“Nevermore, get a clue.
I can’t live without you.”
“This is no game,” he said.
“Please take my name.”
He’s a white knight, but she’s not hunting for a wedding night.
Still, he made a withered heart beat red.
Woke it from dead.
“Yes,” she said.
She wasn’t hunting for a wedding night.
She’s afraid to take flight.
But she owes him her life.
And he cherishes a wife.
Play with magic.
Dance with fire.
You must pay.
A lesson that slowly burns.
Burns who? Burns what?
Burns, me.
Burns, we—
Both of us, Burns be.”
Fucking floored.
It’s a small miracle I’m still standing.
Without thinking, I reach out and cup Dakota’s face, guiding her closer.
I can’t wait. I bring her lips to mine, kissing her like I’ve wanted to ever since she sent the first draft of that poem. The words have changed a lot, but somehow without the sex, it’s even hotter.
Her flowers brush my back, skimming over my suit’s fabric with a whoosh as they hit the floor.
A throat clears somewhere.
I’m too preoccupied to care.
“We usually exchange the rings before the kiss, but go ahead,” the judge says.
I pull away from her.
“Sorry,” I whisper.
“I’m not,” she says intently.
God. This woman drives me certifiably insane even when she’s completely innocent.
“Exchange rings,” the judge urges.
I turn to Wyatt, who hands me the ring.
Dakota takes the ring from a grinning, teary-eyed Eliza and slides it on my finger.
I push Dakota’s ring on her hand, then bring it to my mouth and kiss gingerly. Even her little finger feels more precious than gold.
“This is where I’d normally say 'kiss the bride,' but we’ve already done that part. I now pronounce you man and wife!” the judge says.
With applause bursting around us, I clasp my wife by the hand and march forward.
I lead her down the patio pavilion where the reception will be with a bigger group of our family and friends. It’s in a massive heated yurt tent thrown up to dampen the winter chill.
The sun slips toward the horizon as we come up to the patio, glowing with twinkling lights.
“See? I told you this was the perfect time of day for a wedding,” she says.
“Hell, marrying you would’ve been perfect at three a.m.” I tighten my hold on her fingers.
She wraps her arms around my neck. “You’ve been very sweet today.”
“What? I’m always sweet. You just got yourself a husband without going to pieces. I’m proud it’s me, Nevermore,” I whisper, stopping to steal a kiss.
When we resume walking, I see her wipe away a glorious tear.
When we arrive, the first thing I see is a massive three-tier cake. It’s white and decorated with a nearly life-sized black raven perched on a black tree that spirals down all three tiers. The groom’s cake is decorated with photos of us posing for the Haughty But Nice wedding line.
Eliza runs up later, holding Dakota’s bouquet. “I think you forgot this!”
Nevermore takes it. “Thanks, lady.”
“Look who I found.” Wyatt appears next with Meadow clutching his arm, her worn flannel and jeans traded for a sleek purple dress that accents her slender frame. Emory looks like he could have her for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I’m sure they’ll be ducking out early.
“I rode over with Dakota’s family. I didn’t want to crash your special time,” she explains.
Mom runs toward us with her arms outstretched. I move to hug her, but she closes Dakota in her arms. “You’re sooo gorgeous! The daughter I always dreamed of.”
“I don’t know,” my mother-in-law says. “She was grounded her entire tenth grade year.”
“Oh?” I pull my wife closer to me. “I knew Nevermore had a naughty streak, but now I have to hear this story.”
“I do not!” Dakota lets out a mortified laugh. “And no, you don’t.”
“That’s nothing. She cost me two thousand dollars in ER bills after she jumped out of a second-story window,” her dad says.
I look at her.
“I wanted to go to a party. He was like a prison guard.”
I plant a kiss in her hair. “Surely, you could have let her go to a party.”
“A frat boy came home for the summer. It was his party and everyone there was older than twenty, not that she made it there,” her father explains.
“Oh, let’s just get through this reception, so you two birds can take off.” Mom grabs Dakota’s hand. “As soon as you’re sick of this, you guys should go and we’ll handle the rest.” Ma leans in, never one to be shy. “Plus, I need grandbabies, Lincoln, and I’m not going to get them with you here gabbing.”
Goddamn, she’s not subtle.
Dakota overhears and turns bright red.
“Ma!” I whip out.
“Oh, sorry.”
It’s an interesting night. Mother keeps trying to shoo us off to make her a grandkid ASAP.
Meadow and Wyatt make out in a corner, while Eliza fights three other women out of the way and grabs the bouquet at the toss.
“I’d better be next now that Dakota abandoned me,” she says.