Dangerous Melodies - Chapter 29: Chapter 29
You are reading Dangerous Melodies, Chapter 29: Chapter 29. Read more chapters of Dangerous Melodies.
MARISOL
The plane touched down at the Belize airport, and through the small window, I spotted a sleek, private helicopter waiting on the tarmac.
Of course, Dante had arranged that.
No boat ride, no waiting. Just a direct flight to our own little world.
As we lifted off, the island came into view beneath us. Lush emerald landscape set in glittering turquoise.
My heart picked up speed as I pressed my forehead to the glass.
God, it doesn't look real.
Cayo Espanto sparkled below, a jewel dropped into the sea.
It was ours.
When we landed on the island’s private helipad, a quiet shiver traced down my spine.
He’d reserved the whole thing.
The entire island, just for us.
No one else. No strangers. No prying eyes.
Only crystal-clear water, thick green palms, and him.
This was the honeymoon every girl dreamed of.
The kind you read about in novels and thought, maybe someday.
But this wasn’t someday.
This was now.
My now.
Inside the main villa, I barely registered the sleek design or the high, airy ceilings.
My gaze locked on the open glass doors framing a stretch of white sand and endless blue.
The decor whispered understated luxury: warm woods, soft linen.
But none of it compared to what waited outside.
I stepped forward, and everything in me went still.
It was the first time I had ever seen the ocean.
My breath stilled.
My chest tightened as I stared, wide-eyed, at the horizon.
God, how is this real?
Sunlight melted into the waves, painting the sea in strokes of gold and rose.
The sound, that slow hush of waves kissing the shore, wrapped around me.
The scent of salt and warm breeze filled my lungs.
Nothing had ever looked this big.
This open.
This free.
I stood there for a long moment, silent, unable to move.
My hand pressed lightly to my chest as if trying to hold in the rush of emotion swelling inside.
There were tears. Not many. Just one or two that slipped down without permission.
I didn’t wipe them away.
I let them fall, unashamed, because this was more than beauty.
It was healing.
All my life, I had been told what I couldn’t do.
Where I couldn’t go.
What wasn’t safe.
But this, this ocean, no one could take it from me.
No one could draw a line and say, “Not for you.”
"I’ve dreamed of this," I said softly, not even sure he could hear me. "For so long. I just didn’t know it."
Dante didn’t speak.
He didn’t have to.
He stepped behind me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and rested his chin lightly on my shoulder.
I leaned into him, every inch of me trembling with a quiet, overwhelming joy.
I felt him breathe in, slow and deep, like he was savoring the same moment right along with me.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I didn’t feel watched.
I didn’t feel small.
I didn’t feel like I had to protect myself from the world.
I was simply here.
With him.
With the water and the wind and the slow stretch of sky that went on and on.
I stepped through the doors and into the sand.
A quiet sound slipped from my throat.
The grains shifted beneath my feet, warm and fine, molding to me with every step.
I wiggled my toes, letting the sensation roll through me.
This is what freedom feels like.
Untethered.
Mine.
I sensed Dante beside me, his presence calm, steady.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the way he watched me, but I didn’t look away from the water.
I couldn’t.
“Does my wife approve?” he asked, his voice low, touched with quiet pride.
“Yes,” I whispered, still staring. “She does.”
I did.
With everything in me.
He stepped closer, his hand brushing mine, then curling around it with a warmth that anchored me.
“Would you like to walk the beach with me?” he asked gently.
I turned toward him, blinking like I’d forgotten how.
“I can walk on the beach?”
The words came out soft, filled with wonder.
So simple.
But it felt like magic.
His fingers tightened around mine, steady and sure.
“Of course,” he said. “This is your trip, Marisol. You can do whatever you want.”
He paused.
“There’s no need to ask for permission ever again.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
Like a key sliding into a lock I hadn’t realized was still closed.
I didn’t have to ask anymore.
Not for permission.
Not for space.
Not for freedom.
A quiet gasp slipped out before I could catch it.
I’m free.
I really am.
My knees nearly gave beneath the weight of it.
He held my gaze.
“I reserved the entire island just for you.”
My chest pulled tight, this time from something else entirely.
“No one else is here? Just us?”
He nodded.
“Yes. There’s a chef and a few staff members to make sure we have everything we need. But they’ll stay out of the way. You won’t even notice them.”
Just us.
My heart swelled, full to the point of bursting.
Not from the luxury or the beauty, but because he had thought of everything.
Every detail.
Every quiet moment I didn’t know I needed.
As we stepped farther onto the pristine beach, the private dock stretching out over the crystal-clear water caught my eye.
I stood in awe at the sight.
This island really was ours.
For the next few days, it was just us and this secluded slice of paradise.
This wasn’t only a honeymoon destination.
It was a promise.
Away from the rest of the world, we could lose ourselves in each other.
Time didn’t feel real here.
It stretched out like the horizon, asking us to savor every second.
“Shall we?” Dante extended his hand.
I slipped mine into his, my fingers shy in his palm, my sandals dangling from the other hand as we stepped onto the beach.
The sun hovered low, painting everything in soft, golden light.
The air shimmered with warmth.
Above us, the sky blazed with color, pinks and oranges melting into each other, mirrored by the still, endless sea.
With each step, the sand shifted beneath our feet, warm and fine, like powdered silk.
The sound of the waves brushing the shore was so gentle it made something inside me settle.
I looked out at the water, smiling before I could stop myself.
“The water is so blue,” I murmured, wide-eyed at the unreal shade.
It looked like it had been poured from a dream.
Dante laughed beside me, the sound rich and low.
It wasn’t a loud laugh, more like something remembered.
That private kind of laughter that warmed from the inside out.
I turned to him, furrowing my brow.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, lips curving into a curious smile.
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head, eyes soft with something that wrapped itself around me. “I’m just happy that you’re happy.”
We walked until the waves rolled right up to our feet, kissing the shore before slipping away again.
The ocean shimmered, lit by the fading sun, soft and glittering like melted turquoise.
I let my sandals fall where they may.
I wasn’t thinking, I was feeling.
And then Dante splashed a bit of water toward me with his foot.
A small gasp escaped me.
Cold water on warm skin.
I laughed, free and loud, the kind of laugh I didn’t even know I had inside me.
I ran.
The wind tugged at me, light and playful, and I let it.
My hair whipped around my face, strands catching the sun as I twirled along the shoreline.
Water lapped at my ankles, cool and alive.
I felt it everywhere.
In my skin, in my chest, in my breath.
The freedom of that moment buzzed through me like wine, heady and bright and dizzying.
The plane touched down at the Belize airport, and through the small window, I spotted a sleek, private helicopter waiting on the tarmac.
Of course, Dante had arranged that.
No boat ride, no waiting. Just a direct flight to our own little world.
As we lifted off, the island came into view beneath us. Lush emerald landscape set in glittering turquoise.
My heart picked up speed as I pressed my forehead to the glass.
God, it doesn't look real.
Cayo Espanto sparkled below, a jewel dropped into the sea.
It was ours.
When we landed on the island’s private helipad, a quiet shiver traced down my spine.
He’d reserved the whole thing.
The entire island, just for us.
No one else. No strangers. No prying eyes.
Only crystal-clear water, thick green palms, and him.
This was the honeymoon every girl dreamed of.
The kind you read about in novels and thought, maybe someday.
But this wasn’t someday.
This was now.
My now.
Inside the main villa, I barely registered the sleek design or the high, airy ceilings.
My gaze locked on the open glass doors framing a stretch of white sand and endless blue.
The decor whispered understated luxury: warm woods, soft linen.
But none of it compared to what waited outside.
I stepped forward, and everything in me went still.
It was the first time I had ever seen the ocean.
My breath stilled.
My chest tightened as I stared, wide-eyed, at the horizon.
God, how is this real?
Sunlight melted into the waves, painting the sea in strokes of gold and rose.
The sound, that slow hush of waves kissing the shore, wrapped around me.
The scent of salt and warm breeze filled my lungs.
Nothing had ever looked this big.
This open.
This free.
I stood there for a long moment, silent, unable to move.
My hand pressed lightly to my chest as if trying to hold in the rush of emotion swelling inside.
There were tears. Not many. Just one or two that slipped down without permission.
I didn’t wipe them away.
I let them fall, unashamed, because this was more than beauty.
It was healing.
All my life, I had been told what I couldn’t do.
Where I couldn’t go.
What wasn’t safe.
But this, this ocean, no one could take it from me.
No one could draw a line and say, “Not for you.”
"I’ve dreamed of this," I said softly, not even sure he could hear me. "For so long. I just didn’t know it."
Dante didn’t speak.
He didn’t have to.
He stepped behind me, wrapped his arms around my waist, and rested his chin lightly on my shoulder.
I leaned into him, every inch of me trembling with a quiet, overwhelming joy.
I felt him breathe in, slow and deep, like he was savoring the same moment right along with me.
For the first time in what felt like forever, I didn’t feel watched.
I didn’t feel small.
I didn’t feel like I had to protect myself from the world.
I was simply here.
With him.
With the water and the wind and the slow stretch of sky that went on and on.
I stepped through the doors and into the sand.
A quiet sound slipped from my throat.
The grains shifted beneath my feet, warm and fine, molding to me with every step.
I wiggled my toes, letting the sensation roll through me.
This is what freedom feels like.
Untethered.
Mine.
I sensed Dante beside me, his presence calm, steady.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught the way he watched me, but I didn’t look away from the water.
I couldn’t.
“Does my wife approve?” he asked, his voice low, touched with quiet pride.
“Yes,” I whispered, still staring. “She does.”
I did.
With everything in me.
He stepped closer, his hand brushing mine, then curling around it with a warmth that anchored me.
“Would you like to walk the beach with me?” he asked gently.
I turned toward him, blinking like I’d forgotten how.
“I can walk on the beach?”
The words came out soft, filled with wonder.
So simple.
But it felt like magic.
His fingers tightened around mine, steady and sure.
“Of course,” he said. “This is your trip, Marisol. You can do whatever you want.”
He paused.
“There’s no need to ask for permission ever again.”
The words hit harder than I expected.
Like a key sliding into a lock I hadn’t realized was still closed.
I didn’t have to ask anymore.
Not for permission.
Not for space.
Not for freedom.
A quiet gasp slipped out before I could catch it.
I’m free.
I really am.
My knees nearly gave beneath the weight of it.
He held my gaze.
“I reserved the entire island just for you.”
My chest pulled tight, this time from something else entirely.
“No one else is here? Just us?”
He nodded.
“Yes. There’s a chef and a few staff members to make sure we have everything we need. But they’ll stay out of the way. You won’t even notice them.”
Just us.
My heart swelled, full to the point of bursting.
Not from the luxury or the beauty, but because he had thought of everything.
Every detail.
Every quiet moment I didn’t know I needed.
As we stepped farther onto the pristine beach, the private dock stretching out over the crystal-clear water caught my eye.
I stood in awe at the sight.
This island really was ours.
For the next few days, it was just us and this secluded slice of paradise.
This wasn’t only a honeymoon destination.
It was a promise.
Away from the rest of the world, we could lose ourselves in each other.
Time didn’t feel real here.
It stretched out like the horizon, asking us to savor every second.
“Shall we?” Dante extended his hand.
I slipped mine into his, my fingers shy in his palm, my sandals dangling from the other hand as we stepped onto the beach.
The sun hovered low, painting everything in soft, golden light.
The air shimmered with warmth.
Above us, the sky blazed with color, pinks and oranges melting into each other, mirrored by the still, endless sea.
With each step, the sand shifted beneath our feet, warm and fine, like powdered silk.
The sound of the waves brushing the shore was so gentle it made something inside me settle.
I looked out at the water, smiling before I could stop myself.
“The water is so blue,” I murmured, wide-eyed at the unreal shade.
It looked like it had been poured from a dream.
Dante laughed beside me, the sound rich and low.
It wasn’t a loud laugh, more like something remembered.
That private kind of laughter that warmed from the inside out.
I turned to him, furrowing my brow.
“What’s so funny?” I asked, lips curving into a curious smile.
“Nothing,” he said, shaking his head, eyes soft with something that wrapped itself around me. “I’m just happy that you’re happy.”
We walked until the waves rolled right up to our feet, kissing the shore before slipping away again.
The ocean shimmered, lit by the fading sun, soft and glittering like melted turquoise.
I let my sandals fall where they may.
I wasn’t thinking, I was feeling.
And then Dante splashed a bit of water toward me with his foot.
A small gasp escaped me.
Cold water on warm skin.
I laughed, free and loud, the kind of laugh I didn’t even know I had inside me.
I ran.
The wind tugged at me, light and playful, and I let it.
My hair whipped around my face, strands catching the sun as I twirled along the shoreline.
Water lapped at my ankles, cool and alive.
I felt it everywhere.
In my skin, in my chest, in my breath.
The freedom of that moment buzzed through me like wine, heady and bright and dizzying.
End of Dangerous Melodies Chapter 29. Continue reading Chapter 30 or return to Dangerous Melodies book page.