It wasn't a resort or a bungalow on the beach, nor was it a posh hotel room in the city, but the Hacienda de San Rafael was just as romantic and just as remote and about as far away from Rhy'Din as one could get, not to mention luxurious. One might think Edward Granger was accustomed to such luxuries, but they would be wrong. After spending the greater part of ten years in remote areas of Africa, even Maple Grove seemed needlessly luxurious. To say his mouth dropped open at the sight of his surroundings wasn't much of an exaggeration. When they'd asked Dom to make the arrangements for them, he hadn't expected such extravagance.

"Good God!" he exclaimed as he stepped inside and looked around. The rooms were bright and warm and sunny, but decorated with a Spanish flair. There was even a fire going to ward off a morning chill in the air. It was as if their every comfort and convenience had been thought of ahead of time.

Even Lis, who was Spanish on both sides, was a little blown away by the sheer beauty of the place. She had always longed to visit Spain, to visit this area - Andalusia, where her grandparents on both sides had been born and emigrated from. She had never expected it to be so bright, so colorful, the people to be so warm. She'd expected even less that Dom - plain spoken, down to earth Dominic Granger - would have secured for them an entire villa, complete with private pool and gorgeous view out over the flower fields that made this area so prosperous.

"Dios m"o," she echoed her husband's exclamation of surprise, her mouth open as she looked around at the unexpected luxury that had been provided for them.

Edward had trusted Dom to book them into someplace nice, private, romantic even, but he had never expected anything like this. "This has got to cost a small fortune," he mused quietly as he and Lis took a look around. He had to admit, though, that it was perfect in every way. He couldn't have picked a better place if he'd booked it himself, and though Edward was probably the most practical of the Grangers, money really was no object.

"Perhaps he wanted to make up for how we spent nothing on our wedding," Lis heard herself muse, as though from outside her own body, leaving her suitcase by the door as she wandered further into the villa. It was decked out in modern, contemporary style, yet there was a thatched choza out by the pool overlooking the flower fields that were just coming into bloom. A beautiful blend of the traditional and modern that made her smile, reminding her in some unknown way of the Grangers themselves. "It is perfect, Eduardo."

"Perhaps," Edward agreed, though he thought it was more likely that Dom just got a kick out of spoiling them, knowing how both of them would feel out of their element with all the extravagances here. "Oh, God..." Edward muttered as he looked around further. "There's a pool." And not just any pool, but a private pool for their use alone. Who needed an entire pool all to themselves, he wondered.

She moved to join him, resting her chin on his shoulder as she, too, looked out over the pool that was all theirs for the week. "I had wondered why there was so much insistence on packing swimming clothes," she smiled, brushing a kiss to his neck as her arms wrapped about his waist from behind. Lila had been integral to the packing, which meant that the little minx had known exactly where they were going.

Had it been a public pool, there was a good chance Edward might not have made use of it, but a private pool was an entirely different matter. It was no secret to Lis that he was less than confident in his own skin, but she had never shown him anything but longing and desire and he was slowly growing more comfortable and confident with her with each passing day. He'd balked when Lila had insisted he pack swim trunks, but now he was glad that he had. The thought of skinny dipping in the moonlight was particularly appealing, however. He smiled when he felt her chin on his shoulder and her arms about his waist, wondering just how he'd managed all these years without her. She was the one thing he had always been missing, it seemed. "It seems someone knew something we didn't."

"I would think that perhaps she helped Dominic choose this place herself," Lis went a step further with a soft laugh. Lila really had been far too involved in their packing process not to have known the details. "We should remember to bring her back something special."

"Oh, we will," he replied, certain of that fact. "And something for Bree and Dom and Zahan, too." Though he wasn't sure what yet, he was sure their loved ones wouldn't be forgotten, and though he might not admit it, he was glad he wouldn't have to pick out gifts all by himself. He laughed suddenly as he realized something. "Now that we're here, I'm not sure what we should do first!"

Lis laughed with him, easing her arms from about his waist to turn and take off her jacket. "First, we unpack," she pointed out in amusement. "I love you dearly, Eduardo, but this is a holiday, and I refuse to iron your shirts just because they have been left to wrinkle in a suitcase." She flashed him a warm smile, bending to take up her suitcase and head for the smooth steps that lead to what she assumed was the bedroom and en-suite.

"Unpack?" he echoed with a short laugh. Even on their honeymoon, his lovely wife couldn't stop being practical and thinking about housework. "You do know they have people to do that for us," he pointed out. This wasn't just a holiday, after all; it was their honeymoon and as such, he thought they should be having fun and relaxing - testing the bed, maybe. Nevertheless, he picked up his own suitcase and fell into step behind her, curious what the bedroom looked like in comparison to the rest of the place.

What awaited them was a bright, open space flooded with sunlight from windows on one side, and a narrow balcony on the other. The bed dominated the room, orange rose petals scattered over the covers to mark that this was a honeymoon. Lis blushed at the sight of the bed, glancing back at Edward with a faint giggle. It was going to take a little time to get her used to the fact that all bedroom acrobatics were now hers to enjoy by right.

He paused in the doorway to admire the view, not only of the room and the veranda just outside that overlooked the countryside, but the woman who was girlishly giggling like a shy, innocent schoolgirl. He couldn't have arranged a more romantic setting if his life had depended on it, and he had Dom to thank for it all. "Well, that's....inviting," he remarked, a faint blushing rising to his own cheeks to match hers. "And just what are you giggling about?" he asked, an amused smile touching his lips.

To think, this was just the start of their honeymoon, and already they were locked in languid laziness amid the luxury of their private villa, limbs tangled about one another as they traded kisses back and forth in the warm aftermath of their love-making. Diamond sparkled on Lisbeth's hand as she teased her fingers in and out of Edward's hair, never tiring of touching him, kissing him, sharing her new-found tenderness with the man who had awoken it. Nose to nose, she stretched beneath soft sheets, nestling close to him. "Who says we should do anything today but this?" she murmured, blushing at her own boldness.

He felt as languidly lazy as she did in the aftermath of their lovemaking. In fact, he had never felt quite so content or so loved as he did at that moment, tangled together in a lover's embrace and reluctant to stir from bed even for a moment. "No one," he replied with a smile, brushing a soft kiss against the slender line of her neck. This was their time, and there were no rules and no one there to tell them what they should be doing with that time. "I'm happy here with you, Lis. I wish we could stay here forever," he whispered. Even if it was possible, he knew they were both far too practical and selfless to indulge themselves in such a way, but one week hardly seemed long enough.

"I could be happy anywhere, if I was with you, querido," she whispered back to him, curling her arms tighter about her husband as he kissed her neck. "I look forward to our lifetime together each time I open my eyes. Even if Lila is desperate for me to get pregnant before I truly have the chance to enjoy you." She laughed, nipping the end of his nose as though it was his fault his niece had babies on the brain.

He laughed, partly at his niece's precociousness and partly at Lis' the nose-nipping. As much as he wanted a family someday, he was in no hurry for it. "I'm ashamed to admit it, but I'm not really ready to share you with a baby just yet," he told her, with a slightly mischievous smile on his face. "If Lila had her way, she'd wish half a dozen children on us, just so she can have more cousins to dote on." As if the family wasn't expanding enough as it was. He knew he had a little catching up to do, but he was in no real hurry to do it.

"She will have plenty in just a few months," Lis agreed with him. "She can wait for us to be ready." Inching closer, she nestled into his arms, her sigh breathing out every nuance of her contented, peaceful happiness. "Is it always like this?" she asked him softly. "So peaceful, so wonderful just to be, without real need for word or action?"

He took her into the warmth of his arms, holding her close in his protective embrace, savoring the quiet of the moment for as long as they dared let it last. He knew they'd eventually have to leave the bed, if only for sustenance, but for now, they both seemed content to enjoy this time together as long as it lasted. "I don't know," he replied to her questions, furrowing his brows uncertainly. "I've never felt like this before." He'd certainly had a few relationships over the years, but nothing anywhere close to what he had with her.

Lis smiled, unable to help the spike of pure joy that came with knowing he had never felt this way about anyone but her, that those who had come before could not compare. "I have never felt this way, either," she assured him, brushing her lips tenderly against his skin. "I will never feel this way for any other, as long as I live. Te quiero no por quien eres, sino por quien soy cuando estoy contigo." She raised her eyes to his, her smile dominant in the dark depths as she offered him the translation. "I love you not only for who you are, but for who I am when I am with you."

How could he not be touched by such a loving and romantic statement' And perhaps more importantly, how could he possibly find the right words to express his own feelings without resorting to reciting poetry' The words simply did not exist or he did not know how to use them. "I don't know what to say to that," he admitted quietly, afraid she might sense the tears in his voice, so touched was he by her loving admission. He touched her face, fingers grazing her cheek in a tender caress, sky-blue eyes awash with heartfelt tears. "There are no words to tell you how I feel, Lis. I simply love you and cannot live without you. You are my everything."

"They are not my words," she confessed, "but I can find no other to tell you how I feel. Love came so easily with you. I had almost given up hope of ever having it for myself." She turned her head, pressing a kiss to his palm that burned with the depth of her feeling for him. "I will never leave you, never hurt you in a way that was intended. I promised myself that the day we met - that if you ever came to feel anything for me, I would not throw it away."

"I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'm so happy that we met," he told her, though she likely knew that already. Simple words, perhaps, but from the heart. It was simply too difficult finding the right words to tell her how he felt about her. He wasn't a poet, and he couldn't quote Shakespeare, but if the way he looked at her, the way he kissed her, the way he held her in his arms was any indication of his feelings for her, then what he felt in his heart was pure poetry, even if he lacked the words to share those feelings. "I wouldn't change a thing, Lis. I'm right where I want to be." There in her arms. He couldn't really expound on it anymore than that. She was everything to him; there was no other way to explain it.

"I do not think you did anything," she said quietly. "You needed me, as I needed you." She shifted against him, rising up to press a slow kiss to his lips, slow in warmth and tenderness, sharing all the words she couldn't say in such a simple gesture that could mend or break a heart.

His heart needed no mending, and he trusted her not to break it, sharing in that slow kiss as tenderly as it was given. He made no argument, no rebuttal, knowing she was right. He had needed her and she had appeared, it seemed, right when he'd needed her most. He'd returned from Africa sick of heart and body, lonely and alone, afraid he'd been forgotten only to find a warm welcome from those he loved most, and the unexpected love of a woman who had somehow found a way to a heart he'd thought was hopeless. His kiss said all that without saying a word, that fire inside him flaring anew, never quite going out so long as she was near.

She felt his fire rise with her own, comfortable enough now to be a little more herself each time. Drawing back, she showed him the tease in her smile as her hand slipped between them to tease with touch, as well. "So soon, querido?" she murmured through her wicked flicker of a grin. "I see I shall have to make sure you rest while we are here."

"Soon?" he murmured back, stifling a moan when her hand slipped between them. It had been at least ten minutes since the last time, hadn't it' Perhaps a little more, perhaps a little less, but what did it matter" If she wanted him again, who was he to argue with that' He really wasn't sure what she saw in him, but he wasn't going to argue with that either. "I'm not ready to rest yet, querida," he countered with a wicked grin of his own, flattered beyond words that she wanted him again so soon after the last time.

"That is good to know," she murmured teasingly, leaning down to lure him with a kiss that didn't quite land. "I am not ready to have you rest yet." Laughing, she nuzzled to him, growing in the confidence to share this part of herself with him - a part no one but Edward had ever seen. Whatever his family thought of the quiet, practical woman he had married, he was slowly learning that there were more facets to Lisbeth than she had ever shown him before.

"How's the water?" he asked, not yet moving from where he sat at the table. Judging by the groan, he assumed it was comfortable enough, but he was still just a little reluctant to join her for some reason. Instead, he refilled his glass, frowning to find it was the last of the wine, and not wanting to call for room service with a naked wife in the pool.

"It is lovely," she called back to him, easing down into the water to swim a little way deeper. Turning about, her dark hair a cloud on the surface about her, she offered him an inviting smile. "Lonely without you, though."

She made for a very inviting and tempting image, though there was something holding him back. He got off the lounge chair and wandered closer, a little light-headed, the glass of wine in one hand. He, too, was wearing nothing but a bathrobe that was loosely knotted at his waist. "Shall I dangle my feet in the water?" he asked, hoping maybe that would mollify her a little.

Lis' smile was decidedly teasing in its invitation, allowing for the fact that he might be a little uncomfortable with the idea but not yet prepared to let him completely off the hook. "It is not your feet that I am lonely for," she pointed out to him, made bold by wine and darkness. "But you will need them to come here."

"What are you lonely for then?" he asked. Maybe it was the wine talking, as it wasn't something he'd normally ask a woman, wife or not, but once the words tumbled out of his mouth, he couldn't very well take them back. He came a little closer, but not yet close enough to join her in the pool.

Perhaps it was just as well they had consumed a bottle of wine between them, or he might not have received an answer to that question. As it was, Lis laughed, the sound surprisingly husky in the quiet that surrounded them. "Your skin on mine," she told him. "Your lips on mine. Your arms about me, as mine wind about you."

"Oh," he mumbled. That sounded simple enough. Did she know he had been fantasizing about this all day' When they weren't making love to each other, anyway. He couldn't very well argue with that, could he" He drained the glass of wine, which only made his head feel that much foggier, before setting it aside on the table. "I, um....I'm not a very good swimmer," he admitted reluctantly.

"Then I shall share a secret," she told him reassuringly. "This is the shallow end." To prove it, she set her feet to the floor and stood, water cascading down her upper body to where the surface lapped at her waist, black hair clinging to her curves. "Does that help, querido?"

He wasn't drunk enough to drown, even in water over his head, and suddenly felt silly for admitting his weakness, but it was the view of her lovely curves silhouetted in the moonlight that made his mind up for him. What was he doing standing there when he could be in the pool with her" He would have asked her not to laugh at him as he turned his back toward her to disrobe, but she had already seen him in all his naked glory before tonight. It wasn't so much his nudity that was making him shy as it was the very obvious reaction his body was having toward the view of hers.

She seemed to understand that there was something holding him back, and it wasn't something she could easily help him with. Seeing him turn his back, she smiled, turning her own back to spare his blushes when he turned to her once again, the gentle splash of water about her hips the only evidence of her motion.

He heard the slosh of water behind his back, but wasn't sure what she was doing exactly, worried she'd either laugh at him or find him undesirable, though up to now, she'd never done either. He shrugged the robe from his shoulders and dropped it on the chaise, hoping it was dark enough that his own arousal wouldn't be too obvious as he turned back around and made his way slowly into the water.

Tempting though it was, Lis held herself from turning to watch him move toward her, a small part of her brain that wasn't tipsy horrified by how bold she was being. It didn't matter to that sober part of her that Edward was her husband; she was displaying herself like a wanton. Just as well that sober part was utterly out-weighed by the tipsy part.

The water sloshed as he lowered himself into it, feeling a little less vulnerable and shy now that he had the cover of water and darkness to hide his very obvious desire. He had often thought himself inadequate and unattractive when compared to his more robust cousins, but Lis, for one, had never complained and had even seemed to like him that way. He cleared his throat once he was submerged enough to feel half-way comfortable, unsure why he was feeling so shy when they had spent most of the afternoon wrapped naked in each other's arms.

Hearing him cough, she turned, her smile bright enough to light up their little piece of space. In her eyes, he was perfect. She didn't see the need for broad shoulders and big muscles; she loved him just the way he was, lean and strong and wonderful. Her hand rose, dripping water onto his chest as she stroked a fingertip against his cheek. "Was that so hard, querido?"

"No, I suppose not," he replied with a slightly perplexed frown, unsure why he had been so shy and nervous when it was so obvious that she loved him, no matter his own fears and lack of confidence. He laughed a little at another realization. "I think I'm drunk," he admitted, his arms sliding around her slim waist.

"Ah, then perhaps I should not be taking advantage of you," she teased with a quiet giggle of her own, easing into his arms as her own wound about him tenderly, skin to skin, nose to nose. "I thought that was something only men were supposed to do to women."

"Is that what you're doing?" he asked, smiling in amusement at her teasing. "I don't mind so much, you know, if you want to take advantage. Tell you a secret?" he asked, arms circled about her waist to hold her close.

"You can tell me anything," she promised him, drawing her fingertips down the smooth groove of his spine and back up once again, more than happy to linger where she was as she shared her smile with him.

"I've been thinking about this all day," he admitted with an embarrassed blush on his face, grateful for the darkness that hid even that. Not just holding her close, but making love to her under the light of the moon and within the water's embrace. "I've never....I mean..." He stammered, blushing further. He was obviously no virgin, but neither was he terribly experienced in the ways of love, and it seemed this was a fantasy of his that he'd never before been able to fulfill until now.

Shy as she was, she leaned into him, drawing her lips along his jaw until her breath touched his ear. "I have known no lover but you," she reminded him softly, unable to hide the quickening thump of her heart through her chest as her skin slipped along his. "Perhaps we should make a memory, querido."

Wasn't that in part what this was all about - making memories to last a lifetime" "No, Lis," he countered, his lips ghosting against hers, his breath warm and tasting like wine. "We shouldn't only make one, but a lifetime of memories." He didn't bother to await her answer this time, touching his lips to hers as he pulled her up against his body, warm flesh to warm flesh.

"Mmm ..." Whatever she had been about to say was lost as he kissed her, the gentle press of her body to his more than enough to ignite the smouldering embers of her desire once again. "One memory to begin a lifetime of memories?" she asked him, her breath staggered as wet skin slithered together with tantalizing smoothness.

It seemed to him that they'd already made more memories than he could have ever hoped for, and yet, he longed for more - a lifetime of memories not starting tonight, but from the very first meeting. This, then, was just one more memory, one more page in the book of their lives, and yet, it was to be cherished as much as any other. "One memory among many," he murmured between kisses, his hands sliding downward to hoist her into his arms and wrap her legs about his waist. Though he might not have been as muscular as some men, he was just as strong and just as capable when it came to lovemaking.

It was unlikely to be a memory that would be shared with family or friends, not with children, but a memory to hold close and remember with secret smiles shared in public places for a long time to come. Wrapped up in one another and the gentle embrace of the water, there was nothing to hold them back from making his fantasy a reality beneath the silver-spun moon. Memories to last a lifetime, and their lives together had just begun.

((Little bit of romance for the ever practical newly-weds - many thanks to Edward's player!))