Leon was strangely old-fashioned in his ideas about courtship. I liked it. Though we lived together, slept together, and made the most mind-blowing love, he wouldn’t agree to marry me, not yet. Finally, my man had realized his worth. Not as a pawn in play, not as a rent boy paid for, not as my relief from a troubled past.
It’d taken him so long to become this self-assured man, there was no fucking way I’d overstep the boundaries he set.
I took him to the lake, where we sat on the shore at sunset with old ceramic mugs of hot cocoa in our hands. We spent afternoons beneath the autumn sun in the meadow, colorful wildflowers the only witnesses to our picnics and kisses. Our hikes outside the commune were filled with the wonder of being able to enjoy the bounty of Mother Nature instead of looking over our shoulders every time a twig snapped. In those moments, during all those days, Leon became the most precious gift in my life. We didn’t need anything grand. Holding hands, listening to him whistle and hum, sneaking off for a kiss that would lead to much more in bed later…all those small details of life in love grounded me to this existence, bound me to this man.
Leon packed his guns away for good—we hoped—along with his past as a hustler. He began working in the school with Kamber. The kids followed him around the village, seeking his easygoing attention, and when he turned that attention on anyone—on me—he invested every bit of feeling fizzing through him.
He was, without doubt, singularly captivating.
The more I thought about it, the more I understood. He wasn’t ready yet. He needed to be his own man first before he could fully be mine. And Leon needed to be certain he was the one person I wanted above all others. I redoubled my mission to make sure he knew how much I cherished him, honored him, and respected him.
Fall went from cool nights and mornings to days of crunchy, ground-covering hoarfrost. The apple harvest was reaped. The war we’d fought so recently seemed so very far away but remained present in our thoughts.
Just like our relationship, the restoration of the liberated Territories took its first baby steps during the months of September and October. The InterNations League was born, a worldwide representative group that mirrored the smaller geographical coalitions. Created from elected officials who came from the Territories, the communes, and the Reformed Corps in equal measures, they hammered out a functioning democracy. Our world was to be integrated on all levels.
The artifacts recovered from staunch government strongholds and top-tier CO mansions—the music, art, and literature that had been banned decades ago—found new homes in buildings being made into museums and libraries open to all and on the airwaves that were no longer controlled by the government. Instead of becoming obsolete, the D-Ps sang with life, news, and novel information.
Jobs were not appointed but applied for. Education took a more personal turn, where children weren’t forced into a calling early on. History and future, fact and feeling all mingled into one burgeoning InterNations movement.
That didn’t mean our new world was a utopia. Far from it. Every day a new batch of problems cropped up like weeds in the field. But the field was fertile. The new leaders of one united government tangled with the infrastructure issues of military and police, judicial and legal, agriculture, health care, and education.
Above all, there was hope for a better future, for us, for our children, for the generations all over the world to come. The overwhelming spirit of a valiant people, the survivors of near total annihilation, guided us.
Of course, some of our core group would soon be pulled away to take on new responsibilities.
* * *
I carried a handful of late-autumn blossoms to the Chitamauga cemetery, making my quiet rounds to my mother’s and to Tammerick’s and Wilde’s markers. I touched each headstone with reverence. Since I realized how much I loved Leon, my mind was unclouded and clear as the bright blue day.
I was thinking about my father, the man I’d never met, when another father walked into the graveyard. He headed to a far corner with one flower tucked in the hand curled around a little baby enclosed in his arms.
Cannon and Liberty.
I didn’t want to startle him; nor did I want to interrupt him. I moved cautiously toward them.
“This is your momma, Jonquil. We bring her flowers every Sunday because she liked bright things, as bright as you, Libby.” He ducked his head to the pale yellow knit cap that covered a sweet ring of black curls. He kissed her rosy cheek and she reached up, patting his face. When he frowned, it was less fearsome than before.
“’Course, you could try to take it a little easy on me and your other daddy and let us go to bed at the same time.”
I stifled a laugh and the patch of ground beneath my boots crackled. Cannon pivoted around, covering Liberty’s head with his arms. Seeing me, he settled back on the cold ground.
“Sorry, man,” I said.
“The old reflexes are hard to forget.”
“I hear that.” I grabbed my own seat of frosty grass beside him. “We had some bad times out there.”
Cannon tucked Libby beneath his chin, covering her ears with the yellow hat. “We don’t talk about the war in front of Libby.”
“You do understand Auntie Liz will have her holstered up by the time she’s ten.”
“Not in this new era.”
“So you’re an idealist as well as a romantic.”
He snorted in disagreement and then nodded. Libby was hugging his thumb with her round pink fist. “Yeah. Maybe.”
“Liz and Linc have to head out soon?”
“They think so.” His mouth hardened. “I think everyone should just stay put.”
I pointed my finger at him. “Idealist.”
“Idiot. Fu—I mean, eff you.”
I’d taken on a new role as active war turned to rebuilding—I was a military adviser and aide. Likewise, Cannon had opted to keep with his Corps training. Nathaniel worked most of his days with Hatch as they sought new ways to smooth over old fears with technological advancements. Both Cannon and Nathaniel were staying in Chitamauga, although they’d travel as needed for training to help any way they could.
Denver, who knew most of CEO Cutler’s secrets, had been called to testify against the biggest war criminal who ever was at Cutler’s posthumous trial. With our signed affidavits for his character, he hadn’t been charged, but he was required to fill in a hell of a lot of blanks.
Once that obligation was fulfilled, he was taking Sebastian on a trip to FarAsia.
Farrow and Val both would spread their time between Beta Territory and Delta. Val, important in the medical field, would continue to work on pharmaceuticals and vaccinations for the good of the people. Farrow had already been appointed a coalition adviser.
Darwin would return to Alpha. Although she daily lamented her lack of boyfriend material, it was common knowledge she’d won over one of our commune men’s hearts with her sharp wit and perhaps a talent for more than just the mechanics of engines…
It was Liz and Linc who weighed most heavily on my mind. There would never be another single InterNations ruler, but Linc needed to put his face out there, show people how to lead, take up a politician’s life. They were readying to depart to Beta. Both would be profoundly involved in all aspects of ongoing reform.
I’d miss them more than most.
“I asked Leon to be my husband as soon as we got back here.”
“And you call me the romantic.” Cannon showed no surprise at all. “It’s not a mistake, you know. I loved before, too. Just the one. I’m not greedy like you.”
“Says the man with the baby in his arms.”
“She’s even more beautiful than Blondie, isn’t she?” His voice softened with wistfulness before he laid a glare on me. “Are you wooing him?”
“Yes, I’m wooing him.” I fell back to the grass where the morning’s frost bit into my jacket.
He covered Liberty’s ears with cupped hands. “I mean with more than your cock.”
“If there was any more wooing of that kind going on, I’d be limping. I’m dating him. I’m courting him. I’m being careful but not careful with him.” I dragged an arm over my face, muffling the next words. “What if I can’t be what he needs?”
“Darke, he only needs you.”
“I want to have the ceremony before the others leave the commune.”
“Well, maybe a little bird told me he’s coming around.”
“You’ve been talking to him?” I careened up.
“Nope.”
“Who? Liz?”
“Yup. And Farrow. And Bas…”
“Fuckers. All of you.”
“Dude, language. Little pitchers have small…ah shit…I can’t remember. Let’s just try not to swear around Libby.”
“I believe the sayin’ is little pitchers have big ears, big man,” Nathaniel said, striding over. He leaned over to kiss Cannon and then his daughter, whom he retrieved from Cannon’s arms. “Hey there, gorgeous.”
Her bell-like laugh was half gurgle, half bubbles.
“You sweet, sweet thing. Now we gotta talk about this stayin’ up all hours of the night. Papa Cas needs some sleep. And don’t be goin’ all precious on me, sweetheart. You try usin’ those dimples against Uncle Linc. Now, he’s the one you gotta charm.”
Listening to Nathaniel talk to his baby girl leveled my heart.
“Would you like to hold her?” Nathaniel asked. Libby’s aqua-blue eyes locked on mine, luminous with amusement.
“No.”
Nathaniel pressed her into my arms.
“I said no.”
“We’re not on a mission, so I don’t have to listen to ya. Besides, she’s met Uncle Leon and she needs to meet Uncle Darke.”
“Fuck.”
“I won’t tell her grandmama you said that,” Nathaniel drawled with a wink.
Curling my arms around Liberty’s small body gave new meaning to fragility. Nevertheless, she kicked her bootie-covered feet free of the blankets and squirmed with vitality.
“She’s lively.”
“I know.” Cannon’s forehead crinkled. “Wait till you try changing a diaper on a moving target.”
“You’re a little hoyden, aren’t you?” Keeping her in my hands was like handling a live grenade.
“A hoyden?” Cannon asked.
“A firebrand. Sassy,” I explained.
“That about covers it.” Cannon chuckled.
Nathaniel lifted the little princess from my arms and snuggled her against his shoulder. “How’s she been this mornin’?” he asked.
Cannon’s gaze skipped between his husband and their daughter. “Um, five by five. And possibly soiled.”
Nathaniel smiled. “How are you, big man? You were up half the night with her.” The loving look passed between the two of them clashed into something hotter.
Their need snapped the air into a tight band.
“I could take Liberty for the afternoon,” I offered.
As soon as the words left my mouth, they began grilling me as if I were taking on the entire Corps Elite on my own.
“Do you know how to swaddle?” Cannon peered at my large hands.
“Nope.”
“Warm a bottle?” Nathaniel bounced Libby in his arms.
“Probably.”
“Please tell me you can sing a frickin’ lullaby, because I really want to fuck Blondie right now.” Cannon stamped to his feet.
“Can do,” I assured them.
* * *
Having no idea what to do with the baby, I took her sightseeing through the commune on our way to Leon’s and my caravan. Her sparkling eyes took in everything from cardinals in flight to falling red leaves. This little girl was going to be so much trouble.
Her pack of bottles, binkies, blankies, and nappies was almost heavier than my rucksack of socks, boots, ammo, and guns. I dropped it on the table inside the caravan and took her to the chair.
It didn’t rock, but I did, in slow motion. Liberty broke free of her blankets, and the odor that hit me made my nose curl. Possibly soiled. If I could, I’d put Cannon back on manure duty for this. Libby was all over the place once I freed her of the swaddling. I had to hook her delicate ankles in the fingers of one hand and sing to her to make her stay put until I changed her diaper. After she was cleaned up, I decided to tell her a bedtime story, about what the world would be like when she grew up.
“There’ll be an environmental rebirth, Territory green spaces.”
Her face pinched tight as if she’d sucked on a lemon. I eased back in the chair, holding her on my legs, where she could squirm at will, free from all blankets.
“Now, that’s going to screw your face up, Liberty. It’s all good, okay? You just gotta listen to your daddies. They know what they’re doing.”
I popped a bottle between her rosebud lips for good measure, and she sucked the milk down with a hearty appetite I approved of. “You don’t know yet how lucky you are to be born in world completely different from the one I grew up in. But you will.
“Life will have changed for all of us. It already has. Access to new technologies and medical advancements. In return, we’ll exchange our knowledge of the land and husbandry. You’ll get to choose how you want to live and who you want to live with.”
Liberty’s features relaxed as she toyed with my hand. I talked softly and slowly so as not to startle any more cries from this wild and weird creature.
“You shouldn’t be scared, Libby. Change is good. Even if curious city dwellers come to our haven. The new roads will bring them. Those highways will tempt our people away, too, though I reckon not so many.” She spat out the nipple of the bottle once it was emptied of milk and I placed it aside. “You know this is a special place, Chitamauga, where we work hard and love even harder.”
I lifted her to my shoulder to coax a burp from her as I’d seen Leon do. When her soft cheek rested against my shoulder, I whispered the final truth of her wonderful future to her. “You, Liberty, are a symbol of hope and the new tidings of a new world.”
She didn’t seem sleepy at all when I finished, so I tried another tactic, blowing a raspberry on her tummy. Her giggles were as bright as the light shining from her, so vibrant I did it again and again before I finally sobered.
“Your daddies wanted you to nap.”
She squinched her nose.
Calling upon my mom’s songs—stored deep within me and stirring to the surface—I sang to Libby. The words and tunes came effortlessly, as if they’d always been waiting for this moment.
Leon strolled in after I’d sung Libby to sleep. I hummed the final refrains while he took in the sight of me with the baby in my arms.
“She’s not that impossible,” I whispered.
“Did you use your emo magic on her?”
“No. She’s happy. I can feel it. She loves her daddies.”
“You look good holdin’ her,” Leon said, quietly pulling off his boots.
“I do?”
“Oui.” Trodding to me on bare feet, he drew my head back for a kiss that shivered from the dipping tip of his tongue straight to my groin.
“I’m not ready for a baby yet.” I ran my thumb to his chin, hooking him to my gaze.
“I know.”
“I will be.”
“I know.” Leon turned his back and started to undress for bed.
“After you’re mine.”
“Already am.” He sent me a smile over his shoulder.
“Not enough for me.” I wanted to get up and grab him, but I couldn’t wake Libby. “Say yes.”
“D’ac.”
“No, no, no, none of that d’ac shit. You say, Yes, Darke. I will become your husband.”
Leon carried the sleeping baby to the makeshift cradle—our drawer of shirts I’d laid out on the floor—and set her down, smiling and crooning. He returned, guiding me to my feet. My heart hammered.
“Oui, Darke. I will be your husband and you mine.” The impish gleam in his eyes became something smokier as he led me to the bed.
I needed Cannon and Nathaniel to collect Liberty now. “We’ll wake her.”
“You’ll just have to be quiet.”
Several minutes later, I bit my lip to stave off a deep guttural groan when Leon swooped beneath the blankets and between my thighs to take me in his mouth.
* * *
I was waiting at the altar in the meadow on the afternoon of November 1, 2071. Dressed in a deep red shirt, with a black tie that flapped in the wind and a pair of charcoal-gray trousers, I rubbed my hands together. Darwin had somehow summoned my wedding clothes up from Alpha Territory in the week between the betrothal announcement and our handfasting.
Hills and Eden stood off to the side of me, their presence calming. Evangeline had kissed me on both cheeks when I’d taken my place. The Chitamauga people—grandparents, aunts, uncles, families in all shapes and forms—spread across the field as far as the eye could see. My own crew—Leon’s, too—were among the closest circle.
Though Chief Shehu had been counseling me via D-P how to control the flow of emotions from others, I couldn’t escape the onslaught of joy that matched mine and magnified it hundreds of times over when Leon appeared on the crest of the small knoll. Nor did I want to. The rich outpouring of love made the luxuriant autumn colors of the decorated meadow stand out as bright as the sun.
Leon paused at the head of the aisle that was no more than our friends and families parting a path for him down the center. Today everyone held a candle guarded against the flirty breeze by a small glass cylinder. But none of those flames could hold a candle to my angel. He wore sleek leather pants and a tight white shirt, his jacket zipped low. His hair was down around his shoulders, and the honey-brown waves danced in the wind.
He walked alone and I stood by myself. For this we needed no backup or help. He nodded when he was touched or spoken to, but once he locked his gaze on me, it never left.
When he stepped onto the wooden platform, I reached out and cupped his face. I kissed him with years of yearning, desire, and love swelling inside me. Swallowing his moan, I finally parted from his lips to delve into his clear gaze. His irises bloomed with a bright sheen.
Liberty squalled in Nathaniel’s arms, all red-faced and pumping fists. He and Cannon didn’t look one bit bothered as they attempted to quiet her cries with soft touches and murmured cajoling, and neither was I.
“Feed the kid already!”
“Check her diaper.”
Cannon took the small scrappy bundle against his chest with gentle care. “Shut the hell up. Libby’s just overwhelmed. Now, pipe down so I can hear Leon’s and Darke’s vows. I didn’t fight a goddamn Revolution for nothing.”
“What’d I tell you about the use of bad language, son?” Eden pointed her gnarled ceremonial wand at Cannon.
“Sorry, ma’am.” He ducked his head to Libby’s pink cheeks.
“That’s Mom to you.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Hoots and hollers followed, and Liz sidled over in a slinky dress—Desert Eagles strapped to her hips. “Give her to Auntie Liz.”
Taking hold of the baby, Liz did that maternal thing, hushing and patting and swaying. Big Man Cannon linked his arm around his Blondie’s waist, jerking his chin toward Liz as if to say, Told you so. Linc watched his wife—the sniper, the soldier, the confidant—with fresh fascination. Even I did a double take.
Leon’s warm lips pressed to the side of my neck, bringing my full attention back to him. We turned as one, facing Hills and Eden, both in their flamboyant ceremonial garb revealed only on the most special occasions.
Hills intoned, “We gather before the wind, the ocean, the earth, and the sky to join these two men in a union that shall never be torn asunder. Not by laws, not by religion, not by the hardships of a life such as ours.”
I squeezed Leon’s hand. I tore my eyes from Hills, placing a small kiss along Leon’s clean-shaven jaw.
“Bien?” I asked, my throat clicking with tight emotion.
His fingers slid along my cheek, and one tear escaped the long black lashes. “Oui. So bien.” He winked.
I exhaled noisily, and he laughed.
Hills bowed. “If there any here who would wish to object—”
“Fuck no!”
“Get on with it!”
Our elder smiled, clearing his throat. “We recognize a love that was fought for. It didn’t come lightly to either man. Their desire to pledge their lives to each other demands our ceremony, our care, and our celebration.”
Hills touched both of us on our foreheads and then stepped back. Eden came forward, draped in her moon-silver gown. She rolled a red satin ribbon between her fingers, then wound it up and down our right arms.
“I bind thee now from North to South and East to West, where your love will carry on all winds. I bind thee from hand to hand and heart to heart.” Eden’s palms rested against our chests. “The Goddess has blessed you, as you two have been blessed in finding each other.”
The red ribbon of unity tethered us together as a physical symbol of our everlasting promise to each other—one never-ending ribbon of love. Being superstitious—something that came part and parcel with my abilities—I recognized this was fate. All the obstacles in my course and all the people who’d been part of my life had brought me here. To this place where my existence intertwined with Leon’s into a long future governed not by fear…but by freedom.
“You may now speak your vows.”
I was up first. My palms sweating, I felt peaceful and…nervy all at once. Reciting the intimate verse I’d written myself, I had to stop and start again more than once because Leon sang to me with his love and passion and pride and possession.
“I want you to know, I will give you all that I have. My angel, Leon.” I kissed his palm, his wrist, and the bend of his neck. My left arm ran up his back, pulling him against me. I spoke to him as softly as possible, as if every word were sacrosanct. “I will lay down my life for you. I give all my love to you.”
A sob caught in his throat. I lifted my free hand to his face, sweeping the moisture from his cheek. “Please don’t cry.”
“It’s because I’m happy.”
My heart leaped as a smile burst over my lips, lips I quickly pressed to his.
“If you’re ready, Leon,” Hills prompted.
As unsteady as his reaction to my vows was, Leon’s voice surged strong and clear. “I remember every’ting.”
Shock rattled through me, since the last time I’d heard those words, he’d spoken them in anger. But now Leon’s fingers curled around mine.
“I regret nothin’ ’cause it brought us to dis moment, dis place, these people, and most important, to each other. I, Leon de Bellisle Cheramie, promise to love you with all my heart.”
I held him closer by the wrists, feeling our skin heat where our palms rested against each of our thundering hearts.
“I vow to live beside you, to take care of you in all the ways I’m capable of, to protect and to cherish you.” He murmured the final vows against my lips, completing the infinity circle of our bodies, our pasts, our love. “Tiens-moi serré.”
“I will hold you forever,” I whispered.
Full circle. The war begun and the Revolution won. Love lost, love gained. I lifted Leon off his feet. He tilted his head, moving in for the slowest, hottest, wettest kiss he’d ever given me.
“That ain’t fair! We had to wait until after the rings,” Cannon complained, a smile in his voice.
Eden stood in front of us, gently unwinding the ribbon from our arms. She folded it before passing it to me. “Do you wish to exchange wedding bands?”
“Fuck yeah.” Leon dug into his pocket. “Me first dis time.”
He presented a wide band of hammered copper, gold, and silver. It bore the unmistakable marks of Smitty’s naturalistic work. “This is a symbol of how much I’m gonna own your ass.”
I exploded with laughter, as did everyone else.
Twirling the circle between his fingertips, he became serious. “I read dis a long time ago in a contraband book. I’ve always wanted to say it, never thought I’d get the chance.” Shy eyes shined at me when he pushed the ring down my finger. “With dis ring, I thee wed.” The metal warmed against my skin as he slid it home to rest. “With my heart, I thee pledge.”
“May I?” My hands shook when Cannon placed the ring in my palm.
“Yes, cher.”
“This was my father’s.”
Leon pressed a knuckle to his mouth, and I dragged it back down.
“Now, don’t do that, baby. I need your ring finger.” I spun the ring slowly down his finger and kissed the very tip. “My heart, mon coeur, my angel. Be mine.”
He nodded his head, accepting my ring. “Always.”
“Forever,” I said with conviction.
I sniffed so as not to cry, but my small effort was futile. With Leon’s hand clasped in mine, we turned to the congregation. Everyone began pumping their fists to the air.
Hills beamed like the last blazing night star from the middle of the altar. “Today we rejoice!”
“To Leon! To Darke!”
Leon leaped into my arms, laughing, crying, kissing. I set him down to do the final duties, to give honor to my elders, Eden first with a kiss to her cheek. Hills last. We both knew this would be his final handfasting.
I clasped his palm. “Thank you.”
“You will take care of our people, Warrior Darke?”
“I will.” With those two words, I accepted my future place as commune elder.
Hills’s head snapped up when the red ribbons unfurled from each person’s hand in so many dancing arcs across the sky. Their shouts raised in unison: Live in Freedom. Love at Will!
Leon and I walked the long rows, hugging everyone who had stood witness to our marriage on our way to the town hall. Festivities were our specialty when we weren’t knee-deep in Revolutionary shit. Tonight the party was in full swing within minutes. Freelander banners hung from the rafters. Lanterns were lit, illuminating the room with a soft glow. Food and drink were abundant.
Leon was dragged from my arms as soon as we’d entered. No amount of grumbling had swayed our friends from pulling him to the middle of the dance floor.
I drank from a mug of ale, unable to wipe the grin off my face. I kept catching sight of Leon’s lissome body moving amid the throng as he danced from one person to the next. As long as he didn’t rub against that Jack-anapes or Dixon Dickhead, I could deal. Besides, he was my husband now.
“Congrats, my man.” Cannon leaned against the trestle table next to me. He held out his hand.
“Just following your lead.” I shook his hand before pulling him in for a hard hug.
There were very few people who could understand what this chance at second love meant. Cannon was one of them.
“You two looked good up there at the altar,” he said, taking a swig from his cup.
“Felt good. It felt…”
“Right.” Squinting at me, he clanked his mug to mine.
I dropped my voice. “I don’t feel guilty anymore.”
“And you shouldn’t. It took me even longer than you to figure it out, but the wait was worth it—don’t you think?”
I agreed with another taste of my drink. “Where’s Libby?”
Rolling his eyes, Cannon pointed across the room, where Micah’s twin daughters, Calliope and Dauphine, had Liberty set up between them, taking turns whispering in the baby’s ears.
“Built-in babysitters. Nice.”
“Where’s your husband?” he asked.
The moment Cannon said that, my throat squeezed. My hands shook so much I had to set my mug down.
He gripped my shoulder. “Yeah. It’s pretty fucking amazing hearing that for the first time, isn’t it?”
My voice was uneven. “You could say that.” My laugh was tremulous, too. “Leon’s dancing, of course. Where’s Nathaniel?”
“Singing, of course.”
“Do you ever think we got really goddamn lucky?”
His gaze hooked on Nathaniel, who sang alongside Miss Eden. “Every day.”
Smitty and his banjo had been booed offstage less than a minute after he took it, but the resident blacksmith had taken no offense. He’d joined Old Tommy and Hatch, who was concocting some new green, bubbling alcoholic drink in a tall beaker just inside the town hall’s wide-open doors.
“You’re in trouble now,” Cannon mumbled, hiding his grin behind his cup.
Leon was making his sinuous way over to me.
“I sure hope so,” I replied. “Sweet Jesus, this man’s driving me insane.”
I snapped to attention. Leon’s hair was in a damp disarray, and he’d lost his jacket somewhere along the way. With the short white shirtsleeves bunched up on his biceps, his tawny skin glowed.
I took one last swallow of ale before I forgot how to swallow altogether. I’d already lost the ability to speak, my tongue tied in knots over his graceful approach.
“I think I better cut out of here.” Cannon clasped Leon’s arm and quietly said something to him, which only made Leon’s eyes glitter even more.
I felt overdressed, but his hungry eyes let me know he appreciated the sight of me in a suit and tie.
Leon gave a slight bow. “Dance with me, cher.”
I gulped. “Aren’t you thirsty?”
“Non. Nate’s gonna play that gee-tar, and I wanna dance, mon mari.”
“My name’s not Marie.”
“Dat means husband.”
Oh. Yes.
As was part of a tradition lost half a century ago, the dance floor emptied when Leon walked me to the center. Our friends and family stood along the walls. Liz pressed up to kiss Linc. Cannon looked longingly at his lover, who was preparing to sing the next song for us. Farrow flirted with Val. Denver raised Sebastian’s hand to his lips in a courtly gesture.
With everyone in position, Nathaniel began to strum his guitar.
The lyrics didn’t matter, nor the tune. What held my attention was the man in my arms and the hush around the hall. Our bodies fit perfectly together, and even though I had never felt comfortable dancing, Leon made it easy.
More than easy, it was intimate…and beautiful.
His hands remained on my shoulders throughout the first song, and mine rested lightly on his hips. Our gazes never parted, but we didn’t speak. I breathed him in, the feel of him, the look of him, loving him.
Nathaniel left the stage and let Eden continue with the romantic songs. Before long, we were surrounded by a mash of bodies. The tune picked up, and with it, my hands wandered over Leon’s ass.
“Remember the last time we danced?” he asked.
The space between us melted away. Where we touched, I sizzled with yearning. The last time was at Madam’s Amphitheater in Omega. Jealousy had fueled my need to brand Leon as mine. That dance had almost made me come in my pants. It wouldn’t take much longer to get to that point again. Care of Leon’s quaint ways, we hadn’t fucked for a few days or spent last night together.
I groaned. “Don’t remind me…”
“You wouldn’t let yourself have me then.” He brought our joined hands up between our chests. Our rings chimed. Our hearts pounded. “Now you have all a’ me.”
His fingers slid around my neck.
I tilted my face, touching his lips with the softest brush. “I love the way you move with me.”
“I love the way you move inside of me.”
“Fuck. You can’t say shit like that and expect me to just dance with you all night, angel.” I growled with desire.
“I expec’ you to make love to me all night long.”
My muscles stiffened to make a move out of this place, but he gentled me with the caress of his fingertips along my arms. “Or we could just keep dancin’. You don’ wanna party all night?”
“I’m not as young as you,” I groused.
His laughter was sultry as a summer breeze. “Mais yeah, I could teach you a thing or two.”
I yanked back with my face heated. “Oh really?”
“Mm-hmm.” He licked his lips with the pink tip of his tongue.
“That’s it. We’re done.”
With his hand grasped in mine, I plowed through everyone in my way. Leon sent our apologies to anyone I trampled in my hasty exit. He pulled me up short when we reached Liz and Linc. I glared, impatience winning out over any semblance of manners.
“Merci.” Leon shook Linc’s hand and accepted a hug from Liz.
He looked at me, lifting his eyebrows.
“Look, I know you’re taking off in a couple of days for Beta, but we gotta go.” How long could this night go on? I gave backbreaking hugs to both of them and hoped that was good enough.
Cannon watched it all, a smirk on his lips, Libby asleep in his arms. Asshole.
Liz wouldn’t let me pass. “Oh, don’t think you’re getting out of sending us off, Darke, just because you think you’re gonna be spending the next three days inside Leon’s ass.”
“I don’t plan on coming up for air.” I gave my short reply.
“Not even for me, your old pal?” She batted her eyelashes, to no effect but a rumble of amusement from Cannon.
“No,” I bit out.
“Bien sur. We’ll be there,” Leon promised right before I whisked him out the doors.
* * *
At first I couldn’t locate our caravan. The village dickheads had pulled the same stunt on us as they had on Caspar and Nathaniel. I was desperate enough to use the solid trunk of a pine tree as a bedstead, but not on our first night as husbands.
We’d been relocated to the meadow. When I glimpsed the lights shining across the frozen field, I took off at a run, Leon racing beside me. At least Tommy wouldn’t have to worry about being kept awake, especially since our caravan was the subject of one more commune tradition. Tiny silver tinkling bells looped in strands all around our home.
I stopped at the steps, where candles lit each side of the stairs. Wood smoke pumped from the chimney, its gray trails wispy. “Grab on to me.”
“What?”
I lifted Leon to my hips. His thighs curled around my waist. His lips meandered up my neck.
I took the steps carefully because of my precious cargo, and when we ducked inside, I faltered. “Did you do this?”
“Some of it.” He craned his neck to see the bed in splendid new linens. To take in the many lit candles. To smile at our red satin ribbon displayed in a carved case on the table.
“How’d you get the ribbon?” I patted my pocket, where it’d been folded flat.
“You were a little distracted when we were dancin’. I passed it off to Tommy.” He winked.
I slid him down my body and he led me to the other room. A giant claw-foot tub filled with steaming water took up most of the space.
“It’s beautiful,” I murmured.
“Has anyone taken care of you?”
“I…”
“I din’t think so.” Leon swirled a hand around the hot water, beckoning me closer. “Look at you, all suited up and perfect.”
I shoved out of my boots and hooked my thumbs into the waist of his pants. “Why don’t you undress me, boy?”
“You ain’t called me that in a while.” His shirt dropped off first, then his pants, underneath which he was completely naked.
I wondered if I could go blind from the sight of his sheer perfection. “You didn’t like it.”
“Depends.” He quickly loosened my tie and let it flip behind him in a black arrow. “If you say, Boy, get over here and suck my cock”—moist lips peppered around my throat—“Ça va, I don’t got a problem with dat.”
My clothes hit the floor as he undressed me. I stood as still as I could, a statue when he dragged my pants down. Leon bit his lip the moment my cock lunged upward in front of his face, but he didn’t touch me.
He motioned me to the warm water, waiting until I settled in. With my knees against either side, there was enough room for two, yet he knelt on the braided rug, lathering his hands, soaping me all over until my breath rasped and my knuckles turned as white as the porcelain beneath my grip.
Every time he rose up, I sucked on his skin, dewy and damp. His stomach, his thighs. His balls dangled over the edge and I slurped them, too.
Foam dripped off my chest and down my back. I shivered.
“Dis is how I love you. Dis is how I care for you.” He kissed my chin, his hand dipping lower beneath the water to tangle in the hair at my groin.
The water waved as my body moved to his every teasing touch.
“Let me love you, too.” I pulled him into the tub, settling him on my thighs. “Let me.”
“You gave so much for me.”
“No more than you.” I wrapped Leon in my arms as our wet skin found a new rhythm.
We kissed, taking our time to feel the smoothness of each other’s mouths and the sleekness of bare body to bare body, buffeted by the bath’s hot water.
He sat back, his cock aligned with mine. “The wings healed perfectly.”
His lips were firm and wide and sensuous—and oh so talented—as he traced the shape of my angel’s wings in flight, the moko on my chest. I shuddered as a volley of need lit its way down my torso. I let him play with his lips and tongue and hands and fingers until I was tense as a wire unraveling with desire.
We slowly toweled each other dry, rediscovering the valleys, the hills, the dips of bare skin. Mine ebony, as dark as night against his golden sunniness.
“Maybe we should start callin’ you light.” Leon smiled from the bed he climbed onto.
“Hmph.” My face heated with a blush barely visible beneath my skin.
“What? I’m serious. Look at you. Grinnin’, whistlin’ all night.”
“Leon.” Grumbling, I fought a smile.
“See? Leon and Light.”
“Leon.” I stalked him, and he leaped off the bed.
I chased him to a corner of the caravan. He may have sprinted faster than me, but I had longer limbs. “Gotcha!” I threw him over my shoulder and swatted his pert ass.
I tossed him onto the bed and jumped on after him.
Leon rolled me over and pinned me down. “Uh-uh. I got you.”
“Yes, you do.” I captured him against me.
There was very little preamble to our lovemaking. The need to consummate our union with our bodies made me slip wet fingers into him after kissing up the insides of his tensed thighs. Leon’s gaze drew low as he watched along the length of his body. He arched and twisted, gasping, pumping against my coned fingers.
“Love me!” He shuddered.
When we joined together as one, I lay slowly on top of him. Our bodies met from lips to chest to groin. His thighs rose to my circling hips and my arms hooked around his shoulders.
I gasped against his mouth. “I love you so much, Leon.”
I languidly withdrew, his strong legs curling me back to him as he bowed into my hold. Our bodies, always in sync during times of battle, were completely in tune with our lovemaking, too.
“We made it.” Leon’s eyes took on dizzying depths. His channel pulled me deeper.
“We made it together.” I thrust inside of him. His body wrapped around me like the red ribbon had, with nothing that could come between us.
Hands and hearts. Mouths and mumbled sighs and moans, the music of lovers.
I cried out when I came, lowering my lips to his. Leon climaxed in the next instant, clutching at me. His heat and warmth and wetness spread over my palm and onto my stomach.
I’d always loved the clean, salty scent of him after we made love—I didn’t want to wash him from my body, and he looked too sated to move. Dragging a blanket over us, I thought about banking the fire in the woodstove. Instead, I fell back to the bed with my beautiful husband lying across me. We’d keep each other warm through the night.
And in the morning, when only coals remained from the crackling fire, I’d tiptoe from bed and start up the kindling. I’d bring him breakfast. I’d have the bath refilled. I’d soap him and caress him and love him all day long, and for all the days and nights to come.