I looked at West, as he hadn’t said anything. He smiled at me, his amber eyes glinting. Then he put his beer down on the bench and knelt at my feet. He took both my hands in his.
“We’ve made so many promises to each other over the years. Let us reaffirm them. Your forever is our forever. You’re ours and we’re yours.” He pressed a kiss to my fingers. “Are you in this with us, little Scar?”
He knew I was but that wasn’t what he was asking. It was about tonight and the things we’d shared together. Would one more step towards the future be too far? I’d already devoted my life to them. It was quite frankly adorable, sweet and completely romantic that they wanted a commitment ceremony with me. These four men were so dark and depraved, but with me, they could be kind, understanding, and loving. They treated me like their queen now we’d moved beyond our past. Now everything was out in the open and we were no longer burdened by lies and secrets. They were everything I could ever ask for and more.
“I’m in.”
West smiled, placing another kiss to my fingers before he let go of my hands and stood. He turned his attention to Francis.
“Did you get everything?”
He grinned and moved away to Drake’s glass structure. They’d planned this. I didn’t mind them hiding it to give me a surprise. It was a good one, not some nefarious shit they’d been involved in.
Francis came back with a box of things and set it down on the bench next to me. He took out a small box, which he opened and placed in my lap. Nestled inside it were five platinum rings. One of them was smaller than the others, clearly meant for me. I picked it up and looked on the inside, finding a little horsehead had been carved into it. It made me smile. Next, Francis took out a long length of rope that was braided with different colours. Green, red, purple, blue and black woven with silver thread. The final items he extracted were a knife and bandages.
I had an idea of what all of this meant and who had chosen these things, but I smiled up at him as he put his hand out to me. He helped me to my feet and pressed me closer to Prescott.
“How is this going to go?” I asked as Prescott took my hand and kissed my knuckles.
“Follow Frankie’s lead,” West said with a shrug as he dug his hands in his pockets.
No surprise Francis was the one who had planned out the ceremony part.
“Okay, we all need to get in a circle for this to work,” Francis said, giving me a wink.
The boys herded me into the circle. I was standing next to West and Prescott with Drake and Francis in front of me.
Francis picked up the rope and slid the knife into his pocket. He made us place all our forearms together in a circle, so our hands were pressed to each other, then proceeded to bind our hands and wrists together with Drake’s help.
“This cord represents the binding of our souls. The knots are a symbol of our love and devotion to each other. May the five of us bring each other peace through the years. May we grow stronger with each passing day bound by our vows and commitments to each other. May the cord running between us never break. May we always be together as one.”
We all stared at the cord as Francis tied it off.
“Okay, Scar, you’re going first. So repeat after me… I vow to be your guiding light in the darkness, to cherish every moment we spend together in this lifetime and the next, to give you my heart and soul to keep safe, and to love you no matter what life brings our way.”
I repeated the words, smiling at all of them in turn.
“Thank you, Scar.” He turned his attention to Prescott. “Now you, repeat after me… I vow to be your protector in the darkness, to cherish every moment we spend in this lifetime and the next, to give you my heart and soul to keep safe, and to love you no matter what life brings our way.”
They all repeated after him and he said the words himself when it was his turn. Then he untied us and made us all put our hands out with our palms facing upwards. He took the knife from his pocket and set the point of the blade in Prescott’s palm.
He sliced across Prescott’s hand, then moved to West’s, cutting his hand too before his own. He took Drake’s, slicing through it and, finally, mine. I winced from the cut but didn’t complain about it.
“May our blood bind us for eternity.”
He made each of them rub their bloody palm against mine, mixing all our blood together. No doubt this was Drake’s contribution to this ceremony. The handfasting was definitely Francis. The knife, so very West. And the rings with the horse carvings in them? That was Prescott all over, with his little obsession with the horsemen.
Lastly, Francis picked up the box of said rings and had me place them on their ring fingers. West was the one who slid the ring onto mine, giving me a devious smile as he did it. It felt fitting for it to be him. We had fallen in love with each other when we were kids. He was the one I’d envisioned spending my entire life with. I just had four men now instead of one. And it was everything to me. They were my life, my loves and my home.
“May these rings symbolise our commitment to each other and guarantee no one else will hit on our woman because we will gut them if they do.”
I snorted and shook my head.
“That’s not very romantic, Frankie.”
“It’s what we do,” West said with a shrug. “You’re ours.”
Prescott took my hand and rubbed the ring.
“No one gets to touch or take what’s ours, little lamb. Never again.”
I gave him a look.
“So you’ll just kill anyone who does? I thought we were done with that after tonight.”
“Drake will. He’s our executioner.”
I rolled my eyes and glanced at Drake, who merely shrugged and rubbed his face.
“If I have to kill again to keep you safe, I will.”
Why on earth was I not surprised our commitment ceremony had included talking about murder?
“Can we please get back to this rather than talking about killing?” I waved between us. “I know it isn’t a wedding, but I think kissing the bride should totally be a thing.”
The words had barely left my lips when I was gathered up in Prescott’s arms and his mouth was on mine, tasting me like a man starved. I melted against him, letting him have his fill of me until he pulled away and smiled.
“My sweet little lamb can have whatever she wants whenever she wants.”
He set me down and pushed me towards West, who kissed me next. It was hot and heavy. His bloody hand wrapped around my throat to remind me who I belonged to.
“Mine,” he murmured against my lips. “Forever, little Scar.”
When he released me, my knees were a little weak. Francis was there to catch me as I stumbled. I found myself bent over his arm as he kissed me, his fingertips in my hair, stroking my scalp. His scent surrounded me, making me feel at home in his arms. He smiled when he pulled away to look at me.