She swallowed hard. “No, it’s fine. I mean, it’s notfine, but it’s not like we were together then. I mean, not that we’re togethernow, because I still haven’t actually answered you, but we definitely weren’t together then.” Dropping her face into her free hand, Becks felt her cheeks flush at her babble. “I’m not drunk, I swear.”
Ghost shifted slightly, wrapping his fingers gently around her wrist to draw her hand away from her face. He lifted her chin with the crook of his pointer finger. “It’s not what it looks like,” he repeated, his voice low and earnest. “We just talked. I didn’t even get hard for her.”
Becks felt her eyebrows raise up at his bluntness. “Um, I…” She shook her head. “I’m not sure how to respond to that.”
He ran his hand over her shoulder and then down her arm. Stepping closer, he urged, “Look down, Rebel. There’s nothing wrong with my dick. She just wasn’t you.”
Her eyes fell down to his crotch, where a very distinct bulge was formed beneath his zipper. “Oh!” she exclaimed. Then added more saucily, “Well, hello there…”
Ghost’s lips twitched as he shook his head, and she felt quite confident that he was holding back a dirty response.
“Are you fucking serious right now?” Shit. Becks had forgotten about her brother. She turned again to face him, and also to block Ghost’s pants from his view with her skirts.
“I told you to stay out of this,” Ghost reminded her brother. “I’m claiming your sister. Whether she marries me today or not, she’s mine.”
Becks spun back around. “I am?”
He nodded down at her. There was no hesitation, no doubt in his expression, and that confidence made her lady parts swoon. Christ, she was going to get pregnant by this man without them ever having sex if he kept that up.
She must have made a sound or shifted somehow, because Ghost lifted an eyebrow as his eyes raked down her body. “Youaregoing to get pregnant by me,” he assured her. “As soon as you’re ready, so am I.”
Becks’ eyes widened into saucers. “Oh shit. I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
He nodded. He lifted both hands to cup the sides of her face. “We don’t have to get married today, Becks. But I’m making my intentions known so there’s no doubt or worry in your mind. You’re mine.”
Oh, there went her ovaries again. Fuck… There was also a possibility she just orgasmed at his declaration. Her knees wobbled, and she likely would have fallen if not for his hold on her. “Let’s do it,” she said, seizing the moment. “Let’s get married.”
Still keepinga tight grip on his hand, Becks turned to walk back towards the room she’d come out of. Ghost hadn’t frequented a lot of churches, but based on the other supply closets and storage rooms, he assumed it to be an office of some sort that she was using to get dressed in. He happily let himself get pulled along behind her.
Ranger’s tight hand on his bicep stopped him mid-step. “Becks, give us a minute,” her brother demanded in a not-so-nice tone.
“Watch yourself,” Ghost warned him, not liking Becks’ worried expression. Becks might be his sister, but Ghost was still his president. More gently to her, Ghost urged, “Go on, Rebel. I’ll be right there.”
Becks’ eyes flicked between the two of them before she nodded. “No throwing punches on my wedding day,” she said, pointing a threatening finger between them.
“Yes, ma’am,” they chorused.
Ghost did not like it when Becks let go of his hand and stepped away from him. He suddenly understood Scar’s eccentric way of just walking into a room and tossing Tally over his shoulder, regardless of who was around to witness. Ghost’s possessive need to constantly touch Becks only seemed to grow with each passing second.
Ranger’s grip tightening drew Ghost’s attention back to his pissed-off best friend. “What the fuck are you doing?Claiming her? She’s vulnerable right now! She was just left at the altar and you’re taking advantage of her!”
Ghost just barely stayed his fist out of respect to Becks. However, her demand did not cover getting right up in Ranger’s face. “Don’t you fucking dare! Ileft!I walked away from the only woman I’ve ever had feelings for becausesheasked me to. Don’t you fucking dare say I’m taking advantage of her.”
“She’s my sister. It’s my job to protect her?—”
“Not anymore,” Ghost informed him. “Now it’s mine. Get it through your thick skull, Ranger, and don’t you fuckingdareruin this for her. And just remember,” he added, backing away, “her edict about throwing punches expires at midnight.”
Ghost stepped into the room Becks had gone inside of to find her having a similar argument with Libby and her mother. Another woman Ghost didn’t know was also present, though she was keeping out of the argument.
Libby’s eyes snapped to Ghost the moment he stepped into the room. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” she demanded, rushing towards him. “Why would you toy with her like this?”
Ghost caught her wrist when she made to slap him. “Easy,” he coaxed. “I am not the enemy here.”
“I don’t know who the fuck you are or what the fuck you’re after, but you’re not getting it from her!” Libby shouted in his face, unperturbed that he outweighed her by at least sixty pounds of muscle and still had hold of her wrist.
Ghost stared into Becks’ best friend’s eyes and said with deepest sincerity, “You don’t understand the dynamic of what is happening here, Libby, so let me explain it to you. I’ve claimed Becks. That means she is not only under my protection. It means that she’smylife. She’s my reason for being. I will protect her, cherish her, ensure she wants for nothing, and if she gets so much as a paper cut, I will burn the world down for her.” Libby’s expression changed as she blinked in surprise. “She’smine,” he repeated, emphasizing the word, “but I am alsohers. And that meanssheis the one in charge and I am nothing more than her humble servant. I am not forcing her to do anything, Libby. This isherchoice. It will always beher choice.”
Libby slowly lowered her arm, and Ghost let go of her wrist as she did. “Oh,” was her response, blinking heavily. Then she turned to Becks, “Holy fuck, girl, if you don’t marry him and have his ginger babies, I will.”
