Free Junglecat Honeymoon: Manhattan Ten, Book 3.5 by Lola Dodge

Junglecat Honeymoon
    Mywedding day was the first time I truly felt warm. Ice was part of me; I surrounded myself with it, and it lived in my veins. Joining the Manhattan Ten had only heightened my powers, and I’d always feared that losing control meant losing myself to the ice.
    Panther changed everything.
    As I walked down the aisle, the other members of the Manhattan Ten—our friends and the only family I cared to acknowledge—beamed. Although the weight of their love was palpable, my gaze glossed over them as if superheroes were nothing special. I’d grown used to them since I’d become one. I was marrying one.
    The Midtown cathedral was decked in cascades of icicles and frost roses, and a misty chill hung in the air—as if the day was a dream or a fantasy. Even I was covered in ice diamonds. My conjured jewels matched the lacy pattern of my gown and the reams fabric that waterfalled to the floor. My heart seemed to thump against the bodice as I moved.
    Anticipation. Excitement.
    So many emotions whirled through my heart. So much happiness.
    I passed my bouquet of blue and white orchids to Angel at the altar. Tears gathered in the corners of her dark eyes. No doubt her super-mind was recording every detail of this moment. I returned her smile, but I couldn’t keep myself from turning to Balam.
    My Panther.
    He usually grinned with his teeth, flashing the brilliant white canines that so contrasted with his dark, delicious skin. As he gazed down at me, only the corners of his lips tilted upward.
    Today, his joy was in his eyes. I raked him with my gaze—his skin glowed against the fabric of a perfectly tailored tuxedo that flaunted his muscular frame and deadly lines. A dangerous hunter, who’d captured my heart.
    And he’s all mine.
    Panther grasped my hands, and his heat stirred my blood. I hadn’t known any form of warmth until I met him. Though the church dripped with icicles, I may as well have been in the jungle.
    Although I wasn’t able to cry, icy crystals of joy formed in my lashes. I wiped them away as I turned toward the shaman officiating the ceremony.
    He was one of my tribesmen, with platinum blonde hair and blue eyes nearly identical to my own. He began the ceremony in our tribal language.
    I’d summoned him to Manhattan as a neutral envoy and would send him back to the tundra with a message for my mother. I would not succeed her as queen. Instead, I was marrying the panther her men once tried to kill, and if she tried to harm him, her blood would stain the snow red.
    Panther squeezed my hand. His lantern-yellow eyes blazed and I knew we shared the same thought.
    We will never be parted.
    The priest formed a block of ice over our joined hands, sealing our union in the way of my people—representing an eternal bond, frozen in time. Even then, Panther cut through the chill.
    “Lady Valdís, now known as the heroine Ivory.” The priest switched to English for the crucial question. He’d changed the content as well, eliminating the portion where the couple battled to draw blood. “Do you take this man as your lifelong partner, vowing to battle beside him until the last day?”
    “I do.” And my heart would soon burst in my chest.
    “Balam, known as the hero Panther. Do you take this woman as your lifelong partner, vowing to battle beside her until the last day?”
    “Forever.”
    My joy at his words exploded in a puff of snowflakes that rained down from the rafters. As flurries dusted the shoulders of Pan’s tux, he smiled through glowing, slightly glassy eyes, as moved as I was by this beautiful day and pure, blissful amazement. He was my perfect match, and knowing that Panther felt the same…
    For the first time in my life, I could have melted.
    “Then you are joined before the gods. Do honor unto each other.” The priest bowed before us.
    Using my powers, I evaporated the block of ice until only a frozen ring remained on each of our fingers. Mine would be permanent, but Panther’s