Awakening (The Magic of the Black Forest Book 2) (4 page)

“Be patient, Mrs. Jenkins. We’ll be on our way soon.” He kissed the side of my head.

“I like the way that sounds
… Tell me, my dear husband
…” His smile grew. “How does it sound when I call you my husband?” I giggled and his lips were on mine again, silencing me.

“It’s music to my ears,” he replied.

“You look beautiful, Nat. Nice necklace
,” Seager mindfully thought.

“Thank you, Seager. Melissa gave it to me. It looks like you. You look great wearing that tie.”
I bent down to hug him.
“I love you. It’s because of you we’re together.”

Bradley never let go of my hand as we greeted and hugged the seemingly endless line of guests who congratulated us. My aunt introduced us to a bunch of relatives I had never met before while Bradley introduced me to many witches, vamps and grizzlies that were strangers to me. The only people that I knew, besides the bridal party, were Harvey, my parent’s lifelong friend and my lawyer, Melissa’s parents, Matt and James.

Once we hugged and kissed our guests, Bradley pulled me onto the dance floor for the bride and groom dance.

As we danced around the yard, staring deeply into each other’s eyes, no one else existed but the two of us. Bradley sang the words to our wedding song in my ear as he spun and twirled me along the grassed dance floor.

“You look very handsome Mr. Jenkins. I love you.”

After kissing the tip of my nose, “I love you, too. Did you see all the beautiful flowers Melissa decorated the yard and tables with?”

Dazzled and unwilling to take my eyes from his I shook my head no. Once again I had to pry my eyes away from his handsome face. Instead, I took in the beautiful fall themed decorations. Burnt orange and red Gerbera daises lay wildly on every table. Autumn colored leaves, lay sporadically, spread on top of the tables and ground, appearing as if they’d fallen from the trees. My favorite colors burnt orange, white, red, green and yellow were everywhere.

“Wow, they’re beautiful. I love daisies.”

“I didn’t think you’d noticed the flowers or decorations,” he said, kissing my forehead and pulling me in even closer, entwining our bodies.

Gazing back into his eyes, I smirked teasingly. “I was busy looking at my sexy, handsome husband. Would you prefer that I continue to look at the flowers and decorations?”

“No, but I thought you should get a good look so that you could thank Melissa for her hard work. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to forgive yourself for forgetting and you’d be unable to concentrate on more important things…like our upcoming honeymoon.” His lips took hold of mine again. Bradley pulled his head back momentarily, “Do you think it would be rude if we left sooner than expected?”

“Now who’s being impatient?” I questioned as we both burst out in ear piercing laughter. Everyone stopped and turned, looking at us. Smiling, we continued dancing, momentarily living in our own little world.

After everyone took turns dancing with us, we all gathered at the cake table to cut the cake. My aunt insisted on saving the top tier, saying that we had to freeze and save it. On our first anniversary we were to defrost it and each eat a piece for good luck. To appease her, we agreed.

Unsure how to slice it, we cut our pieces from the upper tier of the cake.  Holding onto the cake knife, Bradley placed his hand over mine and we made the first cut together. Afterwards, we fed each other a piece without smashing it into each other’s face.

Jesse yelled, “Come on, Natty, smash it in his face. Shove it up his nose!”

“Yeah, Brad,” Coll chimed in, “Smash a piece in her face. Just don’t mess up her hair or stain her dress,” she laughed.

“It’s tradition!” they yelled simultaneously.

“
There’s only one way to shut them up, Bradley.
” The corners of his lips curled in agreement.

We each picked up and held a piece of cake in our hand. Staring each other in the eye we reached back…

“Do it, Natty! Do it!” Jesse dared.

Without warning, Bradley spun around and smashed a piece of cake in Jesse’s face while I got Colleen.

Wiping icing and cake from his hand with a napkin, Bradley stood tall and challenged the remainder of our guests, “Does anyone else wish to mess with my beautiful bride and me?” Thankfully, no one took him up on the offer. I didn’t want a food fight to break out and someone to get food all over my gown.

“It’s time for Brad to take off the garter,” Dave yelled from the other side of the yard. It was as if Bradley had been waiting for this announcement. He walked me over to the chair Dave strategically placed right in the middle of the circle our guests had formed.

“Hmm, you’re blushing already,” Bradley whispered as he let his hands drift up my leg. Then, he lifted my dress and slip slightly, and dove in after my blue garter. I held the dress down over him worried someone would see up it. He quickly returned without the garter. Pressing his lips to my ear he whispered, “We’re leaving right after you throw the bouquet.” In a flash he was back under my dress.

Butterfly kisses were pressed against my inner upper thigh before I felt him tugging at the garter with his teeth. Not until he got to my foot did he use his hands. Jumping up, he spun around towards our guests and shot it across the yard like a rubber band. Dave jumped up and caught it with great exaggeration, hooting and hollering while spinning it around his index finger.

I looked back at Bradley and his face was right in front of mine. “Throw the flowers so we can go. I want to see what else you have on under there.” Black narrowing eyes, full of hunger, and a hard jaw line had me giggling. The man can be so impatient sometimes. I stood up, spun around, and just before I threw my bouquet, Colleen grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

“All of the single women stand over there,” she gestured to the crowd. “Nat, you have to do this right. We want Melissa or Cheryl to catch the flowers.” Colleen thought of everything.

Searching the crowd of ladies for Cheryl, I found her standing way in the back. When our eyes met I winked, spun around and tossed the flowers. Magic landed my bouquet in Cheryl’s arms. Turning, I faced the women and the crowd parted as Cheryl just stood there staring at the bouquet. Running up to her, I gave her a big hug.

“Thank you for coming, Cheryl. You have become such a good friend. It would make us very happy if you and Dave tied the knot next.” I kissed her cheek and returned to Bradley’s side.

Before anyone else could tell us about any other traditions that we needed to fulfill, Bradley announced that we were leaving. Melissa and my aunt took that as their cue and rushed me into the house to get changed. Colleen was already there waiting with a white designer skirt and a white cashmere v-neck sweater with a pair of white sneakers. I thought to myself, “
So much for dressing casually!
” They helped me get the wedding gown off, and I went to change my undergarments, but Colleen insisted that I leave them on. That’s when I remembered Bradley’s reaction when he looked up my dress. He liked what he saw. Naturally, I agreed and left them on.

Bradley and Seager were waiting on the porch when I came out. Bradley looked sexy dressed in his white jeans and white v-neck t-shirt. At the bottom of the v-neck, chest hairs were exposed. He looked delicious.

Bradley took my hand in his and we walked down a path created by our guests, who blew bubbles in the air while guiding us to the truck. Some of our friends and family hugged us as we past them, wishing us luck.

***

At first, I didn’t notice the ATV in the back of Jesse’s truck. Staring out of the back window while waving goodbye, I asked, “Why are we bringing my quad?”

“We’ll need it to get to where we’re going,” Bradley replied.

We drove on the main road for roughly five minutes before he turned off onto a narrow rocky road. On either side, thick vegetation of shrubs and foliage blocked our view of the forest.  The canopy of trees that sheltered us from above also scratched the sides of the truck with their long, thick lower limbs. Driving fast on the uneven jagged road made for a bumpy ride. It also put my nerves on edge.

“Bradley, I’m excited, too, but do we need to drive so fast?”

“Yes, my darling wife. We need to get to there before dark.”

“Okay. Why?”

“You’ll see.” He hesitated for a moment but I could tell he had something else to say. Not sure what it was about, I waited patiently.

“Natalia, there’s a few things I need to tell you. Please don’t be upset that I haven’t told you sooner.” Glancing over at me, he waited for my response.

“Uh-oh. Is it bad, Bradley? Please don’t tell me we can’t have the honeymoon you promised.” Crossing my arms over my chest, looking out the window, I tried to hide the hurt expression on my face.

Briefly, he touched my neck before returning his hand to the wheel. If the road wasn’t so rugged, or we weren’t in such a rush, he would have probably stopped to make me look at him. He doesn’t like it when I hide my eyes from him.

“There’s no way I’m breaking that promise, Natalia. I’ve been waiting just as long as you and let’s not forget I want to see the outfit you’re wearing under those clothes.” He chuckled, before sighing in frustration.

“I didn’t keep this from you intentionally. I just never felt the need to tell you until now. You see, Natalia…well...I am also quite wealthy. I own most of this mountain and a few other properties throughout the country. I used to own your house and property.” He paused to wait for me to say something but I just sat there, without turning to face him, with my mouth gaping. When I didn’t say anything, he continued.

“I rented the house to someone for a few years and he was supposed to move out in July but as you know he passed away. After meeting you, my plans were for us to settle down in that house, but you broke up with me and moved away. I didn’t want it anymore after that, so I asked Jesse to have his friend sell it.”

Turning to face him, I interrupted saying, “If I recall, you dumped me, but that doesn’t matter now. The night you saw me there, the one where I fell and cracked my head open.” I winced remembering my head smacking into the side of the house, “You didn’t say you owned the house. I think you said something about stopping by to check out the new family.”

“Please let me finish, Natalia. I didn’t know that Jesse had plans of his own. He never mentioned that he was talking to you, trying to get you to buy the house. When we got back together, I tried to take the house off the market, but Jesse said it was too late. That someone already bought it. He told me when the new owner would be moving in, so I decided to go see who it was to try to buy the house back from them. I was going to make them an offer they couldn’t refuse. That’s why I was so shocked to see you and Seager there.

“I was upset with Jesse because I felt like he betrayed us both but he insisted that he did it for us. He said we were both being foolish and that we belonged together.”

Placing my hand on his leg, “Well I guess I could sell it back to you but it’s going to cost you at least four times more than what you sold it to me for. You see, my husband, Seager, and I plan to live our lives there and I’m not willing to give it up that easily.”

He smiled with relief. “So you’re not angry with me for not telling you sooner?”

“Nope. It was fate. You’d have to come up with something better than that to get rid of me. Is there anything else I need to know?”

“Yes, ma’am.” He chuckled. “About thirty years ago Dave and I built a huge house in the top of this mountain. It’s a place I go to escape, and be myself freely. To be a vampire. Dave has a place of his own on the mountain behind this one. The only people who know about it are Jesse and Dave. Besides me, of course Dave is the only other person who’s actually been there. That’s where we’re going for our honeymoon. There will be lots of privacy and trails to walk. There is even a natural spring with a small waterfall. It has a nice view. It’s not Hawaii, but I thought you would like this better.” He inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly as we pulled up to the end of the road.

“Bradley, where’s the rest of the road?”

“We need to leave the truck here. We’re going to take the quad and that trailer over there the rest of the way. Jesse and Dave brought it up a few days ago. You asked why I was in such a rush… We don’t want to be on the quad in the dark. Natalia, it would save us a lot of time if you used your magic to unload the truck into the trailer after I hook it up to the quad.”

We weren’t even out of the truck when it shook. The quad was up in the air for a few seconds before settling back on the forest floor. Raising my hand and wiggling my fingers in a circular motion, “Now the trailer and our belongings.” Moments later the trailer was hitched to the ATV and our belongings were packed on the trailer.

Bradley jumped out of the truck and raced to my side. Opening the door, he lifted me up into his arms. Sitting me on the quad, he left me breathless from a longing passionate kiss. While I savored and enjoyed the remnants of his flavor on my lips, Bradley covered the truck to conceal it.

Rushing around picking up fallen branches and small trees, and ripping out bushes, it didn’t take him too long to hide Jesse’s truck.

“I could have done that, too, you know.”