“That’s a lot of people, but Isobel is the queen of event planning. I know she’ll be happy to help.”
“What about your mum?”
“You’re a leader. My mum will be over-the-moon happy about this wedding, but warning: she’s pretentious. She likes everything to be over the top.”
I’m not a fan of pretentious. “And you don’t?”
“Not really.”
Westlyn is down to earth and doesn’t seem to care how much money we have. It’s one of the things I like so much about her. “When will I meet Torrie?”
“I was thinking we’d wait until after your meeting with The Fellowship council, and it’s official.”
“It’s already official. The Fellowship council just doesn’t yet know that it’s official.”
“I’ve been thinking about the meeting, and I think we don’t tell the council that you’ve already claimed me.”
“No fucking way. I won’t risk this falling through.” All of this is fucking with my nerves. I won’t rest until I know that my bairn is inside her.
“It won’t fall through. We would tell them the truth if it looked like it was. I just think it would go a long way with the council to hear that you didn’t force anything.”
“I didn’t force you to do anything. You freely gave yourself to me.”
“That’s not what I mean. I think it would cause less strife if they have the impression that you’re going to claim me after the treaty agreement. I think they’ll feel more respected, and that’s good for everyone involved.”
“I don’t want to go into this meeting and even entertain the idea of marrying Ellison or your sister.” That would feel so wrong.
“You won’t. I’m going to step forward and volunteer.”
She didn’t just now come up with this idea. “You have all of this already figured out, don’t you?”
“I know Thane and Sin and Jamie. Trust me. This is the way this should be handled for a smooth transaction.”
My wife-to-be has a head for managing brotherhood affairs. She’s highly intelligent. Reminds me so much of Mum.
“I don’t like it. I’m used to taking whatever I want, but I’ll do this for you because it’s the way you’d like it to go. I want you to be happy.”
“And I want you to be happy.”
“Mmm… I know one thing that would make me very happy.”
“I bet it’s the same thing that would make me very happy.”
Westlyn releases my hand and I move it to cup her between her legs. “What about this?”
“You’re moving in the right direction.”
I roll my hips and rub my growing erection against her bum. “We haven’t done it from behind.”
“We also haven’t done it with me on top.”
Both of those sound good to me. “Which one do you want to try?”
She giggles. “I want to ride you.” I roll to my back and Westlyn crawls over me, straddling my hips. “I may not know what I’m doing.”
“You’re a smart girl. I bet you can figure it out.”
She lowers her upper body and kisses the side of my neck, sucking the skin into her mouth. Her hips grind in a circular motion against my hardening cock “Does that feel good?”
I grasp her hips, digging my fingertips into the fleshy meat. “Fuck yeah.”
She sits up straight and arches her back, finding my erection with her hand to guide it inside her opening. “I’m going to fuck this dick so hard.”
Westlyn and I both jolt when we hear a woman’s scream. “Westlyn Breckenridge! What are you doing?”
She rolls off me to her back and yanks the sheet up to cover both of us. “How did you get into my flat?”
“I have a key.”
“What are you doing here?
“Evanna told me you came home early. I’m here to check on you since you didn’t even have the courtesy to let me know you were back.”
“I’m sorry. A lot has happened the last few days.”
“Please tell me that you’ve not allowed this man to ruin you.” The woman rubs her forehead. “Oh God. No Fellowship man is going to have you now. Even if Thane bribes him.”
I don’t care for the way this woman is speaking to Westlyn. “That’s enough of that.”
“Who are you to decide what’s enough?”
“I’m to be her husband, so when I say it’s enough… it… is… enough.”
She sneers. “Her husband? I don’t think so. She is a Breckenridge. Her marriage will be an advantageous one—not to some nobody who’s not even part of the brotherhood.”
“Mother…”
“Has he tainted you?”
The woman can see that I’m naked. Westlyn’s naked. We aren’t teenagers playing around in the sack. What does she think we’re doing?
“It isn’t possible for a husband to taint his wife.” My mother-in-law-to-be looks at me through narrowed eyes, obviously not appreciating my mention of us as husband and wife.
“I can’t believe you brought a man here. If anyone knows you’ve lost your virginity, it’s over.” Her mother walks the floor, her hand pinching her chin while she mutters words beneath her breath. “When you marry, we’ll have to schedule your wedding during your cycle. Maybe, just maybe, we can fool your husband into believing it’s virginal blood.”
“Stop, Mother. Kieran has claimed me, and I’m going to marry him.”
“Kieran… Kieran Hendry?” There’s no mistaking the instant delight on her face. “The new up-and-coming leader of The Order?”
“Aye, that would be me.”
She places her palms together and brings them to her face to hide her grin. “My daughter is marrying a leader. That is wonderful news.”
“I need you to keep quiet about it until after the meeting with the council.”
She laughs. “Why in the world would I do that? My daughter is marrying a leader. I want to tell everyone.”
“We don’t want the council to know that he’s claimed me before the terms of the treaty have been agreed upon. It could cause problems.”
“Oh, we definitely don’t want problems. I won’t say a word to anyone.”
I don’t like this woman. I want her gone. “We were in the middle of trying to seal our bond.”
Westlyn punches me. “Kieran…”
“Say no more. I’m out of here.” She stops in the doorway and looks back. “It needs to be a boy.”
Well, at least we agree upon that much.
“Mother… get out.”
I’ve been away from Westlyn for two days. I don’t like it one bit. I’m ready to bring my intended home where she belongs. And I’m about to do just that.
It doesn’t feel right walking into this meeting with The Fellowship council to ask for Westlyn’s hand. It’s like asking for something that already belongs to me. And I’m not accustomed to asking for anything. I take what I want. Just like I took her and made her mine.
But I understand the point she’s making about playing nice with The Fellowship. They aren’t a brotherhood you should provoke, hence one of the reasons we are seeking an alliance. I can be a cocky bastard, but even I know that you don’t want The Fellowship as an enemy.
My father and I enter the dining room where The Fellowship council, Westlyn, and Ellison are waiting. My eyes immediately go to my intended, like a magnet to steel. I can’t not look at her. She’s so fucking beautiful, it hurts. I can’t believe the misery I’ve endured while we’ve been apart.
“Gentlemen. Please join us,” Thane says, but I barely hear him. I’m too enthralled by Westlyn.
I take the seat beside her, and I fight the urge to reach out and kiss her pouty pink lips—the lips that were wrapped tightly around my dick, sucking me so hard, only a couple of nights ago.
“Have you come to a decision about the treaty?” my father asks. I hear the words decision and treaty in the same sentence, and my attention is captured. This is it. We’re about to see if Isobel was right.
Thane’s answer will determine if I walk out of here with a wife, or engage in the biggest fight I’ve ever fought. War.
“Aye. We are pleased to say that we have decided to accept. Westlyn has offered herself to be Kieran’s wife—if that’s agreeable with him.”
Westlyn has offered herself to be Kieran’s wife. There has never been a sentence to make me any happier. “Aye. I’m agreeable to taking Westlyn as my wife.” More than agreeable, I’m fucking elated.
“I think Kieran and Westlyn will make a good match,” my father says. He’s wrong. I already know that we make a perfect match. “And your decision on who will be taking Shaw as a wife?”
“I will,” Mitch says.