Page 108 of Bound

“I was there when Lilly came into the world, kicking and screaming as Lex passed her into her mother’s arms. I was there when she learnt to crawl, then walk—at ten bloody months old mind, which I can tell you was a right nightmare!” He laughs along with us, then holds my gaze. “I was there when she started talking, when she went off to school for the first time, when she experienced a thousand other milestones that a young girl does. And some that she never should have had to.” I bite my lip, Ash gripping one hand and Jax the other, Jax’s other hand wiping away the tear that escapes. Coughing, Ryan continues. “And now I’m here, standing in front of a beautiful woman, a beautiful wife, and wondering how I got so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter.” He swipes his own wet eyes, Lex handing him a tissue whilst a cry-laugh escapes her. “And I couldn’t be more proud of the young lady that you’ve become. We couldn’t be more proud. And your mum, well, I just know that wherever she is, she’s smiling and jumping around like a loon at how far you’ve come, at how much you’ve grown.”

Tears track freely down my cheeks as I nod, unable to say a single thing to this man who is a father to me, in all but blood.

“You’ve found yourself good guys, little one. Good protectors, who’ll take care of you for the rest of your life.” None of us miss the way that Ryan gives no shits and includes all my Knights, not just Ash, and I couldn’t give a flying fuck about the whispers from the other tables. “So, let’s raise our glasses in a toast,” he continues, a roguish look in his brown eyes as he lifts his champagne flute. “To Lilly and her Knights!” he cries, a shocked giggle escaping my lips as others at our table raise their glasses and make the same toast. The rest of our guests follow suit, a little delayed as no doubt they thought they ought to be toasting the bride and groom, not the bride and grooms.Ah well, fuck ’em!

“My turn,” Loki leans over to whisper, standing up and coming up next to me, holding his hand out. “Come on, Pretty Girl.”

I quirk a brow at him, but let him pull me from my chair and lead me over to the dance floor, a stage set up at one end. There’s a band there, a beautiful quirky black-haired girl smiling down at me, standing in front of a microphone. I don’t notice much else as Loki leaves me standing there, pressing a kiss to my cheek, then hops up onto the stage.

He confidently strides over to a high stool, which has an acoustic guitar propped up next to it, and a microphone in front of it. Grabbing the guitar, he sits down, giving me a panty decimating grin.

Then he opens his mouth and starts singingIf We Never Metby John K, and Kelsea Ballerini and I just melt. He looks into my eyes as he sings, and there’s an intense look in his own, like although the song has a fun beat, he wants me to take it seriously. And I do. I take the message he’s giving me into my very soul.

At one point, the girl starts singing solo and Loki puts his guitar back onto the stand, hops off the stage, and grabs my hand, pulling me towards him and moulding his body to mine as we dance together. I’d somehow forgotten that this boy can move like he’s making love on the dance floor.

He picks up the lyrics, singing into my ear as he moves his hips against mine in a slow, teasing movement, and my knees go weak, a fire igniting in my core at the memories of the times he’s been singing into my ear whilst being inside of me.

All too soon the song finishes, as do his movements, and I’m left pressed up against him, feeling just how affected he is with his heaving chest and hardness pressed against my stomach.

“You may be his wife, Pretty Girl,” he rasps into my ear, nuzzling my neck like he just can’t help himself. “But you’re my soulmate, the mother of my child, and I will love you for my entire life, and then some.”

“I fucking love you, Loki Thorn,” I manage to choke out, my voice thick with all the emotions that are swirling inside of me.

A throat clears behind me, and I turn to see Jax standing there, waiting a step behind us. Loki laughs, and I glance back at him.

“Your other soulmates await,” he tells me ruefully, pressing a kiss to the corner of my lip. Before he can pull away, I turn my face, kissing him full-on, uncaring of our other guests as I kiss the shit out of him.

It takes a second, but with a groan he returns the embrace, matching my passion with his own. Reluctantly, he pulls away and looks at me like I am everything in the entire world to him. Stepping away—luckily, he’s managed to get himself somewhat under control so that he’s not walking around at full mast—he walks backwards, holding my gaze until I feel a warmth at my back, huge hands alighting on my upper arms.

“May I have this dance, Baby Girl?” Jax’s rough voice whispers in my ear, the same ear that Loki murmured into. I shiver with the feel of it, all rough hands and long nights spent wrapped up in each other.

“Yes, always,” I reply, turning and letting him hold me in his huge arms. It always feels like coming home whenever Jax holds me, like I’m in a warm room, safely tucked away from the raging storm outside.

The sounds of a country guitar start playing, and when a male voice starts singing, I recognise the song asDie a Happy Manby Thomas Rhett.

A happy shiver caresses my skin, and my lips split into a wide grin as Jax leads me into a slow country swing dance. He moves with a grace that only those of us who know him aren’t surprised by and we twirl around the dance floor, uncaring that we’re the only ones dancing.

We lose ourselves in the music and each other, the twist and twirl of the moves, the lead and pull. I know that he chose this song purposefully, telling me how much I mean to him through the lyrics, and the way that he holds me like I’m the most precious thing in the world.

All too soon the song finishes, and once again I’m being held close by one of my Knights.

“You are the greatest thing to have ever happened to me, Baby Girl,” he mumbles into my hair, his voice rough with emotion. “And I don’t care that you’re a Vanderbilt, because you will always be mine as well.”

“Jax…” I rasp out, my own throat thick. These boys are determined to make me bawl my eyes out and explode with happiness today.

He pulls back, gazing fiercely into my eyes, his own a swirling blue vortex. Achingly slowly he lowers his face to mine, his lips pausing a hair's breadth above my own, his warm breath teasing me. Tired of waiting, I close the distance, a deep vibrating chuckle erupting in his chest at my brazen move.

Jax’s hand comes up to grip underneath my chin, his fingers on one side of my upper throat, his thumb on the other. He deepens the kiss with one of his signature growls, the noise heating my core as his tongue decimates mine, leaving me breathless and wanting more.

Before I can do something embarrassing—like climb him like a fucking spider monkey does a fruit tree—he pulls away, placing a gentle peck on my lips.

“Two more Knights, baby,” he whispers, taking hold of my upper arms and turning me to face away from him.

My head is still spinning from our kiss when honey amber fills my gaze.

“Hello, darling,” Kai’s melodic voice fills my ears, and even though my cheeks ache with smiling so much today, my kiss swollen lips lift.

“Hello, my love,” I murmur back, and his eyes close in bliss for a brief moment, before opening again. His hand reaches out, his fingers brushing my lips, heat making the amber glow like the setting sun.

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