Chapter 39
Thirty-Nine
Two Months Later…
Subject: A weekend of surprises awaits
Hey team!
Pack your bags! Your loving CEOs have decided to host another corporate retreat, and this one’s going to be magical. Think polished, think unforgettable—this is no tent-in-the-woods situation. Bring your best dancing shoes and prepare for three days you’ll never forget.
We can’t wait to see you this weekend!
-Yours Truly,
Taron Cunningham
Wash groaned out loud. It’d only been two months since the last corporate retreat.
Was this really going to end up being a quarterly thing?
People had only recently stopped pestering him to join their respective sports teams. Apparently, the video of the relay had gotten out, and his speed had enticed a lot of the company sports teams to ask him to join them.
He always refused, he wasn’t a team sport kind of demon, but he did admit secretly to Peri once that it was nice that no one had mentioned his size.
They didn’t care. It was his speed they were after.
It took forever for his coworkers to get the picture that he wasn’t interested. The softball team was the worst, and he nearly got into a fight with the werewolf in charge because he wouldn’t back off. Peri had shown up at just the right time to latch on like a barnacle and force him to walk away.
Now that things were relatively back to normal, the idea of going to another retreat made him want to find some kind of excuse to avoid it. If he hid the email from Peri, then maybe…
The door to his office opened without a knock and his favorite person sashayed in, a plate of treats in his hand and a bright beaming grin on his face. “Did you get the email about the retreat? It’s going to be fancy! I’m so excited!”
Wash’s shoulders slumped. There went the possibility of him skipping it.
Snickering, Peri handed him the plate and hoisted himself onto the desk, sitting in front of Wash without a care in the world.
The only reason he wasn’t sitting on a project or piles of paper was because Peri came in every few days and organized things until Wash eventually gave him free rein and let him reorganize the entire office.
Now everything had a spot and the only time something was covering his desk was because he was actively working on a project.
This morning happened to be a project-free morning.
“Don’t get grumpy just yet. I helped plan it, so you know it won’t be too crazy.”
“You did?” he asked around a mouthful of food. Mixed berry cream cheese filled croissants were becoming his favorite.
“Yup,” Peri nodded, popping the ‘p’. “So no grumping. Do you have a suit or do we need to buy one this week?”
He shook his head, chewing the last bite and swallowing before answering, “I have a suit. I only ever wear it when I’m required to go to fundraising events, but it was expensive. It’ll work.”
From the pout on Peri’s face, he’d been hoping to go shopping. And because Wash was a sucker for that pout, he relented immediately. “We can go shopping after work tonight. Do you have one, or do you need to buy one, too?”
Peri beamed, and that warmth that always surrounded him sank into Wash’s skin. He’d never get tired of that smile.
“Nope, I’ve got something already. One of my cousins is a designer, and I asked her to make me something.” He bounced in his seat, and his excitement was contagious. Wash found himself grinning as he listened to Peri’s evening plans.
“Oh. One more thing. How comfortable are you with crowds? I saw the guest list and it’s… substantial.”
Wash’s face fell. “How substantial? Peri? How many people are coming to this stupid thing?”
He was still trying to get answers out of Peri when the retreat weekend rolled around.
His mate refused to spill the beans, saying it was a surprise, and he’d only asked to make sure Wash could handle it.
Then he stopped answering at all and whenever Wash brought up the retreat, Peri would distract him in as many creative ways as he could think of.
It was a good thing Wash had updated his wards to include portals, because the number of times Peri ended up on his knees in the office was a little ridiculous lately.
He never thought he’d be the guy sneaking around in the office, but then again, he never thought he’d end up with someone as amazing as Peri either.
He’d expected to live out his life alone.
Now that he’d found his mate, he couldn’t imagine trying to keep his hands to himself all day.
Peri didn’t mind. His high libido needed care only Wash could provide, so he never said no when Wash asked him to come to his office for lunch and spent half the time all over him.
Peri was half a step ahead of him, practically dragging Wash into the portal station.
He’d hoped for a clue of where they were going, but Peri led him to a smaller portal on the right that could be attuned to a specific place for private parties or events for a price.
There was no signage that said where it was attuned to, and the fae monitoring it barely looked at them before waving them through.
The area they arrived in wasn’t someplace Wash was familiar with. The portal opened in front of an estate with big glass windows, thick forests blocking it from view of any roads, and a flurry of activity that was dizzying.
“Where are we?”
“Maverick and Isaac are hosting,” Peri chirped, dragging him along toward the house. “Come on. We need to get changed.”
“Get changed for what?” Wash demanded, but once again Peri didn’t answer him.
He was getting a stress headache from the lack of answers, so before the little fairy could open the front door, Wash pulled him back, spinning him around and taking both his hands.
“Peri, baby, I know you’re excited, but I don’t do well with surprises. Can you please tell me what’s going on? Why would Maverick host a corporate retreat? And why are there so many people invited? What’s this all about?”
Peri’s eyes studied his face for a minute before he nodded once. “Okay. This isn’t a corporate retreat. This is our bonding ritual.”
Wash’s mouth fell open, and Peri was quick to explain himself, squeezing Wash’s hands tightly.
“You seemed so hurt and sad about not having a ceremony, and I didn't want you to miss out, so I asked our friends for help. It won’t be exactly like a regular demon ceremony, I’m not a demon and not enough of them will be here for the magic parts, but we made some adjustments and Ozen approved of them.
I did my best, and I hope you aren’t too disappointed and– mmph! ”
He silenced Peri’s ramblings the same way he always did, kissing him senseless until his little fairy melted into his arms and the nervous fluttering of his wings settled.
Nothing he’d come up with was even close to what Peri had planned, and while a part of him was apprehensive, he was also glad for it.
It’d felt wrong the past few months not claiming Peri back.
It only took two weeks for Wash to be covered from the neck down in soul blooms, and the gossip around the office spread like wild fire until every single person in the company knew he was Peri’s mate.
But he hadn’t been able to give that same kind of thing to Peri.
He’d thought about doing something private, maybe just biting him and giving him a ring when they were alone, but it felt wrong.
Peri deserved to be celebrated. He just wasn’t sure how he would pull that off when his family would never consider hosting a ceremony for him.
He hadn’t even heard from them in years.
“Thank you,” Wash murmured against Peri’s lips, cupping his neck and running his thumbs along Peri’s jawline just because he never wanted to stop touching his mate.
Peri let out a shaky breath, blinking his eyes open to look up at Wash. “So you’re not mad?”
He huffed a small laugh, shaking his breath. “No, baby. I’m not mad. I’m glad. I wanted to celebrate what you mean to me. I just didn't know how.”
He was gifted with a blinding grin before Peri jumped into his arms, peppering his face with kisses and forcing him to drop their bags so he could hold Peri up.
He didn’t let them get too distracted, not after Peri went through all the trouble of setting this up, and when he set Peri back on his feet, he smiled to show him he was sincere.
“Come on, baby. Show me what you planned.”
They were greeted inside by a fairy with a headset and a clipboard, flitting around pointing the staff where they needed to go like the director of a military brigade. She only softened when she saw them come in, her feet touching the ground just long enough to give Peri a big squeezy hug.
“Hey, baby cousin! You’re finally here! We’ve got a room for the two of you, and your outfit for tomorrow’s ceremony is in the closet.
I just steamed it, so no touching. Go get dressed, then you can meet everyone outside.
” She beamed at Wash, wiggling her fingers in a wave.
“Hello. I’m Bella. I’m Peri’s cousin and the event coordinator for this…
” She paused, tapping her chin with her finger.
“I mean, it’s supposed to be a demon bonding ritual, but there’s some major differences, so… ”
“It’s fine,” Wash assured her. “Whatever Peri planned is perfect.”
“Aw. You found yourself a good one,” Bella cooed, squeezing Peri’s hand cheerfully.
“Well, good. It was a lot of work getting this all set up in two months, and I only did it because I love my cousin and he deserves to be happy. Now, off to change, the both of you. And no getting distracted along the way. We’ve got the acknowledgement party already set up, and people have been arriving all morning. Shoo. Shoo.”
She waved them off and barked at another member of staff to show them to their room. Once they were out of earshot, Wash murmured in Peri’s ear, “Why do I feel like she could rule the world if she wanted to?”
“Because she can,” Peri snickered. “Don’t worry, as long as you don’t work for her, she’s sweet as pie.”
“Somehow, I find that hard to believe.”
The room itself was luxurious with thick bedding and an unlit fireplace against one wall.
The bathroom was something out of a magazine, and Peri spent a good few minutes gaping before Wash had to remind him they were supposed to be outside.
He now understood better why Peri had insisted on three suits, and why one of them was more traditional demon wedding style.
He’d played his part well, gushing about how much he liked the demon suit style and how he wanted Wash to have it for special occasions.
Wash still hadn’t figured out a way to tell him no, so he’d gotten it when he bought the other two. Now he knew why.
“Any other secrets about this weekend that you haven’t told me yet?
” he teased as he pulled on the black on black suit he’d picked out himself.
Peri had made a face when he’d originally grabbed it, but once he saw it on him, he’d changed his tune fast and tried to attack him in the dressing room.
If he hadn’t chosen such an upscale suit store with a staff member waiting only ten feet away in case they needed him, Wash might have let him get away with it.
“No,” Peri snickered from the bathroom where he was changing. “At least, I don’t think so. Taron spent a few weeks researching demon ceremonies, so I think we got it as close to what–”
“Wait. Taron did research?” Wash asked incredulously. That wasn’t Taron’s style. He came up with the ideas. It was the research team’s job to gather information.
“Yes!” Peri laughed. “He loves you and wants you to get the celebration you deserve. So be nice to him this weekend. He really went all out.”
Something like affection for the shapeshifter filled his chest, which was… disconcerting. He cared about Taron to a point, but he still didn’t feel like they were close. Not like Peri, Taron, and Kian had become. Those three were a team nowadays, and whenever they got together, chaos followed.
“Wash…” Peri warned.
Chuckling, he joined his mate in the bathroom, pressing himself against Peri’s back and kissing his neck. “I’ll be nice. But if he mentions anything about a relay race, I’m out. No part of a demon bonding ceremony includes a relay race.”