“Oh, come now. My parents tell the story as if it’s the most romantic thing. I’m only honoring the family tradition.” I raise my eyebrows and she scoffs.
“Please, do not do the innocent-looking thing. You may be a master of disguising your feelings but even you can’t pull thatoff.” Her gaze drifted toward the glowing stained-glass windows. “I’m in my nightgown, you know.”
“I do,” I agreed pleasantly, “which is why I brought you a dress and your favorite shoes.” I carried her into the church and set her down outside the women’s restroom. “Why don’t you get tidied up?” Giving her a smile that is in no way reassuring, I add, “Unless you need me to zip up your dress?”
Holding her garment bag against her chest as some sort of shield of virtue, she snapped, “I’ve got it.”
My lovely bride comes out looking much more put together but still clearly unsettled.
“Beautiful thing,” I purred. “Let’s get married.”
Her pink mouth opened as if to protest, but one look at my face and her shoulders sagged. “This is so weird.”
I can count the number of times I've been in this church on one hand. A couple of Christmas services, one at Easter. It was beautiful, with the scent of roses and beeswax from the candles and the huge trio of stained-glass windows behind the altar. Father Hamilton stood up from one of the pews with a big smile for us.
“I know we’ll be seeing each other tomorrow at the MacTavish estate, aye?” he said to Afton. “But your husband- fiancé- your husband already- Mason here thought it would be romantic to follow his family’s tradition of swift and…” he struggled for the right thing to say. “Unconventional ceremonies.”
Afton smiled weakly.
I handed her a bouquet. “Let’s start, shall we? There’s so much more to do tonight.”
If Father Hamilton knew I was talking about fucking my wife senseless, he tactfully ignored it.
As we stood there, listening to the ancient words in the silence of the chapel, I could see why my cousins enjoyed this. The intimacy of just the two of us, Father Hamilton’s sincere face, my wife’s somewhat apprehensive one... I’m fighting a stonner that could be seen from space.
“Bless in Christ the consent you have declared before the Church, so what God joins together, no one may put asunder,” the Father says, reverently shutting his Bible.
I cupped Afton’s face in my hands, one thumb stroking her cheekbone as a guttural rumble of satisfaction came from my chest. Her little hands gripped to my lapels and she’d forgotten about the dubiousness of this kidnapping as she kissed me back.
It took a minute, but I finally forced myself to pull back. “Thank you, Father Hamilton. I understand we’ll be funding one of your after-school programs?”
“Yes,” he smiled serenely, “at the soup kitchen your father funds in the Carntyne West neighborhood.”
A trill of laughter escaped Afton’s lips before she pressed them together.
***
“Where are we?”
I led Afton into a little greenhouse not far from the church. A very old one, with iron hardware and decorative arches. Dozens of pots of lavender and orchids have been moved for the mattress on an elevated stand. There were twinkle lights above, a fanciful thing that I found irritating but that I knew she loved.
“It’s our wedding night,” I smiled and I knew it was veering on sinister. I handed her a glass of Cristal. “We’re going to celebrate. Several times.”
Peeling off her dress sent me back to the memory of the two of us in the jet’s bathroom. “Do you remember the first time I did this?” I run my nose along her neck, smelling the lavender around us and her own, sweet vanilla scent. “Taking that wedding dress off you and not throwing you on the bed took all my self-control.”
“I wasn’t sure,” she admitted. “You didn’t seem all that affected.”
“Trust me,” I groaned. “I just didn’t want your first time to be in my jet’s bedroom with turbulence and a lack of time to build you up to it.”
“You are so very considerate, husband,” she said. “Husband twice over. Three times tomorrow.”
I checked my watch. “Hush. I have to defile you and still get you back to the Dowager House before the Lady Elspeth checks on you.”
She laughed, settling back on the bed and raising her arms. “Well, you’d best get to it then.”
***
Currently…
