“Me?” Miranda said, giving me the up and down. “Look at you.” Her eyes grew wide as saucers, almost as if she were trying to drink me in.
I was torn between pushing away the attention and basking in it.
The men in my head piped up. “Sir, what do we do?”
Jenkins kicked up his feet from where he drank a coffee and read the paper in his seat. “Nothing. We worked hard to get here. Let’s take a five-minute break and allow the moment to come as it will.”
“But the wedding!” the other cried.
“Yes, yes, we’ll be punching levers and hitting all the right buttons to make sure she doesn’t do anything weird as she walks down the aisle but take the damn coffee break while you can.” Then he muttered, “I haven’t had one of these since she was six.”
I spun for Miranda. The black lace dress flared out above my hips into a romantic, flowing gown. One would have to look closely to realize that netting underlaid the lace and beading that gave it an extra sultry look without looking trashy. The sleeves covered my arms until the little hoops at the end wrapped around my middle fingers. The fancy dip of the dress at my breastbone curled up, framing and exposing my shoulders, making me appear elegant beyond anything I’d ever worn.
My auburn hair had been pulled up, but large wisps fell down, adding to the romance of the overall image I presented.
I wore a single tear-shaped red ruby, dark as blood around my neck. A crown of onyx gems stuck out of my hair in little spiky peaks. I felt like a vampire goddess. And I truly was, since I’d broken the blood bond with Grim by drinking so much of his blood.
I spent the last few months tracking down all the vampires Sekhmet made, trying to help bring them to terms with their new life. A lot of them had moved into Sinopolis, so I could help them and use Grim’s wealth of resources to get them blood and comfort and afford them time to adjust. Only a few hadn’t been able to cope and either ran off or tried to fight me. But in Sekhmet’s absence, I found I could control their will.
I did so carefully, and with as much compassion as possible, trying to sink peace into their bones. I knew it wouldn’t always work, but that was a later problem. Right now, I was about to get married.
“It took Timothy’s team of sadists, err, I mean stylists, about two hours,” I complained, even as I continued to swish my dress, overly pleased with my appearance. Though sitting still that long nearly killed me.
Yip.Cupcake barked at my feet. She was just as excited as I was for today, if not more so.
Miranda ignored the invisible reaper dog as she walked around me, taking in the detail of my gown.
“So, are Timothy and Aaron…” I trailed off, expecting her to fill me in on the juicy bits. Miranda and Aaron were my bridesmaids, though Aaron got to wear a suit. Timothy and Fallon were Grim’s groomsmen.
She pursed her lips. “They are still dancing around each other. Something about there being too many complications to the situation since Timothy is a god. Though the way they look at each other…”
“Hot enough to melt metal.” I nodded. “Did you see the tower at Wolf Town?” I asked, letting giddiness get the best of me.
“How could I miss it? The tower of cupcakes is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The press is going nuts over it, taking all the footage they can before they get kicked out for the ceremony. I think every food channel host and vlogger is down there dropping bricks right now.”
I grinned. The mass of cupcakes was compiled to create the image of an even more massive cupcake. It was the biggest cupcake display in history and would go into the Guinness Book of World Records.
“Knock knock,” a familiar deep voice interrupted from the doorway.
Miranda’s brows shot up as she grabbed my arm. “He can’t be here.” Then she faced the door. “You can’t be here,” she called out. “It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding.”
I waved her off, though my stomach somersaulted. “We’ve both died, or almost died, a bunch of times. I think we paid our bad luck up front.”
Then I remembered Bianca approaching me after we released all the gods. I knew she would be displeased I’d resurrected Grim, but it had been more than that. She said her vision of potential futures had always been clear, but now they turned dark and fractured at points she’d never seen before. We’d all have to be careful. The balance had been broken too many times. I hugged her and told her we’d handle whatever came. She seemed appeased, but the worry lines didn’t disappear from around her eyes.
Grim stepped into the suite, taking my thoughts away from impending doom. Even after all this time, he stunned me. A luxury onyx suit coat lay over a silken black shirt that opened past his pectorals. His skin shone as if he had oiled it. And then I remembered Timothy saying something about Grim needing to be anointed for the ceremony. The exposed strip of his tantalizing caramel skin made me swoon. A golden ankh lay on his chest. His whiskey-colored eyes drank me in while flashing heat so scalding, I felt it hit my sternum and then blaze down between my thighs.
“Gods,” he growled, and I knew my appearance hit him good. I’d never heard him take the namesake of his own kind in vain.
Miranda muttered something I didn’t hear and left us alone, closing the doors behind her. Cupcake trotted out too, disappearing through the solid door.
“What couldn’t wait?” I asked, trying to flash him a flippant, flirty smile. Though every part of me wanted to lose the cool and rip off his clothes and see if all of him got oiled up.
My inner bits purred at the thought.Yum.
It almost made up for the fact our broken blood bond didn’t allow him to play with my body the way it used to. Almost…
“I have a gift for you,” he said, still looking me up and down like a wolf smacking his chops, ready for a meal.
