Page 57 of Promoted To His Princess

Music played and then she was walking down the aisle, looking nowhere but at him, and with every step she felt herself grow taller. Grow more sure, more certain.

None of the people in the cathedral mattered. Nothing mattered.

The only thing that did was the look in his eyes as he watched her come to him, and the fierce emotion that glowed so brightly she could barely meet it.

But she did meet it. And she smiled, letting her own love for him shine in her eyes, because she wasn’t afraid, not any more.

She arrived at the altar at last, and the look Xerxes gave her was intense and hot, encompassing her uniform and her veil, his approval clear in his gaze.

‘Are you here for me, soldier?’ he asked, for her ears alone, as she took her place beside him. ‘Are you here to be my wife?’

‘Yes,’ she said with purpose. With conviction. With love burning inside her. ‘Are you here to be my husband?’

He smiled, bright and fierce and passionate. ‘I would never be anyone else’s.’

And then the bishop began the ceremony, and when the ring slid on her finger Calista felt as if something had slipped firmly and quietly into place inside her.

Her future.

Xerxes lifted her veil and his kiss changed the world, set fire to her heart. And after they went down the aisle as husband and wife, when they reached the steps outside, he swept her up into his arms.

The crowd roared their approval and Calista looked up into his face, everything inside her aching with happiness. ‘I love you,’ she whispered. ‘And I’m sorry I walked away, that I left without a word. But I was scared of what I felt for you. I loved my mother so much, yet I ended up hurting her, and I couldn’t bear the thought of one day hurting you. So I told myself I couldn’t love you. And that when I was gone, you’d find someone better.’ She swallowed. ‘Does that make me a coward?’

That smile of his was the summer sun on an icy winter’s day. ‘No. It makes you a soldier. You protect people and that was what you were trying to do.’

‘It was myself I was protecting.’ She put her head on his shoulder, the strength of his arms around her after weeks of not having it making her want to weep. ‘I shouldn’t have left. I should have been brave enough to face you. To tell you at least. But I thought you wouldn’t have let me leave if I had.’

‘I wouldn’t have, that’s true.’ He began to walk down the steps, still holding her because it was clear he didn’t want to put her down. ‘So what changed your mind? Why did you come back?’

‘I came back for you. You showed me that love isn’t a weakness. It’s a strength. It gave you the strength to endure everything you did and it brought you home.’ She reached up and touched his beloved face. ‘And I realised that it could bring me home, too. I couldn’t walk away from you the way my mother walked away from me, Xerxes. I had to come back to you.’

He turned his head and kissed her fingertips. ‘It was good you walked away, though. Because I didn’t realise until after you’d gone that I wanted you to have a choice. I wanted you to choose me because you wanted to be with me and not because I forced you.’ There was molten gold in his eyes now and his arms tightened. ‘And I hoped you would choose me. In fact, I didn’t cancel the wedding because I believed you would. And you did. And you know what that means, don’t you?’

They were nearing the car that would take them away and she couldn’t wait. She wanted nothing more than to be alone with him.

‘What?’ she murmured, nestling against him, right against his big, strong heart.

‘It means you’re mine. For ever.’ He looked so smug she laughed.

‘So, do I get to hear it, husband?’

‘Hear what?’

‘I said I love you and you said nothing.’

They would be at the car soon, and there were people taking pictures, the world’s media seeing the prince with a soldier in his arms.

‘I was formulating a response,’ said Prince Xerxes Nikolaides, Defender of the Throne. ‘But it’s a very long response and it’s going to take a while to tell you all the details.’

‘Oh?’ She ran a finger along his beautiful mouth, because he was hers now and she could touch him whenever and wherever she pleased, and she didn’t care who saw. She didn’t care at all. ‘How long?’

His gaze turned very, very intent. ‘Probably for ever.’

Calista smiled, her vision wavering through happy tears. ‘Then you’d better start now, hadn’t you?’

‘Well, I can give you the short version immediately.’ He paused, bending to kiss her, long and sweet. ‘I love you, Calista Kouros. My goddess. My wife.’

She would never get tired of hearing that. Never.

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