The captain clears his throat.“We are gathered here, near the end of our Atlantic crossing, on this beautiful winter day of January 30th, 1876, to celebrate and bring together the lives of these two people who are very much in love, Abraham Van Brunt and Katrina Van Tassel, into holy wedded matrimony.”
He turns to Brom.“Now, repeat after me: I, Abraham Van Brunt, take thee, Katrina Van Tassel, to be my wedded wife,” the captain says, and my heart twists at the mention of my maiden name.I’ve been known as Mrs.Katrina Crane for the past two months, the first woman in my family to take a man’s name.As complicated as it’s been to grieve the loss of my mother, I was happy to leave my family name behind.
Brom squeezes my hands, staring into my eyes so deeply that it makes my knees want to buckle.“I, Abraham Van Brunt, take thee, Katrina Van Tassel, to be my wedded wife.”
“To have and to hold from this day forward,” the captain goes on, “for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part, according to God’s holy ordinance; and thereto I pledge thee my faith.”
Brom repeats it all, each word burning with intention.
“Now, Katrina, it’s your turn,” the captain says, and he walks me through the vows again, having me repeat them the same way Brom did.
I say every word.
I mean every word.
“I pledge thee my faith,” I say to Brom, feeling that golden coil of energy inside me.My faith is for him, to him, for us.
“Now, the ring,” the captain says.
Crane comes forward, a sheepish look in his eyes as he holds the ring out for Brom.“Sorry, I probably should have given this to you earlier.I thought I lost it in the room.”
I roll my eyes.Some things never change.
Brom laughs and takes the ring from Crane’s fingers, and I can’t help but notice the way their fingers brush against eachother, the way Crane’s gaze burns on his, the smallest details that warm my heart.
God, how I love these men; my chest could just burst with it, like the sun is caged inside me.
“Now repeat after me, Brom,” the captain says.“I give you this ring as a symbol of my love; and with all that I am and all that I have, I honor you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
Brom holds out the ring with a trembling hand while he grasps my left hand with the other.“I give you, Kat,” he says, his voice shaking too, “this ring as a symbol of my love; and with all that I am and all that I have, I honor you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”
“I now pronounce you man and wife,” the captain says with a great big smile.“You may now kiss the bride.”
Brom breaks into a grin and then grabs my face in his hands, holding me tight as he presses his lips to mine.“I love you, my wife,” he whispers against my mouth.
“I love you too, my husband,” I say, smiling so hard that it hurts.
Suddenly Crane starts clapping loudly, and Famke joins in with a little cheer.I pull away from Brom and look at Crane, my other husband now, and his eyes are wet with emotion, his mouth firm, as if trying to hold it together.
“Come here,” I say to Crane, opening my arm for him, not caring what the captain thinks.We’re just all good friends who are celebrating this joyous occasion together.
Crane comes right in, not between us, but surrounding us, one of his long arms over me, the other hooked over Brom’s neck,holding us together.“Congratulations, you kids,” he whispers to us before placing a fierce kiss against the top of my head, then bringing down Brom’s head and doing the same to him.
I let his arms press me against Brom, and I’m engulfed by my two husbands, my two lovers, my two soulmates, with a baby deep in my womb, and I don’t think I could feel more whole than this.
But though I want to stay in that embrace forever, the captain needs to get back to work, so we leave the stateroom and go back to our cabin.Famke tries to get us to come up to the bar deck and have celebratory champagne with her, but we promise we’ll meet up with her later.
Right now, all three of us want to be as selfish as possible.
We go to our cabin, Brom scooping me up into his arms just as Crane kicks open the door.I’m brought over the threshold and right over to the bed, Brom dropping me on it so that I bounce and then both men attack me, two sets of mouths devouring me, four hands tearing off my dress, taking off their own clothes.
I’m swept away in their current, letting myself go, letting them take the lead.
My dress is removed, and Crane practically rips the corset off, grumbling that he was a fool for putting it on in the first place, and then the three of us are naked.
They cover me with their bodies, taking turns.One of them will kiss me deeply while the other will go between my legs and lick me out.Then the other will suck and kiss at my breasts, while the other fingers me deeply.I come over and over again, lost to these two dark-haired men with their deviant but wonderful souls, feeling utterly loved and cherished.
And they whisper and murmur to me too, they tell me that I’m such a good girl, such a goodwife, that I belong to them and only them, that they love me more than they can bear, that they are my husbands and they will always take care of me.
