“I don’t much care who sees me fucking my man, as long as they know they can’t touch what’s mine,” she echoed and laughed again.
She shook her head. Her eyes were dark chocolate, looking liquid, as if all that chocolate had melted for him. She did things to his insides he wasn’t expecting. She had his body, he accepted that, but she was crawling inside him, and that was a little dangerous. She might see things that would scare her to death. Winston was a little pussy, and he scared her. Ice was death coming. He couldn’t imagine what she would think.
Storm had told him more than once, when he’d been beating the shit out of someone because he couldn’t take forcing his release one more time, that fucking wasn’t everything in a relationship. That even if you found the perfect woman, the way Reaper had found Anya, or Steele, Breezy, even Czar, with Blythe, if you wanted to keep her, you had to find a way to live with her. Judging by the rocky beginnings each of his brethren had had, it was true.
At the same time, Ice knew Storm was wrong. There had to be a real physical attraction. One his body recognized. Just looking at Soleil almost hurt. More, she suited his peculiar proclivities. He wouldn’t be an easy man to live with, but he would find ways to make that up to her. He knew he had charm. He was an expert at all things sexual. And he wanted her to be happy. He could make her safe.
While he was going through all the reasons in his head to convince himself that he was doing the right thing, Soleil was looking around her, suddenly sobering. She looked at the chapel. The flowers. The way his club surrounded them. Alena holding two bouquets. The strange little man at the front of the chapel with an open book waiting for them.
“Ice.” She whispered his name. “What are we doing here?”
“I signed your prenup, princess, and you signed mine. This is all we’ve got left to do. Almost everyone is here. We’re missing a few of the brothers and Lana, but they know about it and are waiting at home to welcome you. They’re getting the house ready for us.”
“You don’t understand what I did, honey.” She touched his face with the pads of her fingers. “I deliberately set out to seduce you. I made certain you were drinking too much. You don’t know what you’re doing.”
He stared at her for a long time, shocked that she would think she was responsible for getting the two of them to the chapel. She’d had way too much to drink if she thought they were there because she’d trapped him.
“Baby, I know exactly what I’m doing. This is what I want.”
Her dark eyes searched his. She gave a little shake of her head. She looked so helpless he wanted to pull her into his arms.
“I wanted you so much, Ice. I kept having you drink when I don’t get drunk. I seduced you. I know I did. You’ll wake up tomorrow—”
“Happy, because this is what I want. I set out to make you mine.”
“What are we doing?” she whispered again, her face going pale. Her eyes were enormous, as if she was in shock.
“You’re marrying me.”
She stared at him as if he’d grown two heads. Panic began to set in. She had to do this of her own free will. There was the code they lived by. All was fair as long as he made certain it was what she wanted, and every step of the way she’d agreed verbally. His club watched for that.
“I am?” She shook her head. “We can’t do that.”
“Why?”
She opened her mouth and then closed it and shook her head. “I don’t know, but we can’t. You don’t know me. I’m in so much trouble. I don’t want that for you. I know you don’t believe me, but I put this idea in your head. I did.”
His heart clenched hard in his chest. She wasn’t rejecting him. She was worried about him. The others were watching. Waiting patiently. No one tried to hurry them. The preacher wasn’t as patient, but he didn’t voice his annoyance, not with all the bikers crowding his small chapel. Not with the money they were paying him. As a rule, biker weddings could be over the top, and he didn’t want any damages to his chapel. He wanted them gone, but that fat paycheck was more than he could resist.
“You don’t know me either. I specialize in taking trouble away. That’s what I plan on doing for you.” Ice brought her hand to his mouth and nibbled on the pads of her fingers. Immediately her eyes darkened with desire. She was so responsive to him. He wasn’t letting her slip away, not when he was so close. He had to close the deal. Seal it for good.
“You can’t let me down now, Soleil. You promised me. Every step of the way, I gave you an out and you said yes. You said I was your choice. You made me believe that. Are you deserting me now?”
She frowned, biting at her lower lip, calling attention to it. He had a thing for that lower lip, and he wouldn’t mind biting it himself.
“But are you sure we should do this?” Those dark eyes met his, asking him. Trusting him to give her the right answer.
He didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely. Aren’t you? Think about being with me. What I can give you. What you give me. Don’t we make perfect sense together? Is it the club? They’re my family. They would be yours.” Unashamedly he dangled his brothers and sisters out in front of her, knowing she wanted a family.
She stared up at him, her eyes searching his. He wished he knew what she needed from him to say yes. To give herself to him. He had to get her home, surround her with family, give her anything she wanted, be that man every day so she’d never want to leave him. Rule her fucking nights. Put kids in her belly so she’d need him even more. Whatever it took, he’d do it.
A slow smile curved that sweet mouth, the one he planned on using daily. A real fucking erection. A fantastic release he hadn’t ordered up himself. Give his woman everything. His world would be right.
“I need you, princess. No one will ever need you the way I do.”
“For sex? Anyone could give you that.”
They couldn’t, but that wasn’t the point she was making. Did he want her for more than sex? It was a fair question. He thought about her laughter. The sunshine. He lived in a dark place. Just listening to the sound of her voice took him out of it. Was that enough to reassure her? Or him?
“It’s not just for sex, princess. You’re the one, the only, for me.”
Her gaze moved over his face and then went back to his eyes. Her chin went up. “Let’s do it, then,” she agreed.
Ice’s world righted instantly. Not taking a chance she’d change her mind, he squeezed her hand and nodded to his sister, who came to stand beside his woman. He left Soleil there with Alena and walked down the short aisle to stand beside his brother. Storm was there, his twin, and that added another layer of happiness for him. Ice had done it; he’d gotten his siblings out of that hellhole alive, both intact—at least somewhat. They were alive and there when he needed them to see this through with him.