Happily Ever After: The New Dawn Wedding

Chapter Five

Aiden

Istretch out my arm to pull Ella closer, but her side of the bed is empty. The sheets are cool. The room is quiet. There”s no sound coming from the bathroom either.

I lean up on my elbows and let my eyes adjust to the darkness. Reaching for my phone on the bedside table, I check the time.

Five thirty.

The sun will rise in an hour. I bet Ella couldn”t sleep and went down to the beach.

I swing my legs over the side of the bed, searching for my clothes on the floor. Finding only my shorts, I pull them on. Ella must be wearing my shirt. The thought pleases me.

My woman... my shirt on her... my scent clinging to her skin - it satisfies something primal inside me.

I take a fresh shirt from the walk-in closet and pull it on as I make my way to the terrace door. The breeze moves the curtains gently and caresses my skin the moment I step outside.

The rays of the moon guide my steps down to the beach. I spot Ella right away; her silhouette standing out against her flat surroundings.

As I draw closer, I notice she”s pulled her legs up close to her body, her arms hugging them while my shirt covers her skin like a tent. She must be cold.

I make a detour via the daybed and pick up a blanket that”s tucked away in a drawer underneath. I drape it around her shoulders as soon as I reach her. She looks up at me, and even in the dim light I can make out the deep blue of her eyes. They never fail to mesmerize me.

”I wondered when you”d wake up. Twilight must be close.”

”It is,” I reply, sitting down behind her and pulling her against my body. ”But today I wouldn”t have minded staying in bed a bit longer.”

My arms and legs encase her body to warm her up, and I rest my head on her shoulder.

”Why didn”t you?”

I chuckle. ”You know the answer to that, lucida.”

She smirks. ”Because I wasn”t in it?”

”Precisely.”

We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes, watching the waves roll in. It”s then I pick up on a sense of melancholy seeming to weigh Ella down. It makes me frown.

”Why couldn”t you sleep? You”re never up at this hour. You”re not getting cold feet, are you?” I tease.

”About marrying you?”

”Hmm.”

”Never,” she chuckles, turning in the cocoon I created around her.

She takes my face into her hands, her fingers caressing my cheeks. Her eyes find mine, and the love I see there is unmistakable.

”I love you with everything I am. I can”t wait to be your wife and for you to be my husband.”

She seals that statement with a kiss. It”s soulful and rich. Rich with the promise of a happy life together.

”Are you doubting me because of where we are? Because this used to be Tiero”s turf?”

Do I?

I ponder that before I answer.

”No. I never doubted your love for me... even when Tiero was still alive and showed up in our lives.”

”Good. Because I chose you, Aiden Burg. You and I are the perfect match.”

Her words make my insides flutter with happiness and contentment. Her next ones, though?

”The time I spent with Tiero on this island was my happiest time since my parents” death... maybe even ever. Up until that point at least,” she adds, nudging my side with her elbow.

”I had fallen head over heels in love with Tiero, and I believe it was the same for him. But we weren”t a good fit. We were one of those cases where love isn”t enough. Even before I knew who he really was, the gap between everything we believed in, everything that we had and aspired to was just too big. Take the practical, physical things, for example. I”ve never seen myself in a huge Sicilian mansion, but a house in the mountains? Yes, yes, yes.” ”So you”re saying my house was the deciding factor?” I joke. ”Totally,” she deadpans. I pull her closer, putting her in a tender headlock. When I release her, she continues. ”In all seriousness, though, it”s just one example of how you are everything I ever wanted in life. I don”t want a Ferrari... though driving one was such fun. But if I had that every day, it wouldn”t be special anymore. This way, I have the best memories. The designer wardrobe I woke up to after my abduction horrified me. So much money spent on clothes... it”s wasteful. And I didn”t want to consider the way Tiero and his family got that rich.

”That”s another sore point. Everything he spent on me came from the suffering of others.”

The way Ella and Gualtiero earned their money couldn”t have been more opposite. The guide dog trainer for the blind versus the Mafia Don dealing in drugs, weapons, and God knows what else.

It”s not something Ella could have overlooked, let alone accepted.

Their relationship was doomed from the start. As Ella said, no amount of love could have overcome that gap.

”What about this island?” I challenge. ”It was bought with the same money, yet you”ve accepted it.”

Ella lets out a long sigh. ”Ordinarily, I wouldn”t have. But it was Tiero”s dying wish. How could I have denied him anything at that point? He was giving his life up for me. And Tiero also had legitimate businesses. He could have bought the island with those profits.”

Silence follows.

Really, what else is there to say? Both of us would have pretty much agreed to anything if it meant Tiero could die peacefully. It”s partially the reason we”re getting married here with Father Josef officiating. We promised Tiero, and, really, it”s an easy promise to keep.

”You know, I understand why he did it... die for you, I mean. In his position, I would have done the same. Not just because I love you beyond rhyme or reason, but also if I had to face losing you to another man, the future would look extremely bleak. Death could be the kinder option.”

Ella lets her head fall back onto my shoulder, groaning. ”Dammit. That”s a horrible thing to say.”

”It doesn”t make it any less true.”

”I know,” she sighs. ”And I understand. In Tiero”s position, I probably would have done the same too,” she admits, gazing up at the stars.

They”re beginning to disappear one by one as twilight blooms on the horizon. The sky is gradually lightening, the highest clouds catching the first pink, orange, and red hues and bathing them in a soft glow.

This is my favorite time of the day. Everything is still quiet and covered with the heavy blanket of sleep. Then, bit by bit, the world comes to life.

”Do you think in another lifetime we”ll really meet again... the three of us?” Ella asks, breaking the silence.

I press a kiss to her temple. ”Yes, I do believe that.”

Prior to my time in India, I would have laughed at the idea. In the army and then later in the Green Berets, when you deal with life and death on a regular basis, you only count on the tangible things. Concepts like reincarnation seemed airy-fairy, and frankly loopy. Though, had I ever stopped to consider it more, perhaps it could have brought some relief in the hours of anguish and despair.

”Do you think I”m going to be in the same position again? Where I have to choose one over the other?” Ella”s voice is hesitant. This isn”t something she wants to experience again.

”I don”t want to speculate. Though I”d hope that if you had to, you”d always pick me, and that there”s less death and destruction. Who knows, you might not need to choose because Tiero and I are gay.”

She huffs. ”You two are so alpha male, I could not imagine you batting for the other team.”

I couldn”t imagine it either, but who knows what”s possible?

”Tiero did make me feel all kinds of weird stuff. But I definitely wasn”t sexually attracted to him.”

”I sometimes wonder what our other lifetimes together looked like... especially the one after our soul split. Would it have been more intense because the memory of a united soul was stronger?”

”If you really wanted to know, you could try hypnosis for a past life regression. I”ve heard of people who”ve done it and recovered memories from centuries ago.”

”Hmm. It would be kind of fun to explore.”

”I”m not so sure. Who knows what we”d uncover? People always seem to remember the dramatic parts of their lives. Why would that be different if you”re trying to access other lifetimes? Some of it might not be pretty. Perhaps sleeping bears are best left alone.”

Ella draws small circles on my forearm, thinking. ”You”re probably right. I”ve had enough drama in the last few years to last me several lifetimes. I don”t need to know of any more struggles.”

She snuggles deeper into my arms and lets out a sigh.

”That”s assuming any of this is true. Though it has always felt like our souls are deeply connected.”

The first rays of the sun rise out of the water, turning the sky brighter shades of orange and pink.

”It”s so beautiful. Perhaps we should get married at dawn.”

I chuckle. ”You”re not a morning person, Sunshine. Plus, you”d have to get up in the middle of the night to get ready. You wouldn”t enjoy that.”

”That”s unfortunately true. I”d probably be cranky for the rest of the day. No, let”s stick with our plan to get married at sunset.”

”Yeah, it”s a much safer option. And you”ll have plenty of energy for our wedding night. I wouldn”t want you to fall asleep on me now, would I?”

That makes her laugh. ”There”s no chance of that happening. This marriage will be consummated on our wedding night,” she states confidently.

Damn straight it will.

We watch in silence as the sun makes its way out of the sea, the sky turning brighter and more colorful.

”Getting married here feels right... in the place where Tiero could be himself,” Ella muses. ”I”m closer to him here. I”ve noticed it already back in August.”

”I get what you mean. It”s the same for me.”

”And you”re truly okay with it?” she asks, her tone sincere.

Even with the promise we made to Tiero, I”m sure if I told her I wasn”t, my Sunshine wouldn”t hesitate to postpone our wedding and find a location that suited us both. But as it stands, I fell in love with this place on our first visit.

It surprised me. To be honest, I expected to feel awkward and out of place on an island that belonged to a man who once held my girl close here. But the opposite was the case.

There”s something about this place that drew me in. Perhaps it”s that soul connection Ella spoke about... who knows?

The only thing I couldn”t tolerate was sleeping in the same bed Ella and Tiero had sex in. But that”s sorted. Nothing stands in my way of total enjoyment now.

”I am. I can”t explain that strange bond I had with Tiero to anybody but you. Well, perhaps Master Sachinanda would get it too, and Claudette. But I feel more complete here.”

And after a short pause, I add, ”Plus, you chose me. That definitely helps.”

She laughs. It”s carefree and happy, her eyes sparkling in the soft light. And I know I”d damn near do anything to see and hear her like this over and over again... for the rest of my life.

”Yes, I did,” she agrees. ”Wholeheartedly.”