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“You didn’t take the ring off as soon as we left the church,” Adam quipped jokingly, causing his wife (he honestly didn’t think he’d ever get tired of calling her that, his wife) to grin up at him, looking just about as happy as he’d ever seen her (just as happy as she’d been half an hour earlier, when he’d kissed her in front of all their family friends seconds after they were declared husband and wife for God and everyone else to hear).
“What, was that something you were worried about?” Jaz said back, eyes drifting down to the ring and matching band that now adorned her left hand. “I mean, really, was that something you were worrying about? Do I need to soothe some insecurities, there, Top?”
“Not at all,” he assured her lightly, pressing a trail of kisses from her hairline all the way down to her collarbone. Even after so much time together, something of a thrill raced through him at the way she completely relaxed, leaning into him with a breathy, contented sigh. “I’m just saying, it is going much better than it did the last time I put a ring on your finger, that’s all.”
“Mm,” she muttered, smiling hazily up at him when he finally pulled away. “I have to agree. You haven’t asked for an annulment even once…”
“And I never will,” he mumbled against her neck, the tickling sensation causing her to laugh breathlessly, for just a moment, before continuing.
“We’re not in the middle of a warzone…”
“Another definite plus,” he agreed distractedly, pulling her into a kiss that left her gasping for air within seconds.
“And,” she continued once she’d caught her breath, “we’re not surrounded by the guys.”
It was his turn to laugh, the sound vibrating against her skin. “Best news I’ve heard in the past forty-five minutes.”
“Saying goes that it’s the best news you’ve heard all day, Dalton,” she couldn’t help but point out, her ribbing only serving to make his sappy smile grow even larger.
“The saying would be a lie, today,” he explained lightly, fingers toying absentmindedly with a strand of her hair as he spoke.
“Oh, yeah?” she asked curiously, tilting her head back to stare up at him. “How do you figure?”
“Because,” he said pointedly, staring down at her, “the best news I’ve heard today is that officiant telling me you’re my wife. Nothing’s ever going to top that.”
Her first instinct, it turned out, was to tear up. Her second was, of course, to tease him relentlessly. Jaz figured that, since the first was already happening, she might as well do them both.
“Nothing’s ever going to top that, huh?” she repeated back to him, delighting in the way he huffed out a laugh, fingers still running carefully through her hair, attempting to soothe the headache dozens of pins – and about half a bottle of hairspray – had caused. She’d taken her hair down practically as soon as the officiant let them go, but it hadn’t been nearly quick enough for her.
She would have gladly married the man beside her at City Hall, or in front of a literal Dumpster, if that was what Adam had wanted. In the end, though, his younger sisters and her mother had banded together to practically demand a "normal," traditional wedding. Jaz had agreed without much protest, upon seeing how important it was to her mother. Beyza Khan had done the best she could, keeping a daughter alive under the roof of a man who'd hated Jaz the very second she wasn't born a son. She had endured more than anyone should have to in her forty-eight years of life, and if watching her daughter say I do in a church, rather than a courtroom, was enough to bring her a little joy, then Jaz wasn't going to deny her that.
(She should've denied those aunts and cousins their right to practically glue her hair to her scalp, though, even if the headache caused by the pins and hairspray was much less painful than the one she'd have gotten if she'd bothered telling them no. Those wedding photographs her mother had insisted upon better be damn good; that was all she had to say about it.)
“Careful, Dalton, or I might start thinking you’re turning into a sap on me,” she continued to tease him quietly.
He shook his head with a wry grin. “It’s our wedding day, Jaz. Maybe it’s brought the sap out in me.”
“Or maybe something else did,” she challenged lightly, not really meaning it. “What exactly was in that bottle McG brought by? Are you sure it was only water?”
His smile softened into something much gentler, and he shook his head slowly. “It was only water. There was no way in hell I’d chance missing out on even a second of today.”
She stared at him for a moment, finding herself overcome with emotion, and then, “I love you,” she said, both because it was true and because she could, now. She didn’t think she’d ever be used to the fact that she was allowed to tell him that, any time she wanted, and that he’d never reject the words.
His reply was instantaneous. “I love you, too.”
The car came to a stop, signaling they’d arrived at their destination, and Adam slid out first, then helped her out, being mindful of the long dress and heels she hadn’t bothered to change out of before they left. He paused once she was out of the car, standing before him, and Jaz tilted her head to the side, offering him a curious smile as she waited for him to come back down to Earth.
He shook his head as if to clear it, then met her eyes. “You’re so beautiful,” he told her, likely for the twentieth time that day.
She blushed like it was the first. “Thank you. So are you.”
He smiled at that, slowly. He looked absolutely besotted in that moment. Jaz couldn’t tease him about that, though. She was pretty sure she looked exactly the same.
“So,” she murmured, reaching for his hand as they made their way toward the building’s entrance, “are you as glad as I am that we decided against the big wedding reception?”
He huffed a laugh, shaking his head. “Your mother wants us dead for that, you know.”
She flashed a sunny smile. “But we’ll be on our honeymoon, completely alone, about eight hours earlier because of me.”
He froze for an instant at that, causing her smile to widen, and then cleared his throat as he once again fell into step beside her. “Yup. You are… you are my favorite, you know that?"
She laughed, head falling to rest against his arm as they walked. “Yeah,” she said, softly. “You’re mine, too.”