I jumped up from the bed I’d been lounging on and reached out to take her hand in mine. The electric charge that travelled up my arm at the simple connection of her flesh on mine momentarily threw me, as it did every time we touched.
‘Where do you want to sit?’ I questioned, as I led her by the hand to come closer to me, like a starving man desperate for sustenance.
‘I’m not sure,’ she replied. ‘I want to be out here with you all, but not in the direct sun… I think I had too much yesterday.’
‘You’re okay though?’ I questioned.
‘Yes,’ she smiled back at me and placing a hand to my chest she carried on. ‘I’m fine, as I say, I think I had too much sun. I might have lived in Vegas most of my life, but we’re normally indoors avoiding it, aren’t we?’
‘We are.’ Reluctantly I let go of her hand and pulled the bed I’d been sitting on under the shade of the large, canvas canopy next to me. ‘Come and sit with me.’
I threw one leg over the other side of the bed, sat down and grabbing her hand again I guided her to sit down in between my legs and pulled her back into me. The warm skin of her back pressed into my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and held her, understanding quickly that I felt at peace with her there. The darkness that normally had its talons so far down into my skin that its spurs abraded my bones was nowhere to be found and I sighed out loud with the realisation.
No more secrets, Cade. As I spoke to my brother in my head, I tightened my hold on the woman leaning against me and kissed the top of her head.
It seemed that my mamma had always been right. I was a man who needed the love of a wife, but whether I deserved her or not remained to be seen. I only knew that I would do anything to protect my angel, even if it meant protecting her from me.
‘Let’s cross over to the shade.’ I led Bee by the hand across the unmade track to walk in the shade the buildings were offering.
‘Phew, that’s better,’ she spoke, and I turned towards her.
‘The buildings in Crete were designed a long time ago to reflect a lot of heat, to keep the people inside cooler. So, once we get up to the church and inside the thick walls it’ll be much more comfortable.’
She looked back up at me and smiled. ‘Do you know, for a man whose reputation precedes him as a disagreeable, dominating, arrogant asshat, you make a pretty good husband.’
I shook my head at her, laughing as I mulled over her words. ‘That’s quite a list… but an arrogant asshat?’
‘Yes,’ she answered grinning back at me. With our hands conjoined she began to swing our arms and I fleetingly saw the young girl she once was.
‘What else does my reputation say? Do I even want to know?’ I questioned her laughing as we continued walking.
‘Hmmm, now let me think.’ I watched as she placed her fingers to her mouth, and I inhaled deeply as the urge to push her to the side of one of the small houses next to us to consume her mouth with my own tried to take over.
‘So?’ I probed.
‘Uptight, overconfident, assertive, bold, cocky…’
‘Woah! Stop…’
‘I have more.’
‘I’m sure you have… That lot didn’t take you too long to come up with… and yet you still married me?’
‘Yes, I did… Because you’re also good-looking, fit and devastatingly handsome…’ She cheekily offered me a wink.
‘Thanks… but those things…’
‘Did I also mention loving, caring and protective?’ She interrupted me with words that literally blew me away.
‘No, you didn’t…’
I pulled on her hand to turn her to face me, put my fingers under her chin and lifted her gaze up to mine. ‘I’m pleased you can see those things in me, angel.’
‘Me too… now kiss me and then take me to see these frescos you think I should photograph.’
We continued up the short distance to the top of the hill hand in hand, and not for the first time I considered how much my life had changed for the better. I wasn’t too sure who the hell I was when I was with her, but I liked him.
That was a fucking first for me.
‘Oh, it’s stunning, Nic.’ Bee’s hand let go of mine so she could lift her camera up to her face. Spurred on by the beauty the sand coloured, stone Byzantine building offered against the blue azure of the sea in the background, I heard the shutter quickly going off.
‘Did you not take it in the day we got married?’ I teased her a little with my words, knowing what answer I wanted to hear.
I saw her shrug her shoulders and remove the camera from her face before she answered me. ‘I know ours wasn’t a conventional marriage, but once my nerves had left me, I only had eyes for you.’
‘Good answer, angel… good answer.’
The smile she offered me before going back to her photography lit up the deep recesses of my charred soul.
I heard myself clear my throat. ‘Can I use your other camera?’
‘Sure… I didn’t think you were interested in photography?’
‘If it interests you, I’m interested… I’ll be the one waiting inside for you.’
‘Inside? You’re going to take my picture as I walk inside the church?’ she questioned from behind her camera and then removed it to take a better look at me.
‘Yes… I want to experience you coming through the archway again. I want to see the halo behind you, made up of the warm Crete sunlight. I want to witness you, my angel, walking towards me, saving me and I want to be able to look at that forever.’
‘So, now we need to add romantic to your list,’ she offered grinning at me.
I lifted my fingers to my mouth and blew her a kiss. Then turning I took the few steps that were needed and walked in through the arched doorway, immediately feeling the sudden drop in temperature that I’d promised her. As usual the simple place was lit with a few candles dotted all around. With every step I took towards the aisle the more at peace I felt, unlike the last time I’d been in here.
Finally, I heard her sandals connecting with the flagstones I knew were at the entrance to the church. I spun around quickly to see her, lifting the camera to my face as I did so.
Through the lens and with the dim light of the church surrounding me I began to snap my beautiful wife, as once again she froze in the arch of the doorway.
The bright yellows and oranges from the outside encircled her as my angel slowly made her way towards me. I could feel the huge smile on my face as I took in the breath-taking beauty of my wife and kept my finger on the shutter wanting to preserve every single second of her walking towards me.
‘I can’t come any further until you hold your hand out… remember?’ she called over to me with happy laughter filling her voice.
‘Of course, I remember,’ I answered.
Semi reluctantly, I moved the camera away from my face and dropped it to hang on the strap around my neck. I held up my left hand and waited for my eyes to adjust to the light so I could see her better. Slowly her silhouette emerged from the brightness of the archway. I watched as she took the camera from around her neck and placed it on a nearby chair. Every step she took towards me shattered another small part of the casing I had built around my heart. Gradually, with my eyes adjusting to the light, she came into focus. I swept my eyes up and down her trying to absorb everything about this fleeting moment in time, that I knew going forward I would never forget.