She’d let Alena help her dress, but she’d gone very quiet. She hadn’t asked questions, nor had she said anything. That alarmed him a little, and Alena had frowned a lot when she’d reported it to him, but she’d said she’d kept very close to Soleil. She hadn’t said she wanted out, which, had she, at any time, they would have had to let her go. She wasn’t so drunk that she didn’t know what a wedding gown was. She had gotten into the gown, the heels, and let Alena do her hair without a word. She’d drunk the small shot of whiskey and climbed onto the back of his bike and held on tight.
The chapel wasn’t far from the bar where he’d retrieved his bike, and it was Player who carefully helped Soleil off the motorcycle when they arrived. Alena was there quickly to untie the gown and let it fall to the ground. She fussed over the dress for a few minutes until she was satisfied it was perfect, and then they were all moving inside, surrounding the bride.
“You look beautiful,” Ice whispered to her. He took her hand. “Absolutely beautiful.”
“It’s the dress,” she whispered back. “I can’t believe you bought this for me. It had to be—”
“Don’t say it, princess. After that exceptional blow job, I made up my mind. You give me any nonsense about money, I’m going to occupy your mouth with better things. You’re not going to want to accommodate me here in front of everyone.”
She laughed. Out loud. The sound played over his skin and slipped deeper, striking inside his chest so that he rubbed his hand over his heart. There was something very real about Soleil, as if she took every moment and tried to live it to the fullest.
“You never know. You tasted amazing, and that cock of yours is worth worshipping.”
His heart clenched hard. His cock jerked, coming to attention at the praise. He kept his eyes on her face. Her high cheekbones and the long sweep of her lashes, the generous mouth, the straight little princess nose. Her eyes were almost too big, but the kind that a man could drown in.
“You can’t say things like that to me. I don’t give a damn who sees me fucking my woman, as long as they know they can’t touch what’s mine.”
“I don’t much care who sees me fucking my man, as long as they know they can’t touch what’s mine,” she echoed and laughed again.
She shook her head. Her eyes were dark chocolate, looking liquid, as if all that chocolate had melted for him. She did things to his insides he wasn’t expecting. She had his body, he accepted that, but she was crawling inside him, and that was a little dangerous. She might see things that would scare her to death. Winston was a little pussy, and he scared her. Ice was death coming. He couldn’t imagine what she would think.
Storm had told him more than once, when he’d been beating the shit out of someone because he couldn’t take forcing his release one more time, that fucking wasn’t everything in a relationship. That even if you found the perfect woman, the way Reaper had found Anya, or Steele, Breezy, even Czar, with Blythe, if you wanted to keep her, you had to find a way to live with her. Judging by the rocky beginnings each of his brethren had had, it was true.
At the same time, Ice knew Storm was wrong. There had to be a real physical attraction. One his body recognized. Just looking at Soleil almost hurt. More, she suited his peculiar proclivities. He wouldn’t be an easy man to live with, but he would find ways to make that up to her. He knew he had charm. He was an expert at all things sexual. And he wanted her to be happy. He could make her safe.
While he was going through all the reasons in his head to convince himself that he was doing the right thing, Soleil was looking around her, suddenly sobering. She looked at the chapel. The flowers. The way his club surrounded them. Alena holding two bouquets. The strange little man at the front of the chapel with an open book waiting for them.
“Ice.” She whispered his name. “What are we doing here?”
“I signed your prenup, princess, and you signed mine. This is all we’ve got left to do. Almost everyone is here. We’re missing a few of the brothers and Lana, but they know about it and are waiting at home to welcome you. They’re getting the house ready for us.”
“You don’t understand what I did, honey.” She touched his face with the pads of her fingers. “I deliberately set out to seduce you. I made certain you were drinking too much. You don’t know what you’re doing.”