“If you insist.”
“I do. Now listen, I was emailing back and forth with the event coordinator here, and she said she’d be happy to help us put our elopement together, so I took her up on the offer. The only thing that I need to know from you is what kind of flowers you’d like to hold as you walk down the aisle to me.”
“Are you serious?”
“Very.”
She chews on my question while I lead her out of the suite and hotel and onto the streets of London.
“Well?”
“I think that purple orchids would be beautiful.”
“Purple? You’re sure?”
“I think so. Why?”
I pull her arm into the crook of mine as I lead her through the foot traffic on the sidewalk. “No reason, it sounds good to me. I also took the liberty of finding a place that will be able to at least provide you with a sample dress for tomorrow.”
“Oh? Where is it?”
“About a ten-minute walk down Piccadilly. Is that okay?”
“Sure.”
About five minutes into our walk, I notice that she’s sticking as close to me as humanly possible as we pass by hundreds of people. Her eyes are darting in every which direction and I want to help her escape from her apparent fear. Fuck, I’d do anything to help her forget and not have the past two weeks leave an effect on her life. However, it happened, and now she needs to work on the monsters in her head just as I once had to. Still have to.
I move my arm around her shoulders and pull her against me as we maneuver our way through the crowds.
“Trust me, Isla. I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Her wide eyes dart to mine, and she nods once before swallowing her fear.
The short walk is anything but and it feels like fucking hours have passed by the time we’re standing outside of Alexander McQueen’s store just off of Old Bond Street.
“Liam, you can’t be serious.”
“By knowing both Wade and I, you should be well aware by now that money can get you into anything that you want.”
“Holy shit. Can we go in?”
“Seeing as we have an appointment, I don’t see why we shouldn’t.”
She takes the few steps forward to get to the door as excitement radiates off of her body. I reach around her to pull open the door and watch her face transform just as it did when she stepped foot into Harry Winston.
We’re greeted immediately and then she’s taken from my grip and propelled toward the back of the store—where apparently I’m not invited.
“Wait,” she says as the salesperson turns the corner. “Liam?”
“What’s wrong, doll?”
“Nothing. It’s just.” She looks over her shoulder at the salesperson before taking a step toward me. She shrugs and holds her hands out in front of her while she thinks of a way to explain what she wants to say.
“Okay, listen, I know that it’s supposedly bad luck for you to see me in the dress before the, er, wedding, but I want you with me. This is our unconventional journey, and I don’t want to do this alone.” She takes another step toward me before continuing, “Plus, I’d rather not have someone else’s hands on me to zip me up right now.”
Shit. I didn’t even think about that. I take quick strides until I’m in front of her, and she automatically reaches for me, needing the physical connection that we share to calm her down. “All you had to do was ask.”
“Thank you,” she says before getting up on her tiptoes to lay a quick one along my jaw. Her fingers lace between mine as we follow the clerk to the limited number of dresses that she has on hand for us to purchase.
There are a few racks pulled out, all of which host three or four white dresses each.
“Take your pick, beautiful.”
She lets go of my hand and reaches out to touch the material of an ivory-colored dress before clapping excitedly and listening to what the salesperson has to say. It’s something about her size, height, and preferred fabric, so really, it’s like speaking a different language to me. I spot a couch off to the side and take a seat on it as I watch Isla enjoy this moment that she’s allowed me to be a part of.
I take the opportunity to email the event coordinator at the Four Seasons Hotel with Isla’s flower preference before sending out requests for favors to a couple of others as well. By the time I’m done, Isla walks up to me and shimmies her hips in front of me.
“Are you ready to see me naked, Jensen?”
“More than ever.”
Ninety minutes and eight dress changes later, Isla is standing in front of me and behind a mirror with tears in her eyes as she turns to her right and then left over and over again.
I walk up to her and wrap my arms around her midsection as I lean my chin on the top of her head.
“You’re beautiful. Do you know that? How the fuck did I get so lucky to land my best friend, huh?”
She chokes out a laugh and watches the two of us in the mirror. “Well, if I had to end up with my best friend, I didn’t really have another choice at this point in the game.”
“You would have ended up with me even if I was an altar boy.”
She wipes away her tears while smiling at me in the mirror. “Have you ever actually stepped foot inside a church?”
“Once or twice when my mother dragged me in by my ears.”
“She didn’t.”
“Oh, but she did.”
She giggles and turns in my arms, and takes her time sliding her hands up my chest until they are locked at the back of my neck. “This is for life, Jensen. Are you sure you want me for that long?”
“I may have to reconsider since you put it that way,” I joke and get rewarded with a smack to the back of my head.
“I’m being serious here, dickweed.”
“I’m sure, Miss Madden.”
“Good because you weren’t going to be able to get out of it.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Nope, it’s the truth. Plus, I don’t share well with others.”
“You’ll have to share when our dewdrop comes along.”
She scrunches up her face and shrugs. “I’ll think about it.”
“Deal.”
“Deal,” she replies before untangling herself from my hold and looking at herself in the mirror again. “We need to add something to that deal, though.”
“Yeah?”
“You have to swear to stop me from dying my hair any shade other than my natural color. I look pathetic as a blonde.”
“I beg to differ, but I do prefer my natural beauty.”
“Suck-up,” she quips.
“You sure as fuck will be sucking on something tonight.”
“Assume all you want. Just because you’re paying for one of the most comfortable beds in all of London doesn’t mean that I’m going to allow any snuggling, never mind the idea of penetration.”
I pull her ass against my now-hard cock. “I won’t settle for anything less,” I seethe before pinching her cheek. She steps out of my hold with a radiant smile beaming on her face.
“Can we pay for this and get back to the hotel?”
“We can. My tuxedo should have been delivered by now.”
“By now?”
“Yes. What was that thing I was telling you about money?”
“Shut it and take me back to the hotel. I need to be taken care of in more ways than one.”
“I figured that we could grab food on the way. Would that be okay? Or would you prefer room service?”
“I’m wholly against anything that stops us from getting back to the hotel in the next ten minutes and my getting laid in fifteen.”
“Well, get your ass out of this dress, and we’ll grab some clothes for you before we leave.”
Fifteen minutes later, I’ve paid for the dress that will be delivered to our hotel suite tomorrow morning, four pairs of jeans, a couple of black shirts, and sweaters. I hail a cab, but instead of instructing the driver to take us to the hotel, I have him
stop at La Perla. This earns me a sidelong glance as I help her out of the cab and into the store.
“I cannot allow you to go bare underneath that dress.”
“You’re spoiling me, Liam.”
“Allow me to enjoy it. If this is what you’ll allow me to provide for you on our wedding day, then I’ll take it.”
“I love you, you dickweed.”
I lean in to kiss her, but get distracted by a bustier that’s a few feet behind her. I move past Isla and pick up the bustier’s hanger before turning back to her.
“Now this is something that you can wear for me in private.”
She saunters over to me and touches the fabric before blushing.
“You’d like this?”
“I’d like you in anything and in nothing, Isla.”
“Regardless of my bruises?”
I set the hanger back on the bar before pulling her into my arms and tilting her chin up to look at me. “You are the single most hauntingly beautiful woman that I’ve ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on. A few bruises don’t do anything to diminish that beauty. Do you understand me?”
She tries to nip at my finger, but I pull it away in time. “I understand, so would you like to pick out what you get to see once you peel my wedding dress off of me tomorrow?”
“You’d let me do that?”
“Duh.”
We spend another two hours at the store, completely forgetting about our anticipation and need to return to the hotel to get naked. Once we’re done checking out with the salesclerk, I pick up all of the shopping bags and chuckle at the sheer number of shoes, handbags, lingerie, and loungewear that we’ve purchased.
“We’re going to have to get you your own suitcase to fly home with.
“I think we might,” she says as she pushes through the front doors of La Perla and out onto the London street where I flag down a taxicab to make our way back to the hotel.
When we arrive, the bellhop greets us and leads the way to our suite with the bags in his hands as Isla runs her thumb up and down the back of my hand.
It’s making me rather impatient to bury myself inside of her, actually, and she seems to notice but doesn’t once stop her silent yet deadly attempt at seduction.
Once we make it to the suite, I tip the bellhop and watch him take another desperate glance at Isla before I close the fucking door in his face. The douche is lucky that I need her right now and that my gun is not in reach.
“I’d like to say that I want it easy, but honestly . . . I need us. I just want what we are and what we provide each other.”
“Did you think that I’d deny you?”
“Possibly.”
“Not a chance, baby doll. Just don’t go scratching at my injuries when I make you come.”
“I make no promises.”
“You play dirty.”
“I always have, and you know it.”
I sweep her up into my arms and walk her backward until I’m able to lay her down on the bed and move on top of her, kissing down the column of her neck until she whimpers in need beneath me.
“Liam, please.”
“I know, babe. I just need you to lie back and enjoy this.”
She nods and runs her hand down my neck and underneath the fabric of my shirt to get to my skin before she starts to gather the shirt in a fist, at the base of my neck. I lock my teeth on her and suck lightly until she curses under her breath.
She pulls on the fistful of fabric that she’s holding until she’s able to get me to sit up for a long enough period of time to get my shirt up and off. I set it on her side of the bed knowing that she’ll wear it to sleep in, before moving back down on her and breathing in everything about this gorgeous woman.
“I’m so in love with you,” she says against my lips and wiggles underneath me.
“Yeah? Well, then it’s a damn good thing that I’m in love with you too, huh?”
“Probably.”
I pull her shirt up and off of her before burying my face between her perky breasts, nipping at them as I reach around and undo the clips that are holding her new bra in place. Once I’m able to get it off of her, I toss it to the side and run my tongue around one of her nipples as each one pebbles in the cooler air.
“Liam.”
“Isla,” I breathe against her nipple, and she arches her back off of the bed.
“Please?”
“Be patient with me, baby doll. It’s been a while since I’ve touched you like this. I’m going to savor every second.”
“All right.”
I close my eyes for a brief moment to gather all of the emotions over the last couple of days, but when I do, image after image of her shackled to a crucifix fill my vision. Goddamn it.
I pull back and move onto my back beside her, rubbing my eyes before looking back over at her. “I’m sorry.”
“What happened?” she asks as she leans up on her elbow.
“I’ve just seen too much, doll.”
“Too much? Are you talking about Chloe?”
“Chloe? God, babe, no. I’m talking about you.”
“Me?”
“Yes. I’ve told you that you’ve replaced all of the images of her, but it doesn’t make it easier. Fuck, I want to kill every single one of those bastards who had their hands on you. And any other man who looks at you now.”
She moves her body into mine and throws one leg over my waist to grind herself against my straining erection.
“Try not to think about it. Okay?”
“Saying that and doing it are two very different things.”
“I know, but it won’t happen again. I know that I’m safe when I’m with you.”
“You should have been safe the night that he took you.”
She shifts and tilts my face so that we’re looking each other in the eyes. “Do you blame yourself?”
I watch her as I run the pad of my thumb over her now-red lips. “I do.”
“You shouldn’t.”
“I shouldn’t have been drunk,” I retort and pull her closer to me.
“Liam, you’ve put your life on the line to find me. To save me. None of what happened is your fault, all right? What you do for the women who have been taken is monumental, and what happened to me should not deter you from focusing on getting more women out.”
“I cannot bring myself to go out there with the thought of not coming back to you and the baby.”
“Then don’t go out into the field. Be there for the women when they are brought to the safe houses. Be what RW needs you to be. You started all of this, and hundreds of women would be either dead or still suffering if it wasn’t for you. You can’t stop just because I’m pregnant.”
“I’ll do what feels right, and right now, what feels right is being with you.”
“So work from Chicago, but don’t give up on what you’re passionate about.”
I chuckle and run my hand past her waist and up her ribcage. “Deal.”
Her body melts against mine as I shut my eyes and try to fight the demons that are pushing themselves deep into my soul, fighting every detail about me. They push against my own experiences to get what they want from me—which is to get me to stop the actions that RW takes against trafficking. It won’t help. Not now and not ever.
“I can hear you thinking from here, Jensen.”
“Yeah? Try not to worry about it. Just know that I won’t let you go. Keep calling me Jensen, by the way, because come tomorrow you won’t only be referring to me but to yourself as well.”
“Cheeky bastard.”
“Don’t complain. I know that you’re excited to take my name.”
“I am. More than ever, really, and by this time tomorrow I’ll have it, and your ass better believe that I’m not giving it up.”
“I wouldn’t want you to.”
“Good. Now kiss me before I fucking combust.”
Liam Jensen is currently waiting for me at the end of an aisle.
My body feels l
ike it’s in one large knot and despite the bruises, it’s the only thing that I can feel right now. It’s an overpowering emotion of love and want that I need him to fulfill. It’s one that I know that he’ll selflessly achieve in a few moments even if it will be just the two of us.
I know that what we’re about to do goes beyond a ring and a mutually signed piece of paper. It’s something that I’ll savor as my life goes on. It’s the union of two hearts that beat better as one.
I blow out a breath of air as I stare at myself in the mirror with knowledge that the best is yet to come. I check my nails that were done earlier this morning and think back to when Quinn called from the hospital around noon today. We stayed on the line for a couple of minutes until one of the nurses needed to get her back to her room. Liam and I will be stopping by to see her with a care package before we head back to the States after our nuptials this evening. I cannot wait to see her and let her in on our secret elopement.
There’s a lighthearted knock on the door, and the hairstylist pauses for a moment to walk over and answer it. When she comes back, she’s carrying a small white gift bag that she hands to me.
“I believe that this belongs to you.”
“Thank you.”
I pull out the first layer of white tissue paper and take a card out. It has my name written on it in black in Liam’s slightly messy handwriting. I pull the simple white card out from the envelope and curse myself as the tears start to fall before I can get to the end of the single sentence that’s scrawled out on the card. I reach for a tissue and dab the underneath of my eyes before my makeup can run as I read his words again.
Today, I have loved you for 3,652 days.
The attempt to stop my tears fails miserably as I’m handed more tissues from the makeup artist.
I take them and set them aside as I dig into the gift bag and pull out a Harry Winston navy blue box and snap the top open to reveal my engagement ring.
“Oh God . . .”
“Is everything all right?” the hairstylist asks as she pins the last curl into place.
“Everything is faultless. So beyond perfect,” I say with a sniffle.
She smiles at me in the mirror as I slide my ring onto my left finger then hold my hand out at arm’s length to inspect it as I did a hundred times before it was pried away from me.
Intertwined: A Redemption Novel Page 28
