Every Blissful Moment (Hyena Heat Book 4) (4 page)

“When we marry her, I think we should take her somewhere for a honeymoon.  I know it’s winter, but I don’t want to just bring her back to our den and stay, I want her to get the whole wedding treatment,” Rome said.

“All right, why don’t you start researching places and we’ll give her some options.  I’m thinking someplace secluded, kind of like where we went for the
gathering
except not there.  I know the people who run the campground are nice, but the cabins are too close together,” Memphis said.

As they made plans for the next day, Lincoln was glad that his brothers were happy to move things forward with Bliss.  He was crazy about his sweetheart, and the sooner she wore their rings and became their legal wife, the happier he’d be.  She was a drug for him, and he couldn’t get enough of her.

As the protector of the clan, he knew that keeping Bliss safe was the most important duty he’d ever had, but he wanted her to be happy too.  Knowing that she and Rome had already said they’d loved each other made him want to punch his younger brother in the face.  He’d thought they’d all say it together when they proposed, but now he felt like he was behind. He didn’t like that feeling at all.  When they’d joined him and Bliss on the bed, though, he hadn’t wanted to draw her out of the haze of pleasure she was in by telling her he was head over heels in love with her, so he’d do it tomorrow night.  He’d look into her big brown eyes and tell her that there would never be anyone else for him for the rest of his life.  She was it – his heart, his soul, his everything.  Every moment with her was as blissful as her name, and he couldn’t wait to make her theirs in every way.

Chapter 3

Bliss decided that her new favorite thing to do was eat wedding cake while her husbands tracked her every move with their eyes.  The four-tiered, butter cream-frosted marvel was filled with vanilla bean cake and sweet strawberries.  The wedding had started promptly at eleven-thirty on New Year’s Eve.  Her two besties, Whisper and Angel, were with her, and Mack had walked her down the aisle in place of her father.

It had taken her a while to finally feel like she’d gotten past the initial hurt of her parents’ actions, but when Mack had given her to her mates instead of the man who’d raised her, she found herself struggling to maintain her composure.  She should be crying happy tears for belonging to her mates, not only through their marking and mating ceremony, but now legally, but she couldn’t stop wishing that things were different.

The minister had allowed them to say their own vows, and they’d taken it to heart when she said she didn’t just want them to repeat the same tired, traditional vows.  Memphis had pledged to love her forever, to be her rock, and her anchor.  Lincoln had sworn to protect her at any cost and to never let her go a day without hearing that he loved her.  Rome had promised that he’d take care of her for the rest of their lives and that she’d never want for anything, least of all love.  At midnight, they’d been announced as husbands and wife.  She thought it was fitting that her new life was starting on the first day of the new year.  Her sadness at having no family members to stand up with her had quickly dissipated as she’d realized that she now had a huge family in the hyenas.  She and Whisper were sisters now, even though they’d always considered themselves such, and her mates’ parents had opened their hearts and home to Bliss as easily as if they’d known her their whole lives.

She wasn’t sure the sting of her parents’ rejection would ever truly go away, but she swore to herself that she wouldn’t let sorrow rule her life.  She had too much to be happy about, especially on this day, when she sat at the head table in the pack bar, wearing a beautiful pale pink gown, surrounded by her sexy husbands.

Whisper and her brothers sang all of Bliss’s favorite songs, and all of her favorite foods were on the menu, from chicken cordon bleu to creamed spinach to mozzarella sticks.  It was a strange menu, but she knew her mates had made sure that everything she loved was on it.

After dancing the first dance with her three mates in a shuffling, awkward, but very sweet way, the dance floor was opened to the attendees.  She danced with each of her husbands individually, her new fathers, and finally Mack, Kross, and then Kayne.

The DJ’s music came on over the speakers, and Bliss found herself being pulled from Lincoln’s strong arms to face her two besties.  They hugged and laughed, swaying along and reminiscing about how they’d thought their weddings would turn out when they were younger.  Whisper and Bliss had never imagined that they’d have more than one mate.

Angel sighed wistfully.  “Now I really feel left behind, you guys!  I’m the only single one in the group.”

“Heaven’s single,” Bliss pointed out.

Angel rolled her eyes.  “I don’t know her and she lives in Maryland.”

“It’s not like I’m moving away,” Bliss said.  “We’ll be back in a week and then I’ll see you guys every Friday.”

Her mates had found them the perfect rental house on the other side of Beyton from the bar.  It was an older two-story home on a quiet street, with a wooded backyard and plenty of room for a garden, which she was really excited about.  Her mates had been insistent on finding them a place to live right away.  Once they had proposed, they’d taken her to several homes for rent in town.

Her mates had gone to work immediately, outfitting the entire downstairs with shutters on the doors and windows to block out the light.  They’d replaced the front door with a security door that would lock them in, and had boarded up the stairs to the second story.  The first floor had a nice-sized kitchen, a family room with a fireplace, and a dining room that the previous owners had converted into a bedroom complete with a full bath.  What had once been a guest bedroom now became their den, with an enormous bed taking up most of the room.  Bliss had thought she might feel claustrophobic being locked up in the first floor of their home, but she was anything but.  She loved the closeness she felt to her mates as they spent their days and nights together.

Before she met her mates, she’d worked as a receptionist at a temp agency.  She’d quit when she wasn’t sure she’d be coming back to Beyton, and her mates had assured her that she could do whatever she wanted.  It hadn’t taken but one phone call to Whisper for Bliss to be offered a job at the bar, working for Mack in the office.  She was in charge of the schedule, collecting timecards, as well as ordering food, alcohol, and other bar supplies.  Rome had accepted a job from Mack as well, working with Bliss in the office, but also handling repairs around the bar.  Because of their denning-in, they only left the house on Fridays, so she and Rome went to the bar, while Lincoln and Memphis went to Beyton Landscaping to work.

The night waned, and her mates wanted to get on the road to their honeymoon.  They hadn’t told her where they were going, only that she needed to pack warm clothes.  “I should change out of my dress,” she said as Memphis pulled her into his arms and kissed her.

“We don’t have a really long drive, and besides,
we
want to take your dress off.”

“Oh?”  She batted her eyelashes and he chuckled.

“You know it.  Say goodbye to your best friends, love, we need to hit the road.”

As she hugged Whisper and Angel, she said goodbye and went to find her in-laws.  “You are the loveliest bride,” Lena, her mother-in-law, said.  “I’m so happy my sons found you and that I can call you my daughter.”

“Thank you for everything.”

“Have fun,” Calvin, the oldest male, said, “and be careful.  Make sure my sons take good care of you.”

“I know they will,” she promised, kissing the cheeks of her fathers-in-law.

Her long wool winter coat was slipped over her shoulders, and she turned her head to see Rome putting it on.  “You always take such good care of me.”

“You’re mine, Bliss, and it makes me happy to make you happy.”

She loved how he could say the corniest things but mean them from the bottom of his heart.  They walked out of the bar to the waiting SUV, which had been decorated by her friends with streamers and flowers.  Someone had written in bold letters on the back windshield ‘Just Married.’  The pack cheered, and she paused for a moment to toss her bouquet over her shoulder to the waiting single females.  Although she would’ve liked for Angel to catch it, the normally scrappy blonde hadn’t even taken a step toward where the bouquet was headed.

Waving out the window of the second-row seat, she covered her mouth as she yawned.  Memphis always liked to drive when they were together, but this time he’d chosen to sit on the bench seat with her while Lincoln drove and Rome navigated.  He slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

“You can rest, sweetheart.  We have a five-hour drive.”  His lips brushed against her temple, and she shivered.  Just being near her mates made her body respond immediately.

“Hey, none of that until we get where we’re going,” Lincoln cautioned.

“Now you know why I didn’t want to drive,” Memphis said, tipping her chin until he could kiss her.

“Tell me where we’re going?”

“Nah, I want you to be surprised.”

“I’m not a big fan of surprises.”

“Everyone says that, but secretly I think you’d rather not know.”

She hummed, and it turned into another yawn.  Tugging on his bowtie, she undid it and the top button of his dress shirt so he’d be more comfortable.  All her mates had worn identical tuxes, with red-and-black swirled bowties and vests.  “You all look so sexy.  I was the luckiest woman there.”

“And we were the envy of all the males,” Memphis promised.

Snuggling against his warmth, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

She woke up several hours later with a crick in her neck and the inability to see.  She blinked and still saw nothing but darkness.  Panic rushed over her, but Memphis’s strong hands hugged her close.  “It’s just a blindfold, love.  I said it was a surprise, and I meant it.”

“You could’ve just asked me to close my eyes, you know.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” he teased.

The SUV was turned on, but they weren’t moving.  She couldn’t hear anyone but Memphis.  “Not even a hint?”

He hummed but said nothing.  While she silently plotted her revenge, two doors opened and the SUV rocked a little as they were slammed shut.

“Good morning, wife,” Lincoln said, chuckling.

She said good morning to her other husbands while the SUV moved backward slowly, and then forward.  She could smell coffee, but without being able to see she didn’t want to take a chance of accidentally spilling it.  She hoped that they’d get wherever they were taking her soon.

After what felt like a really long time but Memphis assured her had only been an hour, the SUV stopped once more.  The door next to her opened, and she felt someone slide his hands under her and pull her into his arms.  She immediately recognized Lincoln’s broad chest.

“I am so totally going to get you back for the blindfold,” she whispered in his ear.

“I’m looking forward to it,” he said, chuckling.

It was freezing, and she could smell the fresh, clean scents of snow and pine.  Her ears were more sensitive than a human’s, as were her sense of smell and sight, but she couldn’t hear anything over the crunch of snow under Lincoln’s feet.  There was warmth suddenly and she felt as if he’d carried her inside.  A door shut behind her and Lincoln lowered her until she was resting on what felt like a couch.

“Close your eyes, it’s bright out,” Lincoln said, and she obeyed, squeezing her eyes tightly but still wincing as the blindfold came off and the daylight made her eyes burn.

She blinked rapidly, shielding her eyes for a long moment until she grew used to the light.  She was in a cabin.  Her mates stood in front of her in their tuxes, identical heated smiles on their faces.

“Welcome to our honeymoon, love,” Memphis said, offering her his hand.  He helped her stand and gave her the grand tour.  The small cabin had a family room with a brick fireplace, a small kitchen, one full bath, and two bedrooms. One bedroom had a king-size bed and the other had two sets of bunk beds.

“Who gets the bunks?” she asked as innocently as she could manage.

Lincoln snarled and hooked his arm around her waist, drawing her against his body.  “Don’t get any funny ideas about sleeping alone, sweet thing.”

“Sweet thing?”

“You’re sweet,” he said, shrugging.

Wrinkling her nose, she said, “Sweet’s for little old ladies.”

“I didn’t mean sweet temperament, I meant sweet tasting.  Speaking of, what kind of sexy things are you wearing under this beautiful dress?”

“I’ll have you know I’m wearing a chastity belt covered with a pair of granny panties and a bra with two padlocks.”

Her mates laughed and walked her out to the family room.  Rome gave her a cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll while they busied themselves setting up in front of the fireplace.  Lincoln arranged firewood while Memphis and Rome piled bedding and pillows a few feet away from the fire.  The cinnamon roll was delicious, and the coffee was made just the way she liked it with extra sugar and whole milk.

While they worked, she got up, walked to the closed curtains and tugged one back.  “Oh, wow,” she said softly, looking outside for the first time.  “Where are we?”