49. Elianna

Chapter forty-nine

Elianna

The hours following the ceremony were filled with booming laughter, the clinking of wine goblets, dancing, and kisses snuck beneath the shadows that Veli kindly cast upon us when she sensed privacy was needed.

After a while, we realized we weren’t the only ones sneaking kisses when we thought everyone's eyes lurked elsewhere. Gage and Avery slowly danced beneath the lit torches in the estate's backyard, while Finn and Landon were often found roaming about the outskirts of the gathering, hand-in-hand. As for Veli and Zaela, on the off chance the witch’s shadows weren’t looming over us, it was safe to assume they were covering their maker and another sneaky blonde.

As the night died down, and everyone who had come to attend the celebration for us said their goodbyes, I watched as most of our family drunkenly wandered up to the estate to end the most perfect day.

Lynelle had left with Leon, considering they had been inseparable the entire evening.

Avery twirled gracefully toward me, her dress flowing around her, as Gage and Jace moved through the yard, extinguishing each torch while leaving behind a trail of fading light.

She threw her arms around my shoulders, and we both spun, our giggles echoing through the air as our gowns tangled at our feet.

“How does it feel to be a married female?” she asked through her laughter.

“Very surreal,” I answered. “I never really considered myself to be the marrying type—Jace, either, for that matter.”

Her smile beamed even more. “And the mind connection?”

I blew out a breath as my own laughter faded. “We’ve been too distracted to do much with it tonight, but I’m sure that will all come in time.”

“ Imagine all the things I can say to you…all the plans I have for what I want to do to you, all while they remain oblivious. ”

My eyes widened as Jace’s voice filtered through my mind with his promises of sweet taunting. My gaze shot to him from across the yard, and his wicked chuckle echoed through our bond as we made eye contact.

My eyes drifted back to my sister to find her staring at me with a knowing glare.

“Too distracted,” she mocked while her eyebrows fluttered rapidly.

“It’s the truth,” I hissed, but my lips betrayed me with a slight curve of amusement. “Well, it was only a moment ago.” A laugh left me as I shook my head .

The yard fell into complete darkness aside from the moonlight, and the boys made their way to us as we stood in its center.

“Are you ready for bed, husband? ” I asked as I stretched my hand out to Jace.

“Yes, however, we won’t be staying in the main house this evening.”

My brows furrowed in confusion. “Where did you wish to stay?”

Gage cleared his throat before Jace could answer and put his arm around Avery’s shoulder, pulling her close to his body. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

He inclined his head to us as he turned her on her heels and guided her up the small hill that led to the estate’s back entrance.

“Wait, but where are they sleeping?” she asked curiously as she tried to look back at us, but he hushed her in response and kissed her forehead, silencing her.

I slowly pivoted to face my mate once more. “Where are we sleeping?” I asked with a laugh as I crossed my arms.

He spun me slowly, pulling my back against his chest as he wrapped his arms around me and placed his chin atop my head—facing his mother’s cottage that was set back in the corner of the estate’s land.

My eyes flared. We hadn’t even spoken of his mother’s home that Lynelle had offered to us. The pain in his eyes when we first arrived had been too great for me to ever force that on him, and we had been staying in the main house with the others ever since.

“We don’t need to stay there. If it’s privacy you want—”

“ You are what I want, and I should have shown this to you on our first night here and every night since. It’s a part of me, and forever will be, just as you are,” he interjected.

His words continued in my mind as a whisper. “ I felt your father’s presence with us today. I don’t know how I felt that it was him, but I just knew. The look on your face and what I sensed from you. It was very special .” His arms tightened around me.

Despite my initial fear of the mind-joining, I found it surprisingly easy and comforting to hear his voice as it echoed through the bond instead of just basing everything off of emotions felt.

I focused intently on answering him in the same manner—how he had already made it seem effortless was a mystery to me, but I could feel him there, constantly lingering in the background of my soul. It felt like another tether that my mind could travel over whenever I needed him.

I dove toward the bond, reaching for it, and spoke the words, willing them to float straight to him. “ Your mother was there with us, too. She watches over you and us, just as my father .”

“Perhaps you’re right, my sweet Lia.” His voice was soft, gentle—one he only ever used with me.

Without warning, he swept down, scooping me up by cradling the middle of my back while his other arm lifted beneath my thighs. A roar of laughter escaped both of us as he pressed a quick kiss to my forehead and carried me all the way to the cottage's door.

Once at the entrance, my arm reached out and pushed the door open. The sound of its creaking echoed through the cool night air.

“Lynelle had it tidied up earlier this morning while everyone prepared for the wedding.”

I tilted my neck to face him as he held me in the doorway. “You planned this the entire time?”

A smirk formed. “I may have.”

He angled his body to walk through the doorway while I remained in his arms. Once inside, he kicked the door closed behind him. The only light provided was filtered in by the moon peeking through the windows.

My neck slowly pivoted as I peered around the room, my gaze lingering on the shadows from the furniture that was spread about the home he grew up in.

He gently placed me on my feet, and I picked up the front of my wedding gown and strolled about, my fingertips grazing over the décor as I passed by. The cottage was quaint and sweet, instantly portraying itself as a home made from love.

Jace watched me as I roamed curiously, his eyes moving with me, but down the bond, beneath his feeling of admiration, a sense of heartache lingered.

My steps halted as I came across a portrait that hung on the wall. My fingers lifted and brushed over the painting of a mother with her young son. Hazel eyes that matched my mate’s stared back at me in two beautiful stares. Her arms were wrapped around him as if holding her little boy in place while the portrait was painted .

Footsteps sounded behind me and I felt his warm presence at my back.

“This is her?” I breathed.

“That’s her.”

I turned to face him. “She’s beautiful.”

He gave me a soft smile. “Indeed, she was, and she would have adored you. Mainly for managing to put me in my place from time to time.”

I lifted a brow. “Oh, from time to time?”

“That’s what I said.” He grinned. “Let’s not forget all the times the other half of us must be put in place herself,” he whispered wickedly in my ear.

“How rude of you to remind me of such things on our wedding night,” I teased.

Jace let out a breathy laugh, the one that made my knees weak. “There she is.”

“How does it feel to be a Valderre?” I whispered. “Did you ever think this would be possible?”

“That I would marry my sworn enemy and take her last name to sit at her side upon her throne? Oh, of course,” he teased.

“We will need a crest,” I said as I leaned into him. “Tradition holds that it contains an element from our predecessor. My father’s crest contained the antlers of a black stag in remembrance of his father. He grew to love the creatures just as much.”

Jace met my stare and smiled. “We will create a crest that symbolizes both you and your ties to your father. I’ll see that it will be branded on your army’s armor and posted on our flags the day you reclaim your crown,” he promised .

My heart galloped in my chest. How was it possible to love someone as much as I loved him?

After wandering about the rest of the living room, he gently gripped my hand and tugged me into him. I wrapped my arms around his neck as his hands rested on my hips and he placed a kiss on my nose.

“ Now, to show you our room for the evening .”

He led me to a room at the far end of the hall, and when the door was pushed open, a large bedroom materialized in the dim light. It was simple, with just a few bureaus and a large bed in its center.

Jace closed the door behind us—the click of its lock echoed off the walls. When I turned to him with a lifted brow, he said, “We know how much Gage loves to barge in once the sun rises.”

“Very true,” I said with a laugh.

He stepped up to me, gently taking my chin between his fingers, and lifted my gaze to his. His lips pressed against mine, and they parted for him as if commanded, deepening our kiss instantly as we explored each other for the first time as husband and wife.

Guiding me toward the bed in the middle of the room, his fingers worked their way up my spine, unlacing the back of my gown with ease. Once the back of my knees hit the edge of the mattress, he steadied me before I fell.

“The sight of you in this dress is nothing short of breathtaking, and as I watched you walk down the aisle wearing it, my heart nearly stopped. The gown is beautiful. ”

His calloused fingers brushed against the skin of my shoulder while he carefully pulled the laced sleeves of my dress down my arms. The fabric fell at my feet, leaving me standing before him entirely bare—aside from the crown that rested atop my head.

“But you , my Lia, are exquisite,” he breathed, his voice tinged with desperation.

I lifted my arms to remove the diadem, but his hands reached out and halted them. “Leave it,” he demanded. “For when I take you for the first time as my wife, I want you to feel just as the queen you are.”

A shiver worked its way up my spine as he tenderly guided me down onto the bed.

Jace explored every inch of my body for hours, providing both a mixture of eager, loving kisses and greedy, insatiable ones, forever keeping me on my toes.

We made love as man and wife countless times into the night, surrendering ourselves to each other and realizing that no matter how deep our connection dove, it would never be enough.