The Glittering Court (The Glittering Court, #1)(136)

In Adoria, weddings occurred in magistrate’s offices more often than they did in Osfrid, so choosing that over a church of Uros wasn’t unusual. Of course, with Cedric revealed as an Alanzan, no one was really surprised. We held our after-wedding party at Wisteria Hollow, inviting everyone we knew and a lot of people we didn’t. Jasper had grudgingly agreed to hosting. He still wasn’t happy about his son’s choices, but he’d given in and accepted the inevitable.

We spent our wedding night in the cottage of an Alanzan acquaintance of Cedric’s, one who was out of town on business and had lent it to us. It held nothing of my old town house’s grandeur—or even that of Blue Spring—but was charming and clean. And it was ours. All ours for the night. No fear of others discovering us. No fear of condemnation.

It felt like we hadn’t really and truly seen each other in ages. Since almost no one knew we were already married, we’d spent the two weeks between the trial and official wedding living chaste and separate lives. When we’d made it back to the cottage after a long day of festivities, the jolt of finally being alone together had been so surreal that we’d hardly known what to do.

But we’d quickly figured that out.

I woke the next morning to sunlight streaming in through the bedroom’s bay window. Cedric lay at my back, his arms encircling my waist. I ran my fingers over the crisp white sheets, inhaling a scent that was a mix of Cedric’s vetiver, the detergent used on the sheets, and the violet perfume Mira and Tamsin had gifted me for my wedding.

“I can tell that you’re thinking,” Cedric said, pressing his cheek to my back. “Thinking much harder than you should be.”

“I’m trying to memorize this. Every detail. The light, the smells, the feel.” I rolled over so that I could look at his face. The morning sun lit up his hair, which was unquestionably disheveled. “Even you. We get to wake up together for the rest of our lives now, but it’s going to be a long time before it resembles anything like this room, this bed.”

He brushed my hair back and then trailed his hand along my neck. “Getting cold feet?”

“Hardly, seeing as I’ve married you twice now.”

“Maybe we can find a reason to stay here longer.”

“And miss going to Westhaven with the charter members? That wouldn’t reflect well on a founder and so-called leader of the community. You’d also get arrested and possibly executed for heresy if you don’t go. And all those food supplies we’ve got sitting downstairs would go to waste.”

“Was that list in any particular order? Like, least to most serious consequence?”

“I . . . don’t know.” The hand that had been by my face had slipped under the covers and now ran over my bare leg—slowly, agonizingly. I was trying to keep my face and voice cool, but the rest of my body was betraying me as I curled closer to him. “You’re kind of making it difficult to focus. And we have a lot to do.”

“Yes.” His voice was husky as he moved his mouth to my neck. “Yes, we do.”

“That’s not what I . . .”

He was impossible for me to resist. Or maybe I was impossible for him to resist. We melted into each other, and I forgot all about Westhaven and the hardships ahead. For the next hour, my world was a tangle of skin and hair and bedding. Afterward, I had a halfhearted urge to get up and start the day. That was soon abandoned. I collapsed into him and fell back asleep.

The sound of knocking snapped me awake and effectively shattered any remaining languor. I jerked upright. “They’re here for our supplies! What time is it?”

Cedric opened one eye and fixed it on the window. “It’s not time. Too early.”

“Well, someone wants something,” I said as the knocking continued. I climbed out of bed and searched around until I found a long, thick housecoat. I pulled it on, noting that my wedding dress was lying on the floor in the room’s far corner, inside out. It was one of my diamond dresses, a fantasy of white silk and silver. “How’d that get over there?”

Cedric had been watching me dress, both eyes now open, and slid his gaze over to the corner. “You needed help getting out of it.” Like that was any kind of answer.

“We’ll get an earful from Jasper. I have to give that back.” I finished cinching up the robe and hurried to the bedroom door.

“I think you’re supposed to call him ‘Dad’ now,” Cedric yelled after me. I paused just long enough to throw a small pillow at him.

Downstairs, the knocking had grown louder and more irritated. So, perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised to find that it was, in fact, Jasper standing out on the porch. He checked his pocket watch impatiently. “There you are.”

“Sorry. We were still . . . asleep. Would you like to come in?”

“No time. I’m off to meet a man I might possibly be starting an exciting business venture with.”

“And he had to schedule it during our send-off, huh?” Cedric strolled to the doorway beside me, yawning. He’d thrown on last night’s wedding clothes, which were covered in wrinkles. “Or maybe you scheduled it during the send-off?”

Jasper didn’t answer either way. “There’s nothing you really need from me at this point—although I do need that dress back. I can get good money for that. And if this new venture works out, we might have the potential for even more. We’re working out logistics for more-specific long-distance matchmaking via correspondence and classified ads.”