Total pages in book: 124
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115347 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
“You mean it?” A higher-pitched squeal escaped her, and he smiled. “Do it, then.” Palms flat, she traced her fingers up his pectorals and around his neck. “Make the declaration.”
Despite her isolation with the trees, she knew how weddings worked. Knew his word was law and he needed only to declare a merger to make it so.
A small whisper in the back of his mind rose. Rushing this? “I will do this...tomorrow, after the wine has worn off,” he forced himself to add. Wait to claim her? Fool! Despite the protests being screamed inside his head, he did not negate the words. Instead, he pressed on. “Take the night. Consider the ramifications. If you still desire to do this in the morning—” still desire me “—I will take the steps to wed us.”
She pouted again, and he had to lock muscles onto bone to stop himself from fully claiming those lush lips in front of everyone. “I always have to wait for everything.” The pout migrated to her voice, and he thought it might be the most adorable thing about her. “I had to wait for my parents to recover, but they didn’t. I had to wait for my brother to return, but he never came back. I had to wait for a friend I never found. I don’t want to wait anymore. Please don’t make me. You’ll be good to me, and I’ll be good to you. Yes? Does anything else matter?”
Her parents. A brother. A lack of friends. This was the most information she’d ever shared about herself. Because she didn’t merely seek him as a husband—she sought him as a friend. Miracle of miracles, his feral beauty had decided to trust him. An amazing development. How could he deny her anything? Especially this. What’s more, the wine never lied. This precious female wouldn’t be changing her mind about him.
Micah swiped the tip of his tongue over dry lips and nodded. Fear should never dictate his actions. “I will wed you today. Tonight. Now.”
Grinning, Red jumped up and clapped. “You won’t be sorry, Micah.”
“Stop and think this through,” Elena pleaded. The spy was still here?
He nodded to the musicians who played flutes and drums in the far corner. The music ceased abruptly. Around him, conversations died as well. Quiet reigned, not a whisper to be heard.
He returned his focus to Vee. His little Red. His dream come true. His future—for better or worse. “I claim you as my wife, Vee...my Red.” He didn’t even know her last name or moniker. Yet he was still going to do this. “I pronounce you queen of my people.” As she melted against him, her expression luminous—soul changing—his heart clanged against his ribs. He scanned the crowd, linked his fingers with his bride’s and lifted their arms, presenting her to their people. “Now and forever.”
Gasps erupted. Jaws dropped. Elena groaned as if she’d been punted in the guts. Norok, whose arrival Micah had missed, paled, and bellowed a vile curse.
Lowering their arms, he faced her once more. “Do you accept my claim, Red?”
“I do. Very much so.” She peered at him with something akin to adoration, almost shy, confirming the rightness of his decision to do this. “So we are truly wed now? Irrevocably tied?” Joy filled her words.
Tenderness proved stronger than any malice he’d ever experienced, razing what he’d once considered the best parts of him. No longer. “We are.” It was done. Spoken, accepted and sealed. Red was his wife. His partner. A royal sovereign.
Pride infused his spine and puffed his chest as he faced the onlookers yet again. “Come. Greet your new queen.” She is mine. Forever.
One by one, the people bowed. All but Norok, Elena and Lavina. Micah glared at each. Lavina was the first to break. She executed a shaky bow before fleeing the tent. Elena finally nodded her head in acknowledgment. The most she would do. After minutes of silence and stillness, Norok worked his jaw and gave a nod of his own.
Micah didn’t press for more...yet. He would give the siblings time.
“Oh, I like this,” Red said, gaze sweeping over the masses. “I like this indeed.”
Satisfaction inundated him, nigh overflowing. “This is only the beginning.” He’d meant what he’d contemplated; he intended to give her the world.
To his bafflement, the people around him began to relax. Some even beamed genuine smiles at him.
“To the marriage bed,” someone called, and laughs followed.
The throng urged him and his bride out of the common area, then escorted them to his tent. A task performed for all newlyweds and not something he’d ever thought to enjoy himself.
Along the way, fae called out well-wishes and advice. “Never go to bed angry. Stay up all night and fight!”
“Never forget one person is always right, and the other person is the husband.”
“Always remember the husband is the head of the house, but the wife is the neck. She turns him wherever she pleases!”