As vampires, their lives were always shrouded in winter. Vampires were cold, clammy creatures and yet, Anthony experienced the warmth of the sun when he was with Knox. The heat from his blush, the heat from Knox's stare, the warmth spilling over them from the shower head, and the blood spilling down Anthony's throat. It was overwhelming, all-consuming, the shower water pouring over him while Knox's hands were all over his body, still over his body and just going back over all the places he explored the night before.
Anthony held onto Knox tightly, counting down from ten to remind himself of his own mind. He was going to stop drinking from Knox, no matter how sweet he was, even though his blood spilled life and warmth back into his veins.
Knox turned Anthony around, deciding when he was going to detach before him, but they weren't far apart for long. Anthony wiped his mouth with the length of his arm and the spilled over blood went down the drain. Knox waited for no one, thrusting inside of Anthony and Anthony gasped, dropping his head between his shoulders, letting the water drip from his hair. Knox splayed his hand out on Anthony's back, gripping his waist and slamming into him. Every thrust had the booming power of a pounding base, and Anthony gripped his cock, unable to take it.
Anthony trembled, feeling that first sweet thrill of pleasure fly through his body. Knox cursed as Anthony tightened around him, but that didn't slow Knox down. Everything was hot, the water, their bodies, his breath, and every inch of Anthony was slick. He stroked up his shaft faster, even when it was too much, too sensitive to handle, until he shuddered and broke the seal and his ecstasy spilled throughout his body as his voice bounced around the bathroom.
If this was going to be every morning with Knox, Anthony was going to go to bed early every single night.
***
"How crazy is my hair?" Anthony asked, getting out of the car. He couldn't stop fussing with his curls. Back at the hotel, they had to use the hair dryers there and then, air dry the rest. Anthony must look like the top of a broccoli stalk. They still wore the same clothes from yesterday, rolling back up to the Lavigne estate.
"It's cute," Knox said, walking around the car to meet Anthony. He put his arm around Anthony's shoulders, bringing him in so he could kiss his mess of curls. "I've never seen it so poofy."
Anthony elbowed him, but when Knox snapped away, Knox pulled himself back to Anthony's side. Knox laughed again. "What? I like seeing you in different ways. It makes me feel closer to you, like I'm getting to know you more."
"By that logic, I'm allowed to shave your head and we'll become best friends."
"It's always the most dramatic option with you," Knox muttered, still amused, and yet Anthony didn't pull away. They walked together into the castle and, just as Anthony went for the stairs, Knox grabbed his hand and kept him there. "Wait," Knox said, "I have one more surprise."
Anthony's eyebrows raised. "Really? Well, I'll let you have this one."
Anthony let Knox drag him, leading him towards the ballroom, where their wedding took place in only a few days. Anthony actually liked the idea of seeing whatever monstrous decor Johanna chose. This way, he could take the surprise away and manage his expression to look either natural or he could muster up the creativity to act impressed.
Knox put his hand on the knob, glancing back at Anthony with those sparkly blue eyes. "Ready?"
"Let's see it," Anthony said and steeled himself, knowing he could make fun of it in front of Knox. Knox opened the door and Anthony held his breath, walking in with Knox, but Anthony froze right at the door.
Everything had changed.
They had replaced the white chairs with warm tone woods, all varied in cuts and designs. The runner was a mix of dinner rugs. The candelabras were more vintage with earth toned wicks. Everything looked like they plucked it from time put here for them.
And then, the arch was dripping with hydrangeas.
"What... How?" He turned to Knox. "This doesn't... this is all different. I don't..."
"My mother created that wedding with me and Nino in mind. I allowed her to plan it because I didn't care about the wedding part or the groom part. I only cared about what came out of it..." Fondly, Knox pinched one of Anthony's unruly curls by Anthony's face. "But ever since we met and you agreed to the engagement, I thought about how I would like to be married to you. I wondered about what kind of wedding Anthony Ventura might want to have." Knox dropped his hand, smiling sheepishly at Anthony. "I hope you like it."
"Like it?" Anthony smiled in total disbelief. He couldn't stop looking at it all. He wasn't the kid that envisioned his wedding growing up, but if someone were to pull his essence and make it a wedding theme, this would be it. Anthony looked at Knox. "I love it."
Knox straightened, surprise flickering across his face, and Anthony heard himself, realizing what he just said out loud to Knox.
Anthony opened his mouth to explain himself better when the doors swung open and a little pair of feet skittered down the aisle. "Uncle Anthony!" None other than his beautiful niece, Evie, threw herself at him.
"Evie?" Anthony gawked. He scooped her up without a second thought and spun his favorite girl around. "What are you doing here?"
He looked back at the door as his family rifled inside, chatting amongst themselves.
"What are you all doing here? You're early?"
"Ask him," Dante said, motioning to Knox. He stood at the back, his hands in his pockets in his resting stance, observing everyone and everything. Now his stare included Knox.
"You've missed them," Knox said. "I didn't think you'd all have time to talk on the actual day."
"Why... why are you doing all of this for me?" Anthony whispered, hugging onto Evie a little tighter.
"I'd do anything for you."
Anthony smiled, noticing his sibling hurrying down the aisle. "This is beautiful!" Ben exclaimed.
"What's with the poof?" Bianca asked.
"It's kind of cute, like a poodle." Mathew said.
Gabriel echoed his wife. "I like the poof. You look younger."
"Where are we all sleeping?" Nino chimed in.
"Okay, okay," Anthony said, "Single file line from order of who missed me the most to the least."
"There's no competition!" Bianca exclaimed. She tapped on Evie's shoulder, and Anthony dropped her to her feet. Bianca wrapped her arms around Anthony, squeezing him tight. "The castle is so quiet without you!"
Anthony extended his arm, dragging Nino in. Nino smiled, patting Anthony's back. "I'm glad you're in one piece."
"You should've been more worried about Knox," Anthony argued, which at least made Gabriel laugh. Gabriel waltzed over to Knox, introducing himself, when Anthony met Mathew's sad puppy dog eyes.
"Hi, Anthony," Mathew said in his little voice.
"Hi, Mathew," Anthony mocked him, rolling his eyes as he detangled out of Bianca's and Nino's arms. He pulled Mathew into a hug and rocked his baby brother back and forth. "What? Don't tell me you're still upset over our fight."
"You're terrible at apologies," Mathew grumbled, but still buried himself into Anthony's shoulder. "You sent me that one text and never called, never wrote again. I don't care if you're getting married and moving away. You can't disappear from us." He then weaponized the kind of pout that would've gotten him anything as a child. No matter how old her got, Mathew was the cutest baby brother.
"Aw," Anthony cooed, squeezing and shaking Mathew. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
The door opened again, causing the small crowd to all turn around at once. Johanna appeared, taken aback, and he watched in real time as she slowly composed herself. "Oh, you're all here..."
Dante met up with her first, bowing and shaking her hand. They appeared to be planning rooms, pointing everyone out, and Johanna nodded along, but her eyes danced around the group in a panic. Anthony bit down a smile. This amount of people must overwhelm her. It had just been her and Knox for so long, she must not have properly prepared for an entire family to adopt her, too. Immediately, Bianca interrupted and hijacked the conversation about Johanna's dress options for the wedding.
Out of the corner of Anthony's eye, Evie moved from his side. She meandered up to Knox and tugged on his sleeve. Knox straightened, looking down at her. "Hello," he said.
She motioned him and Knox, without question, he lowered to her height, leaning against his knee. "Yes? You must be Evie, Anthony's niece, right?"
With a nod, Evie quietly examined Knox up and down. Those big dinner plate eyes probably saw more in a second than Anthony did their first hour together. Anthony's stomach twisted, dying to know what she thought. Knox must've panicked in the moment of silence and offered his hand. "I'm Knox Lavigne. It's nice to meet you."
Holding her chin high, Evie accepted the handshake. "Hello, Knox. You're marrying Uncle Anthony, right?"
"Yes, I am," Knox said, talking so gently and sweetly. "I'm sorry we haven't met earlier. I hope you can forgive me for stealing your uncle away."
She didn't answer quickly, bringing in more silence and forcing Knox to sweat. Tilting her head, Evie dropped the handshake and crossed her eyes. Her eyes cut right through him . "Do you... do you like Anthony?"
"Yes, I like him very much." He offered his pinky. "I promise to take good care of him."
She hooked her pinky with him and nodded. From behind Anthony, Ben nudged him. He hugged Anthony too and whispered, "He seems nice."
At the same moment, Knox glanced at him. Anthony smirked. "He's alright." Clapping his hands together, Anthony stole the attention of everyone. "Okay! We're having a sleepover in my room. Everyone's invited."
Dante shook his head. "Pass. I'd actually like to sleep tonight."
With a nod, Gabriel raised his hand. "I will also excuse myself and play dad. Come on Evie. Let's let your mother play with her brothers."
"I wanna go too," Evie argued, but still ran to her father.
"You'll have the entire weekend."
"And this might be a PG-13 party, darling," Bianca added, pressing a kiss to her daughter's head, keeping her hands on her shoulders.
Placing his hand on Anthony's back, Knox said, "After dinner, I'll return to my own room as well." He leaned in for a kiss but steeled himself. Catching the eyes of Anthony's family and blushed up to his ears. He cleared his throat and awkwardly escaped with the rest. Slowly, they trickled out and Anthony was the last out.
"Anthony," Dante said, scaring Anthony enough to make his bones hit the ceiling. He whipped around and his brother's disappointed look almost flattened him. Dante shook his head. "This is why I didn't want it to be you."
"Huh?" Anthony gawked. There was no way he could be anymore confused. Glancing at their siblings walking down the hall, only Mathew seemed to notice Dante stop Anthony. He said nothing, ushering the others farther away. The traitor.
With a sigh, Anthony crossed his arms. "What are you talking about, Dante?"
"This is why I didn't pick you to marry Knox."
"But you picked me."
"You're forgetting one important detail, Anthony. I didn't pick you first to marry Knox. I wanted Nino to marry Knox. Nino would have married Knox, and they would have had a good partnership. You fell in love with him, didn't you?"
"Are you secretly a witch or something? How do you always know these things?"
"Because I have spent my whole life watching over you. And it's why I didn't pick you to marry Knox."
"There is no way you would have known I... I would feel like this." Somehow, even at Anthony's age, it was embarrassing to talk about his crush on a boy with his older brother. Also, he didn't know what annoyed him more that Dante took one look at him and knew his heart better than Anthony did... or Dante was somehow implying Anthony had ulterior motives when it came to accepting this proposal. Anthony came to this castle with zero expectations.
"I agreed to marrying Knox for the family," Anthony said with the conviction of an innocent man on trial. "I'm doing this for the family."
"I know. I knew you'd say yes, no matter who you were asked to marry," Dante explained, even though it seemed to physically pain him. "That's just the kind of person you are, but I also know Knox. He is a suitable partner. At the very minimum, I was hoping you would at least be good friends."
Dante's shoulders dropped as he expelled a tired sigh. "But no. Anthony Ventura, unfortunately, you have the biggest heart of this family." Dante held up his hand before Anthony could even get one argument out. "You might think it'd be somebody else, but no, it's you. You're a kind person Anthony and I wouldn't allow you to fall into the hands of anyone lesser."
"So, is this your way of giving me your approval?" Anthony asked the best he could when the words were catching in his throat. Bianca mentioned something like this earlier, but Anthony assumed she was joking. Hearing it from Dante made it feel too real, made it feel true, and Anthony never felt that way about himself, but this was how the world saw him.
Dante's face dropped into a frown. "I don't approve of these feelings because it will get in the way of what needs to be done for this coven and ours. However," Anthony said, crossing his arms. The harshness in his voice softened into a whisper as Dante finally pulled Anthony into a hug that nearly broke the damn behind Anthony's eyes. "I do approve of you trying to find your happiness. If you come to regret it, you will not have my sympathy."
"I understand," Anthony said, holding his brother tight. "I knew the risks."
Somewhat satisfied, Dante nodded and walked away, leaving Anthony to his thoughts. He didn't think it mattered to him before, but Anthony took this sign of approval, even though it was a small piece of armor to wear. Tears pricked Anthony's eyes, and he looked up to keep any crying at bay. The frizzy hair was bad enough without the puffy eyes. It seemed silly to want to hear someone give him permission to be happy, but... it certainly didn't hurt.