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“My mother will insist on a proper wedding celebration,” I warned her, already picturing my mother’s happy face when I brought Scarlett home. She would be so glad to have another daughter-in-law. “And since it’s almost Yule, we’ll probably wait until it starts. Yule weddings are supposed to be lucky. Good for… fertility and stuff.”
I looked away, my face burningagain.For Ole Frost’s sake, I wasn’t normally shy with females. True, I hadn’t been with anyone in over two years, but I used to be popular with girls in my thirties, when my hormones ran amok. I could charm the panties off a mountain girl with a few compliments and a smile, and now I couldn’t even utter the wordfertilitywithout blushing?
Something was seriously wrong.
“Oh,” Scarlett said, her face setting into a tight expression. “Well, I suppose if your relatives want a celebration, they should have one.”
I wondered if she was uneasy because I talked about fertility—as if you want her to get pregnant, oh gods, haven’t even thought about it, what if she does—or because I mentioned celebrating with my family. Since I wasn’t about to poke that first bear in the eye, I settled on the second.
“We could invite your relatives, too,” I said, perking up. “You mentioned your mother? I could…”
“No,” Scarlett cut in, her shoulders tensing up. “I don’t have any relatives I want to celebrate with. Or ever see again.”
I stared at her, because that was unfathomable to me. “You don’t have any family?” I asked, not even trying to hide the incredulity in my voice. “But surely, your mother…”
“My mother is glad I’m gone,” Scarlett interrupted again, turning away from me, her jaw working. “She wouldn’t come, anyway. And I have no one else. My father’s dead. No siblings. No cousins that I know of. No one.”
I gaped at her, the sheer loneliness of that statement punching me in the gut with a surprising force. She hadno one? And her mother wasgladshe was gone? It sounded preposterous and so painful, my insides ached on her behalf. How could a person be so lonely and still alive? How was she not insane?
An urge to engulf her in my arms and tell her she would never be alone again because she would have me and my family made me step toward her. But before I could act on it, the door opened and our priestess came in, holding an ornate scroll with red tassels.
“Found it! All right, let’s start, because we’re seriously behind schedule.”
Scarlett gave me a tiny smile, which made me ache even more, and stood opposite me, the blue flame of the eternal fire between us.
“Let’s get married,” she said, looking up at me, the blue of the fire making her eyes sparkle like ice.
“All right.” I grinned, noticing with surprise my panic and doubts were gone.
So it was official. I was marrying this human girl and taking her home. To my family.
Chapter 6
Scarlett
In all this ordeal of marrying a monster stranger and becoming his to have and do with as he pleased, I never even considered the vows might be a problem. I thought that surely, I would do my part with ease, because it was necessary. These were just words, after all. The real predicament would come later, in our marital bed.
So when I choked on my vow again, my eyes burning from holding back tears, I stomped with annoyance. Why was it so freakinghardto say these words?!
“Maybe you just need a minute, honey,” the priestess said with sympathy. “And I’ll just… Let me just read it again, all right? So you can get used to it.”
I nodded mutely, my tongue between my teeth, the pain of my bite keeping the tears from spilling.
“All right. Here we go.” The priestess cleared her throat to read the vow again, and I bit my tongue harder in preparation.
“I, Scarlett, take you, Jack, to be my husband, my protector, the father of my children. I vow to be your candle in the dark of night, your shelter in the heart of winter, your comfort in pain and loss to come. I shall be your warmth keeping icy winds at bay.
“I enter your family as I stand, my heart open to welcome everyone you cherish, my voice ready to rise in song together with those you hold dear. I vow to respect your elders, befriend your brothers and sisters, guide and soothe your nieces and nephews. I thank you for welcoming me into the Frost clan and wrapping me in the loving arms of those who were before us, those who are now, and those who will come after our light shall perish. Your family is now my family. And my heart is forever yours.”
The priestess sniffed loudly in the silence that rang after she finished reading the vow. She openly wiped away a tear and looked at me with a tremulous smile. “No wonder you’re having trouble with it. This is a beautiful vow. Your kind is very family-oriented, isn’t it, Mister Frost?”
I glanced at Jack, the burning in my eyes manageable now, my spine stiffening with resolve. I still flinched in shock seeing Jack brush a tear from his furry cheek, his face soft as he smiled at the priestess. “We are. Family is everything.”
He then turned those kind, gleaming eyes on me, and I released a shaky breath, my chest squeezing with longing. Oh, how I wanted him. Or not simplyhim.I wanted everything that was spelled out in that vow, so the family, the ancestral roots, the warmth and comfort… I wanted it so much, my heart ached with a visceral craving.
But that was just a wedding vow, I reminded myself. My parents had said vows, too, so long ago. Did that stop my father from beating and demeaning my mother? Did it stop her from blaming me for how her marriage turned out?
That thought helped me calm down, and I returned Jack’s smile with a cool one of my own, nodding at the priestess. “I’m ready. I will say it after you.”
