Page 52 of Priceless
Cameron slid his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her in. I watched her eyes flutter as her Omega gave in. Her Omega knew. Somewhere deep down, even if the scent match couldn’t be recognized yet, she was ours. “We’re not going to do that,” he said quietly. “None of this is about embarrassing you, and especially after you’ve asked us not to.”
“Thank you.”
The photographer smiled at us. “Should I count you down?”
“Sure.” All three of us put our hands on Ocean’s, and we slid through the cake together. There was no smashing as I fed her a piece of the cake, entranced by the sight of frosting on her tongue and the barest brush of her lips on my skin.
“That’s amazing,” she said.
“Whatever’s left we’ll have taken home. Hell, if you love it, I’ll have one made for you every week.”
Ocean laughed. Really laughed. It was the first time I’d ever seen her face that open, and I realized how on edge she’d been this whole time. How reserved. Even speaking to her friends earlier, she was holding back.
“Having a wedding cake made every week would be a bit impractical, don’t you think?”
“Not at all. If it makes my wife happy, then it’s the perfect thing to do.”
She still smiled and lowered her voice. “Your fake wife.”
“We signed the license, beautiful. You are very much our real wife.”
“For now.”
I glanced at the others where they stood behind her. We couldn’t fault her for thinking that. It was the deal we’d proposed. But it wasn’t the truth. Ocean was our wife, and if there was anything we had to say about it, she would stay that way.
Holding out my hand to her, I bowed a little. “Will you dance with me, wife?”
She stared at my hand for a breath before she took it. “Yes.”
Our guests quieted as I tugged her onto the dance floor. She looked around like she was nervous, but I guided her against me. “It’s just us. No one else.”
Music floated from somewhere, wrapping around us as we danced slowly. Everything in me wanted to purr and make her relax. Feel the way she would melt into my arms. But Cameron was right. None of this was about embarrassing her, and I knew as surely as I knew she was my Omega that she wasn’t ready for that in front of people. She barely believed she should be standing next to us, let alone us purring for her. That could come later.
Or sooner.
“How are you feeling?” I asked her.
“I’m fine.” When I raised one eyebrow, she smiled again. “Everything is beautiful, and I can’t believe you did all of it.”
“But?”
“But nothing.” She still smiled. “I know why we’re here. We need the pictures for when you announce everything. So whatever we need to do, we’ll do.”
I kept the frown off my face. “We want you to enjoy yourself, Ocean. If you’re not, then we don’t have to stay.”
Something flashed in her eyes, and I couldn’t read it. Fuck, I wished we could bond her right this second so I could feel what she felt and soothe whatever fears she had. Finally, she whispered. “I am. Promise. I know I’ll never have anything like this again.”
“All right,” Cameron said, his hand coming down on my shoulder. “Enough monopolizing our wife. It’s my turn.”
She laughed as I spun her into his arms, but my heart ached. I retreated to Everett. He knew. “What’s wrong?”
“It’s…” I blew out a breath. “It’s so much deeper than we thought. She says she’s having a good time, but I don’t believe her. Because I don’t think she believes this is for her. She just thinks it’s a wedding, and she’s playing a role. Hell, she said she knows she’ll never have anything like this again.”
Everett scrubbed a hand over his face. “Do we leave now?”
“No. There are still people we need to see.” We’d kept the wedding small, but Ocean wasn’t entirely wrong about us needing to keep up appearances. It was real to us—so fucking real—but there was still the reason we did this in the first place. “But let’s start ticking them off.”
We did just that. We smiled our way through the crowd while Cameron danced with the Ocean, and he took over the socializing when Everett spun her away. When it was finally my turn again, she seemed dazed. “You ready to go, beautiful?”
