I gasp, my pulse quickening. This is happening.
The priest turns to me. “Do you take Elias Kent to be your husband? Do you promise to be faithful to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and to honor him all the days of your life?”
My hands tremble as I grip my bouquet. I want to look away from his searing eyes, but they hold me captive.
“I-I do,” I whisper.
His lips part, and the tiniest exhale escapes him, like he’s been holding his breath.
The priest drones on, more words, more phrases I barely pay attention to. We exchange rings—a simple diamond band for me and a plain silver band for him.
Before I know it, we face each other, the ceremony distilling to this one irrevocable act.
Elias steps up to me, an otherworldly energy rolling off his frame. His menacing scar writhes as he works his jaw. Wordlessly, he takes off his gloves and tosses them to the ground.
His eyes never leaving mine, he slowly lifts his hand.
A hiss escapes his lips when he touches my cheek. Cradles it like a lover would.
I gasp, a thousand sensations coursing through my body, coiling and gathering between my legs.
My breasts feel heavy, my body craving something I’ve never felt before, a sudden desperation to close the remaining distance between us.
And do what?
I’ve lost my mind.
Elias’s thumb travels to my lips. The softest caress, almost like a kiss, then trails down my neck. For a moment, his touch lingers there. His eyes darken, his finger thumbing my pulse, which is beating a traitorous dance for him. His breath hitches, almost imperceptible, but I feel it scraping my skin.
The small crowd behind us murmurs, but I barely hear them.
Because he’s cupping my neck like he’s testing its strength, like a panther playing with its food before digging its talons in to sever the major artery.
I don’t breathe. I can’t breathe. I’m suspended between wanting him to bite down and ruin me or wanting to flee.
But then he shifts, his fingers softening, another lingering downward graze.
Until he reaches my pendant.
Kian’s pendant resting over my heart.
I flinch, suddenly realizing how wrong everything is. This wedding. This marriage. This situation we find ourselves in.
I think about the dreams of love I used to have, about the boy with blond hair and a pretty face who carved love notes into tree trunks. The boy who taught me to have patience for puzzles.
Nothing can prepare me for the puzzle of the man before me now.
Frustrated, I grab my pendant, needing it off me. It’s wrong to wear the symbol of my innocent first love on a day when love stories die.
“Leave it on.”
Elias places his hand on top of mine, clasping the pendant.
“It’s beautiful, just like you.”
My heart flips, my lips parting in surprise. For a moment, I forget this is a farce. I forget what he did to Maxwell, to me. I forget about the bloodshed.
I’m ensnared by those green eyes, the same shade that reminds me of my first love.
