Page 63 of Viktor at Sea

“I wouldn’t dream of running away from you,” I exhaled with a goofy grin, unable to take my eyes off her. “You look beautiful, my siren. By far the most beautiful woman in all of Jorvik.”

“You’re only saying that because you have to marry me now that we’ve made it this far,” she laughed softly and gave my hand a gentle squeeze.

“I am so lucky to marry you, Astrid,” I murmured, bowing my head over our clasped hands to press a soft kiss to the back of hers. “Thank you for understanding. I–”

“You don’t need to worry about anything,” she leaned over to murmur, for our ears only. “We can talk about everything later. Let’s just focus on enjoying the day, okay? It’s our wedding, and I don’t want anyone to ruin that for us.”

“Thank you.” I pressed one last kiss to the back of her hand before lifting my head, yet I refused to let go of her. I gave them a gentle, loving squeeze before we turned to the man officiating the wedding.

“I would like to start by thanking you all for being here with us on this very special day,” the officiator began.

With my eyes set on my beautiful bride, I hardly paid attention to the officiator. I was so lucky and eternally grateful that Astrid still agreed to marry me after everything that happened this morning. The only part she appeared to be mad about was Chara lying about the father of her child, claiming it to be me.

I don’t know what I would have done or what would have become of me if Astrid had declared that from this day onward, she wanted nothing to do with me.

Heartbroken wouldn’t even begin to cover it.

When Astrid squeezed my hand, a humoured smile on her face, I knew it was time to snap back to reality.

“Your vows, Viktor?” The officiator prompted me for a second time.

“Astrid Victoria Skau,” I began with a long breath. “You are the most extraordinary woman I have ever known. You make me go from being the happiest man in all of Jorvik to the most infuriated one in a matter of seconds. Just one look from you, my siren, is enough to flip my entire mood. Mostly for good,” I chuckled when she scrunched her nose and sent me a mock, disapproving glare. “It’s never a quiet moment with you, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. You hold me accountable for everything I do wrong and trust me, there are many things I do wrong. You congratulate and celebrate with me when things work out. Most importantly, you make me feel invincible. Regardless of what happens, good or bad, I know I will always have you, and we will always be okay. You have made me thehappiest man alive by agreeing to marry me, even if it took you a while.” She playfully slapped my chest, and I laughed. “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life proving that you made the right decision.” I dropped my voice to whisper the last part of my vows. “I love you, Astrid. I love you more with each passing day, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you. I know you’re not quite there yet, but I vow to give you a life full of love and happiness, and I hope one day soon, you’ll return my feelings.”

Astrid gawked at me for a moment, taken aback by my heartfelt speech before a small, beautiful smile took over her face.

“I don’t know how I’m supposed to beat that, but I’ll give it a shot,” Astrid sniffled and raised one of our entwined hands to catch a few tears before they dropped. “I know things haven’t gone down the most traditional route for us, but honestly, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I didn’t even know I had all these feelings for you until you got down on one knee for me. Seeing you like that and hearing you express your feelings for me unleashed all these suppressed feelings inside of me. I went from thinking of you as the most infuriating man on the island in one moment to my possible life partner in the next, and then I couldn’t imagine spending the rest of my life with anyone else. I felt silly for not admitting my own feelings to myself earlier.” She wiped away some more unshed tears. The way her lips turned up at the corners as she glanced up at me, the happiness dancing behind her eyes, I knew she was happy. Truly happy. “We have a lot of lost time to make up for, and I can’t wait to start this new life with you.”

“Now, after those beautiful vows, with the power invested in me, I pronounce you husband and wife,” the officiator announced. “Viktor, you may now kiss your bride.”

Unable to hold myself back any longer, I immediately wound my arms around her waist and pulled her flush against my chest. I wasted no time in leaning down and pressing my lips against hers in a hard, bruising, passionate kiss–claiming her as mine in front of the entire island. The way she wound her arms around my waist and kissed me back just as hard, just as passionately, well, she did a pretty job of claiming me as her own in front of the entire island as well.

If her family wasn’t watching right now, I would have slipped my tongue into her mouth and kissed my bride the way I really wanted to but, for now, kept it innocent.

We would have plenty of time for all of that later.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Jorvik, I present to you, Mr and Mrs Viktor Thostenson!” The officiator announced loudly, and the island cheered as we walked back down the aisle, hand in hand as husband and wife.

We stood at the end of the aisle in each other’s arms for some while, thanking everyone who came up to congratulate us. Anyone who wasn’t queueing to do so had started dancing already, and as soon as we were done, our wedding feast was served.

Just as Gustav promised, there were both fish and chicken dishes available. Of course, I went for the fish and Astrid for the chicken, though I swiped a chicken for seconds when no one was looking. And even if someone had noticed, what were they going to do? It was my wedding day, after all.

“May I have this dance,wife?” I asked Astrid, holding out my hand.

“I thought you’d never ask,husband,” Astrid grinned and dropped her napkin on the table before accepting my hand.

“How can I not ask when you’ve had me practising my dancing skills all week?” I chuckled and led her onto the dancefloor. Or rather, the part of the beach where everyone else was dancing.

Everyone parted in the middle to give us space for our first dance as a married couple.

“Can you blame me?” She snorted and laughed. “You were dancing like a jellyfish that first day. I didn’t want everyone’s memory of our wedding to be your terrible dancing.”

“You know, these fish jokes are going to have to end one day,” I cocked a teasing brow at her, secretly hoping that they’d never stop.

“Never, pirate!” Astrid promised me and broke out into a giggle when I twirled her away from me.

“Good. I wouldn’t want it any other way,” I murmured, and I twirled her back into me, but this time, to stop her from moving away, I wound an arm around her waist and held her tight against my chest. Despite the slightly more upbeat sound of the drums, we swayed softly in each other’s arms. When she leaned in to rest her head against my chest, I pressed my lips to her hair and inhaled the fresh cotton scent of her I loved so much. She smelt fresh, clean, and welcoming. Like coming home.

We danced well into the night, only stopping for another meal which was leftovers from the wedding feast along with a few extra scraps Gustav had managed to whip up last minute.

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