4. Severin #2
“No.” She steps out of the circle of my coils and stands before the rector, her chin lifted, her hazel green eyes blazing in the torchlight.
The wound on her palm still bleeds, a thin crimson line running down her wrist, but she does not seem to notice it.
She stands tall, her rounded belly pressing against the front of her pale blue dress, and she faces the man who tried to sell her like cattle.
“I am glad I did not go to work at that awful place like you wanted me to. I’m glad I came here instead, to Penridge Manor, where I found Lord Severin, a monster far kinder than men.
” My heart thuds as she looks down at her caretaker.
“I am not his prisoner, Reverend Harlow.” Her voice carries across the courtyard, clear and strong and utterly without fear.
“I am Lady Fiona Drake, Viscountess of Penridge. I am married to Lord Severin Drake by holy sacrament, and I carry his child within me. Three of them, in fact.”
The gasps are audible. The villagers stare at each other, confused as Harlow’s jaw drops in shock. “You…unholy creature.”
“Lord Drake didn’t force me into anything.
I married him because I wanted to. In fact, he saved me.
He took me in while you tried to use my vulnerable position to benefit yourself.
It is not him who is a monster, but you.
” There is silence across the courtyard as pride blooms in my chest for my brave wife.
She turns to the villagers and says, “Lord Severin is not the monster you think he is. He is the kindest man I have ever known. He treats me like a queen, not a burden. He feeds me when I am hungry. He warms me when I am cold. He holds me when I am afraid. And he truly cares for me, Reverend Harlow. Something no one in your parish ever did.”
The rector opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. His face has gone the color of old cheese, his jowls trembling, and I watch the hatred in his eyes curdle into something uglier. Something desperate.
Fiona turns to me.
The torchlight catches the copper in her hair, turning it to molten fire, and her hazel green eyes find mine across the distance. There is no fear in them. No hesitation. Only that fierce, blazing warmth that has been slowly thawing the ice in my chest for three months.
“Severin,” she says, and my name in her mouth sounds like a prayer. “I love you.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. My tail goes still. My breath catches in my throat, and for one suspended moment, the entire courtyard disappears. There is only her. Only Fiona, standing on the stone steps with blood on her palm and fire in her eyes, telling me she loves me.
“You might look like a monster to them,” she continues, her voice steady and sure, but tears leak from her eyes, “but you are the truest gentleman I have ever met. With you, I have found so much joy, so much peace, so much happiness…I never knew life could be this good. Your presence, your companionship, your passion, and your unfailing steadfastness have captured my heart. I have been falling in love with you since that first night, and now, I know for sure. You’re the one I love, my lord, the one I willingly spend my life with.
Being your wife is the greatest pleasure I have known.
I came here looking for a sanctuary, but found home.
More than that, I found love in a monster with a heart of gold.
No matter what people say about you, I will always know you for who you truly are. ”
I stare at her as everything goes silent, her words echoing in my heart. It is then that I know that she is the one I’m going to love forever. She, who has known my true nature and my heart even though we’ve only known each other for months.
I move toward her. My tail uncoils in a long, fluid arc, scales whispering against stone, and I close the distance between us in three powerful strokes.
I wrap my massive body around her, my coils encircling her waist, her hips, the swell of her belly where our children grow.
She is so small against me, so warm, so full and soft, and I pull her against my chest until I can feel her heartbeat hammering against my ribs.
My arms band around her shoulders, one pale hand cradling the back of her head, fingers threading through the molten copper of her hair.
I hold her like she is the most precious thing in the world, because she is.
“Fiona.” My voice comes out rough, broken, nothing like the cold, measured tone I have cultivated over centuries. I gaze down at her, at those hazel green eyes swimming with tears, at the blood still beading on her palm, and my chest cracks open. “I feel the same way.”
She blinks up at me, her lips parting. “What?”
“I love you too, my dear,” I say, and the words feel like coming home.
They pour out of me, raw and unguarded, and I do not try to stop them.
“I have fallen in love with you, my wife. Completely, irrevocably, madly in love with you. I wanted to tell you tonight, wanted to give you a grand dinner and confess my love to you, but the circumstances don’t matter.
What matters is what’s in our hearts, and you are the only woman in my heart, the only woman who will ever own me. ”
Her breath hitches. A tear slips down her cheek. “Truly?”
“I was impressed by your courage when you came to me, but now, I know you. Your warmth, your companionship, your softness have changed my life from a cold, lonely existence to a joyful one. With you in my life, it is finally complete. You’re my soulmate, Fiona, the woman I admire, cherish, and adore, and the only one I want to spend my life with.
I thought I’d lost the chance to find love, to have a family, but you walked in and proved me wrong.
I love you for everything you are, and everything you become. ”
“Severin…” Fiona’s tears slide down her eyes, and I brush them away.
“Don’t cry, my dear. We’re finally together, just where we were supposed to be.”
And then, my lips find hers, kissing her before the entire crowd.
The rector and crowd watch us in silence, our love a vow that is now public and resonant.
Fiona’s soft hands cup my face, her fingers trembling against my cool skin.
Her hazel-green eyes search mine, and I see the love there, raw and unguarded, shining through her tears.
She pulls me closer, her lips meeting mine in a kiss that sears through my cold blood like wildfire.
It’s not gentle or hesitant. It’s fierce, passionate, and desperate, her mouth opening beneath mine as she pours everything she feels into this kiss.
I kiss her back, exploring her lips, the people around us forgotten as we drown in each other.
I deepen our kiss, my forked tongue sliding between her lips, tasting salt and sweetness and belonging.
My coils tighten around her protectively, cradling her pregnant belly between us.
“I love you,” she whispers against my lips, her breath warm and sweet. “I love you, Severin. You are my home.”
The words settle into my chest, filling spaces I didn’t know were empty.
“I love you, Fiona, my mate, my wife, my love, and my viscountess.”
The whole village watches on as the viper viscount claims his new viscountess, basking in the light of love.