In spite of her assessment of Joe after he?
??d reprimanded Draden so harshly over saving the tiger, she was beginning to think he was a good man and an even better friend. “That’s good.”
“Stay inside, Shylah.”
She wanted to smile at the note of command in his voice. He did that a lot. By now, he knew from their time together and the stories she’d told about her relationship with Whitney that she tended to decide for herself what she wanted to obey and what she wouldn’t. This time it was easy to nod her head in agreement.
Draden worked hard on the bower surrounding the door to the lab. He had already twisted the fig branches together. He used green, leafy vines to bind the branches and then filled them with fresh orchids. The arbor looked amazing by the time the helicopter got there and Joe emerged along with three other soldiers, all wearing hazmat suits. Even that didn’t deter his happiness.
The supplies kept coming; everything he’d asked for, Joe had managed to find. He handed Joe the samples of blood and saliva and then saluted, agreeing once again on the time of the ceremony. That was critical. He needed the rest of the time to set everything up and then get ready himself.
Draden decided the small wedding cake couldn’t be a surprise because he wanted it in the cabin’s refrigerator rather than in the lab. He took Shylah her dress and the cake. His present for her was already wrapped and he put that in the closet and ordered her not to touch it. Then he went to work. The first thing he did was set up cameras so that those watching the ceremony could see his bride walking toward him just as he would see her. He set up screens, so she could see Bellisia and Zara were there with her.
He went at each task the way he did everything, working fast until it was done. He decorated the inside of the lab. He’d already put equipment away and now he hung the large reed woven mats in colors of deep rose, red, black, green and yellow on the walls, draping them so that they covered every dingy nook and cranny. He put up the small shrine to Buddha in keeping with tradition. He placed the candles, incense, the small statue of Buddha and a floating garden of peonies at the far end where they were in plain sight of the cameras, so the observers could see they were following the Buddhist tradition as closely as possible. Joe had told him the monks would give them their blessing and an official would make certain they exchanged their vows properly.
After transforming the small room as best he could, he glanced at the time. He was cutting it close. He had just enough time to shower and get dressed. When he got back to the cabin, he knocked to make certain she knew he was coming in.
Shylah’s hair was swept up in a swirling updo with tendrils falling inevitably out. It was impossible to tame her hair completely, and he liked that. He thought she looked sexy with the heavy gold bracelets adorning her arms and the necklace of fiery rubies around her neck to match the red of her nails. She wore only a tee, so he wouldn’t see her in her wedding dress.
Mindful of the time, he showered, taking a few extra minutes for himself under the cool water. He didn’t want to get there too early and blow their time with the others. He dressed in his brocade gold bhaku, rich with tiny red embroidered protections scattered artfully, the shirt with sleeves that fell to his ankles. His waistcoat was ivory brocade with beautiful golden embroidery outlining it. His trousers matched the golden bhaku. It was strange to dress so differently, but the clothes made him feel formal and that the ceremony had weight to it. He wanted that for Shylah. Something memorable whether they lived or not.
He glanced at the time. “Don’t forget that after the actual ceremony, we have to do the paperwork with the clerks. That will make it legal. Use your name. Peony Cosmos.”
They had settled on Cosmos because that was the last name Bellisia and Zara had helped her choose when she was sent out of the compound.
“I want this to be legal. It’s important to me. The government is cooperating because of our sacrifice.” He winced when he said it. He didn’t want to think about dying, only living with her.
“You explained the process. We’ll get it done.” She smiled at him, a smile of reassurance. “I want our marriage to be legal as well.”
He loved her all the more for that. “I want you out there in ten, Shylah. Make your way to the lab precisely at six. When you’re near the lab, I’ll start the music for your walk to me.”
She nodded, her eyes bright. His heart turned over. He had started out marrying her because it was what he wanted, but now he wanted this day, this ceremony for her. She’d given him a wonderful gift, bringing his mother to his wedding day, now he wanted to give her something equally as special.
He brushed a kiss on her cheek, careful of the makeup artfully used. As a rule, she wore no makeup and he thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world without it, but he’d been in the fashion world and knew makeup was a woman’s armor. “You look beautiful.”
“I’m not dressed yet.”
“You look beautiful.”
“You look sharp. The material is wonderful. And I love the color.”
He wasn’t a purple or red kind of man. Gold was the only color he would consider when it came to the traditional garb of the groom. He hurried out, thinking he should be nervous, but he’d never been surer of anything in his life.
Back at the lab turned wedding gazebo, he tested the cameras a final time to make certain they were working, then completed the video connections to Zara in Montana and Bellisia in Louisiana. Teams One and Two were in Montana with Zara. They were all watching, some standing, some sitting, but all crowding in to watch the ceremony. He spotted Nonny and even Cayenne sitting on either side of Pepper, each holding one of Wyatt’s little girls in their laps. To his astonishment, the third team, the urban GhostWalker unit out of San Francisco, were also there.
In Louisiana, Draden’s team had all assembled, Ezekiel and Bellisia in the front. To his surprise, the men were in their dress uniforms. For some reason that brought a lump to his throat and he found himself swallowing several times.
Lastly, he conferenced in the video feed there in Sumatra. Trap and Wyatt stood with Joe and the monk and the high-ranking officer from the Indonesian government officiating over the service in Indonesia. Behind them were the other members of his GhostWalker team: Diego, Gino and Malichai. Draden knew they were somewhere, set up quite close. Trap almost never wore his dress uniform and it was shocking not only to see him there, but that he, like the other members of his team there in Sumatra, was dressed for the occasion.
He was surprised that several of the members of the Kopassus were there. He saw all eyes turn past him and without looking, he knew she was there by the reaction. He switched on the music and slowly turned to look at his bride.
His heart nearly stopped and then began to pound. Shylah emerged in her beautiful finery. Her bhaku was lace and ivory, the sleeves long and the neckline a golden lacy choke collar. The rubies at her throat matched the tiny red embroidered protections scattered in the lace of her bhaku, just as they were in his jacket. Her sarong was pure shimmering gold matching the gold lace of her top. Dazzling rubies blazed at her ears and thick gold bracelets gleamed on her wrists.
She wore a headdress of gold with crimson gems woven in. She’d painted her nails and lips a matching scarlet and accented her eyes with a dark charcoal, enhancing her natural beauty. She robbed him of his breath. He forgot everyone watching and just stared in admiring fascination at her. Unexpected emotions choked him. He’d never thought, not once, that he would ever find a woman of his own.
Then Shylah was coming toward him on the path he’d made for her with his own two hands. The path was scattered with orchids and peonies, the flowers he’d cut in the forest and the ones Joe had brought to him. His own little peony. He was mad, crazy in love with her. She had the bouquet he’d left for her. He had made it himself, using the white and red roses Joe had brought, embedding them in a sea of peonies. He stood under the arbor he’d painstakingly built for her.
By the time she climbed the steps to him, he could barely breathe. He took her han
d and led her inside to the shrine. He’d studied the traditions, and he bowed and picked up the matchsticks. He lit half the candles and incense and handed Shylah the long matchsticks so she could light the rest. When that was done, he turned to the basket of flowers he’d collected, and the remaining ones Joe had given him, and they offered the flowers to Buddha.
He turned her toward the cameras, and for the first time she saw the screens and the people watching. He knew the exact moment when she saw the familiar faces she most longed for. Her breath hitched, and she looked up at him, blinking back tears. Zara covered her mouth and bit back a sob. Bellisia pressed her head against Zeke and closed her eyes briefly, attempting a shaky smile when she opened them. To Draden’s shock, his fellow team members were visibly shaken, even Trap, the stoic, expressionless friend he loved like a brother.
Draden took Shylah’s hand as both bowed their heads for the monk’s blessing. Once the prayers were complete, they faced each other as the official asked them to recite their vows.
Draden cleared his throat. “I’ve lived a lifetime in the last few days, and no time in my life has ever been better. I give you my heart, Shylah.”
He couldn’t look away from her, his entire attention riveted on her. Love was welling up so strong, he could hardly bear it. “I promise you that no matter where our journey takes us, I’ll be at your side.”
He choked up and had to breathe deeply to continue. All the while he stared down into her dark eyes, drowning there. Going willingly. “I’ll be faithful and always supportive of you, putting you and our family first in my thoughts and in everything I do. I will always be yours and stand by you in sickness and in health.”
The catch in her breath and the tears glistening in her eyes was nearly his undoing, but he held it together by a thread. His voice was clear in his declaration because he meant every word. “If tomorrow never comes, today has been all I’ve ever wanted or needed. You are my life. And you will be after I’ve taken my last breath.”