Society Weddings (Corrigan & Co. Book 11) (9 page)

* * *

Nate

I wake up to Jade’s tongue moving across my
spine. I know she’s licking the tribal tattoo I have running down
my back, and it feels damn good. “Morning, Angel.”

“You know what today is?”

“Our wedding day.”

“Until I kidnapped you.”

“Best day of my life.”

It was. Even though her dad and all of her
friends flipped out. Once Jade told them why we did it, they
admitted it was the best thing for us. I still hate that she gave
up her fancy wedding, which is why I worked with Stella on a
surprise for today.

“Mine too. We should just stay in bed today.
You know, start our honeymoon early.”

“We’ve been on a honeymoon since you came to
Paris and brought me home.”

“True, but tomorrow it’s official. Two weeks
on a private island. Just you and me.”

“And my cock. You know how sad he gets when
you forget him.”

“I’ll never forget him.”

“To get back to your original statement, we
can’t stay in bed today.”

“Why not?”

“We have a reception to get ready for.”

“A reception? What did you do, Soldier?”

“I didn’t
do
anything. I just
didn’t
undo
anything, either.”

She sits up and stares at me in shock. “You
didn’t call anyone to cancel?”

“The ceremony, yes. Just not the
reception.”

“Nate.”

“Jade.”

“I can’t let you do this.”

“It’s already done.”

“I didn’t expect this.”

“You weren’t supposed to.”

“You’re really okay with this?”

My heart swells as I see the worry in her
eyes. “Yes, Angel. I want to see you in your pretty dress, I want
to smash wedding cake in your face, and I want to dance with you
all night.”

“Swooning again.”

“Good.”

“Can I ask for one thing?”

“You can ask for a million things.”

“I just want one. Can you just wear your
vest, and not your jacket? No tie, and your sleeves rolled up?”

“You want some stubble too, don’t you?”

“Yes. Please,” she moans.

“Done.”

She grabs my cock, but I reluctantly pull
her hand off of me.

“He wants me.”

“24/7. No doubt. I want you too, but Stella
will be here any minute.”

“She’ll understand. She’s the last person
who’d cock-block me.”

“Behave, Mrs. Anderson.”

“Never, Mr. Anderson. And you know damn well
that you love it when I misbehave.”

I smile and pull her close. “I do. Later.
You can do whatever you want to me later.”

“I’m going to hold you to that.”

“Please do.”

She leans over me, and I
know she’s not going to wait. The doorbell rings before she can
make me push her away again. Which is a good thing, because
honestly I don’t know if I
could
push her away a second time. Saved by the
bell.

* * *

Jade

“You cock-blocked me, Stell,” I tell her
when I open the door.

She looks horrified. “Go back upstairs! I’ll
come back, or just come to my place. What do you need? Five
minutes? Ten?”

“She
needs
to go get ready. And five
minutes, Stell? I didn’t know you had such a low opinion of me,”
Nate tells her.

“You can’t get her off in five?” she asks
him with a smirk.

“Oh, he can, believe me he can,” I say with
a laugh.

“Then it isn’t an insult, is it? Besides,
you know I love you, Nate. Especially since I didn’t have to cancel
the party.”

“Love you too, Stell. Now get out.”

“Nate!”

“He just wants us to go get ready so he can
see you in your dress.”

“Very true.”

He kisses me hard and then pushes me out the
door as Stella laughs. “Have fun with your hand,” she tells him as
he flips her off before closing the door.

We take the elevator to her floor, and when
the doors open, all of my girls are there. They’re in robes with
champagne glasses in their hands. Ellie hands me one and pulls me
into a hug. We hold onto each other for a full minute, while
everyone else lets us have our space. She understands why I did
what I did, but I know it hurts her.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her again.

“Don’t ever be sorry for making Nate
comfortable. I just wish I could’ve seen it.”

“You’ve seen the video.”

“I know. And I’m sorry I’ve been kind of a
bitch about it.”

“You haven’t. If you were being a bitch,
you’d be telling me I can’t still be your matron of honor.”

“That would never happen. I love you,
J.”

“I love you too, El.”

“Are you two done now? We all still have
hair and makeup to take care of,” Stella reminds us.

“Yes, boss,” Ellie tells her.

We spend the next few hours getting ready. I
love these women so much, and I also respect the hell out of them.
I’m so glad I get the chance to wear my dress and have them with
me. The wedding wasn’t important, but having my friends with me to
celebrate is. I never told Nate, because I didn’t want him to feel
any pressure at all to do what I wanted, but I was a little
sad.

Stella has me step into my dress, and I
smile into the mirror once it’s on. The dress has an embroidered,
strapless, sweetheart neckline. The front is a few short, ruffled
layers of soft material, but the back is long enough to trail
behind me on the floor. There are a couple of big pink flowers at
my waist, too. Pink isn’t really my color, but I really love them.
To top things off, Stella found me a poufy hat thing to wear on the
side of the updo she did for me. Sparkly shoes with flowers and
pearls crossing over each other complete what was to be my wedding
look. I feel totally girly, and I love it.

The rest of the girls are in brown strapless
dresses that have beading over the top and side. They all look
gorgeous, especially Audrey with her baby bump. She still has about
three months, and none of us can wait. Tegan’s pregnant too, but
she’s barely showing. I think about having a baby with Nate, and
I’m surprised to find that I want one. I never planned to have
kids, but I want to have Nate’s baby. I’m not sure he’s ready for
that, but I need to talk to him about it. Later. Right now, I have
something else I need to do.

“I’ll meet you all in the tent, okay?”

“You’re going to see that horse, aren’t
you?” Stella asks me with a laugh.

“Yes. I want to see my boy before I go out
to my man.”

“I knew you would. Here, put these shoes
on,” she says, handing me some plain grey sandals. “And please try
not to totally ruin your dress in the barn.”

“I’ll try.”

I really do try. I hold the back of my dress
up until I get to Cherub’s stall. I let it go to hug and kiss him,
but I don’t move too much so I hope it’s okay. If not, I’ll deal
with Stella’s wrath. I just need to see him.

“How did I know you’d be here?” Nate asks
from behind me.

“I just wanted to see him for a minute.”

“I know. I’m not jealous of him anymore.
Much.”

I turn to my husband. “You have nothing to
be jealous about, and you know it. Cherub is like our kid, just in
horse form.”

“We never talk about kids.”

“I wasn’t sure you wanted them,” I say,
biting my lip.

“Do you?”

“Yeah. I want a little Nate.”

“Well, I want a little Jade.”

“We may have to wait a couple of months. You
know, because of the super birth control, and also because some of
us still need to do missions for a few more months at least.”

“We have forever, Angel.”

“Yes we do, Soldier.”

He picks me up into his arms and carries me
out to the office area of the stable where I left my pretty shoes.
I switch them out once he sets them down, and then we walk hand in
hand to the reception tent. All of the boxing-themed things I
picked with Stella look amazing. Nate and I both love the boxing
ring centerpieces that are filled with roses, and feature different
famous boxers. Our cake with the fighting couple is great, too. And
honestly, even if this whole place was in shambles, it would be
perfect. I’m married to Nate, and we both want kids. What more
could a girl want?

Brayden

I look over at Darcy sleeping next to me,
and cringe. Not because I would want her anywhere else, but because
she’s forced to be here with me in the castle. We’re getting ready
for our royal wedding, and I know she hates it. She hates every
minute she’s had to spend taking formal pictures and being
interviewed for magazines. I thank God every day that she loves me
enough to put up with this shit. I don’t know what I’d do if she
told me it was too much for her.

“What’s wrong, Bray?” she asks in a sleepy
voice.

“Just thinking. Go back to sleep, Cat.”

“Stop worrying about the weddings. I’m fine.
We get to have our real wedding first, and I can pretend to be a
princess for a day after that.”

“You hate it.”

“But I love you. I would marry you 100 times
if that’s what we needed to do. It’s really not a big deal.”

“I love you so much. You know that
right?”

“I think I got the memo when you gave up
your kingdom for me,” she tells me with a smirk.

“I’d give up 100 kingdoms for you.”

“We’re getting too sappy this early in the
morning. Go back to sleep with me, Crown.”

“You’ll have a crown in a few days, you
know.”

“I still can’t believe you let me have so
many diamonds for it.”

“You could have them all if you wanted them.
Plus, you picked the citrine for your ring,” I remind her, holding
up her hand to look at the large orange stone surrounded by small
diamonds on the gold band.

“I wanted color.”

“I’m well aware of your love for the color
orange,” I tell her as I slide my hand through her hair.

She sits up suddenly and looks serious. “Is
it okay that I had my ring made out of a lesser gem? You’ve never
said anything, but did Parliament give you trouble?”

They did, but I didn’t want to tell her.
“They would’ve preferred a diamond, or even a sapphire, but it’s
not their ring.” Which is exactly what my Uncle Steven told
them.

“Does the crown make up for it a
little?”

“Yes. I need you not to worry about it,
though. Parliament can go fuck themselves for all I care.”

“If I can’t worry about Parliament, then you
can’t worry about me having to endure a royal wedding.”

“I’m going to make things as easy for you as
possible. I promise.”

“I don’t need easy, Bray. You should know
that by now. Nothing in my life has ever been easy.”

“Including me.”

“You,” she says with a mischievous smile.
“You are wonderfully hard.”

“Why yes I am.”

I roll over on top of her and show her just
how hard I am. A couple of hours later, we both fall into a sound
sleep, sated and happy. I think of all she’s been through as I
drift off, and I vow to keep my promise and make the weddings easy
for her. It’s the least I can do.

* * *

Darcy

“Get off the bloody railing before you
fall,” Jenysis tells me.

“I won’t fall,” I reply.

“Stella will kill you if you ruin your
wedding dress.”

“Spoilsport,” I tell her, knowing she’s
right.

Today is my
real
wedding to Brayden.
The one that’s just for us and our friends and family. It will be
informal and fun, just like we are in our daily lives. My man may
be a prince, but he has adapted to a “normal” life with me in Las
Vegas rather easily.

For today, I get to wear a whimsical dress.
It’s strapless with some embroidery on top. The bottom has
asymmetrical satin and chiffon ruffles before falling into just
layers of chiffon on the bottom. I love it, and I love the
bridesmaids dresses my friends are all wearing.

They’re orange with one strap of flowers and
some embroidery on top. The bottom skirt barely comes to the top of
their thighs, but there’s long pieces of chiffon crisscrossing to
the floor. It’s something I would wear, and I’m glad they love them
as well. Especially since they can’t all stand with me at the other
wedding. There it will just be Jen and some of her distant royal
cousins.

Even though I’m excited for today, I
couldn’t resist taking a walk on the balcony railing. It overlooks
the sea, and was just too inviting for me to ignore. I didn’t think
anyone would miss me, but obviously they did. Or at least Jen did.
I was hoping to talk to her alone anyway.

“How are you doing?” I ask.

“I’m brilliant. Joining the Society is a
dream come true for me. I can’t wait for training to begin.”

“I’m glad about that, but I was referring to
you and Wayne.”

“That’s not a thing.
We’re
not a
thing.”

“Why not?”

“Because he’s a stupid arse who just wants
to bang as many birds as possible.”

“Whoa. You’re really mad at him. I knew you
were upset, but you’ve gone all common with your language there,
Princess.”

“Oh bugger off, Darcy.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you,” I tell her as
tears start to form in her eyes.

“I think I love him. I’m just a daft cow for
thinking he was interested in more than just shagging me.”

“No, you’re not. He’s into you. Like
seriously into you. You two just need to talk.”

“I’m scared to talk to him.”

“Society girls are not scared of talking to
men.”

“Oh really? Because I don’t think any of you
had a smooth road to romance.”