Ever Tempted (12 page)

Ricardo escorted Allie from an opening in the trees to the walk leading to the opening of the gazebo. The restored gown she wore over a hundred years ago fit every curve and swell of her body just as it had then. Her hair was gathered loosely on the top of her head, and the hollow of her neck invited me so much I could barely wait to touch her. I feared I would lay her out in the middle of the gazebo if we didn’t get the ceremony over fast enough.

Had I breathed yet?

Had I ever breathed until I saw her?

Though I had already written and memorized vows years earlier, this moment changed everything I ever thought I wanted to say.

When she stopped in front of me, we were frozen in time. This era or another. I wasn’t sure.

Her smile and the sparkle in her eyes reminded me so much of the first version of Allie I’d fallen in love with that I almost couldn’t speak.

Oh, yeah. Breathe. I had to breathe.

Allie gripped her dress and took the last step up. Nelvi’s oldest daughter arranged Allie’s train so Allie could face me.

Ricardo placed Allie’s hand in mine.

“I love you more than I ever thought I could. We’re ever bound. I just remembered the moment I said that to you so many years ago. It’s weird how that happens. Memories come back to me at the oddest times.”
Her thoughts were louder than the music playing nearby. She squeezed my hand. Her fingers trembled.

For her sake, so she wouldn’t freeze up, I planted my thoughts in her mind.
“Don’t be nervous. It’s just me.”

She bit her full bottom lip.
“All the more reason to be nervous. I wish you could see how handsome you are from my eyes.”

I dipped my head a little closer.
“Just breathe through it. You can show me later.”

The pastor read verses from the Old King James version of the Bible and then regarded me. “I understand you have prepared your vows.”

I nodded. My eyes held a smile and tears simultaneously. I didn’t expect that I’d get emotional, but I couldn’t help it. I blinked the moisture away and pulled a folded piece of paper out of my jacket pocket.

My vision finally cleared enough to see the words, the old naïve parts of my heart I’d poured out onto the page.

I shook my head.

No.

These words were definitely not right anymore.

I put the paper back in my pocket. “Those words just aren’t enough. I don’t know if the right words for us exist, but these are as close as I can come. I may have taken my first breath when I came from my mother’s womb, but my soul came to life when I found you. Now that I have you, I will love, honor, and cherish you until the day I die. And beyond.” My voice broke, knowing we might lose forever.

Allie’s eyes glistened with the threat of tears, and her cheeks blushed with joy.

“I would do anything to protect you, and in preservation of our love, I would give my life.” I took a ring I’d been waiting to give Allie for over a hundred years from my other coat pocket. I placed it at the tip of her ring finger and paused. “I give this ring as a token of our union.”

Allie let out a little gasp. She stared at the ring, and without hearing her thoughts, the look on her face told me she remembered it.

I slid the ring the rest of the way till it covered the little artery that traced back to her heart.

She gazed at me, took a trembling breath, and thought,
“I don’t think I can speak.”

“You’ve never been at a loss for words.”
I placed my thoughts in her head.

Allie took a calming breath as the music started over.

“All my life, I have floated around like a small particle in the universe, looking for some place I belonged, some purpose. The first day I saw you, I found…” She paused, emotion thick in her voice. “I found my reason for existing. I can’t wait to be a permanent part of your life.”

My chest swelled with so much adoration.

Allie smiled up at me as she placed my hundred-year-old ring on the tip of my finger.

“This ring is a token of my undying love. A love that even death can’t touch.” She slid the ring the rest of the way onto my finger, her eyes never leaving mine.

When the ring brushed against the vein on my finger, an arc of electricity ran the length of it and sparked a new beat in my heart. It would only ever beat for her. And it would only ever stop beating for her.

Without direction from the minister, I gathered the other half of me closer. I paused and gave the minister a nervous glance. “Can I please kiss her now?”

The minister chuckled.

“I present you with Mr. and Mrs. Cole Kinsley.” He gave us a nod. “Mr. Kinsley, you may now kiss your—”

In the kiss, I slammed into her, our bodies fixated to each other, our souls finally connected forever. I inhaled as Allie exhaled, and breathed her in.

Her arms draped across my shoulders and when her fingertips grazed my neck, the creature shuddered.

Under the power of her touch, I almost lost control of the man much less the animal inside me. Just as I pulled her brusquely against me, I ended the kiss before it became too out of control.

Ricardo, Nelvi, and their small family of witnesses stood to their feet in joyous applause.

The music’s tempo and volume increased in celebration of our union as we stood facing them. With my hand as support, Allie stepped down first and was received into Nelvi’s bosom for a motherly, tearful hug.

I stayed in place for a few seconds as the anguish of her leaving my side for even a second abated. She was so breathtaking, that I couldn’t imagine allowing her out of my grip, but it was only a few hours until we’d be alone.

I’d have the chance to practice more self-control than I ever had in all my lives.

Even in Grace’s presence, Allie’s safety had never been more in question.

But she deserved the agonizing bending of will I’d have to exercise with her.

* * * *

During the wedding reception rituals, we ate, laughed, and were finally called to the middle of the small crowd beside the gazebo.

It was the first dance.

And the last if I had wrongly placed my faith back home.

I was 98 percent sure I hadn’t.

Only 100 percent was good enough where Allie was concerned. But we didn’t have that luxury. We didn’t have time to put the two most brilliant witchy minds I knew together with the world’s most renowned exorcists and demonologists. It was us against Grace.

Us against fate.

Allie stepped up to me with her gown gathered in one hand and a worried look on her face. “I’m not from a family who ever held much value in ballroom dancing.”

Gathering her up, I placed her on the toes of my shoes. I leaned down. “Don’t worry. I was.”

I took the first few steps as she looked at the people around us. “They’re going to notice. I’m too heavy. You’ll topple over.”

“I’ve picked up feedbags heavier than you.” I kissed her cheek.

She pulled back with a stricken look. “That wasn’t a very romantic thing to say.”

“You want to survive this evening? I’m going to have to keep my thoughts pretty barnyard.” I spun her around, causing her dress to fan out.

“Keep them to yourself then, please.” She relaxed and rested against me.

I held her close and finished out the dance with Allie floating in my embrace as if she’d been fitted for my body.

As we wrapped up the reception party, Allie stood in a group with the women near the houses at the pond. They burst into laughter from time to time, causing Allie to send me mortified looks. Older women didn’t have filters when it came to bedroom talk. With the curse of extra sensitive hearing, I’d been privy to all the tips they’d given her about how to handle me that evening.

Allie nodded graciously, but her cheeks remained crimson as she stood in the women’s presence.

While fortuitously eavesdropping, I’d had to choke down laughter at the most inappropriate times during the men’s conversation. They were patting each other on the backs about the dike they’d added to the island to preserve the land mass and discussing how how warming had done a number on the ocean levels over the last few years.

Laughter wouldn’t have fit into that banter very well.

“Guys, I hate to bow out so early, but this suit is itching so bad I’m going to have to find a change of clothes. I hope you’ll excuse me. It was a wonderful wedding, Ricardo. I’m going to head over and thank Nelvi for all her hard work.”

“I’m honored you included my family. May your union be blessed,” Ricardo said.

I shook hands with all the men and left them to rescue my wife.

As I approached, Allie finally went to Nelvi and kissed her cheek. “Thank you for such a wonderful ceremony. I couldn’t have planned it better myself.”

Nelvi put a plump hand on both our cheeks. Her eyes filled with tears. “I wish you both the best. You deserve a long happy life together. Now, go. Quit pretending you’re having a glorious time out here with us old fuddy duds. I know where you both want to be.”

Allie took my hand and gave it a little jerk as Ricardo joined us.
“Hurry before they bring out some sort of fertility blanket or something even more horrendous; although, at this point, I’m not sure if they could embarrass me anymore than they already have. You should have heard it. I was horrified.”

To move the departure along, I plopped a kiss on Nelvi’s plump cheek. “Thank you. I want you to know I am glad you both were here. You’ve been the parents I never had.” I pulled Allie to my side. “Now, if you wouldn’t mind too terribly much, we’re going to excuse ourselves.”

“Have a wonderful evening. If you need anything, you know where we are,” Nelvi said.

Ricardo draped his arm around Nelvi and gave me a wink.

* * * *

Without words, Allie and I walked hand in hand to Pym Point. Using her other hand, she pulled the hem of her long silk skirts off the ground. The dress was old and heavy and appeared tricky to navigate in. A million butterflies’ wings brushed the inside of my stomach as I stared at her radiant skin. She had this classic, yet modern beauty, one that makeup would only blemish, but today she glowed like a sky full of stars on a moonless night.

I shook my head. Her beauty was simply impossible.

How could it all exist in one person?

How could I have gotten so lucky?

The smile I felt on my cheeks fell away when I realized how badly I would devastate her. How her inner beauty might change if I sacrificed myself for her and all that she loved.

She tugged my hand. “I know that look. You’re not upset about Ricardo and Nelvi’s somewhat peculiar mating advice. What’s wrong?”

I found the smile again. “Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Everything is perfect. You’re perfect.”

She shook her head. “I’m a wreck. You must not be listening to me very closely.”

She was right.

I hadn’t been. “What could you possibly be worried about?”

She tilted her head and gave me a look of disdain. “Seriously. You have to ask.”

“Oh. You’re thinking about…later.” I tore my gaze from her and stared down at the pebbles on the walk. She didn’t realize that there was absolutely nothing she could do to blemish this evening. Hell, she virtually had no need to do anything but lie there. I didn’t need tricks and cooing to get me heated to the point of ecstasy. I was the one with the weight of making the evening perfect.

The pebbles crunched under our feet, every step closer to the house, closer to being completely alone with her. “Above and beyond my worries about shifting, I can’t say I’m not a little nervous.”

“You’re nervous?” She sounded genuinely shocked. “I thought guys just instantly knew what to do.”

“I’m sure I can figure it out, but I’m just worried I’ve been building you up for disappointment.” I took a deep breath.

The trees closed in on us and the path seemed smaller. Either my collar had constricted around my neck, or I’d suddenly gotten a case of claustrophobia. A fine time to want to strip off my clothes in a panic. That needed to happen in a series of planned movements. Not in a heated moment.

Control.

I had been in control.

I would stay in control.

“After the time you kissed me on the hood of the car at the house, I was almost positive that you were skilled.” Allie played with the beaded embroidery on the gathers of her gown.

“Primitive instinct.” Deep breath. Just breathe.

“Wow.” Allie dropped the gather, and beads pelted onto the gravel.

We stared, motionless, then burst into laughter.

“Oops.” She turned in the walkway. With the orange sun setting on the purple horizon, a ray of gold made her skin even darker against the white gown.

“Sorry I ruined that moment with a death threat. I would never be rough with you on purpose. I swear it.”

“Dying wasn’t so bad. Living without you would be worse.” The orange glowed on Allie’s hair and made her soft, stubborn, pouty lips even redder. She stood on her tiptoes. “Don’t ever leave me again. Please.”

The warmth of her mouth caught me off guard.

I thought I’d done well to stay in control. Now that it was okay to be alone without chaperones, without the constraints of my ancient morals hovering over me, the world fell away.

She was everything and everything was her.

I existed no more.

A little groan escaped me as her fingers slipped up into my hair and dug in.

My blood heated from simmering to boiling as she deepened the kiss.

Claws began to protrude. Out of anger as much as frustration, I slammed back against the wall beside the door.

Allie stayed a safe few feet away. “I’m sorry. I just… I want to be close to you. I could be under your skin, and it wouldn’t be enough.”

“It’s”—I took a deep breath—okay.”

“We’ll start small. It doesn’t all have to happen tonight. We have forever.” Holding my face, Allie forced me to look at her. Would she see the lie just under my pained gaze?

“We never know how long we truly have. That’s why I don’t want to waste a moment.”

“A moment with you is never wasted. Now come inside and let’s change out of these clothes.” Allie tugged me inside.