“Oh, Thorin. Thank you so much.” In front of the full-length mirror, Imara admired herself in the silk and lace wedding dress he bought her.
“You don’t have to thank me. I needed an excuse to go to New Orleans, anyway.” Two fingers dug around his watch pocket, then removed a small bag and placed it in her palm. “Father Michael sends his love, by the way.”
“Wasn’t that sweet of that angel!” After she tucked the sixpence in her shoe, she peeked down at herself and brushed off her waist. “What do you think?”
With a grin, he slid his hands up her arms. “There was never a more beautiful woman on her wedding day, I’m sure of it.”
A shot of nervous air blew through her red lips as she shook out her hands. “I’m full of nerves.”
His kind hand patted hers while Thorin led her down the hall. “Relax.”
She peeked around him into the sitting room and caught a glimpse of Ben in his crisp white linen shirt and checkered vest. “I can’t believe I was lucky enough to find someone so wonderful.”
He leaned down to kiss her cheek before they came through the doors. “Ben’s the lucky one, Sweet Girl.”
Before he ever heard his mother gasp at Imara’s beauty, Ben caught her scent and turned from the painting he was admiring. A sharp tooth dug into his lip as he smiled and shook his head. “Baby, you look like an angel.”
After tucking her icy hands into his, he bent down to look her in the eyes. “Are you ready?”
Every nerve that itched at her all morning was now suddenly calm as she smiled and nodded. “Oh, yes. I’ve never been so ready for anything in my life.”
They stood hand in hand in front of Thorin, and he smiled as he prepared to give his rendition of the ancient rite. “We are all gathered here to witness the marriage binding of Ben and Imara. As in the old times, we recognize that this ritual bonds us forever to our mates. In honor of what the Fates have gifted to us, we offer this sacrifice.”
With a nervous smirk, Thorin produced a knife from the table beside him. He’d protected his sister from every uncomfortableness in the world for ten years, and it seemed wrong to be the one to harm her now.
A flash of light crossed Ben’s vision from the glint of the blade, and he closed his eyes as a shiver moved through him that got the minister’s attention when he took his hand. An arched brow asked Ben if he was sure, and he nodded. The old witch made quick work of the gash on the groom’s hand, then kissed the back of Imara’s before he turned it over.
The blood trickled from the slice Thorin made in Imara’s palm, and a wave of nausea crashed down on Ben when her lifeless body passed before his eyes. But when Thorin joined their hands, her Healer’s touch swept those images aside.
Thorin inched backward, and a glowing white sash wove its way around their arms. Like the fieriest country preacher in the South, he held up his hands and sermonized. “The Fates are happy with this union and pleased with their sacrifice of blood.” His hands clasped before his chest until he held one out to his soon-to-be brother. “Ben, do you promise to love, protect, and honor Imara. Forsaking all others. Faithful only to her and your children.”
“Yes.” Before the last word even finished leaving Thorin’s mouth, Ben’s eyes rose to meet Imara’s. “I swear it.”
His head dipped to his sister, and a grin came to his face. Already an old man by the time his sister came into the world, Thorin missed every important milestone in her life. But standing before her now, he knew the solemn pride of giving away your daughter in marriage to the man of her dreams, and he choked up a little. “Imara”- pausing to clear his throat, his teary eyes batted at her- “do you promise to love, protect, and honor Ben. Forsaking all others. Faithful only to him and your children.”
Her eyes blinked as she tried to see clearly through the tears. “Oh, yes. I swear it.”
With his hands on their backs, Thorin’s eyes bounced back and forth between them. “I now pronounce that the Fates have bound you as husband and wife. Blessed be.”
The sizzle of the ancient words burning into their skin made Imara turn her face away and cough. The sash became a cloud that crumbled into the air that surrounded them until it was only their hands.
***
Even Shaw snickered at Imara when she leaned into Ben’s ear. “When can we leave?”
Feeling everyone’s eyes on them, Ben smirked into his wineglass before taking a drink. “Soon.”
The awkward couple pushed their food around their plates until Thorin grinned and nodded to the door. “Alright, you two, get out the hell of here.”
His chair screeched across the floor as Ben flung it back and tugged on Imara’s hand. “Come on, baby, time to go home.”
A squeal pierced the dining room as he tossed her over his shoulder, and she giggled and wiggled her fingers at their family. “Good night!”
The chuckles and well wishes faded away as Ben’s shoe hit the porch, and the evil swirl of darkness enveloped them. The world disappeared block by block, but Ben’s strong hands never faltered as he kept her tucked tight against his shoulder.
The darkness splintered off as tiny charred embers into the night sky, and when she could breathe again, Imara smacked her hands on his back. “Put me down!”
With a grunt, he pulled her from his shoulder and his neck wrenched to the side, making the front door fly open. A soft growl rumbled through his throat as he nudged her with his chest through the doorway. “Ben?”
Two calloused hands wrapped around her arms and pulled her into his chesty wall of muscle as he led her to the bedroom. “My wolf won’t hurt you; he’s just excited.”
Imara turned to face the bed when it brushed her thigh, and she glanced over her shoulder. “I’ll need some help with the buttons.”
It was slow torture, the way his hands fumbled with the tiny tabs that led down her back. After 5 or 6, he wrapped his fingers around the seams and gave them a yank, sending buttons across the room. Her body jerked as she threw her hand to her chest and gasped. “Was that necessary?”
Her neck was moist with his hot breath when his nose met her cheek, and his voice blew across her ear. “You weren’t planning on wearing this again, were you?”
A faint click left her lips when she pressed them against the tip of his nose. “No, never.”
Hot fingers hooked under her dress’s shoulders and slid them down her arms. A million bumps rose on her skin as Ben’s fingertips hovered over her back and traced the bumpy ridge of her spine.
He teased himself with the painfully prolonged undressing, and when the sniffle came from his nose, she spun around to face him. “What’s wrong?”
“My God.” She could feel every ridge of his skin as his fingers glided down her chest and met her nipple. “You’re, oh, beautiful isn’t enough. I don’t know the right words.”
She rolled her eyes to the window and pressed her finger into his belly. “Oh, go on.”
“I mean it.” Cupping both breasts in his hands, the Lycan’s glowing eyes met hers. “You’re a goddess, and I’m the luckiest goddamn man on the planet.”
He pulled his shirt over his head, then pressed his hand into the bed and lowered himself before her. She sank down onto his lap, and a huff of air came from his mouth. “You’re shaking, Baby. Are you afraid of me?”
Weaving her fingers together behind his head, she whispered against his lips. “I don’t want to disappoint you. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“I don’t know what kind of life you think I was living before you came into it, but I’m not exactly an expert either.” The curve of her cheek was moist with tears, and he swept them away. “We’ll learn together, but don’t ever be afraid of my touch. I want my hands to be your home.”
Fanning her face and blinking the tears off her lashes, Imara swallowed the lump in her throat. “Everything you say is so beautiful.” She grasped his hand in her fingers and pressed it against her heart. “I keep it all right here. I don’t want ever to forget a word of it.”
A hand wrapped around her waist then made its way to her ass cheek and tugged her closer to him as he pushed himself back on the bed. Soft wavy hair fell around her when he lowered her to the mattress, and his fingers combed through it before touching her lips. “I’ll be gentle.”
The coarse hairs that lined the center of his body tickled her belly as he moved back and kissed every inch of her along the way.
Her fingers tugged at the bedsheets when Ben pushed her legs apart. No matter how she tried to be quiet when his mouth met her body, soft whimpers hummed through her nose.
Every flick of his tongue and pull of his lips made her moan and pant and bite her lip. The tug began under his mouth that made her curl her toes and slide her fingers into his hair.
Her knees vibrated against his shoulders when his soft tongue found the right combination, and she pressed her head into the pillow as she cried out into the darkness of the room.
Each atom of her body pulsed, and flashes of light sparked before her eyes as she released his hair from her hands. When he stood and fumbled with this button, Imara’s face fell to the side to watch him push off his pants in the moonlight that passed through the window.
A knee pressed into the bed, and it shifted under her when he crawled between her legs. She pinched her eyes shut and gritted her teeth until Ben’s fingers wrapped around her chin and brought her back to face him. “I want to see you.”
With his elbow resting above her shoulder, he rubbed himself in her wetness and kissed her neck.
Her mouth pressed into Ben’s shoulder as she prepared for the unknown when he pushed inside her. She feared that every move he made would be agony. Still, as he rolled his hips into hers and grunted his hot, moist breath into her ear, Imara rolled her eyes up to the ceiling and let the excruciating ecstasy devour her.
Every sweep of his cock against her inside made her melt back into the bed, and her legs fall open wider for him. He plunged deeper with each thrust and braced himself on his elbow to hover over her and watch her face.
Fingers dug into his shoulders, and she arched away from Ben, offering her breasts to him. His teeth brushed against her nipple, and it sent her over the edge as the pulsing squeeze of her tight walls made Ben clench his teeth.
The last drop of him spilled, and he pulled out, then collapsed on the bed beside her. She tried to catch her breath and turned to face him. “I want more.”
A breathless roar of laughter came from him as his face turned to her. “Don’t worry. I’m not going nowhere.”