Brogan didn’t waste time. He turned toward the brothers who had gathered in the lounge and raised his voice just enough to cut through the low murmur of conversation. “Listen up.”
The room quieted almost immediately.
He reached behind the bar and pulled out a black leather vest. The back patch was already sewn on—Property of Stryker. He held it out to me.
“Jacqueline is my woman.” He met the gaze of every man in the room. “She’s under my protection. And the club’s. From this day forward, she’s one of us.”
I stood and slipped my arms into the vest. When I turned so the brothers could see the property patch, Brogan’s expression somehow turned fierce and soft all at once.
Judge was the first to break the silence, dry as ever. “Well. The property-purchase discussion was less successful than expected.”
“Not sure about that,” Hawkeye snorted. “He rode out there to acquire land and came back with an old lady instead. Some might call that a success.”
A ripple of laughter moved through the room. Brothers shook their heads, clearly still half-amazed that the most controlled man any of them had ever known had fallen so hard and so fast.
Brogan looked around at all of them, one brow lifting. “Laugh while you can.”
The quiet warning landed perfectly. A few of the younger brothers shifted in their seats. The older ones just grinned, already knowing exactly what he meant.
I smoothed my hands down the front of the vest, and Brogan’s arm came around me, pulling me into his side.
He had come to the ranch to convince me to sell the land. Instead, he had made himself part of the deal to keep it. And I couldn’t be happier.
EPILOGUE
STRYKER
My wife stood beneath a web of warm lights strung between the farmhouse porch and the ancient valley oak, laughing with her parents, her brothers, and Bex while the August evening settled gold across the pastures. The ivory dress followed every soft curve I had already memorized, narrowing at her waist before flowing over hips my hands kept finding whenever she came within reach, and tiny white flowers had been woven through the thick chestnut braid falling past the middle of her back.
Our baby was still too small to change the line of her body, but I knew exactly where my child rested beneath the silk, and every glimpse of my ring on Jacqueline’s finger sent the same primitive satisfaction through my blood.
The ceremony had taken place beneath that oak a few hours earlier. John and Justin had walked Jacqueline down the aisle together, both wearing expressions that suggested they still considered handing their little sister to the president of a motorcycle club a questionable decision. Neither had actually tried to stop her, though, which proved they possessed some intelligence beneath all that city polish.
I hadn’t written a long vow because Jacqueline already knew I loved her and intended to spend the rest of my life building whatever she dreamed up next. I promised she would never face anything alone again, that the ranch and every life we created on it would remain protected, and that I would choose her every day even when she reorganized things I had already put where they made sense.
She laughed through tears at the last part, then promised to love both the man who carried her around like she weighed nothing and the stubborn oaf who moved her coffee mugs without permission. When I slid the ring onto her finger and kissed my wife for the first time, I gave her a smug smile that said I finally had her right where I wanted her.
Jacqueline turned as though she felt me watching her, and the smile that warmed her face still hit with enough force to tighten my chest. She excused herself from her parents, ignored whatever her brothers were arguing about, and crossed the lawn with one hand resting protectively near the small secret beneath her dress. I met her halfway, wrapped my palm around her waist, and pulled her against me before she finished lifting her face for a kiss.
“You disappeared,” I murmured against her mouth, taking the soft lower lip between mine while her hands settled over the lapels of my black suit. I’d worn my cut for the ceremony and removed it for the first dance only because Jacqueline had asked, but the leather hung over the back of my chair close enough to reach. “Been married two hours, and you’re already neglecting me.”
Her eyes filled with amusement as she leaned more fully into my chest. “I was twenty feet away, Brogan. Mom wanted to know whether I’ve been eating enough, Bex wanted to know whether I’m sleeping, and my brothers are arguing about thenew rehabilitation barn as though I haven’t already approved Justin’s design.”
“You haven’t been sleeping enough.” I slid my hand from her waist to the slight curve of her lower stomach, spreading my fingers over the place where our child grew while heat moved through me at the memory of exactly how that baby had gotten there. “Your old man keeps waking you up.”
“My old man has no self-control,” she whispered, her cheeks turning the deep pink that still made my cock hard every damn time.
“Because my old lady keeps sleeping naked against me.” I bent close enough for my beard to scrape lightly along her ear, enjoying the shiver that moved through her body before my voice dropped beneath the music and conversation. “She also makes sexy little sounds in her sleep, rubs that sweet ass over my cock, and expects me to act like a reasonable man.”
Jacqueline’s fingers tightened against my cut, and her gaze darted toward the guests before returning to me with embarrassed heat. “You cannot say things like that at our wedding reception.”
I kissed the corner of her mouth and murmured. “You want me to stop, quit looking at me like you’re wondering how fast I can get you upstairs.”
“I wasn’t wondering that.”
“Liar.”
Her giggle slipped between us, soft enough that no one else heard, and I decided the rest of the reception could survive without us for a few hours. Jacqueline apparently read that decision in my face because she placed both palms against my chest and reminded me that we hadn’t cut the cake yet. I told her cake was available every day while marrying her only happened once, but she laughed and caught my hand before I could lift her into my arms.
