Page 147 of His Ruin
I’m proud of the woman she grew into when I wasn’t around to help her. I hope she does give me hell. I deserve it for all the years I missed.
Saint steps up as our justice of the peace, clearing his throat as he crosses his hands in front of him.
Melody’s head whips around to him as she scowls. “Traitor.”
He smirks. “I got ordained online just for this special occasion.”
“I’m going to bite you again,” my bride hisses with venom.
Saint snickers as he addresses the room. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Kaden Wilder and Melody Love…”
“Sweet mother of God,” Kodi remarks quietly, shaking her head in disbelief.
As my friend runs through the formalities of our marriage, I can’t look away from Melody. She’s stolen the breath from my lungs and what little sanity I had left. She’s everything, and in time, she’ll forgive me.
She has to.
“Have you prepared vows?” Saint asks before he catches himself, and his lips pull over his teeth in a wince.
“No,” Melody remarks as she tilts her head and her lips thin. “I didn’t know I was marryingmy brotheruntil last night.”
“Stepbrother,”I correct. “And I have vows.”
My bride’s head rears slightly as her light brows draw close. She wasn’t expecting me to have anything ready for this occasion.
I clear my throat, a room full of eyes on us, some in distaste and others in fear, as I recite what I’ve been harboring since the very beginning. “Melody Love,” I begin, taking a breath as her anger cracks and melts into a softness that bleeds her curiosity and apprehension. She tries to glance away from me, but I grab her elbow, drawing her back as I hold her eyes. “Look at me,” I instruct low. “It’s just us.”
She swallows before nodding.
“Melody Love,” I breathe, “from the moment you stepped into my life, everything else lost its meaning. What began at the creek and grew into those long, silent nights as I watched you study to achieve your goals became something permanent. I don’t love the way others do. My feelings aren’t soft and careless. What I feel for you is deliberate and unbreakable. I’m not perfect. But for you, I’ll better myself every day. I’ll stand beside you without hesitation. I’ll protect what’s mine because, pretty girl, your heart has been broken by me before, and I never want that to happen again. Ichooseyou, not just now or when it’s easy, but always.”
A single tear slips, rolling down her cheek as her breath skates past her parted lips. So many emotions swell in her gaze, battling as she stares at me like I’m someone entirely new. I don’t expect her to say anything in return, which is why it surprises me so much when she finally speaks.
“Kaden,” she whispers, gulping back her fear as she remains solely focused on me. “All my life I searched for something, but never knew what it was that I was looking for. Until I metyou. You weren’t kind or gentle at first, but you were so true. You showed me that no matter what was thrown my way, I could conquer it all. When I’m with you, I feel like you seeme. Even beyond the missed years and time, my heart still aches for you in a way that will never heal. You’ve been my beginning and my end. Myeverything.”
Breathing feels impossible. This woman holds my heart in the palm of her hands. There isn’t a tether that connects us.No. It’s a fucking chain, and she holds the end of it. If she would only utter the words, I would burn this world to the ground at her feet, forever at her mercy. She holds the power to make me just as well as break. She could shatter me in two, and I would thank the universe for giving me someone so divine to seal my fate.
“Is that how you feel, Sunny?” I whisper as I brush her cheek with the back of my hand.
Her eyes flutter at my touch. “I’ve always felt like this…”
She’s speaking from her heart, and something twinges inside of me—it’s a deep tug that I can’t place. Knowing she still loves me is far more generous than I deserve after the heartbreak I’ve caused her.
Saint clears his throat, causing us both to shift back to reality. He’s smirking like a damn fool as his eyes bounce between us. “Kaden, do you take Melody as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, even when she threatens bodily harm to your friends?”
My bride finally cracks a smile. It’s small and tremulous, but it warms my chest to see.
“I do,” I say with conviction.
Melody sobers as a fondness passes over her eyes. She’s still mad, but this is our moment, and she’s allowing us to have it.
“Melody, do you take Kaden to be your lawfully wedded husband, even though his ego is ten times bigger than his dick and he can be an asshole?”
She chuckles, her cheeks turning red before she sucks in and nods. “I do.”
“The rings,” Saint motions for Ivan to step forward.
My best man produces a velvet box, his eyes flickering to Melody. “I had no part in this.”
