AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I pushed myself up off the colorful embroidered floor cushion and wandered through the ornate archway leading to my hotel balcony. I gazed out at the beautiful, bustling city below, as delicious smells and joyous music wafted up to me, inviting me to come play.
Mason and I had decided to elope, to tie the knot before the baby came. After the baby came, I had some big decisions to make, whether I wanted to start working for the CIA as a field analyst, or if I wanted to walk away from it all.
Part of me wanted to leave it all behind, but as I considered what else I’d do, I hadn’t the faintest idea. While I’d been forced into the lifestyle initially to save my own skin, deep down a part of me realized that maybe I liked the work. Especially if I was working for the real government and not a terrorist syndicate posing as a special task force. The irony of it all, talk about a toxic work environment.
Agent Sophia Zuri and I had become fast friends over the last few months. I’d worked closely with her as we’d been debriefed, and I’d helped her and her team out as much as I could. I didn’t know if I was going to accept the job offer long term, but I was certainly thrilled to help break the news to the other team members at the agency who’d also been through hell and back, just like me.
While the agency at its core was just a branch of The Crescent terrorist syndicate, there were many other people and agents like Mason and I who had unknowingly been going to work thinking they were helping people, protecting the country, and they deserved a second chance as much as I had been fortunate enough to get.
Now that the bulk of that was wrapped up, Mason and I could live in our little love bubble. We knew we needed to get away from it all, to reset, to heal from everything we’d been through.
I was so grateful that I had Mason. He’d held me night after night as I woke up from the nightmares, and slowly they’d started to dissipate. We both were in therapy, with a CIA approved therapist. We could share the darkest secrets we had without any fear of repercussion. We were in a good place, and there was no one I’d rather have gone into the depths of hell and back with, other than Mason.
With my new coping strategies in place, I knew I was going to be okay, that Mason would be ok. And that gave me hope, reminded me that I was resilient and strong.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door, and I crossed into the room and opened my hotel door.
Mason.
I gasped playfully. “You’re not supposed to see the bride before the ceremony.” My eyebrows raised as I looked at him.
He wore a loose white linen button down and matching linen pants. The crispy linen contrasted against his tanned skin and his dark hair. I bit my lip, knowing I’d have to wait several more hours for him to quench the heat that had already started to pool at the apex of my thighs. With my pregnancy hormones, I was turned on all the time, ready to be taken to the edge with him, at a moment’s notice, and today was no different.
He saw the lusty look in my eye, “I wanted to check on you, baby. See if you neededanything.”
Breathily, I backed up, letting him come into the room. I lifted my hands to show him the wet henna. “I do, but I can’t.”
Mason gave me a wicked look, and his knuckles grazed up the henna free skin of my shoulder, and my eyes fluttered shut at the contact.
“I guess I’ll just have to save what I had planned for later then.” He chuckled. A promise of things to come.
“I guess so.” I breathed, finally opening my eyes to find his dark glimmering eyes drinking me in with adoration.
He reached out and ran his hand over my swollen belly tenderly. “Feeling okay? Do you need anything else before tonight?”
I shook my head. “No, I feel good.” I was out of my first trimester and the morning sickness had mostly passed, which I was beyond grateful for.
“See you soon.” He pressed a chaste kiss to my lips and disappeared into the hallway, giving me a wink before he closed the door behind him.
I smiled and flopped back on the bed, keeping my hands carefully propped up as the henna continued to dry.
Moments later, there was another knock at the door and I groaned and got up to answer it. One of the hotel staff had room service, and I thanked them and then rolled my eyes at the note.
Eat up. You’ll need your strength for tonight, Rambo.
XO,
Mace
I tooka sip of the refreshing mint tea on the platter. He knew I’d been trying to drink less diet coke since my pregnancy, and I’d been trying every herbal tea under the sun, trying to find something to scratch the itch. The tea was far from diet coke, but it was certainly delicious and refreshing.
I dug into the light meal he’d had sent up, Moroccan salad and a fragrant vegetable couscous, filling but light enough that it wouldn’t upset my tender stomach.
Finally, it was time. I poked at the henna and, finding it dry, I gently brushed the henna crust off the top of my skin, revealing the light tan staining underneath. I slipped my white lace dress on and admired myself in the mirror. The delicate lace draped down to the floor and the intricate designs perfectly covered the important parts while beautifully accentuating my swollen belly. My skin, gently tanned from the time in the sun, glowed. I swiped a pink hue onto my lips and dabbed the extra onto my cheeks for a little bit of added color. I draped the veil over my head, and over my soft curls that had finally grown out a bit thanks to the pregnancy hormones.
I admired myself in the mirror for a moment before another knock at the door. The hotel manager smiled warmly at me and escorted me down to the wedding chapel.
The blue tile archway led me into the chapel, and candles glowed in the dimming light filtering in from the outside. Big sweeping bolts of fabric swept across the ceiling, giving the open-air chapel a warm and intimate feel.
At the end of the room, another archway opened up on the backside of the hotel into a stunning view of the desert, and the sun began to set, shooting brilliant orange hues through the sky.
And in the center of the archway stood Mason, misty eyed, handsome as ever, smiling at me.
“Ready?”Mason gave me a wink as he took my hand.
“Ready.” I whispered, hardly able to speak, as the joy of my emotions overcame me.
Standing here, hand in hand with Mason, I was getting everything I’d ever hoped and dreamed for and more. As I stared into those warm brown eyes, I knew I was the luckiest girl in the world.
The End.
