by Rebecca York
“Cam asked to give you away,” Kathryn whispered. “If that’s okay?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll leave you alone for a little while,” Kathryn said, and exited the tent.
Elizabeth’s heart gave a little lurch, as she thought about her father and mother. They had done so much for her, but they wouldn’t be at her wedding. Yet maybe that was for the best, she decided, her hands clenching and unclenching. They’d be so hurt, if they knew the marriage wasn’t real.
Feeling the sting of tears in her eyes again, she blinked them back and blotted at the moisture threatening to muss her newly applied eye makeup.
A few moments later, Kathryn came back. “It’s time.”
Standing, Elizabeth walked a little unsteadily toward the door. Cam was waiting for her, tall and handsome in a dark suit. He gave her a warm hug. “You look lovely.”
Elizabeth’s hands fluttered. “You shouldn’t have done all this.”
“Of course I should. You and Zeke are like family to me and Jo. Now come on, we don’t want to keep everyone waiting.”
Elizabeth took his arm, and they marched to the larger tent. When she stepped inside, she gasped. It was full of smiling people. Her friends from 43 Light Street. Jo O’Malley, Cam’s wife, holding their toddler by the hand. Mike and Lisa Lancer. Erin and Travis Stone. Noel and Jason. Jed and Marci Prentiss. Thorn and his wife, Cassie, with their son. Abby Franklin with her husband, Steve Claiborne. Jenny and Ben Brisco. They looked as if they’d been invited to a come-as-you-are party, since they were wearing everything from jogging suits to business dress. As all eyes focused on her, Elizabeth tried to keep some semblance of composure.
Lisa and Mike and Jenny and Ben were the last two couples of the group to have gotten married. Lisa, who held a baby girl in her arms, gave Elizabeth an especially radiant smile, and she wondered if her friend was reliving the joy of her own wedding day.
“How? How did they all get here?” Elizabeth managed
“Well, we made a lot of phone calls,” Cam whispered. “Steve and Jed brought everybody we could reach. I’m sorry some of the gang is missing.”
Zeke was standing beside Mr. Brenner, looking as dazed as Elizabeth felt. He was wearing a dark suit, a white shirt and an elegantly patterned tie. The whole effect was devastating. When he saw her in the wedding dress, his eyes took on a glittering intensity that sent shivers to the base of her spine. She was glad she was hanging on to Cam, because she wouldn’t have been able to stand without help.
There was no music, only the solemn words of Mr. Brenner as he thanked everyone for coming and launched into the marriage ceremony.
Feeling as if she were standing outside herself watching, Elizabeth said what she was supposed to say at the proper times. Zeke did the same, his gaze focused somewhere over Elizabeth’s left shoulder. She wanted to grab him by the arm and ask what this exchange of vows was supposed to mean. Instead, she stood with her hands clasped in front of her.
“Who has the rings?” Mr. Brenner asked.
Zeke started to say that they didn’t have any, but Cam cut him off. “Right here,” he said calmly.
Zeke looked astonished as Cam reached into his right front pocket and pulled out a small velvet-covered box. “What’s a ceremony without rings?” he asked, as he handed it to Mr. Brenner, who slowly lifted the lid. Inside were matching gold bands.
“Sorry they’re not engraved,” Cam whispered. “We couldn’t quite manage that on short notice.”
When Brenner extended the box toward Zeke, he started to pick up the larger of the two circles.
“No, no, you take the small one,” the justice of the peace suggested in a low voice.
Zeke flushed and picked up Elizabeth’s.
“Slip the ring on her finger and repeat after me,” Brenner said.
Zeke’s hands trembled as he obeyed. Since Elizabeth was also shaking, it was difficult to accomplish the simple maneuver. But finally the gold band was in place on her finger. Then it was her turn to perform the same service for Zeke.
As she looked down at their hands, each adorned with a new circle of gold, she felt a wave of intense longing sweep over her. This could be real, if only Zeke wanted it to be. She wished she could ask Mr. Brenner to explain that to him as part of the proceedings. Instead she stood quietly by while he brought the brief exchange to a close.
“You may kiss the bride,” he concluded.
Elizabeth looked at Zeke, unsure of what she was seeing in his eyes. Certainly not love. Was he angry that he’d been railroaded into such a public display? Regretful? Unable to move, she stood quietly before him, her heart pounding. After an eternity, he finally lowered his face to hers and their lips touched. It wasn’t a long kiss. It certainly wasn’t passionate. She might have called it dutiful, if she’d been functioning well enough to make an evaluation.
Then people were clapping and getting out of their seats, the men coming over to congratulate Zeke and the women crowing around her. She felt a stiff smile plaster itself across her face as she accepted the best wishes of her friends.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Jo O’Malley asked.
“There wasn’t time,” Elizabeth improvised.
She saw Jenny Brisco looking bemused. She and Jenny often ate lunch together and shared confidences. For example, she was one of the few people who knew Jenny was pregnant. So she suspected her friend was wondering exactly what was going on.
Mercifully, Cam’s voice cut through the excited chatter. “I’m sorry, but weather conditions over the Atlantic are changing for the worse. The bride and groom will have to leave us now.”
All at once the mood switched back to business. Jason and Steve took Zeke aside for a conference. Kathryn came over to whisper in Elizabeth’s ear, “You’d better change into travel clothes.”
Glad to escape without having to make any further explanations, Elizabeth fled to the tent where she’d donned the beautiful wedding dress. Minutes later, it was back on the hanger where she’d first seen it, and she was dressed in a fresh pair of jeans, running shoes and a sweatshirt.
She glanced around the tent, trying to shake the feeling of unreality that had enveloped her since Kathryn had led her inside. The ceremony had been so brief, and she’d had almost no preparation. The marriage might have been a daydream, she mused, except that now she was wearing a slender gold ring on her left hand, a band that tied her to Zeke for as long as she wore it.
She stood staring at the ring, until the sound of urgent male voices broke through her trance.
“I don’t like your being out of communication,” Jason was saying.
“But if we wait for the equipment, with the weather changing, we might not be able to get out of here for a couple of days,” Zeke answered.
“You’re taking a risk by leaving without proper preparation,” Steve Claiborne interjected.
“And I’m taking a risk that I won’t get there in time to save my daughter, if we don’t get moving in the next half hour,” Zeke retorted.
Elizabeth walked to the edge of the tent and saw the three of them and Jed Prentiss, another ex-secret agent, standing in a tight circle.
“Okay, when the comms unit arrives, we’ll send it on a later flight,” Jason said. “Until then, you’ll have to check in with us using commercial phone lines.”
“Understood,” Zeke clipped out. He turned toward Jed. “You don’t have to go along. I can copilot.”
“Not a good idea,” the other man objected. “You want to be rested when you get there.”
Steve seconded the recommendation. After several seconds, Zeke gave a tight nod. Then he looked up, saw Elizabeth listening, and stiffened.
She schooled the disappointment out of her face into a smile as she glided toward him. “So when are we leaving, honey?” she asked, feeling her throat tighten around the endearment.
“As soon as Steve finishes with the preflight check,” he said.
Cam gave her a warm smile. “We
’ll see you when you get back to Baltimore.”
“Yes. Thank you for everything,” she replied, still amazed at the speed of the preparation.
“I arranged this party, so I’d better go play host,” he said. “Too bad you can’t stay for the food.”
Zeke shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “Thank you,” he said stiffly. Cam smiled his understanding.
“Tell everyone how sorry we are to run off like this,” Elizabeth murmured.
“Right.”
When he’d left them alone, Zeke muttered, “As you may have noticed, I’m not great at thanking people. Cam…or you.” He raised his eyes to hers. “But I hope you understand I appreciate what you’re doing.”
“Yes,” she managed to say, as they stood awkwardly confronting each other. She didn’t want his gratitude. She’d rather ask him what he thought about getting married in front of so many of their friends, but she didn’t want to hear him tell her it had been a total embarrassment or that it made him feel obligated to her. So she slipped away before he could see the anguished look on her face.
THEY HADN’T quite met his departure deadline, Zeke thought as he finished up a final radio conference with Jason. But they were pretty close. Steve was in the pilot’s seat. Jed was next to him. Both of them had dropped everything else to help him get to Mythos as soon as possible.
He closed his eyes for a moment, glad they were facing forward and couldn’t see his expression. He’d been raised to hide his emotions. He suspected he’d make all three of them uncomfortable if he got profuse in his thanks. But until he’d hooked up with the Light Street crowd, he’d never known what it was to have family or friends who would come to your rescue when you needed them—no questions asked.
“Relax and leave the driving to us,” Jed said, half turning in his seat.
“Right,” Zeke agreed, wishing he could hang around with them for the rest of the trip. But Elizabeth had already gone back to their private cabin. He wasn’t sure how he was going to face her after making such a mess of the last thirty-six hours. An image of the knife leaped into his mind, and he squeezed his eyes shut to block it out. Whoever had sent Sebastian with the damn thing had read Zeke Chambers pretty well. He hadn’t been able to leave it behind. Grimacing, he wondered what other nasty surprises were in store for him and Elizabeth. Even now he knew he never should have brought her along. But here she was—waiting for him in a nice private little bedroom.
“See you,” he murmured, unbuckling his seat belt and standing up.
His friends chorused their good-byes, as he strode across the small space to the rear cabin. Thank God, neither of them made any jokes about wedding rights.
Opening the door, Zeke stepped into the private compartment that someone had been thoughtful enough to convert into a love nest for the honeymoon couple. Only they weren’t exactly going on a honeymoon. And they weren’t exactly a “couple” in the usual sense of the word, he reminded himself as he closed the door.
There was nowhere else to sit in the small cabin besides the bed. Elizabeth was gingerly perched on one edge, as if she thought the surface might go up in flames at any moment. She looked nervous and vulnerable, and so desirable that Zeke felt a rush of blood to the lower part of his body.
Elizabeth gave him a quick glance, then dropped her gaze to the hands clasped in her lap. His own gaze followed, zeroing in on the band of gold on her finger. It matched the ring that felt so thick and heavy on his own finger. They were man and wife. They had a piece of paper and a whole slew of witnesses to prove it.
His mind flashed back to the ceremony. He’d never thought of Elizabeth as beautiful. But she’d looked beautiful in that wedding dress. She looked just as beautiful in her travel outfit, her jeans hugging the slender curves of her thighs and legs. He ached to take her into his arms. But he didn’t have the right to make love to her, not when the marriage wasn’t real. The best thing would be to back right out of the cabin. But he couldn’t do that. Not with the guys out front. And he couldn’t simply stand there for the rest of the twelve-hour trip. So, being careful not to bump into her, he moved to the other side of the bed and gingerly sat down.
A bottle of expensive champagne sat in a bucket of ice on the floor. The attached note said that it was from their good friends Thorn and Cassie, who hoped he and Elizabeth would be as happy as they were. Very thoughtful of them. He folded the card and stuffed it in his pocket before Elizabeth could get a look at it. Then to give himself something else to do, he picked up the bottle and began to fiddle with the wires at the top, untwisting and pulling them off. Automatically, he began to work at the cork. When he pulled it out, the loud pop made him jump. Damn, he hadn’t meant to do that. It had just happened.
“Now that it’s open, I guess we might as well have a drink,” Elizabeth murmured.
“Yeah.” Maybe it would make a good anesthetic.
Two regulation airline plastic glasses were in a small box beside the bucket. He poured them each a good belt.
He was raising the glass to his lips when Elizabeth cleared her throat.
“We should have a toast.”
Zeke went very still.
“To finding Ariadne,” she said, holding out her hand.
“Yes,” he agreed in a low voice as the glasses touched. His fingers brushed hers. For a long moment neither one of them moved. He had to hold tightly to the glass to keep from pulling her toward him. Somehow he managed.
Silence fell again, as they sat sipping the bubbly wine.
“It’s been a hell of a day,” he finally said to the room in general. “Getting some sleep is probably a good idea.” Setting down his glass on the floor, he slipped off his shoes, then started to unbutton his shirt, before stopping suddenly and glancing at her.
“Don’t mind me,” she muttered. “I’m just your wife.”
He swallowed hard. “That was for appearance’s sake.”
She made a noncommittal sound.
“I’m sorry Cam went to so damn much trouble,” he blurted. “I didn’t ask him to.”
“He thought he was doing us a favor. I gather you’d rather have snuck out of the country with two dozen less witnesses.”
He spread his hands in a helpless gesture. There were things he should say, but given his recent track record, he was pretty sure he’d make a mess of them.
He saw Elizabeth lick her lips nervously. “You’ve had plenty of field experience pretending to be something you’re not,” she said. “Like a married man.”
“Um-hum.”
“But I haven’t. I might need a little bit of…uh…roleplaying with you, to get into the proper frame of mind.”
He gave her a wary look. “Like what?”
Her tongue flicked, drawing his gaze to her lips and then her face. Her cheeks were slightly flushed. Her eyes were bright. She dragged in a deep breath, then let it out slowly. “There’s a problem I think you haven’t anticipated.”
His eyes narrowed. “Oh yeah? Like what?”
“Well, you know, it might be dangerous traveling with a woman who’s supposed to be your wife, when it turns out she’s a virgin.”
Chapter Nine
Zeke choked on the swallow of champagne he’d just taken.
“You can’t be,” he said when he was breathing normally again.
“Why not?”
“You’re too desirable,” he answered, then flushed when he realized what he’d said.
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she answered, her face serene.
The conversation wasn’t going quite the way he’d expected. “You can’t be,” he said again.
She raised her chin slightly. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”
Silence hung between them.
Getting off the bed, Zeke glanced toward the door, but he couldn’t get very far away from her at three thousand feet in the air. Instead, he moved to the bulkhead, propping himself against the curved wall, and folded his arms across his chest. “What do you
want me to do?” he asked, then silently cursed the question. He wasn’t stupid. He was simply trying to be responsible.
She took the opportunity he’d offered. “Make sure I have a better idea of what it’s like to be a wife,” she said. “What if we had to convince someone we knew each other intimately? I wouldn’t know how to behave. I’m not sure you would either—with me.”
He made a strangled noise. “Elizabeth, we can’t just—”
“Why not? I promise to respect you in the morning.”
Their gazes connected and held for endless moments before he found the breath to say, “That’s not the point.”
“What is? I’ll be gentle with you,” she quipped, the slight quiver in her voice setting up a vibration inside him.
He was running out of rejoinders. He dredged up one more. “It’s not fair to you.”
“I’m a better judge of that than you.”
He scrambled for reasons, and came up with one she couldn’t dispute. “We can’t do anything. I’m not prepared to protect you from pregnancy.”
She gave him a little smile that made his insides melt. “The champagne wasn’t the only wedding present from our friends. There was an overnight bag with a number of necessities—things I guess they figured we didn’t have time to pack.” She reached under the bed, pulled out a leather carry-on bag. “For example, there are thousands of Greek drachmas. Too bad they’re worth so little on the dollar, or we’d be quite rich. And—” She fumbled inside, before holding up a length of foil-wrapped packets that she held steady so he could clearly see the labels. Then she set them on the tiny stand beside the bed.
“So who do you think bought these?” she wondered aloud. “My friends or yours?”
