“Emeric Alastair Banes, do you take Rionach Kara Moran to be your wedded wife, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love her, comfort her, honor and keep her for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to her, for as long as you both shall live?”
I never planned on getting married. Tying myself legally to another human never quite appealed to me. If I’m being honest, dipping my dick in honey and fucking a red ant hill sounded more fun to me than marriage. Then she came along and now I’m uttering two of the easiest words I’ve ever said.
“I do.”
All the church air I’ve been inhaling must be getting to me, because that furious fire in those green orbs of hers… I want to baptize myself in their flames.
Rionach is all but vibrating as the unadulterated anger rushes through her veins. Much to my delight, she made the choice to stand up here on her own even if she looks like she wants to scratch out my eyes while she does.
Come on, baby, show me those claws.
We stand before each other with Niall hanging between us. In my humble opinion, we look like a piece of fucking art standing up here. The setting sun’s rays cut through the church’s stained glass windows. The way the colorful light is shining on Rionach’s pretty face reminds me of the night the fireworks exploded around her.
My soldier, Mathis, who’s been acting as her guard all day, has taken up a position beside her weakening father. The adrenaline that had been keeping him alert and fighting against the nails embedded in his palms is crashing. The gun Mathis has pressed to Niall’s temple keeps him focused on the very important task at hand.
Ordaining his daughter’s wedding ceremony.
On top of his ever-declining attention span, he’s still fighting against this union. Niall thinks by dragging his feet through the whole thing that I’ll miraculously change my mind about wanting his daughter as my wife. I’ve waited since New Year’s for this. I’m done waiting. My patience has run thin. Nothing is going to stop me from making Rionach mine.
When he doesn’t prompt us to the next part of the ceremony, his eyes drifting lazily to the bloodstains in front of the pews, Mathis presses the pistol harder into his head.
Niall shifts his gaze to his daughter, his brown eyes a mixture of exhaustion and wrath.
“Your turn, Rionach.” Despite the current predicament he’s found himself in, he still doesn’t have the decency to sound defeated. Gotta hand it to the Irish, they’re tenacious fuckers. “Rionach Kara Moran, do you take Emeric Alastair Banes to be your wedded husband, to live together in marriage? Do you promise to love him, comfort him, honor and keep him for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, and forsaking all others, be faithful only to him, for as long as you both shall live?”
That same tenacity sits on Rionach’s face like an unyielding shield. Her chin rises and those fiery eyes narrow, but still no vows come from her soft lips.
I lean in close and whisper darkly in her ear, “That’s it, princess. Keep giving me reasons to punish you.” Her breath catches in her throat when I trail my nose down the side of her face. I don’t have to turn my head to know Niall’s hatred is radiating from him in thick waves as he watches on. “Now, give me what I want. Let me hear those two little words.”
My lips pull when she rises on her tiptoes and turns her head toward mine so she can mimic my stance. “I’m going to make you regret this, Emeric Banes,” she promises in my ear.
“How could I ever regret making you mine?”
She pulls away and looks at me with her stunning wrath. “I do.”
All mine. All mine. All mine.
Niall curses when Mathis shoves the muzzle of the gun against his temple again. “With the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” he snarls between clenched teeth. He all but growls like a caged and cornered pound puppy when he’s prompted again with the gun to say the next part. The best part. “Emeric, you may now kiss your bride.”
Rionach’s head snaps up at the same time her foot lifts off the ground to take a step back. While I enjoy a good chase and fully intend on making her run from me at a later date, I have no interest in prolonging this any further. I want my fucking prize.
“Till death do us part, princess.”
Fingers threading through her dark red strands, I capture her before she can get too far and seal my mouth over hers. Her small hands push at my chest for a heartbeat, but the second my tongue traces the seam of her lips, she melts into me. Tasting her after this past week of no contact awakens something inside of me, and that something is hungry. The thought of possibly taking her right here in this church on one of the pews crosses my mind. Further sullying this holy ground with my corruption makes the demon in me grin, so does the idea of further rubbing this union in Niall’s face. But I have plans for how I’m going to first take my wife, and those plans don’t include this church or an audience. No, we need to be alone so I can savor my stolen bride. So I can make her scream and beg for me.
The soft groan that comes from Rionach has my cock straining harder against the front of my black slacks. Her fingers twisting the fabric of my bloodstained shirt as she holds me closer isn’t helping with the depleting grip I have on my control. I’m contemplating whether a quick taste in the back of my SUV will truly force me to deviate too far from my plans when her perfectly straight white teeth sink into my bottom lip.
Hard.
Blood fills my mouth as I rear back from her. The smug smile on her face almost has me falling to my knees and lifting her leg over my shoulder so I can eat her alive right here and now. I don’t even give a fuck it’d be in front of her father. She thinks she’s done something by biting me, but she hasn’t quite learned what a deviant I really am.
Sweetly, she wipes the smear of blood from her own swollen lips as she takes a cocky step back from me. That biddable and quaint girl who everyone’s come to know is nowhere to be seen and I fucking love it.
“You should know something,” I all but purr as I regain the space she’d just put between us. “Pain. Blood. The fight. It only makes me harder and right now, my cock is hard as fuck for you. Your little love bite only made me want you more.” My hand snaps out and closes tightly around her jaw. The way her perfect lips part in a gasp gives me the perfect access. Bringing my bloodied mouth back down toward hers, I grin as her green eyes widen and then flare when I spit the mixture of my blood and saliva into her mouth. “Now you taste like me, wife.”
Besides the way her chest heaves and her tongue swipes over her bottom lip, Rionach doesn’t have time to react to what I’ve just done. The needle sinking into the pale skin of her slender neck steals the opportunity from her.
“What the fuck did you just do?” she cries, trying her best to shove out of my hold. Once all the contents in the syringe are injected, I throw it to the ground and wrap my arm around her waist. The sedative only needs seconds to take effect. “Why did you do this? I’m sorry I bit you. I did what you wanted. I married you…” Even as she berates me, I can see the haziness settling in her eyes.
I take more of her weight as her knees begin to give out. Swiping a long, curled strand of hair out of her face, I ask, “Are you scared?”
Her brows knit in confusion, but she still gives me a sluggish nod.
The kind of terror Bogdan Koslov could offer isn’t the kind she craves. I can give her that. I can supply the fear her soul craves.
“Then you have your answer.” I press my lips to Rionach’s forehead at the same time her entire body goes limp. Swinging her up into my arms in a fashion very appropriate for today’s festivities, I carry her bridal style off the dais and away from her quiet father. She makes one last weak-sounding protest before her head settles on my shoulder and consciousness is stolen from her.
“Niall,” I call over my shoulder. “I don’t know why we waited so long to do business together because this was fun. We should do it again sometime. Don’t stay up there too long. Temps are supposed to drop to below freezing tonight and I’d bet my left nut this hallowed shithole doesn’t have insulation in its walls. From what I hear, death by hyperthermia doesn’t suck, though, so maybe it won’t be so bad if you pussy out and can’t bring yourself to pull yourself free.”
“Get me off this goddamn thing!” he roars, the fight reentering his body. Good, he’s going to need every ounce of adrenaline if he’s going to yank free of those nails. “I played your fucking game. I gave you what you wanted. I gave you my daughter!”
I can’t stop myself from glancing at the sleeping woman in my arms. All. Fucking. Mine. “Yes, you did.” There’s no point in arguing. “If you make it out of here, I will be in touch within forty-eight hours about the money you owe me. If you fully commit to the Jesus thing and die on that cross, I’ll be forced to go to your son and wife regarding my reimbursement.”
Since his son and wife seem to be the only things he gives a shit about, maybe my silent threat to them will motivate him to get his ass moving.
I don’t bother looking back to make sure Nova and his men are taking care of everything else and cleaning up the mess we’ve made here. He’ll get everything squared away while I’m otherwise preoccupied for the rest of the night.
My wedding night.
