Page 134 of Killer Kiss

I just wanted my brother by my side.

I walked slowly, moving robotically down the aisle, my mother’s nails digging into my arm so hard it was like she thought she was single-handedly stopping me from running away.

My father said nothing, as usual. As completely checked out of reality as he always was. I wished I could do the same.

When we reached the officiant, she smiled at my parents. “Who here gives this woman to this man?”

I ground my teeth at the old-fashioned line. Like I was a piece of property that could be transferred from one man to another.

“We do,” my mother answered loudly and clearly. “Wholeheartedly with our full blessing.”

God, I couldn’t stand her.

I was grateful when she released her grip on my arm and her and dad stepped back to fill two of the empty seats on my side of the congregation.

A chilly wind blew across the lawn, raising goosebumps on my arms.

Or maybe that was just the dread sitting like lead in the bottom of my stomach because Riddick took my hand.

I wanted to shrink away.

I should probably get used to it, since that’s what would happen now. I’d become smaller and smaller, married to a man like him. Until I was just like my father, barely a shell, not saying a word because of how Riddick dominated me.

I missed Augie. Missed the way his touch felt. Missed the way his voice rumbled in my ear.

If I closed my eyes, I could be back in his little house, naked in his sheets, his strong arms keeping out the world.

“Ophelia,” Riddick snapped.

I shook my head and opened my eyes. “Sorry, what?” I looked between him and the officiant, trying to catch up on what I’d missed.

“It’s time for you to say your vows, sweetheart,” the lady said kindly.

Sweetheart.

Augie called me that.

My heart squeezed.

So did Riddick’s fingers around mine. So hard I let out a tiny yelp of pain that had the officiant staring at me with concern and Riddick’s expression morphing into something that appeared satisfied.

Like my pain pleased him.

Jez caught my eye from the front row, in the seat next to her parents.

She gave the tiniest shake of her head, a desperate plea in her eyes for me to not do this.

I turned away, back to the officiant. “I’m ready.”

She nodded, clearly not one-hundred-percent sure what was going on here and uncomfortable because of it, but I tried to smile reassuringly at her. The last thing I needed was her refusing to marry us because she thought I wasn’t here under my own free will.

She raised her voice so it would carry across the garden. “Before we begin the vows, I’m obliged to ask. Does anyone in attendance disagree with the marriage of Ophelia and Riddick? If you know of any reason these two souls should not be joined in sacred matrimony today, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

I darted another glance at Jez.

Who looked very much like she wanted to stand up and object. Despite her mother’s grasp on her arm, I suspected one tiny nod from me might have given her the courage to do it.

I wouldn’t.

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