The Senator's Hispanic Bride (2 page)

Michael touched her hand and smiled at her. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” she said, smiling back at him.

He nodded and just then, another suit walked up and took his attention away from her. She walked along beside him as he discussed all the different platforms he was interested in, as well as different bills he supported or disagreed with. She could see some of the people that approached him were eager for him to win the Senatorial seat in his state, while others were obviously against it, and it was those people who turned and looked at her with distaste, as though they wondered almost aloud why someone like her would be on his arm or attending a function she was clearly not well suited to.

She was kind to everyone she talked to, but she didn’t pay much attention to those people who seemed to disregard her, as was her regular habit. She had no time for people who weren’t interested in her for what and who she really was. Michael didn’t seem to notice the difference in the way some of his acquaintances treated her. They were subtle about their dislikes in regards to her, and he was so busy talking to as many of them as he could, that she thought he must have missed a great deal if not all of the disapproving looks that were sent her way. Most of those looks were given to her by the older white women, because the older white men were looking at her quite differently; they looked at all of her very slowly and appreciatively, from the stunning and delicate bone structure in her face to her full red lips, her dark eyes, her generous bosom and narrow waist, her well rounded hips and her bare back.

Isabella was no fool. She knew what most of the men who gazed at her were thinking, although some of them weren’t quite as subtle about it as others were. Michael didn’t seem to see any of them watching her, so rather than tell him, she just ignored all of her lookers and paid attention to him and what he was saying.

Glenn was almost hanging on his other arm, whispering and nodding, pointing now and then, and shaking his head. She didn’t think she wanted to know anything Glenn was saying. Dinner was announced and the room of people moved to their tables and sat down to eat together.

She was interested to see what the food would be like, and when it was served, she liked most of it, but she had a little to say about what she would have done differently with a small part of it. Michael laughed and nodded at her.

“Well, I would like to taste your version of all of this, someday, so if you want to try it out, please let me know.” He winked at her and they talked with the people at their table. When the night ended, everyone sifted out bit-by-bit and Glenn, Michael and Isabella walked to the door.

“Glenn, you go ahead and take the plane back tonight. We’re going to stay here tonight and catch a train back in the morning,” Michael said with a smile.

Isabella gasped and panicked. She hadn’t packed an overnight bag or a change of clothes. Glenn smiled and looked at Isabella. “Good. Very good. I’m glad to hear that. I’ll talk with you tomorrow.” He waved at them and nodded at Michael, then disappeared into a limo that took off down the street.

Michael looked up and pointed to the dark night. “There’s a bright moon out tonight, shall we walk for a bit?”

She nodded and took his arm. “What are we staying here for? I’ve not packed for an overnight trip!” Her voice was tinged with slight worry.

“Not to worry, Isabella, I’ve got you taken care of. I promise. Let’s enjoy this beautiful night, shall we?” He walked with her a short way and then they saw a horse-drawn carriage and he hired it to take them past the cherry blossoms that were in full bloom, scenting the air with their sweetness.

He sighed and held her hand as they road along, listening to the clopping of the horses’ hooves. “I love springtime in D.C.” He smiled and leaned over to her, placing his finger beneath her chin and lifting her face toward his. “I love it even more because you are here with me.” He spoke softly and her heart began to flutter in her chest.

Michael lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her softly, barely moving his lips over hers in a tender kiss. He loved the way her mouth felt on his, how her velvety lips molded to his. He sat back and took her hand in his, lifting it to his lips and gently kissing her fingertips.

“Isabella, my beautiful lady, are you happy with me?” he asked, smiling at her so widely that both of his dimples dove into the depths of the smile. She grinned back at him and laid her head on his shoulder. The wine from dinner had made her warm and the cherry blossoms had made her heady with happiness.

“I am,” she replied blissfully. “Are you happy?” she asked him, looking at him curiously.

He looked thoughtful for a moment and then answered her with a sly smile. “I am, but I could be happier.”

She looked at him in mock offense and asked, “What would make you happier with me?”

He leaned his head to the side and ran his finger along her cheek to her lips and then her chin. “I want to lose myself in you tonight. That’s one thing.”

Isabella giggled a little and the carriage pulled up to an old fashioned bed and breakfast. The driver got out and helped them to the sidewalk. They thanked him and he left.

Isabella looked up at the big old house and her mouth fell open. “What is this? Is this where we’re staying?” she asked in amazement.

Michael chuckled and took her by the hand. “Yes. Come on, let’s get inside unless you’d rather me tempt you out here under the cherry blossoms…” He pulled her close to him and ran his warm lips over her neck, trailing little kisses to her collar bone and sending shivers all through her body. She gasped and laughed softly at him.

“No! No… we don’t want to cause a scandal. Let’s go inside.” She lingered for a moment longer in his arms, letting him taste her skin, and feeling the heat from him begin to entice her, and then she turned in his arms and took his hand, walking toward the door.

They entered their room and were welcomed with dimmed lights, warm wine, dark chocolate, fresh strawberries and lavender massage oil. He raised his eyebrows at her.

“This room was made for lovers!” he said with a wink. She blushed a little and they met somewhere near the bed, their fingers twining together at first, as their lips touched and the sweetness of kissing in each others arms warmed them and drew them steadily toward the bed and the promise of a night of heated passion.

He took his time with the buttons on her dress, kissing her skin where each little catch came undone, moving his hands over her arms and shoulders, tasting her inch by inch until her breath was shallow and the depths of her belly burned and ached for his body.

“You have the most beautiful skin,” he whispered as his mouth moved over it, his lips caressing her shoulder and neck as he laid her back into the luxurious bedding and mound of pillows that embraced them. “I love the look and feel of it. I love the taste of it. You are everything I want in a woman, did you know that?” he asked her quietly, his lips moving from her neck to her mouth.

“I hoped for it,” she whispered back to him, kissing him and tasting his tongue with hers. She ran her fingers firmly over his back and his hips, massaging him and teasing him with her red fingernails.

He slid his hands up over her knees and spread her legs apart, then moved his fingers slowly along the delicate inner line of her thigh until he reached the soft hair at her core, and there he tickled and played with her, touching her lightly and teasing her lovingly, moving his fingertips over her body until she was heated and moist, hungry for him. Michael slid the tips of his fingers inside of her body, moving them deftly within her and stroking her until her soft cries became urgent. His mouth moved across her rounded breasts, his tongue trailing up to her lips as she drew closer and closer to her peak, and when she reached it, tilting her head back and gasping with ecstasy, he pulled his fingers from her and clasped her hips, thrusting himself into the depths of her, pushing his erection into her as far as he could, making her come again with the feel of him inside her. He whispered as he moved in her, “Do you love this? Do you love me?”

She arched her body in intense pleasure, clutching his strong shoulders with her hands as his mouth moved to her dark nipples and he sucked on them and tugged at them with his teeth, and then moved his mouth back to hers. “Do you?” he whispered again.

Isabella could hardly concentrate on anything, he was making her feel so good. “I do!” she said breathlessly as his mouth overtook hers and he moved more urgently inside her, making her cry out in pleasure again and lock her legs around his body as he drove himself into her.

“Do you want to make me completely happy?” he asked as he brought her to another orgasm.

She quivered in his arms, her release gripping her and setting her free again, and she smiled widely and kissed him hard. “Yes! Yes, I do!” she answered, her mouth closing over his neck and sculpted chest, her teeth biting gently at his skin.

He held himself slightly above her, pushing himself into her, and looked down into her eyes. “Then marry me,” he said, his erection heating her to the point of combustion. She tossed her head in agonizing bliss and as his words sunk in, she looked right at him and gasped in surprise.

“Marry… you…” she blinked and whispered breathlessly. He didn’t waste a moment. The words were spoken. He slid his hand into her thick wavy hair and tugged at it firmly, pulling her head back slightly and covering her mouth with his for a moment as he sucked hard on her tongue and buried himself in her body, moving quickly and stealing all of her resolve, replacing it with overwhelming pleasure. He moved his mouth to her cheek and rocked her hips wildly with his.

“Marry me… say it… say yes…” He kissed her cheek and her neck, moving his hungry mouth over her collarbone and down to the top of her breast, then to her rock hard nipple, sucking and biting at it for a long moment as she moaned and wrestled with his body. Then he went back to her luscious lips, kissing and nibbling. “Say yes, make love with me like this every night. Be my wife. Marry me. Say yes…” She was so close to another orgasm and he whispered in her ear, “Say it… say yes…”

Her orgasm hit her like a force of nature and she couldn’t move as he took total control of her. “Yes!” she cried out. “Yes, I will marry you!”

He flooded her with his own orgasm and she shuddered in happiness as he said softly with a smile, “I love you, Isabella.”

She stared at him with incredulous disbelief, a grin on her face and amazement rushing through her, “I love you, too, Michael.” He kissed her softly and laid down beside her, wrapping her in his arms and smiling at her.

“You can’t take it back now. You said you would. I’m holding you to that.” He winked at her and showed his dimples.

She shook her head at him. “You asked me to marry you while we were having sex? While I was about to orgasm? That’s sneaky.” She raised one eyebrow at him and gave him a disapproving look along with a sly smile.

“Hey,” he said mischievously, “I have to take my chances when they come, or when you come, or whatever. I wanted a yes, and I got a yes from you.
You
are going to be my wife. That’s what would make me completely happy.”

She laughed at him and kissed him, looking into his bottomless blue eyes. “That would make me completely happy, too,” she whispered to him.

Cocooned in each other and in their happy new agreement, they fell asleep and only the moonlight on the cherry blossoms knew what was done until the pale morning light.

Chapter 2

They spent the early morning wrapped up in each other and then enjoyed a breakfast in the dining room before taking a taxi to the train station. On their train ride back to Manhattan, Isabella was holding Michael’s hand, looking at him and smiling about their engagement.

“We’ll need to tell my family before we break the news to the public. They can’t find out about us from reading it in the newspapers.” She looked at him hopefully. “Could we do that together please?”

He nodded. “Absolutely! My parents aren’t around anymore, so we should really make it special when we go tell yours. I want to do that with you. We’ll go there as soon as we get back to the city, and then we will let the press know tomorrow.”

She snuggled against him, and smiled. “Thank you, Michael.”

Their train pulled into Grand Central Station and they stepped onto a Brooklyn train that took them almost to the front door of her family’s restaurant. He had heard about her family members, but he hadn’t ever met them. Michael felt nervous, but he took a deep breath and walked with her into the wide door of the grand restaurant.

It was busy and people were crowded in the foyer, waiting for tables during the lunch rush. As they made their way through the mass of people, Michael held Isabella’s hand and when they reached the hostess podium, the woman behind it looked from Isabella to Michael, seeing their hands together, and squealed excitedly.

She came around the desk she was standing behind and wrapped her arms around Isabella in a tight hug. “Prima!” she exclaimed happily. “Is this him? This is Michael?”

Isabella hugged the woman warmly and then let go of her and turned toward Michael. “This is Michael. Michael, this is my cousin, Selena.”

He reached his hand out to shake Selena’s hand, but she rolled her eyes and shook her head, throwing her arms around him and giving him an enormous hug. He was astounded for a moment, unaccustomed to being greeted with such enthusiasm by strangers, but he recovered quickly and hugged her back. She let him go and then took a good look at him from head to toe.

“You are such a handsome man!” she said with a grin and a wink.

He had the grace to smile humbly and thank her. She turned to Isabella and grabbed her hand. “Has anyone else met him yet?” she asked in hyper anticipation.

“Not yet.” Isabella winked at her. She bounced in delight and then looked at Isabella conspiratorially. “I’ll put you at the family table in the back.”

She turned and walked them through the tables and people, and through different sections of the restaurant to the back in a secluded area where a large table was set for ten people. The restaurant had a lot of light and the plethora of plants and greenery in it gave it a tropical feel. It was elegant without being overstated and still felt like a comfortable, almost casual, place without seeming too simple.

Selena looked at them and said, “Sit! I’ll let everyone know you are here.”

They sat down and she disappeared. Michael felt his anxiety growing as he looked at all of the empty seats around him. He had been the only child of an older white couple who were both prominent lawyers in Boston. They had no close family and his parents had passed away in a car accident when he was in college, leaving him essentially alone. He was completely unfamiliar with the kind of lifestyle Isabella had grown up with.

She had an enormous Puerto Rican family. Her parents were both alive, as well as her grandparents, and she had an older sister and several cousins, and most of them worked at the family’s restaurant. Isabella grew up working in the restaurant, but when she got into high school, she started taking cooking classes and by the time she graduated, she was already a professional chef. When Isabella graduated college, she was one of the most sought after chefs in New York City.

He wiped his palms on his pants and tried to smile, taking a deep breath. Isabella looked at him and shook her head.

“It’s going to be fine. They’ll love you.” She had been anxious for him to meet her family. Her family was the most important thing in the world to her, and when she had begun to fall in love with Michael, she had wanted to introduce him to them, rather than dating him and not including him in her family functions and events. Her relatives spent a lot of time together. They were a large, close, loving, vibrant family, and when Michael grew to be important to her, she had wanted to integrate him into her family, but because of his busy schedule, it had never happened until just then.

She was brimming with excitement that it was finally happening. Her heart began to race as she wondered how it would go when her family met him. She didn’t have to wait long at all to find out. Selena came rushing out of the kitchen with several people following closely behind her. Michael thought his heart was going to pound right out of his chest, and beads of sweat formed at his hairline. He and Isabella stood up and were suddenly at the center of a throng.

They were suddenly surrounded by a mob of people, and Michael and Isabella were engulfed in a sea of hands and faces. She was hugging all of them, and each one of them was talking and looking at Michael. They grew a little quieter and the group of them parted as an older woman and man walked through the family to them.

The woman looked like an older version of Isabella and Michael realized she must be her mother. He smiled and waited to see what would happen.

“Mama!” Isabella said happily, wrapping her arms around her mother’s neck. She kissed her cheek and then hugged the man with her. “Papa,” she said lovingly, hugging him as well and kissing his cheek. Then she stood back, tendrils of nervousness, excitement and anxiety shooting through her, and she turned toward Michael.

“Mama, Papa, this is Michael.” She looked at him and introduced her parents to him. “Michael, this is my mother, Savannah, and my father, Ramon.” Michael reached out his hand and Savannah chuckled at him.

“Come here, Michael,” she said, pulling him into a warm hug. She held him close for a long moment and then let him go. He wasn’t surprised he was hugged that time, but he was surprised at how welcoming and pleasant it had felt. He smiled widely at her and looked over her shoulder toward Isabella’s father.

He looked kindly at the young man and reached for him to hug him close and clap him on the shoulder. Michael’s heart was still pounding, but he felt as though the hardest part had been breached already. He felt very welcomed.

“It’s good to meet you, Michael. We keep hearing about you and you haven’t come to spend any time with us! You are seeing our daughter, and that means you have to come and be with us now,” Ramon said with a hearty grin.

“I am here!” Michael said with a laugh. “I promise to come more often.”

Ramon nodded and pointed his finger at him, as if to say that he would hold Michael to that promise and not let him get away with breaking it.

Isabella touched Michael’s arm and drew his attention to a taller, slender woman who was standing beside Savannah.

“Michael, this is my sister, Marisol.” She grinned at her older sister excitedly as she introduced them.

Marisol’s arms were crossed over her ribs and she looked at Michael with a decidedly reticent acknowledgment. “Hello, Michael. It’s high time you came to meet all of us. Three months of dating my sister and this is the first we are seeing of you? Why is that?”

He suddenly felt like an ant beneath a magnifying glass in the hot summer sun. Isabella looked at her sister with pleading eyes, but Marisol only raised her eyebrow, and everyone in the group waited and listened.

“I’m really sorry about that,” Michael answered apologetically. “I meant to come sooner, and I wanted to. I’ve really been looking forward to meeting all of you, but there just hasn’t been time, what with my election coming up. I’m really happy that I got to come and meet you now.”

Marisol shook her head slightly and curled her lip. “You were too busy to come meet the family of the woman you are dating? There are no higher priorities than family, Michael.”

He looked miserable. “No, Marisol, you’re right. There aren’t.”

Isabella began to look angry at what her sister was saying to Michael. Marisol continued. “What is it that has finally brought you to us? Certainly there must be some reason that you are standing here before us now. It can’t be for lunch, I’m sure.”

Michael smiled and laughed nervously, and Isabella stepped in and looked at her parents with wide, happy eyes.

“We came to share our good news with you,” she said, growing breathless as her heart raced. Her mother looked at her carefully and reached for her hand, holding it tightly.

“What news is that?” her mother asked with a suspicious look.

“We are engaged. We’re going to get married!” Isabella grinned excitedly and Michael felt like his heart might just escape his chest, it was beating so rapidly.

Shouts and cheers went up all around them and Savannah and Ramon hugged Michael and Isabella closely for a long moment before releasing them to the rest of the family. It was all arms and loud voices and hands and kisses for several minutes before Michael felt like he surfaced from all of them and was actually able to get a breath.

Isabella disentangled herself from her family and began to introduce all of them to Michael. She first introduced him to a couple of women who were standing beside them. The two ladies were a little shorter than Isabella, quite a bit rounder, and very happy to meet him.

“This is Nayeli and this is her sister Joselyn. They are my cousins.” The ladies hugged him and kissed him. He was getting used to the hugging finally, and kissed each of them back on their cheeks.

“This is my cousin Priscilla, her brother Reynaldo, and her husband Tino.” She indicated another woman and the two men beside her. They all hugged him and kissed his cheek warmly.

Isabella motioned for a few other people to come over, and Michael was introduced to more of her cousins. “This is Pablo and his brothers Orlando and Enrique, but we call him Ricky, and you already met their sister Selena.” More hugs and kisses, and Michael felt like he was on a merry-go-round of affection.

“That’s everyone except my sister.” Isabella shot a disappointed look toward Marisol and her sister walked over to them.

Michael felt intimidated by her and didn’t reach out to hug her, but rather, he extended his hand and did his best to smile at her.

“It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you.”

She shook her head at him. “You should have come right away. You should have come the first week. I can’t believe that you are coming here three months after you started seeing my sister. Three months! No one is busy for three months.” She narrowed her eyes at him and he swallowed hard.

“Now you think you’re going to marry my sister,” she said in a low voice.

“I am going to marry your sister,” Michael said firmly but politely. “She said she would have me, so I am not letting her get away.”

Marisol lifted her chin and looked skeptically at him. “We’ll see,” she said and turned around to walk back into the kitchen.

Ramon grimaced at her treatment of Michael and placed his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “We have a new son in the family! Let’s eat!”

The rest of the cousins cheered and all of them busied themselves moving about quickly, and in no time at all, the table was set and seemingly endless plates of food were being passed from hand to hand as everyone talked and laughed with each other.

Michael watched them in wonder. He’d never seen anything like it and it was incredible to him. They operated as a unit, each one doing a part, and that part contributing to the greater good of the whole. The thought occurred to him as he sat there motionless in the flurry, that he was looking at what families should be. His family had never felt like that, and it didn’t negate his family, but he did see for the first time what it was like to grow up with so many people around, and he realized that he liked it.

Orlando, Pablo and Ricky came to Michael and huddled around him. “Come over here to the bar. We want to have a shot with you.” They pulled Michael to his feet and as they walked to the bar, Reynaldo and Tino joined them without a word. Michael felt his nerves snap to attention as all the men surrounded him. Pablo, Ricky and Reynaldo were about average height and fairly well built, but Tino and Orlando were enormous, both of them tall and thick, stocky men. They circled him, and Michael’s back touched the edge of the bar.

“What are you drinking, brother?” Ricky asked with a half smile.

“Scotch?” Michael asked more than said.

The men laughed at him. “We’re drinking rum. No scotch.” They poured shots of old rum and toasted him. “To Michael, our new cousin.” Their shot glasses met, and they all drank.

Tino leaned close to Michael and lowered his voice. “You have a big family, Michael?” he asked.

Michael shook his head. “No, no I don’t really have any family left at all. I think I have a second cousin in…” He looked around at all of the men’s eyes on him, and stopped. “No. I guess I don’t.”

Reynaldo slapped his hand on Michael’s shoulder. “We want to help you fit into the family, so we thought we better explain to you how it works.”

“We’re going to help you.” Pablo smiled at him. Michael felt his stomach drop to the floor as Ricky put another shot of rum in his hand. His nerves were on high alert.