Exposed

by Aster, Willow

  “He can’t possibly. Look at her today. She looks twenty-five all of a sudden.”

  Eden groans. “His face. I know that look.”

  “Yeah, I do too. I’ll make sure Elias lets him know.”

  She waves it off, turning to smile at me. “I’m sure it’s harmless. We have a wedding to enjoy. This is your day.”

  I smile at her and the girls gather around and help me put on my dress. It’s one that Zsa and I designed together and it’s perfection if I do say so myself. Niapsian lace and flecks of silver and gold from the waters of Caninsula, the dress is a shimmering piece of artwork that is thankfully also comfortable.

  Nadia sighs when she gets the last of the buttons buttoned. “You are the most beautiful bride. I want you to design my dress.”

  “Thank you, and you know I will. Are you trying to tell me something?” I ask her, turning around to face her.

  “No, but I think he might ask soon!”

  “Okay, we should be ready then.” I laugh, remembering all the conversations we had growing up about our weddings and our dresses.

  She laughs too and gives me a quick hug. “Can you believe you’re finally marrying Elias?”

  “Yes and no. It feels so right, yet surreal.” I press my lips together and close my eyes, letting the feelings soak in. The complete and utter joy.

  Brienne moves closer. “You look glorious,” she says. “And it’s time.”

  Basile knocks on the door. “Everyone ready?”

  “Yes, Uncle. Come in.”

  The girls go out, leaving me with my uncle.

  “You’re sure he’s the one?” He has the audacity to joke.

  I giggle though, so it’s clearly working. “Yes. Positive. Pretty sure I drove you all crazy too, talking about how I would marry him one day.”

  He rolls his eyes. “God, yes. Thank God we can finally shut you up.”

  I laugh and take his arm when he holds it out.

  “Let’s not keep him waiting,” he says. “He’s not going to want to miss a second of you in that dress.”

  * * *

  The gardens overlooking the beach have lanterns in the trees and the flowers are in an especially lush season, overflowing with blooms. It’s an explosion of color and I take it all in as I step out and see Elias for the first time today.

  My heart thumps faster as I see his gorgeous smile, his eyes drinking me in as if I fulfill every wish he’s ever made. The music is faint and I walk toward him, Uncle Basile keeping me upright the closer I get. Elias steps in and takes my hand when I reach him.

  “You’re killing me,” he whispers. “I can’t take it. You. Are. Killing. Me.”

  I grin wickedly. “I plan to kill you later, so hang on a little bit longer. You won’t want to miss that.”

  He leans over and kisses me, causing our guests to laugh. We stand in front of Luka, who I asked to marry us.

  His words are the truth:

  “It’s been a love tested by time, forged by fire, and found to be more perfect than the purest gold. A true love that will never die.”

  He clears his throat and for a second I think he might falter, but his voice is even stronger when he continues.

  “For almost as long as I can remember, there’s been an Elias and Mara. We made the trek through the trees and sand, sometimes multiple times a day, to Elias’s house. The adventures were always the best when he was with us. We were always better when Elias was around. His humor, his wisdom, his loyalty…it was the missing piece to our erratic, uneven circle. He taught us love and he taught us to have fun…and to never say no to one of his meals.”

  Everyone laughs and I squeeze Elias’s hand tighter. I look around and see Marjorie and Maclock beaming at me and my heart is full.

  “Mara took care of both of us, and our lives as the prince and princess of Niaps suddenly got much happier. The love of Elias illuminated the loneliness we’d felt without him, and later when their relationship changed, as relationships do, I was afraid I’d lost Mara forever. I hadn’t—she’s still the same beautiful person she was, but part of her light had gone out, and we both floundered a bit with the shift. But now that the pieces have lined up again...the happiness is all the greater. The love I see when you look at each other…it’s inspiring.”

  He holds both of our hands and ties a string around our wrists, wrapping it in the Niapsian loop that goes around our ring fingers.

  “Do you promise to love, to not find fault, to see the best, and to lay your life down for one another, daily, so long as you both shall live?”

  “I do,” we say together.

  Luka pulls out our rings and I gasp when I see the beautiful ring that’s been made out of the blue stone. I haven’t seen it yet and it’s stunning. He puts our rings on our fingers and then loosens the Niapsian loop, letting the string fall to the earth.

  Elias steps closer to me and presses his lips together, his eyes shining with emotion. “Our bond will never be broken. From this day forward, I will love and honor you, trust and protect you, for the rest of our lives. This, I promise you.”

  My voice starts out shaky but becomes clearer with each word. “Our bond will never be broken. It has only ever been you, Elias, for me, and I will love and honor you, trust and protect you, from this day forward. In this life and the next. This, I promise you.” My eyes blur with tears, but I’m smiling so big, it hurts.

  Luka puts his hand over our joined hands and then we turn around to face everyone. “I now pronounce you husband and wife, lovers for all eternity, and a new generation of the Lancasters to come. Forever!”

  Everyone repeats, “Forever!”

  And the music starts to play as my husband dips me backward, kissing me and making sure I have no doubt that he will always make my heart pound.

  * * *

  After we’ve danced the night away and made love under the twinkling lights outside our new cottage, I grab Elias’s hand and pull him to a large trunk I’ve moved under a shrugart tree. The branches are low and have provided shade from the heat, so it’s cool to the touch when I open the lock.

  “This is a great trunk,” he says.

  “I thought you might like that, but it’s more about what’s inside.” I motion for him to open it and when he does, the letters are piled high, filling the trunk to overflowing.

  He bends down to pick up one that’s fallen out. And I hand him another one instead.

  “What’s all this?” he asks, brushing my hair back with his hand.

  “If you ever doubt my love, you can go through our history, and you’ll find on every day, through every good and bad circumstance, whether we were speaking or not, I was right here, still loving you.”

  “All of these are for me? From you?” He shakes his head in disbelief. “There are so many.”

  “They didn’t even all fit. These are the highlights.” I laugh and his eyes widen.

  “I love you, Mara Lancaster. With everything in me. I can’t believe you’ve written to me all this time. How did you not show me even one before now?”

  “I had to wait until you were fully mine. I had to wait for today.”

  We kiss under the tree and a thousand new letters are written in that moment. Some that he’ll see one day, and others that will be too hard to put into words. Our story will outgrow countless trunks…but I’m willing to see how many I can fill.

  Dear Elias,

  When I woke up this morning, the first thought I had was, I’m marrying Elias Lancaster today! I jumped out of bed and looked in the mirror to see if I look any different because everything in me feels different, and I do—I look different too.

  There’s peace in my eyes.

  Contentment in my smile.

  Assuredness in my shoulders.

  Strength in my hands.

  Steadiness in my step.

  And my heart is about to burst with happiness.

  Remember when I said we were only toxic because we weren’t together? I know that to be true
now. And I want to always remember it, because there will probably be times when things don’t seem quite as rosy as they are now. I wouldn’t want to relive any of our time apart, but I’m grateful for the clarity it gives me now.

  I had to lose you to find out who I don’t want to be. It’s a lesson I’ll never forget and I won’t let myself backslide into old habits either, this I promise you.

  We will always be better together.

  And because I know what it’s like to live without you, I will not let a day go by without letting you know how much…

  I love you.

  Love,

  Mara

  P.S. I’ll race you to bed.

  Ruin Coming March 2020

  This is Ava’s story. Add it to your GR TBR: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/50251258-ruin

  Ruin Prologue

  Ava

  I adjust the straps to my dress, feeling hot despite the fact that I’m wearing a sheer, flowy evening gown with barely any substance. Mother would be appalled to see my glowy-white cleavage sparkling in the afternoon sun. She’d also be shocked at the new tattoos I’ve added to the colorful sleeve on my right arm and the blue I’ve added to my long black hair, but she’s not here.

  Ahh, freedom. I grin and twirl a few times, feeling the material of my dress skimming the back of my thighs as I turn. Niaps is hot as Hades for someone used to the snow. I walk through the gate from the beach, my toes sinking into the thick grass and curling with pleasure. For all my complaints about the heat, I could get used to the constant sunshine. Even if it doesn’t like me. I put a hand to my chest and smooth out the coconut sunscreen that’s thicker on my collarbone.

  “No one told me shoes weren’t required for this wedding.”

  I turn and see a guy standing against the gate I just walked through. I don’t know how I could’ve missed him—his dark eyes are drilling into me and I could swear they like what they see. God knows I like what I see. His hair looks like my hands have already been running through it, yanking it to my will. I bite back a smile.

  “If you can’t go barefoot to a beach wedding, what’s the point?”

  His lips pucker out with thought and my eyes track the movement. Holy hormones, he has the most kissable lips I’ve ever seen. He bends down and takes off his shoes, smirking, and I laugh.

  “I sort of want to untuck your shirt, but your outfit seems a bit more proper than mine. You’re in the wedding, yeah?” I recognize the tie from seeing Elias and Luka getting ready earlier.

  He grins and untucks his shirt. It’s the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen.

  “My God, you are stunning,” he says under his breath. “Colorful,” he adds, his lips hitching up on either side. His eyes skate across my chest, which is as white as the purest snow and I know he wants to make an exception to his colorful statement, but he has enough manners to keep that to himself.

  “Thank you,” I whisper, feeling a moment of shyness.

  Shy, I am not, but there’s something about the way he looks at me. Definitely something about the way his eyes on me makes me tingle from my head to my toes.

  Like he’s seeing something beyond the rebellious princess of Farrow, kid sister to the most beautiful Eden Catano, now queen of Niaps, and also kid sister to the most perfect, handsome Jadon Safrin, now king of Farrow.

  There’s no way I can succeed with siblings like them, so I don’t even try anymore. I want nothing to do with the monarchy—no, thank you—and since they’re so good at doing what they do—being perfect—I’ll continue doing me. Some call me trouble, I like to think I’m simply not dull. I’ll never have to bother with any of it as long as everything keeps running smoothly, which I have every confidence it will.

  “What’s your name?” I ask.

  “Gentry Barrington. And yours?”

  “I’m Ava.”

  “Ava—” he draws out, waiting for the rest.

  “Just Ava.”

  He grins and I feel that fluttery feeling again across my chest and stomach and knees, like I could go down if he keeps smiling at me like that. I clear my throat and nod.

  “Save me a dance, Just Ava.”

  “I’ll be sure to do that.” I put my hand on his arm and grin, passing him to walk inside. I need to cool off after that encounter. All I can think about is how much I already look forward to seeing him again.

  ***

  I can’t keep my eyes off of Gentry during Mara and Elias’s wedding. It’s a gorgeous wedding, but he’s so distracting and every time I look at him, he’s looking at me too. The lights flicker across the beach and the sound of the waves is the most glorious backdrop. The sunshine from earlier leaves me feeling intoxicated and I decide to wander away from the party after I’ve eaten. I want to step in the water and let it cool me off. I start following a line of shells, picking them up and holding them in my dress as I walk. The water feels so good, I keep going.

  “Are you avoiding our dance?” His voice is like butter melting down my back and I shiver before slowly turning around.

  “Not possible,” I tell him.

  He grins and his eyes widen when he sees all the shells in my makeshift pocket. I carefully step out of the water and lower my dress to the sand, letting the shells fall into a chaotic heap. I dust off my hands and then curtsy in front of him.

  “Oh, we’re doing this here?” He laughs.

  “Why not?”

  He holds out his hand and I take it, feeling a thrill at the stomach drop that accompanies it. The sound of the music in the distance is muted, but we can still hear it enough to keep time. I step closer to him, until my head is against his chest, and we begin to slowly sway. I close my eyes and let myself feel everything. My hands around his neck, my ears listening to the rap, rap, rap of his heart, the way his hands feel on my bare shoulder and waist. I sigh and look up at him. He’s looking down at me, his lips parted and eyes glimmering with the moonlight. He fits the face of the man of my dreams in that moment. The man all future men will never live up to.

  His hand moves to my cheek and we stop swaying. Time stops. My lips feel drawn to his and I step on my tiptoes to chase it, just as he lowers his mouth to mine. The music fades away and all of my senses explode from him.

  His sigh into my mouth.

  His taste of peppermint and whiskey.

  The heady rush of his hands on me.

  It takes my breath away, an all-consuming kiss where nothing else exists.

  The kiss starts out soft and sweet, a tentative taste, and then it develops wings and soars. My legs weaken and he holds me tighter against him as we explore each other, until I don’t know where he begins and I end.

  It is an awakening. I’m aware that I will never be the same after this kiss.

  And I wouldn’t want to be.

  Ruin Chapter One

  Three months later

  “Surprise! Happy Birthday!” The sound of horns and the roomful of people yelling assaults my senses when I open the door.

  I jump, stare at them with horror and then glee, and then laugh my head off when I see Eden skipping toward me. I love how Luka has lightened her up. I used to be the crazy one and now she has moments when she’s really fun. It’s nice.

  She hugs me and Luka throws his arms around us too. Brienne blows a horn in my ear and I glare at her. She lifts her eyebrows and I can’t hold the glare any longer.

  “I don’t turn eighteen for another month. What are you guys thinking?” I push back from Eden and grin at Mara and Elias.

  “You’ve been traveling since the wedding and start school tomorrow.” Mara pulls a face and groans. She’s really grown on me. “With all of Luka’s upcoming trips, we figured we better do it now while we’re all together.”

  “And we wanted to surprise you,” Eden adds.

  “Well, thank you,” I say, throwing my arm over Mara’s shoulder.

  She’s shorter than me, but we’re able to wear the same size and I eye the dress she’s wearing now. She grins knowing
ly and shrugs my arm off, reaching for a big gift box.

  “Thought you might like something like this,” Mara says.

  “Let’s eat first, then presents,” Eden says.

  Mara and I both frown at her and Eden sighs.

  “Okay, okay. God, one of you is enough. Two of you is like I’m being punished eternally right here on earth.” Eden tries to look mad but the smirk is trying to fight its way out.

  I kiss her cheek and she waves her arm at me.

  “Go on, go on, open it,” she says.

  I do and inside is a gorgeous dress similar to the one Mara is wearing.

  “Part of my new line, and there’s only one of four just like this one,” she says, her cheeks turning the slightest tinge of pink. I’ve never seen Mara blush, but it’s a good look on her. She doesn’t have any reason to be vulnerable—her clothing line with Zsa has exploded.

  “Wow. Thank you, Mara. I love it so much.”

  She shrugs a shoulder, but I can tell she’s happy about my excitement.

  “I’ve missed you guys. Farrow was so dull. Jadon was gone most of the time. Mother is being obnoxious about him still…and don’t even get me started on Jorga.” I shudder and let out a long exhale. “This is feeling more and more like home all the time.”

  I don’t mention that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about Gentry since I left. I had to leave unexpectedly after the wedding. Mother insisted I accompany her on a trip to visit one of our relatives, a sick aunt that I’d never even met before our trip. I think she’s lonely without Eden, but instead of coming here for frequent visits, she badgers Jadon about what an awful job he’s doing with the kingdom.

  He’s not doing an awful job. He’s exactly what Farrow needs; she’s just always been too hard on him.

  But Gentry…he never strayed from my thoughts. Sometimes he was the only light during the monotonous days. I wish I’d found out more about him. We kissed and kissed and then realized we’d been away from the wedding too long. Gentry needed to get back to Elias and I helped Eden decorate Mara and Elias’s car before they left for their honeymoon. When I got back to the beach, he was gone. I never told anyone about our kiss, not even Eden. Mother showed up the night after the wedding and we left the morning after that. I want to ask Elias about him, but everyone is excited to have me back and asking me tons of questions.