There’s nothing romantic about a courthouse wedding — except when you’re marrying the man of your dreams with only the people you love by your side. 

My mom is crying happy tears from the front row, and Mitch is my man of honor. Axel’s pack fills the rest of the seats, and though my fiancé scoffed at the idea of having a best man, his friend Gunner is by his side.

There’s no fancy lodge or expensive flower arrangements, but I bought a beautiful white lace dress that flows to my knees, and Axel picked me a batch of blue wildflowers that he says match my eyes.

Standing across from the growly shifter about to become my husband, everything feels absolutely perfect. I tear up a little as we say our vows, and Axel slides a simple gold band onto my finger.

When it’s time for us to kiss, there’s a round of whistles and shouts. My husband’s rough hand slides around to cup the back of my neck, kissing me so thoroughly it leaves me dizzy.

Mitch hands me my bouquet, and Axel leads me out of the courthouse into the warm sunshine.

Since he rode here with Gunner, we have to drive my car the short distance back to Bristlecone. The pack took the liberty of painting “Just Married” across my rear window and attaching a bunch of tin cans to the bumper.

Axel grumbles a low oath when the car comes into view, but he graciously opens my door and helps me get inside.

My new husband looks comically huge squashed into the driver’s seat of my little EV, but he keeps his complaints to himself as he interlaces our fingers and pulls onto the road.

“So fucking beautiful,” he rumbles, looking over at me and pressing a hard kiss to my knuckles. “My wife.”

“My husband,” I murmur, blinking back tears at the realization that I get to call him that.

“Those might be my two new favorite words,” he says, his brown eyes shifting to that golden-amber color I know means he’s about two seconds away from ripping off my panties and bending me over the nearest available surface.

My skin heats as his gaze roves over me, causing my nipples to pebble up beneath the thin fabric of my dress. I press my thighs together as wetness gathers between my legs, but the way Axel’s nostrils flare tells me he can scent just how turned on I am.

“Kitten,” he growls, his grip tightening on the steering wheel as he turns his attention back to the road. “You keep looking at me like that, and we won’t make it to our own reception. Ruby will have my hide.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I say innocently.

My mate snorts at my bald-faced lie. I’ve been undressing him with my eyes before we even left the courthouse. 

Rather than renting a tuxedo, Axel opted to wear his own tailor-made suit. The jacket hugs his broad shoulders, moving with his magnificent body as though it were a part of him.

I don’t know what it is, but something about seeing my rugged mechanic all clean-cut and dressed to the nines makes me absolutely feral. Maybe it’s the spectacular contrast of the suit with all his rough edges. The prick of his stubble, his hard jawline, and the slight blackening of grease around his fingernails that he can never quite wash away. 

Underneath it all, my man isn’t polished. He’s raw and real and all mine.

“It’s a good thing we —” I begin. But just then, I feel the engine lose power, and our momentum begins to slow.

“What the fuck?” Axel mutters, staring down at the range displayed on the dashboard — which is currently at zero.

I cringe as the vehicle slows to a crawl, and Axel guides us onto the shoulder.

“Shit,” I murmur as we come to a stop and the car puts itself into park mere feet away from where I first got stranded in Bristlecone.

A long beat of silence stretches between us, broken only by the sound of Axel’s slow breath, which I know means he’s counting to ten.

He’s hated this car from the first day we met and hasn’t been shy about telling me so. The week I moved to Bristlecone, Axel tried to buy me a brand-new SUV, but I love my EV too much. It’s the first car I ever bought with my own money, and it’s better for the environment. 

This, however, might be the breaking point.

“It’s been fun,” I sigh, patting the dashboard fondly.

Axel swivels his head to look at me, his expression a mix of smugness and irritation.

“It’s a good thing the reception’s at the café,” I point out. “We can walk.”

“Kitten, I’m a mechanic,” he rumbles, his annoyance getting the better of him. “I’m not walking to my own reception because my wife’s car broke down half a mile away.”

I press my lips together to hold back the laugh that’s threatening to burst out of me.

“Did you know you were running on no range when you drove yourself to the courthouse?” he demands.

I cringe, squinting sheepishly through one eye. “I was running a little late, and they still have not fixed that charge point in Fairplay.”

Axel breathes out a heavy sigh and leans into my space. “Oh, you’re gonna pay for this, kitten.”

A little thrill goes through me at his words, and liquid heat pools in my belly. Rough hands glide across my cheek, and I suck in a breath as Axel captures my bottom lip between us teeth, nipping gently as he unfastens my seatbelt.

“We should —” I whisper, but Axel cuts me off with a searing kiss that crowds out every logical thought. His tongue slips into my mouth, firm and demanding, as his other hand palms my breast through my dress.

I moan against his lips as the fabric chafes my sensitive nipple, causing my pussy to clench in response.

“Are we supposed to wait to consummate the marriage until after the reception?” he growls. “Because if you walk in there this wet and needy, every shifter in the room is going to be able to tell.”

My cheeks burn at the thought of Axel’s pack brothers being able to smell me, but my mate’s smile turns wicked.

“The only way I’m going to make it through dinner without drawing blood is if I have you right now.”

“Here?” The question comes out breathless and squeaky, and Axel’s expression turns wolfish.

“Right here. Right now.”

“But —” I begin, looking around at the cramped car. I can barely change my shoes in the driver’s seat without dislocating my hip. There’s no way we can have sex in here.

But Axel is already shrugging out of his suit jacket, tossing it into the back seat. He leans across my lap, and I yelp as my seat begins to move, sliding me backward and into a partially reclined position. 

Rough hands force my legs apart, and I tense as cool air steals across my pussy. My mate shoves my dress up over my thighs, leaving me completely exposed.

My skin flames as Axel stares down at my bare shaved pussy and the utter lack of anything between us. 

No pantyhose. No shape wear. No panties.

A thousand expressions flitter across his face — incredulity, awe, and a raw, burning hunger.

“You weren’t wearing any panties?” he grits out, his voice sounding as though it’s been scraped over gravel.

I shake my head, a niggle of anxiety threading down my spine.

A muscle in his jaw works as he stares down at my glistening slit. “You’re telling me —” Axel swallows. “— that you stood up there in front of God and everybody and said your vows with that perfect wet pussy already bare for me?”

I nod, keeping the rest of my body perfectly still. 

Axel hisses through his teeth, giving his head a shake. “Fuck, I love you.”

And then his mouth is on me, and my needy cry reverberates in the car. Greedy fingers part my folds, and his hot, slick tongue slides inside me.

The contrast of Axel’s warm, soft lips and the prick of his stumble against my most sensitive parts is almost more than I can stand. He licks and lashes me with that talented tongue as his thumb works my clit in maddening circles. 

Axel isn’t slow and sweet the way he was the first time we came together. No. My husband knows exactly where I want his mouth, his tongue, and he uses the two of them in lethal combination until I’m gripping the door handle for dear life.

I can feel the pressure building between my thighs, growing heavier and achier with every expert stroke of his tongue.

Clenching my ass, I stretch back in the seat, fisting Axel’s shirt. He’s practically in the passenger seat with me, his huge body cramped and contorted as he unravels me with his mouth.

“Axel, I need —”

“I know what you need,” he growls against me, the vibration traveling from my swollen pussy all the way up my spine.

I whimper and grab hold of his hair, pressing him into me as I grind against his face, taking everything he gives and then some more.

Fuck, that stubble. I almost wrote it into our vows that my husband was never allowed to go clean-shaven, because I crave the prickle of his five o’clock shadow against my delicate folds like I’ve never craved anything in my life.

My scream is deafening when I finally explode, and Axel continues to work those incredible fingers, coaxing me through my orgasm.

“I need to fuck you, wife,” he rumbles, one hand undoing his belt as he climbs over the center console. “I need them all to smell me on you when we walk into that reception.”

My mouth goes dry at the raw possessiveness in his tone — just as a fresh surge of wetness gushes from my pussy.

Maybe it’s toxic, but I love it when my mate gets all growly and territorial.

“Yes,” I whisper, my voice embarrassingly ragged.

The truth is, I need him inside of me, and I need him now.

There’s a clink of metal as his belt comes undone, and I reach into his pants to free his cock. Axel supports his weight on my seat with one hand, cupping my ass with the other. He lifts my hips to bring me closer as I guide him toward my center.

I scream his name as he drives into me with one hard thrust. The sudden fullness is both maddening and delicious, his cock stretching me to the breaking point.

Gritting my teeth, I meet his gaze and find those golden eyes staring back.

“Fuck me, Axel,” I demand. “Put a baby in my belly.”

A feral snarl is his only reply as he pulls out and snaps his hips, ramming back in with a force that has my back arching against the seat.

God, I love the feeling of him inside me — the light twitch of his cock against my walls. I love the sensation of this powerful male filling every inch of me with his strength, while simultaneously seeing the shift in him when he is utterly at my mercy.

The sounds of our lovemaking fill the tiny space, and the windows fog up with the heat of our breath as we tear at one another, fighting to get closer, deeper. 

That coil of power throbs inside of me, driving me toward that precipice that I joyfully hurtle myself over every time I join with my mate.

Axel’s brows knit together an instant before he comes, and I grip the sides of his face in both hands — wanting to look him in the eye as he loses control and fills me with his essence.

When I see the change in his expression, that tether inside me snaps, and the roiling tension in my core explodes into a wave of pleasure.

I feel a gush of warmth an instant later, and then Axel’s lips drop to my shoulder.

For a moment, neither of us moves. The only sound is my mate’s ragged breathing before a horn blares in the distance.

A deep laugh rumbles against my skin, and a chuckle bursts out of me, too. Despite our car troubles, I don’t think my mate will have any trouble holding his head high as we walk into our reception.