Page 56 of Priceless
“Let’s get you cleaned up.” Cameron guided her back down onto the bed. “Once we’ve got you bandaged, we can decide our plans for the evening.”
“I thought?—”
Everett held out a hand. “You’re our wife. As much as all of us would love a wedding night, none of us want to see you in pain. Or to drag you into something you’re not ready for. So let him finish, then we’ll talk.”
Crossing to where I tossed the corset, I picked it up. “I’m going to burn this.”
“What?”
The fireplace was more than big enough to take care of the torture device of an undergarment. I tossed it in and watched the flames eat away at the fabric. Then I looked back at my wife, thoroughly enjoying the look of shock on her face. “You won’t be wearing any more of those monstrosities,” I told her. “If you wear a corset again, it will be because you chose it, and it will be properly fitted so it doesn’t cut you.”
I knew clothing. Corsets weren’t the villains of the fashion world the way people made them out to be. In general, they got a bad rap, mostly because people tried to use them like this. And like hell was I going to let someone hurt my wife because they didn’t understand the true history or use of my own goddamn expertise.
Her face softened. “Thank you.”
I couldn’t stop myself. I crossed the room again and leaned down to kiss her, taking her sweet lips. One taste, and I’d never get enough of her. “You never have to thank us for this, wife. You’re ours to protect now.”
She melted into my body. Every soft inch of her, and I looked at the others. Yeah, no way in hell could we let this Omega go. Now we just had to show her how thoroughly she belonged to us.
Just like we belonged to her.
20
SEMPERVIVUM
(HENS AND CHICKS, LIVEFOREVER)
MEANING: LIVELINESS; VIVACITY; WELCOME HOME HUSBAND
OCEAN
________
There was no way for me to move. Wrapped up against Micah while Cameron cleaned the cuts on my back and gently placed bandages over them. I hadn’t realized my skin had split. The pain had been intense overall, so it didn’t raise any alarm bells.
But the way they looked at me—not with laughter and not with anything other than kindness and… heat. I couldn’t quite believe it or trust it yet, but fuck I wanted to.
“I didn’t get blood on the dress, did I?”
Everett lifted my wedding dress and turned it over. “Not at all.”
“No wonder you didn’t want to stay at the reception,” Micah murmured, stroking a hand over my hair. “You were in pain the whole time. I’m so sorry, princess.”
Pleasure lit me from within. I’d heard Cade, one of Isolde’s pack, call her that, but I’d never understood the appeal until now. And it didn’t bother me in the slightest to have the same nickname, because to be thought of as royal by my husbands was something I’d never imagined.
“It’s not your fault. I knew Laura would never let it go, so I just got through it.”
Cameron smoothed his hands over my back and the bandages. “I wish we’d known. We would have made it clear it wasn’t all right. Hell, we already did it with your uncle.”
“What? When? What did he do?”
Everett’s face was dark. “He came to our suite before the wedding to thank us for marrying you so you could have a good experience before, essentially, being on the shelf forever. That’s what he implied.”
I wish I were surprised, but I wasn’t.
“Well, I’ll still thank you,” I said quietly.
Where Micah was in front of me, I saw the troubled expression on his face. But he didn’t say anything. “Do you have something you like to wear to be comfy?”
