Page 11 of Ceremony of Lust
The veil stays on and I can only hear people moving around the room. “What’s happening?” I ask. “Why do I have to wear this?”
“I told you to be quiet, Yael. You must remain covered until Zev gets here.”
“But he already knows what I look like!” My picture was printed on hundreds of flyers passed out to everyone in attendance tonight.
“It’s not your place to question tradition,” Hadassah admonishes me.
A door opens, and feet shuffle against the marble floor. Through the veil, I can see only the outline of whoever just entered, and it’s huge. Zev.
“Welcome, Zev,” Hadassah coos. “You have waited for this day for so long.”
“Ten years,” he grumbles.
“Are you ready to meet your bride?” She reaches for one of my hands and pulls me forward. I stumble slightly, tripping over my feet, but a strong hand slides up my other arm, holding me steady.
Hadassah releases my hand, but Zev instantly claims it. His is much larger and swallows mine up. She places her hand atop my head and murmurs a prayer blessing our match, and then she pulls the veil from my head, allowing me to finally look at the man I am going to marry.
Zev is dangerously handsome, the kind of handsome that could seduce you and then break your heart if you’re not careful. Everything about him is dark. Dark hair, dark eyes, dark suit. His sharp, angular jaw twitches as he studies me.
He’s hard to read. Nothing on his face reveals what he might be thinking about me, even though I feel like I’m an open book. I wish I wasn’t so transparent sometimes, especially in times like this.
Immediately, I construct walls around my heart. I know what is said about Zev the Wolf. My grandmother told me she eventually fell in love with my grandfather; well, I know for a fact there will be no eventuality. I cannot and will not fall in love with Zev Landau, because he is a monster.
6
Zev
For a moment,I enjoy the warmth of Yael’s small hands in mine. For a moment, I see the briefest glimpse of a happy future, something I never thought possible. But Yael yanks those thoughts away, the same way she pulls away from me. As if I burned her.
Hadassah separates us and we sit at opposite sides of a white table. She spreads out a very elaborate document in front of us.
“You need to sign the agreement to marry,” she informs us, placing black pens on the table.
I pick one up and scrawl my name across the bottom, but Yael hesitates.
“Sign your name, Yael,” Hadassah urges her.
Yael picks up the pen and signs her name slowly on the line underneath mine. She drops the pen and sits back, her face lowered.
“I will present you with an engagement ring tomorrow,” I tell her softly. “I apologize for not being prepared tonight.”
Yael looks up and I’m struck by how beautiful she is, much more beautiful than the photo on the flyer we were all handed at the ceremony. Her skin is creamy and seems to glow naturally, but her lips enchant me. They’re like two perfect pink pillows. Fuck, I bet they’re soft. I bet every inch of her is soft.
“How could you have known you’d be picked,” she says with a shrug at me before glancing toward Hadassah for the next step.
“Now that the agreement to marry has been signed, the bulk of responsibility falls on Zev’s shoulders. Zev, you must present Yael and her family with a dowry. You must show yourself as a capable and worthy suitor,” Hadassah tells us, even though her eyes are fixed on me.
I know exactly what is expected of me. I am the last in my family to be matched. As the oldest child, many see me as a disgrace because my brothers and sisters are all matched and married. I consider myself lucky.
“I know what to do,” I tell them both. “Tomorrow, Yael will have a ring worthy of her beauty.”
I see the slightest hint of pink bloom on Yael’s cheeks before she looks away.
“Very well. You may both leave.” Hadassah reaches for the agreement and rolls it up before placing it inside a metal tube. She stands and hastens from the room, leaving Yael and me alone.
“I hope you are pleased with the match,” I tell her.
“It could have been worse,” she says coldly.