Bride (Bride, #1)

by Ali Hazelwood

“If Serena hadn’t disappeared, would you have been able to say no to your father? Or would you have ended up in this marriage anyway?”

he has a point

He’s been having filthy, unspeakable thoughts.

we know

“Let’s all thank Lowe for the opportunity to not have to tune out one of Roscoe’s deranged rants tonight,”

heyyy comedic relief character

cliché

somehow pointing out the cliche makes it worse

“Kiss me,” I order, pulling him farther into me. He needs to be inside my space, towering over me.

i fear i do love this trope however predictable it is

There’s me, a notoriously bad Vampyre.

I’m laughing. Sorry

“I’m going to—fuck.” His voice is a thick, urgent rumble against my ear. “Misery, let me—” A stifled, filthy sound comes out of his throat. He’s rock-hard, and when he lifts me higher, fingertips pressed into my ass, trying to thrust against the perfect spot in me, I almost lose contact with his vein. Almost. I let out a plaintive, needy whimper, even as I writhe against his cock.

I’m laughing. sorry

“I could fuck you very nicely right now,” he says into my ear. He sounds honest, and a bit resigned. “I almost did.”

ahahahaha

Smitten.

down bad fr

“You should never. Assume, that is.” Lowe’s voice is cutting. And then Koen appears behind Emery, leaning against the doorjamb with a shit-eating grin. “I, for one, am glad the kids are having fun.”

pffft hey king koen your timing is great

“Oh my God,” he says after I stand to leave. “What?” His eyes are moon-wide. “I got it.” “Got what?” “What you smell like.” Fuck. “Good night, Alex.” “Why do you smell like my Alpha marked you?”

take a wild guess

“We’re dizygotic twins, which means that we never shared a placenta or an umbilical cord. A womb at best, really.”

oh brother

But do not feed from Lowe Moreland again.”

she will definitely be feeding from him again

My stomach hurts like it’s about to digest itself,

poison in the peanut butter duh

her organism deals with the poison. She’ll gradually slip into a healing trance. She’ll look very still, and you’ll be worried that she’s dead. But it’s simply the Vampyre way.”

I knew it

Mick.

pls don’t be the traitor

like a salmon bursting from a stream.

again with the METAPHORS

Oh, shit. Oh, shit. He’s just so much larger than Cal, so much larger than I thought wolves could be.

Oh the big wolf he’s so BIG

“You looked cold in your jumpsuit.” He sucks at the same spot on my neck that he fixated on back at Emery’s, on the tarmac. “You looked so lovely, and so determined, and so fucking lonely.”

okay dirty talk

“Just…” I clear my throat, still laughing. “Could we kiss?” “What?”

pls.

“Lowe?” The timbre of his voice is rough and low. “You smell like you just came.” I stare back, speechless at his directness. I did just come. “And I need to eat you out.” He needs to. “Okay?” “It’s a Were thing,” he says, almost apologetic.

LMAO

“What?” I’m losing track. Skipping words. “Didn’t change what?” “The sheets.” “Why?” “They smelled like you.” “When— Oh.” My break-in. “Sorry.”

freak

“Not the fantasies, though.” He descends over me, his heat an iron blanket. “I can’t be anything but what I am about this,” he whispers against the arch of my ear. There’s a hint of apology there. “What you are?” “Were.” His hand wraps around my rib cage, but halts right underneath my breast. A silent reminder that we can always stop. “Alpha.”

gag

“It’s not because you’re a Vampyre, Misery.” He swallows. “It’s because you’re you. Because of what that does to me.”

his mate blah blah blah

I wish I was your mate. I know better than to say it. I know better than to think it.

SIGH

Something inflates under my palm. Lowe’s hand closes around mine, pressing it there, circling the swelling protuberance like all he wants is for it to be enclosed, held within something. It grows larger, and Lowe’s stifled groans grow louder, and—

AHAHAHAHA AHAHAHHAHAHAHAH

Lowe slams him against the wall. The governor’s wife screams, but stays put in her chair. I run to Lowe. “Arthur, my friend,” he murmurs in the governor’s face. “You stink like you’re made of lies.”

okay this i can get behind

And she did leave something behind. Something that needed caring for. The damn fucking cat. God, what a wacky plan this would be.

I KNEW IT. WHAT DID I SAY

But I feel something deep in my belly, and I know it to be right. Lowe may have a mate, but she’s not Gabi.

fucking DUH

“It was never her.” His stare is perfectly blank. “Gabi. She is not your mate.”

yessss we knowwww

“A knot. It’s called a knot.” I savor the word in my head, marveling at how well it fits. “Say it,” Lowe orders. And when I hesitate, he adds, “Please.” “Knot. A knot.”

AHAHAHAHAAHHAHA PLS WHAT IS THIS TWILIGHT ASS SHIT

“You know what its purpose is?” I may know nothing about Were biology, but I’m not stupid, or naive. “Yes.” “Say it.” This is simultaneously mortifying and the most erotic experience of my entire life. “To keep it inside.” His hand slides underneath my shirt, gently stroking the underside of my breast. “Keep what inside, sweetheart?” I close my eyes. My heart beats a pounding, sluggish rhythm into every inch of my skin. “Your come.”

this is so bad. sorry

“I think it was there for me to see all along. But you threw me off on purpose, didn’t you? There was your reaction to my scent when we first met, and it was so extreme, I assumed that you didn’t like it. How adamant you were about not having me around.”

god finally

“It’s me, isn’t it?” I attempt a wobbly smile. It’s okay. I know it. I feel it, too. “I’m your mate. That’s why…”

binggoo

He understands, I think. He knows. He feels exactly the way I do.

well no he can’t bc then how we get the third act drama

He is being kinder to her than to himself, and hopes she can never realize it.

bro idgaf

Mick. Holding a small syringe. Injecting it in my arm.

Oh I FUCKING KNEW IT these bitches are so predictable

because despite his Were strength, he seems too weak to escape Serena’s grip.

mhm. or maybe she’s strong

“He has my son,” he whispers, looking at Father. Who has the self-satisfied expression of someone who checkmated everyone in the game.

well at least he’s not evil

“Misery,” Father interrupts. “You are a never-ending source of disappointment.”

oh brother. I could not care less abt what he has to say

fuckwaffle.”

hate this

“Oh, Misery. Is that what you think? That it was Liliana who I tried to kill?”

he tried to kill YOU

“I have sacrificed you before, and I will do it again,” my father tells me. There is no remorse in him. No conflict. “For the good of the Vampyres, I will not hesitate.”

We never really know our fathers do we

“He’s wrong.” That’s what Serena said. In our secret alphabet.

of course. lmao

And that…that thing she isn’t able to do? She shouldn’t be sad about it. Because she’ll grow into it. And she’ll definitely be able to do it by the time she’s twenty-five or so.”

could you be less subtle my god

The headphones they put on him must be noise canceling,

this image is so funny to me

“No. No. You don’t get to be surprised about what I feel for you.

sigh

“I’m going to do it, Misery. I’m going to come where I’m supposed to.”

im laughing

Serena. Koen’s gaze remains there for a long time, as though captured, or maybe unwilling to let go. “Well, well, well,” he drawls. His voice is gruff. Too deep. “I’m fucked, all right.” Understanding immediately dawns on Lowe. This, he thinks, is going to be an issue.

mates are so rare most were go their whole lives without finding theirs blah blah BLAH except for these two best friends. obviously