Tuesday Teaser 9/18/18 Gina’s Wolf Part 26

My life has been busy lately! Between taking care of little Cleo (his eye is still infected, so I wash it out a couple of times a day and put medicine on it) and apartment hunting, I haven’t had as much time to write as I’d like. But I found a nice place and I go on Friday to sign the lease. I move in on October 27. So just about 5 weeks to get ready to move. I love my mom, and my brothers are pretty good, but I am really looking forward to living in more than just one room. My brothers are both disappointed that I’m leaving. I guess they like to have someone home with mom when they decide to go camping or visiting friends, and have someone do the grocery shopping and cook supper five times a week. And maybe they just like me 😉  I just need my own space.

I know I’ve had bad luck with neighbors in the past, and there is no guarantee this new place will be peaceful. But I hope it will be. Fingers crossed.

Here is the next little bit in Cole and Gina’s story:

Cole followed Gina down the hall to a small room where visitors could sit. He thought he would follow her anywhere because he never wanted her to be alone and unprotected again. She took a chair and waved him to the small couch. No, he didn’t want her sitting alone, so he tugged her over to the couch. She came without resistance.

“Cole, I accepted your, uh, mate claim and I want to be your wife, but I don’t know how.”

He stared, his mind flying toward taking his mate to bed and claiming her. “How?” he echoed blankly.

“I mean, can we even think about that until this mess with my stepfather is done? It’s a terrible time to be getting married.” She blinked and looked away, biting her lip. She drew a deep breath and looked back at him, delicate pink shading her cheeks. “On the other hand, I want to be your wife.” The color deepened. “I want you. Before everything goes crazy when Todd does whatever he’s going to do, I want … That is… ” She coughed and glanced away, before looking back at him. She pressed her hands to her brilliant cheeks and appeared utterly adorable. Her voice lowered to the merest whisper. Only a wolf warrior could have heard her next words. “I want to make love with you as your wife.”

Those words were the finest poetry he’d ever heard. “I want that too. Tonight?”

“Where?”

It didn’t matter to him, but it obviously did to her. “At the Limit. The room we have there is private. Do you want a wedding?”

“Yes.”

It appeared her embarrassment was fading because her voice was strong again. “Mayor McGrath can do the ceremony, can’t he? Is that okay with you?”

He couldn’t care less who performed the ceremony, but he would do anything to make her happy. “Sure.”

“Where should we get married? At the mayor’s house or at the Limit?”

That was another thing he didn’t care about. The ceremony itself was important only because it would tie them together in the eyes of the world. “Let’s go talk to my mom and dad. They’ll make it happen.”

It’s amazing how much can be accomplished in only three hours, Gina thought. Like most girls, she’d dreamed of her wedding day. As the daughter of a powerful man she thought she’d be married in a big ceremony in a lavishly decorated hall, attended by a dozen bridesmaids, with hundreds of people present. Her gown would be the envy of every young woman who saw it. Tonight she stood in a tiny annex to the hospital’s small chapel with Patia, her single bridesmaid, sitting at the desk beside her. She smoothed a sweaty palm down the skirt of her wedding dress. It was actually her soon to be mother-in-law’s dress, one the older woman wore when singing for the public. It was navy blue cotton sateen. The folds of the full skirt caught the light in a glossy sheen. The bodice had been a little loose, but Mrs. Madison, Ray’s mom, had made alterations by hand while sitting at her son’s bedside. Now it fit her perfectly, far better than any of her party dresses bought by her stepfather.

That made her remember Mrs. Anders. The poor generous woman had been murdered because of her. Gina had to force back tears. This was her wedding day. Only tears of joy were allowed.

She stood on tiptoes and peeked out the small square window in the door at the chapel. It was meant to hold perhaps twenty people. It was crammed with at least thirty people, mostly men. Mayor McGrath stood at the front of the room, on the slightly raised section meant for a minister. Her view was partly blocked by all the heads, but she saw Cole pacing in a small circle in front of McGrath. Gina wrung the stems of the silk flower bouquet one of the hospital staff had loaned her and let out a shaky breath.

Patia raised her eyebrows. “Are you nervous?”

Gina opened her mouth to deny it but stopped. “I guess I am.” She swallowed. “I barely know your brother. What if I’m making a mistake? What if I don’t really love him?”

Patia’s face took on an expression of exaggerated disbelief. “Why wouldn’t you love him? Has he beaten you? No? Then, does he order you around like a servant?”

Gina opened her mouth again but paused. “He tries to.”

Patia’s laughed. “It doesn’t work with you, though, does it? I’ve known him all my life –literally—and I’ve never seen him so mild, so reasonable. He asks you if you want to do something. Everyone else just gets orders barked at them.”

That was true. When they were walking from the Anders’ house to Omaha, Cole had made obvious efforts to tone his bossiness down. “But what if he doesn’t truly love me? What if he only thinks he wants me?”

“Cole would lay down his life for you.” Patia’s tone was utterly sure. “You know that, don’t you?”

Gina clutched the bouquet with both hands. When she and Cole were pursued by her stepfather’s motorcycle scouts he could have left her and run ahead to safety. Anyone else she knew would have abandoned her. Cole hadn’t. He’d refused to even consider it. She swallowed, feeling tears press against her eyes again. Since the moment she had left Omaha on the train with him, he had done everything to protect her. Even after he had been shot and nearly murdered, he continued to do his best to protect her.

“Yeah,” she whispered. “I know that.”

“Would a man be willing to die to save someone he didn’t love?” Patia stood up and put an arm over Gina’s shoulders. “Cole loves you. Believe it.”

She did.  She really did.

Patia gave her shoulders a squeeze. “Bridal jitters over?”

Gina sniffed inelegantly. “Yeah.”

Patia handed her a hanky. “Uncle Sand?” she called, barely raising her voice. “We’re ready.”