CHAPTER 16 #5
"Hey... let’s make a vow right here and now," she said.
I paused, raising a brow as I turned to look at her. "A vow?"
"Yes, a vow," she replied, her voice dead serious. "You still have that stencil knife on you?"
"Yes," I said, reaching into my pocket and pulling out the polished tungsten handle. "For what?"
"Give it to me," she demanded softly.
I hesitated for a fraction of a second, wondering what my Black Queen was plotting, but I handed the blade over to her nonetheless.
Ciara took the cool handle, holding it up in the moonlight. She looked me straight in the eyes, her expression fiercely beautiful.
"Promise me we will always be together," she said, her voice ringing clear through the dark woods. "Through thick and thin... till death do us part."
Before I could process her intent, Ciara raised the razor-sharp tungsten tip and swiftly sliced the blade straight across her left palm.
Zip.
Blood welled up instantly, pooling in the center of her hand, dark and glistening in the moonlight.
"Ciara, no!" I gasped, my doctor’s instincts instantly kicking in as I rushed toward her, reaching into my pocket for a handkerchief. "Let me wrap that!"
"No, I’m good!" she said, stepping back, holding her bleeding palm out toward me while offering the knife handle back to me. "Now your turn. Cut yours. Make the vow."
I stared at her bloody hand, then down at the knife.
A wild, uninhibited laugh escaped my chest. The absurdity, the raw romance, the absolute sociopathic brilliance of this woman was unmatched.
"Fuck it," I muttered.
I took the stencil knife, brought the edge to my own left palm, and made a swift, clean slice across my skin. Pain bit my hand, and fresh blood poured out freely.
Ciara smiled brightly, stepping into my space, and slammed her bleeding palm directly against mine.
Our blood mixed together, hot, sticky, and rich, sealing our flesh as our fingers clasped tightly together.
"Now say it after me..." Ciara commanded softly, her dark eyes locked onto mine. "Till death do us part."
I looked down into her soul, feeling the warm pulse of her blood mixing with mine, and spoke the words with absolute, terrifying reverence: "Till death do us part."
"It is sealed now, Doc," she whispered, her face lighting up with pure, ecstatic joy. "We are officially husband and wife."
She pulled my head down, pressing her lips to mine in a passionate, blood-stained kiss that tasted of iron and eternity.
I pulled back, grinning down at her. "You are completely crazy, Ciara."
"Yeah... we both are," she clapped back in warm laughter, wrapping her arms around my neck as we kissed again under the silent stars.
***
By 4:30 AM, we were back down the hill at the cabin.
While Ciara went inside to shed her bloody robe, I grabbed the industrial garden hose from the side porch, mixed a heavy bucket of bleach and water, and thoroughly scrubbed every square inch of the balcony deck.
The harsh chemical scent cleared away the iron smell of blood, and the powerful stream of water washed every last trace of Morgan down the mountain drain into nothingness.
To ensure absolute safety, we took a quick drive down the main access road to check if Morgan had left a vehicle behind.
The trail was completely empty—Ciara reasoned he had likely held a driver at gunpoint or hitched a ride up the ridge.
Satisfied that no physical evidence pointed to our sanctuary, we returned to the cabin, locking the heavy cedar doors behind us.
The master bathroom was thick with hot, billowing steam as we stepped into the glass shower enclosure together.
The hot water cascaded down our bodies, washing away the dirt of the gravesite, the dried blood from our hands, and the lingering residue of a violent night.
Ciara turned to face me under the hot spray, her slick chocolate skin glowing, her dark eyes dark with sudden, reborn desire. She stepped into my space, wrapping her arms around my neck, pulling my mouth down to hers in a wet, frantic, ravenous kiss.
We made crazy, uninhibited love right there against the wet tiles. I lifted her up, pressing her back against the warm glass, and pounded into her wet walls with a deep, slow, possessive power that drove us both to a screaming, simultaneous climax under the rushing water.
An hour later, the first gentle rays of dawn began to paint the mountain sky in soft shades of pink, gold, and lavender.
We lay tangled in the massive four-poster bed, completely exhausted, completely clean, and profoundly at peace. I wrapped my broad arms tightly around Ciara’s warm body, pulling her spine flush against my chest in the spooning position, resting my chin against her soft braids.
I leaned down, pressing my lips gently to her ear, and whispered the eternal promise into the quiet morning air: "Till death do us part."
Ciara smiled in her sleep, her breathing slow and deep, her hand resting over mine as she drifted off into a peaceful, undisturbed slumber—two dark, crazy souls, forever bound in love and blood.