Beauty's Beast(95)

“Erik.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Oh, Erik, I was so afraid I had lost you forever.”

“I missed you,” he said. “More than you will ever know.”

“No more than I missed you.”

Blinking back his tears, he hugged her to him. “Thank you, Dominique,” he murmured.

A warm breeze that felt oddly like a kiss brushed his cheek and was gone.

“It’s over,” Kristine said. “At last.”

“Ah, Kristine, do you know how much I love you?”

“As much as I love you?”

“More,” he said.

“No,” she said, smiling at him through her tears. “I love you more.”

Laughter welled up from deep inside him as he twirled her around the room.

“Come, my sweet Kristine,” he said, setting her on her feet. “We can argue about it at home.”

Home! She sighed as she cupped his face in her hands. “Ah, my lord Erik, don’t you know that you are my home?”

“And you, my love, are my life,” he said fervently, and he kissed her there, in the middle of the chapel, with the golden rays of the sun shining down on them through the window like a benediction.