The old man released an exasperated sigh. “Can we go ahead with the ceremony now?”
“Wait,” my husband said. He cradled my face between his big hands and gave me a simple peck on the lips and then a hard kiss, before finally pulling away. I was left breathless and aching, and Killian was smirking. “Okay, we’re ready now.”
The priest began speaking again and I tuned him out when he started talking about the meaning of marriage – the importance of the holy bond between husband and wife.
“Do you, Killian Spencer, take Julianna–”
“I want to say my own vows,” Killian interrupted.
“Right, okay. Go ahead.”
Killian’s hands tightened around mine and he laced our fingers together. A solemn look covered his face. “I’d always regret the day I spoke those hate vows to you, wishing I could take them back because I know damn well how much those words hurt you.”
I shook my head, my eyes stinging with unshed tears. “I hurt you too,” I whispered.
Killian’s lips curled with a bittersweet smile that broke my heart. “Today, I want to take you as my wife – the way I should have the first time. With proper vows,” Killian said, his voice deep and thick with rough emotions. “I promise to love you without condition, to honor you each and every day, to wipe away your tears and to make you smile harder. To make you laugh when you’re sad, to hold you when you’re hurting and to love you even when you can’t love yourself. I choose you, Julianna.”
There it was. The part of our story that seriously needed a re-write. The part where I never gave him a chance to choose me. In the past, I took that choice from him. Ripped it away like a fool and a merciless lover. And now, he was choosing me. Against all odds. After everything. Leaving all the pain and lies behind – the secrets and manipulations, Killian was choosing me as his wife.
There was so much conviction in his voice when he continued to speak.
“I chose you then, and I choose you now and I choose for the rest of our lives. I choose you because you’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met. You battled everything ugly and harsh, and look at you – you came out alive and fighting, you rose from the ashes and you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. I choose you because you make my heart happy. I choose you because your soul is pure. I choose you because you were made for me. I vow to put all my effort in making this marriage work and to give you the best version of me. Good days or bad days, I will give you the best of me because you don’t deserve anything less, Princess. For as long as we both shall live, I will be by your side–for better or worse, in sickness and health, for richer or poorer. You are my one and only today and every day. Do you? Do you… choose me? Do you take me as your husband?”
A strangled sound left my throat before I could stop myself. I nodded when I couldn’t find my voice. “I do,” I said quietly and then louder, more assured. “I do, Killian. I choose you.”
“Would you like to say your own vows?” The priest asked me.
“Yes,” I said. “I, Julianna Spencer, choose you Killian Spencer to be my husband and my partner through life and ever after. I vow to always honor you, to love you, to comfort you, to encourage you and to never give up on us. Whether we are at our best or our worst, I will be your wife and your best friend. I will share your hopes and your dreams. I vow to always put us first, to always choose us, when time gets hard. I will love you even when you make me mad. I will love you even we’re fighting, because I know at the end of the day, we will always comfort each other. I will go to battle for you. I will fight the world for you and because marriage is both ugly and beautiful, I vow to walk through the ugly and beautiful with you. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part. Do you take me, as your wife?”
I was crying by the time I was done speaking my vows and Mirai’s beautiful work at my makeup was probably messed up.
“Till death do us part, I do,” Killian solemnly vowed.
My heart was bursting as we exchanged our rings. I slid the black gold band over his finger, finally feeling at peace. Truly.
We did it.
A new chapter… as we closed the old one. But it wasn’t the end.
Only the beginning.
This chapter didn’t use a tedious pen or a pretty ink. But every word was spilled from our tongues, as his lips met mine and while our kisses turned into paragraphs.
His heartbeat matched mine.
And it was the perfect page within our story.
CHAPTER TWO
Julianna
Our lips parted and I was dazed, my mind reeling. He swept me up in his arms and my heart raced as he carried me away, carefully. Delicately. As if he was carrying the most precious cargo in his arms. Our guests laughed and Killian? He was grinning.
“I’m not waiting for our reception,” he said arrogantly. “You’re getting deliciously fucked tonight, Princess. I’ve waiting long enough.”
“You only waited for twelve hours,” I shot back, but I couldn’t deny that this was indeed long enough.
“Twelve fucking hours.”
I rolled my eyes and my stomach fluttered again. I cupped my stomach, caressing the tiny swell of my pregnant belly. Was it the baby?
No, it was too early for that. I was barely eleven weeks along. So that fluttering was definitely butterflies in my stomach. No, it was a whole zoo. My husband had me swooning. Again.
Killian carried me inside and up the stairs to our room. Once we were inside, he allowed me to my feet and I stood on shaky legs as he practically tore off his suit jacket, dropping it on the floor at our feet. His black shirt came off next, joining his suit jacket on the floor.
My gaze slid over his wide, muscular chest and rippling abs. His body was a work of art; proof of hours and hours of dedication in the gym. My throat went dry at the sight of him like this, even though I had seen his bare chest countless of times. I was well acquainted with my husband’s body but every time, I ached for him just as the same very first time.
“Get undressed, Julianna.” There was a warning tone in his voice, as if he was hanging on thin thread and was barely containing himself.
I lifted my chin, feeling haughty and pursed my lips at him. “Or you could undress me.”
If he could be so arrogantly demanding, then I could be dangerously bold.
His eyes darkened and his lips curled in a sexy smirk. He unbuckled his belt as he stalked closer to me. The way he prowled forward, with such confidence, it was almost like he was hunting me. A wild, savage animal fixating on its prey.
Except, I was very much willing.
I took a step back, because the idea of him chasing me had adrenaline pumping through my veins. Though I knew I wouldn’t get far with my limp, I still tried to escape him when he reached toward me.
His chest rumbled with a harsh sound; a growl when his fingers brushed against my arms but I was already taking a few steps back. Away from him.
“Julianna,” he warned slowly.