There is no one else.
I take a step forward and cup her jaw, brushing a thumb over her smooth porcelain skin. “Wren and I are lucky to have you in our lives, Amelia. You’re right, and I’m sorry for putting you in a tough position, but I promise that you mean so much to me. Whether or not you agree to the marriage, that will not change.”
“You’re not going to hate me if I say no?” she whispers. “Stop me from seeing Wren?”
“No.”
“Even if it threatens to put you and Wren at a disadvantage?”
“It won’t change our affection for you.”
The rejection would sting, but it wouldn’t change much between us. I want her. Have wanted her for so long. And with the promise of forever within my grasp, I’m not about to let a rejection discourage me. I’ll keep asking until she agrees to spend her life with Wren and me.
“Okay,” she whispers, reaching up to clasp the hand touching her cheek. “I’ll do it.”
“What?”
“Let’s get married, Hawk.”
Chapter Seven
Amelia
This is not how I imagined spending my wedding night.
Heck, a week ago…or even two days ago, I couldn’t imagine having a wedding night at all, and yet here I am, dressed in a see-through white nightgown, waiting for my husband to come out of the shower so we can consummate our marriage.
Husband.
The word still gives me shivers, and yet that’s what the public official said when he asked me to make my vows to Hawk. My husband. A man whose legal name I only learned a few days ago. Of course, I’ve had endless fantasies about my hot neighbor, but…marriage?
Christ, what am I even doing?
Instead of thinking about sex, I should be practicing. The audition for the first-chair spot is happening tomorrow morning. An audition for a position I’ve looked forward to my entire life, and instead of preparing for it, I’m sitting here waiting to consummate a fake marriage. Well, very much real in the eyes of the law, but still…
Too nervous to sit, I jump to my feet and start pacing. A part of me almost wishes Wren were around for the night so I could play for her, but the ladies from Hawk’s MC took her for the night so we could have the night to ourselves.
That’s the other thing. Hawk belonging to a motorcycle club is one thing, but to learn that it’s the Rebels…Christ, that group is trouble. They’re so often on the news for one crime or the other, but Hawk called them his family.
Well, if Hawk trusts them, then I’m sure Wren is safe with them. Still, I can’t help gnawing my lip as I worry if she’s getting proper sleep without me there to play for her. Will the recordings I made be enough? I wonder if I should call the number Jade, the Rebels’ president’s wife, gave me and play something through the phone.
“Relax, Amelia. Wren is fine,” I mutter. I met some of the ladies who will be taking care of her for the night. They seemed nice and Wren looked comfortable around them, but I can’t help but feel a tad worried for her. She’s mine now. A precious gift I get from being married to Hawk.
The sound of the water shutting off sends my heart racing once more, and I laugh at how ridiculous all this is. I’ve already had sex with Hawk, multiple times. The thought of doing it now that we’re married shouldn’t make me nervous, but it does.
And when the bathroom door opens and Hawk steps out naked…my breath hitches. Sure, there’s a towel wrapped around his waist, but it does nothing to conceal the outline of his cock and those powerful thighs, or the sculpted planes of his chest and the wild range of tattoos there. Or those wet, broad shoulders and the muscles that ripple when he moves.
I stand next to the bed, completely speechless as I take in the way water clings to his dark, tousled hair, each dropletcatching the light and shimmering like scattered diamonds. He runs a hand through it and water drips down his forehead, tracing the lines of his strong brows and the sharp angles of his cheekbones.
“Baby?”
I look up, swallowing when I read the intensity in those ice-blue eyes. He’s been thinking about this too, and if he wasn’t, then I can tell he is now as he runs his eyes over what I’m wearing.
“Oh…um, one of the club ladies gave this to me as a wedding gift and told me my husband would love it,” I say, flushing when the wordhusbandslips out of my mouth.
“He does,” he says, taking a step forward even as I take one back. “Very much. You look so beautiful, angel.”
I flush, my heart racing as it always does when he speaks. “And you look…” Strong. Handsome. Rugged. Breathtaking. Striking. I can’t decide which word to use, so I settle on the one that feels right. “Delicious.”
