31

I was shaken awake the next morning when I felt Bella's lips on my chest, slowly kissing her way down to my abdomen. It wasn't until she yanked the blanket off the lower half of my body and her lips wrapped around my hard cock that my eyes snapped open. Bella was nestled between my legs, her eyes on mine as she licked and sucked on my tip.

"Fuck, baby," I moaned, leaning up on my elbows and watching as she feasted on me. "Don't tease."

Bella smiled as she pulled her lips away, only to move them along the shaft. "I have no intentions of teasing my husband."

My cock twitched at her saying 'my husband.' Bella laughed as she moved up again, sliding me into her mouth. I gasped when I felt the back of her throat, and stifled the urge to shift my hips upward. Bella placed her hands on my hips, her fingers grazing my skin, leaving a trail of fire in their wake.

"Oh, fuck, Bella," I groaned, my breathing coming out in airy pants.

"You know what I love the most about you, baby?" she asked, sliding her lips along the side of my cock again.

"No," I stammered.

"How, when you look at me, you know exactly how I'm feeling," she murmured, lifting her eyes to mine. "When I'm pissed, angry, hurt, scared, you know exactly what I need, when I need it. You were made for me, just for me."

"I was," I groaned. "Just like you were for me."

Bella smiled before she took me back into her mouth, sliding me just a bit deeper than before. Leaning back, she swirled her tongue alone my tip before plunging me back in. My orgasm was building, the urge to grab the back of her head and shove my cock down her throat was strong, but it didn't fight, not this time.

Moving her hand from my hip, Bella wrapped her fingers around my cock, twisting as she sucked. I cried out as I found my release, filling her mouth. Bella swallowed every drop before releasing me and laying on the bed next to me, a coy smile spreading over her lips.

"Morning," she giggled, placing her hand on my chest.

I covered it, letting my wedding ring brush across hers. "Good morning, love."

"Guess we have to leave pretty soon, huh?" she asked, a bit of sadness lacing her words.

"Yeah, suppose so. We have a tournament in a few days," I said.

Bella smiled and looked up at me. "Only a few left before the national tournament."

"I know," I murmured, sighing. "Do you think we'll be ready?"

"Us as in you and me? Yes. But us, as in the rest of our team, I don't know," she replied. "Each of them has the potential. Heidi's got a fabulous uppercut, Maggie's quick on her feet, Bree has a lot of power, Missy has amazing combinations, but with Tia out of the season, I don't know that they have the ability to stay focused."

"I know what you mean," I murmured. "With Liam leaving, I know the rest of the guys are going to be doubting themselves, too. Embry's got good instincts. He just needs someone to teach him how to use them. Benjamin has power in his punches, while Demetri seems afraid to really let go and fight. Riley's like Missy, he has a lot of good combinations, but he doesn't execute them well, causing him to get tired. All of them are lazy."

"No shit," she scoffed. "You know, we need to start thinking about next year."

"What do you mean?"

Bella sat up and pulled her knees to her chest. "We don't know that our program will still be there next year, right? It all depends on how we show at nationals."

"True, true," I murmured. "So, you think we need to start seeking out new programs?"

"I think we have to consider our future."

I nodded. "I guess you're right."

Bella gasped, throwing her hands in a dramatic fashion. "Did my husband just admit that I was right? Has the world ended?"

"Haha," I groused. "Look, my wife is a smartass. Who would have guessed?"

"Aw, baby, you love my smart ass," she purred, shifting so that she was straddling me. My cock hardened behind her, causing her to smile. "See? Knew you loved my ass."

Bella leaned up in her knees, gripped me in her hands and sank down on me, causing us both to moan as we made love.

—LO—

An hour later, we walked out of the penthouse suite and walked over to the elevators. Our two nights at the Bellagio Hotel had been magical, but it was time for us to return to the real world. Bella was right. We had a new tournament starting right after the New Year, and we needed to prepare. With nationals in just a couple months, we needed to focus on our future.

When we arrived in the lobby, we saw Carlisle and Esme cuddling in one couches. While I still found it disgusting how affectionate they were together, even I couldn't deny that they were in love. They had given us such an amazing wedding, and I knew that we'd never be able to repay them for everything. And not just our nuptials, either, but agreeing to keep our news to themselves.

After the minister announced us to be man and wife, Bella, Esme, Carlisle, and I went to dinner, where the four of us celebrated our new lives. The four of us agreed that for the time being, we wouldn't tell the rest of our family that Bella and I had gotten married, knowing that there wasn't a one of them that would understand, and telling them over the phone wasn't a good idea. Neither of us wanted to hide our marriage from them, but our relationship had been hard enough for everyone to accept, like Emmett and Jasper, without adding the fact that we eloped on the way back to school to the mix.

"Break it up, you two," Bella laughed. "Show some class."

Carlisle leaned away from my sister, and without missing a beat, proceeded to lift his middle finger in the direction of my wife, causing me, her, and Esme to laugh. "Y'all hitting the road?" he asked, ignoring all of us.

"Yep," Bella said, sitting on one of the other couches. "It'll take us a few hours to make it back to L.A. How about you two?"

"We're going to hang around Vegas for a few more days," Esme said with a smile. "The fam isn't expecting us back until the second, so might as well enjoy a few more days together, right?"

Bella nodded, and looked over at me. "Can I have a minute alone with the asshat?"

I smirked as I nodded. "Sure,"

"I'm not an asshat!" Carlisle exclaimed as I stood up, grabbed Esme's hand, pulling her to her feet.

"Sure, if you say so," I snickered, and led my sister out of the hotel. Esme grimaced as she brought her hand up to her face, waving it in front of her. "You get used to the heat."

"If you say so," she grumbled, before smiling and looking over at me. "I still can't believe my baby brother is a married man."

"I can't believe you're a married woman," I teased.

"Yeah, but I'm twenty-nine. Some people would call that an old maid," she challenged.

"So, you're saying that we're too young? That at nineteen, we're too young to be married?" I asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"If it was any other nineteen year olds, I would say yes," she replied without hesitation. "But you and Bella are older than your years. No, you're ready."

"That means a lot to us. To both of us. You know that, don't you?"

Esme nodded and wrapped her arms around me. "I'm proud of you, little brother."

"Thanks," I whispered. "I love you."

"Love you, too," she giggled before leaning up and kissing my cheek.

I grimaced and pushed her away, but inwardly, I didn't mind. Bella and Carlisle came out a few minutes later, and he offered me his hand. I took it gingerly, knowing that I could call him brother now. He and Esme watched as Bella and I loaded our bags into the backseat of my car before climbing inside and heading toward the highway, and back to Los Angeles.

We arrived back at UCLA just before five. After taking our bags up to our room, Bella and I headed toward the dining hall to grab some diner. We were lucky that we already lived together, seeing how Maggie and Liam had made it difficult for us to share rooms with them when we first arrived at school. It hadn't taken us long to rearrange the living arrangements so that Bella and I would be sharing a room. Eventually, we'd have to find an apartment, if we stayed in Los Angeles. I wasn't sure where our future lay, but I knew as long as Bella and I were together, everything would be fine. We'd already overcome all the odds, hadn't we?

"God, I'm starving," Bella muttered after we swiped our student ID cards.

"Well, what are you thinking? High carb, low carb, no carb? Fatty?"

She laughed. "Medium carb," she snickered, lifting her attention to me. "I plan on working it off later."

"Bella," I growled, reaching for her, only for her to scoot away from my wandering hands. "Get your ass back over here."

"Nope," she sang, heading over to the breakfast bar. "Get food and meet me upstairs, lover."

"Yes, wife," I yelled after her, hearing her laugh as she waved a hand at me.

While Bella was in the mood for toast, eggs, bacon, and hash browns, I decided to grab something a little heavier, so I grabbed a chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, and a roll. Since I was eating a high carb meal, I added a salad, too. Yeah, it was completely unhealthy, but as my wife said, she planned to work it off later, and I was looking forward to it.

Bella and I arrived at the bottom of the stairs at the same time, so I motioned for her to go first. When we reached the top, I automatically looked over to our usual table. As they typically were, the rest of our team was there, but there was one face, one person that I hadn't expected to see. Liam was sitting next to Maggie, one arm resting on the back of her chair while the other was clutching a silver fork. He shifted his eyes over to us, a cocky smile slipping over his lips.

"About damn time you two got your asses back here," he snickered.

Bella and I shared a look before we walked over to the table and took the two empty seats at the end. "Surprised to see you here," I said, not feeling the need to make pleasantries. "Thought you were quitting."

Everyone looked over at him, including Phil and Missy, who were sitting on the opposite side of the table. Based on the shocked expression on his face, Phil had no clue that Liam had been planning on leaving school and the team.

"I was," he admitted. "But then I thought about it, and figured, I had nothing to lose, right? When it gets hard, I'm just supposed to suck it up and get my ass back into the ring. Isn't that what you said?"

"Maybe," I said, leaning forward and placing my left arm on the table, bracing my chin with my hand. Before I could say anything else, though, Missy let out a loud squeal and nearly launched herself over the table, grabbing my arm and yanking it toward her. "Jesus fuck, Missy! You know my arm is actually attached to my body!"

She waved a hand in the air before dragging my hand up to her face. "There is a wedding ring on your finger."

"I know," I laughed. "I was there when Bella put it on."

Everyone looked from me and Missy, to Bella, who was laughing her ass off at them. "Wow, Edward, look at them. They look like someone just shit in their food and forced them to eat it."

"I know," I chuckled, pulling my hand away from Missy.

"What the hell is going on here?" she demanded.

"You know, I kind of assumed that, seeing as you're in college, that you would be able to figure that one out on your own," I teased, and when she growled, I laughed even harder. "Bella and I are married."

"WHAT?" Everyone yelled, almost in perfect synchronization.

"You and Bella got married?" Phil asked, his eyes wide.

"Yes," Bella said with a smile.

Phil blew out a heavy breath and leaned back in his chair. "Are you pregnant?"

"No!" she exclaimed, looking horrified.

"Because if you are, you can't box anymore," he said, cocking an eyebrow.

"I am not pregnant," she snarled.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he muttered, putting a hand up in surrender. "I had to ask."

Bella sighed and leaned back in her chair. "We didn't want to wait. We didn't want the big wedding that our family would insist on we gave them even a month to plan something. You don't know them, the way they take on projects like these."

"All we wanted was to be married," I added, sliding my arm around her shoulder and leaning over and kissing the side of her head. "I love her. She's my wife, and quite frankly, we don't give a fuck if you don't like it."

"But why the rush?" Riley asked. Normally a quiet man, hearing him voice an opinion was unusual. "I mean, so you got engaged, but why didn't you just keep it to yourselves instead of telling your families in the first place?"

Bella snorted. "You've met my brother. Do you really think he couldn't tell the moment he looked at us that something was different?"

"Touché," Riley laughed.

"So, what?" Heidi asked. "You just eloped? Do they even know?"

"Um, we stopped in Vegas on the drive home. Other than my sister and her brother, who were there with us, nobody else knows. Except you guys."

"Wow," she scoffed. "I wouldn't want to be you when they find out."

"No, I'm sure you wouldn't," Bella groused, and I hated that they had taken our moment and made it out like we were being selfish. If they understood, really understood just how devastated my parents, her parents, Emmett, Jasper, Rose, Alice, Charlie, and Renee would be if they found out through a phone call, they wouldn't be sitting here judging us. It seemed like all they did was place judgments on the two of us, expecting us to led, but choosing not to follow.

"I think it's great," Maggie voiced, drawing everyone's attention to her. "I mean, I'm not saying I'd want to get married like that, but it seems right to you."

"How so?" I asked, feeling the tension rolling off Bella.

"I don't know really. When I look at the two of you, I don't see a boyfriend and girlfriend. I mean, you're not . . . mushy. I don't see the two of you having the big fancy wedding with ribbons and bows. Vegas with Elvis seems fitting."

"Elvis didn't marry us," Bella quipped. "Just because we didn't want all that crap, doesn't mean our wedding wasn't classy. I wore a dress and everything."

"Without pictures, Cullen, it didn't happen," Embry tittered, causing everyone to laugh. "Oh, I guess it's Masen now."

"Cullen-Masen," Bella and I said together.

"I propose a toast," Phil said, lifting his glass of iced tea. "To the Cullen-Masens. May your marriage be filled with joy and happiness."

"And lots of sex!" Missy added, causing everyone to laugh again.

We bumped our glasses together before we settled into some mindless conversations and finished eating our dinner. When Bella and I arrived back to our room, we stripped off our clothes and climbed into bed, spending hours touching each other, loving each other, reminding each other that we'd made the right decision by eloping.