Chapter 28
“Me?” I said, convinced that I must be dreaming.
Ben made a show of looking around himself, then shrugged. “I don’t see any other dads of Hannah’s in the room, do you?”
Someone in the audience stood up and rushed toward Kian, who looked ready to faint. Luke.
He put his hands on his little brother’s shoulders and said something only they could hear, and Kian relaxed.
Ben offered me a hand again, drawing my attention back to him.
I hoped that I could keep it together, but as Ben hauled me up the aisle, there was no hope.
Hannah dabbed at her own eyes as I stood to one side of her and Ben to the other.
“Are you sure about this?” I asked, taking her hand.
“I’ve never been more sure of anything.”
The florist, dressed all in black, ran up to us.
Hannah accepted the small bundle of red roses, then let Ben hook his hand into her other arm.
When she signaled that she was ready, the music grew louder.
My attention bounced between Hannah and Kian, nothing but love in their watery eyes.
Unlike me, Kian didn’t bother hiding his tears, and Luke squeezed his shoulder with one hand as he handed him a tissue with the other.
At the end of the aisle, Hannah shared a private moment with Ben, accepting a kiss to her forehead before she turned to me.
Her arms wrapped around me, and she stamped a kiss to my cheek. “Thank you, Dad—for everything.”
And my knees nearly buckled. If it weren’t for Ben’s hand on my arm, I wouldn’t have been able to walk away. As I took my seat next to James, his thumb scrubbed my cheek. “You’ve got some lip gloss smudged there,” he explained.
I sniffled and blinked away the blurriness in my vision. “Well, she’s already cried all over me—what’s a little makeup?”
“You okay, Dad?” he asked, capturing a stray tear that slid down my cheek.
“Fine.”
Given the surprise of it all, Hannah and Kian both chose to use standard vows for the ceremony.
Judging by the amount of coughs and sniffles there wasn’t a dry eye in the house—including mine.
I’d given up fighting it, letting happy tears fall as Kian swept Hannah into a kiss, surprising all of us by dropping her into a dip.
When they were finished, they walked back up the aisle first, and then James and I followed.
All of us ducked to the side before the guests exited the ceremony space, the photographers leading us toward a quiet area with a gorgeous view of the setting sun.
James and me first, then group pictures, and we snuck off to join the cocktail hour while Hannah and Kian took some solo shots.
We each took a glass of champagne and were immediately swarmed by our parents and friends from the Hopyard who could make it.
My free arm stayed around James’s waist, as if my body couldn’t bear to be a step away from him for even a second.
It seemed like the second I reached the bottom of my glass, Raleigh or Angel was pouring more from behind me.
Considering that I hadn’t eaten, the champagne went straight to my head.
Tipsy, I whirled to tell them to knock it off when someone tapped at my shoulder.
Only, it wasn’t Raleigh… or his husband.
“Shi!” I gasped.
James was equally surprised. “You made it.”
Shi shrugged, shoving their hands in the pockets of their beige slacks. They wore a matching jacket with a white button-up underneath. “I wasn’t going to,” they admitted. “But your daughter’s a hard person to say no to. That double wedding thing, by the way? Genius.”
Like Raleigh, they had their hair tied away from their face—a smart move in the Vegas heat—and their camo-colored eyes sparkled in the dusky twilight. It was then that I noticed that their eyes were pink, and they rubbed at them again.
“Shi,” I started. “Can we—”
They stopped me with a single raised hand. “We can talk about it, but not today. Today’s about you two, not about us.”
Any further conversation was halted by Angel speeding by, a look in his eyes that I knew all too well: Something was wrong. I may have been risking my life doing so, but I halted him with a hand on his arm. “What’s going on?”
Flustered, he fell into sign. “We’ve got it covered.”
“Angel,” James said, “we’re not going to explode. You’ve handled so much for us, let us help you figure it out.”
My friend sighed—and relented, hands flying a mile a minute. “The bartender came down with a sudden case of food poisoning, and Raleigh had to leave for a few minutes to feed Evie and leave her with the sitter, and—”
“Where do you want me?” Shi asked, shrugging out of their jacket.
“I—” He froze. “You can read sign?”
“Yep,” they said, rolling up their sleeves. “My aunt’s deaf. Shiloh, they/them, and also a half decent bartender.”
“Angel, he/him,” he returned. “Follow me.”
And they were gone. James and I could only stare at each other before dissolving into relieved laughter.
“Did that really just happen?” I asked.
“I think it did—but I’m glad Shiloh came.”
“Me too, but I think we need to keep a close eye on those two. You know what they say about the quiet ones.” Snickering, my head spun and I swayed on the spot. The champagne was taking a toll.
“Let Raleigh worry about his husband.” James placed a hand on my lower back and led me away from the bar. “We should find you something to eat.”
After James swiped a couple chocolate pastries from the kitchen, we spent the rest of the cocktail hour exploring the stunning venue.
The lights in the trees had sprung to life, casting an ethereal, golden glow over the sprawling green grass.
Somewhere, crickets chirped. The reception area lit up the night, neon lights dancing over the black and red decorations.
We paused to watch the setup and once my food was gone, I tugged James into me.
“Thank you for this,” I said, ghosting my lips across his. “This was the best day.”
“I agree.” James’s tongue darted out, licking a stray smear of chocolate off my lips. “Couldn’t have gone better. I’m so glad you agreed to marry me. You keep me on my toes, Ryder Clark.”
“And you keep me grounded, James Campbell.”
Our lips met, weakening my already questionable knees. James caught me with an arm around my waist and guided me backward until my back hit the rough bark of a mesquite tree. I groaned, letting him hold onto me as his thigh wedged between my own.
“How long do we have?” I asked.
“Not long enough. You’ll just have to hold out, love.”
I’m not ashamed to admit that I was panting, but James swallowed my whimper.
Bracing himself against the tree above my head, he licked into my mouth and ground his hips against mine.
He quickly broke off the kiss to nuzzle into my neck, shoving my collar out of the way and nosing along his mark.
The venom throbbed under the skin, reminding me what happened when he put the ring on my finger.
I began to ask about it, but James suddenly slapped a hand over my mouth, silencing me.
“Someone’s here,” he mouthed, scanning the tree line. My heart thundered—and my cock throbbed. James’s eyes must’ve landed on something, because his mouth dropped open in surprise.
“Very slowly,” he said, almost too quietly for me to hear, “glance over your left shoulder. And stay quiet.”
Slowly, I rotated to follow his line of vision.
At first, I didn’t see anything, but then my vision adjusted to the darkness.
Two people stood just beyond the tree line, though it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began.
The taller of the two pinned the smaller one against a large tree trunk.
Hands roamed bodies, and shirts were tugged free of pants.
The smaller one’s head fell against the wood, and the taller turned his attention to the other’s neck.
“Who do you think it is?” I asked, amused.
“I know who it is—so do you.”
James took my hand and spun me around until my hands instinctively flattened against the tree.
I studied the two writhing bodies in the darkness, looking for any sort of recognizable features.
My husband moved in close, molding himself to my back until I moaned, feeling the hard ridge of his erection grinding into my ass.
“Still can’t see?” he said into my ear, drawing goosebumps across my skin.
If focusing on the shapes was hard before, it was damn near impossible now with the way my eyes threatened to shut. Then the taller one withdrew, and something glittered on his lip.
Blood.
“Oh, shit,” I muttered.
Gabriel dove in for another taste and the human—it must have been Luke—cried out, knees buckling.
Fuck, that shouldn’t have been as hot as it was, and the thrill of knowing that they could look up and catch us watching at any moment? Well, that only made me harder. James wound a hand around my hip, grasping the bulge between my thighs.
“Looks like we’ve got a voyeur on our hands too,” he chuckled, chest vibrating against my back. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Hey! Kinky fuckers!”
Fucking Raleigh.
Luke and Gabriel vanished at his cry, even though it hadn’t been directed at them.
I leaned my forehead against the tree and tried to calm myself. “What do you want, Raleigh?”
“Aw, I’m sorry. Did I ruin your orgasm?” I turned to glare at him, and he laughed. “It’s time for your grand entrance.”
James extended his hand, and best friend forgotten, I happily took it and let him lead us into the reception area.
As I’d been promised, we entered to a Luke Combs song.
Shi appeared with a signature strawberry espresso martini in each hand, and James and I wound our arms together to chug the cocktails.
The glasses disappeared, and James brushed a drop of espresso foam from my lips and sucked it into his mouth. Yeah, we’d made a good decision.
“If everyone could quiet down, please!” the DJ announced, the music fading into something slower. “It’s Luke Combs time.”
As “Five Leave Clover” played over the speakers, heat rushing to my cheeks, I let James pull me close. One arm wrapped around my waist, and he took my left hand in his while my right landed on his shoulder.
“It’s funny to think that you didn’t know who Luke Combs was a couple years ago.”
My vampire leaned in, brushing his nose against mine. “And I don’t know how I ever survived without him—or without you.”
“I love you, James Campbell-Clark.” The words rolled off my lips before I could stop them, not that I wanted to. I couldn’t fathom the idea of not loving the man in front of me.
Audience be damned, I moved closer to James. I needed to be closer. Attached at the hip wasn’t enough.
“Easy, Ryder,” James said.
His hand flexed on my lower back and I shuddered. “How soon can we get out of here?”
He laughed. “I never thought you’d give up being the center of attention.”
“Ah, you seem to have forgotten my favorite pastime.”
“Sex?”
I reared my head back. “You, vampire.” The cheeky grin on his face made the jab worth it. I leaned in for another kiss. “Now say it back.”
“I love you too,” he said against my lips, “Ryder Campbell-Clark.”
Our mouths met with the fading of the music, and the cheers started up once more. I groaned, remembering that we were surrounded by our closest family and friends—which meant that I couldn’t ravish James in the way I craved.
“They’re interrupting my Luke Combs time,” I mock-complained.
“Let’s get through dinner,” he said. “And I’ll get you out of here.”