Page 349 of Conquered

“You all gave me love at a time when I’d lost everything. You gave me hope when I felt hopeless. You gave me back the parts ofmyself that I never knew were missing. You captured my heart, we are all bound together for eternity, and I never want to be released from your love.”

I pour all that I have, all that I am into my words, and know that they affect my Knights as much as they do me when I look into jewelled eyes, all glistening. Jax pulls me closer, and I feel the shudder of his shaky breath.

The final knot is tied, and Loki pulls our clasped hands upwards to a cheer of the crowd behind us. Laughter falls from my own lips as tears drip down my cheeks, my body feeling weightless with happiness. I glance over and see all of our loved ones here; my grandparents, Ryan and Lexie, Enzo and Rosa, plus Tom who’s holding our daughter, who seems delighted by the whole thing and is beaming a huge, gummy grin.

Jax’s mum is here too, standing with Loki’s sisters who whoop and cheer. Ash’s mum is in rehab, undergoing a withdrawal from years of being drugged by his dad. Loki’s mum has fled the country, having emptied the family bank account upon hearing of her husband’s arrest. I’m glad, I never did like her, so we’re looking after the twins too, our woodland home full of life and laughter.

“Well, I believe you have rings you’d all like to exchange?” Oleta asks, her own smile wide, and we all laugh again as we almost forgot that part.

I manage to place simple bands of platinum on each of the guys’ left ring fingers, Willow holding them out for us. Kai then takes the puzzle ring that they had made for me; four intertwining bands of rose gold, platinum, gold, and white gold. One band for each of my men. He places it on my left ring finger, Loki taking over to push it down a little, then Ash follows, and Jax pushes it the rest of the way. The cool metal warms quickly to my skin and having taken off my wedding ring andengagement ring when I ‘died,’ a sigh of relief leaves me at having the familiar weight back on my finger.

“And that concludes our celebration,” Oleta says. “All that’s left for me to say is?—”

She’s cut off by Loki grabbing the back of my head and slamming his lips to mine. I laugh into his kiss, soon having to hold back a moan as his tongue caresses the seam of my lips, begging me to open to him. He kisses me soundly, my toes curling in my shoes when Jax’s free hand wraps around the front of my throat, clearly not giving two fucks about our audience.

Loki pulls away with reddened lips pulled up into a shit-eating grin, and gives me a roguish wink. I just shake my head, my movement stopped by Ash grabbing my jaw and pulling my lips to hover millimetres from his.

“My turn,” he says in a low voice, the words caressing my skin before his lips close the distance and he destroys me with his kiss. It’s all Ash; hard, controlling, demanding yet full of tender worship, and I give in to him completely, my free hand resting on his chest, feeling his heart beating underneath my fingertips.

He pulls away with a lingering peck, and my eyelids flutter open to find Kai waiting. His free hand cups my cheek in a gentle gesture, and I nuzzle into the touch, my eyes briefly closing at the comfort. Achingly slow, he brings our mouths together, peppering light kisses over my lips, a small whine leaving mine. I can feel the smirk just before he finally deepens the kiss, plunging his tongue into my mouth and stealing my breath. His kiss reinforces his vows, tells me how much he loves me, and I return it, confessing my truth into his own mouth until we part, both gasping and needy.

Jax moves his grip from my throat to my jaw, turning my head to an almost uncomfortable angle before he lowers his lips and presses a soft, chaste kiss to my own. He pulls away just enough to stare into my eyes, his own filled blue fire.

“I’ll get a proper kiss between those sweet thighs later, Baby Girl,” he murmurs, stroking my lower lip with his thumb.

Fuck.

Me.

Boom, there goes my knickers. Grinning with a look that tells me he knows exactly what state he’s left me in, he lets go of my jaw, but moves his palm to the top of my collarbone, holding me in such a possessive way that I can feel how ruined my panties really are.Fannymuncher.

“Time to party!” Loki shouts, and another cheer goes up asDancing in the Moonlightby Jubël and NEIMY starts to play over speakers placed around the clearing.

“I love this song!” I cry, quickly untangling myself from our binding, the guys chuckling at my enthusiasm.

Once free, I then drag them all to the dance floor that’s been set up to one side of the clearing behind us, a buffet table and bar on the other, beautifully decorated tables dotted around, glass jars of fairy lights twinkling on their surfaces.

We dance together, wide smiles splitting our faces, and as I look around to see all the people we love here with us, Jax holding our daughter who squeals with delight as he twirls around.

I can’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, it was all worth it. All the pain, all the uncertainty, all the heartache and trauma.

Because all of that led me to them. To my Knights. To the other parts of my soul.

And I wouldn’t be without them for any-fucking-thing.

SOME HOURS LATER…

LILLY

I’m still laughing as Loki drags me into the woods, the sounds of the party dying down the deeper into the trees we go. Moonlight surrounds us, lanterns lighting our way down a narrow path.

“Where are we going?” I giggle, clasping his forearm which feels fucking delicious as it flexes under my grip.

“Can’t ruin the surprise, Pretty Girl,” he chides me, his own teeth gleaming in the moonlight as he grins back at me.

Suddenly, I can see more lights between the trees, and we come out into another small clearing, a huge yurt covered in fairy lights sitting in the middle.

“Loki—” I gasp, pulling him to a stop. “What about Violet? She hasn’t spent a night away from me yet and I—” He cuts me off with a finger to my lips.