Til Death
(Jane #5)
By
Samantha Warren
Copyright © 2011 Samantha Warren
The following story is a work of fiction and all names and characters are strictly the creation of the author.
All rights reserved.
Smashwords Edition
This publication may not be reproduced or transmitted in any manner without expressed written consent from Samantha Warren.
Cover Art Copyright © 2011 Kalen O'Donnell
Chapter 1
Have I ever told you I hate weddings? Well, I do. I hate them with a passion. There’s a reason Steven and I headed off to Vegas the first time I got married. I’ve never been one of those girls who sat and pondered my wedding for hours on end when I was still in ribbons and curls. There is too much drama, too much money, too much concern over everything being just perfect. But at least Donna was going to get her perfect wedding.
“Come on, Jane. Stop being a baby and try on the dress.”
Groaning, I slouched deeper into the plush chair at the back of the room. Donna rented out the entire bridal store for two whole nights, determined to stuff me into something white, poofy, shimmery, and long. I looked pleadingly at Mindy, the attendant who had been coerced into helping us. Her young face was drawn and her eyes had deep bags under them.
She held up her hands and shook her head, offering me no escape. I didn’t really blame her. The previous evening, she had attempted to suggest something to Donna that Donna didn’t really like. My vampire friend still hadn't fully recovered from the loss of her sister and her foray into the dark side and the poor girl was lucky to make it out of the confrontation with all her limbs. Since then, she kept her lips pressed tightly together and played the part of errand girl instead of bridal consultant.
I’d lost count of how many dresses I’d tried on and yet another monstrosity was being shoved in my face. Sighing, I grabbed it from Donna’s outstretched hand with more force than necessary and stalked to the fitting room. Sure, I could’ve just stripped out of the one I was in right there. The blinds were drawn and no one without x-ray vision could see inside, but I got a small pleasure from hearing Donna huff outside the door as I dawdled inside.
There was a big mirror on the wall of the dressing room and I examined myself while Donna grumbled. It was strapless with a bustier that felt like armor from the Middle Ages. It stood stiff and stark against my tanned chest and if I looked down, I could see all the way to my waist. Felipe would like it, but I didn’t particularly want anyone else to get that view. It clamped uncomfortably tight around my hips before ballooning out into a marshmallow-esque explosion of fabric. Behind me, the train bunched up against the wall in a puddle of white.
“What is going on in there, Jane?” Donna’s fist thumped heavily against the wood, making it vibrate on its hinges.
Stifling another sigh, I opened the door and looked into her hopeful eyes. “No.”
“Yes! It’s beautiful! It’s perfect! It’s so you!”
She reached out to hug me and I returned her embrace momentarily before pulling back. “I hate it.”
Donna’s eyes narrowed. “You hate everything.”
“No, but I hate this.”
Our relationship had been tense for the past several months, but we were working on it. The last two days had put a damper on that progress.
Donna opened her mouth to say something, then closed it tight. She nodded once, then held up a finger. “Stay here.”
As she disappeared into the sea of white, Mindy smiled at me and shrugged. I waited, leaning against the door jamb in despair.
Donna was gone a lot longer than I expected and I was contemplating going in search of her when she emerged from the last row of dresses. In her hands she held a simple, off-white dress. It had the faintest of shimmers and a halter-top neckline. The back was longer than the front with a very small train. She held it out to me, a small smile on her face.
“This is the one.”
I took it hesitantly. She had made that claim for the last two dozen dresses, but this time, her voice held a quiet confidence. Eyeing her suspiciously, I turned and went back into the dressing room. It took me a long time to shrug out of the straight-jacket I was wearing and I breathed a sigh of relief when it was finally off.
The new dress hung beside the mirror and as I looked at it, I couldn’t help but smile. It slipped on easily and wrapped around my body like a well-worn pair of jeans. It was tight enough to show off my curves, but not so tight that it felt constricting. The front was cut just above the knee and draped around to trail behind me. I did a couple turns in the mirror and felt the corners of my lips pull up involuntarily.
“This is the one,” I said as I opened the door.
Donna’s dull eyes brightened noticeably when she saw me and she nodded emphatically. “That’s the one.”
A sigh echoed from behind us and I grinned at Mindy. For the first time since the whole wedding process started, I was actually a bit excited instead of dreading it.
The sun was coming up when Donna and I finally ducked into the blacked-out SUV. Jax snoozed in the driver’s seat until Donna slammed the door, startling him awake. He rubbed his eyes and looked at me. “Any luck?”
I nodded and smiled. “Yep. We found it.”
“Oh, thank God. I can’t do this another night. I killed the battery on my PSP this time.” A wicked grin broke across his face at Donna’s disgusted snort and I fought hard to suppress my own.
Back at the hotel, my elation at finally finding the right dress disappeared when we walked through the door to my suite. It had been transformed into a garden. There were flowers of every shape, size, and color in vases and arrangements of all sorts. Annie stepped out from behind a Felipe-sized display of red roses and white orchids with a small Asian man in tow.
The next six hours were spent going over every imaginable combination of floral decorations. I was hanging onto my patience by a thread by the time Donna escorted the florist to the lobby. I collapsed onto the sofa and growled. Annie plopped down beside me, holding out a glass filled with thick red liquid. I sipped it in between deep breaths until a knock sounded at the door. She got up to answer it and returned moments later with a sexy Italian behind her.
A grin broke unbidden across my face and I set my glass down on the side table as I bounded to my feet. Felipe wrapped his arms around me and I sank into him, inhaling his scent and resting my head against his chest. We stood there for what felt like an eternity until Jax cleared his throat.
“Listen, lovebirds, Felipe has to be back at headquarters when the sun goes down, and Jane hasn’t slept in three days. I’m going to take Annie and scoot for a few hours.”
Felipe nodded at Jax. “Good plan. See you later.”
We waited until the door shut, then Felipe scooped me up into his arms and sat in a big, overstuffed chair in the corner. He looked into my eyes and ran a finger along my cheek.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in days, my darling Jane. Between the wedding and the vampires, it’s been crazy. I think you may have been right about Vegas.”
I gave Felipe a smirk, his classic look that I’d been working on for the past few months. “Felipe, my dear, there is one thing you should have learned long ago. Women are always right. It’s inherent in our genes.”
His deep laugh echoed through the room and his eyes sparkled. “That may be true. You are marrying me, after all.”
“Vampires. Their egos grow with age,” I quipped before pressing my lips to his.
“Mmm. I’ve missed that,” he said when we finally pulled ourselves apart. “So how was your day? Has Donna finished planning your dream wedding yet?”
I sighed for the umpteenth time that day and rested my cheek on his shoulder. “We found the dress. It’s absolutely beautiful, and there’s no frilly junk anywhere on it. I think we might have the flower arrangements done, too, but she was waffling right before the florist left, so I guess I’ll find out tomorrow. How was the meeting?”
Felipe puffed his cheeks and blew the air out as he leaned his head against the back of the chair. “Tiring. Some of the teams are making good progress. One of the teams in DC has developed a weapon that emits a blast that’s like a star exploding and can be contained to the walls of a house. It will make taking covens out a bit easier, but it also poses a greater danger to the teams using it. And there is a question as to whether it is ethical.”
I shuddered at the thought of the vampires who would be caught in the blast. My previous husband had met a similar fate and it was not the least bit pleasant.
“And there’s a new kid from Seattle who has a chip on his shoulder, and really bad hair.”
“When are we heading to Columbus?”
“The day after the wedding. Good thing we celebrated our honeymoon already.” Felipe’s lips pressed against my forehead and I snuggled closer to him. “Oh, Jane. Before I met you, I thought I had my life sorted out. Now, I just want to escape with you to some remote corner of the world and never worry about any of this again.”
Smiling, I lifted my head and kissed him softly. “I know how you feel. But if we were to leave now, a lot of people would suffer. The world is counting on you to be their Superman.”
“I am definitely no Superman. First off, he didn’t drink blood. Second, he was allergic to kryptonite. I’m not that big of a pansy.” He leaned over and kissed my nose. “And third, I would never abandon the woman I love.”
“Very valid points. I guess you’ll just have to settle for being my hero, then.”
Wrapping his arms tightly around me, he pressed his lips to my neck. “I think I could deal with that. When this is all over, I think we should resign and move to Alaska.”
“What would we do in Alaska?”
He shrugged. “Raise mooses?”
“Mooses isn’t a word. It’s meese.”
“It’s not meese. It’s mooses.”
“No, it’s meese. The plural of goose is geese, so the plural of moose is meese.”
Felipe stared at me for several minutes after that and I had a very hard time keeping my grin under wraps. “I think you’re full of bologna.”
“Hey, who’s the one with English as a first language, huh?”
He snorted. “And who’s been speaking English longer than you, huh?”
I opened my mouth to retaliate, but his lips stopped me before I could get a word out. They tasted delicious and I lost myself in them. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I tangled my fingers in his luscious black hair. Without breaking the kiss, he tucked an arm under my knees and stood up, taking me with him. The trip to the bedroom was a little dangerous with all the flowers throughout the room and I heard glass breaking and water splashing more than once.
As Felipe opened the door, I saw flowers and glass strewn across our path and pitied the poor housekeeper who would be tasked with cleaning up the mess. I’d gotten to know her over the previous weeks and did not envy her in her job. But as the door closed behind us, my concern for the maid and the wedding and even the world disappeared. Felipe was all that mattered right then, and we made the most of every moment.
Chapter 2
The day snuck up on me, despite Donna’s constant reminders and fussing. Twenty-two hours before the wedding, she kicked Felipe out of the suite and took over. Her nervous energy permeated the room and had Annie and I on pins and needles.
At eight o’clock in the evening, four hours before I was to walk down the aisle, we finally headed to the church. It was small compared to the churches I was used to, but I didn’t mind. Donna had tried to get us to rent out the largest in the area, but I didn’t want that many people at my wedding. As it was, I would probably really only know about a third of the guests, the rest being picked by Felipe, Donna, and Father Bellini.
The room that had been reserved for us to get ready in was almost the size of the hotel suite. My dress was hanging from a rack in the corner, alongside those for Donna and Annie. Theirs were almost as beautiful as mine. I had insisted on picking the dresses for the bridesmaids. Hey, it was my wedding. I needed to have at least a little say in it. They were black and cut in a similar style to mine. The back was shorter, ending just below the knee instead of trailing out along the floor, and the halter tops were studded with diamonds.
In a box on the floor sat three bouquets. Two were smaller, merely a dozen each, black and white roses arranged in a flattering pattern and sprinkled with tiny red flowers. The other bouquet was twice the size and had black, red, and white roses, along with the little red flowers. I had to admit, Donna had taste.
Sitting in front of a large mirror, I watched the woman behind me. She was the best hair stylist in the city, according to my vampire wedding consultant, and she was proving her worth. Donna and Annie already had their hair done in simple yet fashionable pony tails. Together, the styles took less than an hour. I’d been sitting there for an hour and a half already and my patience was barely in tact by the time the woman set the last curl.
I attempted to stand, only to be shoved back into my seat by Donna. “Time for makeup.”
Another hour found me plastered and caked with goop of all sorts and I barely recognized myself when she finally stepped away. The woman in charge of timing was already bugging us as I slipped into my dress and donned the white shoes with heels too tall and straps too tight.
I was ushered out into the hall as Donna hooked the snap on the halter top. She stepped away and smiled at me. Then she began to blur. I leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths to steady my nerves.
“Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet now.”
Annie stood beside me, a hand on my shoulder. Her eyes were hard and threatening. I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Not about Felipe.”
Donna grunted and put her hands on her hips. “You better not back out on this. I’ve put too much time into creating your dream wedding. Don’t you ruin this for me.”
I laughed again. I knew Donna wasn’t trying to be mean. People just get funny when it comes to weddings. But I couldn’t keep my mouth shut.
“No, Donna, I have no intention of ruining your dream wedding. I promise I’ll be a good little girl and head down the aisle when it’s my turn.”
The snarl on her face would’ve been enough to scare even the toughest human, but I’d had enough. It was supposed to be my big day, right? Thankfully, the woman standing at the door beckoned Donna through as the music changed and managed to avoid a nasty confrontation that probably would’ve gotten blood on my beautiful dress.
Annie put an arm around me and kissed my cheek. “It’ll be over soon, then you get to party like there’s no tomorrow.”
I watched her walk through the door, then closed my eyes. I pictured Felipe’s face. He was the only thing that mattered. He had never been married and he wanted a wedding. It was an hour, two tops. I could handle two hours. They would fly by, and then I would spend the rest of my undead life with him, happily ever after and all that jazz.
I snorted as I thought of what our happily ever after would likely entail, drawing a raised eyebrow from the coordinator. She didn’t like me; that was clear. She adored Donna, though, and did her job well. I stepped to the door as she opened it and looked out.
Every pew was filled and there were actually people lining the walls. They were all standing and staring in my direction. I had taken on some of the baddest baddies in the world, but a church full of people all looking at me sent my knees a-knocking. I was thankful that Donna hadn’t forced me to wear one of those tight, stomach-constricting undergarments because it was all I could do to breathe as it was.
“Go,” said the woma
n behind me, giving me a little nudge.
Biting my lip, I started down the aisle. It was a lot longer than I remembered it being during rehearsal. I felt almost like I was riding on one of those airport conveyor belts. My movements were jerky and I was not at all as graceful as a vampire bride should be.
My eyes darted all over the room, taking in everything and nothing all at once. The flowers were beautiful, but the faces were blurred. I tried to focus on the front of the room. Donna stood off to the left of the pulpit, holding her bouquet in both hands, a big, cheesy, completely fake grin on her face. Annie stood to her left and slightly in front, an encouraging smile offering me support.
I looked to the right. Benton stood across from Donna looking very dapper in his black suit. His face was hard and his mouth firm, but I could see the light shining in his eyes. Jax was glowing like a schoolboy. He had been ecstatic when Felipe asked him to be the best man and he took the job very seriously, as evidenced by the bachelor party that Felipe refused to talk about.
Then my gaze settled on Felipe. There he was, hair slicked back with too much gel and clean-shaven when he was normally wonderfully scruffy, but he was perfect. He was staring at me, his beautiful smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. My jerky ride turned to an easy float and before I knew it, I was standing in front of him, lost in his handsome face.
Beside me, Father Bellini cleared his throat and addressed the crowd. “We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of these two wonderful people in holy matrimony.”
The wedding sped along surprisingly fast. Poems were read, songs were sung, rings were exchanged, and promises were made. I had a very hard time focusing on Father Bellini’s words until Felipe leaned over and wrapped an arm around my waist.
“You may now kiss the bride.”
The smirk that had been growing all through the ceremony broke into a full grin and he pulled me to him. I threw my arms around his neck and he pressed his lips to mine. It felt like our first kiss, full of hunger and passion and need. Bellini had to tap us both on the shoulders to break us apart.
Til Death (Jane #5) Page 1