***
“Well, Brother, how does it feel to be a wedded man?” Drake asked, coming up to slap Theo on the shoulder. His charcoal and crimson streaked hair which had given him his name fell around his face in untamable spikes.
Theo glanced up from where he had been looking at his wine glass to be sure he wouldn’t spill any and glanced around the ballroom, looking for the radiance of his new wife.
“It will feel much better once the day is over, I’m sure,” Blake chuckled, sidling up on the other side of his twin brother. The only difference between them was the color streaking their charcoal hair. While Drake’s was streaked with crimson, Blake’s was streaked with silver.
Both brothers wiggled their eyebrows at Theo and he groaned. As if he wasn’t struggling with desire enough, he now had to contend with his brothers reminding him.
I’ll have her soon, he promised himself.
“Do you boys really believe he’s waited this long to have her?” the overly amused voice of Ember sounded behind them but before Theo could move from between Drake and Blake, he and Asher appeared in front of him. Asher offered him another wine glass but Theo quickly shook his head. He had been nursing the same glass for over an hour now. The last thing he wanted was to spoil his first evening with his wife by having too much to drink.
“Come on, big brother, tell us,” Ember insisted. “How good is she?”
Theo offered his brother a sharp warning glance but his insides were twisting with frustration at the thought of how long he’d had to wait to have her.
“If you will excuse me, brothers.” Theo ruffled the gray-blue hair of their youngest brother, Asher, as he stepped out of the circle they had formed around him. “I intend to go and find out.”
“Treat her well, Brother,” Drake called after him. “We don’t want you giving us all a bad name!”
Theo couldn’t help but roll his eyes, a small chuckle escaping his lips.
When he arrived at Fleur’s side, she looked surprised to see him smiling down at her. Offering her excuses quickly to the guests she had been talking to, she turned and commented, “You seem very happy this evening.”
“How could I not be?” He gripped her by the waist and pulled her into him. “Today is my wedding day.”
Fleur shivered in his grip and nodded. “How could I forget?”
Then she smiled and pushed herself up onto her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
I need more, he thought, almost unable to control himself.
Leaning down, he nuzzled his face into her neck and whispered, “I can’t wait any longer.”
“Would it be rude of me to make you?” Fleur asked, playfully, laying her palm on his chest. Theo could feel many of the guests around them turning to watch them together but in that moment he didn’t care.
“I am sorry, my friends, but I am afraid you must excuse us!” he yelled so that everybody in the ballroom could hear. Then he leaned down, wrapped an arm around Fleur’s waist and threw her up over his shoulder.
She squealed, gripping hold of the back of his shirt and tucking herself between his wings.
“Theo, what are you doing?” Fleur demanded even as he began to walk toward the archway windows. Struggling to contend with the train of her dress, he began to flutter his wings before reaching the archway.
“Theo! Don’t you dare!” Fleur snapped at him but already he was throwing himself from the window.
The voices of his brothers were the first to be raised in a cheer as he swept his bride from the ballroom and began to fly up toward the North Tower where her quarters awaited them.
The night appeared more beautiful than usual, the palace lit with a thousand lights below them. It appeared that even the fireflies had turned out for the wedding and the air all around them was filled with beautiful twinkling lights.
Fleur stopped protesting and gasped as if she had finally noticed the scenery around them. Theo found he was smiling brighter than ever before.
Chapter 20 - Fleur
The moment that her feet touched the floor of her balcony, Fleur forgot about the rude exit they had made from the ballroom. Her breath caught in her throat. The only thing holding her up was Theo’s arms and when she looked up at him she realized she had never seen him so handsome. His dark purple hair had been swept away from his face but several strands fell forward, shadowing his eyes until he looked dangerously filled with desire. Behind his head, fireflies floated, illuminating his head and for a moment Fleur thought of how he looked like a fallen angel.
“Are you still angry with me?” he whispered, clutching hold of her hips to tug her closer to him. Fleur clutched the front of his shirt and pulled herself up onto her tiptoes to kiss him.
“How could I be?” she whispered against his lips. His body seemed to envelope her, his wings gliding around them as if to cocoon them from the rest of the world. Fleur drowned in the warm, musky scent of him, enjoying his passionate kisses and the way he appeared to be trying to consume her.