Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Promise
I wake slowly, realizing I’m in the bed alone.
In the kitchen I hear the low murmur of male voices.
It’s so like yesterday that my stomach swoops. Today is my wedding day. I want to believe that today is different from yesterday.
The hope rises in my chest.
Then again, I thought that when I woke up the day before. In the middle of the night, Angel and I seem to have a connection that doesn’t hold up to the light of day.
Sighing, I push up, brushing my hair back from my face.
That’s when Angel appears in the doorway. “You’re awake.”
I nod. He comes into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed. Sweeping the covers down my spine he places a kiss on the small of my back. “Rock asked if you could cut his hair.”
I nod again, starting to get up, but Angel’s hand comes to my back, holding me down. “Take your time. We’ve got all day.”
I nod again. His lips come to my shoulder and then he nuzzles into the crook of my neck. My eyes close.
This doesn’t feel like yesterday. It’s quieter. Softer.
But I should be careful how much joy I let in.
I brush my hair back again, attempting to get the loose curls out of my face. Angel sweeps them up in his hand, kissing the back of my neck. “Wear your hair down today.”
I nod again. Why not?
He’s kissing down my spine, his lips dragging over my skin. I know his brothers are out in the other room. I heard them. Have they left?
I point to the kitchen, the question clear in my eyes.
“Back to not talking?”
I shrug. I couldn’t hold the words back after the dream. But again, in the light…I feel more exposed.
“Yes. Rock and Knox are out in the kitchen.”
I grab my phone from the nightstand, about to type a message, when I draw in a breath. Last night, I spoke for the first time in a year. It felt good to use my voice and it helped to let out some of the feelings.
Am I going to go back to being guarded, or am I going to trust Angel?
Setting down the phone again, I draw in a deep breath. “Are they staying all day?”
He smiles against my skin. “Yes. I want them to be with us just in case.”
I nod again, dipping my head. Of all the oddities of the way I’m marrying, one of the most painful might be that I’ve got no one with me.
Maybe that’s weird. I’ve only known Angel for a few days. My father picked him, I’ve chosen no detail about my wedding, but what hurts the most is that I won’t have a single person in attendance who loves me.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have an aunt. Patti. I’m sure my father didn’t invite her, but…”
“I’ll take care of it,” he answers. Just like that. My mouth drops open, even as tears sting at my eyes.
I push up again, letting the covers fall away as I twist around and wrap my arms around his neck.
Then my lips find his as I kiss him over and over. He has no idea what having her there means to me, I’m certain, but I’m overwhelmed by emotion.
He pulls me into his lap, his hands skimming down my body as he kisses me back.
His arms wrap around me, and he falls back, taking me with him, my legs tangling in his. “Anyone else?”
“Candy,” I answer. I know I just met her, but I haven’t had a woman who feels like a friend in forever.
He eyes me for a second before he nods. “I’ll ask her. Don’t think her ex will be at a country club, but she likely won’t want to be in any of the pictures.”
I don’t care about any of that. The joy I’d been trying to tamp down, however, is rising up. This is enough for me.
And for the first time in a very long time, I’m…excited.
He runs his hand down my back and then over my rear end, grabbing a handful of my butt. Despite the orgasm a few hours ago, my body pulses with need.
Angel is shirtless and the slide of his skin pebbles my nipples as I rub against his chest.
“Angel?” one of the brothers calls. I think it might be Rock. “You got any cream?”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Rock. Just look,” Angel yells back, but it’s enough to make him sit up.
A little disappointment zings down my spine. If there is one area that Angel and I completely work, it’s in each other’s arms.
Without meaning to, I tighten my arms around his neck.
He gives me a devilish grin. “Don’t worry, Goldilocks. This wolf is taking you into the shower where he’s going to eat you up and then scrub you down.”
“Oh,” I breathe, the catch in my voice surely letting him know just how much I want to be eaten.
His response is to lean down and kiss me. It’s a tongue-in-my-mouth, devouring kind of kiss. I ignore the little flutter of doubt.
The one that says this is just like the day before.
Instead, I focus on the kiss and I melt into him.
Angel’s strength is like a drug. As someone who has been alone for so long, unprotected, I have this vision of what it might be like to belong to a man who has this kind of strength. One who really wants me to be his.
It steals my breath even as I kiss Angel back, my hands threading in his hair.
He growls into my mouth, pulling me tighter to his chest.
We’re not married yet, but I feel myself falling into him and I just know…his arms are the place I want to be.
It’s such a risk.
He’s all but proven to me I shouldn’t trust him. Then again, when I think about it, it kind of tracks.
I never thought I’d leave my father’s house. And I don’t expect to live all that long. Why not enjoy a few moments with Angel? Even if it’s all fantasy, the pleasure is an unexpected treat.
I realize we’re in the bathroom when he drops my feet to the floor, his other arm still tight around my back as he turns on the shower.
Pressed to his front, I shift even closer, the band of his shorts digging into my belly.
He rumbles, stepping back long enough to drop the shorts to the shower floor.
And then he’s got a handful of my ass, pulling me tight into his hips.
My leg automatically wraps around his thigh.
With his other hand, he grabs my other cheek and then he’s lifting me as he steps into the warm spray.
The water makes our bodies slick, my skin gliding along his, even as his erection slides between my folds.
It sends a shiver through my body.
He’s not inside me, but I have this deep desire for us to be joined body and soul…
I stiffen, the thought so dangerous.
“Where do you think you’re going,” he growls against my mouth.
“I…” My eyes blink water, as I pull back the slightest bit. “I…” My hands slide from his hair to cup his jaw as I look into his eyes. “I want to feel you inside me…” I whisper.
He kisses me long and deep, our tongues tangling together. I squeeze my thighs tighter, lifting up a little higher so that the tip of his member is pressed against my opening. He starts to push inside, a little burning makes my breath catch.
But that’s when his hand comes to my hip, holding me in place. “Promise.” There is a warning in his voice and I blink my eyes open, confused by his reaction.
“You know I gave my word not to take you until after we were married.”
My head whips back. Because there it is. His commitment to my father. The pain that radiates through me steals my breath as I try to pull away from him.
He doesn’t let me go. In fact, he presses me to the shower wall, which actually makes him sink a little deeper inside me.
It burns but I barely feel it.
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop.” With my back against the wall, he lets go of my hip to grab my chin.
“You warned me,” I whisper back. “You’re not a nice guy. This doesn’t have a happy ending.”
I see his grimace. “I made promises to you too, remember? About keeping you safe. I tell the truth, Promise, and I keep my word. I told your father I wouldn’t have sex with you until after we’re married. It’s not about him or you, it’s about me. I’ve got one good trait. I can’t lose it.”
I soften in his arms, because he’s right. Leaning my head back against the shower wall, I close my eyes. “I made a promise too.”
“What promise did you make?”
“To avenge my mother.” I open my eyes again, the look of pain on his face enough to make me know that he’s not my soldier.
This time, my leg slowly slides down his until I unwrap it, placing my foot on the shower floor. I won’t ask him to choose me. It’s his choice to pick whose side he wants to take. And I’m afraid of his answer…
My father has so much to offer.
Slowly, I slide away, stepping back into the spray.
I’ve got to get ready.
It’s my wedding day.