Wedding Night

Book One—(Chapter 18)

(Wedding Night)

A heavy bout of guilt engulfed Ana who paced back and forth in front of Damon's room. He was resting calmly with his mother and his brother inside to support him, while she—who was his newlywed wife remained outside with Erica whose eyes were focused on her phone, Ana gulped hard as she wasn't so familiar with the 19-year old who posed a great resemblance to Damon...her blonde hair was the only disparity between them.

'Uhhh hi I'm—'

'Relax it's not your fault Ana', Erica flashed a smile which she found very much relieving, 'My brother should've let you know he was allergic to strawberries before he hired you to be his fake wife'.

'How did you—'

'Please....', Erica chuckled softly, 'Who do you think gave him the idea to hire you in the first place? Don't worry your secret's safe with me', she walks close to Ana and whispered, 'Besides I like you.....you're nothing like the other women who put up with my brother's shenanigans. You're tough and I like that'.

Ana knew she had an ally the moment she heard the words come out of Erica's mouth, it felt so good for someone in his family to know her real identity at least and Erica was the most understanding of all. She heaved a sigh of relief just as the door opened and Vivian walks out with James.

'How is he?', Ana and Erica both chorused.

'He's stable', Vivian answered, 'I still don't understand how he managed to get an allergic reaction. He didn't have any straw—'

'Uhhh I think it was in the water', Erica came to Ana's defense immediately to avoid any suspicions, 'He must've drunk the strawberry water without knowing'.

Saved by the wonderful angel that is Damon's sister, Ana placed a hand on her chest which felt much lighter even though she still had a huge baggage of guilt pulling her down. They all excused themselves and she was hesitant for a while, finally she mustered enough courage to turn the doorknob and slowly open the door to Damon's room.

He was lying on the bed with his head facing the ceiling and an ice pack on his head, she gulped hard as she almost took the cowardly route and turned to leave but then he called out her name faintly. Fuck, she thought as she turned around unable to hide the sheer embarrassment she was going through.

'You almost killed me'.

Every pity and guilt she felt all went down the drain the moment he opened his mouth and she frowned deeply, 'Well I didn't....you kissed me!'.

'We're married. Of course I'd have to kiss you in front of others'.

She wasn't going to let him win, 'Well if you'd told me that a man such as arrogant as yourself was allergic to strawberries, maybe I wouldn't have eaten it before being forced to kiss you'.

'It was a good kiss though'. He chuckled.

She frowned, 'Can we please be serious Mr Wyatt?'.

'What I want is an apology'.

'Well if that's what you want then I'm sorry to burst your bubble Mr Wyatt. You're not getting a nickel of anything out of my mouth'.

He knew he wasn't getting an apology from her anytime soon, still he wanted to try even though his attempt fell flat on his face and a devious smile crossed his lips again....one that annoyed her greatly to the point where she surreptitiously rolled her eyes. She remained on the spot, confused at a loss of what to do when she heard a knock on the door.

Damon gave her the signal to open and she did just that only to see James standing in front of her with a box held in his hands, it made her brows perk in question, 'James??'.

'I wanted to give you this', he responded as he handed the box over with a mischievous glint in his eyes, 'I'm sure you'd love it on your honeymoon'.

He threw a lewd wink which she found very suspicious and frowned deeply as she closed the door behind her. Damon wandered what sinister ploy his brother might be up to and stretched his hands to receive the box, Ana ignored him blatantly and resorted towards the couch where she was going to sleep on even though it was a wedding night.

'You know you don't have to sleep there right?'.

'I'm not sleeping with you Mr Wyatt'.

Surreptitiously he rolled his eyes as she was starting to be hard-headed again, 'As much as the idea of having sex with you is enticing Ana...', paused as he took a deep breath, 'I am too weak from having almost died because I kissed your lips and besides, I won't touch you unless you let me'.

'Maybe I'd have the assurance if you didn't trick me into a private performance in your bedroom or thinking I am a call girl'. She sneered.

A short sigh escaped his lips, he was done arguing with her as it only felt like driving over a cliff. Instead he managed to conjure a bout of strength and got up from the bed, Ana's eyes lit up in surprise and before she could react she was already hurled over his shoulder and headed towards the bed.

'Let me go!!'. She cried out but it was tell late as she landed on the bed already, 'You have no right to—'

'Just go to bed dear wife'. He interrupted calmly and climbed onto the other side.

She could've easily taken her stance and storm out of the room but for some reason unbeknownst to her, she remained transfixed on the spot breathing heavily as he turned off the lights. He fell asleep under a matter of minutes whilst she fought hard to keep her breath under control, it wasn't like it was her first time spending a night with a man....so why were her nerves wreaking so much just at the whiff of the smell of his cologne?.