by Elise Faber
“Don’t say anything.” Caroline’s voice held only a hint of bite. “Just know he would have liked you.” Before Daughtry could respond, Cody’s sister was gone.
“That woman can make an exit,” Darcy murmured.
Daughtry laughed and slid the phoenix from the box. Instead of a necklace, as her father’s had been, this one had been fashioned into a brooch.
It fit the style of her dress perfectly.
“You’re so beautiful,” Gabby said as she helped Dee pin the brooch just above her heart.
And there went the sniffles again.
“Good grief,” Suz complained, but her eyes were glassy too. She unwrapped the chocolate and handed it to Dee. “Eat.”
“You’re supposed to be a healer,” Alex groused, snatching the chocolate bar and replacing it with a slice of apple.
“There are such things as cheat days,” Suz said.
“And weeks,” Darcy teased.
“Or months,” Gabby said with a smile.
“Years,” Alex added.
They burst into laughter, which got louder when Gabby stuck her head under Dee’s skirts to pin the blue bow to her garter just as Morgan came into the room to tell them it was almost time for the ceremony.
“I love seeing you shocked,” Dee said after Gabby got the bow attached and had crawled free. “It’s more effective than duct tape.”
Morgan just shook his head and walked out, grumbling something about women and weddings.
Suz snatched a compact and began fixing some imaginary smudge on Daughtry’s face, but she didn’t complain because the healer had made her look and feel more beautiful today than she’d ever felt before.
“This is so much better than my last wedding,” she said.
Suz froze, mascara wand in hand. “Last wedding?”
Daughtry laughed. “It’s a really a long story, but considering the groom didn’t actually want to marry me, and my dress ended up burnt to a crisp by the Dalshie, I think this is better.”
“I’d say so,” Gabby murmured.
“You’ve been holding out on us,” Suz said and attacked Dee’s lashes with a flourish of the wand. “Once the honeymoon is over, I expect details.”
“Every. Gory. One.” Darcy thrust a bouquet in her hands. “How are the feet? Cold? Or toasty warm?”
At that precise moment, Cody sent her a flash of what he planned to do later that evening.
It involved a hot bath and lots of splashing.
Her favorite.
“Scalding,” she said. “My feet are scalding.”
They all laughed and filed from the room.
“One! Two! Three!” Daughtry tossed her bouquet over her shoulder. She whirled around to see the action, laughing when it collided with Suz, who didn’t make any effort at all to catch it.
The flowers plopped to the floor, rolling until they came to a stop at Morgan’s feet.
She’d never seen a LexTal look so scared.
He took a step back.
“Coward,” Suz called.
“Takes one to know one,” he said and nudged the bouquet further away with the toe of his boot.
Cody came to her side. “How much you want to bet?”
“For Suz or Morgan?”
He grinned. “Both.”
“Not together.”
Someone tucked a chair behind her, and Cody helped her sit. “No. Not together.”
“I think Morgan will go first.”
Shaking his head, he said, “No way. Graham’s got steamy eyes for our good doctor.”
Daughtry turned her head, saw that the senior soldier’s gaze was indeed fixed on Suz. Intense had nothing on him.
Maybe Cody was right . . . but she just had this feeling about Morgan.
“Never let me doubt your instincts,” her bondmate said and kissed her full on the lips.
As things often did with Cody, the kiss turned quickly from playful into much, much more. Heat and tongue and the desire to tear his clothes from his body.
“Later,” he thought and pulled back. “Minus the audience.”
Her cheeks were on fire as she glanced around. The crowd was hooting and catcalling, but the teasing did nothing to dissuade the desire swirling between her thighs.
How soon could they blow this joint?
“You only get one wedding,” he said and stroked a hand up her calf.
“Cody!” she gasped, shocked.
His fingers slid higher, and she squirmed until she realized what he was reaching for.
“You’re devious,” she murmured, heart pounding. If only they were alone—
“Get a room!”
Tyler.
She flipped him off, grabbed Cody’s tie, and hauled him close, garter be damned.
“I love you.” Dee kissed him.
When they finally broke apart, her garter had slid to her ankle. Cody tugged it past her heel and tossed it haphazardly into the crowd.
It landed on Suz’s shoulder.
Oh.
Maybe Cody was right.
He laughed, hauled her to her feet and led her to the dance floor.
They barely got one song together before she was whisked off. First by Tyler, who whirled her in circles fast enough to make her head spin.
“My manly prowess makes your knees weak,” he joked when she stumbled, and he had to catch her.
“My clumsiness makes dancing almost impossible.”
Tyler didn’t get a chance to reply before Morgan snagged her. He gave her a mock frown. “Not funny with the bouquet business.”
She grinned. “My back was turned.”
“Weddings.” He shuddered but then someone cranked the music up, and it was too loud to talk.
Dante snagged her next, bending to say in her ear over the din, “You did good. Really good. Your dad would have been proud.”
They both ignored Daughtry’s glistening eyes and continued dancing.
Francis claimed her after that and then Monroe and finally, Mason, who smiled down at her. “I understand congratulations are in order?”
She nodded and relished his hug almost as much as the sentiment he spoke directly into her ear, “You’ll be a good mom.”
“Can I cut in?” John’s voice came just as the music dropped by a few decibels and a slow song came on.
Mason stepped back and a second later, she was in John’s arms.
“You’d better take care of my sister,” she said with a glare.
“She’s my heart,” he said simply before adding, “But not all of it.”
Her own heart went melty. “John.”
“I mean it, Dee.” He led her in a swaying circle. “I never would have expected things to turn out this way two years ago. I thought you were it for me, but now I understand that we were something for each other, just not everything.”
She sniffed.
“I never begrudged you for bonding with Cody,” he said. “I knew it was important even though I’d hoped things had turned out differently. But now, with Alex in every thought and heartbeat, I understand. What you and Cody have is so, so special. Just know that you’ll always have a little piece of my heart too.”
Dee laced her arms around his neck and hugged him hard. “I love you, John. Thank you for coming back for me. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t brought me here.” Tilting her head up, she met his gaze, wanting him to understand just how deeply she meant the next words. “You gave me hope. You gave me a future and, more importantly, you gave me family.”
John cupped her cheek and pressed a careful kiss to her forehead. “Right back at you, sweetheart. Right back at you.”
Daughtry sank into the hot water and smiled when she felt Cody walk into the bathroom.
He reached into the tub, snagged one of her feet, and began to massage it.
“I knew there was a reason I loved you,” she moaned.
His hand moved to her calf.
“How are you feeling?”
“
Great now,” she said, resting her head against the rim of the tub. “Those shoes were torture.”
She felt rather than saw Cody’s frown, since she’d closed her eyes. “Why did you wear them?”
“Suz is persistent.” Who could have known that her healer friend, who wore scrubs ninety percent of the time, would be a hidden fashionista?
“I don’t care what you wear.”
Daughtry pushed up and pressed a wet kiss to his cheek. “I know,” she said. “But for this one day, it was worth it. I wanted to be beautiful.”
“You’re always beautiful.”
She smiled. “This is why I love you.” A thread of mischievousness wove through her, and Dee crooked her finger. “Come here.”
Cody leaned close.
Cupping her hands, she dumped a handful of water down his front, soaking into his shirt.
“Darn,” she said with a smirk. “Looks like you’ll have to take it off.”
“Looks like I’ll have to teach you a lesson, cowgirl,” he teased. But his fingers were already working at the line of buttons, parting the two halves of his dress shirt.
Bronzed skin greeted her, and her mouth actually watered. “So long as it involves riding.”
He grinned. “As a matter of fact . . .”
Turned out Cody’s lesson did involve riding. Lots and lots of riding.
Near dawn, he pulled her flush against his chest. There was nothing better than being wrapped in his arms, his pine and ocean scent surrounding her. She yawned and asked the question that had been buzzing around in her mind since Suz had confirmed her pregnancy. “Do you think we’ll be good parents?”
Calloused fingers traced the lines of her cheek, her lips, her jaw. “I think we’ll love our baby, and that’s the most important thing.”
Daughtry smiled. “I think you’re right.”
“I think I like the sound of that,” he said, his voice and mind buoyant with happiness. “Say it again.”
“You’re an idiot.”
He laughed. “I love it when you sweet-talk me.”
“Shut up.” But she snuggled closer, let exhaustion start to pull her toward sleep. “I love you.” A yawn. “With all my heart.”
In response, Cody thought the words he’d said a thousand times. They meant as much in that moment as they had the very first time he’d spoken them.
“If you need me, I’ll always be there.”
Daughtry knew he would be. Just as she would always be there for him.
They weren’t alone. They had friends. Siblings.
But love had laced them together, more completely than blood ever could.
They were family . . . and soon they would be three.
THE END
(or really, just the beginning)
Phoenix Series
Phoenix Rising
Dark Phoenix
Phoenix Freed
About the Author
USA Today bestselling author, Elise Faber, loves chocolate, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and hockey (the order depending on the day and how well her team -- the Sharks! -- are playing). She and her husband also play as much hockey as they can squeeze into their schedules, so much so that their typical date night is spent on the ice. Elise is the mom to two exuberant boys and lives in Northern California. Connect with her in her Facebook group, the Fabinators or find more information about her books at www.elisefaber.com.
Also by Elise Faber
(see a full listing and descriptions at www.elisefaber.com)
Roosevelt Ranch Series (all stand alone)
Disaster at Roosevelt Ranch
Heartbreak at Roosevelt Ranch
Collision at Roosevelt Ranch
Regret at Roosevelt Ranch
Desire at Roosevelt Ranch (November 3rd, 2019)
Billionaire’s Club (all stand alone)
Bad Night Stand
Bad Breakup
Bad Husband
Bad Hookup
Bad Divorce
Bad Fiancé (Oct 6th 2019)
Bad Boyfriend (Jan 19th, 2020)
Gold Hockey (all stand alone)
Blocked
Backhand
Boarding
Benched
Breakaway
Breakout (December 15th, 2019)
Life Sucks Series (all stand alone)
Train Wreck
Phoenix Series (rereleasing October 21st, 2019)
Phoenix Rising
Dark Phoenix
Phoenix Freed
Phoenix: LexTal Chronicles (rereleasing soon, stand alone, Phoenix world)
From Ashes
KTS Series
Fire and Ice (Hurt Anthology, stand alone)