Page 14 of The Marriage Demand
At first, he didn’t sayanything. Then, he took a step closer, and another. He reached out, grippingthe back of her neck, not tightly but firmly. He pulled her close, and withinseconds, his lips were on hers.
“I remember, Winnie,” hesaid. “I have three other gifts in my office I intended to give to you, but Ididn’t want to remind you of that night.”
“I know,” Winnie said. “Ikind of … didn’t want to remind you, in case you regretted not killing me.” Shetried to make a joke of it, only she wondered if he did feel that way.
“I don’t regret a thing.”And he kissed her again.
How did he do that? Shewas unable to think, and he had a way with his lips that just made her melt.She had zero control of what she could do or think. He was the master of herbody.
“Happy Anniversary,Winnie.” He kissed her again, and she truly believed their food was going to bespoiled because if he kept kissing her like that, there was not going to be anychance of her wanting to eat. “I’m going to go and get your gifts.” And withthat, he kissed the top of her head.
Winnie felt nervous. Shehad a present for him. The other presents she had gotten were in the wardrobein the bedroom. She made her escape to go and get them. Like him, she hadn’tknown if they should celebrate their anniversary or not.
The memories of that nightcame flooding back to her as she grabbed the three remaining items. They werenot massive items, or even anything of real value. Just little trinkets she hadseen over the years that made her think of him.
One was a small wooden figurineof an eagle. The intricate detail struck her and she loved it the moment shehad seen it. An eagle was a predator, exactly like Elias. Strong, resilient.The next gift was a chain. A single gold chain—sturdy, strong—and it had feltsilly to have gotten it. Each time she passed something that made her think ofElias around their anniversary, she would get it.
Then, last year, she gothim a vintage gun. She didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was in a boxedcase, the kind you saw in historical movies, thatsometimeslookedlike wood. It looked so real. She also knew he loved historicalweapons. There were always things he picked up in each place they lived. In severalof his apartments, there were different guns, and in his country home, therewas even a set of swords.
This time, she hadpurchased him a set of whiskey glasses, along with the crystal bottle to match.He had a beverage cabinet, and a set of glasses. Usually, he only had a bottleof whiskey.
She didn’t know if he wasgoing to like anything she had gotten him. Carrying them through to the diningroom, she found Elias already there and waiting.
He looked down at hergifts.
“I might have gotten yousome things over the last few years.” Now the nerves started to set in.
She didn’t know what elsehe liked, and taking the time to potentially make a kill sheet seemed tacky. Asit turned out, Elias loved the gifts she had gotten him, and he admired eachone. He even put on the gold necklace she had gotten him. It didn’t look garishor tacky, it just suited him.
Winnie was shocked to seethe gifts he had gotten for her. One of them was a set of jewelry, including apair of earrings and a necklace, along with a matching bracelet. There was asingle diamond in each, and they were breathtakingly beautiful.
The next was a designerhandbag, from a limited-edition collection. She had admired it a fewChristmases ago, and by the time she tried to order one, it was sold out. Eliashad insisted she order it. Once it was sold out, there was no way to find one.
“How did you get this?”she asked.
“I have my ways.”
She knew what that meant,and was not going to complain. Elias did have many ways of getting what hewanted.
The next gift was anotherset of jewelry, and the last one was a photograph album. This was a surprise.
“You’ve mentioned that youdon’t have a lot of memories,” Elias said. “I figured it is now time to startcreating some.”
She frowned and opened thealbum to see there were some photographs already inside. There was the one ontheir wedding day, taken by someone at the chapel. She wore the same clothesshe had been in during the attack. Her hair was down, at the time, to hershoulders. Now, she had grown it out so itfellcloseto her butt. There were other random pictures, ones she didn’t even realize hadbeen taken.
There was a picture of heron a ladder, putting an angel on top of the Christmas tree. It was their firstChristmas together at his country home. There was even one of her dressed up asan elf, and then for Halloween, she attempted to dress as a ghost.
It was rare for them toget trick-or-treaters where they lived. In one apartment building, there hadbeen a notice posted that kids would be visiting, which was strange, as theprevious year, in the same building, that hadn’t happened. Winnie couldn’t evenremember seeing any kids as she came and went.
There were ten pages ofpictures. Some taken of the two of them. Others of her, and a couple of him.
“You’re helping me creatememories.”
“Yes.”
“You didn’t have to dothis,” she said, but she was so touched.
“Well, if you didn’t likeit, I also purchased these.” He held up lingerie that was very skimpy.
