A Passion for Potions (Petalfall #1)

79. Seventy-Nine - A Wedding

Seventy-Nine - A Wedding

Viggo

Ceremonies always make me nervous.

The sun set an hour ago, but the village square surrounding the temple is as bright as daylight for all of the lights Penny has strung in the air.

It puts Ana’s birthday display to shame.

But then... they say that elf light glows more brightly when the elf’s emotions tangle in their magic.

Penny squeezes my hand and I can hear his heartbeat.

I don’t actually know why either of us are nervous... or maybe this prickling sensation is something else I’ve simply never felt before.

“Deep breaths,” I remind him as an acolyte waits silently in the open temple doors behind us.

There’s not a sliver of doubt in my mind that Ana will be here. Soon.

The moment Leaf had learned of the appointment, she had descended on the Manor and dragged Ana away to prepare.

It’s a standard tradition for the families of the soon-to-be-wed to bring them to the temple and I would never keep that from Ana’s sisters or friends.

I can hear them…

Brows quirking, I look at Penny. He can hear them too.

When they appear from the road between the tea shop and the milliner, it is more than her sisters and friends. The whole village—or nearly all of it—carries her to us.

They don’t set her down until they reach the base of the steps and when they do, she hurries up them and back into our arms.

She’s ours.

Ours.

And the village just gave us their blessing.

Not that I think she needed them to, but it’s nice to have it, all the same.

She leans close and whispers, “It’s a little strange, knowing they know exactly what’s about to happen in here.”

“They don’t know exactly. ”

“Some of them will guess, some of them will wonder... some of them won’t think about it at all.” I kiss her cheek. “Right now, all that matters is that the three of us have an appointment with the Goddess.”

She lets us lead her inside as the gathered crowd cheers us along. And the acolyte leaves the doors open behind us so that we hear them deep into the temple.

The ceremony room is at the back, and when we step inside, the statue of the Goddess seems to be wearing a skirt. But that is the curtain between her and the door.

“Do you need supervision?” The acolyte asks, staring blankly up at the Goddess’s face.

“No, thank you.”

Penny and Ana both look at me while the acolyte leaves and as soon as the door shuts, I say, “If you think I didn’t look up the ceremony after the first night, you don’t know me as well as you think you do.”

When the acolyte leaves us, Penny admits, “I looked it up too. Though not quite as soon.”

Ana nods and bites her lip. “I should have done that. I know the basics,” she says, “But I am going to need help.”

“We’ll make sure you don’t miss a single step.”

And the first step is to remove the beautiful white clothing Misses Scoggins and her daughters made—much to the tailor’s chagrin.

Lace panels and long tails, our coats come off easily. There is nothing beneath and our pants are simple trousers.

Misses Scoggins made Ana’s dress with this ceremony in mind, so the buttons are largely decorative instead of functional. It slips off easily, and the garments underneath slide from her skin like they were designed to be removed. The veil they gave her…

“Do you want to leave it on?” I ask, fingers playing over the fine fabric.

“No, it’s pretty, but it will get in the way.” She shakes her head and lets me take it off.

She touches the pendant, worrying it between her fingers. “You don’t need to worry about that, sweetling.”

Taking her hand, I kiss her pink knuckles and turn to where Penny has pulled the curtain aside.

I keep holding her hand, helping her down into the sunken area with its dragon’s hoard of pillows and cushions.

At the Goddess’ feet bared to her and each other, body and soul, there is nothing left to do, but affirm the desires we all already know, and prove them.

There is a bowl at the Goddess’ feet and I dip my fingers in it, anointing them both before Penny shows her how to anoint me.

Her fingers glide over my forehead, my chest and across my lips.

She repeats the motions on Penny.

He and I have already made lesser commitments. We could treat each other as one in this ritual, but I don’t want to.

I anoint him the same way I anointed her, “Mine” repeating fiercely in my mind.

“Will you take us, Ana?” I ask, “In front of the Goddess and as a promise for the rest of our lives.

“I will. Will you take me?”

“Always.” Penny kisses her and then I do, too, repeating the word and adding “forever.”

“We have come before the Goddess to pledge ourselves to each other in her presence and with her blessing.”

Penny leans to whisper and she recites the next line. “No one but the Goddess may come between us.”

It’s as simple as that.

“We’ve agreed in word and now, we must agree with our bodies,” I whisper against her ear and then turn my head to kiss the spot behind it.

“Yes,” Ana’s word is a whisper, and she tries to sink to her knees, but I don’t let her.

“You give, constantly, Ana. It’s our turn.”

She swallows and I’m grateful she doesn’t argue.

I don’t give her a second chance to consider it. Kissing her so deeply it makes my toes curl, I hold her tight to me and relish in the knowledge that she’s ours.

“How could anyone deny that we aren’t blessed by the Goddess?” Penny asks, brushing my hair behind my ear and then turning Ana to him so that he can kiss her too.

And I take the opportunity provided by her distraction.

On my knees, with her leg propped over my shoulder, Ana is open to me. Her body stretches between us as Penny takes her mouth and fondles her perfect breasts.

She is everything and we plan to let the Goddess know it.

Today, as we lay in bed, missing her, Penny had laid out his wishlist for this and I had no reason to suggest a change.

I am happy to follow his script.

And it starts with this .

My teeth sink into her thigh and she cries out in ecstasy, my bite is just the beginning.

As the remnants of that first orgasm cascade through her, Penny helps me lay her down in the cushions.

Licking away those two points of blood, I suck her clit and smile against her as she squirms.

Gaze coasting down her, Penny smiles too. His eyes lock with mine.

He bends to kiss her, murmuring pieces of his plans as she nods and whispers “please.”

I pull her tighter to my mouth and explore every inch of her sweet, wet pussy.

The sounds she makes are muffled, but she tightens, her body gripping at my tongue the way it will soon grip at my cock.

Penny’s fingers slide into my hair, slicking it back with anointing oil and I open my eyes to find him watching me.

I should offer to share.

After all, he’s licking his lips…

Drawing back from her, I kiss him and then sit back on my knees, watching as Penny’s lips cover her and his eyes close.

His throat and jaw and lips move as Ana’s back arches and her breathing fractures.

I lace my fingers in hers, sliding down to stretch out beside her.

“Kiss me,” she says, eyes fluttering open as she reaches out for me.

How could I ever refuse?

Almost as soon as our lips meet, she gasps and writhes and jerks against Penny’s mouth. I would swallow the sound completely, but I release her and when she falls back to the pillows, her cries are an offering to the Goddess.

She is an offering.

I’m distracted by the beauty of her face, pinched in ecstasy, and flinch when Penny’s hand grips my cock.

He strokes me—hand slick with more anointing oil. I bite my tongue when his swirls around the tip of my cock.

It only lasts a moment before he leaves me again, taking Ana up and over him and holding her wide—on display—as his cock pushes inside.

“Every moment we have together is blessed by the Goddess,” he says, looking at us both. “I want to savor all of them.”

Ana nods, biting her lip and pressing down.

My cock aches when he disappears inside of her, but it’s not jealousy, merely impatience.

Penny knows me well enough, he doesn’t make me wait long.

Holding his hand out, he helps me move into place behind and above them.

More oil on my cock, on my hand, I trace my fingers along Penny’s cock as it enters her and I feel Ana’s body trying to pull him in deeper.

“May I join you?” I ask, whispering the words against her shoulder.

“Yes.” She clenches down on Penny, rigid with want and then turns to me, as much as she can. “It’s our wedding day. I want everything. For all of us.”

“So do we.” I ease her forward onto Penny’s chest and press my cock against them both.

The oils were designed for this. The Goddess wants it, and I slide against Penny’s cock, making him groan and Ana sigh with something darker than contentment.

Nothing feels more right than being joined with both of them.

Gripped by Ana, my cock sliding against Penny’s as all three of us move in small ways amplified by this connection, I could believe the Goddess has given us the opportunity to find paradise before we join her in the afterlife.

Surely, there is no reward greater than loving them.

“Look how well we fit in you,” Penny says, even though there’s no way she could hope to see.

But I lift her up, off of him, changing our angle inside of her and we all react to the new pressure.

I grit my teeth, Ana gasps, and Penny chuckles.

He catches my hand and nips at my fingers, raising a brow.

We want Ana to come again and he’s not above asking me to cheat.

I’m not above cheating.

She cries out as my teeth sink into her and I have to close my eyes. Her blood is spiced with desire and it takes all my focus to keep from following her over the edge in my own orgasm.

When I finally open my eyes, Penny looks up at us with a smug smile and I almost take his hand to force his orgasm too.

But, he has a plan.

He dips his fingers in the anointing oil and I ease her down to his chest again as his hand smooths over her soft pink cheek.

Helping him spread her, I watch as the oil and his magic ease the way for his finger to press into her ass.

She shifts against him, but she isn’t trying to get away. She kisses him, rapaciously and I watch, just as greedily.

I know what comes next. I can be patient.

Ana’s hand reaches back, questing for mine, and I take it, holding her as Penny moves.

She’s ready. But she lets out a sad little sound when I withdraw from her.

It fades immediately when I stand and pull her up with me.

Penny follows, helping me guide myself into her and my mind flutters at the pressure and the tension and the pleasure.

Penny got her close, but not all the way there and she stretches and sighs, her whole body working to ease herself even wider.

She’s going to get everything she wants.

Pressed deep inside of her, I lift her up. Penny’s hands go to her ass, supporting her as mine slide up to the back of her knees to hold her wide. The picture we would make…

She gasps when Penny presses into her pussy, joining me inside of her.