Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 118042 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 590(@200wpm)___ 472(@250wpm)___ 393(@300wpm)
I shrugged.
She knew I was obsessed.
Knew I only had a finite amount of time I could stand to be away from her.
Priti—a Sanskrit name for kindness, grace, and love—had no idea who she’d been born to. I would make her life absolute hell when she got older. I’d be protective as fuck and downright annoying but…no man would ever love her as much as I did.
Ily kissed her father’s cheek as they reached the two steps to the podium.
Her sparkling silver sari dripped with simple crystals instead of expensive gemstones. Around her neck rested a silver circle that Krish had painstakingly etched with the flower of life. He’d asked if Ily wanted a stone called aventurine to match the one lost on Victor’s island.
She’d quickly shaken her head.
Neither of us had lost our aversion for any type of jewel.
That was why I’d struggled to find a wedding ring.
And why I’d had to have one made.
It burned a hole in my pocket as Ily stepped to face me and Priti reached for her mother.
Kissing our daughter’s outstretched hand, she grinned. “I didn’t know I was marrying you too, little fireheart.”
Fuck, my own heart turned into a furnace.
I burned.
I flamed.
I didn’t think I would ever find this level of joy and yet…I had.
I stood in fucking utopia surrounded by my favourite people and the monster in me agreed. In that moment, it didn’t crave blood or pain. It basked in total happiness and love. The two pieces of me forged together. Forever hers. Forever free.
“If you will all be seated.” The celebrant cleared his throat and smiled at the crowd.
The rustle of clothing and creak of chairs sounded in the hot summer afternoon. Not a cloud in the sky. The sun as golden as Ily’s eyes.
I needed to touch her. Hold her.
Glancing at Peter, I raised an eyebrow.
“You’re nuts.” He chuckled under his breath and held out his arms. “Come on then. Give me my goddaughter.”
I passed her over.
Priti chortled and grabbed Peter’s ear.
With my hands free, I palmed Ily’s ring and waited.
Everything around me faded.
The words of the celebrant.
The sighs from the crowd.
All I saw was Ily.
All I heard was her heart.
I love you. She smiled.
I love you more. I touched my chest. Forever.
When it was time for us to exchange vows, I went first.
Clearing my throat, I raised my voice so everyone could hear. “You once made me recite Rainer Maria Rilke poems to keep me conscious in the dark. I’ve read quite a few of his editions now but it was your father who gave me my favourite one.” I glanced at Manish Sharma.
He nodded and smiled.
“He quoted ‘Our deepest fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasure.’”
Catching Ily’s stare again, I said softly. “You frighten me to my very core, mon cœur. You are dangerous to my heart, soul, and sanity but only because you are the greatest treasure I could ever hope to find. You make me feel safe. You make me feel seen. You freed me from all my fears of who I truly am, and showed me that even a dragon can be loved. Even a man who isn’t worthy can be blessed with a lifetime of happiness.”
Taking her left hand, I slipped the ring onto her finger. An act I’d craved but never believed would happen. She gasped, studying the heavy gold circlet that looked exactly like the woollen bow I’d tied around her finger so many months ago. The jeweler had even added the brushed filaments, making the gold a little rough, a little homespun. He’d captured the fragility of a string and made it permanent. Just like the threads of fate that’d bound us into one.
We both ignored the celebrant as Ily trembled and sniffed back a tear.
The darkness swirled inside me, ready to lick her happiness but she gave me a warning look and smiled. Holding out her hand to Peter, she waited until our friend shifted our daughter onto his hip and reached into his pocket.
Passing her a ring, he grinned in my direction. “You’re such a sap.”
I chuckled.
Ily rolled her eyes and grabbed my left hand. “We share the same birthday. We share the same soul and fate. And now…somehow…we share the same ring.”
I glanced at the gold encircling my finger and burst out laughing.
Almost identical.
A thick, glinting string.
Grabbing her cheeks, I kissed her.
I kissed her deeply, truly.
I kissed her vows right off her tongue.
I kissed her until the crowd cheered, the celebrant gave up trying to make us say I do, and Peter burst into laughter beside us.
As the orchestra slipped into a new song and people drifted off to find their places at dinner, Ily and I stayed on that altar and kissed.
We kissed for every day of this lifetime and beyond.
We kissed until nothing and no one could ever tear us apart.