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“Get the suitcases, get the suitcases! Get going, driver!”
Rio breathes through his nose, immediately rolling his eyes once his back is turned to the woman yelling at him. He grabs the suitcases she was screaming about and loads them carefully into the trunk of the limo.
He can’t fucking believe he has to deal with this shit on his day off. Being a limousine driver for a professional chauffeur business, he’s used to taking on as many jobs as he can in the week, welcomes it, in fact. As the sole breadwinner of his family, he’s no stranger to hard work. More shifts equals more money and he doesn’t mind the long hours, especially when the tips roll in.
Today, though, was supposed to be his first day off in two weeks. His sister is starting college in just a few months, so he’d been pulling in extra shifts to help save up. His abuela slipped and fell a few weeks back, so he also needed money for her hospital bills. He just wanted one day of reprieve before going back to the grind.
He hadn’t set an alarm the night before, knowing he would be sleeping in until the afternoon. Of course, that was wishful thinking. He woke up to the sound of his phone blaring with the ringtone he had set for his best friend Mick, who was also in the business.
“She wants to talk! I think she’s giving me another chance!”
“Fuck you talking about?” Rio grumbled back, voice thick with sleep.
“Remember when I told you my girl and I got into a fight?”
Rio groaned internally. Mick and his girlfriend were always getting into fights, breaking up, then making up. They’ve been in this toxic cycle for years.
“Well,” he continued, “we spoke on the phone and she agreed to talk in person. I gotta go pick her up at the airport right now.”
“Good for you, Mick,” Rio mumbled back, his eyes closing again. “Coulda called me later in the day, though. You know it’s my day off.”
“About that …” Mick trailed off suggestively. Rio’s eyes popped open and he scrambled up in bed.
“Nah.”
“It’s not the whole day!”
“I don’t care.”
“You can keep the tip.”
“I’m not covering for you.”
“I’ll give you all of my tips for the next two weeks.”
“No.”
“Alright, I didn’t wanna do this,” Mick said, “but summer 2008.”
“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me,” Rio said. He rubbed his hand over his face, remembering how Mick had bailed him out of jail for drunk driving the night of Bianca Sanchez’s quinceanera. Ever the loyal best friend, he hadn’t said a word to anyone and they never spoke of it again. Until now.
“You’re pulling that card for some girl?”
“She’s not just any girl, ‘mano,” Mick said. “She’s the one.”
Rio rolled his eyes. He ran with Mick because they’d both been strengthened by their hard lives. Mick doesn’t take shit from anyone, but when it came to romance, he was the biggest sap.
Rio, on the other hand, knew that whole “being with the one” thing was complete bullshit. That’s not to say he didn’t have his fun–because he definitely did– but he could never see himself being so committed to someone. He’d had a few relationships here and there, but they never lasted long. He has a demanding schedule in order to provide for his family, and while plenty of women empathized, it never felt like they actually understood. So he kept them at a distance, unwilling to show them the lengths he could go to for his family. He would do anything for them. Anything.
“Please ‘mano,” Mick begged, interrupting his train of thought. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important.”
Rio sighed, feeling the exhaustion of the last two weeks creeping into his bones.
‘Fine,” he said dejectedly as Mick sighed a “thank you” in relief. “I already know I’m gonna regret this.”
And boy, does he ever. The urge to kill his best friend grew strong as he read the details he sent over. He’ll be chauffeuring a bride to her wedding today. Mick promised to meet him at the church so he could take over for the honeymoon drive, but it didn't make it any better. There’s a reason why it’s his least favorite gig to work. There’s always drama involved, which could mean no tip and, depending on the drama, maybe even no gig.
Right now, it means getting yelled at by some manic, old, white woman who’s ushering a flustered bride into the limousine. She’s carrying the back of her train as she crosses the lawn in front of a small house. Too busy yelling, she doesn’t realize she’s leading her right to a patch of dry white marking paint on the grass.
“Watch out, Elizabeth!” she yells at her, but it’s too late, the bride’s shoes are caked with the stuff.
“It’s okay, we have napkins for that,” Rio offers as he loads the last of the suitcases in the trunk.
“Oh shut up,” the woman bites back, fussing over the bride’s shoes and train.
Yeah, he’s definitely killing Mick.
“Oh, I forgot my bag!” she says, panicky, then snaps to Rio, “She’s gotta be at the church in twenty minutes! Twenty minutes, understood?” Then she turns back to the woman in the wedding dress, holding her face in her hands, crooning sweetly, “Oh baby, you’ll make a good catch today,” then to Rio again, “Go, go, go!”
She says a quick “I love you, sweetheart” to the bride, pushing her into the back of the limo and yells another “Driver hurry!” as Rio closes his door and starts the engine. He peels off before he can hear another word from her, or worse, before she finds that bag and decides she’s riding in the limo too.
He hears a sigh of relief behind him and he sneaks a glance in the rearview mirror.
During all the commotion, he never did get a good look at his passenger. She’s hot. Her hair, the color of autumn leaves, is done up for her wedding, the tulle of her veil cascading down to her delicate shoulders. Her ocean blue eyes stare out the window, pink lips pursed in obvious irritation. But what really catches his eye is her pronounced bosom struggling to stay inside her dress.
“Where’s the booze?” she asks in the most sugary sweet voice he’s ever heard.
Trouble in paradise, he thinks to himself before responding. “It’s down on your right, glasses to your left.”
He hears glass clinking and the unmistakable squeak of a bottle being opened. He takes another quick peek to see her chugging down a glass of bourbon. Her face puckers from the sting of the alcohol and she looks up, catching him staring.
“What?”
Rio shakes his head. “Nothin’” He turns his eyes back to the road. He can hear her shifting in the back, the rustling of her dress signaling her movement. Most people ask to pull down the partition, so he’s used to the silence, but he can tell it’s making her restless and uneasy.
“Look, if you’ve got something to say, just say it,” she says.
Rio raises an eyebrow at her in the rearview, unphased. He gets everyone from rowdy party-goers to businessmen taking meetings riding in the back of his limo. He can tell she’s gonna be a therapy customer, the kind that spills their guts to him while he tries to do his job. He’s found that the best way to deal with her kind is to just listen, let them talk, then nod or shake his head at the appropriate times.
“So you’re just gonna sit there and quietly judge me?”
He keeps his eyes on the road.
“You know it’s rude to ignore people when they’re talking to you,” she says.
Rio chuckles to himself. Okay, so this girl’s gonna be a lot, he thinks, and it feels like she’s looking for a fight. That woman from earlier, who he assumes is her mom, seemed overbearing as fuck, so maybe she’s one of those spoiled brats who got way too much coddling from their parents. His plan was to have a smooth shift and he intends on following that plan. He’s gonna shut her up, but he can have his fun first.
“What exactly would I be judging you for?” Rio says in reply to her earlier question.
“I don’t know,” she says. “I figure the brides who ride back here aren’t exactly downing bourbon on the way to their wedding.”
“You’d be surprised.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” Rio says. “They’re either celebrating early or tryna get drunk enough to get through it.”
“Oh.”
He takes a quick look and sees that she’s staring out the window again, her eyebrows furrowed in deep thought.
“So which one are you?” he decides to ask.
“Huh?”
“Are you celebrating or tryna get drunk?”
“I’m celebrating, of course,” she says defiantly. “I’m marrying the man of my dreams.” She says it like she’s been rehearsing for a class presentation.
“Really?” Rio questions. “Yeah, you sound real sure of that.”
“Well, I am,” she snaps back. “Why’s it any of your business?”
“You’re the one who started asking questions, darlin’,” Rio replies easily. He sees her roll her eyes, staring back out the window.
“He’s a great man,” she says, breaking the short silence. “My mother really loves him. Or loves his money, rather.” She said that last bit quietly, but he heard it loud and clear.
“What makes him so great, anyway?” Rio asks. “Besides his money.”
“He owns a car dealership.”
“That still counts as money,” Rio points out. He doesn’t point out, however, that owning a car dealership is a terrible answer.
She doesn’t respond. He’s not the expert on all this marriage stuff, but he’s pretty sure that’s a bad sign.
She’s finally silent, finally. His shift can go on without any more hitches. And yet, he doesn’t know why, but there’s something about her uptightness that makes him want to poke and prod at her, study her blood, learn about her species. He wants to ruffle her feathers. So he does.
“How’s the sex?”
Her head whips up, jaw dropping as she stares at him incredulously. “Excuse me?”
“You don’t sound gung-ho to marry this guy, so he must not be hitting it right,” Rio explains nonchalantly.
“How dare you, talk about …you have no idea …” she sputters out.
“I bet I have an idea,” he says. “Lemme guess.” They stop at a red light and he starts counting on his fingers. One, “he’s a simple guy.” Two, “he likes having sex in the missionary position.” Three, “he’s vanilla.”
He looks behind him and her reaction alone is worth it. She’s completely red in the face, eyes popping out, staring daggers at him. He smirks at her then turns his attention back on the road just as the light turns green.
“You have some nerve speaking to me that way,” she says, her voice high and rising. “You’re disgusting.”
“Yeah, but I’m also right,” Rio volleys back. “You soundin’ real defensive back there, sweetheart, but you’re not denying shit either.”
“Because I refuse to dignify that with a response!”
Rio laughs, but now he’s genuinely curious about this man she’s marrying.
“Lemme ask you this: why you marrying this guy?”
He can see she’s still fuming, but she must be engaged enough in this conversation to still answer him.
“Because he’s the one,” she answers confidently, but he’s not convinced at all. He can tell from her tone that she believes herself. When Mick talks about his girl, there are no hesitations, but this woman? She has no idea what she wants.
And again with this “the one” shit. This is the last thing he would ever want to talk about, but he genuinely wants to pick her brain now.
“How do you know he’s the one?”
“Because I just do, okay?” she snaps. “I just know.”
“Aight, I hear you,” he says, trying to calm her down. “Me personally, I would wanna be sure I know, y’know?” She glares at him and he chuckles. He knows he should just leave it there, but he keeps going.
“If you change your mind at the altar, you can sign the marriage license with your non-dominant hand so the marriage won’t be valid,” he says to her. “I learned that in a book.”
Her eyes narrow down to slits. “That’s from a middle-school book and it’s complete bullshit and I know you know that.”
“Oh that, you know.”
“Fuck off,” she says. He can hear her mumble something about a stupid driver under her breath and he’s genuinely amused.
He’s about to ask her another annoying question when he hears her quietly mutter, “shit!” He looks in the mirror again and sees her fussing with a wedding garter around her ankle. He watches the trail of her hands pulling the garter up her leg, past her knee, and around her bare thigh. He feels his dick twitch a little at the sight.
He doesn’t realize he’s craning his neck up until he meets her eyes. He doesn’t break eye contact right away.
“Do you have any cigarettes?” she suddenly asks.
“We don’t provide cigare-”
“Well we need to stop, I need a cigarette,” she breathes out.
“I can’t stop, we gotta get you to the church.”
“Mister, it’s my wedding and I say pull over for cigarettes,” she says more forcefully.
Rio shakes his head, but he pulls over at the gas station anyway and she tells him what brand to get as he’s getting out of the car. He spots the cigarettes that she asked for inside the store, but grabs the wrong ones out of spite.
He looks out the store window as he’s paying and catches a glimpse of her side profile inside the limousine. She really is beautiful, there’s no denying that. On any other night, he might have considered hitting that for real just to see that tight coil in her unspool.
He makes his way back, giddy to ruffle her feathers with the cigarettes. He opens the back door, crouches a little, and offers them to her with a smirk on his face. She stares at them for a total of two seconds before gently taking them out of his hand and saying a polite thank you, not even looking his way. Rio rolls his eyes, miffed at her lack of reaction to his petty revenge.
He’s about to close the door when her hands clamp down on his arm and her head pops out of the opening with the most determined look on her face.
“Kiss me,” she says and Rio’s eyebrows go up.
“‘Scuse me?”
“Please,” she says, tightening her hold on his arm. “I need to know.”
Her eyes are wide and her mouth is doing this cute little pout thing that’s making her bottom lip stick out. He finds himself getting lost in the blue of her eyes. In them, he can see her vulnerability and softness. But there’s a hardness behind them, too, like she’d seen and lived a few lifetimes. He recognizes it. He recognizes.
He stares at her mouth, the gloss on her lips glistening and sparkling like a homing beacon, calling out to him. He doesn’t waste another second and leans in.
The kiss is soft and short.
She pulls away first, her hands still clutching his arm. Rio finds himself wanting to look into her eyes again, see if he can figure her out, piece her together, but she’s got her eyes trained on his mouth, so his lips quirk into a smug smile. That gets her to look up and then he’s transfixed.
He can barely see the blues of her eyes anymore, replaced completely by the vast blackness of her dilated pupils. He anticipated that she would enjoy this, knowing her circumstances–and his abilities, of course– but he’s surprised to see how sure she looks, like kissing him actually did give her answers. Like she knows now.
He’s even more surprised that it’s doing it for him.
And it must be obvious because she’s the one smirking now, looking down at where he’s tenting in his pants. She looks back up at him with more confidence in her eyes, her chin lifted a little, and eyebrow raised as if to ask what are you gonna do about it?
He charges at her then and there’s nothing soft about the kiss time. Her hands fly to his face, holding him close as he pushes her further into the back of the car so he can climb in and shut the door. He lands between her legs, one hand on her lower back and the other under her knee, pushing her further into him.
She gasps when he grinds his erection against her and he takes that opportunity to slide his tongue into her mouth. He’s rewarded with the most delicious of moans that goes straight to his dick. The kissing gets downright sloppy as she gasps into his mouth. She’s so into it and he can feel it coming off of her in waves, sending him into a frenzy. He knows she needs to come up for air, but he can’t help but chase after her lips every time she pulls away.
He reaches under her dress, feeling for her underwear and ripping it down her legs once he finds it. He brings his hand up, underwear in hand to caress her face. She pushes him off of her to take a breath and he lets her this time.
She’s breathing so hard and staring at him through half-lidded eyes, lips plump and swollen from the pressure of his lips on hers. He’s mesmerized until he realizes he’s still gripping her underwear, right next to her face.
It’s a bright red thong.
He rubs his thumb against it, the lace feeling silky in his hand. He didn’t know what he expected her to be wearing under the wedding dress, but it wasn’t this.
“Do you like it?” she asks in that sweet voice of hers, caressing the thong and his hand. “It’s for my husband-to-be.” She takes it from him, leans her wrist against his shoulder and twirls it slowly near his face. “Not sure he’ll appreciate it, though.” She gets close to his face. “Do you know why?”
Unable to speak, Rio shakes his head.
“Because he’s a simple guy.”
She’s staring straight into his eyes.
“He likes having sex in the missionary position.”
The hand on his other shoulder moves to her breast and slides down, down, down until it disappears under her bunched up dress.
“He’s vanilla.”
She gasps and his mouth falls open. She starts grinding against her hand, pleasuring herself. He can tell how much she likes it from all the noise she’s making. She probably does this a lot, he thinks…
Oh.
His hand joins hers, encouraging her while his other one tugs her hair down so her face is looking straight up at him, commanding her attention. She yelps and opens her eyes.
“What do you want?” He asks.
She breathes it out more than she says it, looking straight into his eyes.
“I want you to fuck me.”
Fuck.
He pushes his pants down at lightning speed, pulls her hand away, and shoves his dick inside her. She lets out the most delicious moan while he sets a furious pace and buries his face in her neck. He’s panting heavily, kissing and licking everywhere he can, taking great care to not leave any marks on her. She gets so loud each time he goes in and it lights him up. He’s following her lead in this whole interaction that she initiated. He’ll give her what she wants. He’ll let her have this, let her cling on to him while he thrusts into her.
He hasn’t felt this good fucking anyone in so long. She’s so pliant and willing with him right now, it makes him wonder what the fuck that man’s been doing with her. He’s definitely not fucking her right. And it’s a hot situation overall, fucking a bride in a limousine right before she’s supposed to marry someone, but he recognizes that there’s more to his sudden infatuation. He normally would’ve been able to control himself, but that look in her eyes really drew him in. That determination, that steel; he sees it every morning when he looks in the mirror. He kinda wishes this wasn’t her last day as a single woman.
Lust now laced with frustration, he decides he doesn’t want her to forget this. He straightens, not breaking their connection and pulls her legs up above his shoulders so her heels are anchored to the ceiling of the limo. He slows his pace all the way down and grabs her face to make sure she hears every word he’s about to say.
“Listen to me, Elizabeth,” he punctuates her name with a quick, hard thrust that leaves her gasping. “Here’s what’s gonna happen: I’m gonna fuck you so hard that you’re gonnal remember me for as long as you live.” She gasps and clenches around him unconsciously, making him pause his speech for just a second too long before continuing.
“My name is Rio and I want you to scream my name while I fuck you. Say it.” He gives a quick pump of his hips to encourage her. She emits a high-pitched whine as she repeats, “Rio! Your name is Rio.” He tries to control his breathing. “That sounds real good comin’ out of your mouth, darlin’,” he drawled with a smirk. He wants more than anything to continue what she started, but he’s got more to say.
“I’m gonna cum inside you,” he says with complete seriousness, smirk gone. “I want you to feel me dripping out of you when you’re up on that altar reciting your vows. I want you to think about me when your new husband fucks you tonight. Can you do all that for me, Elizabeth?”
She’s whimpering now, her cheeks flushed red, struggling without the friction he was providing earlier. She looks so good like this and he’s seeing it all from the top of his perch between her elevated legs. It’s all so hot and he’s so fucking hard inside her, he could burst.
She quells her whimpering enough to answer, her voice hard and strong. “Just don’t get it on the dress.”
And that sets him off. He holds on to her legs and starts pounding into her furiously. She screams his name, a variety of “Rio! Oh my god, Rio!” dropping from her lips.
“You feel so fucking good, Elizabeth,” he grounds out. “He ain’t ever fucked you right, huh? You’re so warm and tight.” She answers with his name, only his name, and he rewards her by circling his thumb on her clit. His name on her lips only gets louder. “Come for me, Elizabeth.”
She explodes, crying “Unh, Rio!”
She goes limp and he surges forward, dropping her legs and bracing himself against her, thrusting even more furiously inside her, chasing his own release. “I’m gonna fill you up,” he whispers harshly into her ear. She moans his name again and he combusts, spurting ropes of hot cum inside her. He’s still lazily thrusting into her, making sure she gets all of it. He pulls away from her neck and kisses her again, thrusts slowing down with each pass of her tongue on his. He finally comes to a stop, but continues kissing her, unable to get enough.
He finally pulls away and slips out of her. He grabs her long-forgotten panties and offers them to her while he zips his pants back up. She puts them back on hurriedly, careful not to get anything on her dress, yelping a little with discomfort. He tries to hide his smirk, knowing she can feel him leaking out of her.
She pulls down the vanity mirror above her and starts fixing her hair and touching up her makeup. Rio sits back and watches her, shamelessly raking his eyes down her form and imagining how she would look naked.
“What?” she asks.
Rio shakes his head. He just fucked a bride on her wedding day, so he might as well be honest.
“Just picturing you naked.”
He thought she would get mad and yell at him again, but she laughs instead. It’s this bright giggle that he’s finding kinda cute. She hasn’t stopped laughing yet and pretty soon, he joins in too.
As their laughter dies down, they fall into an easy silence, both leaning back against the seats. Then they’re just staring at each other.
“You said my name earlier,” she says.
“You said mine, too,” Rio responds and the blush that rushes to her face makes him smile.
“I mean,” she continues, ignoring his retort, “how did you know my name?”
“Your mom said it when I picked you up.”
Her face changes at the mention of her mom, her eyes widening a little. He wagers a guess that the reality of what they did just hit her.
He’s expecting her to start freaking out, but her whole body deflates instead, shoulders sagging and head bowing slightly. She suddenly looks tired, like she’s carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. He starts piecing some things together: her mom telling her she’s gonna be a catch, the small house he picked her up from, all the hollow answers to his questions. Whatever her reasons are for marrying this guy, it doesn’t seem like she’s doing it for herself.
“You know she only calls me that when she’s stressed,” she tells him. “Everyone calls me Beth.”
He mulls the name over and decides it doesn’t suit her. Of the two women he met today, he prefers Elizabeth.
“Guess I’m special then.” He flashes a smile at her.
She rolls her eyes, but they never make it back down. Rio follows her gaze and sees powdery footprints on the ceiling.
He’s about to tease her when he feels hands pulling on his face. He feels her lips brush against his so gently for just a moment, then they move away. He chases after them, but she pushes a hand against his chest, looking down.
“We should get going,” she tells him, averting her eyes.
His jaw clenches. He reminds himself he just met this woman. He doesn’t get to be pissed.
“Aight,” he says, pushing his door open. He inhales a lungful of fresh air as he walks back to the driver’s seat. He hates how disoriented he feels right now, this whole day giving him severe whiplash.
They don’t speak for the rest of the drive. As they’re nearing their destination, he hears her taking deep breaths. He sees her mom rushing out of the church with two other women, eyes wild and face red, no doubt yelling about how late they are.
When they finally come to a stop, he sees her head is held up high, like she’s gearing up for the performance of a lifetime.
Maybe it’s the strangeness of the day or maybe she put a curse on him, but he doesn’t want this to end just yet, wants to get one last rise out of her.
“There’s always a choice, ma,” he says to her. “You get to be happy too.”
She blinks at him, expression unchanging. “I know.”
In her eyes, he sees a kind of confidence. Like this choice is the right one for her circumstance. Like her happiness is out of the question. The depth of her stare travels into his gut, touching a spot ingrained in him that only people with shared experiences can reach. He’s sure now: this is a sacrifice.
A knock at his window breaks the moment and he’s surprised to see Mick. Rio has just enough sense left to pop his door open, but before he can get a word out, the mom is on him, screaming to get her daughter out of the back seat.
“You’re late! I said twenty minutes!” she says. She turns to Mick. “This is unacceptable service!” He can hear him apologizing on his behalf, but Rio doesn’t even care.
He opens the door for her and offers his hand, their position not unlike when he passed her the cigarettes earlier. She takes it and he helps her out of the car. He holds onto her hand a little longer than necessary.
“There you are, darling!” Her mom exclaims, pulling her into a hug. “I was starting to think you weren’t coming.” She shoots Rio a dirty look. “No matter. Dean has been so patient. You really got so lucky.”
“I did,” Elizabeth says, a robotic smile on her face.
Things move fast then. Her moms shoves a bouquet of flowers in her hand and ushers the two women back inside.
“Okay, I’ll start the procession! Once the doors open, you’ll walk down the aisle, okay?” Elizabeth nods. “I’m so proud of you, Beth,” she says before closing the church doors.
Rio watches as Elizabeth takes a deep breath and starts walking forward. He stops her before she takes another step and she looks at him curiously. He wants to say something. To do what? He’s not sure. Maybe he just wants her to feel the same cosmic perception of “this was supposed to happen” that he’s feeling.
“Sign with your left, yeah?” he says.
She smiles wistfully. Then she turns her back to him and walks forward as the doors open. That’s the last he sees of her before the doors shut.
“What the fuck was that?” Mick asks.
“Nothin’,” he replies, jumping into the passenger side.
“Wassup man, you chattin’ up taken women now?” Mick jokes, starting the car. “That why you took so long? Took a little detour on her special day?”
Rio stays silent.
“Wait, ‘mano, are you for real?” Mick asks, unbelieving. “DId you really mess with a woman right before her wedding? You cost us a tip today, so you have some explaining to do.”
“Nah man, we just . . . “ he trails off when he catches sight of something in the back seat through the mirror. He smiles.
“We just stopped for cigarettes.”