HOLLY
Our wedding was held on the island…Aiden’s island. I was still amazed that I was married to a man who owned an island. It was a hard thing to wrap your head around when you’ve been poor most of your life. I was quickly finding out there would be much more that I’d have to become accustomed to. Having two homes would be strange to me. Aiden wanted us to stay primarily in the penthouse since it was closer to his work, and pretty much everything, but we’d spend some of our weekends at the big house on the ranch and I loved it there. I already had visions of Eric growing up there, running and playing with a dog running behind him. I could see him learning how to ride a horse, and learning how to swim in the lake. I loved that we were finally a real family. Nothing had ever made me happier.
At the wedding reception, the question of the hour was, “What are you two going to do on your honeymoon?” Besides telling me he asked my mother to stay at the house with Eric for the next week, Aiden wouldn’t tell me where we were going. He had told me that he would make all of our honeymoon arrangements and he wanted it to be a surprise. I had assumed that we’d just be staying on the island and although it was slightly deserted, I thought he had something romantic planned for me there. Was I in for a big surprise though and more than one heavenly treat.
After a tearful good-bye to Eric, who I hadn’t been away from for a day since he was born, much less a week, we boarded a yacht where we were treated to champagne and chocolate-dipped strawberries. The wedding party and guests stood and waved until we were out of sight. I almost cried again when we got so far out that I couldn’t see Eric any longer.
Aiden was doing his best to distract me, and he told me I would be able to call him every night to tell him I loved him and make sure he was okay. I finally began to relax and enjoy my first yacht ride. We saw a whale, way out in the ocean. Aiden got a pair of binoculars for me and let me watch him swim and blow water through his blow-hole. He was the most majestic sight I’d ever seen.
Along the way we also came across a family of Dolphins and we got to watch as they swam and played alongside the boat for miles. It was so cute how they seemed to be enjoying the attention we were giving them. I’d been on small boats before, but this was the first time I’d been on one this size, or that I’d gone so far out in the ocean. It was so beautiful that it took my breath away.
The yacht was huge and it had any amenity a person could think of. It was roomier than most homes I had lived in, until I met Aiden. We made love in the gigantic master suite; it was larger than any hotel I’d ever stayed at. The bed was tall and so comfortable that I didn’t want to get out of it. Aiden insisted I follow him back up top though, so I did. I was glad when I realized that he wanted me to watch the sunset with him. We sat on the deck and watched as it dipped down under the ocean. The sky was lit brightly with a big, silver moon and a thick smattering of stars. It was all like looking into a painting, it was so perfect. I fell asleep in his arms. I truly felt like I’d died and gone to heaven.
When I woke up the sun was just rising over the sea and casting an orange hue across the surface of the dark blue water. It was such an amazing sight to wake up to. We sipped our coffees and had breakfast on the deck. Aiden’s first mate doubled as our cook for the voyage, and he was wonderful in the kitchen.
After breakfast, one of the crew came to tell Aiden something that I didn’t hear and after he left, Aiden told me we would be pulling into port soon.
“Which port?” I asked. “Where are we?”
He only smiled and said, “It’s a surprise, remember. Go ahead and go down and get ready.”
“What should I wear?” I asked him, still fishing for where we were going.
“Something tropical,” he said with a smile. “I’d even be okay if you wore nothing.”
I laughed and said, “Unless we’re on your private island with no witnesses, that won’t be happening.”
I went down the stairs and I showered and dressed in a white wrap-around skirt and a soft blue tank top that flowed over my curves. I wore my bikini underneath, just in case, since I had no idea where we were going. I didn’t know what shoes to wear either, but considering my attire, I went with my white flip flops. I pulled my long hair back into a ponytail at my neck and picked out a white straw hat and big sunglasses to ward off some of the sun’s rays. I had really fair skin and I didn’t tan, I burned and peeled. When I met Aiden back on the deck, he had showered and dressed as well. He was wearing khaki shorts, a polo shirt and a pair of leather boat shoes. He looked like one of those men in the boat ads.
Kissing me on the cheek and then sending shivers down my spine and arms as he went in for a quick nibble of the neck he said, “You look good enough to eat.” I felt myself blush and he laughed. “You’re my wife now; you don’t have to blush anymore.”
“It might take me a while to get used to that. Why don’t we practice? Call me Mrs. Scott?”
“Mrs. Scott, your suite is ready,” he said.
I heard myself squeal like a happy little child. Throwing my arms around his neck, I said, “I love it! I love you! Thank you for all of this.”
He grinned. “We’re just getting started little one.” That time he kissed my lips and as I felt his tongue slip between mine, I thought that I’d never been happier.
Not long after we came up for air, I looked up just as the yacht was pulling into a private peninsula. The water around us was blue-green, clear and so calm there was barely a ripple on the surface. In the background of that beautiful picture were the most beautiful mountains I’d ever seen.
“Oh Aiden! What is this place?” His island was gorgeous, but this one also seemed to have civilization on its side. I could see what looked like a huge resort on the side where we were approaching.
“We are coming in on Rodney Bay and over to the east there is the Atlantic Ocean. That island you see there is Castries, Saint Lucia, and we will be staying in a villa in that resort you see there.”
“It’s incredible, all of it! What are those mountains there in the background called?”
“Those are actually volcanoes,” he said.
“I’ve never seen a volcano before. Look, they have green and purple on the tops of them.”
“The green is the vegetation that grows over them,” he told me. “And the purple is hardened lava, I believe.”
“This is the best honeymoon ever,” I told him.
He laughed and said, “It’s only just begun.”
The yacht let us disembark along a private boarding strip on the far side of the island. I saw a small landing strip there too for airplanes. Aiden told me as we were getting off the yacht that this Island was one of the biggest. It definitely looked big when I was looking at it from the ferry, but now that we were standing on it, it had a serene kind of quality to it. We were picked up by a young man in a golf-cart type vehicle. One of the crew from the yacht had our luggage there and ready to go. The man with the golf cart was very pleasant and he spoke English but with a very quaint French-Creole accent.
He drove us to our suite which looked like a large, round hut on the outside. He unloaded our luggage and we followed him inside. I was breathless as soon as I saw it. The interior walls were stone and the floors were the shiniest marble I had ever seen. The young man sat down our luggage and went over to the far side of the room. He pushed a button and the blinds moved open, showing one full glass wall that looked out onto a flawless white beach and a clear ocean. There was a private patio between us and the sand and it looked like some kind of pool as well. The young man told us it was called a plunge pool. It was for wading when you didn’t want to go into the ocean. There was also an over-sized hammock hanging across one side and a dining area with a charming little bistro tab
le on the other. This place was the true definition of a haven.
“The beach is one mile,” the bellhop said with a smile. “It’s so full of natural beauty and very romantic for long walks. It’s lit at night with oil lamps so you can come and go safely at any hour.”
“It’s lovely,” I told him, but that was an understatement. The inside of the suite had a large sitting room which we were standing in with a stone fireplace and a large, plush, sectional couch and recliners. The table in the center of the room had a marble top and held a brass decanter and a bottle of chilling champagne. The antique vases around the room were filled with fresh tropical flowers that added a bright splash of color to the space. He led us through an inside dining area and a small kitchenette, and then to the pièce de résistance, as he put it, the bedroom.
The bed was an over-sized King with a white mosquito net draped over the at least ten feet tall four posters on the bed. It looked like a person might sink all the way through it if you lay down on it with its soft, downy comforter and big over-sized pillows. There was an antique dresser and armoire and the bathroom had a sunken whirlpool tub and a walk-in glass shower with two heads.
“Aiden, this is…I don’t even have words for it.” This kind of luxury had to cost a fortune, and once again I was trying to comprehend that.
“You like it though?” he asked with a grin.
“I love it. It’s the most amazing place I’ve ever seen!”
He thanked the young man and handed him a generous tip. After he was gone, Aiden kissed me again and said, “Are you hungry?”
“Not really for food,” I told him with a mischievous smile.
“Mm, good answer,” he said, with one of his own. He crushed his lips down on mine again and I rose up on my toes to return the kiss. He lifted me all the way up off the floor then and laid me in the middle of that big, soft bed. I was right, it was the softest thing I had ever felt. Aiden laid down with me then and we continued our kiss. That led into making love and on our first night, we didn’t even get up to go out and explore. That could all wait for tomorrow, or the next day. That night was about celebrating our love for one another. We proceeded to do that many times both before dinner and after. Dinner was delivered to our door and breakfast, served to us in bed by a personal butler. Aiden had thought of everything.
We spent the next week exploring the island. We found all kinds of romantic little trails to walk along and places where picnics could be had. The island was like access to another world where everything was perfect and beautiful. We did a lot of relaxing on the beach and swimming in the warm, clear water. We made love each chance we got, even twice in the shower in one day.
Aiden was also good to his word about me calling Eric every night. Sometimes I would call my mother twice a day. I missed Eric so badly. If he had been with us, the island would have been the most perfect place on earth.
AIDEN