Caxap.’ He took hold of my chin with his fingers and lifted my gaze up to his. The language wasn’t one I recognised, but I knew a term of endearment when I heard one.

  ‘You smell divine, Sugar.’

  The soft part at the back of my knees twitched and began to tremble. They had always been overly sensitive and the way he stood close to me now, not touching any part of me when my body was screaming out loud in front of him to be touched and caressed, was almost too much to bear.

  How the hell did he do this to me?

  He knew.

  Suddenly his arm came around my waist supporting me. Together, almost fused as one, we took our vows to love, honour, cherish and obey. As I spoke the words so confidently, even I believed them. The way he stared so deeply into my eyes I knew without a doubt that the man that had pulled me into the hard, protective shell of his body, was either an extremely competent liar or the best actor money could buy, that is if I’d had any money.

  ‘Do we have the rings?’ My trance was broken by the celebrant as he questioned

  us. Fleetingly I saw a look of panic fly across the masculine features in front of me, but just as quickly it was replaced by a look of resignation. He pulled one arm away from holding me and moved his hand upwards. I watched as his fingers expertly undid two more buttons of his shirt, then disappeared inside and he began to pull out the gold chain I had seen earlier when he was running around the pool. His hand came out from his shirt clutching three linked wedding bands in what looked like three different coloured golds. For just a moment his rock-hard body became even more tense, if that was even possible. I felt him exhale as he yanked the chain so hard away from his neck that it broke. and he placed everything in the open palm of the celebrant, chain and all.

  ‘Use this,’ he stated.

  The celebrant continued and I watched spellbound as they were slid onto my finger. The gold was still warm after being worn so close to his body, the knowledge that only moments before it had been touching his bare skin set my body on fire. The ring set was a perfect fit, as if they could have been anything else.

  ‘I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride.’ I looked up from the rings to his face. He was still staring at them with a haunted expression, obviously reliving something from his past. He brushed his index finger over the top of them just the once, and then his face found mine, his lips crashing down on mine so abruptly that I gasped in shock, parting my lips as I did so. As my mouth opened marginally he took over and kissed me with such powerful clarity. He kissed me with so much truth I could no longer think straight. He held me in place by gently cupping the back of my neck with one of his large hands, while the other still encircled my waist. I didn’t even comprehend my mum and dad offering me their congratulations until our lips separated, allowing me to come up for air. As John thanked them I brushed my fingertips over my throbbing mouth.

  I had just married a complete stranger, but the man who stood welded to my body didn’t feel alien to me at all.

  My body knew him.

  My heart seemed to recognise him.

  Worst of all my soul acknowledged him.

  We had our “reception” in the ballroom. Our newly acquired status of husband and wife had been announced to all on board and even more complete strangers came along to celebrate with us. All I was aware of, was the feeling of the man constantly at my side, touching me in some way, staking his claim upon my body, almost like a right of ownership. The awfully sad thing was, I was wholeheartedly enjoying belonging to someone in that way, even though I knew it was only pretend.

  The Captain gave a speech to all that had gathered to celebrate our union. I had blocked most of it out while I studied the man at my side. I watched as his eyes took in everything that was happening in front of us. His “stag party” had begun to mingle with the fellow passengers. I began to realise that not only was our wedding a cover story, it had also enabled his team to mingle with the fellow passengers.

  ‘I give you all Mr and Mrs John Edwards.’ The announcement brought me out of my thoughts and back to reality with a bump.

  John began to make his way to the dance floor taking me and my two left feet somewhat reluctantly with him.

  ‘I can’t dance,’ I semi-whispered to his back as he directed me through the clapping people in front of us. I knew he had heard me as he directed a quick look over his shoulder, although he said nothing to me at all. When we had reached the place where he wanted us to stand one arm came around me once again, wordlessly ordering my soft body to become compliant and once again it melted into his hard one.

  ‘Relax into me… that’s it just like that, just trust me and fol
low my lead, I won’t let you down.’ I looked up into his eyes as he spoke the words, but I felt they meant so much more than this one dance.

  I really need to snap myself out of the fairy tale I had entered.

  The music played and I recognised it as the same song that we had got married to. He began to move us expertly around and following his lead, for the first time in my life, I gave the impression that I didn’t have two left feet after all.

  He didn’t take his eyes away from my face for the whole of the dance.

  ‘This song, do you know it?’ I questioned.

  ‘I do… it’s one of my favourites,’ he replied.

  ‘You used one of your favourite songs for us to get married to?’ I gently questioned.

  I felt him stiffen slightly and then exhale.

  ‘I put this cover story together in less than twenty-four hours. I used things I knew. The colour of your eyes for the choice of flowers etc.’ His eyes found mine again and for a split second he looked almost panicked. Then it was gone.

  ‘You organised all of this? You knew the colour of my eyes?’ I didn’t know which statement I was more taken aback at.

  ‘Yes, we had to have a cover story that worked. I don’t play games when it comes to people’s lives.’

  ‘You really are very good at this acting thing, aren’t you?’ He raised his eyebrows and nodded perceptively. ‘I mean, even I’m beginning to think this is real,’ I added in with a nervous laugh at the end.

  ‘It’s the chemistry between us, it makes my job a whole lot easier. This would be much harder to fake if we didn’t want to rip each other’s clothes off.’ I caught the hint of amusement behind his eyes.

  I pushed the top half of my body away from him, and he allowed me to, just a little.

  ‘I’m attracted to you, sure. But I’m not about to rip your clothes off! That I can assure you.’ If I could have stamped my foot to get my point across, I would have done.

  ‘As we have an audience that’s good to hear, but later when we’re alone in that suite of yours, I know it will be a completely different story.’

  He was staying in my suite? Oh, shit!

  At his cocky statement, I began to try to move my body away from his again. He spoke the words like he thought it was a given that I was going to fall at his knees begging for his cock in my mouth. I had only begged once in my life for something and I sure as hell wasn’t going to lower myself to being another notch on his arrogant-arsehole bedpost. I stared hard at him conveying my anger. He pulled me even tighter to him as we danced on.

  ‘You may stare like you want to kill me, Jasmin, but your body talks to me and it constantly gives you away. I can feel your heart hammering.’

  ‘That’s in anger,’ I shot back.

  ‘Your pupils dilate when you look at me.’

  ‘That’s my contact lenses.’ The lies were tripping off my tongue.

  ‘Your breathing grows shallow whenever I take you in my arms.’

  ‘You hold me so tight, I struggle to get my breath.’ I watched as he bent back from me, staring at me once again with amusement and then he roared with laughter. I couldn’t help but allow a small smile to come over my lips.

  ‘You can’t lie to me, Sugar. Remember that. I see you.’

  One Hour Earlier

  I had twisted the shower control to off and stepped out. I wrapped the small towel around my waist and crossed the few steps to the vanity unit. Using my open palm, I wiped the shaving mirror clear of condensation, listening to the squeak as it revealed my reflection. I stood and stared pointedly at it, then brushing my wet hair back I added some gel to keep it in place. Carefully I had used my razor to tidy up the short stubble on my face, making sure there wasn’t a hair out of place. I was used to being smart, it was who I was. Today, as I was getting married in less than an hour, I was going to make sure I looked as fucking close to perfect as possible. I had known I was a good-looking man from a young age. I could probably just be myself and still most women would turn and take a second look. Today I wanted to give Jasmin the full package, she deserved everything I could offer her. I thought back to our first kiss at the poolside.

  I had walked away from Brent and the others with a plan fixed in my head. I had watched her move herself, in that nightmare of a bikini, to the edge of the pool. I had sighed with a sense of relief that at least no one could see her body now, as it was pushed flat against the side. Her bare arms rested on the edge and her wet hair cascaded down her back. I allowed my covered eyes to meet hers as I made my way nearer. From the corner of my eye I saw her father stand as I penetrated his small family gathering. I had ignored him, knowing that for the plan to work it had to look as credible as possible, and there was no way in hell any red-blooded male, whose woman looked like Jasmin did, would greet her family before they touched her. I had squatted down in front of her, placed my fingers gently on her chin and lifted my sunglasses up off my eyes. I had never felt want like this before, it was all-consuming. Try as I might I couldn’t throw off the feelings coursing through my fucking bloodstream as I touched her for the first time. The pictures hadn’t done her justice, she was amazing, her eyes were wide like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Looking at her I saw for the first time that she had the most unusual eyes I had ever seen, they were the most stunning shade, almost an iridescent purple.

  As we spent a few seconds just staring at each other I felt like she could see right into my inner depths, something even I had difficulty doing these days through the walls I had built. My cock had flexed in appreciation of the attractive woman I held with my fingertips, imagining those eyes rolling up into her head as I made her cum time and time again.

  ‘Play along with me… do you understand?’ I had questioned.

  She nodded her response as I lowered my head gently towards hers, acting as though we were long-term lovers. I had only meant to kiss her convincingly, that would have been enough for the men who had been at the bar watching the family. Brent hadn’t had to say which group of men I was here to help with. I could sense them. Their body language gave them away. The kiss that had only been intended as a show, had quickly turned into something so real it was almost palpable, and I didn’t easily feel emotion. This kiss I felt to the bottom of my dark soul. It was with huge regret that I eventually felt her pulling away. Thoughts flooded my head.

  I wanted her.

  I was going to have her.

  But the most resonating thought came with unmistakable fear, I needed her.

  Precisely twenty minutes before our wedding was due to start I stood in front of the full-length mirror. I tucked my new, crisp white shirt into my trousers and made sure the pleats fell exactly down the centre of my legs. Reaching over to the bed I picked up my gun, enjoying the familiar weight as I turned it over in my hand. After checking it again, I loaded it back into my shoulder holster. I placed one arm into the appropriate strap and shrugged the other over the opposite shoulder. I straightened up my pinched shirt, trying to disguise the fact I was carrying. I didn’t want it to be obvious once my jacket was on. Finally, I pulled down my shirt cuffs so they fell exactly one inch below my jacket sleeves. The silver of my cuff links was just visible. I placed my watch back on my wrist, I was ready.

  I picked up my phone and dialled Brent.

  ‘Everything ready?’

  ‘We sure are, John… we’re good to go.’

  ‘You managed to find the flowers I requested?’

  ‘Of course… her bouquet and flowers for her hair have been taken to her, just like we made sure she received her new clothing earlier.’

  ‘Thanks… that’s excellent.’ The feeling of contentment flooded through me, I couldn’t stand incompetence. The guys on board were some of my most trusted, the others were looking after Bella and Nathan back in America.

  The click of the door lock alerted me the moment Jasmin and her father walked into the room that we were getting married in. I nodded to one of the cabin stewards who had b
een drafted in to help with our day, to start the music I had chosen especially. The wedding had to look real, I was going all out to make sure that everything stood up to scrutiny. That was all it was. It wasn’t because she deserved everything to be perfect. It wasn’t even because her beautiful eyes had demanded the lilac flowers in her bouquet. It wasn’t because I wanted her to remember this day, every day for the rest of her life.

  No, it was none of those things. It was because when I did a job I did it to the nth fucking degree and that was the only reason.

  I didn’t know who the fuck I was kidding...

  The pull of her was so strong I had turned to watch. I watched her walk towards me, I couldn’t help myself. I was so pussy-whipped with lust and she looked like everything I had only ever allowed myself to dream about. My face broke out into the biggest sodding grin that I had ever felt cross my features. Recognising that fact, I broke our gaze, looked down and straightened the cuff at the bottom of my shirt sleeve. I recognised this action as one of my tells to pull myself together, I just hoped no one else in the room was as good at reading body language as I was. I knew the bastards were in the room with us, everyone left on board had been invited and I needed this charade to look as convincing as possible. I recovered myself and looked at her again, she was like a vision floating down towards me and my arm moved on instinct, as it lifted I offered her my hand to hold on to.

  The very moment our hands touched I pulled her towards me and straight into my open arms. We said our vows and staring into her eyes I felt the words more than I ever should have. The moment she took hold of my hand I knew everything that I had locked away before, everything I had not allowed myself to feel, because from previous experience I knew it was the one thing I was no fucking good at, had just come flooding back into my system so strongly it felt like a tsunami had hit me.