If not for the glittery corona sparkling about her and the whole divinity thing, he would have sworn she was the spitting image of Avi. Likely it was the smacking-him-upside-the-head comment that drew the comparison.
The goddess looked upon Avi and nodded. “Now you know why I picked her for you. I wholly approve of any woman wise enough to put you in your place.”
“Amora—”
“Ah, so you do know how to speak my name without stringing a damn you in front of it.”
He was too miserable to take the slightest pleasure in her sparring. “Don’t take her from me. Please.”
“Why is it you ask this of me?”
“Because I need her. She’s my everything. My reason for living.”
“Do you love her?”
“Beyond reason.”
“Then say the words. To her. Your bonds started long before you sealed your union yesterday. You knew this in your heart, but your head resisted. Saying the words will set you free…and her. She’s always held the power to save you. But you also hold the key in saving her.” Amora crossed to him and placed a hand on his and Avi’s hearts. “It rests here.”
With those final words, Amora drifted into the ether.
Returning his focus to Avi, he stroked her cheek. The emotions welled to impossible limits inside him. Instead of being afraid of giving them voice, he kissed her lips and whispered the words he’d kept caged far too long. “I love you, Avi. I always have. Always will.”
A radiant glow surrounded her, billowing out to envelope him. It cocooned him in the most powerful, glorious essence of bliss he’d known. There was peace here. Joy and laughter. An aching sweetness that made him tremble and brought renewed dampness to his eyes.
He was touching her soul.
Nothing could compare to the rapture of it.
That assessment changed slightly when in the next instant her eyelashes fluttered and a single word escaped her lips. “Jer.”
There. That was the true rapture. He crushed her lips beneath his, the emotion bursting from his heart and scattering the darkness. Sliding his hands through her hair, he looked into the eyes he’d feared forever closed to the light.
A tear slipped down her cheek. “I heard you calling me. You said you loved me.”
“I do. With everything I am.” He repeated the devotion singing through his veins. “I love you, Avi.”
“I waited fifteen years to hear you say that.” She lifted a shaky hand and caressed his jaw. “So worth it.”
“I’m going to make it up to you by saying it every day, every minute, for the next fifteen years. And the next fifteen years after that. Into infinity.” His future beckoned, bright and shining with the dazzling promise of forever.
Madam Love’s—Amora’s—wise words blossomed in his mind. Nothing is out of the question when you want something badly enough.
At last he accepted the blessed truth of it. Even an undeserving, stubborn thief could hold love in his hands when the woman who’d healed his heart and soul stood beside him.
Epilogue
The streets of Tul’dea were bustling, as they should be during such a hallowed celebration. Love was in the air. But nowhere more vivid and radiant than at the corner chapel down the street from The Fairest Rose.
The bride wore a beautiful white creation featuring silk rosettes festooning the train. No one had the slightest inkling of the crotchless panties underneath.
Well, not entirely true. The groom was well aware. Hence his difficulty with keeping his mind off the upcoming wedding night.
Speaking of the groom, he’d donned an impeccably cut tuxedo that he swore was rented, not stolen. Even had the receipt to prove it. He, however, did not have on crotchless panties. But a certain chest harness that drove the bride-to-be crazy was tucked under his shirt. A wise fairy, that one. It’d taken him a while to see the error of his ways, but now that he’d snapped to his senses, he was proving himself worthy of his lady love.
Wiping the gathering moisture from her eyes, Amora gave a happy sigh. There was nothing more rewarding than seeing one of her couples fall in love. And these two…well, it was about damn time. She’d put a lot of energy into sealing their bond and their happy ever after. Seeing them honor her with this union put her in a positively generous mood. Maybe she’d send those wrist restraints as a wedding gift.
The officiant’s voice boomed with a joyous ring. “And with the power invested by the goddess Amora, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”
Their eyes shining with a deep, abiding love that made Amora’s heart sing, Avi and Jerrick exchanged a hot kiss that threatened to make the nearby ice sculptures melt. A rousing cheer went up.
Sitting on the balcony railing above the chapel, Amora fanned herself and blew a kiss to the newly wedded pair and the crowd below.
A fitting end to her birthday, indeed.