Elemental (13 page)

Her
wide eyes shot to his, meeting his heated blue gaze and feeling her heart skip
a beat in her chest. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing would come out,
so she snapped it shut.

“Sweetheart,
your idea for the ornaments was wonderful. All of us placing our Christmas
wishes inside and then looking back to see if they came true,” he began,
rolling until his body lay atop hers. “I’m afraid that my wish involves a few
steps `on my part before it can possibly come true.”

Mandy
lay there, shell-shocked as Nicolas brought her left hand to his mouth and
brushed his lips over her knuckles before opening her fingers and kissing her
palm in such a tender way, she felt tears pricking her eyes.

“Nicolas…”

“
Shh
, you don’t have to answer me right away. Just think
about it, about us,” his soft voice, rough from sleep, flowed over her nerves,
soothing her like nothing ever had before.

This
was where she wanted to be, where she planned to remain for the rest of her
life. Nicolas was hers, and she was his, that was all that mattered. He’d
stolen her heart already, so it was only fair that she steal his last name in
return.

Mandy
sighed dreamily as he gently kissed her lips before rising from the bed. “Let’s
get ready for breakfast. I have a feeling Garrett will be coming with a wake-up
call if we don’t come down soon.” He stood and offered her a beautiful emerald
green silk robe to slip into. “This color is very becoming on you.”

“Thank
you,” Mandy felt her reply was inadequate, but was unable to offer more.
Nicolas obviously meant to spoil her and she’d never had that happen before, so
she wasn’t entirely sure on how she should act. “I’m sorry, I’m just not used
to all of this,” she gestured to their lavish room with a sweep of her hand.
“My apartment is rather small, furnished with second-hand furniture and
appliances which are probably older than I am. I work hard for what I have, so
to have you and Jonathan buying me things and attempting to spoil me is a
little awkward.”

Nicolas
just smiled. “I don’t want you to feel
awkward,
I just
want you to see how much I care about your comfort. How much I care about you,”
he emphasized. “I love you Mandy, and I want you to have everything you could
possibly desire.”

“That’s
just it, I’ve never been a materialistic person, and I never will be. I’m just
a simple girl, with simple needs,” she insisted.

“And
what might those needs be?”

“I
just need to be loved. We could be completely destitute and living in a cave,
but as long as you loved me I would be content. All of this is simply icing on
a very large cake. It’s nice, but just decoration for what lies beneath,
because once you strip away all of the extras you’re left with only yourself
and what you feel.” Mandy took a deep breath and mentally hiked up her big girl
panties before taking the plunge. “The only thing that you could possibly give
me that I would promise to keep forever, would be your name. That alone is
something that can’t ever be taken from me.”

Nicolas
let out a whoop and hoisted Mandy into a bear hug while twirling them around.
“You have no idea how happy you’ve made me!” he exclaimed.

Laughing
Mandy replied, “Oh, I think I have an idea.”

“I
can’t wait to share the news. You just tell me when you want to do this and it
will be done. Anything you want, the sky is the limit.”

Nicolas’
eyes were practically glowing in his excitement, but another thought suddenly
occurred to her, one that somewhat dimmed her happy moment. She wasn’t sure
what type of wedding Nicolas would want.

Mandy
had no family or friends to invite while Nicolas and Jonathan probably had
scores of friends they’d made in their eight hundred plus years. She wasn’t too
keen on the idea of a large scale wedding, but would not stand in the way of
the brothers sharing that time with the people they held dear.

Her
next problem, she planned to take care of at breakfast.

“Let’s
hit that bathroom you were talking about. I think a nice long shower is in
order,” she purred with a little bob of her brows. “We can worry about the
details later.”

“Anything
you say, sweetheart.”

*
* * *

At
breakfast their announcement was met with cheers and congratulations from
everyone. Anna had even proclaimed that she was going to call her father to her
in order to get his blessing for her and Jonathan to have the Binding Ceremony
performed.

Everything
seemed to be coming together perfectly, but Mandy still had one thing to see to
so she quietly excused herself from the table and stepped into the kitchen
where she found Garrett finishing up a tray of pastries.

“Mandy,
what can I do for you?” he asked, ever the cheerful cook.

“Actually,
I do have a big favor to ask,” she hedged.

“Anything
dear, after all, we’re family now.”

“About
that, you see, I don’t exactly have any family to invite to the wedding, much
less to stand with me, so I was wondering if you would be willing to walk me
down the aisle, since you’re like a father to Nicolas and Jonathan…”

Luckily,
the sweet, sweet man took pity on her and cut into her babbling. “I would be
honored, Mandy.” He drew her into his embrace and whispered in her ear, “We are
your family now. You’ll never have to fear being alone again…like it or not,”
he chuckled.

Mandy
sniffled, “I’ve been alone long enough. I think that having a family will be
wonderful.”

“Indeed,
and don’t wait too long before having babies. It’s been an eternity since these
walls have heard that laughter of children. Now go back out and I’ll be right
behind you with these sweet treats.”

The
thought of having Nicolas’ children rolled through her mind and filled Mandy
with warmth. She had no doubt that he would be a great father. He was
attentive, affectionate, and would no doubt be a patient teacher when it came
to their abilities.

Back
at his side, she settled into her seat just as another thought settled in her mind.
They’d been intimate three times now, and had yet to use any form of
protection. Good lord, but she could be pregnant already!

Her
hand automatically moved to her stomach and Nicolas bent to whisper, “Are you
feeling well?”

“Yes,
I’m fine,” she replied. I just need to talk with Anna, like, now!

“We
were discussing possible wedding dates,” Nicolas still watched her closely, but
thankfully didn’t question her further.
“Any thoughts?”

Oh,
she had plenty of thoughts, but they weren’t revolving around the wedding at
the moment. Perhaps they should be though if she wanted to fit into a nice
wedding dress. If she was indeed pregnant, then that would make buying a dress
extremely difficult.

“Would
a small ceremony be alright? If so then we could have the wedding fairly
quickly.”

“When
did you have in mind?” Nicolas asked, Jonathan looking just as interested in
her answer.

“How
about New Year’s Eve?
I would love to be married before
I had to fly back to America.”

Nicolas
stiffened next to her. “Why would you go back?”

“Umm…to
get my things?
I need to take care of a few things
there before making the move. I was hoping that you would come with me, but
with this whole werewolf thing going on I understand that you need to be here.
It would only be for a week, tops.” Was he going to be upset that she wanted to
go back? She had very little of any real monetary value, but even sentimental
value was worth a lot when you had nothing.

“I
could have everything packed up and shipped here if you’d like. Jonathan told
me how you hate flying,” he added. “It’s no trouble.”

Mandy
thought for a moment and came to the conclusion that she could handle
everything else through email and phone calls, so she agreed and watched as
Nicolas seemed to relax once again. It would appear that he didn’t want to be
separated from her any more than she did from him. “Alright, that should work.
I’ll just need to use a computer to take care of the rest.”

“There’s
one in the study,” Jonathan offered. “I’ll show you later.”

“Thank
you.”

“So,”
Anna broke in, “New Year’s Eve only gives us about five days to get this
planned. We’ll need to get you a dress, plan a meal, decorate…where are we
going to do this?”

“There’s
a solar in the west wing. It will need a little work, but I think that Jonathan
and I can manage that while you ladies take care of the shopping.”

Garrett
seated himself next to Jonathan. “I would be happy to take you ladies down to
the village if you’d like. I will place orders for food, wine, and flowers to
be delivered while you search for dresses and such.”

“Thank
you Garrett that would be great.” Mandy turned to smile up at Nicolas. “I can’t
remember ever having such a fantastic holiday.”

They
all dug into the sweet, honey covered pastries that Garrett had prepared and
began to hash out plans for the upcoming ceremony before gathering around the
tree.

It
was exactly the way Mandy had envisioned Christmas should be. Wrapping paper
littered the floor as each person tore into their gifts, ooh-
ing
and
aahh-ing
with delight at
the surprises inside. Mandy had never before received so many gifts and was
humbled at the thought that had been put into each one.

As
the day went on, they gathered around the fireplace in the main living area and
prepared themselves for the next event of the day. Anna was ready to ask for
her father’s blessing and had requested that everyone remain with her for
support, and because she harbored a fear that her father would try and force
her to return to the fairy mounds.

Jonathan
had promised to be a perfect gentleman while her father was present and
reassured her that they had no ill feelings toward the Fey King. They had
actually come to terms with their hatred and directed it to its proper place…
at her brother.

“Surely,
once he sees how happy you are, he’ll give you his blessing,” Mandy assured
Anna.

“I
hope you are right. I actually have no idea what to expect and I believe that
is what scares me the most,” Anna confessed, her hands shaking as she wrung
them.

Jonathan—being
the loving and supportive man that he was—took her hands in his own to still
their nervous movement and gave her his most charming smile. “Everything will
be fine.”

“How
can you be sure? What if he decides that he does not approve of us being
together? What if he tries to make me leave? I do not want to leave you,
Jonathan,” Anna whispered through her tears.

Again
he just smiled at her and urged her, “Just call out to him sweetheart, you’ll
worry yourself sick with all of the ‘what if’s’. Let’s just have a little faith
in the fact that your father wants you to be happy.”

Nodding,
Anna took a steadying breath and called out to her father.

The
air before Anna and Jonathan shimmered and in the blink of an eye, an imposing
man—
whom
Mandy could only assume was the Fey
King—appeared. He was tall, broad, though not as trim as the brothers, and had
silver hair that was pulled back on his nape. The platinum beard on his chin
added to his regal appearance as his lavender eyes took quick inventory of all
persons present in the room before coming back to Anna.

“So,
this is where you ran off to. I must say I am surprised. I had suspected you
harbored a fear of the brothers,” his booming voice startled Mandy, but the
small smile he gave Anna went a long way to reassuring them all that things
would work out just fine. “So, to what do I owe this summoning?”

Anna
took Jonathan’s hand in hers, causing the King to raise a brow in question, and
then presented her request. “Father, I have met the man that I am destined to
be bound with,” Anna beamed. “Would you please allow us your blessing and agree
to perform the ceremony for us?”

“I
had long thought on a way to approach the two of you with the offer of a truce
between us once more,” the King announced, addressing the brothers. “I never
would have imagined that my sweet Anna would be the one to bring our worlds
together again.” He held out his arms and Anna rushed into them. “My darling
girl, I would do anything for you. If this man makes you happy, then so be it.
I would never stand in the way of a fairy and their intended.”

“Thank
you!” Anna gushed. “I was so worried you would not approve that I almost did
not call.”

“I
am glad that you did. Now, whenever you decide to have the ceremony, you just
call on me again. I will come to you no matter what, and remember that you are
still a princess, so you have access to anything you could possibly need or
desire. You need only ask.”

“Thank
you, Father.”

“And
as for you,” he directed himself at Jonathan now, who stood back smiling as
Anna hugged her father. “You make sure that you take care of my little girl.
She is the only child I have now.”