1986
“Do you, Henry Alexander Wade, take Holly to be your lawfully wedded wife? To support her in sickness and in health? Do you promise to love and hold her in the dark, and to celebrate and cherish her in the light?”
Pastor Dooley heads the room in robes adorned with gold yarn and elaborate tassels, shined shoes, and with clear eyes and a gentle smile as he reads our vows with a voice made for large churches. His hair is pure white, thin on his scalp, and soft as a baby bird’s first feathers. He wears a heavy cross around his neck and holds a bible with pages that might literally be framed with gold.
We stand proud in front of a hundred and fifty-three of our closest friends and family. Holly is in a princess-cut gown that accentuates her perfect curves, and while we speak our promises, I stare into a pair of ocean blue eyes that peer back in adoration.
“Do you swear to protect her?” Dooley continues. “To choose honesty over fallacy?”
My groomsmen stretch out in a line behind me. My friends. My brothers.
“Loyalty over convenience?”
Balancing our formation, Holly’s bridesmaids fan out behind her. Her sister, standing as maid-of-honor. Her best friend since elementary school, second in line.
“Do you promise all this,” Pastor Dooley drones on, “do you make these vows in front of your loved ones? In front of God?”
I hold Holly’s hands in mine and grin when she nods. It’s me who should answer—Dooley askedme—but it’s she who agrees.
To save us both, I announce, “I do.”
I don’t speak too loudly. But I say my words so the priest can hear. So Holly can absorb, and allow her brimming tears to spill over.
So she knows I mean it, I repeat, “I swear it all, Holly. I do. For the rest of my life,” my voice crackles, “I promise to be the man you need.”
“Then by the power vested in me,” Dooley looks to my bride, pleased with his work, then back to me as his expression turns a little smug. “I declare you both husband and wife.” Extending a hand toward Holly, he says the words I’ve been waiting for. “You may kiss your bride.”
MINKA
CURRENT DAY
Icy wind slaps the windows outside Archer’s apartment. It rattles the glass panes and makes the thought of leaving this sanctuary seem like the world’s biggest scam. But in here, in this bed, I may as well be lying in a cabana, sipping something sweet, and sweating on an island deep in the southern hemisphere.
“Here.”
Music plays far away, soft and weaving, like a warm summer breeze drifting across my tropical scene. Archer lifts my naked leg, extends it tall, and exposes me to himself and his voyeur cat watching us from the corner of the room. He kisses my thigh and nips with his teeth. But he doesn’t make it sting. He simply ensures I melt.
“And here.” Dragging his stubbled chin down and around my leg, he kisses again. “And here too.” He adds another to my kneecap. “And—”
“Are you done yet?” I’m not typically a giggler, but the sound escapes my throat now as Archer slides my right leg across and slowly, torturously, turns me over. “Archer?”
“And here.” He bites the very top of my thigh so I can’t tell if it’s leg or butt. But he slides his tongue along the area and sends chills rocketing along my spine.
Carefully climbing over top of me, he sets his knees on the outside of mine, and hovers so his broad chest warms my back. Then he presses a kiss to my shoulder blade. Another to my neck. “And here too.”
“Archer!”
“Shhh…” He slides the very tip of his finger along my spine until I squirm. “I’m taking stock.”
“Of what?” I try to grumble, but I’m quite certain the sound is more like a moan. “I’m not something to be catalogued.”
“You’re my wife.” He says the word on a growl and bites just a little harder. “So I’m taking stock of what I bought.”
“What youbought? You asshole!” I twist on the bed and glare deep into his playful eyes. They’re dark and hungry, dangerous when they snap a man’s neck, but so very gentle when they look at me. “Say it again, Archer Malone, see what happens.”
“I was kidding.” Swooping in fast, both to hide his chuckle and escape retribution, he takes my lips with his and seduces my tongue the way he’s so skilled.
His hot breath scorches my throat, and moments after that, it settles in my chest, so it almost feels like two hearts beat in the same space.