Page 87 of Theirs to Tempt: The Marriage Claim

“My loyalty is yours. My protection is yours. Everything I have is yours.” His thumb brushes my knuckles. “And I will cherish you forever.”

Then he slides a second platinum band onto my finger beside Caleb’s.

My heart tightens painfully beneath my ribs.

Celeste presents their rings. I place one on Caleb’s hand. Then Lucian’s. Two narrow circles of platinum. Such small things to represent something this enormous.

When I finish, Celeste closes her folio.

“By the authority vested in me, I pronounce you married.”

Applause rises around us. For a moment, I hear almost none of it.

Married. Husband. Husbands. Wife.

My mind cannot make the words feel real.

Celeste smiles. “You may kiss your bride.”

Lucian turns toward me. His hand rises to my face. Then stops. His midnight-blue eyes hold mine. Waiting.

The pause is so small; no one else would notice. I do.

My heart beats once. Then I lift my face.

His hand closes against my jaw, and he kisses me.

Not gently.

He’s waited too long for this moment to kiss gently.

His mouth claims mine with the same devastating certainty he brings to everything else, and for one suspended moment, there is no audience, no city below us, no impossible bargain that brought me here. Only heat. Only him. Only the terrifying truth that my body knows this man now.

When he releases me, Caleb is there, pressing his fingers to my nape.

His gaze searches mine, and then he claims my mouth.

His kiss is rougher, deeper, equally as possessive.

When he lifts his head, I am breathing hard again. But none of this was as hard as I feared.

Lucian takes one of my hands. Caleb takes the other. And beneath the lights of the Sterling Atrium, with Houston glittering beyond the glass, I stand between the two men who have just made good on the promise they made eight years ago, long before I knew who they were.

I am theirs.

For better or worse.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sophie

I’m still trying to absorb the weight of two new bands on my finger when Lucian’s hand settles at my waist and Caleb’s palm presses lightly against the small of my back, guiding me to the reception area.

The same lush greenery spills through the space. Fairy lights cast an ethereal glow among the branches now that night has settled fully over Houston.

Tables are set with white linens and crystal, and the city sparkles in every direction.

People turn toward us.