“I had a speech prepared, but then we were interrupted and it all went out those massive windows over there.”
I waved my hand toward the view of the setting sun on the water, caught Salem's eye, and winked at him. Salem spread his dragon maw in a delighted grin and winked back.
“Re, we weren't meant to be,” I said gently.
The room went silent again—even more horrified than when my husbands had interrupted—and Re's mouth fell open. The poor guy; he didn't deserve all of these curve balls. But then again; he had made that “why” comment.
“We were meant to be friends,” I went on. “We were meant to see each other casually and support each other with our strength and our humor. But another kind of destiny stepped in and changed everything.”
Re smiled as he caught on and shook his head at me for giving him such a fright.
“We found each other in a broken future; a time that was never meant to be either,” I went on. “But the love we made there was so consuming”—I stopped as emotion choked me for a moment—“so life-altering and magnificent and profound, that we couldn't leave it there to die. We brought it back with us, and you; you refused to let me smother it. You shoved that wild, reckless, amazing love in my face every chance you got until I understood what you already knew; that although some things are not meant to be, it doesn't make them any less precious than the ones that are. Sometimes, they're even more so because we have to fight harder to win them. You are that precious, hard-won thing, Re. The man who wasn't meant to love me, but who has become as important to me as the Sun in the sky; as the air in my lungs and the food in my belly. You sustain me. Our love is a destiny that we forged for ourselves; defying all of the odds against it.”
Re nodded and brought my hand to his lips to kiss again. His golden eyes were full of a fierce, blazing light.
“I promise to keep fighting for our forged destiny and keep loving you no matter where it takes us.” I slipped the ring on his finger. “With this ring, I wed you; the Sun God, Re.”
The ballroom erupted into cheering as Re yanked me against his chest and kissed me passionately.
“I declare you husband and wife,” Osiris said over the cheering. “May no god or man rip asunder what I have bound together today.”
A tingling energy sprinkled over Re and me; a blessing from Osiris... and a warning to any who might try to come between us. The entire Egyptian Pantheon was now bound through marriage and magic to the Godhunter.
Chapter Forty-Nine
I'd done it; I had married Re. As we danced our first dance as a married couple, I thought back on how we'd gotten there. When I'd met each of my husbands, there had been moments when I'd looked at them and considered what it would be like to be their lover. You know what I mean; those fleeting thoughts of “what if” that you have when you meet an attractive man. They aren't serious; just a harmless fantasy that I can't help having around a man I could see myself with.
I suppose it's my mind's way of differentiating attraction. There's the attraction that is simply an admiration; that's a good looking man but not my type. Then there's the other one; I could be happy with someone like him. It's the second that I'm talking about, and it happens whether I'm happily involved with someone or not. In fact, it had happened twice when I was with Thor; once with Trevor, and once with Odin. Although, with Odin, it had to do with the rising memories of my past life. But I'm getting distracted.
What I'm trying to say is that I had felt that sense of what could be with every man I'd married—except for Re. Re was in a class all his own. In the God World, where most men were divinely attractive, Re outshone them all. I had been so intimidated by him that I couldn't fantasize about him. I knew—on a subconscious level—that any fantasies about Re and me would only serve to weaken me. Once I had those images in my head, I wouldn't be able to let them go, and I'd end up as just another of the countless women who pined for him. Who would want that? Not me. So, I didn't think about him. Not ever.
But Re had shown himself to be more than just a gorgeous face. He had been there for me from day one when neither of us had known each other at all. He had helped me simply because he knew it was the right thing to do and through that kindness, a friendship had formed. Time and time again, Re had come through for me. He fought against the Goddess of Strife and her undead army for me, and he showed up in Asgard to help Odin rescue me from Alfheim. Re had been a true friend to me without any thought to what he might gain from our friendship. And then I went into a future that had gone terribly wrong.
In that future, Odin had left me, and my lioness magic needed another man to take his place. That man had been Re. He had come through for me again; right when I needed him the most. He'd given me the last part of himself that
