Ascension (Book 4, The Watcher Chronicles) (27 page)

Suddenly, I feel like I can’t breathe. I go to the nightstand and find my phone to text Mason.

I can’t breathe

Where are you?

Bedroom…grandfather’s

Instantly, Mason is beside me.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, full of concern.

“I can’t,” I say gasping, “breathe.”

Mason grabs my elbow and I find myself in the kitchen of the beach house.

Mason opens up a cabinet where a stack of small paper bags are. He quickly grabs one, opens it and hands it to me.

“Breathe in it,” he instructs me.

I grab the bag and begin to breathe in and out inside it.

After a while, I feel calmer and lower the bag from my mouth.

“What caused this panic attack?” Mason asks me.

“I was looking at the dress and thinking about all the people who will be at the wedding,” I say, feeling the air leave my lungs again and putting the paper bag back up to my mouth.

“We’re canceling it,” Mason says with finality. “It’s not worth the stress it’s putting you under.”

I shake my head vigorously.

“No,” I say, lowering the bag away from my mouth, “we can’t. It would break Mama Lynn’s heart.”

I put the paper bag back up to my mouth, determined to make myself stop panicking about a simple wedding. There would only be a little over two-hundred people there, right?  And surely the dress wouldn’t trip me as I walk down the aisle, at least not much.

Mason phases us to the bedroom and makes me sit down on the side of the bed. He kneels in front of me dressed in only a pair of his silky black pajama pants.

“Let’s elope,” he says. “We’ll explain later.”

I shake my head again but continue to use the bag to help steady my breathing.

Mason hangs his head.

“Why are you so stubborn?”  He asks, but isn’t really asking me. It’s more of a rhetorical question.

His head snaps up like he’s just had an idea.

“Call your dad,” Mason tells me.

“Why?” I ask with the bag still up to my mouth.

Mason smiles. “I have an idea. Trust me.”

I take a few more breaths inside the bag and then lower it just long enough to call to my father.

He instantly appears in front of me and Mason rises to his feet.

“What’s wrong?” My dad asks. “Why are you breathing in a bag, Jessi?”

“She’s nervous about the wedding,” Mason tells him for me.

“Oh,” my dad smiles slightly. “I was wondering when the realization of the big event would sink in.”

I roll my eyes at the two men I love most in the world.

“I can’t help it,” I say through the bag.

“So, why did you call me?” My dad asks. “How can I help?”

I shrug because I have no idea why Mason asked me to call him here.

I watch Mason close his eyes like he’s deep in thought. He opens them and smiles down at me, holding out one of his hands to help me to my feet.

“Come with me. I think I might have a way to make you less nervous,” he tells me.

Mason leads us out to the terrace, and I find God standing there by the railing waiting for us.

I lower the bag from my mouth.

“Why are you here?” I ask God. “I didn’t pray for you.”

“No, but my son did,” God tells me.

I look over at Mason. “What’s going on?”

“I want to marry you,” Mason says, reaching up to the chain holding his wedding ring and breaking it from around his neck.

.“I know. That’s why we’re having a wedding.”

“No, I want to marry you right here, right now.”

“Why?”

“Because I think if we’re already married, you won’t feel as nervous tomorrow when we do it in front of all our friends and family. When you look at me as you walk down the aisle on your father’s arm, you and I and our fathers will know that we are already man and wife. Whatever happens tomorrow won’t matter because we’ll already be married and nothing will be able to change that.”

The tightness in my chest dissipates as I realize once again just how much Mason truly loves me.

“This will be our wedding,” Mason says to me. “The one tomorrow will just be for show for everyone else’s benefit. Tonight, it’s only us.”

I hand the paper bag in my hand to my dad before Mason and I walk up to God. My dad stands by my side while God speaks.

God looks at us both and smiles. “It is a special union when two soul mates are able to find one another through space and time. I hope you realize how rare such a match is. My greatest wish for you both is that you cherish the time you have together. Don’t waste a moment in anger because those moments can never be retrieved. Time is fleeting and spending it with the ones you love is the most important piece of advice I can give you. Now,” God says looking at Mason, “I believe my son would like to make his own vows to you, Jess.”

Mason takes both of my hands into his. He pauses as if collecting his thoughts before he speaks.

“Before I met you,” Mason says, “I allowed my life to be filled with so much darkness I used it as a shield to keep people out. I never allowed myself to see the beauty of the world around me, and I closed myself off to those who loved me and wanted to be my friend. It was only after I met you that I felt my heart begin to beat again. The light of your soul pierced through the darkness I let surround mine and brought me back to life. You showed me there is still beauty in the world. I can’t imagine my life without you in it and from this day forward I promise to cherish you with all my heart, to always be there when you need to unburden your soul of troubles, and to help you raise our children and build a loving home for them so that they always know how important they are to us. I promise to fulfill all of your dreams to the best of my ability because above everything else I want you to be happy in choosing me to be your husband. I never want to give you an excuse to second guess becoming my wife, my partner in life. I want to be everything you ever dreamed of, to keep you safe from harm when you’ll let me, to keep you warm on the coldest of days and to always be the one person in the world you can count on to be by your side no matter what the world throws at us. I know I’m not perfect but I will try to be for you because there’s nothing in this world I wouldn’t do for you. Jess, will you take me as I am to be your husband?”

I have to draw in a deep breath before answering, not because I have to think about my answer but because Mason’s vow to me made me forget I needed to breathe.

“Yes,” I say, squeezing his hands tightly, “I will.”

I stare into Mason’s eyes and try to gather my own thoughts.

“I don’t think I can be as eloquent as you just were,” I tell him. “But I want you to know that my life was just as dark as yours when we first met. I never saw myself having much of a future. And I never dreamed I would want to bring children into a world full of dangers, seen and unseen. You showed me through your love and patience that the world can be a beautiful place to live in. I see myself becoming a person I never thought I could be, someone who actually looks forward to the future. I know I can be stubborn and hard-headed at times, but I want you to know I will always listen to what you to say to me. Of anyone on this Earth, I treasure your opinion the most. I will do everything within my power to make you happy and to make you feel loved every day of our lives. You’re not only beautiful to me on the outside but also here,” I say placing my hand over his heart. “That’s where your true beauty lies. I promise to treasure you in this life and the one we share in Heaven. I will always be by your side. I will always cherish you. I will always love you. These promises I make to you. Will you, Mason Collier, take me to be your wife?”

“Yes,” Mason says smiling brighter than he ever has at me, “I will.”

Mason gives me his ring and I slip it onto his finger.

“Then I join you as man and wife,” God says to us. “May you both have a joyous and wonderful life together. I give you my blessing with a happy heart. And I believe it’s customary to seal your vows with a kiss.”

Mason leans his head down intent on giving me a small kiss in front of our fathers, but I want more. I wrap my arms around his neck and deepen the kiss because this is the first kiss we’ll share as husband and wife, and I want it to be memorable.

I hear my father clear his throat a little while later, a subtle reminder that he’s still there.

I pull my lips away from Mason’s but keep my arms wrapped around his neck.

I smile at him and say, “Hello, husband.”

He smiles back. “Hello, wife.”

I let go of my husband and turn to face our fathers.

My dad holds his hand out to Mason.

“I guess most fathers would tell their new son-in-laws to make sure they take care of their daughters at this point,” my dad says, “but I don’t feel the need to do that because you’re already doing it. All I can do is wish the two of you a wonderful life together, but honestly, I don’t think I need to do that either. I can’t imagine the two of you having anything but.”

“Thank you, Zeruel,” Mason says.

“I think we should probably go,” God says to my dad. “I’m sure they would like some time alone.”

“Thank you for inviting me to be a part of this,” my dad tells me. “Do I still get to walk you down the aisle tomorrow?”

I nod. “Yes. You still need to walk me and my dress down the aisle.”

My dad smiles. “You know you can always just float if you’re that worried about tripping. I’ll just glide you down the aisle. You don’t actually have to walk.”

“My god you’re brilliant!” I tell my dad, giving him a big hug around the neck.

My dad chuckles. “I will never let you fall, Jessi. Never.”

After our fathers leave, I jump into my husband’s arms and kiss him so hard and so deep I know he’ll never forget it. My heart feels as light as a feather I’m so happy.

“Jess,” Mason says, pulling his lips away from mine enough to speak, “we’re floating.”

It takes a moment for what Mason said to register in my mind. I look down and see the beach house beneath us.

“Well,” I say, “since we’re already up here, I seem to remember us having fun the last time we did this.”

“Have I ever told you I like the way you think, wife?”

I smile. “Yes, you have, husband.”

Mason pokes one of his legs between mine and wraps it around my left one. He proceeds to use his dexterous fingers to push the buttons of his shirt that I’m wearing through their holes. Once the shirt is open at the front, he slips it off my shoulders, letting the gentle breeze blowing around us capture it and send it on its merry way.

In no time at all, my bra joins the shirt.

I untie the silky black ribbon holding Mason’s pants around his waist and they slip down his legs, joining my clothing on the wind, leaving him completely naked in my arms.

“Only one thing left,” Mason murmurs in my ear before trailing kisses down the curve of my neck and using his hands on my body to lower himself in the air. He continues his pleasurable torment by pressing his lips against the sensitive flesh between my breasts and down the stretch of my stomach. Once his hands reach my hips, he begins to slide my panties down my legs. His lips continue to lay claim to my body as they travel down the planes of my thighs until he’s pulled my last piece of clothing free. He slowly makes his way back up to my lips, plunging his hands into my hair and firmly pressing his body against mine.

I wrap my legs around his waist and sigh contentedly as I feel him slip inside me, making me feel whole, loved, and complete.

Chapter 18

Mason gets me back to my grandfather’s house early the next morning. When the girls come in to get me ready for the wedding, I let them do anything they want. I’m floating on a cloud of euphoria so high nothing, not even the thought of how many people will be at the wedding, can ruin my happy mood.