Chapter Thirty-Nine

November

Since we’d decided on a Christmas Eve wedding, the weeks seemed to fly by. My dress had been ordered and paid for, along with Rox’s, without so much as a raised eyebrow at the price tags. A Vivienne Westwood bridal gown doesn’t come cheaply anyway, and evening fittings pushed the price up even more. Rox had chosen Vivienne Westwood too, but in a deep blood red.

We had both gone for Christian Louboutin shoes. Predictable perhaps, but neither of us are exactly tall, and if we have to wear skyscraper heels they may as well be stunning ones. Rox had gone for black accessories, so her shoes were black satin peep-toe slingbacks, with soft bows over the front, and Louboutin’s trademark red soles and insides of heels. We’d found her a black velvet hooded cape to go over the dress and if Jake didn’t propose when he saw her, then he’s a fool, because I felt sure someone would.

My own shoes mirrored my wonderful dress. They were ivory satin with delicate beading around the heels; their scarlet soles a vivid splash of colour. I loved them, and I hoped I might even reach Will’s shoulder when I wore them.

The dress itself was being made to measure, hence the exorbitant price tag. I had fallen in love with the design from the minute I found it on the Westwood website, but most dresses in stock had been made for tall model types.

Rox and I were going for a last fitting tonight, driven to the showroom by Luke, seeing as our own men are forbidden from seeing the dresses before the big day. Will had rolled his eyes in his customary fashion when I told him he couldn’t come, but I suspected he would relish a bit of time to himself, doing whatever it is elder vampires do when they have spare time.

Weddings are easy for men, even the groom, they just buy a gorgeous suit and they’re done. To be honest Will would look good in anything; he could make a bin liner look sexy. Something else I’ll never tell him of course.

Luke sat in the plush lounge of the showroom, looking very much out of place. His tall frame almost dwarfed the delicate sofa, and he looked around with a slightly bemused air. One of the minions had given him a flute of champagne, which he twirled in one of his big hands. Two other attractive assistants eyed him with predatory interest from behind the huge reception desk. I feared for his safety.

‘How long you will you be?’ he asked a little desperately when we headed off to the fitting rooms.

‘Only half an hour or so,’ said Rox, removing a glass of champagne from my hand. ‘Quicker, if Ellie doesn’t drink anything.’

I sighed. ‘Surely a couple of sips wouldn’t hurt?’

‘Not tonight,’ Rox said firmly.

My irritation disappeared, however, when I saw the finished dress. Exquisite didn’t do it justice.

I quickly got out of my own clothes and the two seamstresses slipped the dress over my head. Shimmering ivory taffeta hugged my body, and when the zip at the back was done up, it fitted perfectly. I’d chosen strapless and almost backless because I knew it suited me, but the only way I could ever see how it actually looked, would be in the digital photographs.

The seamstresses stepped back to admire their handiwork.

‘You look so beautiful,’ said the younger of the two. ‘Like a fairy princess.’

If only she knew.

‘Come out and see yourself in the full-length mirrors when you’re ready Ms Wakefield,’ said the older one. Yeah, that will work.

They both left the room and I twirled to see the tiers of tulle at the bottom of the dress float out like a mermaid’s tail.

I really hoped Rox and Luke had done their ‘mind stuff’ on the staff here, otherwise we’d all be in trouble. Why Ms Wakefield, you don’t appear to have a reflection, how very strange. In folklore that means you’re a vampire. You are? Oh… er … crap!

I ran my fingers over the delicate beading on the tight-fitting bodice, every bead had been carefully hand-stitched on. The dress was an absolute dream.

‘Ellie? Are you dressed?’ Rox’s voice called from outside.

‘Yes, come on in.’

Roxy came in wearing her own dress. Like mine, it hugged her slight figure and fluted out at the bottom in tiers of tulle. Her dress was a similar design to mine but minus the beading, and of course it was red, which complimented her shining dark hair and complexion. Her brown eyes shone with excitement.

‘Wow, Ellie you look absolutely fantastic. Will is going to just melt when he sees you in that dress.’

‘We’re supposed to go and admire our reflections.’

Roxy looked like a mischievous elf. ‘Don’t worry, Luke’s fixed the staff. The downside is they’re all smitten with him now – even the sixty-year-old. He really wants to go home.’

I smiled. ‘Let’s go twirl and put him out of his misery.’

Luke’s eyes widened when we swished out into the lounge area.

‘If you tell Will anything about the dress I’ll have to kill you,’ I told him.

He held both hands up in mock surrender. ‘Just get me the hell out of here, and I’ll tell him you’re wearing a pink tutu.’

Rox and I did a couple of twirls and made like we could see ourselves in the mirrors. It felt really weird actually. We had no mirrors in the house at all, so the ‘no reflection’ thing didn’t come up too often. But the mirrors here were like the mirrors in a dance studio, floor to ceiling, and to see absolutely nothing just felt creepy.

When we thought we’d ‘admired’ ourselves enough, we went back to change, and the relief on Luke’s face made me laugh. I arranged for the dresses to be delivered a few days before Christmas Eve, and we made our escape – after the staff had all pressed cards with their phone numbers on into Luke’s hands.

‘Who’s a popular boy then?’ Rox slid into the back seat of Luke’s car.

‘If you tell anyone, I might have to kill you.’ Luke’s terse reply sounded half serious.

Waving goodbye to Luke and Roxy, I let myself in the front door. Will’s tall frame appeared immediately in the drawing room doorway.

‘I missed you,’ he said.

‘Good.’ I said, crossing the hall to wind my arms around his neck. ‘If you hadn’t, I’d have had to kill you.’

Well that just slipped out, all the talk of killing tonight must have made an impression.

‘I can tell you have been with Roxanne.’ He lifted me off my feet to kiss me. ‘Slightly too flippant.’

‘Can we go out?’

‘Of course, where would you like to go?’

‘I would like to reclaim the cemetery as ours again. Lay the ghosts so to speak.’

‘A very intelligent idea.’

We walked to the Circle of Lebanon, and stood for a moment with our hands linked, admiring the beauty of the huge cedar tree, which towered above the mausoleums. I glanced at Will’s profile outlined in silver by the light of the moon. He turned his head to look at me, and even after more than a year in his company, his handsome face still took me by surprise. His amazing eyes reflected the moon, giving them an otherworldly glow. He put a hand to my cheek and a flicker of a smile touched his lips.

‘Have I told you how much I love you?’

‘Not today.’

He leaned down to kiss me and pulled me into his arms. ‘How very remiss of me.’

‘I hope you won’t get tardy when we’re married Mr Spooky.’

‘Tardy?’ He murmured against my hair. ‘I think not.’

He drew back from me, his expression one of amusement.

‘What?’ Suddenly I felt suspicious.

‘I have always had a yen to make love to you here in the cemetery.’

‘In November? It’s cold.’

‘Vampires do not feel the cold, you said so yourself.’

‘Someone will see.’

‘No. They will not.’

He grabbed my hand and took off at an alarming pace into a dense overgrown part of the cemetery, pulling me behind him.

‘Will …!’

He didn’t answer, just pulled me further into the mass of ferns and shrubs. When he stopped, he shrugged off his leather coat and spread it on the mossy ground. I gave him a “you cannot be serious” look and he laughed.

‘Where is your sense of adventure Elinor?’

‘Staying inside my coat.’

‘Are you sure?’

Suddenly his body was pressed to mine, and just the scent of him instantly aroused my own body. He trailed soft kisses down my neck until I melted against him, and he slid my coat off my shoulders. Deft hands unzipped my sweatshirt and pushed that off my shoulders too, and before I could blink, both garments were on the ground.

Will knelt in front of me, and slowly unzipped my jeans, his bright gaze never leaving mine.

Then the jeans too, were pushed down to my ankles, and he began to kiss my stomach, his tongue licking lazy circles around my platinum belly bar. His hands cupped my bottom to support my weight as he worked his way lower.

I burrowed my hands in the rich silk of his hair gasping his name again when his breath shivered through the thin silk of my underwear. His hands pushed it down out of the way. He kissed his way to the delicate centre of my body, where his tongue flicked inside and caused me to cry out.

He lowered me to the ground where I lay trembling, and pulled my boots off first, then my jeans. His own clothes soon joined mine and he covered my body with his.

‘Are you warm enough?’ His voice whispered in my ear.

‘Make me warmer.’

‘Always a pleasure.’