Those words were sweeter than any wine or confectionery that the party could have offered, that evening. His heart pounded with excitement and adoration. This coupling which should not be felt as if nothing else should ever have happened. Nothing at all felt wrong about this night, this moment.<br/><br/>"And I love you, Miranda LaVelle," he whispered back.<br/><br/>His eyes did not close as he made that final thrust within her. He knew that hers would not, either. Truly the windows to each other's souls were flung wide open, flowing into one another in spirit as their bodies echoed the same. His hips shifted forward, piercing her childhood innocence with his masculinity, their heartbeats and breaths both seeming to hang for an eternity as they consummated their union.<br/><br/>This was more a marriage than could be granted by any institution of church and man. Would that the entirety of both of their houses come to separate the two, they could not be pulled apart. They had truly become one; body, mind and spirit. Claude and Miranda ceased to exist, replaced by the singular entity born of their heart's desire.