Betrayal (Blood Haze: Book Three) A Paranormal Romance (20 page)

“They’re holding the ceremony in the foyer,”
Jamie explained. “I hope that’s okay with you. I thought it would
be dramatic for you to walk down the stairs.”

“That sounds perfect,” I told her.

Honestly, I would have married Alexi in the
middle of a junkyard, or in a sewer, or standing waist deep in a
swamp. I just wanted to bond myself to him – to be his wife, and to
stay with him forever.

Jamie took my hand and led me to the stairs.
She handed me a bouquet of white roses that I recognized from our
garden at home. They must have picked them for me when they went
home to retrieve the dress. The wedding march began to play, and my
brother stepped over and took my arm.

“Father is gone, so I’m going to walk you
down the aisle,” he whispered, and I smiled at him gratefully.

I gasped lightly when I saw Alexi waiting at
the bottom of the stairs. I couldn’t believe this moment was real,
and the love of my life was waiting for me. He was so close I could
almost taste him. I smiled in breathless anticipation. He will
still hidden by his cloak, but he managed to take my breath
away.

Slowly, my brother led me down the stairs. I
could see Alexi’s tender smile in the shadows of his cloak as we
neared him. It looked proud, and delighted. At last, we reached the
bottom of the stairs, and I stopped beside Alexi and looked up at
him warmly.

“We are gathered here to join this man and
this woman in holy matrimony,” Father Jacobs said. “Before we
begin, is there anyone here who objects to the union of this
couple?”

For a moment, the air was thick and I could
feel a darkness emanating from Kai. I glanced at him out of the
corner of my eye, and I could see his mouth open slightly. Then his
jaw clenched, and he was silent.

“Then we shall begin,” Father Jacobs said
after a moment. “Alexi Carolos Christakos, do you take this woman,
Alice Claire Wright, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and
to hold, to honor and cherish, in sickness and in health, as long
as you both shall live?”

“I do,” he gushed, placing a simple golden
band on my finger.

“And Alice, do you take this man to be your
lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to honor and cherish,
in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do,” I breathed, and I took the thick gold
band I was offered by my brother and placed it on Alexi’s
finger.

“Then, by the power vested in me, I now
pronounce you man and wife. Alexi, you may kiss your bride.”

Alexi wrapped his arms around me, and I could
feel his face nearing mine. I pulled back slightly, and I grasped
the edges of his hood. I waited for a moment, hesitating to allow
him to object.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “Go ahead.”

I smiled, and I pushed his cloak back away
from his face. Finally, I was able to rest my eyes on the
tremendous beauty of his face once more. His pale skin, his crimson
lips, his deep scar… nothing in the world was more beautiful to me.
I looked into his violet eyes, and they held more love than all the
world.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever
seen,” I whispered.

“Finally, I believe it,” he whispered back,
and his lips found mine.

I absently handed my bouquet to my mother,
and I allowed myself to be lost in his kiss. I breathed deeply,
enjoying the intoxicating scent of his skin, and I tasted the
sweetness of his lips. His arms held me in an embrace that blocked
out everything else in the world. It was warm and strong, and it
was all I needed. I forgot the other attendees. I forgot my
problems. I forgot the world. I only knew him.

Alexi swept me into his arms, and I clung to
his neck. I was so lost in his kiss, I could barely tell we were
moving. He carried me up the stairs, and I was vaguely aware of us
entering his bedroom and of hearing the door slam behind us.

I tangled my fingers in his flowing white
hair, and I kissed him fiercely. He laid me gently on his bed, and
our lips never parted as I struggled to tear his cloak away. I
could hardly tell what was happening. Zippers were tugged, buttons
popped, and clothing flew about the room like discarded paper lost
in the wind.

I felt his bare skin against mine, and the
sensation was maddening. His hand was under my neck, pulling me
into his kiss, and I let my hands explore the rippling muscles of
his back, touching his smooth skin and then wrapping my fingers in
his long hair once more.

“I have waited for this moment my entire
life,” Alexi whispered hoarsely. “There has never been
another.”

I felt a twinge of guilt as I remembered my
escapade in the motel room with Kai, and I wished I could have
saved myself for Alexi. I started to mention it, but his lips
closed over mine, and I forgot what I’d been about to say.

“I love you,” I told him. “I love you more
than anything, more than anyone, more than I ever knew I could love
someone. You are beautiful to me, Alexi. More beautiful than
anything.”

“You do not know how much I have wanted to
believe that, to hear you say it,” he breathed, his lips brushing
lightly against my cheek.

“I am yours, forever, Alexi,” I vowed. “I
will never want another.”

“I have always been yours, Alice,” he said.
“And I always will be.”

The following moments were intense, and
undeniable. The passion I felt was incomparable to anything I’d
ever felt before. I thought my time with Kai was incredible, but
now, it meant nothing. Being with Alexi was like coming home. It
warm, it was comforting, it was love. And that love was the most
intensely passionate experience I had ever felt.

Everything was a blur of intense emotion and
physical pleasure. I couldn’t tell where I ended and he began. Our
bodies melded together into a single form, and I felt his hands and
his lips all over me.

“Alexi!” I gasped, tears stinging my eyes.
“Never leave me! Not ever! Not for any reason!”

“Eternity,” he promised me with a gentle
whisper in my ear. “Nothing less than eternity.”

“You are my everything,” I told him, and it
was the truth.

I felt an electrifying intensity begin to
wash over me, and I clung to him tightly. I began to tremble, and I
could not contain the passion I felt. I cried out with pleasure. I
heard Alexi groan fiercely, and he pushed against me. His lips
locked over mine, and they pushed against mine so hard I could
taste a drop of blood on them. His tongue eagerly lapped at it, and
he moaned softly.

“I love you!” I cried, digging my nails into
his back.

With that, we both exploded like fireworks on
the Fourth of July. It was loud, it was beautiful, and it was
glorious. I could see a million colors flashing before my eyes, and
then nothing but pure violet as his piercing eyes found mine. We
collapsed together, panting and holding each other close. I had
never felt so passionately loved, nor had I ever loved so
intensely. He was my Alpha and Omega, my beginning, and my end.

A tear slid down my cheek as I struggled to
catch my breath, and his lips kissed it away. He gently pushed my
sweaty hair away from my forehead, where it clung like a spider web
stubbornly refusing to let go of a curtain. I took his hand and
kissed his palm, and then I looked deeply into his eyes.

“Please don’t ever cover yourself again, my
love,” I begged him. “I can’t bear not to see your face.”

“Never again,” he promised.

“I can’t believe you ever thought you weren’t
beautiful,” I whispered. “You’re so beautiful it almost
hurts
to look at you.”

I took a strand of his white hair between my
fingers and ran them down the length of it. Then I rested my hand
on his naked chest.

“No one ever felt that way about me,” Alexi
told me. “Everyone always said I was ugly – a freak.”

“Oh, Alexi,” I breathed. “I can’t imagine. I
can’t understand.”

My eyes searched every inch of his face,
looking for some imperfection, some hint of why people would have
told him such a thing. I found nothing. All I saw was the most
gorgeous creature I’d ever met.

“It’s love,” he told me. “You see what others
don’t. It’s because it’s real.”

“No,” I told him definitively. “You
are
beautiful. It’s not just because I love you. You… are…
beautiful.”

“I almost believe it when you say it,” he
said, and he planted a kiss on my forehead.

I snuggled against his bare body, relishing
the feeling of his skin against mine. I never wanted that moment to
end. Being there with him the only thing I ever wanted.

“I don’t know why I didn’t see this before,”
I admitted. “I can’t believe it took me so long to see what was
right in front of me all along. Why was I so blind?”

“Never mind,” he assured me. “None of it
matters, anymore. It’s all in the past, and we are the future.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “We are the future.”

There, warm and safe in his arms, I fell
asleep. For the first time in so long I couldn’t remember, I slept
peacefully. I had no nightmares. I didn’t wake up choking with
anxiety. I slept in complete comfort, and I only dreamed of him and
me.

I was awakened to Alexi’s soft lips on mine,
and I responded by curling my arms around his neck. I could feel
his still-naked skin against mine, and I couldn’t imagine a more
comforting way to start a new day.

“Good morning, Mrs. Christakos,” his smooth
voice purred.

“Mmm, good morning, my darling husband,” I
whispered back, kissing him passionately.

“I have never heard more beautiful words than
hearing you call me your husband,” he admitted.

“And I’ve never heard anything that makes me
happier than waking up to your voice calling me ‘Mrs. Christakos’,
my love,” I returned.

“Do you have any idea how happy you have made
me?” he asked.

“If you’re even half as happy as I am, I
think I can imagine,” I said with a sly smile.

“No regrets?” he asked me, an anxious
overtone in his voice.

“Not a one,” I answered, kissing him
again.

“And you will never leave me?” he asked.

“Alexi, I will
never
leave you,” I
promised. “Not for anything or anyone in the whole world. I know
I’ve been fickle and confused for a long time, but I
swear
to you, I’ve made the right choice. I’m happy, Alexi. I’m happy
with
you
.”

“Your happiness is all that matters,” he
said.

I was giddy with the passion of our wedding
night, but also confused. Why had it taken me so long to realize
how passionately I loved this man? What previously had me so
befuddled that I could see what was right in front of my face? I’d
known for a long time that I had feelings for him. Just being near
him had always made me feel strange and excited. But something had
clouded my judgment – kept me from realizing how intense my love
for him really was.

I wished I could figure it out. I wanted to
understand why it had taken me so long to realize what I really
wanted. Then I realized that none of that mattered, anymore. All
that mattered was that the most incredible man in the world was now
my husband, and I finally knew what I wanted. I would never want
anyone else as long as I lived, and I had never been more certain
of anything.

There was, however, one thing that weighed
heavily on my heart. It managed to overshadow our tender moment,
and it crushed against me until I could hardly breathe. It wasn’t
the compassion I felt for Kai, or the worry I felt for Liam, who
had left without saying goodbye. It was the intense fear of the
coming storm. I knew I was now in a position to save Alexi’s life,
and I knew I would be on guard until that moment. I only hoped what
Alexi’s father had seen would unfold as he had seen it. What if I
couldn’t save him?

Nothing in the world could hurt me more than
losing Alexi now that I had truly found him. I knew that with every
fiber of my being. It would destroy me irreparably.

“Is something wrong, darling?” Alexi
asked.

“No. Why?” I asked innocently.

“Something is wrong,” he pushed. “Tell me
what it is.”

“I’m worried, Alexi. I don’t want to lose
you.”

“Why would you say that? Surely you know I am
not going anywhere now that I finally have you.”

“I know. I’m just worried about… about what
your father saw.”

“Do not worry about that, darling,” he tried
to comfort me. “Remember, it worked out in his vision. We are
married now, and if that time comes to pass, it will turn out as it
should.”

“What if it doesn’t, Alexi? What if something
happens? You said yourself that your father’s visions weren’t
always one hundred percent accurate. Things
can
change.”

“There is no need to worry yourself with such
things,” he insisted. “We will deal with it together if the time
comes.”

“
When
,” I corrected him. “
When
the time comes.”

“Alright,
when
the time comes.”

“Alexi,” I said seriously, looking deeply
into his eyes and taking his face in my hands. “I can’t bear to
lose you. I
will not
lose you!”

“Shh,” he whispered. “You will not lose me. I
promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I
warned him.

“Now that we are together, everything will be
fine. I am certain of it.”

“I hope you’re right, Alexi. I couldn’t
bear…”

The familiar lump swelled in my throat and
choked off the rest of my sentence. I fought to keep from bursting
into tears.

“Shh,” he whispered, his lips touching my
forehead comfortingly.

“I wish we could just stay here like this
forever,” I admitted. “I would gladly stay here for all
eternity.”