Page 109 of Bound

His eyes stay on mine. “Erin, I loved you badly before I knew how to love you well.”

My throat closes.

“I thought protection meant control. I thought fear was proof of devotion. I thought if I could put enough walls around what I loved, nothing could take it from me.”

His thumb moves over my knuckles.

“You broke every rule I had.”

A few people laugh.

He doesn’t.

“And then you made me understand that rules were never the same thing as promises.”

My eyes burn.

Lucian doesn’t look away. “I promise to stand beside you when every part of me wants to stand in front of you. To give you every luxury I can buy and never confuse any of them with the one thing you give freely.”

His voice roughens. “Yourself.”

I am crying now.

So much for waterproof mascara.

The officiant turns to me.

My hands shake in his. “Lucian.” My voice cracks.

I look at him, repeating the traditional wedding vows as the officiant says them. He didn’t tell me we were writing our own, and I’m grateful not to have known.

There’s no way I’d be able to get them out on my own.

Ryan brings us the rings. Lucian slides a thin gold band beside my engagement ring.

I slide his onto his finger.

The officiant says the words.

Husband.

Wife.

Kiss.

Lucian does not wait for the full sentence.

His hands close around my face, and his mouth takes mine.

The room explodes.

Applause. Whistles. Blaze yelling. Cass crying.

Ryan cheering because everyone else is.

I wrap my arms around Lucian’s neck.

My husband.