Page 88 of His Atonement
Will she despise me when she learns of what I am to do in a few weeks time because I have managed to gain another extension in my most gruesome task?
Would she hate me if I chose to carry out her final requests then find a way to join her in The After because I cannot fathom life without her?
Every thought, every choice, every movement or action revolves solely around one female and it is not because she demands it. No, it is simply because she exists in my world and gives me her love so freely that I can do nothing but make her the center of everything in return.
Which is exactly why I'm about to do something else of my own free will that stems from the ever present need to make my mate happy, to bring her joy and shower her in the undying love I feel for her. Something I would never even consider doing for anyone else, something I would never consider, period.
I'm about to marry my darling mate.
The thought began to form a few weeks ago when Frankie and I had the most morbid and heartbreaking—though necessary—conversation to discuss her affairs and if they were in order.
When she brought up a marriage license it seemed simple enough to have the wolf create a perfect forgery for us but then... then my twisted gears started to turn.
Why would we need a forgery when we can obtain one according to human law?
Demons do not have any sort of rituals or ceremonies, none pertaining to mating or burial, life and death. Without souls or the capability of love it is all meaningless, holds no value in our culture because those things themselves hold no value to demons. And since the possibility of one finding their mate is so rare, there has never been anything recorded on what happens during the act or if a ceremony was devised to celebrate it.
So, I began to think.
How can my mate, my Frankie, and I celebrate our mating, celebrate our love and document it? Solidify it in stone so to speak?
Simple. We get married.
Get married for real. Make that piece of paper full of truth—short of my name, anyway—and have it on record for always that Francis Mae Masters became my mate, my wife, my entire world in every way possible.
I started simply by asking Frankie how she felt about telling the rest of our clan about us.
My intent was to use the fact that I'm to do all that she has requested, inherit and see over her affairs, will be the one to tell them everything when the times comes and since they all—except Cora and Havok—essentially thought we still despised each other, they would want to know why the hell Frankie put me and not Allie in that position. That was to be my argument anyway, but my darling mate agreed to telling our clan so fast I didn't need to use it.
So we went to dinner with Cora and Havok, returned to my dungeon afterward where I fucked Frankie up against the bars per her request, before moving my remaining few things into what is now officially our cabin, then made love well into the early morning hours and walked hand in hand into breakfast a short while later.
Frankie said weblew their mindsand I tend to agree because everyone thought it was a joke at first, another prank in our war that ended weeks ago, and it wasn't until my darling girl showed them the matching markings that we both bear, the ones that manifested immediately after we mated, that anyone began to believe it.
The markings are beautiful by the way, relatively small but beautiful, an intricate design that swirls in the palm of our left hands, the symbol for love and possession in the ancient language of the gods themselves.
However, that wasn't quite enough to convince them, so Grace inspected both marks thoroughly before using her shifter gifts to analyze our scents, something that also changed when we mated because there is a very distinct new layer of orchid added to my rose water and spice, as well as Frankie's honeysuckle, coconut, and patchouli combination. She remained skeptical though, so Grace continued her exam and once she noted the intense sparkle in Frankie's skin that matches mine almost perfectly, she was almost sold on it as fact.
But my darling girl, my gorgeous mate, put all doubt to bed when she touched her mate mark to my skin, merely covered my bare knee so her mark was flush against me and once both of our pupils glazed over in silver, well, everyone stopped doubting and embraced the concept, then congratulated us rather exuberantly on our mating.
They were shocked, to say the least, Allie especially. At first, she was rather pissed that Frankie had kept our relationship from her. Not to mention the rarity in which demons find their mates made it that much harder to grasp, but there is no denying it, and our clan seems to be unexpectedly happy for us.
Since that went so well, my plan that had begun to form really started to take shape, and later that day I pulled Allie aside while Frankie was preoccupied with her photography project.
I asked her how she thought Frankie would react to a marriage proposal and almost immediately regretted it because the female practically screamed at the top of her lungs, flung her arms around my neck, and cried. Something I had absolutely no idea how to handle.
Once calm though, Allie said there was no doubt in her mind that her cousin would accept such a proposal, would be moved to tears over such a thoughtful and sweet gesture, especially once I explained demons have no mating ceremonies of our own and that is why I wished to marry her.
Of course I left out all of the more morbid and heartbreaking reasons for it, but it did not take away from the solid truth of my words. Frankie is my mate, the female I love more than I thought possible and I wished to proclaim it for all to bear witness to the same way the dragons, the way Havok was able to with their mates. I actually surprised myself by how much I meant that.
And thus began almost two of the most torturous, though, happy weeks of my life.
First, the females dragged me into town to purchase an engagement ring.
Once Allie knew of my intent she blabbed it to the others, thankfully all of whom are wonderful at keeping secrets, and they informed me, cornered me really, and told me I needed to purchase an engagement ring to present to Frankie when I asked for her hand in marriage.
We went into town the following day while my darling mate developed photos with Havok, once again her photography proved to be a much welcome distraction from my secret plans, and let me tell you what, that was brutal. If I thought shopping for baby things with a very pregnant female was torturous, it has absolutely nothing on shopping for an engagement ring with five females, three of which are hormonal from recent or current pregnancies and the other two hormonal because they are about to enter into heat and no doubt become pregnant.
You would have thought I was some horrible monster that forced them into that jewelry store with threats so great they feared for their lives with the way they cried non stop, but Posey knew the owner well and her reassurance that they were just so happy for us seemed to suffice him.
