Brother to Brother: The Sacred Brotherhood Book I

by A. J. Downey

  Ashton had paid not only a small fortune for the dress itself, but also a small fortune to have it taken in on time by a professional tailor that hadn’t been afraid to touch it. They’d found the dress something like five days ago, but had only found the tailor something like the day before yesterday.

  I wish I could say I felt guilty, but the girls had slowly, but surely, been eking me out of my shell and they had been absolutely right about one thing… I was only getting married once. When Archer said forever, he meant it, and so if this were my one shot at what was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, I had better take it, and so I had, and now it was here, staring me in the face and all I could think was how much I wanted it over.

  I was terrified, but there was certainly no going back now, and there was certainly no pretending that this was a happy occasion. At least not in that moment, not for me.

  While I had certainly accepted that this was going to happen, I still felt like I was about to marry a perfect stranger. Archer and I were talking a little bit more, I’d even shared some photos with him a little over a week and a half ago. Still, despite our impending marital status, he had resolutely and in quite the old fashioned manor, remained on the couch. A fact I still didn’t know if I was grateful for or not.

  Hell, we hadn’t even kissed! I realized, horrified. Our first kiss was going to be in front of all of those people waiting downstairs, which was, admittedly, just the club, all of the ol’ ladies and a few of the waitresses and my boss from the diner. Shelly had invited them, while I just as soon as never told them I was getting married at all. Still, somehow it’d helped me, for now I felt as if I must keep up appearances, which was something I was accustomed to doing thanks to Phil and my mother.

  “Honey, breathe,” Everett said gently and I looked past my reflection to hers in the mirror. “It’s going to be okay.”

  I nodded and she smiled gently, asking me, “Are you ready?”

  “I think so,” I said and stood, smoothing my sweating palms against my dress, wishing I had something to do with my hands, grateful when Everett thrust a bouquet of more of the sweet smelling, tiny, deep amethystA blossoms into my hands, their deep, dark green foliage striking against the cream of my gown.

  “What are these flowers?” I asked her breathing them in, deep.

  “Heliotrope,” she said with a smile.

  “I love them,” I told her and she smiled bigger.

  “Then you’ll love what I got you for a wedding present.”

  I hugged her tightly and let go and she smiled broadly at me, “Come on, Dray is waiting.” I nodded and tried not to get teary, slipping out the bedroom door in the old Victorian era bed and breakfast that Ashton had found and rented on such short notice so that my wedding could be held in the back yard.

  It’d been decided that since Dragon, the President of the chapter was officiating, that it would be weird for him to walk me down the aisle, too. I had no one to give me away, and so Dray would do it as the chapter’s Vice President.

  He gave a low whistle when I stepped out onto the staircase. Nox and Rush waiting with him with Ashton and Hayden who they’d be escorting down the aisle.

  “Wow, Mel…” Nox said, his voice trailing off.

  “Just wow, Mel… there are no words,” Rush said. I blushed faintly and the professional photographer Ashton hired started clicking away as I came down the stairs. Everyone took position. Ashton with Rush, followed by Hayden and Nox and finally me, with Dray.

  All of the men wore black slacks and black button down shirts with their cuts over them, which I was fine with, I mean, I really expected nothing less. I swallowed hard, my pulse racing as we lined up at the back door, the music from the live string quartet striking up and playing the traditional wedding march.

  Oh my god, I am really doing this! Was my last thought before Dray took the final step and I was out on the back porch, then stepping off into the unknown which was an aisle made of the greenest grass, strewn with the whitest rose petals I’d ever seen.

  “Look up, Babe,” Dray whispered, reminding me, and I did, my breath very nearly catching in my throat at the sight of Archer waiting patiently at the white archway trellis dripping with purple wisteria. His golden green eyes seemed that much more rich and vibrant without the three or four day’s growth he usually sported. The black of his shirt making the color pop all the way down to me. I felt wooden, and drawn as if by strings as I automatically put one foot in front of the other.

  Noah looked so handsome in his little black shirt and pants set, and didn’t fuss at all. He was held aloft by Trigger in the front row on what was traditionally the bride’s side of things.

  “Mamma!” he cried and reached for me, and I very nearly went to him, but Trigger gently put his arms down and Noah just stared.

  All too soon, I was handing my bouquet to Ashton and Dray was putting my hands into Archer’s. They were so clean, I noted. He’d managed to scrub away every last trace of engine grease and grime, though the warm callouses remained. I swallowed hard and met his eyes just as Dragon began to speak.

  “We’re gathered here today to join Melody Ann Beswick, and Charles Michael ‘Archer’ Turner together forever…”

  I stared at Archer, and realized that it was today, the day we were getting married, standing at the altar that was the first time I had ever heard his name, his real name. The name I would be taking and would be known as the rest of my life. Turner. It wasn’t bad as far as names went and I tried it on for Noah as well, Noah Jeramiah Turner. I liked it, so at least that was something.

  “I do,” I murmured, still almost completely on autopilot. I took the ring offered to me by Nox and with shaking fingers, slid it onto Archer’s ring finger. I knew they were a gift from Dani, that she’d made them, because she’d told me the day before and had shown Archer’s to me. She wouldn’t show me mine, though, preferring that it be a surprise.

  “I do,” Archer said levelly and with no trace of regret. He slipped first a delicate wedding band in white gold, crusted with diamonds onto my finger and followed it with one of the most beautiful engagement rings I’d ever seen. It was white gold too, with diamonds on the band to either side leading up to the three larger stones. The center round stone was a deep purple and the two smaller stones to either side, also round, were purple but also green and blue, with hints of other colors, a veritable aurora borealis of colors that had me choking up and my eyes watering. It was beautiful.

  “You may now kiss your beautiful bride!” Dragon declared and I closed my eyes, tipping my face up. Archer’s lips landed gently on my cheek, the barest of touches to a course of “Aww’s” and a smattering of applause.

  I opened my eyes and let my husband take me back down the aisle and off to the side where the Judge waited with the marriage license. The photographer snapped photos while I signed my life away and took more photos of Archer, Noah, and I together. All of us managing to smile for the camera, my son seemingly happy as a clam for his mother and new father.

  Before I knew it, I was in the back of a limousine and staring across at Archer, alone for the moment as it whisked us to the clubhouse for the reception.

  “You didn’t kiss me,” I murmured and Archer frowned.

  “When I kiss you, that’s for me and no one else. I like to keep my private business private. You and me, we ain’t a spectacle for the world, no matter what the occasion.”

  “Will you at least dance with me?” I asked.

  “Depends,” he said and I felt my heart sink, “Will it make you happy?”

  I blinked, I hadn’t quite expected that, but I answered him honestly, “It’s our wedding, having my first dance with my husband? Yes, it would make me happy,” I murmured. Archer nodded.

  “Then I’ll dance with you.”

  “Thank you,” I murmured.

  “Sure thing.”

  We finished the ride to the club in silence and the limo pulled around to the back to let us out by the white tent
erected in the grass. The expanse under the tent was huge. I had wondered why the limo had taken so long to leave the bed and breakfast, and now I knew why. It’d given everyone time to get here and get settled for mine and Archer’s big entrance.

  The limo driver opened the door and Dragon called out, “Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers of The Sacred Hearts, I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Archer Turner!”

  Archer got out of the limo first and held out a hand to me, I took it, and stepped out into the sunshine to applause, whistles, and cheering, and felt myself blush. Archer took us to the bride and groom’s table, set apart from the rest of the seats, on the edge of the dance floor. There was another table beside ours with these beautiful round hydrangea balls, that weren’t hydrangeas at all, but rather our wedding cupcakes.

  I smiled broadly at them and found Mandy’s fiery red locks among the crowd, inclining my head in her direction in thanks. She waved at me and my smile grew bigger, all the while the clatter and clack of the professional photographer’s camera shutter provided the soundtrack to what was supposed to be and had been achieved as my special day.

  I took my seat, and Archer took his and I was surprised he kept his fingers wrapped around mine. I looked at him and he looked at me, his intense gaze searching my face. I mouthed ‘thank you’ at him and he inclined his head gently.

  We were overwhelmed by guests coming and offering congratulations and to drop off their wedding gifts to us. Most of them small tokens and set aside on another table off to the side and behind Archer. Some were handed over with winks and a ‘take it on your honeymoon’ which made me blush, and really wonder what they contained.

  Dani came up and I came around the table to hug her tightly, “Thank you so much, they’re beautiful,” I murmured.

  “The center stone is Noah’s birthstone,” she said, “and these,” she said indicating the two smaller, aurora rounds to either side, “are alexandrite, which is Archer’s birthstone.” I blinked and looked at her and hugged her tightly again.

  “I can’t believe you packed so much meaning into these rings,” I murmured, and she had. Archer’s wedding band was plain silver by all outside appearances, but inside? Inside the band, she had etched tiny musical notes, to remind him of me and my name, Melody. She’d explained that she knew Archer was a private man, which is why she’d etched the inside rather than the outside of the band.

  “Of course,” she murmured, and squeezed me back.

  We ate a catered dinner, the bare electric lightbulbs coming on closer to dusk to illuminate the inside of the tent. At one point, Archer presented me with his rag, a vest crafted in my size, declaring me his property. I got emotional again then, the vest, more than any ring or ceremony, tAelling me how deeply his commitment ran where I was concerned. Not Noah, but me...

  Finally, Dragon got up and announced our first dance and Archer surprised me once again, taking me into his arms as if I truly belonged there, no question, no hesitation. He danced with me, our first song as a couple ‘Strangers in the Night’ by Frank Sinatra and I thought to myself someone had a sense of humor.

  He kept his eyes on mine, his face unreadable, and I searched his, wondering, and not for the first time either, what he had going on behind that inscrutable gaze. I was surprised to find that I was disappointed when the song ended. That I wouldn’t have minded staying right where I was.

  Dragon cut in, and danced the next song with me. The one traditionally reserved for the father of the bride but considering I had no father, just a stepfather who loathed me, and I him right back, this was a fair substitute; and Dragon was a gentleman. All of the brothers were, and the more time I spent with this chapter, the more wrong the Arizona chapter seemed to me.

  My last dance of the evening was with my son, Noah. The photographer expertly capturing images I knew I was likely to cherish forever. It was growing on towards full night when Archer took me gently aside.

  “We need to get going if we’re gonna make it while it’s still night,” he murmured.

  “Oh,” I said. Noah was asleep against my shoulder, and Nox was just suddenly there, standing by ready to take him. I didn’t want to let him go. I didn’t want to leave my baby for a whole three days, it just didn’t seem right. I hadn’t left him for more than eight hours since he’d been conceived… I worried he would be afraid, I didn’t want him to be scared, and I certainly didn’t want him to feel as if I’d abandoned him.

  “Melody, he’ll be just fine, let Nox have ‘im,” Archer said and his tone was as gentle as I’d ever heard it. I reluctantly passed my son into his uncle’s arms.

  “You call me for anything, Nox. Promise me,” I demanded, my eyes brimming with tears.

  “I will, Mamma, I promise. He’s gonna be fine… he’ll have a total blast I promise. We’ll facetime you tomorrow and you’ll see.”

  I nodded and Nox took my sleeping child over to another group of the brothers and their ol’ ladies.

  “Come on, Baby, “Archer murmured and with a final fleeting look in my son’s direction I let him lead me to his room in the club’s outbuilding that was full of them. He ushered me through the door.

  “Get changed so we can ride,” he said and I nodded staring at the leathers and my ‘property of’ cut lying on the bed waiting for me. My riding boots were even there, lined neatly with one another on the floor. The door shushed shut behind me and I swiftly changed. I was scared of what experiences lay beyond the ride I was about to take, but thankfully, the ride was supposed to be a long one, about four hours or so. I always felt cleansed after a long ride and I hadn’t gotten to ride since the short one I’d taken with Dragon to see Grinder.

  When I stepped out into the hallway it was to find Archer changed and ready to go, his saddlebags packed and over his shoulder. I hadn’t had to do a thing. The other ol’ladies had done literally everything for me. Archer looked a touch put out and I asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “Feels weird not packing my own bags,” he said.

  “I guess that’s one of my jobs now,” I murmured.

  “Yeah, at least you’ll listen to me,” he griped.

  I frowned, “What didn’t they listen to you about?”

  “Packed some of the wedding gifts, I said they could wait.”

  “Some of them were meant for our honeymoon,” I said gently.

  “Don’t need nothin’ for our honeymoon but me and you,” he countered and I softened a bit.

  “I would really like to go for a ride with my husband,” I murmured and Archer cracked a small smile at that.

  “Yeah, well I’d really like to take my ol’ lady for a ride,” he said. I arched an eyebrow at him and his smile grew.

  “Did you mean for that to sound as dirty as it came out?” I asked.

  “You know it, Honey.”

  Oh boy, I didn’t quite know what to do with a version of Archer who joked. It was a totally new concept for me.

  I followed him out to where his bike was parked by the tent full of guests, the music from the DJ’s stand stopped and everyone gathered around while Archer put his saddle bags back on his bike. He got on and patted the seat behind him after starting up his bike. I got on to a round of rowdy cheering and whistling that was quickly left behind us and whipped away by the wind.

  I loved to ride, and the ride to wherever we were going was definitely on my list of top ten rides I had ever taken. The wind was a living being that cleansed me of many of my misgivings. The road rushing beneath the tires my priest, as I silently dropped and confessed my sins, leaving them behind me. Archer was a solid warmth, my arms around his solid, rock hard waist as we moved through the warm night taking swoops and curves that made me feel alive again and not like I was simply going through the motions.

  It didn’t seem like it was a four hour ride. Honestly, it felt like we’d only been on the bike for minutes. He motioned for me to get off, which I did and he backed into a space in front of the great old lodge’s front porch and shut off the motorcycle.
No sooner had the rumbling of his engine ceased, than the front door of the lodge swept open, letting out a rich, warm, golden glow.

  “Are you Archer?” an older, portly woman asked. Her long, iron hair swept into two braids on either side of her head. She was short, and her eyes were in a perpetual squint as she smiled at us.

  “Yeah, I’m Archer,” he answered.

  “Oh, good! I’m Contessa; José said you’d be coming. Congratulations to the both of you!” she cried excitedly and swept me into a quick squeeze of a hug in her excitement.

  “Thank you,” I said laughing lightly. Archer, in the meantime, had hauled his leather saddlebags up onto his shoulder.

  “Everything’s in order then?” he asked and Contessa beamed at him.

  “Absolutely! You’re in the honeymoon cabin, do you know where that is?”

  Archer nodded, “That I do.”

  “Great! Here’s the key,” she handed him a key with an old fashioned brass hotel key tag attached to it. “Breakfast is at nine, here in the lodge, lunch is at one, and dinner is at six. Would you like me to send someone to get you at meal times?”

  “That’d be good, yeah. Might lose track of time,” he cleared his throat and I felt my mouth go a little dry.

  “Would you like to walk around or come through the lodge?” Contessa asked, motioning to the open front door.

  “I think we’re fine, I know the way. Come on, Mel,” he held out his hand to me and I took the few steps toward him and took it. It was warm, his hands rough from the work he did with them on the regular.

  “Have a good night, sleep well!” Contessa called after us, waving. I waved back at her over my shoulder and slid a bit on some loose gravel. I yipped in surprise and laughed and paid more attention to where I was going after that, following Archer down a steep, winding path towards a glimmer of what looked like water through the trees.