Chapter Thirty-One #5
“Oh, Taran,” says Seth, his voice muffled. “You beautiful idiot. How many times must I tell you? You don’t have to fall in love with me. You can just fall in love with my mouth.”
I elbow Quinn in the side hard and run out of the woods. I don’t care if they hear me. I already know far more than I wanted to.
Quinn laughs uproariously when she makes it back to the reception a little while later. “Seth is going to be so pissed that you ruined that for him. But I’m pretty certain they’ll resume later—”
“No more. I don’t want to know anything else.”
“What’s wrong, my love?” says Ronan, rushing over to me.
“Seth and Taran were—”
“I said no more!”
Quinn makes a lewd hand gesture at Ronan, who chuckles until he looks down at my scowling face. Then he tries very hard to look like he’s sympathizing with my misery, but he can’t stop himself from smiling.
“It’s Seth. How can either of you be happy when it’s Seth?”
“I’m just happy Taran’s getting some action at last,” says Quinn.
“Same. You have no idea how long it’s been for him.
Even if it ends in flames, at least it’s something.
” Ronan wraps his arms around me. “Come on, darling. It’s spring.
Love is in the air. And there’s a big fight ahead of us.
It’s normal to want to find someone to keep your bed warm on the eve of battle. Don’t begrudge them that.”
“Speaking of which,” says Quinn, downing an entire glass of wine in a single gulp and setting her sights on Octavia. “Congrats, guys,” she yells back over her shoulder as she walks away.
“Is that why you agreed to marry me? So I could keep your bed warm on the eve of battle?” I’m trying really hard to look annoyed, but there’s absolutely no hope of keeping this up when Ronan is looking at me with so much affection.
“That’s not even in my top three reasons.”
“Oh? And what are those reasons?”
Ronan places his hand on the small of my back, pulling me to him. “Well, first off,” he says, whispering in my ear. “I love you.”
He kisses me on my forehead, his hands clutching my face.
“And second?” I ask.
“Second,” he says, tilting my chin up to look at me. “I love you.”
He kisses me on each cheek and then right on my nose.
On my freckles.
“And third?” I whisper, my hands clutching his chest in anticipation.
“Third,” he says, his hands wrapping around me luxuriously, reaching low down my back. “I love you.” He lifts me into his arms and kisses me hard.
The kiss feels just like our first kiss. Claiming and searing, his tongue parting my lips at the seam and meeting mine in a passionate dance, his hands roving my body.
But then he breaks from it entirely too soon, leaving me gasping.
“This is how badly I want you, but tonight, I’m not going to take you like this.
Tonight, I’m going to take my time. We’ve been in such a rush since the beginning.
Every time we’ve been together, it’s like we knew our time together was stolen.
Like we knew it could slip away from us at any moment, and all we had to hold on to were a few fleeting moments of happiness before the walls came closing in.
But now, my darling.” He tucks my hair behind my ears.
“Now, my beautiful, sweet love. You are mine.
“All I’ve wanted since we met is the time to be with you, to get to know you, to explore every part of you, every inch.
” His hands trail up my spine and over my hips, exploring.
“And tonight, I’m going to do it. I’m going to touch every inch of your body.
” His hands drift lower, cupping my ass.
“I’m going to taste every part of you.” He kisses my ear and then my neck, leaving a searing trail with his tongue.
“I’m going to make love to you slowly, deeply, the way I’ve always wanted to.
” He kisses my lips with agonizing softness, the barely there touch somehow igniting me even more than his claiming kiss had.
“Tonight, I’m going to make you my wife. ”
“I’m yours, Ronan,” I whisper. I run my hands through his hair and pull his face until it’s an inch from mine. “Take me.”
He carries me down the path to our cottage, handing me the torch to light the way and complete the ceremony as we wave goodbye to Typhon and Larus, the last of our guests remaining.
No one is surprised. This is how most weddings end. The good ones, at least.
Ronan carries me over the threshold and into the cottage. His heart is racing from the walk, but he lowers me to the ground slowly, committed to his plan of taking his time.
He takes the torch from me and lights the fire in the hearth. The fire flashes blue then red for a brief, heart-stopping moment before finally returning to the ordinary yellow.
“I wonder what Vayla was thinking with that thing. It’s so strange,” I say as he lowers the torch into a holder near the hearth. The torch seems to hum contentedly, the strange shadows it casts around the room barely noticeable now that our eyes have long since adjusted to it.
“Questions for later. Tonight, there’s only us.”.