“No. Cherry was on the run from a violent debt collector. Darcy had been cut off financially from her family. So had Jolene – and she was pregnant at the time. Jaya crash landed here andonly married Oaken so that I wouldn’t make her leave without her ship.”
This was not making me feel better.
“But you know what?” Warden Tenn’s eyes burned briefly white. It was the first time I’d seen that kind of emotion in him when it wasn’t directed at his own wife. “Every single one of those women are happy now, Rivven. They all love their husbands. And more than one of them could have had a change in circumstances. More than one of them had options that could have let them leave this place. Jaya could have repaired her ship and disappeared. Darcy could have made amends with her family. Jolene could have had her baby on Elora Station instead. But they’re all still here. And frankly, I don’t think it’s just their men who are the better for it. I think the women are better for it, too.”
A change in circumstances…
The words had caught on some jagged edge of my brain. For some reason, I could not let them go.
“I have no doubt that Shiloh already cares for you. She’s obviously very enthusiastic about physical relations with you, if all that racket today was anything to go by.” He gave my shoulder a firm pat. “Trust that, when she chose you, she was choosing this life as well. Trust that she knows what she is doing. Trust her, Rivven. Because that woman will be your wife in the morning. And if there’s one bit of advice I can give you, it’s that.”
20
SHILOH
When I woke the next morning, there was no one else in the bed with me. I’d woken alone in this bed every morning so far. This shouldn’t have been strange.
And yet, it was.
My brain was slow, but not in a bad way. Not the way it often was in the aftermath of a migraine. Instead, my head just felt pleasantly heavy. My thoughts meandered, as if moving through thick, happy, fluffy clouds.
Those thoughts still could not quite tell me why it was weird to wake up here on my own.
I’d gone to bed alone, and-
Oh my God.
I hadn’t gone to bed alone. I’d gotten engaged yesterday afternoon.
And then I’d fucked my sweet, wonderful fiancé. I’d worked his dick until we were both entirely spent and shaking.
He’d been here when I fell asleep. I knew that much.
The sky outside told me we were well past dawn. Of course, Rivven had left to go do all his chores. He’d let me sleep in. This all made sense.
But my nerves jangled anyway. This was the morning of our wedding, wasn’t it? Suddenly, I felt the frantic need to confirm it.
I had to see him.
I had just finished dressing, and was about to shove my feet into my boots, when the bedroom door opened.
And in he walked. Looking like a fucking dream.
Wearing a tuxedo.
“Hi,” I said, stunned by the sight of him. The dark fabric of the trousers and jacket hugged every line and plane of his body like the outfit had been made for him – which it undoubtedly had. The shirt beneath was stark white – exactly the same shade of his eyes as they took me in.
And at his throat, in an adorably unexpected flutter of fabric, was a black bowtie.
“Hello,” he said. He closed the door.
But came no closer.
OK. Weird…
Something was wrong. I couldn’t put my finger on it. I just knew.
He was wearing a tuxedo.
