Rapture 2: a BWWM, Alpha Male Romance (25 page)

FORTY-ONE

Alika

The following week…

“Oh my God!” I sighed. “How beautiful was that place, Siobhan?” I asked.

She sat across from me on the private jet while on our return from Santa Barbara.

“It was definitely stunning,” she admitted. “The perfect getaway. I’ll definitely have to go again.”

“
We’ll
definitely have to go again,” I corrected. “It’s my new favorite place to go!” I exclaimed.

Rush had treated us to a girls away trip to BACARA Resort & Spa, where we could bond and talk. His motive for the trip was so that I could get Siobhan’s mind off of all that had happened to her. The woman had been through a lot over the years with having to give up her son, finding then losing love with a man she’d confessed to me had made her feel like a princess. And then to end up committing murder.
Murder
…
wow
. That one threw me, but with everything that she had endured,
Snapped
was all I could think of. A good defense attorney, if it ever came to that, might very well be able to get her off with a claim of temporary insanity. Then to go from
all of that
, to being sexually assaulted…yep, she’d been through a lot. We bonded a lot on our trip, even more so when I shared my experience with Curtis. It opened old wounds, but the moment I introduced Rush into the story, those wounds closed again. At the end, however, Siobhan and I both agreed that she should seek counseling. Her soul needed nourishment. By her own admission, Siobhan was fearful of slipping into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and she wanted to be whole on the new journey she had embarked on of both mother and grandmother.

“What was your favorite part?” I asked, excitedly.

“All of it!” she laughed. “The whole thing! That place was gorgeous! I mean seeing the ocean from the bedroom, living room,
and
the wrap-around terrace! And you were so sweet to give me the room with the fireplace, so thank you, future daughter-in-law. I appreciated that.”

“It was my pleasure, Siobhan. How cool was it that they put one in the bedroom and the living room? That was super well thought out.”

“Okay. Wait!” Siobhan suddenly blurted out. “What about that Colorado lamb loin at the Ocean House? My mouth is still watering. I wonder if Hazel can make a dish like that.”

“Hazel can make anything. You’ll see,” I told her. “She can make that, and I can make that Anacapa ginger cocktail. I’m a beast at mixed drinks,” I bragged, swiping my knuckles against my shoulder blade.

Siobhan laid her head back into the leather seat as we prepared to descend. “Home sweet home,” she announced.

“You okay, Siobhan?”

“I’m fine, sweetie. I was just thinking about how thankful and happy I am.”

“That’s good,” I responded, smiling. “I’m sure Rush will be extremely happy to hear that. You for sure deserve it.”

Seconds later, Siobhan turned to look at me with a quizzical look on her face. “Question for you…”

“Okay, shoot,” I said.

“What would you say if Hunter asked you to marry him, Alika?”

“Huh?”

“You heard me. What would you say if Hunter asked you to marry him?”

My body grew to a rising temperature, almost like it does when Rush is inside of me. The mere mention of him, in conjunction with being his wife, sent chills through my entire body. Before I knew it or could control it, I was a blushing idiot.

“I guess there’s my answer,” Siobhan responded, chuckling.

~*~*~

I was thankful for the time spent with Siobhan, but I was excited to be home. I hadn’t been away from Rush for any period of time since we’d been a couple and I was seriously jonesing for him. That king-size bed, and ocean view and fine dining was all spectacular, but I missed him and couldn’t wait to see his face and be in his arms.

On the ride home, I was excited to be going to an early dinner, but a large part of me wanted to get home, in some sweats, one of my Disney t-shirts, some crisp white footies, wrap my hair in my silk scarf, and chill in front of the fireplace to unwind…with Rush. But family duty called, and the moment this fancy dress came off, I was gonna do some major slumming.

“This place is gorgeous,” Siobhan stated when we arrived.

I hadn’t paid much attention once we pulled off from the hangar. I had only been indulging in the melodic sounds coming from the Sirius station that the driver was tuned in to. But when I looked out the tinted windows, my eyes brightened up when I realized that we were in front of the InterContinental!

“Oh my God!” I softly gasped. My excitement was contained as to not appear like a schoolgirl in front of Rush’s mother. She didn’t need to know that I was feeling melancholy because this was where we had spent an extremely magical night. Nope, she didn’t need to know that at all.

“What is this place?” she asked, innocently. “I mean I see the sign, of course. But
what is it
?”

The driver walked around to let us both out of the backseat, and shortly after we were escorted into the entrance—the beautifully grand entrance that I had been so entranced with the first time I visited.

Standing not too far away was a pretty Latina with curly hair pulled back into a slick ponytail, and a thick body, dressed in pearl-colored formal skirt set. “Hi and welcome to the InterContinental. Miss Collins, and Miss Cavanaugh, is it?” the woman queried, but with more assurance than expected.

“Yes,” I responded, curiously before turning a nervous gaze to Siobhan.

“My name is Olga. I’m here to take you to your destination. Follow me, please.”

“O…kay…” I responded before falling in line behind her.

She led us to glass elevator doors, and pressed lighted button bearing the number fifteen. After we exited the elevator, we proceeded to walk down a long marble corridor that had beautiful art along its walls. It was all really nice. I couldn’t believe that Rush had actually arranged dinner for us here. Thoughts I had a while back about going home, were now filled with curiosity. When we reached our destination, the woman slowly opened a set of cherry wood double doors and stood to the side.

“Here you are, ladies.”

I looked inside and my knees went weak as I took in the layout. We had entered a ballroom with décor so amazingly perfect that my jaw dropped. The room looked to stretch into forever and the ceilings had to be at least twenty feet high. My heart began to pound furiously. I tightened my grip on my clutch, and then took in more of the scenery. Instrumental jazz tunes were playing through a speaker system. The room was illuminated in a dimmed pink lighting, with hundreds of dangled chandelier lights hanging from the center of the room. Sheer white curtains draped the walls, There were tables set with silk napkins, and place settings that I was starting to believe were for more than just Rush, Siobhan, and myself. It was breathtaking.

I turned to our guide. “Olga, what’s…going…on?” I asked slowly, in a soft whisper. “Where is Rush?”

Olga’s response was non-verbal, as her face opened to a pretty smile. I looked from her to Siobhan and then back to Olga again, almost half laughing. “Olga…?”

“I’m right here, baby…”

I jerked around at the sound of his voice. But I still didn’t see him—until I did. He signaled to me from a space near one of the sheer curtains. I’d been so busy exploring that I had missed seeing him.

“Come all the way inside,” he instructed.

Siobhan reached into my hand and nudged my clutch from me, and then I watched as Olga escorted her to a seat. My nerves were attacking from every angle, but I had no idea what I was even nervous about. I was more anxious than anything. I walked toward, Rush, and it almost felt as though I was floating. When I made it to him, he stood before me looking the most beautiful I think I had ever seen him. His skin was aglow, the beard that I loved so much was perfectly aligned, his mustache was perfect, his hair was freshly tapered, and he was dressed in a black suit, with a silk platinum tie and leather dress shoes. I took him in and I was speechless.

“I see you and my mother got the dresses I sent to you,” he commented.

Indeed we had. Rush had evening gowns delivered to us before we left Santa Barbara and told us that we shouldn’t get too relaxed on the way back because we had an extravagant night planned. When we opened our respective boxes, we were elated. Both of our dresses were platinum, but Siobhan’s was a full-length Taffeta, slightly dipped at the chest, and with an accompanying bolero jacket. Mine was a dress I had seen before and fallen in love with. It was a sexy floor length v-neck halter-style gown with a sequin lace belt that fit tight at the waist. It also boasted a beautiful sheer covering flowed from beneath the belt, and that flowed out around the dress. I averted his eyes and looked down to admire my dress.

Rush grabbed my trembling hands into his. “You look beautiful, Alika.”

“You look beautiful too, baby.” I looked around in awe, and was still clueless. “What’s happening?” I asked, leaning in close to him. His cologne engulfed me. “You smell so good,” I said smiling, and closing my eyes for a few seconds.

“
Everything
is happening, baby.”

He turned around and nodded his head. I looked in the direction that he was gesturing toward, and as if I couldn’t be any more surprised, in walked everybody: Tracie, Gigi who was holding Michaela’s hand, Nikki, and Christina. Quinton, Marco, and Gavin. There were also about eight of my staff from Temptation who walked out as well. One by one, they all walked past smiling at me, and then went off to take seats that appeared to be pre-assigned. My eyes followed them to their seats after which I turned my attention back to Rush. But this time, there were tears in my eyes, and I was trying my best to suppress the sniffles that were dying to come. I was just afraid that once they started, I’d be full on bawling in front of everyone. I couldn’t do that yet. I needed to know what this moment was all about.

“Don’t cry, baby,” Rush said, looking into my eyes, and dabbing at the corner. He had a little bit of wetness inside his as well.

I inhaled a deep breath and briefly looked up to the ceiling, then back at my guy. “I’ll try not to.”

The music stopped and Rush began to speak.

“You came crashing into my life, baby. And you made it all better. I was used to going through life and focusing solely on me and building me to where I needed to be. I was on a solo mission. But you appeared and took my heart hostage and made it so that I could care—in an intimate way—about life, about love, about
everything
. I knew what I was looking for in a woman, but I honestly didn’t think she existed. In you, I found the whole package. Not piece-meal, but the whole package. You make me happy. You make me whole. You make me want to be the better me, and I love you unconditionally.”

He stopped to catch his breath. He then inhaled and released the air between pursed lips. My baby was nervous. I’d never seen that before.

“So, all this kinda stuff is new to me, but all I knew was that I wanted it to be perfect. I had always heard that the groom—”

“Groom…?” I gasped. “
Groom
, baby?”

I hadn’t meant to interrupt him, but the urge was far beyond my control. Rush smiled at me and nodded his head in the affirmative.

“Okay,” I whispered.

“I always heard that the
groom
,” he continued, smiling. “…is not supposed to see the bride the night before, so I arranged for you to be gone. That was hard on me because since October the
first, I’ve seen you every day. And each one of those days I’ve never felt more alive. I set this up today to see if you would take me as your husband and allow me the honor of calling you my wife.”

“Absolutely, baby. Absolutely,” I panted.

And that was when the river of tears I had been trying to suppress, came pouring down my face. I tried my best. I really tried. But I don’t think in that moment anything could’ve prevented it. Out of my peripheral, an older man approached, and took his place to the side of us and commenced to officiating: