Page 127 of Irresistibly Wicked

Emotions clogged her throat.

“The ball is in your court, Angel. I love you, and I want to be the man who gives you all your fresh starts. I know I’ve got a lot of flaws. I say whatever pops into my head, and I can’t keep my hands to myself around you.”

“That’s not exactly a flaw,” she managed, earning a smile that burrowed into her heart.

“Good to know. I adore you, darlin’, and I think you love me, and I know you love Kitty.” He kissed Kitty’s head. “If you don’t want to be married, that’s okay. We don’t need that piece of paper. Just give me a chance to love you with everything I have, and then you can decide if I’m the right guy for you.”

Tears spilled from Shauna’s eyes.

“We both know I am.”

She laughed and choked out, “You’re so cocky.”

“You love that about me.”

“I do love that about you.” Another overwhelmed laugh bubbled out with her tears. “I love you so much, it physically hurts to think about not being with you, but I can’t leave Brian to flounder. He needs me now more than ever. I told him I was moving back in, and I need to do that. I have to be there for him. At least until he’s on solid ground.”

“So I’ll date my wife for a while. That could be hot.” He waggled his brows. “I want Brian to succeed and have a great life. That’s why I introduced him to the sponsors from the club and why I asked Blaine and Maverick to give him a chance at a job. I know they’ll help him every step of the way, give him a purpose and a future he can count on if he wants it. I don’t want to take you away from him, Shauna. I want to be there to walk that path with you, to help you help him.”

“But…you don’t want your freedom back?”

“Did you hear a word I said?” A playful grin curved his lips. “You’re hung up on my looks and my adorable cat, aren’t you? We do make it hard to focus.”

God she loved him.

“Shauna Zoe Flores, Angel, darlin’, you are my first and only ride or die. The only freedom I want is to call you mine every day for the rest of my life.” He pushed his hand into his pocket and withdrew her rings. “What do you say, Angel? Want to get swept away with me and forget the divorce?”

Trusting that this big-hearted, beautiful man would never abandon Brian any more than she would, Shauna let down her walls, released the reins, and allowed herself to have the happily ever after Zander had helped her believe she deserved. Her chest was so full, she feared it would burst as she said, “Yes.” Then louder, steadier, for him and every man within earshot to hear, she said, “Hell yes.”

“Fuck yeah!” Zander cheered, and the second he slid the rings onto her finger, he hauled her against him and Kitty, and his mouth covered hers in a spine-tingling kiss.

Catcalls and cheers erupted behind her, someone whistled, and someone else shouted, “Finally!”

Zander broke the kiss long enough to rasp, “I love your crew, but you’re their Flores. How would you feel about changing your name and being my Wicked wife?”

Her heart skipped, but she couldn’t help teasing him. “You mean to show the world I belong to a possessive biker with a jealous streak?”

“If the shoe fits.”

Oh, it fit all right, and she loved it. “Can I get you a T-shirt that says Property of Shauna Wicked?”

“Fuck the T-shirt. I’ll proudly ink that shit across my chest.”

She laughed.

“You think I’m kidding?”

As he lowered his lips to hers again, Mike shouted, “Wait! So all that stuff you said before about this marriage being fake? That was real?”

Shauna’s heart raced, her love growing impossibly stronger as she gazed into Zander’s eyes and said, “Every last word of it. Contract or no contract, he’s stuck with me, because that’s how Wickeds roll.”

As the crew whooped around them and Kitty purred between them, Shauna tugged Zander down for another kiss, vowing to never let him go again.

Epilogue

THE BLISTERING HEAT of summer had long since given way to the cool breezes of fall, the change of seasons just one more thing Zander had overlooked before his accident. These days he was counting every blessing. It was mid-November, and they were at the Salty Hog for Madigan and Tobias’s wedding. The last four months had been a hell of a ride. Four months, four seasons. His and Shauna’s signs were everywhere. All he had to do was look in the mirror. He was the fourth child in his family, after all. He hadn’t known he could fall so hard, but with Shauna he was in a constant state of freefalling deeper and more passionately in love with her by the moment. Love wasn’t something he’d looked for, but now it—she—was the one thing he lived for.

He looked around the room for his beautiful wife. The rustic restaurant had been transformed into a bohemian dream for Madigan and Tobias. Strings of twinkling lights decorated the wooden beams like stolen stars. White roses and eucalyptus garland spilled from colorful vases, their scent weaving into the hum of voices and the steady beat of the band. Dark Knights had come from near and far, including his cousins from Colorado, Maryland, and Upstate New York. The sea of leather cuts was a familiar, comforting sight. He might have changed, but he was glad some things never would.