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I feel Niko get a little closer. "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," I mutter.
Raven begins to play something slow and mournful on her cello, the pianist with her as our flower girls - Franny's granddaughters, whose names I can't remember, (though I’m sure Sabrina does) - begin to pace themselves like they were taught during rehearsals this morning. A soft breeze picks up the petals, and they dance along the aisle before settling on the ground again, just as the melody Raven is playing switches toCan't Help Falling in Love,and Father Ricci tells everyone to rise.
Sabrina's hidden by trees at first, as she rounds the bend, over a small bridge above a babbling brook, and then... she's there, heading straight to me. Even though her father is beside her, and the veil hides her face, all I see is her.
As they reach the aisle, I watch her shoulders square back, and I assume her chin lifts defiantly.
There's a tiara of some sort on her head. the sleeves go off her shoulder into a sweetheart neckline, the glittering corset holds her breasts up and tapers down her waist. The ballgown skirt shimmers in the rays of sunlight peeking through the overcast. Little gloves hold a delicate but large bouquet.
Women in the audience gasp as she begins her descent... my heart thumps with each step she takes. Slow and maddening.Thump… thump… thump…
Her father hands her to me... and I lift her veil.
Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump.
That slow beat of my heart becomes an erratic jolt, blood pumping to every part of me so quickly I feel lightheaded.
Ruby red lips. Winged cat eyes, and her usual brown lashes are black and sooty. Every frown line she usually has when she's with me is gone. Her lips spread into a nervous smile, and her nose does one singletwitch. If I didn't know how much she hates me, I'dthink she was actually…happy.
“If you fall for her, or you don't, be prepared to lose her..."
I silently vow, here and now, that only over my dead body will anyone ever harm her... I look up to see Parker, standing in the back where he thinks he's unseen, face twisted and full of agony. Where I should feel good... feel pride... I don't.I give him a small nod… and heleaves.
I take her by the elbow, and we're in our respective places before my family's priest. And so it goes.
Too soon, she's slipping off her gloves. Her hands are so tiny in mine. So soft. Elegant fingers. Manicured nails. Dainty, breakable wrists, and I'm pleased to see the burn is gone. It didn't mar her skin that looks so fair compared to the tan of my complexion.
"I, Maksim Romeo Giordano, take you, Sabrina Melanie Winters, as my lawfully wedded wife. I vow to love and honor you, cherish and respect you, in sickness and in health. I vow from this day forward to protect you, be devoted to you, accept you as you are, support you, and eat your cupcakes until death do us part."
I slide the ring on her finger, now soldered with a matching wedding band that accentuates the large pink diamond in the center.
The crowd laughs and she smiles brilliantly at me, but it's anything but funny.
It's real.
To me.
"I, Sabrina Melanie Winters, take you, Maksim Romeo Giordano, as my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love, to cherish and respect, in sickness and in health. I vow from this day forward, to tolerate your grunts… and be with you in your silence," my heart seizes "to support you and feed you cupcakes, until death do us part."
She slips the black titanium ring on my finger.
Though there are still chuckles, more sniffles are coming from the crowd.
"By the power vested in me by God and the state of New York, I now pronounce you, man and wife. Maksim, you may kiss your bride."
I tug her to me, wrap one arm around her middle, which feels and looks smaller than when we first met, and pull her up as I bend forward and press my lips to hers,eagerly,as the chorus forLove Me Like You Doplays from the speakers. This time, she doesn't fight me. She relaxes into my hold and opens her mouth when Idesperatelylick the seam of her lips, granting me access. I almost fall to my knees, a shiver skittering between my shoulder blades and down my spine,delivering what feels like tiny explosions to every nerve ending imaginable.
I am undone.
Sabrina Melanie Giordano, my bride, tastes like everything and nothing. Of mint and berries and the first frost of the year. She tastes of thunder and snowstorms, of falling stars, and New Year’s Eve fireworks in the night sky, and my heart can't comprehend exactly what's happening as our tongues twist and collide. Sparks run through my system, and I know my soul doesn't know whether to jump ship or stay here, to be consumed by her.
But most of all, out of all the mint, and the nothing, and the everything… Sabrina Winters tastes likemine.
I pull away, but not before delivering another small peck to her lips, committing the way she tastes and feels in my arms, along with the way her cheeks have blushed away, to the darkest recess of my mind - branding my brain withthisvery sight of her.
My wife, my blushing bride.