by A. J. Marcus
“I think I see Clive heading this way with Cara,” Jade said. “So you better get a move on.”
Adrian didn’t bother seeing if she was right. He dashed into the back room. Sebastian was hot on his heels as he closed the door.
“Okay, let’s get changed,” his friend said.
His heart raced as he pulled off his satyr vest. “Bastian, did all this happen too fast?”
Sebastian looked at him and pulled his own tunic off. “Dio, you’ve never dated anyone as long as you’ve dated Ed. You love him, right?”
Adrian nodded as he pulled off his satyr pants. “Yeah, more than I thought possible.”
“Then you’re fine. Sometimes the good things happen fast.” Sebastian grabbed his new tunic and pulled it on. It fit him perfectly.
“I’m so glad you’re going to be there with us this evening,” Adrian said, reaching for the hangers with his new garb on them. The soft white silk tunic had been Trish’s surprise for him. She promised it would help keep him from showing too much sweat from the heat, humidity, and nerves. The light blue vest and doublet with silver trim were heavy, and he worried about that even as she’d promised him he wouldn’t notice it once everything started happening. She’d made sure to make the dark blue, nearly black, pants light and airy. They tucked easily into his highly polished black boots. The hat that matched his ensemble felt strange, the large blue plume off-balancing. Then he slung his flute bag over his shoulder.
Sebastian’s outfit was a shade between Adrian’s and Mel’s. The thought was, at the altar, they would be a spectrum of blue. Mel and Trish came up with the idea.
“You look like royalty,” Sebastian said. “Should I shout ‘God save the Queen’ now or later?”
Adrian laughed. “This is my wedding, not yours.”
“And you better shout that as I walk down the aisle too, bitch.” Sebastian put on his own hat. “Now get on out there. I’ll see you in the garden.” His friend walked over to the ladies and offered an arm to each.
“See you in a few,” they giggled in unison as they turned and strolled toward the garden in the center of the fairgrounds.
Standing sedately across the lane from the ceramic shop, Cara waited for him. She had special festival drapes across her back. Little Ciro stood like a perfect gentleman by her side. He didn’t have any special trappings, but shined like he’d been groomed within an inch of his life.
“You remember how to do this without being on the stand?” Clive asked as Adrian walked over.
“Yeah, we’ve practiced enough. She won’t let me fall. Will you, girl.”
Cara reached out and sniffed the feather in his hat. Moments later, with a helping leg and a bit of a jump, Adrian settled onto the elephant’s neck. It was a different world up there.
“Ready,” he said.
Clive started walking toward the southern footbridge.
For a moment, Adrian’s pulse pounded in his ears. Then Cara began a deep, soothing song that thrummed its way through him. Her deep rumble relaxed him as they made their way across the bridge and into the main section of the fairgrounds. Clive paused just within the shade of the trees, where they’d decided the previous night would be a cool enough spot to stop and wait for the signal for them to ride into the garden. Cara kept up her song as they waited, and Ciro pulled at some of the plants near the bridge. Nearly everything he pulled off went into his mouth. Some of it he chewed on; some of it he spat out. Between Cara’s song and Ciro’s antics, Adrian relaxed.
Then the first notes of “Cara’s Song” started in the distance. At first, when he’d been teaching the song to some of his friends from the orchestra, it had sounded strange to him, hearing someone else play his music, but they’d worked out the kinks, and now it sounded great.
“That’s our cue,” Clive said. He started walking forward, and Cara lumbered along behind.
From Cara’s back, Adrian saw the people who filled the garden. It looked like nearly all the vendors, actors, and other participants of the faire had shown up for their special day. Across the way, Gwen carried Ed toward him. He couldn’t make out the details of Ed’s outfit, but it sparkled like gold in the dwindling sunlight. As they got closer, he saw it was nearly the same as his ensemble, but in light browns trimmed in gold.
With perfect timing, the two elephants delivered their riders to the garden’s rear entrance. They stopped outside the boxwood hedges there. Cara offered her leg to help Adrian down. He waited as Ed dismounted Gwen with practiced ease and grace. Then he got down. As he landed, Ed was there to take his hand.
“You look amazing,” Ed said as they started toward the opening in the hedges that would take them to the center of the garden and where the Metropolitan Community Church minster, along with the rest of the wedding party, waited for them.
“As do you.”
Ahead of them, Eddy and Trina appeared. Trina hurried forward with her basket of rose petals. She even remembered to scatter them, starting about halfway down. Eddy held the pillow that the rings were tied to.
Hand in hand, Ed and Adrian walked down the aisle. Off to the right, several musicians played “Cara’s Song” for their walk. Even though his heart beat madly, Ed’s sweaty hand in his helped Adrian make it past the rows of people there.
When they reached the far end of the walk, Eddy moved off to stand by his Uncle Bryan, and Trina went to stand next to Mel. For a second, as Ed’s hand fell away from his, Adrian wanted to grab it back and hold onto the man for dear life, but he knew they’d be holding hands again real soon.
The MCC minister, whom Adrian and Ed had met once before the rehearsal the previous evening, was an older lady, stout, with steel-gray hair, wearing a long black robe and a rainbow sash. A smile creased the woman’s chiseled features. She motioned for Adrian and Ed to stop in front of her and face each other.
“Dearly beloved,” she began.
Looking into Ed’s eyes, the rest of the world disappeared for Adrian. All he could see was the incredible amount of love pouring out for him. It was obvious now, that he was going to be waking up to those eyes for the rest of his life. It was a sight he’d never grow tired of. When the minister indicated, they clasped hands. The movement was robot-like for Adrian until Ed’s warm hand touched his. Life spread from it and encompassed him.
“Adrian, Dio, I love you with all my heart and soul,” Ed said when prompted by the minister. “I have wandered through my life alone until you came into it. The music of your soul enlivens me in a way I never expected. Now I cannot imagine my life without you in it. I love you and want you with me always.”
“Ed, I love you with all my heart and soul,” Adrian picked up after a slight pause. “You are the strength I never realized was missing from my life until you were here. You give me a new rhythm to life, and our melodies intertwine so perfectly. I look into your eyes and see the perfection I never want to be without again. I love you and want you with me always.”
The minister gestured to Eddy to come forward with the rings, a lovely leaf pattern they’d found at one of the faire jewelers. Adrian barely heard any words, even the ones he spoke, as he tried to keep his hands from shaking as he slid the ring on Ed’s finger and Ed did the same for him. Then the minister accepted a braided cord from Sebastian. Adrian had never seen it before, but the colored cord perfectly matched the colors of his and Ed’s clothes. With an ease that showed how many ceremonies she’d performed, the minister wrapped the cord around their joined hands.
Once their hands were bound, the minister stepped back. “By the power invested in me by God and our community, I now pronounce you husbands for life. You may kiss.”
As their friends and family erupted in cheers around them and birdseed showered down on them, Adrian leaned in to meet Ed’s lips. His heart beat so strongly that his head hurt, but the touch of those soft lips washed it all away. Out beyond the hedges, Cara, Ciro, and Gwen raised their voices. Ed’s free hand wrapped around his waist as their kiss lengthened. A
drian felt whole. For the very first time in his life, he felt complete.
Their lips parted. Ed’s smiling face greeted him.
An inner light and peace filled Adrian. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.” Ed leaned in for another kiss. Adrian knew their lives would be filled with many, many more kisses.
If you enjoyed “The Satyr’s Song” and want more Renefaire Romance, don’t miss book 3 “The Archer’s Arrow” and the other books in the series coming soon.
Also don’t forget to leave a review.
I would like to acknowledge the help of Angie Buchanan for the help in getting the elephant parts right. Cara and Ciro wouldn’t be the same without you.
I would also like to acknowledge Melissa Kary for helping me keep the musical information flowing with the proper rhythm and beat.
A.J. MARCUS has been writing to pass the time since high school. The stories he wrote helped him deal with life. A few years ago, he started sharing those stories with friends who enjoyed them, and he has started sending his works out into the world to share with other people. He lives in the mountains with his extremely supportive lover. They have a lot of critters, including dogs, cats, birds, horses, and rabbits. When not writing, A.J. spends a lot of time hiking, trail riding or just driving in the mountains. Nature provides a lot of inspiration for his work, and keeps him writing. He is also an avid photographer and falconer; don’t get him started talking about his birds because he won’t stop for a while.
Visit A.J. on his website: http://www.ajmarcus.com,
send him an email:[email protected],
find him on Twitter: twitter.com/#!/aj_marcus
follow him on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/AJMarcus
The Renaissance Faire Series by A.J. MARCUS
Sparks fly when a handsome jouster and a dashing pirate come together at the renaissance faire.
Dale O’Toole, aka Diederik the Demon Duke of Denmark, takes is Renaissance festivals seriously. He had been on the jousting circuit for five years and enjoys his gypsy lifestyle, traveling to faires around the country. It’s fun and he has good friends.
Austin Renfro has worked in a pirate gift shop at the Colorado Renaissance Festival for several years but has a life outside the mediaeval fantasy world. When Austin spies Dale during the first joust of the season, he knows he must find a way to meet him, even if the jousters and royal cast don’t normally associate with the working class.
Their first chance meeting causes more than a little embarrassment for both men, but they don’t let that stop them. They try to let their budding love find its place while keeping it from becoming common knowledge. But when a particularly conservative knight catches them in flagrante, it’s bound to cause problems. After all, jousts are dangerous…
Available in KU
Change is all around us. When two lonely men meet, nothing can prepare them for the changes that are going to sweep over their lives. Will they embrace the winds that blow them a second chance for love?
Every day Sam Benito watches his marriage fall apart. He and his husband Charlie fight constantly catching their teenage son in the middle. If there’s any love left, it’s hard to find. Charlie, bent on self-destruction, crossed an unspoken line, and Sam realized it’s time to leave as the man he fell in love with is gone forever.
After leaving his high-powered corporate job years ago, Sam works at a small feed store in an effort to keep his family together. It’s a job he never thought he would find pleasant, but working with Geary Ellis may have something to do with his newly found job satisfaction.
As Charlie digs himself deeper, and Sam is helpless to do anything to stop him, Sam finds comfort in Geary’s strong honest arms, but it may not be enough to hold him together as Charlie’s changes engulf them all. Will Geary help Sam keep himself and his son safe, or will they all lose everything because of Charlie’s self-centered recklessness?
Join these two hot cowboys for an unexpected ride of their lives that will leave them changed forever.
Available in KU
Scott wasn’t looking for more than a quick evening’s enjoyment when he picked up Luke while driving home for the rodeo and livestock auction. Luke makes a big impression on Scott and when a people around them start turning up dead, he hangs by Scott and does what he can to help out. But as the bodies continue to pile up, Scott begins to wonder who he can really trust. Will the emotions he feels for Luke survive as they struggle to find the answers to who’s trying to kill him, and why?
Available in KU
Geeks come in a lot of different forms, and when two geeks meet, it can be incredible. But even the most amazing meetings are often struck by tragedy. Can two men overcome their obstacles to find true love, or will the things standing against them be more than they can overcome?
Leo Caldwell’s life can be summed up in two words: ho hum. His job at a tech support call center offer little in the way of excitement and outside of spending time with his two best friends, Felix and Julie, his social life is nonexistent. When Felix decides it’s time for the three of them to try something new to spice things up, they go all out…and take a drawing class at the local library.
But, that’s when everything changes. Leo meets Aud Sorenson, owner of Bright Thoughts Gallery and resident art teacher at the library. When Aud gets to know Leo and his friends, he feels an instant connection with the cute and geeky Leo and ask him to pose for a sketch.
As sparks fly between them, Aud discovers he has a stalker who’s willing to do anything he can to make sure Aud is his and his alone. Aud and Leo hope their blossoming feelings will be enough to see them through the chaos that erupts around them.
Available in KU
Drawn together by a simple theft of an ancient magic, will these three very different shifters have what it takes to survive the forces both physical and magical that are trying to stop them from reclaiming the kachina one of them stole at the direction of a ruthless werewolf alpha?
Phillip Twohands is a thief and a mountain lion shifter. When he takes a job stealing an ugly kachina, he never realizes it will change his life forever.
Daniel Hernandez is a jaguar shifter who is hired to steal the same kachina by the same werewolf who hired Phillip. When their paths cross, it becomes clear the tension between them is not all about rivalry.
The local sheriff, Shannon O’Flaherty, catches them in the act and had no choice but to take the two feline shifters into his personal custody, which quickly ends up with the three of them in bed…together.
The kachina is more than it appears. Do the three men have what it takes to survive the magic they unwittingly put in the hands of a dangerous werewolf, or will the alpha gain power over them all?
If you love hot guys in magical danger, you’ll love this book.
Available in KU
Three powerful alphas come together to battle an unexpected darkness and find something they didn’t even know they were looking for.
Alaric wants to protect the members of his wing from the human world they inhabit. Even an Alpha can be missing parts of his life.
Gustavo guards supernatural Denver in the way only gargoyles can, but when things change, he discovers things missing from his life he never dreamed he needed.
Phillip seeks magic knowledge to make his vampire life more bearable. Books and his coven only get him so far, and his heart needs warming.
An orphaned dragon’s egg bring the three together and they discover something beyond their simple existences. Can their new bond prove strong enough to help them protect the egg and stop the dark powers working against them? What has the darkness done to the baby dragon inside the egg?
If you like sweet, powerful Alphas coming together to form a family, this is the book you’ve been waiting for. Come dance with the Midnight Alphas.
Available in KU