Chapter 65

65 iii. Venice

Venice, Italy.

It was a dream come true for Mary. She always wanted to step foot in this place. She just never really knew it was possible.

She never knew there was a chance in heaven she could have possibly afforded the money needed to come here.

The world really turned upside down when her husband is involved, making all of her dreams come true just seems like his ultimate goal in life.

She ran towards the gelato shop as she tugged on her husband’s arm. He patiently followed, smiling behind her.

She couldn’t speak Italian so she let him do all the talking, while she contemplated which flavor to have.

He turned to her with a smile, his eyes full of so much adoration she can feel her veins pop from how shy his stare made her feel.

“What flavor would you like, my queen?” he showed her the available choices, to which she pointed at a light brown colored gelato.

“Is this one good?” she asked him, her eyes filled with enthusiasm.

.....

“Yes, it is very good,” he agreed. “Would you like me to order that for us, queenie?”

She nodded enthusiastically as she embraced him, “Yes, please, daddy.”

“Due ordini di noceto,” she heard him say as he paid for the two gelatos that the seller handed to them in sugar cones.

He led her to a bench and sat beside her as they tasted their gelatos. It was surprisingly a hazelnut flavor, but at the same time, it tastes more than ice cream.

The expression she thinks will describe the experience is, “It melts in my mouth,” her eyes widened as she announced.

He chuckled and licked up his cone as well, making her blush as she recalled where else his naughty tongue has been used so much lately.

“Yes, it does,” he agreed, admiring the way her eyes lit up with excitement over the simplest things. She really is such an extraordinary girl.

“Do you like it?” he asked, his voice serious as if a great matter depends on it.

She giggled hearing how serious his voice is over his query. “I love it so much, daddy.”

He smiled hearing her answer, “And why are you laughing at me, baby?”

“Nothing,” she giggled and licked up her ice cream, making his eyes glint with mischief.

“Now, I miss all those other things your tongue love to lick,” he teased her, making her blush.

“Don’t you dare,” she said as she hurriedly finished up her gelato before he can do something embarrassing.. like kiss her in front of all these people.

“Are you afraid I’ll do something more?” he asked after taking his time in finishing up his gelato.

“You wouldn’t dare!” she panicked, feeling her cheeks turn hot.

“Are you sure I wouldn’t? But why not, honey? Don’t you want to ride, queenie?” he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, making her blush.

They were in a busy market square, foreigners and Italians mingle freely, and the space hardly gives anyone privacy. How can her shameless husband be thinking of something else?

“Dominus! There are too many people around,” she scolded him, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

“But here is the perfect place to do it, honey,” he looked at her with a confident smile plastered across his face.

“Dominus!” she pinched his arm as she stood up and hurriedly walked away.

He caught her arm and spun her, embracing her for a minute before they continued to stroll.

She felt eyes look in their direction, but she chose not to mind them. That’s all she can do when her husband is so shameless at showing his affections.

“Sadly, baby. I can’t take no for an answer,” he said seriously, nearly knocking the air out of her lungs.

Dominus walked ahead of her and took out the money from his wallet, giving it to an old man who smiled softly at them.

Dominus guided her down a set of stairs underneath a bridge and that’s when she realized what he was actually trying to propose.

“A gondola ride?” she blushed hard, realizing how wrong she was at it.

“Well, yes honey. What were you thinking, queenie?” he asked her with a wicked twinkle in his eyes.

The devil had the decency to ask! She pinched his arm harder, to which he just chuckled. Ahhh, he really will be the death of her one day, she knew it.

He led her to a medium-sized wooden boat where the elderly man from earlier and an elderly woman holding a guitar in her hand awaited them.

The seniors smiled tenderly at them, introducing themselves as the owner of the boat and as a married couple themselves.

Mary felt a bit jealous seeing them so old and happy, she wondered if she and Dominus can have that in the future too. She looked up at him and realized they have a lifetime ahead of them to reach until that.

She pressed her cheek against his chest as he sat beside her and pulled her close, locking her in a lover’s embrace. She blushed at how much she enjoyed it when he hugs her like this.

“This is the perfect time for a gondola,” he whispered in her ear.

“I can’t believe you recalled what I mentioned in passing all those years ago,” she blushed and looked up at his handsome face.

“How can I not remember a single word uttered by that sweet mouth?” he teased her, giving a gentle peck on her lips before gazing into her eyes.

She lay there captivated by him as the gondola started to move. The stars shone so serenely that night as the full moon rose above them.

“How can someone like you love the likes of someone as ordinary as me?” she couldn’t help but ask him again.

Everything still felt so surreal, almost as if it is all nothing but a dream. She fears that one day she would just suddenly be jolted awake and realize that everything has been just part of her illusions.

“You got it wrong, baby. The question should be, how can a queen like you fall for a lowly knight like myself?” his heart filled with agony as he remembered the past.

If only he had the strength then to protect her, if only even then he had the power and status she deserved her man to have.

He would have kept her safe. He would have successfully protected her like he promised. If only he had the things he has now. He wouldn’t have to lose her back then.

She looked curiously at him, he was smiling, and yet his eyes were filled with so much pain. Why? What causes him to be so sad?

She caressed his face gently, “Then we can say that we are lucky to find each other.”

“Maybe,” he smiled softly at her. It wasn’t luck but a blood covenant he made that tied her to him for all eternity.

“What song do you wish to be played?” he asked her as he pulled her closer to him, sniffing her scent to calm the emotions that overtook him from remembering their past life.

“Moon River,” she smiled and kissed his cheek.

He asked the old lady to play the guitar and hummed the lyrics in her ears.

“Moon River,” his deep voice echoed as the guitar played, making her feel all warm inside.

She hummed with him and lay her head on his chest, she tried to shut up hearing how out of tune she was.

But he noticed right away and caressed her cheek worriedly, “Is everything alright, queenie?”

“Hmmm... yes of course,” she blushed.

“Then why did you stop singing?” he inquired, unconvinced as he caressed her cheek gently.

“I’m out of tune,” she reasoned.

Singing was never her talent anyway, but hearing it blend with his just makes her feel bad about ruining the song.

“Nonsense! You have the most enchanting voice in the world, my love,” he reasoned, making her wince.

He must be tone deaf to not hear how much her voice murdered the song just now. How can he say such a thing?

“You can’t mean that! You have a brilliant singing voice, it was deep and suave and magical. And I don’t... clearly I don’t have that,” she pointed out to him.

He frowned and looked at her with a questioning gaze, as if she just said something that doesn’t make sense. So she kept quiet as he looked deeply into her eyes.

“You really think there is any sound in the world I’ll rather listen to than that sweet voice of yours, my queen?” he castigated her, his voice turning even more gravely serious than it was before.

She pouted but kept silent. It is so hard to reason with this man. He is irrational and mad.

She blushed, and he makes her feel... so many emotions that she couldn’t even come up with the right words.

He cupped her cheeks in his hands as the moonlight shone softly on her hair, leaving the illusion of a fairie-like creature with locks of fire cascading down her pale cheeks.

He leaned closer to her and claimed her lips, opening her soft lips like petals as his tongue invaded her mouth. He didn’t let go of her sweet tongue until they were almost out of breath.

Then he touched his forehead to hers, cupping her cheeks softly as he claimed her lips once again. He let go only of her mouth when she started to push him away for fear she might let out a moan in front of strangers.

“My queen, please try to understand the depths of my feelings. Please try to accept that I love you. To me, you are perfect. Your gentle voice that calls out to me, your beautiful face that never leaves my mind,” he stopped and whispered in her ear, “and your body, I couldn’t help but crave.”

“Dominus! How could you say all these things in front of the seniors,” she scolded him, though her voice is soft.

“Are you embarrassed, honey? You shouldn’t, since we are married now. Plus, they barely understand English,” he reminded her.

“But even so, what if they understood what you just said? They wouldn’t understand this. They are old enough to be our grandparents, and they might think we are disrespecting them somehow,” she argued.

“Of course, I disagree, my love. But I’ll listen to my baby and stop... only if we leave right away. I couldn’t hold back much longer, my queen,” his voice was hoarse with desire as he pulled her even closer to him, his giant frame completely enveloping hers.

She blushed as he added, “Do you have any objections if we leave now, baby?”

She shook her head bashfully as she felt her cheeks heat up even more, “No objections at all, daddy.”

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