“I like you this way, no makeup.” He said it barely under his breath. “You are just as beautiful as I remember. Maybe even more so.”
Page smiled and looked down. Randall was going to take that as a good sign. Whatever worries he had were still floating around in his brain, but at least now they were mated. Page was his. From what happened with his sister though, Randall knew that there was one more consummation of their marriage that had to be fully realized. Would it be hard to convince her? Randall pulled back from her. He was ready for it right then and there. Did she feel the same way? Randall really hoped so. Thoughts of the two of them being together took over his mind. Page’s beauty and innocence was still on her sleeve, there for all to see. Randall saw it and needed her then more than he’d ever needed her before. Randall was sure that he wasn’t going to be able to focus on anything else until his hands were on her body as they needed to be.
***
Like every mating and marriage, there was a reception for all of the guests afterwards. Page seemed to be about as comfortable with it as he was. There were people everywhere, and they weren't able to have the conversation that they needed to have. Page was practically trembling in Randall's arms, and it seemed to get worse when she was around certain people, namely her own father. Randall didn't know what was going on there, but he immediately did not like the guy. He put down hiswife and made a lot of horrible comments that obviously made her feel bad. He would just laugh it off like it was no big deal, but it was a big deal to Randall.
They were married, now she was his mate, and he was not going to let anyone say or do anything to mess with her again. Randall thought that he was getting Page for himself, but it turned out that Page needed saving too. What kind of man would he be if he didn't help her? The whole time he had to wonder what kind of man her father was to treat his own daughter like that. After how his brother had treated his own sister, Randall knew that his own daughters would not have the same burdens.
He was already thinking about the future of their children. Randall might have done it partially to spite Ethan, but at the end of the day, he really did care about Page, and he wanted the two of them to be happy. Randall knew then he would make her happy. He was going to set about spending his time and energy to do just that. He’d loved her for a decade and even though his father had not let him see her since, that didn't matter. What mattered was she was there now in his arms. They danced and Randall felt like he was on the top of the world. He doubted that anything could bring him down.
Randall should have known better than to think it was all good. Had he already forgotten what he’d done to make that day happen? Besides, when was it ever smooth sailing?
***
It was late in the night before they were able to get away. The reception was still going as they made their way to the honeymoon suite. Everything was set up and Randall found it all so disturbing. To think how it would have played out if Ethan had been there instead of him. Was Page relieved because she was getting out from underneath her father's thumb? Or wasit because it was him? Randall wanted an answer to that. He worried that he would not be able to handle it. He wanted it to be because it was him and because they had something together, not because she needed to get away. Try as he might have thought, he knew that it was a possibility for the latter, especially after meeting her father. He wouldn’t blame her if that was so.
The honeymoon suite was a room decorated with flowers and roses, and there was food and drink set by the tables. Randall, of course, was thinking about consummating the marriage because his sister's mating had been invalidated because of the lack of it. Randall would not let that happen to theirs. It wasn't enough that she was mated to him, she needed to be his in all ways. The way that her eyes kept going nervously to the bed told Randall that she was thinking about it too, although her thoughts on it might be a lot different than his. Page didn’t seem near as ready to get to it. Her eyes avoided his and kept looking down.
“Do you want to drink?” Randall finally asked.
Page agreed that she did, and she had trembling hands that reached for the glass from him. Randall did not like her reaction. What was she afraid of? He had known that it would take some time to get used to the idea, but not of her being afraid. He wasn’t into that at all.
“Are you going to tell me what happened, and why everybody's been calling you Ethan all night? I thought I was supposed to marry someone else.”
Randall thought it was pretty obvious what he had done. He had pretended to be somebody else so that he could marry her. That was easy enough. Telling her that though, that was a different story altogether. She did not seem like the type of person that was going to take that easily. Randall wished thatthere was a better way to say it. He would truly wish that he had this grand story and reason, but he didn't. He wanted her, didn't want his stupid ass brother to have her. Wasn't that enough?
“Were you glad to see me?” Randall asked his own question, not even trying to answer hers. He was still looking for the right words to explain what the hell he was doing. He wondered how she would feel when she got a low down of all that he had done to be there. Ethan was, as they spoke, in an underground dungeon and likely plotting his revenge. What he’d done was not something that he was going to be forgiven for easily, if ever.
Randall didn't want to talk about any of that though. He had something very particular on his mind. It was time for them to talk about how the night was going to end. He knew how it had to end and, of course, he was dying for it. Page was even more beautiful than he remembered, and all of the old feelings of need and desire came back with a vengeance. Randall could never stop wanting her, even if he tried.
“Yes, I was glad to see you were all right. I was just surprised. There must be a really good story to how you came to be standing in front of me disguised as your long-lost brother Ethan. Here I was thinking I was going to marry someone who was practically human, and I got you instead. Yes, I was surprised and yes, I was very happy to see that it was you. I don't think I could have been happier if it was anybody else.”
Obviously, that was exactly what he wanted to hear. Randall was head over heels in it with her, so naturally he wanted the same. He couldn’t help the smile that ran across his face. It was exactly what he wanted her to say, and happiness overwhelmed him.
“I am glad to hear that, Page. I really am. I had to do some things I am not proud of to be here, but I don’t regret any of it.” Randall realized then that he didn’t either. Whatever happened next, she was worth it. To have the two of them back together was all that he needed. Randall could take on the world with Page in his corner rooting him on.
Chapter 8
Page
There was a thick expectation in the air and Page couldn't help but feel it. She felt it and wondered if it was right to feel it at all. She tried her best to focus on the moment, but she was still reeling from the shock. When she saw that it was Randall standing in front of her and not some mystery half-human shifter, Page was able to breathe again. When he asked if she was happy, it made her smile inside because even after everything that he had likely done to get there, he was still checking in on her first. Randall was good at that, checking in and making sure she was okay. She’d missed that about him.
She knew what was supposed to happen next. Page had been thinking about it since her father told her that it was finally time for her to get married. Page wanted to believe that her father would go back on his need to make her marry someone, but she’d known in the end that she would be forced to. She just couldn't believe that it was Randall. What was she supposed to say to that? All she could think of was how crazy it was. He was standing there in front of her, after all that time, and it all seemed so surreal. What was Page supposed to think?
“You seem really nervous,” Randall commented. Page could see that he was worried about those nerves, and what that meant for them. She should have told him that it was all going to be fine. She was nervous, but it was a good feeling of anticipation now.
Page agreed that she was and told him that she had been dreading her wedding day for a while. “That was before I knew that it would be you, of course.”
“Now that you know it's me, how are you feeling about it?”
Page shrugged and looked down. She admitted that she was still nervous but glad that it was him. “Page, I thought about you a lot through the years and our talks of getting married have always been on the precipice of my mind.” To know that they had actually finally done it. It was mind blowing.
“You know, you are going to have to tell me the story. I haven't heard from you in almost a decade, and then you show up pretending to be my fiancée and now we're mated. Didn't you think you should ask me first?” Page wondered aloud.
Randall looked away for a moment, guilt etched on his face, but finally he just kind of put his hands up. “I figured if you didn't want to marry me, you'd say no. I was hoping you would though. I haven’t known Ethan very well since he came into the family, but I didn't want the two of you together. I'm sorry if that was wrong of me or I overstepped. I have thought about you for the last decade and if anybody was going to marry you, it was going to be me.”
He was full of self-doubt and Page tried to brush it away. She wanted him to see that everything could be fine. He had made the decision without her, and she was okay with it, knowing full well what the consequences were. That was, of course, because of the situation she found herself in and the veryidea of marrying a complete stranger had been even harder. The fact that Page could say that she was marrying the man that she desperately cared for, was something that she never thought she would say. It was an honor, but it was also very overwhelming. The suite they were in, the expectations, Randall’s look of lust, were all more than Page could handle. There was more that needed to be said.
