Her gaze never left his as she walked down the aisle toward him. He’d learned last night that it was not the church’s custom to have the bride given away to her husband. Luke liked that she was coming to him by choice.
At last.
When she was mere yards away, he stepped forward to meet her, crooking his elbow, and escorted her the rest of the way to stand beside her mother, with the men flanking their women.
The Mass began. Most of the words were in Spanish, so he didn’t really understand much, but caught a few words during the homily about faithfulness, perseverance, and fruitfulness. Cassie tensed on that word, but he stroked her hand with his thumb.
Cassie and the priest had agreed to speak both English and Spanish during their parts of the Rite of Marriage, so that Luke would know what was going on. Not that he’d remember a thing they said. His mind was focused solely on the lady standing at his side.
Now and for the rest of their lives.
The ceremony continued and her parents renewed their vows first, in Spanish. When he heard Cassie’s sniffle, he squeezed her hand, brushing his thumb over her knuckles.
Next, in English, Father Rojas addressed Luke and Cassie. He repeated some of what he had said about marriage in his sermon before asking them a series of questions.
“Casandra Beatriz and Stephen Lucas, have you come here freely and without reservation to give yourselves to each other in marriage?”
Together they answered, “We have.”
“Will you love and honor each other as man and wife for the rest of your lives?”
“We will.”
“Will you accept children lovingly from God?”
His response was spoken more quickly than Cassie’s, but when she said, “I will,” Luke’s heart soared. They were young and had plenty of time to worry about children, but that she allowed this to remain part of the ceremony was encouraging.
“Since it is your intention to enter into marriage, join your right hands, and declare your consent before God and His Church.”
Father Rojas continued, reverting to their informal names as Cassie had requested. “Luke, do you take Cassie to be your wife? Do you promise to be true to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love her and honor her all the days of your life?
Luke smiled down at Cassie who met his gaze. “I do.”
She continued to stare into his eyes while the priest continued. “Cassie, do you take Luke to be your husband? Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and honor him all the days of your life?
She spoke in a firm voice. “I do.” Cassie smiled and visibly relaxed.
“You have declared your consent before the Church. May the Lord in his goodness strengthen your consent and fill you both with His blessings. What God has joined, men must not divide.”
The congregation and wedding party all said “Amen.” The priest had given them permission to exchange their own profession of love and Luke listened when it was Cassie’s turn to read the words she’d spoken once before.
Beside me and apart from me,
in laughter and in tears,
in sickness and in health,
in conflict and serenity,
asking that you be no other than yourself.
Loving what I know of you and
trusting what I do not yet know,
I bind my life to yours
until death parts us.
For the first time since he’d penned those words the night she’d agreed to marry him in Colorado, he had more hope that those promises would be fulfilled than he had three months ago on their first wedding day.
I am blessed.
The rings were brought forward, blessed, and exchanged. His hand shook a little just like the first time he placed the symbol of his love on her finger.
Her papá brought the bag of thirteen gold coins to Luke. He had explained to Luke earlier he had given these same coins to his own bride all those years ago. The older man poured them into Luke’s hands slowly before returning to his wife’s side and kissing her cheek. Luke took the coins and turned to meet his bride’s gaze.
“Cassie,” he began to drop the coins slowly into her cupped, outstretched hands, “I pledge to be a good provider, to earn your trust and confidence, and to support and care for you all the days of my life.”
As the last two coins fell into her hands, Cassie teared up. She continued to hold the coins in her outstretched hands. “Lucas, I accept these coins as a representation of the trust and confidence you have in me and I promise to return that trust and confidence thirteen-fold to you.”
After the coins had been returned to their pouch and handed to one of the attendants, Eduardo and Susana came forward carrying the large white rosary fashioned from soft rope. Luke tried not to be disrespectful, but he was about to be bound to his wife’s side by the very brother who probably had facilitated her deciding to marry him the first time. The priest indicated that Luke and Cassie should kneel once more on the pillows one of the godparents had carried in earlier. His brother- and sister-in-law formed a figure eight with the rosary rope and draped it around Luke’s and Cassie’s shoulders while the priest spoke in English again how the two were now bound together as one for infinity, as the sideways eight symbolized.
Luke’s mind went places it shouldn’t during a solemn church wedding ceremony. Would Cassie ever let down her guard enough to try a little kink? There were so many things in the lifestyle that could help her relax and enjoy her sexuality more, but she seemed to have an aversion to the topic whenever it came up.
Don’t push your luck, Denton.
The ceremony continued until Eduardo and Susana were invited to receive the lasso from them and to keep it safe until they gave it to Luke and Cassie later. Mamá came toward them holding the lighted taper candles, the flames causing her tears to shimmer in her eyes.
Each of them accepted one of the candles, and he placed a kiss on his mother-in-law’s cheek. Luke didn’t know if he was supposed to or not, but he reached for Cassie’s hand as they made their way to the unity candle near the altar. Together, they lit the candle and a single flame represented their coming together in marriage. With two puffs of breath, they extinguished the separate flames representing the end of their lonely pasts.
They’d been brought together by a wildfire and an avalanche—fire and ice—but this flame depicted a bright future. Like the flame, their marriage would burn hot and bright, no doubt. Cassie had an underlying passion just waiting to be unleashed. He couldn’t wait to get home to their ranch and have her all to himself for a while.
When they returned to the priest, Luke was told he could kiss his bride. He framed her face. She seemed more serious now. Maybe the kiss would take her out of her head. He leaned down, no intention of stopping short this time, but wanted to hoot and holler when Cassie leaned toward him, impatient for their lips to meet again.
That’s my girl.
My wife.
My love.
The ceremony ended and the congregation stood. The godfathers and godmothers, led by Cassie’s parents, were each handed a long-stemmed gladiolus as they took their places on opposite sides of the aisle, women on his right, men on the left, evenly spaced. Each raised one of the long-stalked flowers and formed an arch for them to pass under. It reminded him of the saber arch at Adam and Karla’s wedding.
Cassie and Luke were handed one of the flowers, too. She set the pace, slower than in wedding recessionals back home, as the quartet played Amazing Grace. The congregation greeted them with smiles and applause.
* * *
Cassie walked solemnly down the aisle as they left the sanctuary, as was the custom, but there was nothing solemn about the stirrings in her heart. Elation best described her feelings. She could have floated down the aisle with her husband by her side.
My husband.
She had just turned a page in her life—no, more accurately, she had started a new book ent
irely.
When had she fallen in love with this man? For truly, this must be what love felt like. When Lucas looked at her with love in his eyes, she saw herself as the beautiful bride he saw. Nothing would stop her from putting forth every effort to be a true bride to him this time, no matter how long it took.
Tears blurred her vision but she saw Mamá and Papá waiting near the back of the church, and she fought the urge to run into Mamá’s arms. Emotions overwhelmed her, but her place was at Lucas’s side now. When they reached the narthex at last, he turned her toward him and cupped her face once more. Kissing him was becoming her favorite activity.
She smiled up at him, but as he leaned down, she closed her eyes. Rather than be as brazen as she was in front of Padre Rojas and those who witnessed their first kiss as a true husband and wife, she waited for him to come to her this time.
Hurry up and kiss me, Lucas.
When his lips did not meet hers, she opened her eyes and quirked her brow in question.
He smiled. “That’s better.” He closed the gap and met her lips. Rather than a chaste kiss like before, his tongue brushed across her lips lighting a flame in the pit of her stomach warmer than the unity candle they had lit during the ceremony. Without thought, she opened her lips to him, but he broke off the kiss with a groan when everyone surrounded them offering their congratulations.
He leaned closer to her ear. “We’ll take up where we left off tonight—in bed.”
The words sent shivers throughout her, but she did not think they signaled fear. Something else. Anticipation perhaps? How far would he take her tonight? He had promised to take his time. Besides, they were in her parents’ house.
Yes, she had agreed to more intimacy, but how quickly did Lucas intend to move?
No time to think about such things as the wedding party moved into the hall for the celebrations. The evening passed in a blur of faces, but whenever she became overwhelmed, she sought out Lucas and he calmed her with merely a glance.
Food and drink abounded. They toasted with the traditional pisco, but she did not partake of more than a sip. Their guests enjoyed the cases of beer and the chicha morada, a sweet, fruity punch made from purple corn.
Because there had not been time to instruct Lucas in the native dances, she asked Mamá and Papá to exclude them from that portion of the fiesta. In truth, the thought of dancing publicly again after where it had led to with Pedro and his accomplices almost made her sick.
Do not think about them now.
Lucas must be overwhelmed by how different this wedding was compared to his first one with Maggie, although he embraced each thing as he came along. The monetary gift-giving ceremony made him a bit uncomfortable, but they could use the money for their animals or anything they wished. They did not live extravagantly at all.
Hours later, the crowd began to thin out and Cassie thought it time to prepare to bring the reception to a close. “I am going to the ladies’ room, then we can go back to my parents’ house.”
He kissed her. “Hurry. I’m ready for bed. I’m looking forward to holding my bride in my arms all night long.”
To have and to hold.
“I look forward to that, as well.”
She walked down the long hallway to the restroom, her thoughts lost in what would transpire tonight while she and Lucas were in bed together.
A hand closed over her mouth, stifling her scream while a strong arm clamped around her waist. The familiar voice spoke into her ear in Spanish as his hand groped her breast.
“No screaming, puta. We leave now.”
Diego?
She had expected Pedro to show his face, but not this man who was not even from her village. She fought against him, but her jabs and kicks were unsuccessful at hitting any vulnerable areas. Remembering her training, she let herself go limp and managed to duck from his grasp and run for the back door. She would go around to the front of the reception hall and get help, but her first thought was escaping the man who stood between her and Lucas at the moment.
A blast of cold air hit her in the face when she opened the door, temporarily blinding her. When she bolted outside, she ran into another man.
“Finally in my arms again, my betrothed.”
Pedro. Before she could react, he had her in his arms, her back to his chest. Something glinted in the moonlight—a deadly-looking knife—that he placed next to the skin of her neck. Some of the beads from her chin-strap pinged to the ground as he cut through one of the strands.
“Make a sound, puta, and your blood will be the next thing spilling to the ground.” She found herself facing Diego again. Even in the dim lighting of the alley, his black eyes bore into her soul.
Her heart hammered as bile rose in her throat. No! If she let them take her away from here, she would be raped again and probably would not be allowed to walk away this time. Sweat broke out on her forehead. The frigid air pierced her dampened skin as Diego came forward and squeezed the joint of her jaw until her mouth opened and he stuffed a smelly cloth inside.
Why had she not screamed when she could have? Who would come looking for her and how soon? Lucas for certain, but he might not begin to worry for many minutes. She needed to find a way to let him know where they had taken her.
But how? The last time he had tracked her, he had Picasso. Would he be able to find her on his own?
* * *
Luke had asked her Aunt Sofia to check on Cassie in the ladies’ room when she hadn’t returned after almost ten minutes. Was she sick from the food or drink? No, she hadn’t had more than that potent pisco toast and barely sipped that.
Worrying that something more sinister might be wrong, he had entered the hallway to the bathroom himself when Cassie’s aunt came out of the bathroom clutching her hand to her chest.
“¡Ella no está!”
What did she mean she’s gone? Luke ran for the nearby exit, calling over his shoulder, “Call the police!”
Pedro, you fucking touch her and I’ll kill you with my bare hands.
How could he have let down his guard when the possibility this snake would slither into her life again was so high? He should have been standing guard outside the bathroom.
In the alleyway, he looked up and down, but saw no movement.
Sonuvabitch.
When he pivoted around to go inside to retrieve Eduardo and other men who knew this place and could aid in his search for her, his boot skidded on something. He looked down to find more than a dozen pearl-like beads—just like the ones on Cassie’s hat strap.
The door opened and Eduardo ran out. “Where is she?”
“No clue. She could have been gone for as long as ten minutes already.” Luke continued to scrutinize the beads and noticed they didn’t just litter the ground here, where they indicated a struggle, but the moonlight captured a trail of them. “Look! She’s left us a trail to follow.” Which meant she was still alive.
Luke set off down the alley.
“Where are you going?”
Luke didn’t bother to glance back at her brother. “I’m going to find my wife.”
Eduardo caught up and cast a beam from a small LED flashlight that helped them illuminate the darker areas and continue to follow the trail. On the street, the beads veered away from her parents’ house.
Luke saw scuff marks halfway down the street, near another alley. “There are at least two of them.” There had been a struggle. Had she been hurt? He didn’t see any blood, but the thought of their hands on her…
How could they have taken her from under his nose? He should have protected her.
Focus. Kick yourself later, but right now you need to find her.
Clearly they hadn’t gotten into an automobile so most likely she was still in the village. He picked up the pace as fast as he could without missing clues to her whereabouts. He hoped they didn’t catch on that she was leaving a trail of beads.
Inside the narrower alley, the trail ended abruptly. Eduardo shined the light on a red
object near the entrance to an animal shed.
Cassie’s hat. His heart hammered in earnest. Further signs of a struggle. Looking around, Luke recognized the shed from their walk the morning she agreed to marry him again. He pointed it out, down the darkened alley. “Cassie used to play with alpacas in there.”
“Pedro did, too. At least I found him there with her sometimes when I came to walk her home.”
Pedro had been part of her childhood? His betrayal and attack had to have been even harder if they had been friends. Luke had just assumed it had been an arranged marriage to someone she didn’t even know.
“Fucking asshole.”
Eduardo stared at Luke. “You are certain Pedro is the one who took her?”
Enough family secrets. This man needed to know the stakes here. “Pedro and two of his friends raped Cassie that night she went out.” His voice shook with emotion. “This time, they may not want to leave a witness.”
The man turned off the flashlight, hiding any emotion he might be feeling. His breathing became labored.
“Look, keep your head on straight. I’m only telling you this because we aren’t going to let them hurt her again. She needs us.”
The agitated clicking of the alpacas inside increased when he heard a muffled scream. Cassie! He ground his teeth. They approached the shed with as much stealth as possible. Another scream and Eduardo charged forward, but Luke stopped him.
“We need a plan of attack, or we’re going to get her killed.”
At least she was still alive. The thought of those bastards touching her made him sick. Under his breath, he whispered, “I’m coming for you, darlin’. Be strong for me.” Of course, she couldn’t hear him. Luke’s hands shook as he crept slowly toward the shed. They needed to assess the situation before going in guns blazing—man, he wished he had his revolver. Upon further inspection, he found a slit in the boards. The scene before him revealed Cassie held against one man who had a knife to her throat. Another groped her breast knowing she wouldn’t move for fear of having her throat cut. A third man moved two alpacas out of one stall into another as if readying a place to…
Get your fucking hands off my wife.
Nobody's Dream (Rescue Me Saga #6) Page 55