Page 80 of Goodnight, Sinners

He touched her face, bringing her gorgeous golden eyes back to him. Worry wrinkled her brow and her pulse fluttered in her throat, giving away her nervous tension. She may have decided she wanted to marry him, but she wasn’t without reservations.

You will be happy with me.

She laughed, the sound fragile. “Is that an order?”

Her voice was husky and low, meant for his ears only.

That is a promise.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Shaun had never really been one of those girls who pictured her wedding day. No poufy white dress, no church filled with guests, no reception with speeches and clinking glasses. All of her fantasies had been directed at her career path. Even as a little girl, in her mind, she wore the white doctor’s lab coat, a stethoscope and held a clipboard. Her teddy bear patients would get a diagnosis and then they would take the medicine she administered.

As she hit her teen years, she began dissecting her teddy bears, carefully pulling the fluff out, examining their insides, then putting them back together. Her father had taught her how to make stitches, so she’d meticulously suture each of her teddy bear victims, giving them horrific scars in the process. Her mother had been concerned by her preoccupation with cutting into her toys, but her father had stood by watching proudly, declaring he had a future surgeon on his hands.

Now, as Shaun stood at the head of the church, next to the man she was seconds away from marrying, she realized that despite her lack of vision for her wedding day, that this was exactly what she would have imagined. The man she loved looking at her as though she were the only person on the planet. Her mother in the front row next to Cooper. Saskia standing next to her, holding her bouquet.

Saskia was outfitted in what could only be described as maid-of-honour gothic. She wore black leggings under a black dress with a corset bodice and crinoline skirt. Her hair had been spiked across the front and pulled back in a tight ponytail in the back. She looked beautiful and very out of place in the sixteenth-century church.

Shaun barely heard the priest as he spoke. Her eyes were on Jozef. The ceremony was more old-fashioned than she thought it would be. Jozef wasn’t religious and neither was she, but the ceremony had an elevated religious tone to it that felt both very official and somewhat oppressive. Maybe this was the best Jozef could do on such short notice, though he’d told her he’d been planning it for a while. The church was small, tucked out of the way, on the edge of the city.

Jozef must have caught her looking around the church as the priest spoke, because when she looked at him, he signed,H-A-V-E-L suggested it. I have no particular attachment to any church or place of ceremony, but he is a brother to me and it’s my honour to use his family church.

Shaun was glad he was explaining to her, but he could have picked a better moment. She almost laughed out loud at the disgruntled expression on the priest’s face as he continued to speak.

She caught Havel’s eye and he winked. She smiled back. It had taken time, but they were warming up to the idea of friendship, their mutual love of Jozef thawing them.

When it came time for the vows, Jozef spoke first, using his hands to express his love. Shaun did laugh out loud this time, when he refused to repeat a single word the priest was saying, but came up with his own vows. The priest sent her a sharp look and continued speaking.

Shaun quickly sobered, her smile wobbling as tears flooded her eyes. She blinked them quickly away so she could read every single sign.

From the moment I saw you, I knew we were connected. Your kindness toward the child on the streets of L-U-H-A-N-S-K, your giving soul, it shone so bright it nearly blinded me. You have forced me to examine my existence, to find what was lacking and empty, then you helped me fill the wound with love and sunshine. I give myself to you, heart, body and soul. Just as I take you, heart, body and soul. I will love and protect you, as you will love and protect me.

He finished by giving Shaun the special sign of their love.

Fatima let out a watery sob, the sound echoing in the church. Saskia reached into her skirt pocket, pulled out a pack of tissues and lobbed them at Shaun’s mother. Then she used her sleeve to wipe her own face as tears trickled down her cheeks.

When it was Shaun’s turn, she followed suit, handing her bouquet to Saskia. Ignoring the priest’s instructions to repeat after him, Shaun used Jozef’s language to profess her love and dedication.

J-O-Z-E-F. She deliberately signed each letter of his name, though the two had found shortened signed versions of their names to use with each other.You have given me a life I never could have imagined, and, while sometimes I doubted you, you’ve shown me how much I was missing. You have given me yourself and a love that I would never have found on my own. Now, I am giving myself to you, heart, body and soul as I am taking you for myself, heart, body, and soul. I will love and protect you as you will love and protect me.

She finished by signing her love to him.

Fatima was now openly weeping while they exchanged rings.

Jozef slid a simple gold band over Shaun's finger, trapping his mother’s engagement ring. Saskia handed Shaun a matching band that was slightly thicker. Shaun took it and slid it onto Jozef’s finger.

She wasn’t sure what the priest said next because Jozef lunged for her, gripping her face and staring into her eyes for long seconds before smashing his lips down on hers. In those seconds she knew his utter devotion to her and it stole her breath.

With his lips, he told her of a love that would last for a lifetime.

Images rushed through Shaun’s mind as she remembered their first meeting. She had been so focused on the boy that she hadn’t remembered walking into the handsome stranger in the leather coat.

Now she remembered. The power of his gaze as it touched hers was like the physical meeting of their souls. They’d recognized each other before they met. That meeting had led to this moment, when they made official what they’d never been able to deny; that they would love each other long after they left the earth.

Saskia let out a whoop as Jozef finally released Shaun.

Jozef decided they would have the reception at the mansion where the wedding party would be safer.

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