Beautiful Curses. Beauty is an illusion - Two

Chapter ONe

Pitch black

 The road slippery with melted ice.

 A blinding stream of oncoming headlights.

 The heater pumping out cold air.

 James yanked his glove off with his teeth and dropped it under his feet. Cursing, he reached down and felt around with one hand while the other remained on the steering wheel. Not finding it, he looked down, taking his eyes off the road for a second. The car swerved, as he hit a sheet of black ice, cursing again, he tried to swing the car back onto the road, only to spin out of control and careen down an embankment and crash headlong into a tree …

 Darkness.

 Jo sat beside him, tears streaming down her face. The incessant beeping of the machine recording his heartbeat, keeping her alert, as she watched each and every movement of his pulse, willing it to keep going. His body lay lifeless, his head, legs and arms swathed in bandages. Bruises and deep cuts covering his beautiful face.

 Jolted by an unusual tapping sound, Jo tore her eyes away from James and gazed across the bed. She gasped and stared stunned, as Rowellyn stared back at her.  Then a wide beaming smile broke across her perfect face, as her red polished finger nails drummed a steady beat on top of the heart monitor. A beat that worked in perfect time, to match James’s heart rhythm.

 Jo’s own heart pumped, then everything disappeared and the darkness returned.

 Jo sat up and clutched at her chest, her heart racing out of control. After taking some deep meditative breathes, she reached across and switched on the bedside lamp.  Quickly scanning her room. she realised nothing was out of place, she was where she should be. Tucked up in her bed. Not in some horror story, where James had been injured in a near fatal car accident. She rolled onto her side and pulled the duvet up around her shoulders, as a cold shiver snaked down her spine.

 She’d heard talk about wedding nightmares, but never thought she’d experience them.

 Jo looked over to her mobile phone sitting next to her bed, and debated about calling James, then decided it would freak him out. After all it was high summer, not the middle of winter, and James had spent the night at the village pub. He had no reason to be in driving in the middle of the night.

 Rowellyn’s evil face entered her mind and Jo shivered, pulling the covers tighter around herself wondering why, after all these years, she would dream of Rowellyn—especially on the night before her wedding.

 Jo glanced up to her wardrobe where her wedding dress, covered in clear plastic, hung from the top. She smiled as she thought about the day ahead. A day, once upon a time, she never thought would ever happen. Snuggling under the covers, she sighed softly, glad the nightmare was over. She decided to focus on happy thoughts as she drifted back to sleep, her mind wandered to remember the day James had asked her to marry him. The best day of her life. A lovely warmth spread across her chest, and she smiled into her pillow...

 He’d been away in Devon for a family wedding while she’d stayed at the farm with a cold.

 She’d fallen asleep while reading the last chapter of Jane Eyre, when she was woken by something tickling her face. She brushed the annoyance away, reluctant to wake up—but opened her eyes as she felt the warmth of another body as James snuggled into her back. He entwined his hands with hers and held her tightly, as she stirred awake.

 “Sorry to wake you,” he whispered in her ear, before he kissed her cheek.

 She moved to kiss him, but he tightened his grip. “Stay still. I need to ask you something and I can’t have you distracting me.”

 Jo liked distractions and being parted from him for a couple of days, she found it difficult to concentrate on anything else. She closed her eyes again. “Fine, if you insist. What is it?”

 “You know I love you more than anything.” He kissed the pulse point in her neck and Jo’s whole body tingled with the sensation as she squirmed in his arms. Now she really wanted to turn over, but he squeezed her firmly, holding her in place.

 “Jo,” he warned.

She stopped wriggling, curious as to what this was about, he didn’t use his serious voice very often.

 “That’s better. Are you going to let me finish?”

 She gave a small nod as he bent over to whisper in her ear. " I don't want us to be apart. I want us to be together.” He paused and breathed in her ear. “Permanently.”

 Jo’s eyes shot open. Wide awake now, she clenched his hand in hers. “James, you know we can’t live together. It would upset Peter, Sarah and Daniel too much. They really want me to finish uni first.”

 “I don’t want to just live together. I want to be with you—you know ... officially. ”

 Jo turned over, and this time James didn’t resist. She needed to see the seriousness in his eyes, to see if what she thought he was asking her was for real. Placing her arms around his neck, she drew him close so their lips almost touched. She quirked up her brow, “Officially?”

 James smiled and locked eyes with hers. “Yes. I want to marry you.”

 “You do huh?”

 James grin widened. “Yeah. I happen to love you. And I don’t want us to spend any more wasted time being apart. So ... what do you say?”

 Champagne and roses be damned. This was the sweetest thing she had ever experienced in her whole life. Seeing James’ adoring face and the love in his eyes, there was no other answer to his gorgeous question.

 “Yes,” she said softly, before they kissed to seal their commitment forever.