Wild Nights, Hot and Crazy Days (I should point out that this was not only my first kiss with David, it was my first kiss EVER):
Evander looked up at me, and there was both sadness in hope in his eyes.
“Evander, I did not include you on my panel of advisors because I have something much more important to ask of you. Though I only recently met you, and though we got off to a rocky start, I feel that you and I are meant to be together. I have felt my bond with you growing stronger with every passing moment, and since that moment we shared in the Astral Plain I have been absolutely certain. I cannot explain this strong attraction that I have to you as I’ve never fallen so deeply, so quickly, for anybody before. I don’t need an explanation to know that I have already fallen in love with you. I know it seems fast, but I wish to be your lover. There is nothing I would like more than to lie down with you every night and wake up to you every morning.”
Evander’s eyes lit up even as tears started streaming from their corners. “You mean…”
I released Evander’s left hand and placed my right hand under his chin, tilting it up slightly. “What I mean is that if I must rule these people there is nothing that would make that responsibility more enjoyable than having you by my side. I wish for you to be my… um… Queen? Co-King? I don’t know what you would call it.”
A muffled giggling could be heard from the crowd. “King Consort would be the proper term”, Matthew offered.
“Thank you”, I said over my shoulder. I then returned my gaze to Evander. “So, Evander Briarwood, I am asking you this: Will you be my lover? My husband? My ‘King Consort’, as it were?”
Tears were now streaming down Evander’s cheeks. I was hoping that they were tears of joy, otherwise I would soon have tears of my own. I needn’t have worried.
“Yes”, Evander mumbled.
“Pardon?” I said. “Couldn’t hear you.”
“I said yes!”, Evander cried. “I would be honoured to be your lover! That is, if my fathers approve.”
I looked over at Owen and Leander. Leander was absolutely beaming, so happy that he was hardly touching the ground. Owen’s expression was harder to read.
“Your Highness… Daecon…”, Owen said, “When I first met you I thought that you were one of the dumbest people that I had ever known. Your botched shifting, your crash landing into that lake, your total ignorance about who and what you are; who and what all of us are. In addition to this you showed an arrogance that was far above your station.”
I frowned, and noticed that Evander was also scowling.
“However”, Owen continued, “Since then I have learned that I am frequently guilty of ignorance myself. I passed judgement on you without having any idea what your past was. I have watched you grow exponentially over the past little while, both in character and in strength. As you have established control over your magic and your mind you’ve gone from somebody who I couldn’t imagine even being worthy of our society to one who now seems the most noble and wise to not just join it but to lead it. You have found your way, and I could not imagine having anybody else as King. I could not imagine myself being happier with anyone else as my son-in-law. You have my full bless-…”
He did not get to finish the sentence. Leander had pounced on him, and was kissing him between sobs.
Lucinda spoke up now. “Daecon, you spoke of an unexplained attraction to Evander, and in your previous world this would have been considered nonsense. You would have been thought as crazy to profess such strong feelings for another person so suddenly. You must therefore know this: The attraction that you feel toward Evander is real, and it is powerful. One of the main duties of a Dunamis is to restore strength to the Royal Line, and to reinvigorate the magic of the Shapeshifters. In order to do so you need a mate, and one of the powers of a Dunamis is the ability to recognize the mate that he is destined to be with. You and Evander are Fated Mates, and you will do great things together. Indeed, by giving him royal magic you have already marked him as your lover.”
“Fated Mates. I like the sound of that”, I said. “Now then, Evander, I guess we’re left with only one thing to do.”
“What’s that?” Evander asked.
“To pick up where we left off when we were interrupted on that lake shore."
With that I pulled Evander closer, placed our lips together, and we engaged in the most passionate kiss anybody who was present had ever witnessed. As we were kissing there was silence, which suddenly erupted into a loud cheer. We broke our kiss off, both of us red with embarrassment, and were immediately pounced on by a crying Leander, babbling about how happy he was.
