by Terra Wolf
I swallowed hard. I had to pull this situation together if it was the last thing I did. “Hey, hey, hey. Take it easy, girlfriend. Let’s just take a few deep breaths and think this thing through before we jump to any hasty conclusions.”
Her eyes snapped to my face, and I understood everything. The bridesmaids, the maid of honor, even the groom and the groomsmen all had their busy lives pulling them away from her. She was left alone with all her doubts and fears and worst-case scenarios. All she needed was a little reassurance, a little support.
I swiveled around in the car seat and took hold of her shoulders. “Now listen to me, Julia. I want you to think real hard about this. Are you certain Brayden’s the man for you? Forget all that other stuff about the wedding turning into a disaster and you being humiliated in front of everyone. Just put aside the possibility that he might decide you’re not the right woman for him. Just think about you. Are you sure, in your own mind, that he’s the right guy?”
“Well, yeah, but what about...?”
I cut her off. “Don’t even start with ‘but what about.' You’re sure. That’s all you need to worry about. You let Brayden take care of Brayden, and the rest of the wedding will be just fine.”
She sniffed. “Are you sure?”
“Of course, I’m sure. Now come on. We’ve got a fitting to get to.”
She dragged her wrist over her face. “Mckenna?”
“What, babe?”
“Do you really think there’s one right person in the world for everyone?”
I stared out the front windshield at nothing. My answer to that changed so many time over the last few months, I wasn’t sure what to say. Did I really think Ellis Johnson was the right man for me?
I only had to think about one thing to answer that question: Vegas. Our time in Vegas proved it. He was the right guy for me. I’d bet everything I had on it.
“Yes, that’s why us bears mate for life. I know you’re not one of us, but that doesn’t matter. Humans and shifters get together all the time. And once you’re Claimed, that’s it. You’re together, and that’s a beautiful thing.”
17
ELLIS
I put the phone down and took another look at the construction plans on the new development project my agent sent over. The project was coming along nicely, even if it did require constant supervision night and day.
Through it all, my mind kept drifting back to Mckenna and our cub. I got it all mapped out in my head, just as sure as I had the development under control. I planned to renovate my house, so it wasn’t such a guy pad. I even went down to the local jewelry store and picked out the most perfect diamond for the ring. My parents were happy, hell my brothers even more so. And one day when Celeste was better, I would tell her too.
Planning to pop the question to Mckenna was the easy part. Anytime the construction project started to get on my nerves, all I had to do was lean back in my chair and imagine proposing to her. I would hand her a bunch of long-stemmed roses and ask her to make me the happiest man in the world—like she hadn’t already. That scene calmed me right down every time.
Planning how to break the news to Brayden and the rest of the family—well, that was a different kettle of fish. To begin with, I couldn’t say anything until well after the wedding. I didn’t want to steal Brayden’s thunder by shifting the attention to Mckenna and me when everyone should be celebrating him and Julia.
Then there was the little detail of Mckenna being pregnant. Once the news broke, the family would count on their fingers and figure out we did around the time of the engagement party. They would calculate we were screwing around when we should have been supporting the bride and groom.
Not to mention the other bomb that I messed around with Mckenna back in college and even as far back as high school. Brayden would explode. Explode didn’t begin to cover it. He would disown me. He would probably knock me out. He would do everything to make sure I never came near his sister again. Was this thing really worth losing my oldest friend?
Heaven knows I spent enough time over the last weeks thinking about it. I decided to propose to Mckenna after Brayden and Julia came back from their honeymoon. All the commotion of the wedding would die down, and I could have a nice heart-to-heart with Brayden. Maybe I could satisfy him with knocking me out. Maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t come after me with a double-barreled shotgun.
Enough about that. Now I’d go back to thinking about the actual proposal. Don’t think about the negatives. Focus on the positives. That was the best strategy.
So that’s why I left the ring at home when I went out to the rehearsal and the dinner afterward. I wasn’t planning on proposing to her then. Mistake number one. I showed up to the rehearsal, but I didn’t see Mckenna anywhere. She and Julia and Helena and all the bridesmaids were sequestered in a separate part of the hall—sequestered for real this time, unlike the bachelor and bachelorette parties where we all just pretended sequestered.
Brayden and the guys had to go be guys in a different part of the hall. Brayden got flustered putting on his suit. Sam had to tie his bow tie for him because he never wore one before. I took out my own personal tailored tux and put it on while the others tried on their rentals. When I got back into the room, Brayden’s eyes bugged out when he saw me. “Man! You look like you just robbed a bank. You look like Al Capone or something.”
I had to laugh. “That’s what a tailored suit will do for you. You could spend a million dollars on the right suit, and it would still look like chopped liver if you didn’t get it tailored.”
He stared at me like he’d never seen me before in his life. “You really know how to knock them dead, don’t you? I guess that’s one of the perks of living the billionaire lifestyle.”
“It comes with the trade, man,” I told him. “When you attend enough industry balls and evening wear conferences as I do, you learn a few things. They don’t make life any more enjoyable, though.”
I didn’t see Mckenna until the actual rehearsal. There I was, standing in line with the other groomsmen when she came strutting down the aisle with the bridesmaids. She looked a thousand times better than the bride. I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I stood transfixed and ogled her luscious curves sauntering down the aisle. Flowers decorated her hair, and a close pearl choker accentuated her willowy neck.
What would it be like to watch her walk down the aisle at her own wedding? My bear could barely handle it. I let my imagination run away with me. I let myself fantasize I was the nervous groom, and she was coming to meet me at the altar. Her eyes glowed right at me all the way down the aisle. Her lips spread into a bright smile.
Then she slipped out of my sight again. I had to turn to face the altar, so all I could see were Brayden and Julia. Mckenna and the other bridesmaids stood behind my line of sight, but I didn’t listen to the rehearsal service. She occupied my whole awareness even when I couldn’t see her.
Did she think about me? Was she imagining marrying me? Would me proposing to her come out of left field, or would it fall into her vision of us together? Either way, it was meant to be. I Claimed her, she let me. This was it. Nothing could keep us apart. It was just a matter of time before we did the human traditions.
After the rehearsal, everyone went to the dining room for the rehearsal dinner. Long trestle tables stretched the length of the room. Name cards sat at every place, and what do you know, I found myself sitting right next to Mckenna.
I murmured to her in an undertone so no one could hear me. “How have you been?”
“Not too bad. You really had Julia and Brayden worried when you got so busy with work these last few weeks. They wondered if you would show up today.”
My head whipped around to stare at her profile. “Were you worried, too? Did you worry I wouldn’t show up? Did you think I would pull a jailbird on you and fly away?”
Her ears turned pink. “I won’t lie to you. I wasn’t sure if you had second thoughts. I wondered what could be so important that you wouldn�
��t even text me to say hi.”
“I’m sorry you worried,” I told her. “What was so important was planning the rest of our lives. I couldn’t exactly go public on our relationship in the middle of Brayden’s wedding, could I?”
She whirled around to face me. “Is that the only reason?”
“Of course, it is, Mckenna. Don’t you think it kills me that I can’t shout it from the rooftops that you’re having my cub? It’s torture.”
A beautiful flush spread across her cheeks. What it did to me to be sitting nose to nose with her and not be able to kiss her in front of all those people! “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have doubted you.”
“You never have to doubt me. I’ll always be right here, but I can’t make my move until all this kafuffle is over.”
She studied me for a brief instant. Then she nodded toward the door. “Do you feel like getting out of here?”
I swallowed my pate. “You mean, like, ditch the rehearsal dinner?”
“Not ditch it. Just....you know...for a second.”
I glanced around. She wasn’t actually suggesting this, was she?
I slid back my chair and strolled out of the room. I wasn’t sure where to go, so I just went wherever. I had no idea where I was going when I bumped into her coming from the other exit door. She headed straight for me and took hold of my hand.
My heart threatened to break through my ribs. If only I’d brought the ring, I would have gone down on one knee right there in the lobby. She didn’t give me a chance to say anything. She veered off into the garden outside.
The instant we got out the door, she was all over me. She mangled my lips between her teeth. She slithered her hands inside my jacket to grope all over my chest and under my armpits. She tugged at my belt until I had to grab her hands to stop her dropping my drawers right there in front of God and everyone.
I hustled her into a corner to give us some protection in case anybody walked out on us. Once out of sight, I couldn’t hold her back. She whipped my belt open and dove her hand into my pants. She found my hard-on all ready for her. She bent down and gave it a nasty little suck. Oh, she could suck the life out of any man with those wicked lips of hers. She didn’t finish me off, though.
She stood up and flashed me her come-on-and-take-me eyes. I never could resist those eyes, especially not with her curvy pregnant body so incredibly hot in my hands. I spun her around and shoved her voluptuous chest against the wall. She squeaked in surprise, but I already hitched up her skirts and trailed my cock between her alabaster thighs. I found the engorged slit between her frilly petals, and I was in.
She crammed that ass back against me. Forget delicate and loving and tender. This was all brutal passion and heinous excitement. A few blistering strokes, and she whined in primal desire. Her juices singed my cock, but I wouldn’t stop. I wanted this as much as she did, and we had a dining hall full of guests probably wondering where we were. We had to be quick.
Her ass gave me a dozen hard slaps, and her head pitched forward. Her hair curtained off her face, but angelic whining orgasms rippled from her ruby lips. She gushed all over my cock, and I poured out my soul into her foaming vent.
An explosion of laughter and applause echoed out of the hall and distracted me from doing anything else. Her head shot up, and she shook the hair out of her face. She glanced around. She was thinking the same thing. We had to get back in there.
She straightened her skirt and disappeared while I worked overtime to get myself together. I just nailed my pregnant mate in the garden outside her brother’s wedding venue. Even if she weren't my real wife just yet, she would be soon.
She straightened her dress, gave me a quick kiss on the lips and ran back inside.
I zipped up and adjusted my bow tie. I shrugged my jacket into place and started for the door. My foot crossed the threshold when a hand closed around my arm like a vise. I spun around and came face to face with Brayden.
He kept his voice to a low rumble, and he hissed through his teeth “You think you can come in here and screw my little sister? You son of a bitch! I’ll kill you for this.”
“Brayden!” I stammered. “I never....”
“Shut up, you prick! You back-stabber!” His face quivered all over in blind rage. “I just saw you outside. I just saw you bone my sister through that window over there. I never should have invited you to this wedding. I never should have trusted you. I should have known you would do something like this.”
I thought fast. “Listen, Brayden, it’s not what you think.”
“Stay away from my sister!” he snapped. “Stay away from her, or I’ll take this to the clan. Do you hear me?”
He turned on his heel and stormed off, back to the hall.
18
MCKENNA
How I got through the whole wedding ceremony without jumping Ellis in front of everybody, I’ll never know. It was a good thing I couldn’t see him, or I probably would have. That quickie behind the flower hedge at the rehearsal dinner was the hottest thing I’d ever experienced—just enough of a tease to whet my whistle but not enough to really satisfy.
I couldn’t take my eyes off him walking down the aisle. Was he thinking about getting his hands on me? His eyes swept up and down my dress, but he gave nothing away. He kept his expression straight and composed. He looked so big and impressive in his tux. He dwarfed everyone in the line-up of groomsmen.
I lost sight of him during the ceremony. The officiant talked all about a lifetime commitment and giving of yourself to your partner to get the most out of marriage. Would Ellis and I ever have that? Could he make that commitment? He did Claim me back in Vegas, and I knew that meant something.
I would love to spend my life with him. I would love to give myself to make his burden lighter. I would love to be a soft place for him to fall in the storms of life. The officiant made that sound so noble and grand. She made it sound like the greatest thing anybody could ever do.
After the ceremony and all the toasts and the cake and dancing and everything, the crowd of relatives and friends started to cut loose. The band switched to lively dance music, and people started tying one on. They let their inhibitions go, and I had a hankering to let mine go the way we did yesterday.
I prowled around the bar and the punch bowl and the cluster of groomsmen. No Ellis anywhere. Where could he disappear to? I searched the whole venue more than once. I scanned every face, but couldn’t find him.
I caught sight of him talking to Brayden, but by the time I got over there to intercept him, Ellis vanished into the crowd. I swear I saw him glance my way, and when he noticed me approaching, he broke off his conversation and made some excuse to drift off.
Did I really see that, or did I just imagine it? What reason could he have to avoid me like that? Did I do something to offend him? If I did, I would hope he would tell me instead of just walking away.
After that, I found it even harder to pin him down. I didn’t see him anywhere, and when I did, he always managed to give me the slip. I looked so long I started to see him in other people. I would get so excited that I finally found him. Then the person would turn around, and my heart would fall into my shoes.
I almost gave up in despair when I spotted a pair of square shoulders near the buffet. That had to be him. No one dominated the crowd like he did, and I couldn’t mistake that thatch of curly hair if I were blind.
I strode up to him and laid my hand on his shoulder. Just touching him excited me. Where would we go? What would we do? What position would he use this time? How many different ways would he do me before he slipped away into the crowd? Would he take me back to his place? Would he find somewhere close, someplace to sneak off for a quick one?
He turned around, and when I saw the expression on his face, my blood ran cold. He didn’t fix me with that smoldering glare of ravenous desire. He looked right through me. I might as well not exist. “Hello, Mckenna. Have you tried this antipasto? You should. It’s excellent.”
The
n, in front of my eyes, he strolled out to the dance floor. He walked up to Helena and started talking to her. He laughed and joked and chatted with her like I wasn’t even there. I blinked, but I couldn’t make my mind comprehend what just happened. He did NOT just ask me if I tried the antipasto. He did NOT walk away from me to go hit on Helena.
Is this what I dreamed about all these weeks? Is this what he had in mind when he promised me the moon in Vegas? He made up a big story about us being together, about raising our cub and loving each other, and now he turned his back on me again.
I couldn’t face him snubbing me like that again. I spun away on my heel and stomped off toward the coat room. I had to get out of there. I couldn’t bear the humiliation of being dumped at my own brother’s wedding. I almost got to the coat room when Sam rushed up to me. “Come on, Mckenna! Brayden and Julia are leaving. We’re all going outside to send them off.”
I got swept up in a rush to send off the bride and groom. The limo purred up to the entrance. The photographers snapped more pictures of the big moment. Brayden and Julia hugged everybody and waved. They even hugged me. I plastered a big smile on my face so they wouldn’t see me dying inside. In a few seconds, this would be over, and I could disappear into the blackest depression of my life.
Julia hugged me so many times she dampened my dress with her tears. I shoved her toward the limo. “Go on. Get out of here.”
She laughed and cried and waved. Finally, after way too long, she got in, and the limo drove away. All the guests hung around the entrance to watch the limo out of sight. The instant it vanished around the first corner, I stormed back inside on a beeline for the coat room. I wouldn’t stick around to watch everybody fall all over each other in an orgy of drunken ecstasy.
I strode down the hall and grabbed my coat. I didn’t have my own car here, but I could walk a few blocks away and either catch a bus or hail a cab. No need to stand on ceremony. When I noticed a bunch of people still hanging around the entrance, I headed for the back door. I got my hand on the handle when a rough voice called out, “Mckenna, wait!”
