Page 12 of Alejandro's Prey

Her eyelashes fluttered, and she opened clear grey eyes to look at him. His heart nearly stopped as he waited for her answer.

“Yes, Alejandro.”

Chapter Ten

He didn’t knock, he just walked through the connecting door as though he had every right in the world to barge into her room without an invitation. She guessed he probably did have that right anyway. He was paying for the hotel room. His boss owned Bolivia, the underworld anyway. Which meant Reyes also owned the politicians, the resources, the drug trade, everything. And in a matter of moments Alejandro would own her.

But still…

“It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding,” she told him, her voice slightly hoarse from her screams during the attack the evening before and her crying bout after.

She turned from the mirror to face him. It didn’t matter if he saw the entire dress now since he didn’t seem to care about tradition anyway. The makeup and hair woman had just left after helping Gina into the Vera Wang gown. It was truly stunning. A lovely white creation; simple but elegantly beautiful with a heart-shaped neckline that dipped into Gina’s generous cleavage, cupping and lifting her breasts. Tiny spaghetti straps curved her shoulders. The gown gathered at the waist with a ribbon and flowed over her hips, falling to the floor in a soft, classic skirt. Somehow, surprisingly, Alejandro or someone close to him had picked the perfect gown for her.

The hairdresser had left Gina’s blond curls to flow free bouncing around her bare shoulders, simply pinning them at the sides with sapphire and diamond encrusted barrettes. Her make-up was also soft and subtle in light pink and peach tones, as though the woman had been told to enhance Gina for her wedding day but keep her as close to natural as possible. She suspected Alejandro had given the order; it seemed his style.

He stood just inside the connecting door, his big, solid body stopped as though unable to take another step. He studied her, eyes narrowed. She could tell though, by the curve of his lips and the flex of his Adam’s apple that he liked what he saw. She smiled shyly and took a step forward, then she tripped on the long skirt, pitching forward. She hadn’t put the matching heels on yet. She reached out to catch herself but there was nothing to hold on to.

Awe, fuck, she thought as she fell. She really hoped she didn’t tear her wedding dress when she hit the carpet and then laughed at herself as she tried to collapse as delicately as possible without flailing like a baby deer trying to stand up for the first time.

She should have known though. Alejandro would never let her fall. His strong arms captured her before her body hit the carpet and she found herself swept up against him. She grinned happily and clutched the lapel of his tuxedo jacket, thinking this was the most romantic moment of her life. Then he took it to the next level. He set her back on her feet and reached for her shoes.

She quivered, her breasts heaving unevenly as her breath gasped in and out while he slid one large hand up under her dress to cup her calf. She wobbled a little after her first shoe went on, giggled and reached behind her to grab the bed post. He placed the other shoe on her foot and then slid his hand up to her knee, then her thigh, watching her face before slowly removing his hands.

Gina thought he would stand, but he continued to kneel at her feet and stare up at her. She looked down at him, her hair swirling between them, grey eyes meeting dark velvety brown. The moment became strangely intense until she could almost feel the air around them charge with electricity.

“I don’t deserve you, my Angelina,” he said, his voice deep and serious. She opened her mouth to deny his words, but he shook his head sharply. “No, don’t speak, my love. Just listen,” he instructed. “You may think you know me, but you only know what I’ve chosen to show you. There are parts of me you will never know, parts I will never allow you to see. For your protection. I don’t deserve you, but I want you, more than I’ve ever wanted anything. I’ve spent a year patiently waiting, determined to take you when I thought the time was right.”

She nodded, tears filling her eyes. Despite his insistence that she not speak, she did anyway. “I want you too, Alejandro,” she whispered, “more than anything. I loved you from the first moment I saw you. It just took me awhile to know my heart.”

He nodded and reached up to take her hand. “And I knew I loved you,cariña. From that moment you innocently asked me to find you a limited-edition Spiderman comic book with our next food shipment and I, like a lovesick fool, moved heaven and Earth to find the stupid thing. You had no idea how hard that fucking magazine was to find,mi amor, but I did it without complaint. Anyone else on the planet would have gotten shot for such a request on my time.”

She laughed and carefully wiped a tear from beneath her eyelid with a shaking finger. “I knew exactly how hard it would be for you to get your hands on that comic book. I also knew if anyone could do it, it would be you. You’ve sort of been my secret hero ever since you came through on that one.”

He smiled gently and rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand. “One day with you, one glorious fucking day has taught me that I can’t just take you as I’d planned. I need you to walk by my side, as my partner. I will not be able to share everything, but I will always give you choices when I can,mi amor. You are life to me, you are everything. Will you be my wife?”

She choked on a sob and laughed at the same time. “Of course, I will,” she cried. When he stood and crushed her against his chest, hugging her tight she said, “But you already asked me last night.”

He chuckled and set her away from him. “You deserved a proper proposal, in the light of day when you weren’t exhausted and frightened.” He took her hand and tugged her toward the door. “Now let’s go do this. You’ve said yes twice, there’s no escape now, I want my bride and I want her now.”

Gina laughed and followed him, feeling lighter than she had in a long time. This was her wedding day and her groom was doing his best to make it absolutely perfect!

The ride to the church was uneventful though Gina noticed there was a lot more security than usual. She turned in her seat to look out the window at the SUVs flanking theirs and shivered, hoping the overkill on security would deter any more would-be attackers. As if sensing her trepidation, Alejandro, who’d insisted on riding with her despite the breach in tradition, took her hand in his and kissed the tips of her fingers.

“Do not worry, Gina,” he said in a low voice, his dark eyes commanding her to listen to him. “Only a fool would take on El Rey’s second on his wedding day. Especially with the fire power we have surrounding the church.” He ran the back of his hand down her curls, clearly enjoying the silken texture, then leaned closer to lightly brush his lips against hers. “You will enjoy this day,mi amor, it is the only one you will ever get.”

Though the words could be taken as threatening, his tone was not, so she smiled and nodded her head, leaning further into his kiss and adding pressure. She felt him stiffen and then he brought both hands up to cup her head and hold her still as he took over, deepening their kiss and stealing the breath from her throat. It didn’t take much. Whenever Alejandro was close Gina found herself holding her breath in anticipation.

As soon as the kiss began, it ended. He released her and gave her a gentle push away. With a self-deprecating chuckle, he attempted to straighten her hair. “I now see why the groom is supposed to travel separate from his bride. You’re far too tempting to leave untouched. It will be a miracle if I don’t fuck you in the church before we find a proper bed.”

Her mouth fell open and she could feel her face flush. She slapped a hand over her mouth and laughed out loud. “Don’t say things like that!” she yelped rolling her eyes toward the driver.

He snorted a laugh and then eyed her, his face growing serious. “You’re damn near twenty-eight, woman, you can’t be a virgin.”

Now it was her turn to snort. She opened her mouth to reply but Alejandro stopped her, holding up a hand and spreading his long fingers. “No, don’t tell me. Let us prevent the massacre of your legion of ex-boyfriends by pretending there have been none.”

Giggles erupted from her lips and she clutched at the ribbon around her middle. She eyed him to see if he was serious or not, but his face gave nothing away. “L-legion?” she asked, gasping for breath. “First of all, you’ve spent the last year cock-blocking me so I couldn’t get hold of a single man even if I wanted to. Not until that teeny date with Miguel the other day.” She changed the subject quickly when his face darkened. Apparently, her sitting there in a wedding dress headed to a church about to put his ring on her finger still didn’t absolve the doctor of the grave sin of enjoying Gina’s company. “And there have hardly been legions of men in my life! Nearly my entire family was murdered before I was out of my teens and I was whisked away to be protected for my own good, which hardly left room for dating. Eventually, when life settled down, yes, I was able to date…”

Alejandro let out a snarl and said, “Changed my mind, I want their names and addresses.”

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