Deadly Nightshade by Sem Thornwood

Chapter 22

Alessio

When I was seven years old, I told Isabella Vasile I was going to marry her for the first time.

She was only four and was hiding behind a tree she used to hide a lot. I had always found her when she hid. That day was no different. I found her and asked why she was hiding. She told me she didn’t want to go home and was hiding from her Mom. I told her that won't work, and her mother would only be angrier when she found her.

She didn’t cave.

Then I sat next to her and told her to go for now. I told her, “When we grow up, I’ll marry you, and you will never have to leave.”

That earned me a small smile, but she didn’t believe me. She said I was not worthy enough to marry her, and I said I would become worthy then. But she didn’t cave; she told me it was stupid and ran away from me.

I chased her.

Her mother found us before I could convince her.

I kept the same promise again and again in the years to come. Bella never fully believed me. I never had any doubts. And now I was standing on the altar before we left to celebrate our marriage in the backyard, which held that same tree she hid behind all those years ago.

True, we were not going to stay in that house after the wedding, but she was going to stay with me. That was enough for me, and I was hoping it was also enough for her.

I didn’t wear suspenders, and I also didn’t wear the funny-looking shirt Mia said would be perfect. I was in suit pants, a simple dress shirt with two top buttons undone, and sleeves rolled to elbows. I was not the important one anyway. Bella was supposed to be the focus of everything. I wanted to make her forget her agonizing wedding by making this one perfect.

It wasn’t a very crowded wedding. We didn’t need to invite all the people in the Outfit. The amount that can fit in my family’s backyard was more than enough.

My best man was Antonio. He was the more trustworthy choice since I was afraid Salvatore might get drunk and give my wedding ring to one of the strippers at my bachelor party. He enjoyed them more than me. All I could think about was that I was going to spend the next day and all the days after that with Bella.

Salvatore walked with Verona down the aisle. Then Mia and Antonio came. After them, everybody stood, and with the first glimpse of her, my heart stopped. She didn’t let me see her dress before the ceremony. I didn’t know if it would make any difference if I had seen it before since I hardly registered the white dress. All I could see was her face.

Her dark brown hair was framing her beautiful face. Her cheeks were flushed, deep crimson-looking exquisite on her olive skin. Her deep dark eyes were sparkling with happiness.

Oh, that expression could be the death of me, but I had no intention of dying before marrying her.

She was walking with her dad, and it seemed like even that didn’t bother her. She didn’t even look bothered when he kissed her cheek before me. Seeing her this happy was something I have missed dearly. I wanted to make her smile like this for the rest of our lives.

When she stepped next to me, she whispered, “Hey.”

She was grinning so hard, and I realized I was no different. I was usually good at controlling my expression, but this was a rare occasion after all. So, I didn’t hold back and answered with, “You look amazing.”

Because she did.

When I could take my eyes off of her face and register her clothing, I realized her dress was really cute. The skirt and the arms were floating, but it was hugging her waist and breasts in the most delicious way. She must have been wearing high heels because she looked taller than usual. Some of her hair was pulled back, and it was secured by… oh, by the combs I gifted her on her sixteenth birthday.

Belladonnas. She did warn me about the sweet poisonous cherries. Turns out I was ready to take the poison in order to have a taste.

After she granted me a small flushed giggle, she turned to the priest. We didn’t break the tradition of the classic Christian ceremony. We didn’t make special vows; we could do them in private later. After all, what our eyes told was enough. We were finally together, and that was all that mattered.

When the priest said, “You can kiss the bride,” my heart almost gave out. I haven’t kissed her in two months, and I never kissed her in front of a crowd.

I have never kissed her without being a secret.

I have never kissed her as my wife.

And now I was going to do it.

I cupped her cheeks as her hands came up to my chest. I could feel her trembling slightly, but it was so different from her shiver at her other wedding. I could see the excitement in her eyes. I didn’t give myself time to think if people would think we were used to doing this. After this point, they could not judge our intimacy. We were married. That should be enough to shut everybody in the Outfit.

So, I only thought about her and lowered my lips to hers. She tasted as sweet as I remembered, and her soft lips pressed into mine with familiar deliciousness. I was not going to let her go with a simple peck. To my satisfaction, she didn’t stop me when I licked her bottom lip. She just opened up to me and let me discover her mouth. At the same time, her tongue teased mine without caring about all the looks and cheers of the crowd.

She kissed me like she was kissing me for the first time, and she kissed me like she has been kissing me for all her life.

She was sweet.

She was lovely.

She was mine.

Mine.

Mine.

Mine.

Forever mine.

After I pulled back, I put one last kiss on her slightly swollen lips. It was a promise of the future. A promise that we were not done yet.

I wanted to take her hand and pull her into the car waiting for us. I didn’t even want to go to the celebration. I just wanted to stay alone with her, but congratulations were in order, so we needed to stay in the church for a little while longer. She did deserve a wedding with everything, so I tried not to bitch about it.

We were going to stay alone at one point anyway.