Page 56 of Roar Letter Word

A few minutes later, Addie found herself walking down the aisle of people toward Mahes.

There was certainly no shortage of excited people. King Alyx and Queen Bella were sitting at the very front. Pritesh, Skoll, and Gerri sat among the crowd. There was Addie’s family, and next to them were her friends from Earth and then all the friends she’d made since moving to Nova Aurora.

But her attention was on one person and one person alone. Mahes wore a tight black tuxedo with a shining red cummerbund. The way he stood, it was obvious he wasn’t just happy to marry her. He was also proud, and Addie felt the same. She had made it through more than her share of the pitfalls of love. Now, she had someone who loved her just as much as she loved him, and she was thrilled to marry him.

“Fuck, you look beautiful,” he whispered to her. She had to keep herself from laughing.

The ceremony went quickly, and then, Addie invited her brand-new shifter husband to join her on stage while she sang a brand-new single.

“Okay, but don’t expect me to dance,” Mahes warned the audience. “Or, at least, not to dance very well.”

“He’s a lot better than he pretends,” Addie said into the mic. “But you’ll have to cheer a little to get him into the mood.”

“What are you talking about?” Mahes protested.

The crowd started to chant. “Dance! Dance! Dance! Dance!”

“Don’t listen to him,” Addie continued into the mic. “Just keep right on chanting. He’ll show you all sooner or later.”

“I swear I will get you for this one,” Mahes whispered, but it was too late. The band was already striking up.

Addie had written this specifically for the marriage. She wanted to put down a piece of what it felt like to get married to Mahes. And the first thing she came up with when she tried was this bass guitar solo.

The rest of the song had eventually come, but this solo was, to her, the heart of it. As she started to sing, she let it flow through her body. Yes, that was what it felt like to marry Mahes. Exciting, fun, weird, and above all, freeing.

Mahes watched her, mesmerized. She went back and forth between singing lines to the audience and lines to him. But really, the whole song was for Mahes. Even when she was dancing with the audience, she was flitting about him, watching him.

And yes, eventually, the crowd won. Mahes had to dance for a little. And it was every bit as awkward but also delightful as she had expected.For a lion shifter who seemed so graceful in his animal form, he was surprisingly heavy and disjointed as a human when dancing.

The song came to an end, and the two of them stepped down from the stage, hand in hand. A new band, one Addie had toured with on Earth, was setting up to play the rest of the playlist. But really, the most important part of the wedding was over. Everything else was for the guests. The two of them were done.

They squeezed through a gauntlet of congratulations and well-wishes before finally managing to get back into the mansion. Addie wondered if that was the real reason Gerri had decided to talk to her before the wedding. Maybe she knew how eager the two of them would be to have some time on their own.

Mahes pushed her against the wall of their bedroom.

“Well,” he said. “I’d say the two of us have done pretty well. You know, for a one-week fling.”

She laughed. “And I think we’re going to do pretty well from now on, too.”

They kissed. His hands ran up and down her body, as she pulled him tight against her.

“Forget all the ceremony,” she said finally. “I want you to fuck me right here and right now.”

“I was hoping you were about to say that.”

In the distance, they heard the music and the people cheering and enjoying the massive banquet. But they didn’t need any of that. Not right now. Tomorrow, they would be King and Queen, and she would think about her next album.

At that moment, all that mattered was each other. Because no matter what happened to them, from kidnappers to national crises, they had each other. Mahes didn’t need any special sense to tell him that anymore. He just knew it whenever he held Addie tightly or looked into her eyes. And Addie knew that she and Mahes would be together forever. She could feel him in her hip, but more importantly, she knew him.

Who knew what the world would have in store for them? But as long as they had each other, they weren’t afraid.

They would make it.

Together.