Page 104 of Bonds of Starfall

She shook her head, acquiescing too easily, as she nestled back into his side, letting his fingers brush over her shoulder in soft sweeps, curling up the side of her neck and drifting back down her arm.

Maybe if he’d pushed it, then, if he had made her talk, it all would have worked out differently.

Their wedding was a week later. It was an expensive affair. She wore a dress of pure white, falling to the ground in clouds of tulle and lace. She had never looked so resplendent.

The wedding was modeled after an Earthen one, for her.

And as Rhyden stood at the altar, watching as she walked down the aisle, he thought the red rimming her eyes was from joyful tears.

"I do," he said.

Her voice was tremulous as she replied, "I do."

And they were wed.

The beginning of the end.

"My wife, my Soulbond." Rhyden pressed kisses to Vesperin’s jaw as he carried her over the threshold of their home.

She hugged him, legs wrapping around his waist, unwilling to let him go. "You’re my husband," she whispered against the side of his neck.

Rhyden smiled. No longer alone.

As they stumbled into the bedroom, he ran his hands up her side, fingers skimming underneath her gown, feeling the soft lace of her panties, teasing his fingers under them.

He was so wrapped up in her, he missed the audience.

"Isn’t this a surprise?" a deep voice drawled.

Rhyden pulled away from Vesperin, and she slipped down the length of his body, her feet touching the floor.

Two men stood in the shadowed corners of his room, by the bed.

Rhyden shoved Vesperin behind him, hissing low as he flashed his fangs. "Who are you? Get out."

One of the men crossed his arms lazily; his brown eyes were strikingly familiar, and the lines on his face spoke of his mortality. Human.

"Now, why would I do that?" the human man said.

"Vesperin, go. Get to the authorities," Rhyden called, not looking away from the two men. They were both smaller than him, with no muscle, just pudgy stomachs.

Vesperin didn’t move.

"The authorities." The man who had spoken laughed. "You vampires really do get complacent with age, you know that?"

Vesperin placed her hands on Rhyden’s back, the soft swish of her wedding gown brushing against the floor. "Rhyden, forgive me…"

And the door to his home burst down.

Vampiric authorities rushed into his home, and he could only point at the intruders. "Apprehend them," Rhyden barked.

But the authorities came to him, gleaming silver of cuffs shining in their hands. They wore gloves so it would not burn them, but Rhyden had no such barrier. He struggled as they wrestled him to the ground, on his face, grabbing his hands and roughly yanking them behind him to fit the cuffs on his wrist. The silver sizzled as it met his skin, and he groaned at the pain, feeling his flesh bubble.

"Vesperin!" Rhyden struggled. "Vesperin! Leave her alone. Don’t touch her!"

But no one was touching her. Vesperin stood in the center of his room, tears racing down her cheeks as she stared at Rhyden on the floor.

The two men came to her back, the one with the familiar brown eyes placing a rough, meaty hand on her shoulder, so harsh that she flinched.