15
RENEE’S POV
Oh, thank God, I thought as I ran my eyes over the guys standing in front of me, looking at me with wide, shocked eyes. This is right, this is what I want. This is worth fighting for.
I didn’t want things to get as far as they did. I honestly kept trying to put a halt to the wedding in the days leading up to today, but no one would hear me. The more I got rejected, the more I sunk into the terrible feeling that my life was out of my control and that I was going to have to do whatever my father wanted, whether I wanted to or not. I was absolutely dreading the moment I would be Diego’s bride and he would be able to, as he so kindly put it, do what he wanted with me.
I shuddered, pushing Diego to the back of my mind. I didn’t want to think about him now, I didn’t need to think about him anymore. My mind had been made up.
“I might have done something a little crazy,” I giggled. It hadn’t quite hit me yet how monumental this really was. “Something really crazy, actually, and it’s going to cause a lot of drama.” More than any of us could imagine. “My father is going to be furious when he finds out I’m not waiting for him to walk me down the aisle like he expects.”
“So, there is no wedding?” Wes asked eagerly. “You’re really not going to marry Diego?”
It was with absolute relief that I could shake my head no. “I never wanted to, it was never my idea. I don’t want my life to be based on a business arrangement.”
“But isn’t that going to cut you off from your father?” Lucky asked worriedly.
“Oh yeah, he’s going to cut me off for sure,” I chuckled. “But I weirdly don’t mind. I’m okay with it. It’s only his money, and I don’t need money to be happy. I have never needed money to be happy. If anything, it seems pretty restrictive. I want to be free. Free of expectations and worries, free of Diego Vanderbilt and his illegitimate baby, free of everything.”
I held my arms out wide and spun around, my laughter ricocheting around the room. I probably looked a little crazy, and I kind of felt that way, but I loved it. Seeing my father’s reaction to the pregnancy news sealed the deal for me. He couldn’t care about me if he was willing to allow me to get hitched to some man who was having a baby with someone else. He didn’t even seem worried about the scandal that would definitely come our way once the baby was born. It was insane.
“I have chosen to be happy,” I finally told the men as I stopped spinning. “If my family would rather worry about financial benefits than my happiness, that’s up to them. I’m not living up to their expectations anymore. I’m living my life for me.”
“So, what’s going to happen now?” Stark was clearly nervous. He looked behind himself like this beautiful moment might be ruined at any time by someone walking in on us. “What happens when your dad finds out?”
“We have plenty of time. I told Rebecca to keep everyone away from me and the house while I get myself prepared. She’s so determined for everything to go well that she will do absolutely anything for me today. I asked her to keep everyone, especially all the parents, in the pavilion.”
I moved closer to Stark, remembering the intensity of our kiss only moments before. That kiss was different to the one before, and it was because this time I hoped he could see that I was committed to him. That by choosing happiness, I was also choosing him. All of them. I was going to have to tell them all as much, so they knew exactly where my heart was.
Stark smiled as I peeled off his suit jacket before undoing the buttons on his shirt one by one, gasping with need as I got to touch his strong, rippling muscles. I kept my eyes intensely fixed on his as I continued to undress him slowly. I was happy when I heard Wes lock the front door to the guesthouse, meaning we were finally on our own at long last.
“Stark, you are my protector,” I whispered, loving the way the words felt on my lips. “Don’t think it has escaped my notice that you have always put me first. I have seen it.” I pressed my lips to his, and then to his throat before I spoke again. “I feel safer with you than I ever have with anyone else in my life, which is wonderful. I know I will always be okay with you.”
I brushed my hands down his body, pausing to stroke his thick, throbbing erection. He was pulsing for me, a little like he was when I saw him in the reflection of the mirror watching me. In the flash of his eyes, I could see the memory of this night on his face as well.
But I had to leave him wanting more. I couldn’t lose myself only in Stark when I had the rest of the men around me. The sizzling heat coming from them burning through my body.
It was obvious that Stark didn’t want to let me go, but he knew this was about all of us. I knew he wanted that just as much as I did, which gave me the confidence to finally spin around to Lucky. Lucky, whose eyes had lit up like a fucking Christmas tree to see me finally being free. He wanted this for me. He was the one who pretty much told me I deserved and needed this, but to see it was something else. I hoped he was proud of me. I really wanted that.
“Lucky, you unlocked my mind,” I told him quietly as I allowed the magnetic pull to drag us together. That tug was always there, and it had been exhausting to fight it. “You allowed me to see that there was so much more to life. I think if we hadn’t talked on the night of the art show, I might never have been able to get to this lovely place right here.”
I brushed my hand down the back of his neck and eventually pushed myself up onto my tiptoes to graze my lips against his. My heart fluttered with absolute delight. This was definitely the right decision for all of us, but especially for me. It wasn’t easy for me to walk away from my parents, especially when I had made an error in my love life in the past, but I was more grown up now and I knew exactly what I wanted. This was the life for me. I knew it deep within me, I knew it in the core of my body, and I was happy that I was finally taking action for myself.
“I am so grateful to you, Lucky,” I continued, my words sliding over his mouth. “I am looking forward to your naughty flirting for the rest of my life. It’s always been so much fun.”
“Mmm, yeah?” he growled with desire as he pulled me to him by the small of my back. I pressed the entirety of my body up against his. “Because you make it so freaking easy to flirt with you. You’re an incredibly beautiful woman, you know that?”
It was an accident as I stumbled backward, and I tore the buttons off his shirt. It just felt so good to be around him that I couldn’t help myself. Lucky didn’t care though, he laughed about it and threw the half-shredded material to the floor, his eyes twinkling with need.
“You are something else, Renee Vaughn,” he said, shaking his head. “I hope you know that. I have never met anyone like you, and I know I never will. You are unbelievable.”
I grabbed him once more and kissed him while my eager hands fiddled with his zipper. I needed to feel him the same way he’d felt me in the past. Holy shit, this was not the way I expected my wedding day to go, but this was so much better. The best thing ever.
Lucky’s body was nothing like Stark’s. They were opposites and that was what I loved about them both. All of these men were unique and amazing, and that was what made it so great between us all. That was what made me so happy it hurt. Fuck, I was in heaven.
“Wes.” I turned to the guy who had taken my virginity, who had really brought me into this life with him. He was always going to be special to me, and I was so glad that I didn’t have to let this gentle giant go. “You have helped me out of the darkest holes in my life.” I cradled his face in my hands, smiling widely at him. “You have been a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen to me, and you have made me understand that I can be whoever I want to be.”
Wes was ready for me. He started undressing himself, giving me a hand to get my fingers all over his gorgeous, familiar body. God, I loved touching him, I adored feeling him. He was a safety net as well, nothing like the danger Diego potentially brought into my life. I would never have been happy like this with that asshole. But that wasn’t something I needed to worry about anymore. Diego was done.
“Oh, Wes,” I murmured as his fingers trailed down my back. I couldn’t wait to really feel him again. The way he made me feel when he was buried inside me was off the charts. And that was when it was just the two of us. I had a feeling that the magic swirling around us all would be even better. Even more intense. There was a reason wolf shifters preferred polyamory, and it had to be this sensation, this intense anticipation. It was absolutely unbelievable.
“Renee, always know that you are special,” Wes whispered softly in my ear, so I was the only one who could hear him. “All of us adore you. You have no idea.”
The thing was, I kind of felt like I did have an idea. I might not have known about love until now. Not real love anyway. I thought I knew what love was once upon a time, but I didn’t. I had no idea. Now I’d experienced it, coming at me from all angles, and I knew for sure this was right. I was never going to get it like this from anyone else, nor did I want to.
It took every ounce of strength I had to pull away from Wes, but there was still someone else I wanted to talk to. No, needed to talk to. Toby and I had been through a really weird time because of my history with his twin brother, and it was something that fully needed to be address right now if we were ever going to move forward. It was pretty obvious at this point we weren’t able to be just friends; that was never going to happen. But did that mean he wanted more?
Surely, he did, if he was here with the other guys, if he hadn’t walked out yet. That didn’t stop me from being terribly nervous as I swayed my hips toward him.
“Toby, it’s been a challenge, hasn’t it?” I offered him a lopsided smile. “We’ve been tiptoeing around one another because of your brother and the history I have with him, but I can tell you honestly I don’t see you and him in the same category at all. I know you look the same, and, admittedly, in the beginning I was attracted to you because you reminded me of how Trey treated me in the beginning. But really, I can see you are nothing like him.”
I hooked my arm around the back of his neck as Toby held onto me. His eyes desperately searched mine, trying to find all the answers that I needed to give him.
“Toby, I understand if it’s too much for you because of what happened a decade ago, but I really hope it isn’t because I have fallen for you too. Head over heels. I’ve never felt any judgement from you, any expectation. I’ve only felt acceptance, which is something I have never had before now. I’ve never been able to feel good enough. For anyone. So, I hope you stay.”
He didn’t hesitate. He grabbed me and tugged me to him for a much-needed kiss. A kiss that really sealed everything. As he led me to the bedroom with the other guys following us, the deal was sealed. These men were mine at long last. Finally, I had everything I wanted and more. So much more. Even if there was going to be trouble ahead, I didn’t care about any of that because I had happiness, I had love and joy in my life. I finally had my stars. More than one, but my stars none the less. I couldn’t believe how happy and lucky I was to be right here, right now.