Fire

Epilogue

3 Years Later:

It was exactly as we'd pictured it.

Asher's daydream was vivid, come to life.  Instead of seeing it now, I was living it. I could feel everything, the silken brush of the fiery red gown moving fluidly around my legs, the weight of the ruby tiara pressing gently on my brow, the cool stones of the castle floor under my feet.

The rhythm of my heart was pounding in my ears, the rhythm of his name repeated with each pulse of my blood.

Asher. Asher. Asher.

I was so nervous, it was the only thing keeping me moving. He was the only thing that drove me forward. I could feel the weight of a hundred gazes pressing down on me, but my eyes were locked on him. On his face. It made me smile to see how red his cheeks were. He was a prince, he was used to the lime light, but his blush wasn't for them. It was for me. It had begun the moment I'd stepped through the entrance and walked towards him. The flush creeping over his cheeks and up to his ears. His eyes were sparkling, locked with mine.

When I reached the head table he stood, so abruptly that he nearly knocked a chair over. His smile was broad and proud as he reached for me. When I locked my fingers with his the ring on my hand caught the light and glittered fiercely, sending a rush of heat through me that made my cheeks glow to match his.

When have I been this happy before?

Maybe a few days ago, when Asher had led me across the bridge in the garden and surprised me by dropping to one knee. Maybe then, but this was just as good. Holding his hand, facing the crowd of excited jotun before us.

The dining hall was extravagantly decorated, draped in vibrant red and orange strands of silk. Roses towered in elaborate arrangements in crystal vases, candles burned at the center of every table and dripped red wax in cinnamon scented pools. There was a roaring fire in the hearth that filled the room with the smell of pine. This mingled with the mouth-watering aromas coming from the feast set out before us.

Loki's voice rang out over the buzz of the crowd, "Most of you know why we celebrate today..." he didn't get any further, the crowd roared its approval, banging mugs and clanging utensils against the table. Asher's hand tightened on mine, and his grin grew even wider. He glanced down at me and said in a low voice, "I think they approve of you."

I beamed up at him. "You think so?"

"I know so. All it took was you gaining crazy magical powers and defeating the entire rebel army."

I bit back a snort of laughter. "No big deal."

He nudged me playfully. "Hey, it takes a lot to snag me."

The noise of the crowd died down and Loki started speaking again, so I had to settle for bumping him with my hip. The prince and his fiancé couldn't be overheard swapping verbal jabs.

His fiancée. I let that one settle in, feeling secretly thrilled.

"We gather today," Loki said. "To celebrate my son's engagement..." He waited for another cheer to swell and die down before continuing, "to a wonderful woman." He winked at Asher. "Come on, son. Now you get to show off the bride-to-be."

Bride-to-be! That thought was even more stunning, and I stared round-eyed at Loki, who gave me a wide grin that was very like his son's, and sat down. Asher pushed his shoulders back and grinned out at the crowd of jotun. "I'd like to thank everyone for coming to our engagement party. And now I guess you should all celebrate and eat and drink with us!"

The jotun cheered again, and I spotted Cordy at one of the tables at the back, bouncing excitedly around on her seat, waving enthusiastically. Lettisha was beside her, and I gave both of them a quick wave. The jotun began drumming their cutlery on the table, lightly at first, gaining volume as more of them joined in, and a low chant started up.

"Kiss her, kiss her, kiss her!"

Asher raised his brows at me, shaking his head with apparent sadness. "I'm afraid I'll have to. They're insisting. There's nothing I can do to stop them."

I chewed on my bottom lip, feeling my cheeks flush even brighter. "I guess not..."

Asher slid his hands around my waist and I squealed as he tipped me backwards. He pressed his mouth against mine, hard, and that familiar rush of heat flew through me all the way down to my toes. It didn't seem to matter how often we kissed, the shock of the link and the hot and cold that was Asher's skin touching mine never got less exciting.

There was hooting and cheering from the crowd in front of us, but Asher didn't stop. Our kiss deepened, and even though my face felt like it was burning up I didn't want him to stop. When I peeked out one corner of my eye it was to see that Loki had dipped Megan down and was kissing her as well, much to the amusement of the cheering crowd.

At last Asher pulled us upright, and his grin was insufferably cocky. I smacked him on the arm and shook my head, trying to pull a disapproving face. He laughed. "They're going to have to get used to our public displays of affection." He glanced over at his parents, who had just pulled apart and were giving one another playful, flirty looks, and wrinkled his nose. "They're used to them anyways."

We sat back down at the table, but Asher kept his hand on my knee. His eyes kept straying from his dinner to me, over the dress I was wearing, and he finally said, "Do you think they'd notice if we left our own engagement party?"

"I think they'd notice."

"I'm not sure if I care. I'm not sure I can wait."

But he did wait, he waited exactly an hour, and three rounds of toasting champagne, and then Asher stole one of the bottles and we fled to the safety of his room.

Lying together in front of the fire, my toes curled in the fur rug, I let myself relax finally. I watched Asher shake up the champagne bottle and then he wiggled his brows at me. "Ready, M'lady?"

I grinned. "Ready."

Asher braced himself against the hearth and pushed on the top, and the cork shot free with a startling bang that made us both jump, the champagne sprayed up in a sparkling foam that covered both of us from head to foot.

We both stared at one another in shock, and then Asher started laughing. I glanced down at my beautiful fiery gown, which was now dripping wet and sticky, and burst into hysterical laughter as well.

Maybe it was the strain of the day, of all the primping and getting ready and the tension of not seeing Asher alone up until now, but we both laughed until we were in stitches.

The cold champagne quickly turned warm on my skin, and it wasn't until I looked over at Asher that I realized the liquid was dissolving off his skin. A trickle of silvery mist came from his collar, and the bare skin of his forearms, where he'd rolled up his sleeves, was actually steaming.

Asher was staring at me now, and his mouth sagged open a little bit. "Wow. You're smoking. I mean, not just hot, but actually smoking."

"So are you."

That was all it took, and then we were in one another's arms. Asher was kissing me, pulling at the zipper on the back of my dress, biting my shoulder. I could taste the champagne on his lips, on the hot skin of his throat.

We sank back onto the fur rug, tangled in one another, two people melding completely together, body and mind. Beside us the fire blazed a little brighter.

The End (For real this time).

Author Note: Hi everyone! Thanks for coming along on another Jotun adventure with me! :) If you enjoyed Fire please vote for this chapter, I really appreciate it!

Thanks to everyone who has left wonderful comments, you guys are awesome. If you go to my profile, you'll find the third book, called "FLOOD".