“I love you,” she whispered.
Then she loosened Macen’s ring from its ribbon. Liam supported her hand as she slid the triple bands of tungsten onto his finger. The black metal looked sleek and mysterious and masculine on his hand. It was a perfect reflection of the man. When their stares met, the hazel eyes she’d seen stern or closed or unreadable for so many years were now wide open with love.
“I love you,” she murmured to him, too.
Then he pulled a ring from his pocket, something the two of them had designed especially to celebrate their love for her. Raine hadn’t seen it yet, but like the others, it had three bands intertwined. As she clapped eyes on it, she gasped. A ring of titanium, a ring of tungsten, and a ring of sparkling pave diamonds wrapped around one another. Together, he and Liam slid the beautiful symbol onto her finger.
“You’re our life,” Liam said.
“And our heart,” Hammer added. “Precious.”
“We love you,” they said together.
Raine teared up again. The weight of the ring was more than mere metal. The gravity of their commitment wrapped around her finger, around her heart. She knew it would never dissolve or fade—and that filled her with a euphoric bliss she’d never even imagined.
“What these three have worked so hard to put together, let no asshole put asunder. And now—as far as I’m concerned—you’re married!”
Raine and her men laughed, along with the rest of the small gathering.
She glanced at Macen and Liam, committing this golden instant to memory. They smiled back at her, obviously as in the moment and as gloriously happy to be here as she was.
It felt so good to be committed, joined in the eyes of their friends and community.
As she basked and looked forward to the party to follow—as well as all their tomorrows—Liam suddenly curled a hand under her chin and brought her gaze up to his. He wasn’t smiling now.
“Kneel.”
Raine gasped. She flipped a stare to Hammer and saw the same Dominant steel on his face.
They were collaring her, too?
Her heart fluttered in her chest. She’d wondered if they would want to express their commitment this way someday. She’d hoped but…
Instead of asking questions they would surely answer later, she gave them a grateful nod and bowed her head, exposing the unprotected length of her nape to them, as she dropped to her knees.
“Look at us,” Macen commanded.
She obeyed and watched Liam lift something from his pocket and dangle it in her face. A strand of titanium combined with a strand of tungsten to support a heart-shaped lock trimmed in diamonds. The front had been engraved with their initials and the date.
Raine had never seen something more beautiful—more heartfelt—than this expression of their devotion. The fact they’d surprised her only made it more special.
He gave Macen one end of the chain as he hung on to the other. Together, they fastened it around her neck. The weight felt blessedly welcome. It had been nearly ten months since Liam had first fastened his collar against her skin, only to remove it twenty-two excruciating days later. And Hammer… Raine had never dared to hope that he would collar her, especially now that she knew he’d vowed never to take a permanent submissive and why.
Raine couldn’t stop herself from reaching up to feel her exquisite new collar dangling just above her beating heart.
Liam reached in his pocket again and withdrew two little keys for the lock. He palmed one and handed Macen the other.
“You’re ours always,” Hammer said.
“Forever,” Liam seconded. “Because we want to tie you to us in every way we can.”
“Yours, Sirs.” Raine thought her heart would burst as she bowed her head again and felt their stares of approval caressing her.
When they both braced a palm under her elbow, she rose to her feet.
She really was the luckiest woman in the world.
“Kiss already,” Beck demanded. “Put an exclamation point on this marriage/collaring/handfasting shit so we can celebrate.”
Raine laughed, feeling lighter and more in love than she ever had as she turned to Liam on her left and lifted her lips to his for a kiss.
He looked into her eyes as if he wanted to reach into her heart and hold it in his hands. He gave her a tender press of his lips and nudged inside to deepen the kiss. He lingered, imprinting himself on her heart—just as he had with their very first kiss—before he eased away. “You look more lovely than ever now that you’re ours.”
“You’re mine now, too, buster,” she teased.
“I’ll not be forgetting that, I promise.”
Raine blew him a kiss, then turned to Macen in silence. He took her face in his hands and swooped close, staring into her eyes for a breathless moment.
“Precious…”
He didn’t have to say more than that. She knew what he felt. “It means everything to me, too.”