Was he taking it all back right when she was ready to accept?
“I don’t want to keep your children from you, Adriane. I know how much you already love them,” she said, trying to build up the courage to proclaim her love for him.
“Yes, I love them, but I love you too, Rachel. Even before I knew you were missing, I realized what a fool I’d been in my treatment of you. I was afraid of something because I’d never experienced it before, but love isn’t a thing to be afraid of. I don’t know why I acted in such a ludicrous fashion, but I do know that if I have to live my life without you, I will only be a shell of a man.”
“Is this real?”
Suddenly she was afraid to even hope. What if she really were still back in that shed, frozen and dying, and all this was nothing more than a dream?
“I love you, Rachel, truly, wholeheartedly, with everything that I have. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, not for the sake of our children, but because I can’t live without you. I want to have these babies, and I want ten more, not because I need heirs for Corythia, but because I want to see you in each of their faces. I don’t ever want to come so close to losing you again. These have been the worst few days of my life.”
The warmth in his eyes filled her soul. He meant what he was saying. She had no doubt.
With her vulnerability at an all-time high, she wanted nothing more than to be in his arms where she felt safe, where she could be loved. She didn’t know how it was all going to work, but none of that mattered. They would figure it out along the way.
“I do love you, Adriane, so much that it hurts to imagine my life without you. I don’t want us to be apart for even one more day,” she said, choking up as he gently brushed her lips with his.
“Will you marry me, Rachel, do me the honor of becoming my bride?”
She looked at him with wide eyes. “Did I hear correctly? Was that a question, not a demand?” A small smile broke over her lips to take the sting from her words.
“Yes! I am pleading with you on bended knee to accept,” he said. “See?” Still clinging to her hand, he knelt down on the cold hospital floor.
“In that case, yes, it would be my honor to accept.”
He rose back up and crawled into the bed next to her, pulling her into his arms and taking her lips in a kiss of pure love. Rachel became lost in his embrace, forgetting time or reason. And she reveled in knowing nothing could hurt her now.
Adriane’s hand shifted and he rubbed her wrist, making her cry out. So much for her belief that nothing could hurt her! When he looked down and saw the angry welts from the ties Gianni’s men had used to bind her, his eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.
She wouldn’t want to be his enemy — that was for sure.
“You know you can tell me anything about the last few days, talk to me to get it all out. It will kill me to know what you went through, but I am here to listen,” he said, his thumb gently rolling across her bruised and abraded flesh.
Rachel thought back to the thin ropes that had bound her, to the night the man had threatened to rape her, to the taunts they’d thrown her way. Did she want to rehash all of that? No — not yet.
“I will someday, Adriane, but not now. I’m sure I will have to tell the police everything, and for now I just want to lie in your arms. I just want to feel safe.”
“But, did they… I mean, were you…?” He couldn’t finish.
“No. They didn’t sexually assault me. You saved me before that could happen. But the rest of it…I’m just not ready to put it into words right now,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t push her.
And he didn’t.
“Anything you want, Rachel,” he assured her.
She cuddled up close to him and let his loving embrace soothe her, let his soft touch erase her fears. She had a good family and a wonderful fiancé, and two babies she would meet in just a few short months.
The day had gone from hopeless to nearly perfect.
“You will make such a fine queen,” he whispered. Just like that, fear rushed back, and it felt like strangling hands around her neck.
“Oh, dear. I wasn’t thinking about that,” she whispered. She was so not ready to be queen. That was something not at all on her bucket list. She’d rather face the terrorists again than face the throne.
“Don’t worry, my beloved Rachel, you will be spectacular,” he promised.
She had her doubts. She’d voice them in detail when she woke up. Right now, the medicine the doctor had given her was kicking in and she couldn’t keep her eyes open any longer. A good sleep would make it all a lot better.
“It turns out that tomorrow just had to wait until today,” Adriane whispered.
Adriane laughed at his private joke as Rachel fell asleep, safe within his arms.
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
MUSIC DRIFTED THROUGH the cathedral and past its ornate doors to where Rachel stood outside. The morning sunlight seemed to be shooting a ray of light directly on the golden door handles, as if directing her to enter.
She took a breath as she turned to her sister and to her best friend. Did she deserve so much happiness?
“You’re getting married today,” Ari said, smiling in encouragement.
“And becoming queen,” Lia added, making Rachel’s stomach knot.
“Oh, please don’t remind me of that. I have been telling myself that part is just make-believe,” Rachel said with a nervous laugh.
“You will make a wonderful queen. You care about people, Rachel. That’s all that really matters,” Ari said, squeezing her hand.
“Well, unless I say something foolish and land Corythia in a world war,” Rachel said, only half kidding. But though she was terrified of her new role, she wasn’t terrified of marrying Adriane. She loved him and couldn’t picture her life without him now. Enough time had been wasted and she was ready to be his bride.
Only a month had passed since the kidnapping. He’d rescheduled the original wedding date so they all had time to recover from their ordeal. After she’d said yes, she was ready to marry him instantly, but the wait had been good because it showed her that she hadn’t wavered, that she was as sure now as she’d been the moment she’d said yes.
“We’d better get you down that aisle before your stomach grows any bigger,” Lia said with a pointed look. Though Rachel was now five months along, her dress hid the growing bump.