“You stole my breath, you opened me up… you carved your way inside me, baby, and I was amazed every step of the way. You are my Need, because I willalwaysneed you. And I vow to love you the way you deserve, Felix Darcey. Unconditionally,irrevocably, obsessively. My sweet, perfect monster, you made me…love.”
Felix blinks tears down his cheeks, and I kiss them off.
“Okay… anyone who isn’t crying, you’re dead inside,” Joy sniffs. “Killer bee, you’re up.”
“Lemuel, I was trying to think if there was something I could say to you that you don’t already know,” he hums. “But I don’t think there is anything. You know everything that’s in my head, and my heart, because from the moment I met you, it was your mission to unearth my every skeleton. I’ve never been able to hide my attraction to you, my obsession with you, mylovefor you. You see all of it, but the one thing you can’t see, Lemuel, is the future.
“So what I’ll vow to you is a future of giving you every single bit of myself, and taking yours in return. The good and the bad, baby… I accept it willingly. Because I love your imperfections just as much as your many perfections. I want your scars, your trauma, your pain… just as much as your lust, your need, and your love. I just want all of you, Want. Forever.”
Pressure tightens my face as I press my lips together. Restraining the emotion as best I can… Though, it’s no use. For him, I let the tears fill my eyes.
“Here’s to a future of possibilities, baby,” he whispers, slipping his ring on my finger. “Starting right now. I can’t wait to tear it apart with you.”
He grins, biting his lip. I slide my hands onto his waist, pressing my forehead to his.
Joy croons, “By the power vested in me by You Be Ordained dot com,” we all chuckle, “I now pronounce you Dr. And Mr. Carver.” I rumble satisfied laughter as Joy winks at me. “Dr. Love, you may kiss your husband.”
“Need,” I hum, grasping Felix by the jaw and melting my mouth over his.
My husband.
“You just married a serial killer! May God have mercy on your soul!” Joy whoops, and everyone cheers.
Everybody Wants To Rule The Worldplays as we walk down the aisle past our Pen family. Hand-in-hand, andmarried.
The first ever Alabaster Wedding went off without a hitch.
The reception was perfect. We ate, we drank, we danced to eighties music and laughed with our friends.
And when we couldn’t possibly wait one more second, we adjourned to our bedroom.
When we stepped inside, I jumped. “Jesus…” Slapping my hand over my heart. “He scared me.”
Darcey the lifelike mannequin was on our bed, staring at us. Beside a new gift.
Felix looked at me suspiciously, but I simply held up my hands. “Don’t look at me. That one’s not mine.”
He picked up the card on top and read it aloud, “To my most prized possession, Congratulations on your nuptials, and now belonging to someone who will cherish you with everything in him. In case you’re ever missing Felix Darcey, I hope this will remind you just how wonderfully depraved and brutally brilliant you are. It’s noBeneficial Brainwashing, but it’s alright. With love, Ivory.”
Felix and I shared a look as he picked up the wrapped rectangle, tearing into the paper.
It was a book.
“The Perfect Monsterby… Mark Olshaker?!” I gasped, eyes bugging. “With Keisha Barnes and Henry Liu. Holy fuck!” I snatched the book from him.
“Oh my God,” Felix awed. “I didn’t know this had come out yet…”
“FBI agent who caught you and Henry Liu worked on this together,” I mumbled in fascination. “But do you know who actually wrote this?? Mark Olshaker! He’s the author of—”
“Mindhunter,” Felix chuckled. “Yea, I know, babe. I’ve read it because you’re obsessed.”
“I can’t believe Mark Olshaker wrote your true crime book!” I was fucking fanboying so hard, clutching the book to my chest.
“I can’t believe Henry Liu actually worked on a book about me,” Felix murmured. “That’s crazy…”
“It’s amazing,” I gushed. “I can’t wait to read it.”
“Do you think it’s good?” He grabbed the book, reading the back cover.
