I'm sorry, this is kind of a short chapter. 3,000 words but compared to my other chapters it's short. However, my choice for this chapter was to either make it short or absurdly long. so anyway, here is their wedding night!

THIS CHAPTER IS RATED M. I TRIED TO KEEP IT CLEAN BUT ITS STILL RATED M.

"I vow to fiercely love you in all your forms, now and forever. I promise to never forget that this is a once in a lifetime love. I vow to love you no matter what challenges might carry us apart, and that we will always find our way back to each other." - The Vow

"I am so tired I think I can fall asleep right here," I said, leaning up against the wall outside our bedroom as Maxon unlocked the door. He just smirked and opened the door, allowing me to duck under his arm before walking in himself and locking the door behind him.

"So we have no interruptions," he explained, holding the key up for me to see. Suddenly I wasn't tired anymore. It seemed like someone had just dumped adrenaline into my veins and I had to clasp my hands together so Maxon wouldn't see them shaking. He threw the doors open to our room. "Is it stuffy in here? It seems stuffy." He tugged at the collar of his coat, loosening it gruffly.

I removed my crown and put it on the bookshelf, holding my hand out for Maxon's. Mary would move them down to the vault once we left in the morning for our honeymoon. I stepped up to Maxon, boldly saying, "Let me get that for you." I raised my hands to the buttons going straight up to his neck. "So many damn buttons," I laughed, working my way down until his coat was unbuttoned. Putting my hands on his shoulders, I worked the jacket off of him, admiring the way it tugged on his muscular arms.

He released a long breath as he looked down at me. "You looked beautiful today. Even for getting soaking wet this morning." He smiled but I could hear the anxiety in his voice.

"Maxon Schreave, are you nervous?" I teased, playing with his fingers. I ran a finger over his ring, seeing now why he had the habit of playing with my ring. It was just something about the two of us having matching rings, so clearly belonging to each other.

He shrugged. "A little," he admitted.

I looped an arm around his neck and pressed my body up against his. "We don't have to do it tonight if you don't want to. I could probably wait one more night. I know you wanted to do it on our honeymoon."

"It's not that I'm not ready, America," he told me. He hesitated and then said, "I just feel like all day I have been living in this dream-state and I'm scared that any minute I am going to wake up and realize that this isn't real, this isn't happening."

"This is real, I promise you that."

He shook his head. "I have never been more scared before than I am now. You are finally mine but for some reason I have this feeling that I am going to lose you. All I want to do is love you forever and hold you and never let you go."

I nodded, stroking the hair on the back of his neck. "I know. Believe me, I feel the same. Like today has just been too perfect."

He laughed, looking down at our feet and then back up at me. "Well, if one day in our lives was ever perfect, I'm glad it is this one." He swooped in for a kiss and I gladly kissed him back. He worked his lips down to my jaw and then stopped when he hit the high neckline of my dress. "I do love your dress, but do you see the problem here?"

"Ah, but there is a zipper," I assured him and he nodded, smiling in appreciation.

He took me by the shoulders and spun me around, as if he didn't believe me. A finger ran up my back as he said, "I didn't even notice that. Mary really made an exquisite dress." Without even pausing, he reached up and undid the buttons at my neck. His lips replaced his hands as he trailed kisses over my exposed shoulders. Before I could even catch my breath, he had unzipped my dress, leaving my whole back exposed. Once the dress is gone, I would be left in my bra and underwear. That would be as bare as Maxon had ever seen me. And later…I shivered at the thought. Or maybe it was the way Maxon's fingers were skimming my shoulders to slide my sleeves off.

"Wait," I gasped out, turning around in his arms. I reached down and pulled his shirt out of his belt and then took off his tie, throwing it down on the floor next to him. I leaned into him and kissed his mouth fully as I slid the sleeves down my arms, the top half of my dress drooped down to my hips. Maxon's shirt was on the floor and then he was sliding my dress down my legs. And there I was. He buried his face in my chest like he had been doing this for months and this wasn't his first time. I wished I could be that confident.

"I love you," he whispered into the soft skin of my stomach. He stood back up and put his hands on either side of my face, forcing me to stare at him. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." And with the way he was looking at me, I had to believe him.

He gently pushed me back to the bed and knelt between my legs. He lifted one of my legs up, almost cradling it, and slid my shoe off. Then he did the same with the other leg. I didn't notice until then that he had taken off his own shoes and socks. I tugged him closer by his belt buckle, kissing him sloppily. Then, just like he had the first time we got engaged, he picked me up in his strong arms and took me to the middle of the bed.

There, laying in the warmth of my husband's arms in our bed, I could forget about the guests still partying the night away downstairs. I could forget about the pressing war in New Asia that was killing more and more of our men every day. I could forget about the pile of work that would be waiting for me when I got home from our honeymoon. I could forget about the rest of the world and happily live in the cocoon of love provided by my best friend.

Soon we were both fully undressed, under the silk covers of our bed. Maxon was stroking my face, lying on top of me and pressing into me. I groaned, the sound both foreign to me and familiar. It came from a part of me I never knew existed. He slipped a finger inside of me and I gasped, trying to acquaint myself with the strange sensations running through me. He pulled away. "I'm sorry, I just thought…" he immediately stuttered but I shook my head, running a hand through his hair.

"It's fine. I was just surprised." I nodded, trying to assure him to keep going. Without breaking eye contact, he put two fingers in this time and I tilted my head back, feeling waves of pleasure pulse through my body. It was awkward, sure, because we were both so innocent and in the end we were a couple of bumbling, lovesick idiots but somehow that made it all the more perfect.

He took his fingers away and then replaced them with his sex, pushing in slowly, as if he was just testing the waters. I could see his impatience written all over his face but I knew he was taking his time for me. This was one thing I was not going to tell him to forget about me with. I could already feel discomfort creeping in and I knew that it was only going to get worse before it got better. He pushed in further, making me gasp again, and then he bowed his head to my ear, whispering, "I love you, America Schreave. More than my life, I love you."

With that he pushed in the rest of the way, making me gasp in both pain and pleasure. He was too far gone to notice but as he bucked against me, I felt some of the discomfort slipping away and being replaced by bliss. We worked to coordinate our speeds and by the time we were finally synchronized, he was seconds away from his climax.

He pulled out slowly and collapsed onto his back next to me. "Did I hurt you?" he asked seriously, studying my face.

I had to think about it. Yes, it hurt but somehow I was left with this amazing gratification. "No…not really. At first, yes, but I feel much better now," I told him honestly, knowing that we would only get better at this with open communication.

"It'll get better, I promise." He sounded ashamed of himself and I looked over at him to see that he had thrown an arm over his eyes.

I tugged on his arm, trying to pull it away from his face so I could look at him. "Maxon, it's okay. Really. I'm not disappointed."

"Really?" He peeked at me from underneath his arm.

I nodded. "Really." I paused and bit my lip coyly. "It was actually kind of wonderful."

He removed his arm and reached for my hand, smiling. "I'm glad." He rolled onto his side and kissed my cheek gently. "I love you," he whispered into my face.

"I love you too."

"Did you get my mother's letter?"

I sat up. "Maxon Schreave, are you really talking about your mother, right now? Do you know how much of a buzz kill that us?"

He grinned lazily. "I take that as a yes."

I rolled my eyes and settled back down into his side. Within seconds his breathing had evened out and he was in a deep, satiated sleep. I expected to be tired but I was actually wide awake. I slipped out from under the covers and retrieved my robe sitting at the end of the bed, heading to the bathroom. I grabbed a wash cloth to clean the blood and other liquids off of me, not wanting to disturb Maxon in the morning.

There was a knock on our door and I figured Maxon would answer but when there was another knock a few minutes later, I realized that Maxon had hardly stirred. With a sigh I opened the door gingerly and saw a guard waiting there for us. "Yes?" I asked quietly, looking over my shoulder to make sure that Maxon was still asleep.

"Sorry for the interruption, Your Majesty, but we just received a package from New Asia and we thought that you should see it," he informed me, blushing and trying to not make eye contact with me. I looked past him and saw Aspen who nodded once to me, backing up what the guard was telling me.

I nodded and slipped out the door, leaving it cracked open. I followed the two guards down to what I assumed was the mail room and was taken to a smaller room that consisted of one small table with a tiny box resting on top of it. "It's not going to explode, is it?" I asked, only partially joking.

"We've already checked," Aspen said. I didn't want to know how they did that and who was willing to possible blow up so that Maxon and I wouldn't meet the same fate. "There's nothing directly threatening about it. It's just the message, really."

I lifted the box and pulled out the letter. We are so very sorry that we were not able to attend the new king and queen of Illéa's wedding and coronation. We do hope to meet the new queen in person in the coming months; there will certainly be opportunities to do so. Best wishes. The chilly message was signed with the official New Asian seal. Shivers ran down my spine, my mind not having to read between the lines too much. This letter was a threat. A very clear threat. They were going to attack.

"Don't tell Maxon about this," I said quietly, staring at the letter in my hands.

Aspen frowned. "What? You've been married for what, not even twelve hours, and you're already keeping secrets from him?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'll tell him. He just can't know before the honeymoon. If he knows now, he's going to cancel the trip. Just let me tell him when we're coming home."

Aspen and the other guard exchanged an uneasy glance and then he slowly nodded. "This isn't right," Aspen told me, as if that would change my mind.

"I know but it's my decision. I expect you to respect that since I am your queen." I had never imagine myself enforcing my power on Aspen. I had always thought that I could always be his friend and that he would always understand. I knew then that I was wrong about that. "This stays between us and that is an order."

Aspen still looked uncomfortable but he couldn't do anything about it at that point. I had given my orders and he had to follow them. "And what are we supposed to do about this in the meantime?"

"Contact the police departments; tell them to put more officers on duty. Don't send the country into a state of heightened security because that will just scare the people. Have more guards on duty at all of our bases. That is all we can do until Maxon and I get back." I looked between the two men in front of me. "Anything else?"

"No, you're free to go," Aspen reluctantly told me.

I walked back up to our bedroom, my stomach in knots. This was the right thing to do. I had to keep telling myself that. In the morning Maxon and I would be flying to Bora Bora and I could forget about it there. At least I hoped I would.

Maxon was definitely nervous to be leaving the country. I was the one who had never left the country before and I felt like I was comforting him. Even after settling into our bungalow, he paced and organized his clothes and then paced some more. "Okay, what's wrong?" I finally asked, looking up from my book. We were finally alone. Really alone. I was not going to spend my honeymoon reading.

He shrugged and collapsed on to the couch next to me. "I'm just worried about New Asia. Our problems with the rebels might me mostly resolved, but the New Asians are a whole other matter. I have no idea what to do to end this war." He looked over at me and reached for my hand. "It's just…with things like this, I really miss my father."

I nodded, understanding that. HIs father was undoubtedly the better war strategist. There were numerous times a day that I wished I could talk to my father about music, history, whether or not I could really do a good job as queen, and just about anything else under the sun. I knew I had a very special relationship with my father, especially when it was compared to Maxon's relationship with his father, but that only amplified the sting of loss I feel every day when I realize that he isn't just down the road with the rest of my family.

"I just want to live my life in peace, with you," Maxon sighed, resting his head on my shoulder.

"Me too." I raised my head to look at him. "But, we are here, in this beautiful bungalow, with all of the privacy in the world, and we should take advantage of it for the next six days we have it."

He looked at me, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

He leaned forward and kissed me softly. Like a warm summer dawn, or a beach sunset. "Then we better stop wasting time." He picked me up in his arms, throwing me over his shoulder and walking me through the bungalow to our bedroom. We were both laughing like children and I felt giddy like someone had replaced my blood with sugar.

This was more than our happily ever after. In September, I would have never dreamed that I would be in Bora Bora with a man I loved more than anything else in the world, more than the whole world. He was my best friend and my biggest cheerleader, he was there for me for everything and always was there to make me feel better when I needed it. In the tropical heat of that bedroom, my love for Maxon grew to an almost painful amount. And nothing could ever ruin that.

Real quick, a couple things:

1) I'm sticking with this storyline for the next couple chapters; things are about to get hairy for our favorite couple. But c'mon, Kiera Cass herself said that they would have tough times.

2) DID ANYBODY ELSE HEAR THAT THERE IS ANOTHER MAXIMUM RIDE BOOK COMING OUT?! I JUST ABOUT FLIPPED OUT WHEN I SAW IT.