If she were an enemy from the beginning, and he was trying to keep her close for that reason, than why save her when she almost died from the wind blade she took to protect him? she thought as she ran her fingers along the raised bumps where the stitches had been.
She shook her head to clear the thoughts and went about getting dressed for the wedding. Her mother had commissioned a gorgeous spring green dress for her, the color of the silken fabric an exact match to her eyes. After pulling it on over her undergarments, she sat down at the vanity and applied her makeup. Andon entered as she was smudging the kohl on her eyelids.
“Just in time,” she said.
He stared at her with his mouth clenched shut and his eyes wide, and she saw him gulp as he surveyed her appearance.
“I need you to braid my hair,” she said when he didn't respond.
“What did I ever do to deserve such a beautiful woman as the one sitting in this room?” he murmured as he stepped up behind her and started his work on her damp hair.
She smiled at him in the mirror. “A lot of wonderful things, viomo,” she said, trying out the Esperan word that Strelzar had told her meant 'lover boy'.
“Mmm...no you can't do that to me right now,” he groaned. “This wedding is in an hour. You cannot call me that in my native tongue with your honey-sweet voice while I've got my hands in your honey-colored hair.”
“Why? What will happen?” Veria feigned innocence, pouting her lips and batting her eyelashes at him in the mirror.
He gently pulled back on the sections of hair already in his hands and she gasped as he dropped his lips down to her exposed neck and murmured against the thin, delicate skin. But Veria didn't understand a word of what he said, all of it in Esperan, though the vibrations across her skin and the feel of his full lips on her body sent sparks rippling through her regardless.
“What did you say?” she asked breathlessly as he slowly pulled away and resumed braiding her hair.
“You will find out after this wedding is over, vina,” he answered with a seductive grin.
“Oh, you are a scoundrel,” Veria accused playfully, knowing that she would be forced to sit through her mother's wedding in agonizing anticipation.
The ceremony was beautiful and Veria found herself in blubbering tears as she saw a level of happiness and love on her mother's face that rivaled the expression she had displayed on the days her grandchildren were born. Turqa looked like a different person entirely, his generally calm and cool facade giving way to one of pure joy and elation as they exchanged vows. When his voice broke and sobs of emotion strained his speech, Andon sniffled next Veria, and she looked over to see that he had a single tear rolling down his cheek as he snuggled Aleon in his lap.
Longberme was a smaller, older estate without enough room to have any festivities with more than fifteen guests inside, so the ceremony, which had ended up having about thirty attendants in total, was held outside. As soon as the ceremony was over, bubbly was served in the gardens, which had been decorated with strings of lighted glass orbs of gold-colored and green-colored glass and large arrangements of palma fronds and the exotic orange and honey-colored avadiso flower, both brought in from Esperan for the wedding. Tanisca had wanted as much spring as she could manage to infuse into the late winter event, and the first signs of impending spring had shown up just in time to help her, as the grass and many of the garden beds had turned to hues of chartreuse instead of the bland shades of brown they had been for months.
For the dinner, she'd had Andon make two long tables from some of the many trees they had felled during their dueling in the forest, and while the guests sipped bubbly in the garden and chattered their congratulations to the bride and groom, Andon and Strelzar helped move the tables into place under a beautiful, gauzy, green-linen tent. A fantastic feast of food was brought out by the servants as soon as the tables and chairs were in place, and the dinner commenced as soon as everyone had taken a seat.
Veria had to eat her food, which was all rich and delicious, in quick bites in between giving tastes to a demanding Aleon, who seemed to have an opposite palate than his sister did at his age, preferring fish and meat and salted vegetables instead of the sweet roots and yogurt Irea had preferred, and still did. He turned his nose up at the braiberry salad she tried to give him, which his sister was devouring by heaping spoonfuls, but begged for more of Veria's smoked jewelsnapper in creamed beardclove sauce.
When the guests were finished eating and the plates were being cleared to make room for dessert, Andon stood and proposed a toast.
“Turqa, Tanisca, your love for each other is an inspiration to us all. I couldn't imagine two more deserving people to find such love, either. You both have shown such incredible devotion to my children and welcomed me into your home as your own family. Tanisca, I hope someday I can be as wonderful a grandparent as you are. Turqa, you are a model of commitment and selflessness. You both deserve all the happiness in the world. To the bride and groom!”
“To the bride and groom!” the guests echoed in blissful chorus.
Andon took a sip of his bubbly, but didn't sit down. Instead he cleared his throat and Veria felt a warm, anxious knot in her stomach as his face showed a hint of nervousness as he started to speak again.
“Now, I didn't want to steal any focus from the special couple today, but the bride and groom were rather insistent that I do this now when I spoke to them about the matter.” Veria's heart flipped in her chest as he looked down at her in her seat and reached for her hand. She took it and he pulled her up to stand next to him. She turned to face him and he took both her hands in his. “Veria Laurelgate, my happiness, my heart, my life is not complete without you, and I intend to spend the rest of my life making sure you are as happy as you have made me. I will dedicate my entire being to our future should you accept me. So I now ask you, would you grant me the profound honor of becoming your husband?”
She was speechless, gasping for breath and slightly dizzy as happiness overwhelmed her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Strelzar's face in a slight grimace, but she was too happy to give it a second thought. Knowing she couldn't form words in her elation, she nodded fervently and the guests clapped and cheered and exchanged another round of toasts as Andon wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a kiss.
“I can't wait to marry you,” he whispered in her ear when the polite kiss was finished.
“Took you long enough,” Veria murmured in his ear teasingly.
Andon laughed as he pressed his forehead against her and put his hands on her waist. “Yes, it certainly did.”
After dessert, the musicians started lively tunes and everyone started dancing in the gardens. Veria certainly noted that the few dancing lessons Andon had given her over the prior months had helped her not feel as though she were going to trip over her own feet with every movement, even if they hadn't instilled her with anything resembling grace or musicality. But, they did not get to dance for long before Irea, who had been dancing with grandpa Willis, became cranky and Aleon fussed for his bedtime nursing session.
Veria and Andon took the children up to the nursery and readied them for bed, and when they were asleep, lulled into dreams by the sound of the music outside, they tiptoed out of the room as quietly as possible.
“Care for more dancing, my love?” Andon asked softly once they were out in the hallway, taking her hand in his. “I am fairly certain I have the most beautiful dance partner in the kingdom on this joyous night.”
He pulled her toward him and placed a hand on her waist, as if he were going to resume dancing with her right there on the landing, but his hand on her body in the hushed, dimly lit house sent a fresh rush of desire through her body and reminded her of the arousal and anticipation he had started earlier that day, before the wedding. Without a word, she stepped in close to him so the entire length of her was pressed against his solid body and wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, pulling him urgently into a kiss.
S
he had spent a good portion of the dinner and dancing with the warmth of expectation in between her thighs from thinking about what he had said earlier that day, anticipating what their night would hold after the wedding was over. As he eagerly returned her kiss, exploring her body through the silk fabric of her dress with his strong hands, that warmth turned to a sweltry ache of need. She moaned as his hand brushed along then clutched into her backside.
“I think we are done dancing for the night,” Andon murmured, pulling his lips from hers to catch his breath, a task neither of them were having much luck with as they both breathed in the shallow, staccato gasps of desire.
Andon led her to their bedroom, just behind them, and shut the door once they were both inside. Veria looked briefly in the mirror while Andon was closing the door, and started to pull out her hair—an intricate twist of braids into a bun at the nape of her neck—when he came up behind her and completely enveloped her small frame in his arms, burying his face into her shoulder. His breath was heavy and full of urgency as he looked into the mirror, locking eyes with her in the reflection as he finished pulling out her hair for her, a little more assertively than she would have done, and each tug sent sparks through her body and caused her to gasp at the stimulation. When all the braids were undone, he ran his fingers through her long, golden waves, and a shudder of arousal overtook her.
Suddenly, he spun her around and took her lips with his, pressing her backside against the dresser behind her and supporting her with his solid arms as he urged their bodies together, as close as possible. The warmth in between her legs erupted in fire again as his stiff, unyielding arousal met with it, and she threw her head back and gasped for air.
Taking the opportunity of a break in the kiss, Andon murmured into her neck as he continued to press his need into hers. “I am going to give you everything you want in this world. Everything you have ever dreamed of.” He lifted his lips from her skin and looked her in the eyes. “At one point, you led me to believe that involved me cooking for our family in my mother's house in Esperan. Is that still the case?”
Veria remembered vividly the dreams she'd had, years ago, some of them in her sleep, but many, many more during her waking hours, daydreaming in the garden, basking in the warmth of the sun and new love. His love. That first, short-lived connection they had shared, but the love from which had never died. All of those dreams had involved smaller, more modest housing, clothing, food...Veria realized that maybe those persistent daydreams were visions, as most of them happened before she started training, and hence, focusing more on other skills, which would have detracted from any natural ability she had in seeing the future.
Maybe it was a sign? She had thought it was to be her immediate future back then, but...maybe it was meant for a future that was more distant at that time. Maybe getting out of the Regalship, giving up her claim to Longberme and living in a humble home near the beach somewhere in Esperan was what it would take to completely move on from everything that had happened with Browan, and the Twin Dragons, and her father. Maybe it was what they would have to do not only to move on, but to stay safe.
She nodded affirmatively and his face broke into a blissful smile.
“Oh, Veria,” he sighed.
“But it can't be your mother's house,” Veria said softly. “Browan knows the location. It's how he found out about...us.”
“That is fine,” Andon said. “We will need something with a few more bedrooms anyway.”
Veria tilted her head to her shoulder and grinned. “Why is that?”
He pressed himself into her again and she inhaled sharply. “Well, we already have two children, and eventually they will want their own rooms.”
“And you want more children,” Veria whispered, shifting against his firm need.
“Veria...” he exhaled, his breath choppy and strained with desire, “I want as many children as you want to give me. You are exquisite all the time, my love, but there is certainly something transcendent when you are holding or caring for our children, and a level of untouchable beauty when you are with child. Because of my decisions, I did not get to see much of it, but I am going to relish every minute of it in the future.”
Veria's chest filled with flames of love and passion. “I want to give you a son,” she murmured.
“We have a son, my love,” he whispered, running his lips along her collarbone.
“Another son.”
“Oh, another son?” he grinned as he looked up at her. “And, what of another daughter? Maybe one with your golden hair and eyes the color of new palma fronds?”
Veria could hardly breathe through the consuming need for him, let alone form words, so she nodded her answer.
“Sounds like we have our work cut out for us,” he remarked playfully, raising his eyebrows at her. “I will start having one of my contacts in Esperan look for a house with at least three bedrooms, and plenty of room for us to build on. And you...should start learning the language.”
“Speaking of which,” Veria whispered, arching against him, which pulled an agitated groan from deep in his chest, “what did you say to me before the wedding?”
His hands pulled at the fabric at the sides of her thighs and gathered it up until he found her bare skin, then he lifted and wrapped her legs around him, and Veria emitted a sound that was a combination of a gasp and a whimper. A devilish, lustful grin split his stony lips as he spoke.
“I said 'I plan to have you on every piece of furniture in this room, just like I did in the palace by the sea, you ravishing owner of my heart',” he murmured the translation, his lips almost touching hers as he did, spreading warm air across them and brushing up against them with every few words.
The words ignited a new level of urgency and need within her, flames filling every corner of her body. Flames that only he could extinguish. With the strength of her legs, which was considerable after the months of intense physical training, she pulled his body into hers and he moaned in response.
“Looks like I'm already on the dresser,” she whispered in his ear and he growled as he went to work removing her dress.
The music from the outside of the house afforded them a little more allowance than usual in sounding their pleasure, but Veria would have shouted her fiance's name with all her strength many times that night if she could have.
-XV-
Many weeks passed, and Veria and Andon tried to find time amongst their daily routines to work toward their other goals: finding a house in Esperan, and attempting to expand their family while working their way through the furniture in their bedroom.
Tanisca insisted on helping Veria plan her wedding, which Andon and Veria had decided they would have in Esperan once they found a home there. Andon's agent, his cousin who had worked as a page for him on several diplomatic missions, and was now employed with Ambassador Yoro, had sent them news of a few options—a two story, four bedroom home in Jorriza that sat right along the southern wall, overlooking the ocean but had no land; a cottage just outside the western, seaside city of Yartan that had only two bedrooms, but plenty of room to build an addition; and, Veria's favorite option so far, an old avadiso farm near Jura, which featured many large fields of the exotic flower and a sprawling, five bedroom jarrienta, which Andon explained was a single-story farm house popular in the agricultural areas of the peninsula. The final option, the avadiso farm, was a bit more expensive than the others, but was the only one that had the added benefit of bringing in income in the future, if they chose to keep the production up, which Veria was certainly on board with.
Two months since they had made the decision to leave Longberme for a quieter, more modest life, they had all but decided on the jarrienta near Jura, and planned to give his cousin word of their intentions to purchase the property that day. Andon insisted on a picnic to celebrate the decision, which he packed himself and surprised Veria with as soon as she had put the children down for their afternoon naps. They walked to the far end of the gardens with the basketful of
light lunch and celebratory bubbly and spread out a thick blanket in the grass once they had found a spot that was not too terribly muddy and wet from the recent slew of spring showers.
Andon poured them each a glass of bubbly, and passed Veria hers which she sipped happily while nibbling on bread and cheese. She looked at the love of her life with a warm smile, but felt immediately on edge when his returning smile seemed forced and nervous.
“What's on your mind, Andon?” she ventured, not sure she was ready for the answer if it was bad.
He cleared his throat and his face went serious. “I have...news,” he said. “It is good for us, Veria.”
“Then why do you seem distraught?” she asked anxiously.
“I have to travel,” he answered.
“We knew you would have to travel, to survey the jarrienta and sign the deeds,” Veria said. “It will take less than two weeks.”
“Well, there is more travel now,” Andon said softly, staring at his bubbly glass, hardly able to look her in the eye.
“Andon, what do you mean? What are you talking about?” A hot knot tied itself in her stomach.
“I have accepted a diplomatic mission,” he said, finally meeting her eyes.
Her confusion scrunched the muscles of her face, contorting her lips and eyebrows and nose into an expression of bewilderment.
“You haven't had an assignment from the King in almost a year, Andon, and he hasn't called you to any of the meetings,” she remarked. “We had all but figured you no longer had your post.”
“Not with Londess, Veria,” he shook his head at her. “I have accepted a job with the Esperan diplomatic council. Yoro offered it to me as soon as he heard that we were planning on relocating.”
Daughter of the Diamond: Book IV of the Elementals Series Page 14
