Part II
Wedding Night

Under a clear and starry sky, the wedding celebration met its end. Most of the guests departed before sunset, inasmuch as it was a long and dark road to take. Never safe at night, as darkness fell giving the 'cimarrones' the ideal venue to attack white landlords both to rob or taking revenge.

Amongst the cheerful crowd, Don Ramon de Altamira lifted his wife in arms and carried her to the master's bedchambers. The newly wed couple laughed out loud on their way down the house's corridors, their faces glowing with plentifulness, as plentiful as joy a pure and perfect love can give. Once in the dormitory, Don Ramon placed his woman on the floor, both standing face to face. The man leaned closer and kissed her. First with tenderness, soon with passion. Beneath his arms, Josefina shivered. "Are you nervous?" He embraced her tight.

The girl only nodded, bitting her lower lip, her face nesting in his chest.

"You don't need to be afraid. I would rather cut my hands before ever hurting you... Look at me my dear", they looked at each other, his hazel eyes locked down with hers. "You can't imagine, you don't have the minimal idea of how how much I love you. You don't know for how long I have waited for someone like you Josefina. Do you trust me?"

The woman fanned her eyelashes and whispered a yes.

"I promise I would never let you down and tonight will be the first of many wonderful nights together." Sealing his promise, Don Ramon de Altamira kissed his young wife with exceeding candor.

The moon tasted sweeter than honey for the newly wed couple. Husband and wife rendered themselves in a rite of love and candor, their bodies fusing, moving to the cadential rhythm of lust and desire. An approaching thunderstorm masked the couple's moans and gasps. Outside, rain poured, tapping over the zinc thatched roof, chiming a soothing melody for both Ramon and Josefina.

Immersed in a sea of pleasure, the young woman dug her fingers in the back of her lover, her own skin tinkling, altogether an overflowing and delightful experience, new and glorious for her. For Josefina it was touching heaven one time after the other. Her heart throbbed rampantly and blood boiled in her veins. In the way a lightning stroke in the night skies, Josefina, was able to see her husband's face. His big hazel eyes fixed on her, gleaming with passion, telling her that there was a never a reason to be afraid of and that he enjoyed her body the way she enjoyed becoming his.

Outside, the storm intensified and louder that before a thunder broke making the room to vibrate. Soon after a white flair illuminated the bed chambers completely. Josefina jerked back to see someone standing by the foot of the bed. Terrified, she screamed and crawled backwards to the headboard, when a series of consecutive lightnings confirmed that there was in fact a ghastly in appearance woman, blond disheveled hair, empty blue eyes and dressed in a white nightgown staring down at them.

"What is it?!" Don Ramon kneeled on the bed, gleaming at his wife, eyes wide open, perplexed and worried after her awkward reaction.

"There's someone, a woman... there!" Josefina cried and pulled the sheets to cover herself up.

"Where?" Without even bothering to cover himself up, the man climbed down the bed, turned on the oil lamp on the bedside table and grabbed the rifle hanging on the wall.

Lights on, Josefina scanned the room, still on the bed only to find there was nobody. "I swear Ramon, she was right there, looking at us with a dreadful expression on her face!"

The man first verified if the room's door was locked, then he walked up and down the dormitory searching inside the armoires, in the lavatory and even under the bed. Rifle in hand he aimed out the windows, though it wasn't much that could be seen in a dark stormy night. After placing the weapon back on the wall, Don Ramon sat next to his shaky wife and wrapped her in his arms. "There's nothing to fear about. See, there is no one in here. Maybe it was only an illusion, the shadows taking weird shapes amidst darkness and lightning... Come on... Let's go back to sleep, you must be tired." Don Ramon laid his back on the bed and Josefina cuddled herself to his side, nesting her face on his chest.

It took a while for the young lady to close her eyes but finally her eyelids closed surrendering to weariness and embracing her husband, she fell asleep.

*cimarrones* a slaved that escaped from his master.