Solstice (Midsummer #3)

27. Ivy

27

Ivy

WEDDING EVE

L ex and I had spent the better part of the night trying to get through the queen’s defenses before we gave up and went back to Mount Vernon. When I still hadn’t heard from Siobhan the next morning, I asked Kit to put out an APB and find her the way she had last time.

“It doesn’t work like that,” she’d told me. “There’s a lot of ground to cover.”

By the rehearsal the next day, I had come to the resounding conclusion this was going to be a disaster. The closer we got to the actual wedding, the more I dreaded it. Despite what Lex thought, by going through with this, we were dangling a shrimp in front of a giant blue whale and daring him not to eat us with the bait.

We don’t know he’ll come. We don’t know what will happen, I tried to tell myself. There was no sense in panicking before I had all the facts.

Speak of the devil…

My sister eyed me from inside the dining room, giving a smile to a few of Lex’s relatives as she walked out onto the balcony next to me. Bodies moved on the lawn below, all of the people hard at work setting up for a wedding that had been twenty-six years in the making.

“I’m still working on it,” Kit said. “When I ran the diagnostic, I found something interesting.”

“Oh?”

She rattled off a bunch of computer jargon that only partially made sense, something about a firewall and leaving a back door open. She could only figure that out because we were in the place where it happened. It had to do with who had screwed with us after Carter and Miri moved to California and who had leaked the photos to the media.

There could have only been one outcome from an affair between us going public, and that was exactly what happened. Miri left me. I hadn’t seen her since. My mother had as much motivation as anyone. But why not out Carter, too? Why only Miri and me?

Hopefully, Kit could find something… anything… to point me in the right direction.

With the queen showing up and the attack from the king, I had forgotten all about the leaked photos. That all seemed insignificant compared to what I worried we might truly be up against. Still, if it turned out to be my mother, my own flesh and blood, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop myself from exposing her. This might be enough to finally push me over the edge, to go public with the way she treated me. Hell, I might as well go public with all of her skeletons.

“Jury’s still out on Siobhan. But I’ll keep trying.”

“Thank you, Kit.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed it. “I owe you.”

“You bet your sweet ass you do.” She winked. “You fucking loser.”

“You insufferable twat.”

She laughed and pulled me into a side hug.

“I saw you talking to a Kennedy yesterday.” I raised an eyebrow.

She shook her head. “Oh, fuckface? Yeah, good conversation. He rattled on about his daddy’s big plans for his political future.” She stirred her tiny straw in her cocktail. “As if I gave a shit.”

I teased, “You’ll never win a husband like that.”

“Hmm, just what I need on top of fairy royalty trying to destroy the world.” She shrugged. “The Kennedy is a distraction. If Mother thinks I’m interested, she won’t meddle, and I can keep minding my business.”

I nodded, but internally I winced. Evelyn wouldn’t care if we knew or what we thought about it. If she did, she wouldn’t have done it. This was all politics to her—our lives, our careers, all part of the Washington brand. That left no room to be an individual, and the pressure had suffocated me all my life. Now, it stifled my siblings.

All of this would be solved if I used my gifts to my advantage, but I couldn’t hide when I was inside someone’s mind, and my mother would be a tough nut to crack. Trying to expose her would expose me, and I still hadn’t figured out how to explain all of this to her.

“Places everyone,” the wedding day coordinator said. I internally groaned and forced a smile, plastering that politician mask on the way I always had.

Off we went, down the stairs to the back lawn, over two thousand chairs lined the grass on either side of the aisle, positioned facing the altar made out of ivy and roses. The Potomac would provide the backdrop to our nuptials as it had for hundreds of Washingtons before me.

The wedding coordinator, Marcia, went over the particulars, where the men should stand, how they should stand, when the ladies should walk down the aisle, how long to wait in between each person.

Kit, Abigail, and I took our places inside the door leading to the basement, waiting for Lex, Henry, and Jon to stand at the altar.

“Has anyone seen the groom’s party?” Marcia put her hands on her hips and trotted off around the corner to find my fiancé. My father stood next to me, and from this angle, hiding behind the stone wall, we couldn’t see the head of the altar or the chairs leading up to it. No one could see us, either.

“Getting through the vows is the worst part,” Father said, patting my hand when I grabbed his elbow. “No one prepares you for standing up there for so long.”

Why would he say that?

The few moments right before we went on were the worst, and even if this was just rehearsal, there were still going to be people standing around watching us with their judgmental eyes. Even if I’d gotten over the stage fright, the anxious anticipation was so deeply ingrained that it showed up by habit.

The music started, and Abigail took her place at the head of the bridal party, waiting for Marcia’s cue before starting her walk. A few moments went by before Kit went.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

My stomach churned and saliva pooled at the back of my mouth, and maybe it was all the stress leading up to this, but I was definitely going to puke. I didn’t care that it was just a rehearsal; there were too many people looking at me. The music changed to a string version of the bridal chorus. I waited until Marcia gave me the go-ahead before I took a deep breath and prayed for the best. I couldn’t stop now.

The show must go on.

“Ivy,” my father said, gesturing to the front.

I looked up to where my fiancé stood next to the minister. Never in my life had I been so relieved to see Alexei Fairfax, to make eye contact with him and know he had my back. We were doing this together. A weight lifted off my chest and I sighed, keeping his stare as I walked forward. The knowing look in his gaze sent a shiver down my spine. For twenty-six years, we’d lived our lives together, all of it leading up to this.

Sure, this was pretend for tomorrow, but I imagined him standing in his tux with his hair done and that snarky twist to his lips. A flush went through me, headed straight down my body.

For years, I’d bucked against this marriage. I’d fought it and reviled it and begged to be released from it. But after all we’d been through together, after the last few weeks in particular, I found myself grateful to be meeting him at the end of this aisle.

It wasn’t the life I would have chosen for myself. It wasn’t the most ideal circumstance. But if I couldn’t have what I wanted, then…well, to quote Lex, there were worse people I could marry.

Of course, now that I’d come to accept it, we were preparing to tear the whole thing apart.

“Hello, X.” Lex smiled when I finally reached him.

“Hello, Lucifer.”

“Who presents this woman for marriage?” the minister said.

“I do, on behalf of her family.” My father placed my hand in Lex’s before turning to take his seat next to my mother. The minister carried on with the practice run, but my eyes locked with Lex’s hazel counterparts, and for the first time in months, I let him inside my mind.

He sighed out a small laugh and shook his head, glancing down to the ground. “ Careful. You almost look like you want to marry me.”

“Don’t get it twisted,” I said, raising an eyebrow. “I couldn’t stand the thought of being up here in front of all these people by myself. You know I do better with a co-star.”

He pulled his lips into the devil’s grin I once hated. Now, it wasn’t so bad.

“ How’s the queen?”

He took a deep breath. “ Still asleep. The guards said she didn’t wake up this morning, but she’s breathing. Any word from Carter?”

“I tried to call him. No answer.”

Lex sighed.

“And now a reading from the Book of Corinthians,” the minister said, gesturing to my younger brother, Henry.

He stood and cleared his throat, brushing the dark hair off his eyes. “Love is patient. Love is kind.”

“How about Poppy?” I asked Lex.

“No luck. She’s avoiding us.”

“Do you think she knows we have the queen?”

He shrugged. If she did, she could be plotting her own method of destroying us. Either that, or she’d already been taken by the king. If that was the case, I’d go for her. I’d throw myself at the mercy of Alberich to guarantee her safety.

“Do you have the rings?” The minister gave us both a smile before turning to Jon with his hand out.

Jon reached into his pocket to pull out the wedding rings my mother had chosen for us. Mine contained stones that once belonged to a great-grandmother Washington, and Lex’s had been inherited by his mother through the men on her side.

“Ivette Washington, do you take Alexei Fairfax to be your wedded husband, to have and to hold, through sickness and health, for the rest of your lives?”

Echoes of the first time we’d gotten married went through my mind, drunk on fairy wine in the enchanted woods, lying in those ruins after having fucked in the creek.

“I would marry all of you,” Carter had said.

“I would, too,” Lex agreed.

“Really, Lucifer? Even me?” I’d been teasing. I hadn’t actually expected him to say yes.

“Especially you, X.”

We’d been betrothed for real at the time, barely twenty-two and wide-eyed in the world. As the memories played out in my head, they echoed in Lex’s, too.

“I do,” I said. “Until the end.”

“ And do you, Alexei Fairfax—” The minister repeated the same words to him, but Lex’s eyes never left mine.

“I do,” Lex said. “ Until the end.”

I smiled as he stepped closer and kissed me.

The flood of emotion that came through that small contact nearly toppled me. This wasn’t the real ceremony, but I couldn’t stop my heart from exploding with overwhelming raw adoration for him.

My story with Lex had been fucked up from the start—in puppy love with his brother, sworn to hate him for my entire life, betrothed to him before I graduated from college. Through that, I’d gained a confidant, an ally, someone who understood me better than anyone.

I would not have made it this far without him. I would not have made it the last few weeks without him. When I was lost, he found me. When I couldn’t stand on my own, Lex held me up.

“I love you, X.”

“I love you, Lucifer.”

And this time, I meant it. This time, it was real. Really and incomprehensibly real.

The revelation rocketed through me, making me shiver, and I could no longer deny the effect he had on me. True, Lex Fairfax and I were complicated. But I perhaps loved that the most.

“Ugh, get a fucking room already,” Kit sneered from behind me, which made Abigail snicker.

* * *

We finished the rehearsal and went inside for dinner. My mother made an obnoxious speech about the sanctity of our union and how it would bring blessings to both our families. Kellan said some words about the great honor of being Lex’s father and how he looked forward to the long line of Fairfax-Washingtons after us.

To which my mother corrected, “Washington-Fairfaxes.”

Lex thanked everyone for coming and brought the crowd back to life with hilarious tales of us as children. Four years ago, I envisioned myself sitting here, frustrated I’d had to marry my worst nightmare. Watching him thrill the crowd with our former antics reminded me of what’d he told me. I’d belonged to him from the time he’d been born and he’d belonged to me. Nothing could stop that. Ever.

I was supposed to stay in my childhood room that night. It was bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the wedding, but I didn’t care. My body craved his in a way it never had before. It wasn’t the lust, but something close to it. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I’d fallen in love with him and actually wanted to fuck him because I liked it.

Hell, we might die tomorrow. The fairy king could show up and kill everyone and this could be my last night alive. I wanted to spend it with someone who loved me, and despite it all, Lex and I had loved each other since the moment we met.

I knew that now. Perhaps I’d always known it.

I waited until the house quieted, well past midnight, so I could be sure no one would see me. Then I tiptoed out of my room, down the hallway, and into the southern corridor, not bothering to knock before I slipped inside.

I walked to his bed and stood at the edge of it, staring down at Lex as he relaxed on his mattress. His head was propped up against the headboard, the faint glow of the cigarette between his lips illuminating his chiseled features. He raked his hazel eyes over my body, all the way down before coming back up again, saying so much without saying anything.

He wanted me naked. I yanked at the string holding my nightie together at my breasts, causing the fabric to flit over my arms and puddle at my feet. I raised an eyebrow and matched his expression with one of my own.

Yes.

He cleared his throat, sat up straighter, and stabbed out the cigarette in the crystal by the bed. Lex swallowed and tilted his head to the side, eyes narrowing.

In the twenty-six years we’d been together, I never once came to him like this, willing and vulnerable and desperate for him specifically. His expression demanded to know why now?

I didn’t answer, just crawled onto the bed and straddled his body, cupping his face, tilting his chin up so he faced me.

“No matter what happens tomorrow, I’m happy it’s you.” I kissed him gently, much more gently than I’d ever kissed him, cradling his face like it was made of porcelain. With those marble cheekbones and his hard, cold heart, I couldn’t be sure he wasn’t.

He furrowed his brows and stared up at me. “What’s going on with you?”

“Shh.” I pushed him back, dragging the blankets down so I could slip my hand over his half-erect cock. I scooted down his body until I wrapped my lips around it, sucking it the way he liked. I looked up his body at him before I continued. “If you want me to stop, tell me to stop.”

Lex groaned and fisted the back of my hair, hissing in a breath when I swirled my tongue around the head. God, I loved driving him wild like this, loved it even more when he got so hard, so quick.

He tightened his grip, letting me into his mind, forcing his way into mine. “X, what’s wrong? Is it the lust?”

“No, Lucifer.” I let his cock go with a loud pop. “Can’t a girl fuck her husband before their second wedding?”

He laughed. “I’ll take your pity fuck, but I need to know it’s real.”

“It’s not a pity fuck.” I gave his cock another lick, all the way from the balls up to the tip and back down again. “It’s real, Lucifer, and I get it now.”

His eyes lit up, mischief and hope glittering behind them. “Get what?”

“What I have to do.”

He looked like he was going to ask more questions, but he didn’t get a chance. I climbed up his body, positioned him at my entrance, and sheathed him inside me, all the way down. It took me a minute to adjust, but I didn’t mind the pain, especially when he inhaled a sharp gasp.

There was nothing like that first shove inside—the warmth in my lower belly, the jolt of pleasure erupting all over my skin, the intimate connection to another human. All of it overpowered me, forcing away thoughts of the king and Miri and what might happen come morning.

He sat up and bit my breast, knowing I normally liked it rough between us. But not tonight. No. Tonight, I wanted to love him, to revel in this one thing we’d get to have between us. No one else was being forced to get married tomorrow. No one else was completely surrounded by their horrible, maniacal family. No one else was being tracked and stalked by an evil fairy bent on killing the entire human race.

This night, tomorrow, they were about us, me and him. I grabbed his hands and intertwined our fingers, leaning down so I could pin them above his head.

Lex didn’t normally take the submissive role when we had sex. He liked to win, and I let him. But I wanted to remind him we were equals, that as much as I liked to give in to him, he also liked to give in to me.

He caved with very little effort. He let me hold him down with one hand while I rode him the way I wanted. He let me finger my clit, and he watched, his mouth hanging open, his head thrown back in euphoria, deep sighs on his lips. I angled myself so he hit the spot inside me that had both of us moaning and gasping. My climax rose, bubbling up my spine and down my legs.

“Ride the wave with me, Lucifer.” I opened the floodgates between us, so his pleasure was mine and mine was his and every single nerve ending in our bodies became one. We were one soul. One mind. One body. Our molecules warped and changed and molded together.

When I ran my thumb over his bottom lip, I felt it on my own. I pushed inside his mouth, and he sucked it back, rolling his tongue around the tip, sending a shock of lust to my clit.

He groaned.

“Do you feel me?” I didn’t mean physically. I meant subconsciously. Spiritually. I felt him everywhere, all at once, like a million icy pinpricks on my scalding-hot inferno.

“I feel you, X. I feel you.”

When my orgasm finally crested, it shot out of me, right into him, and his peak hit me between the eyes. Our bodies vibrated with hormones and magic and the tether that had bound us together. Call it fate, karma, whatever, it had led us to this euphoric point in time.

Just me and Lex, like always.

The universe split wide open. Lex and I surfed a higher consciousness. We were together in a way no two humans had ever been connected before. We stayed like that for hundreds of years. Thousands. Millions. Time did not mean anything to beings like us anymore. My soul expanded to an effervescent all-knowing thing, and so had his because we were the same.

We hovered there, on the brink of this profound, ethereal weightlessness. Then it collapsed down, and we sank into our bodies, Lex and Ivy once more in a guest room at Mount Vernon.

Time passed like centuries in the moments after. I lay next to him, breathing down the high, and he rolled on his side to face me. Lex grabbed my hands, our thumbs hooking around each other, and he pressed his lips to my knuckles. We didn’t say anything. Nothing needed to be said.

We were in the presence of each other’s company, finding comfort in both the familiarity and the contact. My thoughts went to younger versions of us, holding each other wordlessly after learning that Marcus had died. How different those children seemed compared to the people we’d become.

Yet, in so many ways, nothing had changed at all. As much as I loved him, it wasn’t complete. We weren’t complete. While we were made for each other, we were never meant to be a two. Others had been made for us as well.

My heart swelled to think of Carter, beautiful, magnetic Carter, and I longed for him, even as I lay next to our husband. Then my heart drifted to Miri, and I sighed. It had been weeks since I’d seen her, the most we’d gone since before Samhain. Her absence ached like a glass splinter in my brain. I could tell it was there, but I didn’t know where to push to pry it out.

“We’ll get her back, X.” Lex pressed another kiss to my knuckles, his hazel eyes searching mine for sincerity. “I promise. We will.”

I bit back a sob and met his gaze, the rising tide of panic nearly crushing my chest. Going through with this was a stupid idea. If I were the king, if I knew where my enemy’s entire family would be, I would go in guns blazing. I’d take them all out, or threaten to until I got what I wanted.

“We should call off the wedding.”

He shook his head and sighed. “We can’t. You know that.”

Did I?

I couldn’t imagine having that conversation with my mother, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t happen. Especially if I found out she had something to do with the photo leak.

“What if we ran away?” I turned to face him.

“Disappear into the woods?” He raised an eyebrow. “Like you suggested that day by the creek?”

I smiled at the memory. “ Yeah.”

“ There’s a pretty thought.”

I swallowed down the uneasiness. Something didn’t sit right inside, a growing sense of dread nearly boiling my blood. I grabbed Lex’s hand tighter, letting the sensation flow through me into him. “You feel that?”

He nodded. “Is it Siobhan?”

I shook my head, glancing around as my mind struggled to catch up. “This may end up being the stupidest thing we’ve ever done, Lucifer.”

He pursed his lips, but he didn’t argue. For once in his life, he agreed with me, and it didn’t make me feel any better.