by Rie Warren
Satisfied I didn’t look like a total schmuck, I quelled my stomach and pushed Leon out the door. “Let’s go.”
At the gate to the meadow, I stopped and stared, a smile curling up my lips. It was a damn pretty sight, festooned with ribbons in red, fat bows and bells of all sizes clanging together when we entered. A trail of red berries scattered over the wintry walkway showed us the way to the altar.
“You’re shivering. You scared?”
It was January and cold as a CO heart. Not the Beltane ceremony Hills and Eden had pushed for—a time of rebirth for the natural world—but Blondie and I had agreed. Two months of courtship was time aplenty, and I was so eager to become his husband my heart was ready to leap out of my chest.
The shivers were from excitement, pure undiluted emotion.
“No, I’m cold,” I lied.
When we crested the small hill, there was no stopping the chills coursing up and down my spine. Nope. This sure as hell wasn’t a Joining Ceremony, a cold affair specializing in the commerce of two people, or even a Validation of Union, the same deal for CO higher-ups. This was a gathering of people invested in our love. Arranged in circles, their hands joined, I estimated about five hundred villagers to be looking up at me.
“Just don’t let me cry, Leon.”
“Mais, cryin’s good.”
“I’m not into public displays of weepies.” I started down the far side of the hillock, knowing I was gonna get hit by a heavy case of blubbering pretty damn soon.
“You seen your man yet?”
Holy shit.
Tendrils of dark green ivy worked their way between white blooms on the bower arching above Nathaniel’s handsome head. Nathaniel.
I might know jack shit about handfasting or tying the knot, but when I wove down the aisle toward him, I was tongue-tied. And even though there was a crowd of people around us, it felt like we were the only two men in the world.
All my bluster faded, just like that.
His suede jacket hugged his shoulders, the flaps flipped up over his ass in a dovetailas he leaned toward little Calliope. She held on to his hand, listening with the all-consuming attention of a four-year-old.
I knew exactly how she felt. Nathaniel was worth the attention. He’d commanded mine from day one, and his hold over me had only ramped up since we’d returned to Chitamauga.
On the verge of getting hitched, I thought back to my squat with its bare cot and the plant I’d let die. The robo-fish that’d gone belly-up before I named it, the dog I’d never had. I had more now than I could ever quantify, starting with a family made up of so many more relatives than I ever thought possible. They were all waiting in this snowy meadow, watching me get closer and closer to Nathaniel.
When he straightened from bending Callie’s ear, he saw me. His throat flushed up to his ears, pink captured inside the open collar of his white shirt. No tie.
Narrowing my eyes, I loosened mine.
I never thought myself one for commitment. Hell, I was never even given the chance to consider it before, let alone dream about it. Now I wanted to punch the air, sprint to him, make out with him for hours on end. I held it all together by a tight wire, winding through the throng of Freelanders. In muted wool and multicolored layers of lace or satin or velvet, they’d come out in their best finery. Old, rich leather, collars and cuffs in fur, hats and delicate woven, woody crowns.
The Rivers and the Fieldings.
Fischer and Forrest and Hatch.
Darke clapped my back when I passed by, and Leon stayed behind with him.
Traitor.
The inner ring held Liz and Farrow, their linked hands not nearly as noticeable as their standout Territory garb. Tall and lean as a hairpin trigger, Liz was dressed head to toe in motorcycle black, holstered and booted. Tiny and blonde, Farrow wore a fine lady’s gown.
Micah and Kamber were right there with Calliope and Dauphine.
All but buried in petals, the altar held a simple wooden table bearing the sacred tools for our ritual. I hated to crush those delicate petals on the ground where Nathaniel stood, but they were in my way. Barely noting Hills and Eden behind Nathaniel, I walked to him, his look sending shock waves all the way to my toes.
“Goddamn.” Grasping his neck, I fingered through the loose strands of his hair until I had a good hold. Too impatient to wait until the I do’s, I crushed him to me as his mouth parted for my tongue. Our kiss was hungry; it heated me from within.
Hoots and hollers of the best kind swirled around, followed by Liz’s throaty call. “Doncha think you should exchange rings before spit?”
Turning in to his throat, I groaned.
His hands on my arms, my lover wore a happy, dazed look. “You’re blushing.”
“It’s frostbite.” I stomped my feet in the flowers and snow. I still couldn’t get used to making out with him in front of other people, having the freedom to touch him when I wanted to. I never wanted to get used to it; it felt too good.
Our fingers twined together as we faced Hills and Eden. Beyond the altar, the beautiful meadow was an icy landscape of misty ghosts giving way to love.
Hills the priest was a much better master of ceremonies than Head Honcho the whoreson. Even with his long ears and the crown of fat berries titled on his head, his demeanor was that of a beneficent sage. He gave us each a searching look before proclaiming, “There are two men among us seeking the bond of handfasting.”
Eden held a gnarly wand in one hand, a slim dagger in the other. “They shall be named.”
My eyes brimming, I held on to Nathaniel’s hand, bringing him forward. I didn’t dare look at him, only squeezed his hand harder and rubbed my thumb over his bare finger, which would soon wear my ring.
“Nathaniel Rice unto Caspar Cannon.” A perpetual smile dented the white whiskers on Hills’s face.
Eden wiped her eyes and spoke to her son. “Are you Nathaniel Rice?”
“I am.” The heat of his stare landed on the side of my face.
“Why do you stand before us today?”
He took one step closer to me until I turned toward him. His voice resonated with his pronouncement. “To vow my life and love to Caspar Cannon. Before the people of the Chitamauga Commune, and for all the world to see.”
Hills planted himself next to me and asked. “Would you forgo this man in one year and one day, as is your right by the ceremony?”
“Screw that. I don’t need an escape clause,” I answered.
“No?”
“Never.” Lifting Blondie’s hand, I kissed his knuckles. When his lashes fluttered down, I smiled and brushed my mouth over them again.
“What is your desire, Caspar?”
“This man right here.” Fuck yeah. He felt so good. This was the most right thing I’d ever done.
“Anything else?”
“I love him. I want him always. And ditto what he said.” I needed to recite poetry about how much I loved him? I could tell he knew by the way his chest rose, filling with the force of my emotion.
Placing the priapic wand between our joined palms, Eden bade us to hold it firmly. I stroked the soft skin of his inner wrist, watching while his lips parted and his breaths came as fast as mine.
A long red ribbon trailed through Eden’s hands, its color a carnal shock in the white-on-white landscape. This was the kind of bondage I could get behind. The wide red sash trapping our right wrists together stretched up our forearms with our arms crossed between us. I had plans for that ribbon later, maybe tie Blondie up, have my way with him for hours, days. Hell, I was gonna have him all to myself forever.
Lifting a teardrop from his cheek, I cupped his beloved face. It was hard to smile through all the emotions churning inside me, and when I managed it, I tasted the warm saltiness from my own tears.
The ribbon tethering us as one, Eden quietly blessed us in a bond I never wanted to be freed from.
“Caspar, I love you so much.”
Heat like I’d never felt before l
it up every single nerve in my body. “I can’t wait to make you mine, Nathaniel,” I whispered for him alone.
Eden’s voice rose to encompass the commune. “People of Chitamauga Commune, Nathaniel Rice and Caspar Cannon ask that you bear witness to their vows.”
When she passed the athame to Nathaniel, I didn’t waste any time admiring the craftsmanship of the fine dagger. My attention was solely directed on the man before me.
Turning the point to the inner flesh of my free wrist, he hesitated. “You ready?”
“More than ready, baby.”
He lifted my wrist, kissing the pleasure point before driving the tip into my flesh. He watched my face the entire time he said his pledge to me. “I, Nathaniel Rice, bind myself to Caspar Cannon. I commit to him my heart, my honor, and my strength, for I will cherish him always.
“I will watch over him, stand beside him, and guard the love he has given me.”
Mesmerized by his voice and his vows, I couldn’t stop caressing his wrist.
His timbre deepened as he held the knife aloft between us. “May this athame be used against me if my love does not hold true.” Glowing blue eyes tore in to mine. “All this I swear to you, Caspar. So may it be.”
The athame went from Nathaniel to Eden and over to me.
This was the first time I handled a weapon to profess my love instead of do harm. Small rivers of my blood stained my shirt as I continued the blood rite. Cutting a line across Nathaniel’s vein, I focused on him. “I, Caspar Cannon, give myself to Nathaniel Rice.” I tugged him closer, sealing my lips over the red trail.
His moan was rich and low.
“Through war and combat, in times of peace, I will be beside you. My love, my heart, my soul is yours, Nathaniel."
“Caspar…”
“Not done yet,” I said. Breaths slid between us. Parted lips a centitmeter away. “There is no place I’d rather be than at your side. You have brought me solace. You have shown me honor. You are so deep inside of me, Nathaniel.”
His fingers caressed mine, his eyes a brighter blue, shining with unshed tears.
“With everything I am, I commit myself to you. All this I swear in the name of liberty, life, and our love. So may it be.”
We closed the last bit of space between us, pressing the shallow cuts on our left wrists together. The red ribbon was mirrored in the crimson drops, and we were linked by both hands in an infinite chain.
There was nothing more beautiful than that.
Except for Blondie’s pink cheeks and gorgeous forget-me-not eyes.
Hills’s deep bass married Eden’s soft lilt as they spoke together. “From this meadow to the forest, from your hearts to your souls, you will be blessed. Hold on to each other. Be true. Be brave. Know that life and love are a journey you will undertake as one.”
As one. I inhaled against Nathaniel's cheek.
Hills and Eden encircled us. “Nathaniel Rice, Caspar Cannon, you are one before this commune, unto each other, for all time.”
“So may it be.” The chorus surrounded us.
Our rings were placed into our palms, and I curled my fingers against Nathaniel’s, enclosing my token.
We’d both been down to the forge, giving our orders to Smitty. He’d inspected my castoffs, ruminating, the corner of his sandy mustache dipping into his mouth. I’d offered silver from a necklace Farrow had given me as well as a rose-gold pin that had belonged to Liz’s mother.
“Think I can do somethin’ with these.” He’d pushed his smeared glasses up on his nose. “That Nathaniel of yours already been down here, just as keen as y’are, I’d say.”
Nathaniel’s lips moved against my ear. “Love you, husband.”
My hand shook in his firm grip as he eased a new ring on my finger. The wide band was dark as the insides of an old oak, capped in silver, and scrolled with tiny tree limbs. It sat perfectly on my finger, the metal warming as quickly as my heart.
I didn’t think I had enough breath to even speak the words welling up inside when I gave him my ring. Smitty had done a fine job, smelting down the metal and twisting it into lean lines of silver barred by a few rose-gold nuggets, the same color as Nathaniel’s lips.
“There’s no token on this planet that could ever signify how much I feel for you. I love you so much, baby.”
His throat bobbed as the wedding band slid home. His fingers clasped mine as he pulled me into a searing kiss. His tongue coiled against mine, a slow licking motion making me roll my hips into his.
He lifted his head. “Ceremony. People.”
“Fuck ’em.” I bent to him again.
“Only one I wanna fuck is you, so we gotta get through the rest of this thing.”
I covered my groan, turning with him to face the Freelanders who were already ringed around us, six deep. We worked sunwise, accepting hugs from people with broad smiles and teary eyes.
The same path I’d come down earlier was now strewn with waxy white petals and lit by votives eclipsing the early evening. I wasn’t walking alone. Blondie’s hand was in mine when all around flares of red bloomed against the sky. The snapping release of hundreds of ribbons joined chants of Live in freedom! Love at will!
“Holy shit. That’s beautiful.” I stood stunned by the sight.
Some of the ribbons were more pink than red. Some were old things with frayed edges. Satin, cotton, the simplest strings waved from the hands of every person in the village.
“Yeah, it is.”
Captured by the crowd, our path through the snowy fields was a celebratory stroll under the dusky sky awash in a wild rash of red. Reaching the mess hall, we were rushed inside to a view of the rafters rigged with more white flowers and bright banners.
Casks of homebrew were opened. Cider went the rounds again and again. Music swilled up to the ceiling. Fiddles and banjos, guitars and harmonicas, and voices signing songs I didn’t know.
I propped up the corner of the makeshift bar, talking with Micah, but really I was watching Blondie work the crowd. He fucking glowed, and his eyes, whenever they sought me—which was approximately every twenty seconds—suffused me with their passion, starting a tight tingling that ran from my toes to my stomach.
“You gonna ask him to dance?”
“Nah. I don’t want to interrupt him.”
Micah drained his tankard and leaned away for a refill. “Seems to me that’s exactly what you’re s’posed to do.”
“Really?” I peered around again but couldn’t locate him. I turned back to Micah just as a pair of rough hands guided me into a well-built body.
While my eyes slid closed and my mouth parted with a low groan, I heard Micah strolling away. “That’s what I’m talkin’ about.”
“Mmm.” Blondie purred in my ear. “What were y’all talkin’ about, now?”
“Dancing.”
“Gonna dance with him?” He shifted right up to me, his cock a long line against my ass.
“No. I’m gonna dance with you.” His fingers twined with mine, I led him to the center of the room as a slow song started and the floor emptied for us.
His cheeks were pink, his eyes merry, and his lips lush. I brought our hands together between our chests, and our rings clinked softly. Reaching behind him, I caressed his shoulders, sighing when his arms wrapped around my waist.
The silky stubble on his jaw moved over my cheek. “I wanna feel like this forever, honey.”
As we moved in a series of loose circles, I gripped him tighter, our bodies perfectly aligned. “Like what?”
“So in love with you. The way you feel in my arms makes me wanna kiss you all night long just because I can.” Leaning back, he stared at my mouth. “When you look at me, Caspar, those brown eyes so full of love and passion for me, that hot damn mouth.” He enclosed me in both his arms to whisper in a voice that was near breaking, “Can’t believe you’re mine.”
Pushing my voice over the lump in my throat, I cradled his face against my neck. “Double that, baby. Double th
at.”
Then we danced, just like that. Eventually others returned to the floor, filling in around us. The songs changed, but the music, the other people, everything else was background noise shut out from our close embrace.
“Can I cut in?” I opened my eyes at the sound of Liz’s smoky voice.
A kiss dragged down my throat. Blondie touched his tongue to my leaping pulse and pulled away. “’Course you can, Lizbeth.”
I watched him saunter off, grabbing small Dauphine under her arms to spin her about the floor, his deep laugh joining her squeals.
Liz’s fingers snapped in front of my face. Cutting my eyes to her, I narrowed them at the sight of her smug grin. “What?”
“You done good, Commander.”
“Yeah, I did.” I went back to watch detail, admiring Blondie’s sweet ass. Then I remembered. “Wait. You let him call you Lizbeth?’
She shrugged. First Lieutenant Grant never let anyone call her that, not even me. “Mmm-hmm, and Farrow too.” She waggled her eyebrows. “We gonna do this dancing thing?”
“I suppose.”
“You afraid I won’t rate as well as Nate?”
“No.” I caught hold of her whipcord hips and moved with her. “I’m afraid you’re gonna step on my feet.”
“Ass.”
We didn’t share a lover’s embrace, but we didn’t fumble too much either. We kept looking at each other, our expressions probably the same. A little quizzical, a little surprised by all the new shit we were both experiencing. She’d been my right hand for so long, but now I had a lover, a husband. A new compatriot in all things.
We’d had word from abroad. Casualties, victories, intrigues. The very first steps being taken toward democracy and rule by the people in Alpha. The Company had been booted from Kappa on the continent of Europa and the Free-folk and Revolutionaries in FarAsian Nu Territory were kicking some serious ass.
Blondie had started it. He wasn’t just a desk driver; he was the catalyst. The son of CEO Cutler, the head of technological acquisitions, he’d hot-wired the purifiers all over the world to release a bogus contaminant into the water supplies at the same time, throwing the CO into immediate InterNations chaos.
