Chapter Fifty-four Estera Roberts’ POV (Ten Years Before)

My Aunt had gone back to the Sterling’s mansion by the time Evan returned. It was very late and I had already fallen asleep, thinking perhaps he had changed his mind and decided to sleep in his own bed. But then around 3 a.m. a persistent knock on the door woke me, and I hurried out of bed to the front door.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“It’s me, babe,” Evan answered and I quickly unlocked the door, pulling it open without bothering to put on the main light. His shadowy form filled the doorway and I searched his face.
“What happened? I thought you had gone to sleep.”
“No,” he replied without elaborating. “May I come in?”
“Oh, sorry,” I said and widened the door for him to come inside, and locked the door behind him. “Would you like to drink anything—” I started to say.
He reached for my hand and said, “Which of the rooms is yours?”
I smiled up into his face and led him inside. He shut the door with his booted feet and bent over to remove them. I went to stand in front of him when he straightened his spine to help him take off his shirt and removed his belt. He raised his hands to frame my face and lowered his face to kiss me gently on my lips.
“I want to hold you in my arms—” he whispered. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and pulled him towards my bed. We climbed in together and he gathered me firmly against his front with my back touching his naked chest. Evan wrapped his arms tightly around me and buried his face in the nook of my neck. Then he said, “I love you, Estera.”
I turned around in his arms and he let me, cupping his strong jaw, I saw him flinch and I went very still.
“Evan—” I called in a whisper then turned to switch on the bedside lamp on my side. I gasped when I saw the red hand print against his left cheek. The side of his face was bruised as if someone had hit him! “Baby … w – what happen?!”
“It is nothing, come—” he urged, drawing me back into his arms. Tears burned the back of my eyelids.
“Talk to me, please,” I pleaded, sobbing now. I know he was in pain and I wanted to help him no matter how insignificant it might seem.
“There is actually nothing to tell, I had a run-in with my father—”
“Is it because of me?”
“Because of you? Why would you think that?”
“I don’t know, baby, perhaps he might not approve of me?”
“I don’t need his approval to be with the woman I love, Estera, you have nothing to do with this—”
“Then why would he hurt you like this?”
“Because he is a bully and thought he could bully me?” he said, and the corner of his lips twitched in an amused smile. I raised my hands to cup his face with tears streaming down mine.
“He had done this before?”
“He lashes out when he is upset and not getting through to me. I have always been a stubborn boy with a mind of my own. He is not a fan—”
“I am so sorry, baby,” I said. He smiled lovingly at me and the look in his face only made me more emotional.
“Do you know what a gift you are to me? I would never have let any other woman see me like this, but with you—I just wanted to come to you, so you could hold me in your arms. That is how fucked I am where you are concerned.” Despite the situation, I couldn’t help smiling, albeit a watery one. I leaned forward and pressed my lips to his -- gently this time.
“I love you so much, Evan,” I whispered against his lips. He sighed.
“Come here,” he said, and I snuggled against his front with nothing but my lingerie separating our bodies. Framing his face I stroked the bruised skin while I slowly nibbled on his lower lip. He groaned and deepened the kiss. When he finally let me go to draw in air, he held me against his chest, taking a deep breath.
“Sleep, tomorrow is going to be hectic,” he said. I pressed even closer to his skin, even though there was no space left between us. I could feel his arousal against my stomach and I parted my legs, raising one to rest over his hips and moved closer so his bulge was pressing against the apex of my legs. He moaned deep in his throat, and I dipped my hand inside the band of his boxers to pull them down. He raised his hips to make it easy for me. I edged lower as if I wanted to pull the boxers all the way down, instead I wrapped my fingers around his cock and slowly put him in my mouth. He sucked in his breath, groaning my name. I used my free hand to stroke his taut stomach while slowly pumping him in and out of my mouth.
“You are going to make me break my promise if you keep doing this to me—” he grunted. I giggled.
"I love that you are so strong willed, baby," I cooed. He broke out in a burst of laughter and then grunted when I stroked my tongue over the well defined crown of his cock. He was so beautiful.
Every night from there on, he comes to sleep with me in my bed, holding on to me while we both sleep. The very thought of being without him was frightening now.
Six weeks after we got back from Paris, Evan called me around 6 a.m. on Saturday morning, with a request for me to wear a particular cream dress he bought for me in Paris. I didn't think anything of it because it had somewhat turned into a habit of his, to take me out on impromptu dates. And I had learnt to always try to be prepared now. And even when he showed up wearing a black tuxedo, I paid it no mind.
Evan was always in some fancy getup. But I did notice he was unusually quiet and he drove instead of having Henry chauffeured us. I sat with my legs folded on the passenger seat, studying his side profile and didn’t notice where he was going. But when I saw a sign that said goodbye to Charlestown I raised my head from the headrest, looking out of the window on his side.
"Where are we going, baby?" I asked and he turned a hooded gaze at me. A mysterious smile tugged the corner of his lips.
"You will see--" he said and raised a hand to brush his knuckles against my cheek. I shut my eyes at the feel of his skin against mine, parting my lips to breathe when his fingers lingered to trace the hem of my lips. "You are breathtaking," he rasped. The sound of his voice made me open my eyes to hold his smoldering ones. "Hold that thought, beautiful. We are almost there," he said and directed his eyes to the road ahead but his right hand found mine and he interlaced our fingers.
After about two hours drive, he parked in a parking lot of a building that looked like a church. My eyes darted as I studied my surroundings. Evan opened the door and stepped out. He walked around the car to my side to open the door for me and helped me out.
Snaking his arm around my middle, we both walked to the front of the building and entered the church. I figured he had a surprise for me and I didn't want to spoil it by asking incessant questions. So I kept mute, trusting him.
A man dressed in priestly vestment came out from a side door with about four women dressed in churchly plain clothes except for one who was smartly dressed in a black skirt suit and was holding a folder.
The clergyman wasn’t adorned in a vestment like that of a catholic priest so I figured this must be a Presbyterian church.
"Hello there, Evan," the Pastor said with a warm smile. "And I'm certain this is your lovely bride?" he added, including me in the warm welcome.
'Bride?!' the term resounded in my head and I jerked a quizzical gaze at Evan. He chuckled and beamed at me.
"Play along…" he whispered close to my ear. And to the man, he replied, "Yes, Pastor, this is Estera Roberts, my fiancée."
My heart thudded faster with the sound of that. Evan Sterling was introducing me as his fiancée to a pastor in a church. I swallowed softly, taking a shaky breath. Evan held on to me, making me practically walk pressed against his side.
"Hello, my dear--" the older man said.
"Good morning, sir," I replied with a polite smile.
"I'm pastor Steven. These are …." He went on to introduce the women and I nodded with a smile plastered on my face. I could hear my heart racing in my chest and barely paid attention to the names, and as a result, I couldn’t say for certain if he introduced the woman in the black suit.
"Ready?" the older man asked and I looked from him to Evan, willing him to tell me what we are supposed to be ready for.