Whatever was mine, I was to share freely.
To give my husband every part of me.
To cherish him.
Adore him.
Respect and please him.
To never hurt him in any capacity.
Protect him.
And it dawned on me at some point how one-sided this deal truly was—because my husband owed me nothing in return other than protection and the throne at his side.
Our hands were bound together in a cloth of darkness forged from the crops decorat
ing the banks of the River Styx. They had handed it down through Necros’s family for generations. Special words were spoken, and before I had a chance to understand it all, I was pronounced as married.
We didn’t even kiss.
Ice caressed my body, scattering goose bumps down my arms.
I knew what came next. Had dreaded it for months. But the wicked tilt of my husband’s lips told me this was the part he’d been looking forward to most. For today, at least.
Consummation.
It was the only way to properly ensure the validity of our nuptials.
The merrymaking would happen later—for my husband, anyway. I’d be expected to wait for him to return to me.
Necros took my arm and led me back down the aisle. I glimpsed my mother and father sitting together but paid them little mind. I was the Queen of Caluçon now, my ties to them officially broken.
“Are you ready for me, my wife?” Necros growled into my ear. “I know I’ve been ready for this for several years now.”
I gulped. I shouldn’t show him my fear, but I couldn’t help it. I was terrified.
The reason his family had raised me was to ensure my virginity on our wedding night. Necros would be the only man to touch me intimately. To fill me with his seed and ripen a child in my belly.
“I’m scared,” I admitted, the words hoarse to my ears.
“As you should be.” Necros laughed out loud and dragged me quickly down the corridor, away from Lucifer’s oddly safe presence.
Soon, my child, his voice whispered over my mind.
I glanced back to see his serene expression, wondering if I’d truly heard him at all.
And then the hallway wall cut off my view of the ceremonial room.
A crowd followed with cheers and shouts of celebration, all of them males I recognized from society. Necros’s closest friends.
“Fuck her good, Our King,” one called, causing me to flinch.
“Show her what a queen needs to do to please her husband,” another shouted, causing my cheeks to overheat.
Necros pulled me into his bedroom without preamble and pushed me flat over his bed, pressing my head and jeweled corset into the luxury mattress. Steps followed, indicating the crowd gathering in the room behind us. Tradition required everyone to witness this moment.
All one hundred plus attendees.