I danced with everyone until my feet ached. Dylan’s friends played wonderful music, and he even joined them for a couple of songs. We invited Sadie as well, and I could see that she loved watching Dylan.
I became anxious to go to our suite after several hours. Once the party started winding down, except for Patrick who wanted to party all night, we said our goodbyes and headed up the large staircase. Keeping with tradition, Dylan unlocked the door and then attempted to pick me up to carry me over the threshold, only my dress was so full with layers that he couldn’t even get his arms around it, and then he tripped on it, nearly knocking us both over. I busted out laughing.
“You’re way too clumsy, remember?”
He looked embarrassed and gave up.
“OK then,” he said. “I’ll carry you to the bed once I get you out of the dress.”
“It might take a while. I’m all laced up in the back.”
“Oh, it won’t take me long. Believe me,” he said seductively, making me tingle.
Our suite looked amazing. I had never seen so many candles in one room. It was so romantic and inviting, with silky golden fabrics in the bed and long flowing curtains over the door that led to the balcony. I really did feel like a princess in this castle. Veronica also had champagne on ice and a table full of hors d’oeuvres waiting for us, and there was also a huge Jacuzzi that was calling my name.
As I stood there taking it all in, I could feel Dylan already unlacing my dress. He was right. It didn’t take him long, or me. Once my dress was off, I stepped out of it and turned around to face him. I began to undress him as quickly as I could, before he could remove my black lacy lingerie, including the garter that we forgot to remove for the audience. Before I could finish with him, he picked me up and carried me to the bed as we kissed. This time he didn’t trip, but lay me slowly and gracefully on the bed.
“Not bad,” I told him teasingly as he slowly removed my garter, kissing my leg as he slid it down.
He didn’t respond to my comment, but that was fine with me. We were done talking.
48. Snatched
I woke up in the middle of the night after sleeping deeply for several hours. I could feel Sarah’s arm around me, holding me close to her body. I had never felt so satisfied and complete. The word ‘happy’ didn’t describe it enough. I was in awe. I wasn’t sure what brought us together again. I couldn’t understand what I had ever done to deserve the love that we had or how we were able to find in each other again. It was truly a miracle. I would forever be grateful.
I took her hand and wrapped her arm around me tighter. Her warm, soft body was entwined in mine, and I could feel her breath on my back. I sighed with a smile and relived our wedding night in my mind. I loved her so much that it hurt.
I lay there enjoying the moment, too much I supposed, since I was unable to go back to sleep. I opened my eyes slowly, surprised to see the room so bright in the moonlight. I thought that I saw a shadow moving on the wall, but I realized that it was probably the curtains blowing. We must have left the door to the balcony slightly opened, since I could feel the cool air blow against my shoulder.
I opened my eyes more and gingerly removed Sarah’s arm so I could get up. She moaned and grabbed my pillow, pulling it to her. Luckily I hadn’t woken her. I reached for my jeans, slipped them on, and walked over to the balcony. The cold wind was getting stronger, blowing the long flowing curtains up high.
I was still half asleep, but as I walked closer to the balcony, I gasped when I saw a figure standing there. I stepped quietly over to the fireplace and grabbed the fire poker, the only nearby object that would make a good weapon. My heart was beating fiercely now, and I was ready to attack if needed.
I walked toward the balcony again, careful not to make a sound. As I approached the figure, I could see that it was a young girl. She was looking over the balcony. She had long, honey-blonde hair and was wearing a white dress that flowed in the wind. I was surprised that she didn’t notice me. I watched her silently, still gripping my fire poker, but once I was standing right behind her, I realized that my weapon was not needed. I could tell that the girl was a spirit.
I gently set the fire poker on the little table behind me, but it rolled along the table noisily, causing the girl to turn around, startled. When she saw me, neither of us said a word. She was young and beautiful, but there was fear in her eyes. It took me a moment to recognize her face, and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had only seen pictures, but I knew that it was her.
“Alexis,” I said, barely above a whisper.
Surprised again, she quickly turned away from me, and I grabbed her arm. It was strange to touch her spirit, like an electric current ran through me. She jerked and dropped an object that was in her hand. It was the necklace that Sarah had been wearing that night. I lost focus for a moment as I watched it drop. It gave Alexis her opportunity to slip away, and she jumped onto the ledge of the balcony.
“No! Wait!” I pleaded, but before I could stop her, as if that were even possible, she jumped off and floated to the ground.
I looked over the edge and could see her already running across the lawn. Even though it felt useless, I had to chase after her. I ran back inside and past our bed, where Sarah was still sleeping peacefully, and sprinted down the large staircase of the castle, then out the door. Once I was on the middle of lawn, she was nowhere in sight. I tried to catch my breath as I looked around frantically. I couldn’t let her get away and never come back.
“Alexis!” I yelled out. “Alexis! Please come back and talk to me!” I looked around again, but I still didn’t see her. “Alexis! Please!” How could she just appear, not say a word, and then leave like that? I tried to think of the right words to convince her. “If you’re afraid, don’t be,” I said with a lower voice, hoping she could still hear me. “We can just talk, and I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to,” I promised her, even though I knew how difficult it would be to keep it from Sarah.
I stood there and waited. Then I walked around the lawn for several minutes. Disappointed and still in shock, I started to walk back to the castle, and then I heard a soft voice behind me.
“Ethan, wait,” she said.
She knew who I was. She obviously knew everything. I turned around slowly, and then we stood in silence, as if afraid to speak, yet the fear was leaving her eyes, and she began to smile at me. I smiled back, realizing that she wasn’t going to run from me this time. Only suddenly her eyes shifted to my left side, and she looked angry and afraid.
“No!” she yelled out and ran behind me.
I turned around and watched her run toward the trees that outlined the lawn. I saw a dark figure run away from her. It moved faster than anything I had ever seen, and I couldn’t make out what it was. Alexis looked around anxiously.
“What is it?” I asked, confused and getting scared.
Alexis looked in my direction and yelled out again, “Ethan, look out!”
I felt something take hold of my body. It filled me with pain and made me feel sick. The last thing I saw was Alexis’ crying face before everything went black.
49. Captive
It was a gorgeous and sunny day when I woke up, and I could feel that I had slept in late. I sighed and stretched out, a smile coming to my face as I thought about my night with Dylan. Everything seemed like it had been a dream. I realized that it was silly of me to be nervous like I was, because the entire wedding was perfect. I couldn’t have asked for more, but none of that mattered anyway. All I cared about was the fact that I would be with Dylan forever, and I was finally convinced that we would never let anything get in the way of that.
I sat up in bed and stretched some more. Dylan wasn’t in the bed with me, but I could see him out on the balcony drinking coffee and staring out at the mountains. I slipped my silk nightgown over my head and snuck up behind him, putting my arms around his waist.
“Good morning,” I said, kissing the back of his neck.
It felt l
ike he froze for a moment, then he turned around and stared at me. I wondered how badly my make-up was smeared, especially after our time in the Jacuzzi late in the night. He eventually smiled at me and quickly kissed my forehead.
“Good morning,” he said. “Did you sleep well?” he asked as he poured himself another cup of coffee.
He already had fruit and pastries delivered and spread out on the balcony table. It was an unusually warm day for the first of November, so I was comfortable enough to sit outside without even grabbing my robe.
“I slept great,” I replied. “I guess it all caught up with me once my head hit the pillow…well, not right away, though,” I said, reminding him of all the love we made during the night, but he didn’t respond. He seemed more interested in the apple he was eating.
“So, the weather is beautiful today. I’m looking forward to the wine tasting,” I told him.
“Oh, yeah. Sure.”
“You still want to go?”
“I just said I would.”
I frowned and stared at him for a moment. “Are you OK? You act like something’s wrong.”
He looked concerned for a moment and then smiled warmly. “What makes you say that?”
“I don’t know. I can read you pretty well, I guess.”
“You can, huh?” he asked teasingly.
“I like to think I can.”
“I thought women liked men who remained dark and mysterious.”
“Well, not me,” I said as I poured myself a cup of coffee.
I noticed him staring at me, and then his eyes lingered on my body.
“You’ve grown into a beautiful woman,” he said seriously.
I smiled at him as I stirred creamer into my coffee. I took a sip and grabbed a pastry. I walked toward the balcony ledge as I took a bite.
“Ouch!” I said as I stepped on something hard with my bare foot. I looked down to discover that it was Alexis’ necklace that I wore during the wedding. “How did this get here?” I asked, kicking myself for being so careless. I didn’t even remember taking it off, so it must have fallen off when we were on the balcony at some point, although the only thing I remembered doing on the balcony was taking in the view for a few minutes.
“Don’t ask me,” Dylan responded.
I carried it into our room and zipped it up safely in my purse, grateful that it hadn’t fallen onto the ground below, possibly lost forever.
“So, we better get going soon,” he reminded me.
“OK. I just wanted to take another dip in the Jacuzzi first if you don’t mind,” I said, hinting that I would enjoy his company.
“Sure. Go ahead,” was all he said, giving me no indication that he would join me.
I let the water run while I brushed my teeth. I noticed that Dylan was back on the balcony, staring out over the ledge again, like he was deep in thought. I fiddled around and drank my coffee, adding bubbles and lighting some candles as the tub filled up.
Once I was about to climb in, I yelled out to him. “You sure you don’t want to join me?”
He walked in slowly and looked at me as I slipped my gown over my head, revealing my nude body underneath. He stared at me intensely as I slowly climbed in. There was passion in his eyes, but he didn’t move.
Suddenly I could hear my phone ringing from across the room. The ringtone, which was the song ‘Crazy’, but Gnarls Barkley, played loudly.
“Damn. It’s Monica. Can you hand me the phone, sweetie?”
He dug through my purse to find it and brought it to me.
“Thanks,” I told him, and then I flipped it open and answered. “Hey, Monica! Oh no, we were already up,” I assured her.
I laughed loudly when she described some of the events that took place at the reception with the heavy drinkers, and I took my time talking to her while I enjoyed my soak. Dylan paced the floor, and when I laughed again at something Monica said, I noticed that he rolled his eyes.
“Well, I better get going before I get too wrinkly in this Jacuzzi…and don’t you dare make another cougar joke!” I laughed. “Thanks for everything, Monica. I’ll talk to you later.”
I hung up the phone and gave Dylan a look to warn him that I wasn’t happy. “What’s your problem?” I asked.
“I’m just ready to get going,” he said.
“Fine,” I replied firmly and got out of the tub, quickly throwing on my robe. I had to find out what was up with him. The last thing I wanted to do on our honeymoon was fight.
“So how is Monica?” he asked as I got dressed.
“She’s fine.”
“Did she throw up on the side of the road again last night?”
“No,” I said defensively and confused.
Monica hadn’t done anything like that since high school, but I didn’t remember ever mentioning that to Ethan or Dylan.
The wine tasting tour was really enjoyable, and I believed that Dylan truly had a good time too. He made jokes as we were on the tour, almost to the point of flirtation with our guide, and he surprised me with his knowledge. He never before gave me the impression that he knew so much about wine.
Neither of us spit out any of the wine like we were supposed to. By the end of the tour, we were both a little tipsy, especially since I didn’t eat much that morning. I was pretty giggly as we walked and held hands, watching the hot air balloons take off.
“I feel inspired to collect some hot air balloon artwork now,” I told him. “I have such wonderful memories of them.”
Dylan smiled, but he didn’t respond. For some reason, most of his sweet and intimate responses had been absent since I woke up. I knew something was wrong, so I decided to press it again.
“Dylan, are you sure nothing’s wrong. You don’t seem to be yourself today.”
He gave me a perturbed look. “Why do you keep hounding me? Aren’t you having a good time?”
“Yes, but…”
“But women are never satisfied,” he said, shaking his head.
“What?” I asked, not understanding where his anger was coming from.
“I feel like lying down. Let’s go back to the room,” he suggested.
I didn’t say another word as we walked back to the castle hotel, but I felt like crying. Something was definitely bothering him, and he seemed to be upset with me, but I couldn’t understand why. I tried to remember if I had done something, but I came up with nothing.
Once we entered our room, he took off his shoes and lay down on the bed. His gaze looked far away, but I snuggled up to him like I always did and put my arm around his waist. I was afraid to talk to him. I had never felt that way before, and I hated it.
I hesitantly spoke again, “I wish you would talk to me. You know you can talk to me about anything. Is it something I said or did?”
“You worry way too much.”
“I know, but you seem so distant today.”
“How?”
“Like you don’t want to be around me half the time. You haven’t even kissed me today.”
He chuckled lightly. “That’s what you want? A kiss?”
“For starters.”
He rolled over on top of me and looked in my eyes for a long moment. There was a longing in him that I could see and feel, but it was different than his normal desire. It was almost desperate. I put my hand behind his neck and ran my fingers through his hair as he leaned down to kiss me. His kiss was timid at first, like he was holding back, but as the kiss continued; it was more passionate and urgent than usual. I responded the same way, happy that whatever had been bothering him was obviously not me.
When he finally broke for air, there was a look in his eyes that I did not recognize. It made me nervous. As he kissed me again, I felt him grab my arms and pull them over my head, pinning me down so that he was in complete control. He kissed so hard that it began to hurt, and then he released my hands briefly to quickly take off my blouse. He was showing a side of him that I had never seen, and I wondered what had brought it on. I put my hands on his
face and made him look at me, but his eyes still looked strange, and there was no smile on his face.
“Dylan, where are you?”
“What?” he asked angrily as he jerked my hands away from his face, but he still held them tightly in his. “I’m right here,” he said with a smile.
“No, you’re not,” I said, trying to release my hands and move away from him.
“Hey,” he said, forcing me to be still. He tried to kiss me again, but my unresponsiveness pissed him off. He pushed me away hard before he got up and began to throw some things in his suitcase.
“What are you doing?” I asked, putting my blouse back on.
“I’m ready to get out of here.”
“What? We’re not supposed to leave until tomorrow!”
“Well, I’m ready to go now.”
I grabbed my purse and ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind me. As soon as I did, my tears began to fall. I felt childish for it, but my first thought was to call Veronica or Monica. I searched all over my purse for my phone, even dumping it out to make sure, but it wasn’t there. I thought for sure that I put it in there before we went to the wine tasting.
I put all of the items back in my purse, except for my make-up, which I used to try to hide the fact that I’d been crying. I quickly tried to pull myself together before I walked back out. I didn’t even glance at Dylan as I continued to search for my phone. I couldn’t even look at him yet after the way he’d been behaving. He seemed to be ignoring me until he finally asked what I was doing.
“I can’t find my phone,” I explained with an irritated tone.
“You put it in your purse before we left.”
“Well, it’s not there now.”
“You must have lost it when we were out then, so there’s no use continuing to look for it here.”
Sarah's Solace Page 38
