Page 76 of Primal
Our guests cheered as we sailed past, the event growing more boisterous by the moment.
“All right, put me down,” Riley said when we’d exited the sanctuary.
“Nope. I’m never putting you down again,” I swore, grinning. I never expected to be this pleased with a human rite.
She laughed. “Cody, we have to stand here and greet everyone as they come out.”
“Oh.” I stopped and pivoted, still reluctant to detach her from my arms.
“Right here.” She kicked her silver-sandaled feet.
My wolf wanted to growl, but he knew this was only bonding us together even further.
“Okay, fine. But don’t run.” I tipped her down to gently set her on her feet and put my lips close to her ear. “You know my wolf is dying to rip that gown to shreds to get at you.”
She laughed. “I knew we shouldn’t have picked a wedding date on a full moon.”
We’d given it a full year for the humans of Cooper Valley to get used to our May-December relationship. I’d bought the engagement ring the day after I’d marked her, but she didn’t put it on her finger until the new year–for appearances sake. I didn’t care. She was marked as mine.
That was all that mattered to me.
Over the last year, I’d spent half the nights at herplace, and she’d spent half of them at mine. There’d been some tittering of us being scandalous gossip at first, with people harping on about how she was the same age as Tyler, but it died down quick enough when they saw us together. Everyone could see that we were perfect for each other.
It also helped that her dad shut shit down left and right. I doubted he waved his gun around to get people to zip their lips, but I wouldn’t have put it past him. After the night the intruder held Riley hostage and all that happened, he was more on board for us being together than anyone else. Even Riley’s Nana.
Well, maybe they were tied.
I also had no doubt that she was the one who swayed the town the most. She was formidable, and her word was just as much law in this town as the sheriff’s department.
Riley had one more year of school to go for her degree and teaching certificate. While she didn’t have to work–the perk of marrying and mating someone older who’d had time to invest and save–it was her dream job.
I would deny her nothing. But she did quit the preschool to help at the bar, putting our sleep schedules more in sync. That was a definite perk.
The members of the wedding party–Tyler, Kyle, and Boyd for me, and Lila, Alice, and Wendy for Riley took their places in the receiving line behind us. Our guests emerged–Riley’s nana first, whose face was streaked with happy tears, followed by Anne, Tyler’s mom, and her mate, Kevin. Anne gave me a kiss on the cheek. “I’m so happy for you. I always hated that I’d found a mate and you hadn’t.”
“You know I never begrudged you for a second,” I told her, as I’d told her a hundred times before. Fated mates trumped everything in our culture.
Her eyes watered, too. “I know. I’m just really happy for you.” She took both of Riley’s hands in hers. “Riley, you’ve got a good one. A dedicated father. An honorable man. Take care of him.”
Riley’s eyes misted, too. “I will.”
“Don’t make my bride cry,” I admonished, pumping Kevin’s hand and shooing them off.
I wrapped my arm around Riley’s waist and held her body right up next to mine as we kissed and shook hands with every human and shifter who’d come to witness our rite.
Then we exited the church where they all had lined up to blow bubbles at us as we ran out to the limo I rented to take us to the reception.
In the back of the limo, I took Riley’s be-ribboned bouquet of calla lilies from her hand, set them on the seat, then pulled my gorgeous wife up onto my lap.
“Hey, Mrs. McIntire.” I nuzzled the bare skin of her slender shoulder.
“Abbott-McIntire.”
“You’re my wife.”
She smiled down at me, taking my face in her hands. “You’re my husband.” She stroked my beard with her thumb.
I tightened my grip on her ass, my wolf-side growing aggressive. “Three hours, sugar. We’ll dance and eat cake and celebrate. And then you’re going to be running naked under the moonlight.”