The priest coughed. “Say the words, my son, and you will marry her.”

Rob grinned and I laughed, and Rob stepped closer, cradling my hand. “I take you as my wedded wife, Scarlet. And thereto I plight my troth.” He slipped the ring on my finger and it fit.

“Receive the Holy Spirit,” the priest said, and kissed Robin on the cheek.

Rob’s happy grin turned a touch wolflike as he turned back to me, hauling me against him and angling his mouth over mine. I wrapped my arms around him and my head spun—I couldn’t tell if we were spinning, if I were dizzy, if my feet were on the ground anymore at all, but all I knew, all I cared for, were him, his mouth against mine, and letting the moment we became man and wife spin into eternity.

Chapter 24

There were so many people around us I couldn’t count them all. I didn’t much care to either—there were no hunger or thirst, no pain or weariness. Rob and I danced and kept dancing, close in each other’s arms, as the light of the sunset gave way to the torch-lit dark of night.

I had no way of knowing what the time really were, but at some point Rob and I stole away a little, and he leaned me against a tree, kissing me until my whole body shivered and burned in the same strange moment.

“You look so beautiful,” he told me, pulling out one of the flowers that Missy had braided into my hair. “The most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen.”

“You’re awful handsome yourself,” I told him, running my hands over his chest. “Too handsome by far. We’ll have to make you much uglier now you’re married,” I told him. “Make sure all the ladies want to keep their hands off.”

He grinned and kissed me. “I’ll let them all know how fond my wife is of knives.”

My belly fluttered and a shiver ran through me.

“What?” he asked, his voice a low soft groan by my ear.

“Wife,” I said. “I’m your wife.”

“In almost every way that counts,” he told me, squeezing my hips. “And I like the way your eyes look when you say that.”

Blushing, I tried the word again. “Wife,” I murmured, gazing at him.

“Husband,” he growled, and that sent another shiver tumbling through me.

“Let’s go back to the castle,” I whispered. “Or the manor. Or somewhere. Please?”

“Scarlet,” he said, very serious. “I’ll tell you this once and don’t go using this power for ill purposes, but when you say ‘please’ like that, I’ll agree to damn near anything, all right?”

I laughed and he turned, dragging me against him and walking me backward to the feast tables and dancing.

Kissing my neck, he murmured, “Christ, I know I left a horse around here somewhere.”

“Sheriff!” called Ellie. Missy and a few other girls were standing there, holding the reins of a beautiful gray horse.

“There it is,” he said, only letting go of me enough to hoist me onto it. He swung up behind me, tugging me tight against him, and Ellie held on to the reins. “Ellie?” he asked. “Can I have the horse back?”

“No,” she said, smiling. “We have a surprise for you two.”

Rob looked at me and I raised my shoulders. He kissed me, wrapping his arms around me. Much handed us a cloak and Bess waved up at us, and others began to cheer and hoot at us. Rob wrapped the cloak around me and tucked his arms round me tight. “All right, Ellie. Lead the way.”

Missy and a few of the other girls carried candles, and it felt like we were following fairies deep into the woods. The horse moved slow and careful, led along by the girls who looked back at us to giggle every now and again.

When we stopped, I realized where we were. “The cave?” I said, looking to Rob in question.

Rob’s shoulders lifted, and I looked at the girls. Two of the smaller ones with candles rushed inside, and a dull glow began from within.

“You saved our lives by bringing us here,” Ellie told us, looking down. “So start your new life here too.”

Rob clutched me tight, and I looked at him. He nodded once, taking my chin and kissing me.

I nodded. Rob dismounted and helped me down, and I hugged Ellie. “Thank you,” I whispered. “This is perfect.”

She hugged me. “Hopefully you’ll feel the same in the morning,” she laughed, and swatted my rump as I let her go.

The little sprites inside the cave ran out, and I kissed Missy’s cheek and thanked her too. Then Rob took my hand and I forgot all about them as he led me inside.

They had lit a fire, and instead of our old pallets there were a new one, fresh stuffed and bigger, with furs and blankets heaped on it and flowers strewn all around the place. Rob’s hand ran up my spine to my neck, and I shuddered. He came in front of me, kissing my neck, and then my cheek, and then the corner of my mouth. “Do you remember what I told you that night?” he whispered, switching his kisses to the other side.

That night. That night in this cave, when he’d told me—everything. Everything for the first time. “That I changed everything.”

Another kiss, and my clothes started to feel overtight, like my skin were burning, my whole body trying to burst out. “What else?” he murmured.

His lips sucked on my neck, just beneath my ear, and my knees buckled. I gripped him with a gasp. “That you’d keep my heart,” I moaned.

His mouth hovered right over mine, grazing whisper soft over my lips, not giving me what I wanted, what I burned for. “What else, my sweet Scar?”