Joel (BBW Bear Shifter Wedding Romance) (Grizzly Groomsmen Book 5) (26 page)

Delphine was about to reply when the intercom above his bed went off.

“Custer, I need you to get Delphine and come to the kitchen. Family meeting time.”

Custer reached up to press the reply button. “On it. Um, but…” He looked over Delphine’s body. “Can Annie bring her another change of clothes?”

There was a very loud silence, followed by the captain saying, “I honestly don’t know what I was expecting. I honestly do not know how I asked you to look after the woman who, due to admittedly terrible circumstances, tried to kill and didn’t think once it would end up like this. Yes, I’ll have Annie bring the poor girl some clothes.”

Delphine covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her giggles but her eyes sparkled with mirth.

“Thank you, Captain, and I apologize for not following your admirable lead of sleeping with a random girl we find on a planet and then have to kill a warlord for. Truly, I see the error of my ways.” He released the button to lean over and kiss Delphine as the captain squeaked indignantly.

They lay there, just kissing, until a knock sounded at the door. Custer groaned quietly and rolled over. He grabbed his pants and swiftly hopped into them before opening the door. Delphine pulled the covers up to her armpits.

Annie’s face looked to be about half amusement, half resigned irritation.

“We are going to have a talk later,” she informed Custer, thrusting a bundle of cloth at him and peering around him. “Same goes to you, Delphine.”

Delphine suddenly felt awkward. “Thank you for the clothes.”

“Not a problem,” Annie sighed. “We’ll need to take you shopping sooner rather than later, though.”

Delphine frowned, sitting up. “What?”
 

“Like Leo said. Family meeting, ASAP.” Annie nodded at them both, then walked back into the hall.

“Do you know what’s going on?” Delphine asked as Custer set the clothes on the bed.

“How would I?”

Delphine shrugged, still frowning, and reached for the pants. Some crises were best dealt with clothed.

“Have you ever heard of Helen of Sparta?” Custer asked as she tugged on the borrowed clothing.

“I… no, I don’t think so,” she said, wracking her brain.

“Old Earth Greek legend. Apparently, she was the most beautiful woman in the world so all the men wanted to have her. They all gathered and let her choose, and promised that they’d all respect her choice and help her chosen husband if anything happened to her. Anyways, she chooses this one man, but the Trojan prince asks the love goddess, Aphrodite, to help him kidnap her, knowing it’ll start a war.”

Delphine nodded, waiting for Custer to reveal why this was relevant.

“All I’m saying is, he started a lot of shit with a lot of dangerous people for a girl he never spoke to, he just thought she was beautiful. And I think you’re beautiful, and having spoken to you I am cripplingly fond of you, and so whatever happens in the meeting I just want you to remember that wars have been fought for less than what I feel for you.”

Delphine’s throat closed. The galaxy’s worst soldier and a weapon who was trying to be something more. What a perfect pair they made.

“Well, now that the afterglow’s officially ruined, I say we go see what Leo wants,” Custer said with significantly more cheer than he’d had mere seconds prior. Delphine allowed her mood to be lifted and nodded with a slight smile.

The trip to the kitchen was short enough that Delphine’s worries didn’t have time to take over her mind but long enough that they still planted seeds of doubt and panic. Everyone else was already seated at the table, their expressions containing various levels of exasperation.

“I just want to say before we get started,” Hyde said, “that the fact that none of us realized that this was going to happen is, in hindsight, frankly embarrassing. I would also like to add that under no circumstances are the two of you allowed to procreate while I’m alive.”

Dominic nodded seriously.

“Duly noted,” Custer said with his trademark smile. “We’ll be sure to murder you before starting a family. Don’t worry, it’ll be quick.”

“If you’re done,” the captain cut in with a glare, “we need to have a serious conversation.”

“We managed to get ahold of the
Rabblerouser
fairly quickly,” Annie said. “The mercenaries that went after Custer and Delphine must have tipped them off. They were wary, but willing to negotiate once we made it clear we meant them no harm. They agreed, and Zosha’s friend gave the Mason executives a very convincing show. They aren’t stupid enough to risk a multi-billion credit business over this. As long as we have Delphine and the
Rabblerouser
crew is willing to admit to smuggling U4 for them—that is, of course, as long as they don’t run the risk of getting arrested—Mason can’t move forward without taking a huge leap back.”

“And that’s what we need to discuss. The
Rabblerouser’
s captain wants Delphine,” the captain informed the room.

Custer stiffened, his smile suddenly cold. “And what did you tell them?”

“That it was a no-go. It’s understandable. We need their help to get Mason to stop sending people after us, but if we turn Delphine loose she could disappear—or worse, go back to Mason—and then they’re on the hook for being willing to testify against them and in the same position we are. I explained that we couldn’t risk giving Delphine to them in case they decided to try and garner loyalty with Mason. We agreed that, as long as we keep Delphine on a proverbial leash, they’d be willing to testify. The problem with our job is that the only reliable way to do that is keep you on the ship, which means you’d have to work for us. We don’t have the resources or, frankly, the inclination to take care of someone who isn’t contributing. Thoughts?”

“I…” Delphine shook her head, stunned. “I don’t understand.”

“The problem,” Ingram said, “is that you were raised to believe that Mason Corporation was omnipotent and infallible. In reality, neither are true and no one knows it better than the people who run it. The fact that we may or may not be able to cause an investigation is too dangerous. They’re backing off, at least for now. So the question remains. What do you want to do?”

“You’re really asking my opinion?” Delphine asked, carefully rearranging her understanding of her life.

“Of course,” the captain said. “We’ve already told you that we’re not willing to keep prisoners. Again, we don’t have the resources, and if you chose to you could make our lives very difficult. As it stands, we need you here, willingly, or we need to work out an acceptable alternative.”

Delphine looked at Custer, feeling truly, utterly helpless for the first time in her life. She would have been happy to die for him. The thought that she might get to live with him filled her with a terrifyingly intense whirl of emotions.

“Whatever you want,” Custer said softly, and Delphine knew he meant it.

She took a deep breath and smiled, small but true.

“I want to stay.”

Sam

Grizzly Groomsmen II

by

Becca Fanning

Raking her fingers through her short hair, Lorne looked around the room. She was in her element, surrounded by people, booze, and music, and ready to have a good time. Even if she had ended up becoming Dina's unofficial wedding planner, she'd still been looking forward to this party all year. This was her kind of occasion, glamorous, in that easy, laid-back way, and packed full of gregarious people who were all too ready to blow off some steam and actually have a good time for once.
 

When Dina had first mentioned the idea of having the wedding somewhere outside the city, Lorne had been looking up venues on her iPhone before the sentence had even come out of her mouth. She'd met Dina through her sister, who worked with the soon-to-be bride, it was rare that Lorne clicked so hard with someone else, but Dina and her just had an instant chemistry that never backed down. Ever since Lorne had spotted her across the room at one of her sister's boring work functions and Dina had responded with a half-smile and a raised eyebrow, she knew she'd found a kindred spirit.
 

That had been two years ago, and Lorne and Dina had become intense best friends, the kind who piss everyone around them off with their inside jokes and shrieking giggles. Lucky for Lorne, she'd always been fond of Tom, Dina's fiancé, too, so when they got engaged, Lorne was delighted. But she'd known them long enough to understand that a pair of scatterbrained flakes like Dina and Tom probably wouldn't do so well organizing a wedding by themselves, if they did, it would probably end up taking place in their back garden, with invitations sent the week before and a cake knocked up by her niece and covered in Christmas decorations because that's all they had kicking around. Dina had wheedled Lorne into helping pretty much every step of the way, and Lorne was happy to get involved. Organizing someone else's wedding was sort of the dream for her, she got to throw all her type-A sorting-out skill into something, but without the pressure of actually marrying someone herself. And that's how she found herself standing at the pre-wedding reception, watching a bunch of couples out on the dance floor, feeling like a puppet master as everything came together exactly how she'd pictured it.

Picking up her beer and taking a sip, Lorne caught Dina's eye across the room, Dina offered her a quick wave, then made her way through the crowd towards her. Lorne had been so busy putting this whole thing together that she kept on forgetting her best friend would be getting married in only two days, a terrifying thought for someone as single as she was. Sometimes, she couldn't believe they were the same age, now that Dina was getting married, it seemed as if she'd moved up to a whole other level of grown-up-itude.

"How's it going?" Lorne asked as Dina approached her, trying not to wobble on her stiletto heels.

"Pretty good, though I need to find some way to avoid all the family members who want to come and drunkenly tell me stories from when I was four," she pulled a face, and Lorne grinned

"Well, I'll do my best, but I'm not promising anything," she replied sternly, and Dina reached behind her to pour herself another glass of champagne. Lorne cocked an eyebrow at her, and Dina immediately protested.

"Hey, I'm allowed to be hungover tomorrow, it's not my wedding till the day after that!"

"I know. But I've seen you hungover, and it's not something I want to have to deal with again," Lorne shot back dryly.
 

"Yeah, fair point," Dina took a sip of champagne. "But why would you organize all this booze if you didn't want me to get a little drunk?"

"What's a wedding without a bit of social lubricant?" Lorne replied. "That's why everyone always hooks up at weddings, you know. It’s the mixture of booze and being reminded of the fact that you're tragically single."

"Aw, are you feeling lonely?" Dina turned to Lorne with a half-sympathetic, half-teasing look on her face.

"I've got too much to do to feel anything other than busy."

"Shame," Dina nonchalantly replied. "I noticed Sam was looking like he needed some company."

"Who's Sam?" Lorne asked, scanning the room, trying to set her sights on anyone who wasn't having a good time.

"He's one of the groomsmen," Dina explained, turning her back on the room so she could murmur directly into Lorne's ear. "He's sitting by the window, glass of red wine, kind of burgundy suit?"

Lorne glanced across the room, trying as hard as she could not to look like she was staring at anyone. Then she saw him, he had tightly cropped slick of blonde hair, a carefully fitted suit, and his fingers drumming up against the glass on the table in front of him.

"Oh, that's him?" She nodded towards his table. "It's kind of weird, putting a face to all these names."

"You should go talk to him," Dina prompted, grinning mischievously.

"Look, just because you're getting married, it doesn't mean that you have to find someone for me to have a happily-ever-after with," Lorne scolded her playfully. "Besides, the groomsman and the bridesmaid? Do you want me to be a walking cliché?"

"Yes," Dina pouted. "And it's my wedding, so I get whatever I want."

"Tell me about it," Lorne muttered pointedly, slyly eyeing Dina out of the corner of her eye to watch for her reaction. She tried to keep a game face, but ended up grinning.
 

"Right, okay. I suppose I don't want one of the groomsmen sitting there all miserable for the night. So one dance, okay?" Lorne smoothed out her dress, black and white, with no halter, even if she did have to find an industrial-strength strapless bra to keep everything in place. "Anything I should know about him?"

"Um, Tom and him lived together before he met me, and I think he works in publishing or something?" Dina wrinkled up her nose. "That's not important. He's cute and you look like you need to relax."

"I'm fine," Lorne replied firmly. "Really, I'm having a good time."

Dina raised her eyebrows at her skeptically.
 

"Yeah, okay. Well, go and have a better one."

"But-"

"The bride decrees it to be so!" Dina cut across her before she could form any kind of protestation. Lorne shrugged, picked up her drink, and headed across the crowded room, weaving in and out of people dancing and drinking to get to his table.