Theirs To Protect: a Reverse Harem Romance Read online

  Nix was stunned as Audrey walked down the aisle toward them. He’d been so sure she would bolt. Hundred to one odds.

  He hadn’t slept a wink last night. She wouldn’t go out her bedroom door, he’d known that. No, she’d have thought of a more ingenious way to escape.

  But whatever plan she’d been concocting over the last few weeks, last night was the night. It had to be.

  Waiting until the last possible second was ballsy, he’d give her that. But he wasn’t going to let her go on some insane suicide mission looking for a place that didn’t exist.

  Yes, she’d hate him when he caught her and foiled her plans, but she’d get over it. If he had his way, she’d have a very long and healthy life to hate him for it and that was all that mattered. She thought she was stubborn. But Phoenix Alonzo Hale was born an ass and it was a reputation he’d worked hard to live up to over the years.

  Not to mention, he had the other guys on his side.

  In only three and a half weeks, they’d already broken down so many of Audrey’s barriers. They just had to get this whole running-off-to-some-coastal-all-woman-paradise idea out of her head once and for all.

  After that, well, she’d be their wife.

  Which was a good thing, because then he’d be able to keep an even closer eye on her. He wondered if the Commander would agree to let him put a GPS tracker under her skin. Just so he could know where she was at all times when he was at work. He’d been blowing off work far too often. Though Jeffries had been far more understanding than he would have expected in picking up the slack. Maybe he was just happy to be finally off nights.

  He’d tried to get the Commander to go for chipping all the women in town a couple years ago. The Commander had been this close to cracking and giving in before his daughter talked him out of it.

  Sophia was a nice enough kid, but sometimes she could be a royal pain in his ass.

  He’d tried slipping a tracker into Audrey’s jeans pocket last night but it had stopped moving around seven-thirty. She must have had an early bath before bed.

  So he’d spent last night hovering on a ladder by the trellis that ran up the wall near her bedroom window. He’d been positive she was planning to try to climb down it and make yet another ridiculously stupid escape attempt.

  But… her window never opened. Her curtain never so much as moved. At four am, he was sure he’d fucked up royally and she’d found some way to sneak past the guard he’d posted outside her door.

  But when he climbed down from the ladder, legs and arms so cramped he about fell and cracked his head open, he went in the house and inched her bedroom door open.

  And found her fast asleep.

  Oh she was good, he’d give her that.

  Maybe she knew about the ladder and the guards he’d posted. She was smart.

  But he wasn’t wrong about her escape plans. He knew he wasn’t. She wasn’t as good a liar as she thought she was. She had several glaring tells. Like how she ran her fingers through her hair when she was nervous. Or how her eyes always shifted slightly to the right when she was telling something patently untrue.

  And he’d been watching her carefully the past few weeks.

  Her body language screamed that she couldn’t get out of this place fast enough.

  But then a day would pass. And then another. And another.

  Until finally it was the night before the wedding and Nix figured it been her strategy all along.

  Play nice to pacify them and distract everyone with wedding preparations.

  Especially when she sat them down last night and told them she intended to consummate their wedding night.

  Consummate his ass.

  She was gonna run.

  That confirmed it. She’d wait till they were all asleep and slip off in the wee early hours of morning.

  Except—she stayed put all night long.

  And all this morning.

  And throughout the afternoon pre-wedding ladies’ brunch.

  His team sent a runner to update him every half hour and they’d reported that Audrey was doing… normal, wedding-y things with Sophia and Camila and the other women.

  Brunch was on the sun porch. Scones with jam and cream. Fucking scones. Paul reported that she’d looked happy and relaxed.

  Nix had been two seconds away from showing the fucker happy and relaxed.

  Who the hell had come up with the idea of a ‘sunset wedding’ anyway? The town had done it this way forever but it was just fucking torture waiting all day. Especially with that bullshit about it being ‘bad luck’ to see the bride before the nuptials. He wanted to fucking handcuff her to him.

  But no, he’d been forced to rely on reports from his men all day long—topped off by ten minutes of sheer hell standing up here at the altar, tense as fuck, sure at any second one of his guys was going to come running in saying they’d lost her. That somehow she’d slipped away from them.

  But then there she was. Standing in that white gown like fucking Cinderella, smiling shyly at all of them in turn.

  She wasn’t running.

  This was actually happening.

  Nix blinked, stunned, as the music began and she came down the aisle, step by step, the Commander on her arm.

  In what felt like no time, she was suddenly in front of them and the Commander was giving her a kiss on the cheek. Then he presented her to the five of them and the priest.

  Well, former priest, but ex-Father Jonas was the best the township had.

  Jonas held a bound copy of the Texas Constitution in his hand. “We gather here today to celebrate the wedding of Audrey, Clark, Daniel, Graham, Mateo, and Phoenix. A new family clan—Clan Hale—is born today, six become one.”

  Warmth washed through Nix’s chest at hearing Jonas speak his new clan’s name—which was Nix’s own last name. As the highest-ranking member of the clan, everyone in the family would now take his surname as their own.

  Jonas smiled out at the church. It was full to the brim. Mostly with the other clan families, groups of men peppered with the occasional woman. The back of the church, though, it was crowded with other single men, standing room only. All wishing like hell it was them in Nix’s or one of the other guys’ spot and dreaming of the one day they might be.

  You have come here to share in this commitment they make to each other,” Jonah continued, “to offer your love and support to this union, and to allow Clan Hale to start their married life together surrounded by the people who support them.”

  Audrey sucked her bottom lip into her mouth, biting it for a second nervously before releasing it.

  God she was brave, standing up here in front of all these strangers, giving herself to men she’d only known a few weeks.

  But why?

  What was the trick?

  He blinked hard several times. Maybe there was no trick and he’d just been imagining things that weren’t there. Sure, he was bad at letting people close. But that was for the best.

  He did his job better when he stayed a step removed from the action. It let him observe things with a clear head.

  Aka, the opposite of everything he’d done with Audrey starting day one. She just got under his skin. So recklessly putting herself in danger in the field that day— He still didn’t know how she’d gotten there. It wasn’t like she’d ever exactly opened up to any of them.

  But still, when they finally got her somewhere safe and sound, for her to keep trying to run away when there were so many fucking lunatics out there, he— He’d never met anyone so frustrating in his life. If she would just listen—

  He breathed out in a rush. Yeah, so he’d given her a hard time. Pressed her at every turn, then pushed and prodded at the tension between them. It was sexual but it was more than that too.

  He’d been going along just fine in his life before she showed up. Doing his job. Keeping the town safe. It was all he cared about.

  His eyes traced the soft curve of her cheek. The little cupid’s bow of her upper lip. The way her
eyelashes flipped nervously and her mouth scrunched in that adorable way it did when she gnawed on her bottom lip.

  She was so clearly a distraction he didn’t need in his life.

  “Marriage is a permanent union,” Jonas went on, his voice lower, like he was speaking more to just them instead of the congregation at large. “The six of you will no longer live for yourselves alone. You will belong to one another. An unbroken circle. You must trust, love, and respect one another. This you will vow, and it is a vow you can never break.”

  Audrey’s eyes immediately dropped to the floor.

  Another tell. Nix knew he hadn’t been imagining it all. He swallowed and his hands briefly clenched into a fist.

  What was it she objected to? The love part? Or the trust and respect? Which did she not think she could ever bring herself to give them?

  And had he really expected her to?

  No matter what he knew about the town—that it was the best of many, many worse options in a merciless world—it was all new to her. And they were strangers.

  Big, intimidating strangers who were demanding things of her she might not feel ready to give.

  The former priest looked at each of them in turn. “In this community, marriage provides a stabilizing unit to begin building a new world. Marriage establishes rights and obligations between all spouses.”

  Nix swallowed. Now this part he could get on board with. This was why he hadn’t objected when his name had been called even though he hadn’t put it in for consideration. Rights and obligations.

  He wanted her obligated to them. If they could get her knocked up, then she’d be forced to give up the ridiculous notion of ever leaving.

  If there had only been a place like this when he and his sister were on the run, all those years ago… It was true, he didn’t know if she would have been one of the lucky ten percent to survive Xterminate, but anything would have been better than—

  “But more than that,” Jonas’s voice softened again and Audrey looked up from the floor, blue eyes wide and vulnerable. Christ, she really was the most beautiful woman Nix had ever seen. “—marriage is meant to be a safe haven. Both for you and your husbands. Be ye not afraid, for I am with you, the Bible says.”

  “In these recent days, many of us might wonder where God has gone.” Jonas’s voice went momentarily strained. “Whether there is a God at all. But I do believe that the fact that good can still exist in the face of such ugliness means that not all grace is lost. And that’s what marriage is meant to be in this community. A place of grace. The one safe haven where you can still find the face of God in the loving-kindness of your new family.”

  Audrey’s eyebrows furrowed and her lip began to tremble. Her eyes moved from the pastor around the semi-circle of her soon to be husbands. First to Graham, then Mateo. Onto Danny and Clark, and then finally, finally, to Nix.

  Nix had been to these things before and never paid any attention to Jonas’s pastor mumbo jumbo, but suddenly it made perfect sense.

  Because regardless of how they’d gotten here, what he felt in this moment, it was holy. There was no other word to describe it. The ritual of binding his life to Audrey and to their new clan. Watching the raw emotion in her eyes as she felt it too.

  It was like finally he was seeing beneath all the bravado she’d shielded herself behind ever since she’d stepped into the town square the night of the lottery.

  But here, finally, was the real Audrey. She wasn’t running anymore. She was standing still. With him. With them. And together, if they would let it, they could create something new and beautiful.

  “Now to the vows,” Jonah said. “Clark Hale, do you take this woman, Audrey Hale, to be your wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer…”

  As Clark recited the vows, Jonah took Clark’s hand in one hand and Audrey’s in the other. After Clark finished his vows, Jonas moved Clark’s hand to Audrey’s. She slid Clark’s ring onto his finger and then took his hand.

  Then the pastor repeated the steps with Danny. Clark put Danny’s ring on and held his hand, continuing the circle. And then Graham repeated the vows and Danny gave him his ring. And so on with Mateo.

  Finally it came Nix’s turn. He knew Jonas was just going around in alphabetical order, but it felt significant somehow that he was last.

  His mouth was dry and his voice more gritty than usual as he repeated the vows after Jonas.

  “For as long as we both shall live,” he finished. Nix kept his composure fine as Mateo slid the ring on his finger. It wasn’t until he lifted Audrey’s ring to her finger that his hand started trembling. When he saw hers shaking just as hard, though, he relaxed.

  It was his job now to be strong when she was scared. To care for her so she never had to be afraid again. Not a day in her life. He would protect her. Always.

  “And do you, Audrey Dawson, accept the men before you as your wedded husbands, for as long as you all shall live?”

  Her entire body shook but her voice was strong and sure as she said the words: “I do.”

  Nix didn’t expect the satisfaction that roared through his chest. Or the way his entire body was felt lit with electricity as he leaned over and kissed her knuckles, sliding the delicate gold band onto her fourth finger.

  Completing the circle.

  “Clan Hale is born today,” Jonas shouted triumphantly. “Six are united as one. What has been joined today let no man tear asunder!”

  The crowd cheered and Nix felt a grin split his face. Audrey looked a little shell-shocked but then Jonas was shouting over the crowd. “You may now kiss your bride.”

  Nix and the guys had discussed it before-hand. Which was good because otherwise Nix was pretty sure he would have shoved the rest of them out of the way to claim his new wife.

  Instead, he stood by, exhibiting what he thought was inhuman restraint while one by one, starting with Clark, they kissed their wife. No one was pulling any punches either.

  Clark grabbed her and kissed her so deep Nix was pretty sure he’d explored her damn tonsils by the time he was done. Graham’s cheeks colored and he just deposited a quick, perfunctory kiss on her lips.

  And Danny, Jesus Christ. He started toward Audrey with eyes so bright and excited they were about to pop out of his damn head, his tongue already half out. The bastard would have licked her if Clark hadn’t intervened. “Nope,” Clark said, grabbing his arm and veering him away at the last second.

  “Wait, what?” Danny exclaimed. “You can’t do that. It’s not official till I kiss her!”

  “Not until I’ve sat you down and explained a little more bit about the birds and the bees, my boy. And how the hell to kiss a woman.”

  “But—” Danny whined.

  “It’s all right,” Audrey laughed, stepping forward and landing a quick peck on Danny’s lips. He looked so stunned and in love Nix would have laughed if he wasn’t shoving Mateo forward so it’d be his own turn quicker.

  Audrey had seemed good-natured about all the kissing but she suddenly looked little shy when it came to Mateo. And Mateo, Christ, he was so deathly pale it was more like he was facing a firing squad than his new wife. His arms were locked by his side and Nix guessed he was about three point two seconds from passing the fuck out.

  Again, Audrey was the first to move. But it wasn’t just a quick peck like she’d given Graham and Danny. She lingered, first with her lips just barely pressing against Mateo’s.

  And then, fuck him, Nix watched her tiny little tongue peek out and begin to explore the seam of Mateo’s lips. Mateo inhaled sharply and Audrey took his face in her hands, deepening the kiss.

  Nix went hard as a rock. She was the most fucking glorious thing he’d ever seen. He wanted to yell at every damn person to get the fuck out so he could rip that wedding dress off over her head and he and the guys could get to work exploring her perfect little body right this fucking instant.

  Because as much as he liked to pretend he only wanted to be her husband so he
could keep an eye on her and protect her… it was a damn lie. He wanted to fuck her damn brains out. He wanted to claim her body in a way that she’d never forget, never recover from, and never be able to live without.

  She and Mateo kissed for what felt like a goddamned eternity. When she finally pulled back, she continued holding Mateo’s face. She leaned her forehead to his, eyes closed, some kind of unspoken communion passing between them.

  Nix was jealous and impatient. But he’d let them have their moment. If only because if anyone tried to interrupt him when he got his turn, he’d murder them.

  Audrey finally broke away from Mateo, giving him the sweetest damn smile Nix had ever seen. And Mateo, he looked like his whole damn universe had just been blown away. The guy already worshipped Audrey, but Nix was pretty sure she’d just cemented Mateo’s loyalty all through this world and into the afterlife. And fuck, probably through reincarnation and into the next.

  But screw all that. She’d let Mateo go.

  Which meant it was Nix’s turn. Thank fuck.

  He took a step forward and put his hands on her waist, dragging her up and into him. She let out a surprised little gasp and then his lips were on hers. Devouring her. This wasn’t a polite ask and answer. Fuck that. He was claiming her.

  She was his wife. Their wife.

  Let what had been joined today never be fucking torn asunder.

  He sucked her tongue into his mouth, swallowing every breathy gasp and reveling in the way her body shook against him. He reached up and dug his fingers into her hair, ignoring the pins and cradling the back of her head so he could kiss her even harder.

  He needed more.

  He needed fucking everything.

  And she gave it. Fuck him, but she gave. Everything he asked for and more.

  His little spitfire was just as hungry for it as he was. Her lips were a little awkward. Untrained. Like this was the first time she’d really been kissed by a man.

  The thought made Nix’s cock harden to fucking stone.

  He dragged his mouth away from hers, only vaguely taking in the whistles and catcalls coming from the church pews behind them.

  He couldn’t even think in complete sentences. He needed her too much. There was only one thought pinging through the desire clogging his every pore.