Page 18 of Koroleva

R addressed the guests in a joking tone while I massaged my hand.

"You see; sparks fly between us!"

The guests laughed. I squinted and recognized beside his right foot the object that had just fallen. It was one of those damn shock jokes used when you're a kid. I had no idea what he had done, but as soon as he was distracted, I planned to fry his eggs. Let's see if he found it so funny when I gave him a shock to the gonads.

Without a word, he grabbed my sore hand and kissed the palm, making me hold my breath. This time all I felt was heat, a lot of heat, added to the visceral hatred that each of his acts woke in me.

He looked at me intensely and pronounced his vows.

"I, Romeo Capuleto Vitale, take you..."

"Julieta," I interrupted him. Murmurs arose. I was fed up with his little jokes and planned to make that clear. "Come on, don't mess with me! Say your real name, not the one you use for your bar flings. What is it? Ramiro, Roberto, Rafaello. Rabo?" I whispered the last one so only he and the priest could hear me.

A slight cough came from the man of God, who must have been as fed up as I was. However, what I saw when I looked at the clergyman made me purse my lips.

My mother was very romantic, Romeo and Juliet was her favorite literary work. She said if she ever had a son, she would name him Romeo.

"Capuleto?" I asked boldly, still in disbelief. If that was his real name, talk about bad taste.

I didn't care what the guests were thinking or that his mother was a Shakespeare fanatic.

"She thought it was a nice gesture, to unite them in me."

"If the Montagues were to rise, I don't think they would find it so amusing," I grumbled.

"Can we continue?" The priest was getting impatient.

"Sure, now that I know the name of the man I'm marrying, we can proceed," I nodded. Before Romeo could resume the vows, I murmured softly, "Let's hope your name doesn't carry a prophecy and you die of poisoning; that would be a real tragedy." He gave me a forced smile, took my face with his free hand, and brought his mouth close to my ear.

"The only one in danger here is you. Be careful, Nikita, the only poison here is the one that drips from your viper tongue, and if you bite yourself, I might become a widower before you realize it," he whispered silkily, adding a light nibble on my earlobe that the guests cheered. He pulled away, looked at them, and added loudly, "She's so wonderful I can barely keep my hands off my future wife thinking about our wedding night."

A shiver ran up my spine and I clenched my teeth so hard I almost burst my jaw.

Romeo cleared his throat, encouraged by the cheer of those present, and repeated.

"I, Romeo Capuleto Vitale, take you, Nikita Koroleva, to be my wife, and I give myself to you. I promise to be faithful to you in prosperity and in adversity, in health and in sickness, and to love and respect you all the days of my life." He slipped the white gold wedding band onto the ring finger of my left hand.

My turn.

"I, Nikita Koroleva, take you, Romeo Capuleto Vitale, to be my husband, and I give myself to you. I promise to be faithful to you in prosperity and in adversity, in health and in sickness, and to love and respect you all the days of my life." I took the ring offered by the priest and slid it onto his trembling finger.

The priest sighed in relief.

"May the Lord confirm this consent you have declared before the Church and grant you His abundant blessing. What God has joined together, let no man separate. I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

My now husband's eyes turned darker and more challenging than before.

He grabbed me by the waist and gave me a devastating kiss that did not shy away from thrusting his tongue, letting the guests witness the carnality of the gesture.

I felt like biting him, but I held back.

He pulled away with the pressure of my lips on his.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Capuleto, you got what you wanted."

9

Vaseline in large quantity

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