34. Alejandro
ALEJANDRO
ONE YEAR LATER
THE FIRST TIME Gabriel had stood on the bow of El Sol de Solterra, he’d looked out over the endless stretch of water and said the yacht made him feel like sailing off to start a new adventure.
I’d thought that sounded a little too optimistic and completely impractical, but just as he’d done so many times over since we’d met, he was proving me wrong.
Because one year later, I stood on the deck of that same yacht, somewhere off the Solterran coast, with the setting sun coloring everything in gold, a ring on my finger, and Gabriel Valemont as my husband.
My husband.
I wasn’t sure when it would sink in, but as I watched Gabriel standing against the railing, his hair hopeless against the wind and his face tilted up and bathed in golden light, I felt nothing but soul-bursting joy.
He was so beautiful.
And he was mine.
He glanced over his shoulder, catching me watching him, and his smile grew. It wasn’t the dazzling grin he gave to everyone else but the softer one he reserved just for me.
“That’s the third time I’ve caught you staring at me since we sent the officiant away,” he said.
“You’re my husband now. I’m allowed to stare.”
“Ooh, I like that. Say it again.”
“My husband.” I reached for his hand, the one with the matching band that I rubbed with my thumb, and pulled him toward me. His hands went to my chest, and I caught a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.
“Again.”
I chuckled. “You’re going to be unbearable now.”
“Now? I’ve always been a handful. Don’t expect marriage to change me.”
“Marriage has changed me.” I covered his hand on my chest with my own.
“Has it?”
“Yes. I’m now legally entitled to throw you overboard.”
He gasped. “Is that because you want to play the lifeguard who jumps in and saves me?”
I quirked a brow. “Saves you? That defeats the purpose of throwing you overboard.”
“No, you rescue me, drag me back up on the yacht, and give me mouth-to-mouth.” His eyes were alight with possibilities, and I couldn’t help my grin. I’d never smiled so much in my life—or rolled my eyes more—but Gabriel kept life entertaining.
It was why I’d asked him to marry me last night, why we’d snuck away on the yacht and gotten married without telling a soul. There’d been no audience, no press, no royal ceremonies.
Just the sea. The sun. And us. Exactly like we wanted.
“How about we skip getting wet and cut to the mouth-to-mouth?” I said, leaning in.
“I’m convinced.”
I captured his mouth with mine, kissing those lips that had just promised forever to me.
Mine.
As Gabriel kissed down my jaw, a deep sense of satisfaction settled in my chest. Especially when I thought about the reactions everyone was going to have when they found out.
“You know Nicholas is going to kill you for this, right?” I said.
He leaned back. “No way. He owes me. An elopement is much less of a scandal than what he did.”
“That’s true, he does owe us.” I leaned in to take another kiss. “But how are we going to explain it to my mother?”
Gabriel reared back a couple of inches, a grimace on his face. “We? Uh uh. You are going to take care of that.”
“What, don’t think your charm will win her over?”
“About her not being able to organize her only son’s wedding? The future King of Solterra’s wedding? Yeah, that’s a conversation I’m going to leave to you.”
“You’re kind of cute when you’re worried.”
“I’m not worried,” he said. “I’m smart. I know when to pick and choose my battles.”
I leaned a hip up against the rail and crossed my arms. “Is that right?”
Gabriel sidled in close to me, taking my chin between his fingers. “Why do you think I agreed to come to Solterra in the first place? I picked that battle.”
“I thought you were ordered to come. As a diplomatic envoy.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I had to go. I chose to because of your repu—”
I arched a brow at my dear husband, who quickly shut his mouth. “My what?”
“Your…charming personality?”
“That would be you, I believe. Try again.”
Gabriel chuckled and nipped at my lower lip. “Your fine fencing skills?”
“Again, are we talking about you or—”
“Okay, it was your reputation in bed.” Gabriel uncrossed my arms and drew them around his waist as he kissed his way up my jaw to my ear. “And damn if they weren’t wrong. Fucking fire.”
I turned my head to catch his trouble-talking lips in a hard kiss I felt all the way to my toes. “If I’m not mistaken, you had a similar reputation.”
“Along with being devilishly handsome and charming.”
“Oh yes,” I said, slipping my hands down to cup his ass. “Can’t forget that.”
“I mean, they’re some of my best qualities.”
They were, but in the year since knowing Gabriel I’d also learned there were a whole lot of other qualities I loved about him. Qualities he often hid behind that charming smile.
Like his penchant for calling up the dowager Duchess of Maravilla and arranging a time to stop by for tea.
Or his love of performing, which I found extended past his skills as Sir Handsomelot and went much deeper.
To where he spent a night each week at Solterra University studying the drama classics.
Or maybe it was the way he treated every single person he met, royal, teacher, farmer, or child, as though they were a friend he’d yet to meet.
That dazzling smile was merely a hint of the shining soul inside, and I’d never been happier than when he directed that glow on me.
“You’re thinking something sweet,” Gabriel teased, and I shook my head.
“I just got married. I think it’s allowed.”
“Yes, but you hate being sweet, kitten.” He leaned in and nuzzled under my ear. “You much prefer using your claws.”
“Yes, well.” I moaned as he kissed his way down my neck. “There’s still time for those to come out later tonight.”
“Oh? You mean you’re not going to enjoy spousal privileges right here against the rail?”
“Who said I wasn’t?”
“But later?”
“When the mood arises.”
“I could demand it, you know,” he said, a twinkle in his eye. “You owe me a wedding gift.”
“Isn’t marrying me the gift?”
“I married the whole package, including this.” His hand snaked down the front of my pants, but I groaned and pushed it away before he made me forget what I wanted to give him.
His pout was too fucking adorable for words as he said, “Married less than half an hour and already it’s ‘Not tonight, Gabriel, I have a headache.’”
He couldn’t be more wrong, and I shook my head as I reached into the inside pocket of my jacket and pulled out a small, folded piece of paper.
“What’s that?”
I held it out to him. “Open it.”
“This better not be divorce papers.”
“Gabriel.”
He grinned and unfolded it, and when he read the top of the page, which said RULES FOR MARRIAGE, his eyes shot up to mine.
“You made rules? Shouldn’t you have given me this before I said, ‘I do’?”
“I don’t think you’ll have a problem with the new rules.”
“I dunno. They didn’t work out so well for us last time,” he said, before looking back down at the paper. He started to read, but then stopped, his lip disappearing between his teeth. “There’s only one rule on here.”
“It’s the only one that matters. The most important one.”
Gabriel ran fingers over the words I’d written, then read them out loud. “Fall in love with each other a little more every day.”
“Think you can manage that?”
Gabriel raised his glistening eyes, and the love shining back at me was answer enough.
“There’s no doubt,” he whispered, then reached for my left hand, brought it to his mouth, and kissed my ring. “I fall in love with you a little more every second I’m with you.”
I cradled his cheek and leaned in to softly kiss him. “How did we get this lucky?”
“My brother’s an idiot?”
I snorted and rested my forehead on his. “Yes, he is. Never have I been more grateful for that.”
“You and me both. So how long do you think we can keep this a secret before they make us have some sort of ceremony in front of—”
I put my fingers to his lips and shook my head. “If you don’t say it, it won’t happen.”
“I don’t think that’s how that works. Plus”—Gabriel took hold of my wrist and drew it away—“I kind of like the idea of claiming you in front of God and country.”
“Claiming me?”
“Yes, it’s only fair. You stole all the attention when you kissed me at the arts initiative launch. It’s only fair that this time around I get to claim you.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.”
“It will.”
“Maybe not.”
“Your mother…?”
I let out a sigh and nodded. “You’re right, it will happen.”
Gabriel turned to look out at the open seas ahead. “Promise we will do this at least once a month.”
“Sail?”
“Escape,” he said as I moved in beside him and he wrapped an arm around my waist. “Just the two of us. Our lives get so busy, and—”
“You don’t have to convince me.”
“No?”
I shook my head and leaned in to kiss his cheek. “So long as you promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
I looked at my Prince Handsomelot and winked. “That I can bring my sword.”
Gabriel threw his head back and laughed. “I’d be disappointed if you didn’t, pirate.”
Then he took my hands and walked backward toward the bow, pulling me with him. I looked at him, at the wide-open horizon behind him, and felt a sense of peace I’d never felt before.
This was where my whole life had been leading, and thank God I’d finally had the sense to wake up and see it.
I wrapped Gabriel in my arms, his back to my chest as we watched the last of the sun’s rays disappear.
“Ready for a new adventure?” he said.
“With you? Always.”
And this time when I kissed Gabriel, there were no rules left to break. Only vows to keep.
Forever.