Isa's faith was an eclectic mixture of her mother's Roman Catholic upbringing and the Native American Church that her grandmother practiced. It didn't seem entirely appropriate for her, given the connection she felt to the land. My island may not be her ancestral home, but it was Earth.
It was the Earth she would be buried in at my side when we eventually passed. It was the land our children would be raised on.
It seemed only fitting for Isa that I marry her on the land, but to appease the Catholics among my people, I arranged for the ceremony to happen in the backyard of the church. It butted against the back side of the island, a fairly modest building in and of itself, but offered enchanting views of the Mediterranean.
I stared out at the water as the women scurried around behind me, arranging flowers onto the arch the men had carved for Isa. For the Queen they planned to welcome as their own that day, when Isa was finally ready. She'd slept in after her ordeal the day before. I was a cruel bastard for not giving her a day to recover, but I needed her tied to me in every way.
My people already knew she was special to me. She already knew I loved her, and she'd made her choice to stay when she could have killed me and taken her freedom. Instead, she slept in my bed until Regina woke her and helped her through preparing without giving away any specifics until the moment I would arrive with her white dress in hand.
As the women finished with the flowers, the men hauled the arch into place and lifted it, securing it to the ground with spikes to hold it firmly for the day. The women smiled at me encouragingly, draping light beige fabric over the arch artfully.
I turned on my heel, heading for the SUV and climbing in next to Alejandro. He grinned, a dark smile that rivaled one of my own. He knew the fight I would have coming. Isa may have agreed to stay with me, and I'd told her she would be my wife.
I just don't think she understood that I meant immediately.
"Let's go get your wife," Alejandro said as Santiago started up the SUV and turned onto the dirt road that would lead us around to the front of the island where the main house sat. The journey wasn't long, but I stared out the window as my home passed us by. The beauty of the woods and pine trees on the back side were such a contrast to the sandy beaches down below. I truly believed my island offered the best of nature that the world had to offer.
"Can you stop twitching?" Alejandro asked as the car turned up the road that would lead to the house. I glanced back at him, relaxing my fingers from the fists they'd clenched into. "You already know she's going to say no, so what has you so antsy?"
"You meanasidefrom the fact that the woman I'm about to marry will need to be threatened into saying yes? Not a thing," I grunted, turning my gaze up to the house as we pulled into the driveway. I sat in the passenger seat for a few more moments, until Alejandro sighed behind me.
"You've never cared before. What difference does it make now?" he asked.
"It doesn't," I said finally, shoving open the SUV door and climbing out. I grabbed the dress bag out of the back seat before making my way inside. Regina was missing from her usual post in the kitchen, the only confirmation I'd get that she'd done as I asked and pushed Isa to get ready.
The bedroom door was open as I rounded the corner, stepping into the room. Isa sat at the vanity I'd had the brothers haul in for her when she was being tattooed the day before, her stunning face staring into the mirror as she swept a coat of mascara onto her eyelashes. She turned her uncertain gaze to me in the mirror, the green of her eyes standing out against the soft and dewy look her makeup gave her.
She stood slowly with a slight grimace as Regina stepped in to offer her a hand and help her, wobbling on her bare feet as her knees protested the movement. "What is all this?" she asked, glancing at the dress bag in my hands.
Regina looked at me as she guided Isa to me, placing her hand in mine so that I could support her as I dropped the dress bag onto the bed. I nodded back, and she smiled with tears in her eyes before she ducked out of the room and closed the door behind her. "Rafael?" Isa asked, swallowing her nerves as her eyes fell to the garment bag. "You're scaring me."
"There's no need to be afraid,Princesa," I murmured, leaning forward to touch my lips to her forehead. She leaned into the touch, exhaustion written into the lines of her face as her eyes drifted closed. With everything I'd thrown at her since bringing her toEl Infierno,I knew this would be the last hit for a little while.
She needed to rest. She needed to come to terms with her place in my life, and there was just one more piece to move into position before she could do that.
"Then what's going on?" she asked. "Are we leaving the island?"
I released her slowly, giving her the chance to find the balance to stand on her own. She swayed slightly without my support, but persevered through it to stare down at the dress bag and watch as I unzipped it carefully. The simple white dress had been made by Alejandro's mother. With thin straps that would hang off her shoulders and a fitted bust that fell to delicate layers of hand stitched lace that would trail lightly behind her.
It was understated, but fit for my Queen in a way that I knew would suit her. She stared down at it, shaking her head in protest quickly as she tried to back up a step. "It's too soon," she argued, not even bothering to deny that she would marry me one day. She'd agreed to it by not killing me when she had the chance.
"I've waited long enough," I told her, stepping forward to grab the tie on her robe. She swatted at my hand, trying to push me away as I unknotted it and bared her body to my gaze. With only a strapless bra and matching panties to cover her, it would take every ounce of control in my body to keep from taking her then and there.
Such was the sight ofmi reinain all her glory.
But the next time I came inside her, she would be my fuckingwife.
"Rafael, this isn't fair. I'm not ready for this!" She winced as I slid the robe off her shoulders, letting it pool at her feet. She was in no state to fight me, perhaps one of the benefits to being cruel and marrying her when she was sore. "You've known me for over a year, and you're older. But I'm only eighteen, and this is all so new to me. Please, just give me sometime," she pleaded, watching in apprehension as I pulled the dress out of the bag and unzipped the back.
"Time will not make a difference for you," I murmured, trying to keep my voice patient with her as I bunched the fabric in my hands. I slid it over her head, tugging it down and being careful not to disrupt her carefully arranged hair that she'd styled in waves. I maneuvered her arms into the straps while she stared at me. Her brain worked behind her gaze, trying desperately to come up with an excuse that I would accept.
She sniffled, her bottom lip trembling as she fought back tears. A sliver of guilt crept in, not wanting her to cry on our wedding day. With her dress still unzipped, I cupped her face in my hands and leaned down to run my nose along the side of hers. Taking care not to muss her makeup, I kissed her gently. Coaxing her to remember the reason that I needed to marry her so urgently.
I loved her. I would always love her.
I wouldn't waste another day without her as my wife.
"Will it always be like this?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders as her face twisted with pain. "You deciding things for me? Forcing me into things I'm not ready for?"
I stepped around her, zipping her dress and sweeping her hair to one side. I touched my lips to her shoulder as my hand drifted down to the bandage on her arm. Pulling it free slowly, I stared down at the ink that claimed her as mine. Knowing that soon my rings would rest on her fingers as well appeased the beast in me, letting me be gentler with her in our private moments than I would be if she challenged me at the ceremony itself.
I had no doubt she would, and I'd taken precautions to ensure her complete cooperation. Even if it bothered me that I would need them.
"It won't always be like this," I said. "Things will settle. You'll adjust to your life at my side, and eventually you'll come to embrace who you are when you're with me. It would be easier if you didn't fight me every step of the way, but then you wouldn't be you," I said, smiling into her skin as she sighed.
She nodded absently as I zipped up her dress, but the move was anything but an agreement. We both knew that the real fight had yet to come.