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ChapterThirty
The last six days had been some of the longest of Leo's life. But as he sat next to his new wife, his ring glinting on her finger, a sense of rightness settled over him.
And not just because he'd claimed her publicly with binding vows in front of the other Dark Lords and even the human underworld king, Alfie Cross, and the males now knew touching his bride meant war. No, it was more than that.
He settled his hand on her thigh under the table and Yesenia smiled up at him. She was so bloody beautiful with her hair done up, a red dress hugging her curves in all the right places, and the black veil tossed back over her head. He leaned over and whispered into her ear, "How much longer until I can take you away and consummate our marriage properly?"
Her hand went to his knee, the light touch sending blood straight to his cock. With every inch her hand moved upward, the harder he got, until she stroked his length through his trousers, and he barely resisted a groan.
As her fingers continued their slow torture, she murmured, "You said something about a special toast to mark our leaving and going off to fuck. So it's up to you, isn't it?"
He nuzzled her cheek. "I wanted to show you off a bit, to drive the other males mad."
She laughed. "And as I always tell you, they never look twice at me, so stop strutting about like a damned peacock." She lightly squeezed his dick and he sucked in a breath. "I want my new husband to show me just how much he loves me but without words, and in private."
He moved his hand and gently pressed between her thighs, grinding against her clit. As her cheeks flushed, he replied softly, "Then you need to stop touching me now or we'll both only get teases and nothing more."
She grinned. "Don't want to give a toast with a hard-on, huh?"
Not caring who was watching, he took her lips in a possessive kiss, taking his time to nip, and explore, and savor the feel of her tongue against his. Cheers went up from somewhere, and Leo broke the kiss to glare out at the audience to see who'd done it. He growled, "Of course it's the bloody shifters."
Yesenia chuckled. "Stop letting the wolf get under your skin. You've resisted torture when you were a soldier, surely not reacting to some of Everett Black's digs would be easy enough."
He grunted. "Then I'd have to stop teasing him too."
A few months ago, he would've castigated himself for saying such a thing. However, with Yesenia, he held nothing back. She was his best friend, his lover, his confidant, his everything.
Taking her hand in his, he brought it to his lips and kissed the back of hers. "Give me a minute to calm my dick and I'll make the toast. Although before I do that, you first need to open the present I have for you."
She arched a dark eyebrow at him. "What present?"
He signaled to one of the footmen serving the food and a minute later, the young male returned with a rectangular box. Leo took it and gently placed it in front of Yesenia. "Open it."
Smiling, she lifted the wooden lid, brushed aside the soft cloth, and then gasped. Gently she lifted out the golden goblet, one engraved with mythical creatures and embellished with precious gems, and studied it for a beat. "It's beautiful, Leo. But you can't expect me to use this on a regular basis. I had trouble not breaking dollar-store glasses; you really don't want me to end up denting this one."
He wasn't entirely sure what a dollar store was, but he could guess enough from her sentence to know it was less valuable than the goblet. "Don't worry so much. This goblet isn't meant to be used all the time. But it was my mother's, one given to her by her father when she came of age. She'd always meant to use it for the first toast with her husband. But then her parents arranged a marriage with my bastard sire, and she couldn't bring herself to do it." He took the cup and traced the designs. "But she gave it to me to keep, so my father couldn't sell it, and when I was older, I found the note inside." He nodded toward the box. "Look for yourself."
She took it out and read the words he'd memorized long ago:
Mayyou find the one worthy of sharing your first toast with. Don't repeat my mistakes, Leopold. Find a way to steer clear of his machinations.
Mother
Yesenia met his gaze again,her eyes suspiciously bright. He cleared his throat and muttered, "Don't you dare start crying, witch."
Rolling her eyes, she set the note down. "We're going to keep working on the it's-okay-to-show-emotion-once-in-a-while thing as repressing it all isn't healthy. But for now…" She leaned over, cupped his cheek, and kissed him. "Thank you, Leo. It's beautiful and means so much to me now, given your mother's wishes."
He grunted, still uncomfortable with being anything except his arrogant self in public. But he did keep his voice soft for his bride as he gestured toward the goblet. "And there's more." She raised her brows and he added, "Khan mentioned something about if you had a strong focal point to look at, it might help with strengthening your magic."
She beamed at him. "And you want me to use your mother's goblet?" He nodded, and she threw her arms around him. "It'll be perfect. I can look at it, think of our future starting, and what it might bring." She leaned back a fraction and her gaze shuttered a second. "I'll need all the help I can get."
He knew his bride was frustrated. Despite her best efforts, she still hadn't been able to retrieve a note from her siblings. They'd made a pact to try and enjoy their wedding day—just one day to try and be happy before diving back into work. But he couldn't leave her sad eyes alone.
Placing a finger under her chin, he waited until she looked at him again before saying, "You're one of the stubbornest females I know. Don't you dare give up on yourself, Yesenia Yates." She giggled and he frowned. "What?"
"Yesenia Yates. That makes my initials YY, which is like, why, why? Or, why,why?"
She burst out laughing and he shook his head. "Someone's had too much wine."
