“Claire, please. I’m sorry...but I thought....”
“You didn’t think.” Claire spat out the words, her voice was icy, one hand clenched in a fist at her side. Then she pulled herself up straight, her voice rising.
“There’s someone else, isn’t there?” Her voice dropped to a hiss, but it was still audible. “It’s that wedding planner girl. I knew it. Vienna warned me. She’s got her hooks into you.”
I froze in my seat, my heart leaping in my throat. I half thought Claire would turn, pointing me out, but all her anger was directed at Ben.
“No, Claire, it’s not that. There is no one else. It’s just...I finally realized. I don’t love you the way you should be loved. And I don’t feel loved the way I want to be loved. That’s not the way to start a marriage.”
My heart broke a little, hearing him say there was no one else, that tiny spark inside me going out. But he was speaking for himself and as much as it hurt me, I was silently cheering him on.
Claire was crying now, sniffling loudly. “But that’s not important. I mean, that’s not all there is...not the thing that matters.”
Ben shook his head, his face suffused with sadness. His voice was soft, gentle, when he spoke. “But it is, Claire. It’s the most important thing. It’s the only thing. And we just don’t have it.”
He leaned forward, kissing her cheek. She backed away from him, stumbling into her stunned maid of honor, who grabbed her arm, trying to steady the bride. Claire regained her footing, wrenched away from the girl and straightened herself. She then flung her bouquet against Ben’s chest. It fell to his feet.
“I hate you, Ben. Truly. You’ve ruined my life.”
Claire turned, the train of her dress wrapping around her feet. With a ripping sound, she got herself untangled and made her way down the aisle, stumbling through the doors at the back of the chapel.
The silence in the chapel ended abruptly in excited conversation. I watched as Alex, wearing a big smile, clapped Ben on the back. Ben shook his head, said something briefly and then slipped through the side door of the chapel and disappeared.
I slide out the pew, noticing that the woman next to me had obviously decided it was time to leave as well.
The rain had started again, a soft warm drizzle that shrouded the foliage in gray fog. It matched my mood at the moment. No one had come out of the chapel yet and I wanted to get away before anyone saw me, including Vienna. I hadn’t seen her in the chapel but she’d been watching, I was certain, from some secluded corner or from behind a door.
I took off my shoes and started walking back to my room. My thoughts were in a tangle, a mixture of relief and sadness. Ben wasn’t marrying Claire. I was happy for him, happy he’d found the courage to stop the wedding.
My heart ached though to hear him say there was no one else. The tears I’d held back in the chapel started to fall and I let them roll down my cheeks, mixing with the rain.
By the time my little room came into view, I was soaking wet, my hair hanging in a solid wet mass against my bare shoulders. Again, the prospect of a warm shower and a long nap sounded like heaven. I’d worry about how to get home later.
I opened the door to my room. The power was still out and the room was dim, the only light coming through the French doors. But the shadows and gray light were comforting. Light and bright colors didn’t interest me at the moment.
“Dana?”
I jumped, dropping my shoes, a strangled sound of surprise echoing in the room. Ben took a step out of the shadows, into the watery light. He was still wearing the morning coat, but the tie was gone, his snowy white shirt open at the throat.
“Ben...”
“I’m sorry. I did it again. I keep sneaking up on you.” He walked toward me, solemn and sober, just as he’d looked in the chapel
“Yes...you did. But what...why...what happened? Why are you here?”
He stood in front of me and reached hesitantly for my hands, taking them in his, looking down at them.
“I came to say thank you, Dana.” He looked up at me, his eyes bright.
“For what?” I didn’t want to hear I’d helped him put things into perspective; I didn’t want a thank you. I wanted Ben, but I knew this was going to be good-bye.
“For listening to me, for showing me how things should be...how they could be.” He moved a step closer. “For last night.”
My heart skipped a beat. “Last night...”
“Dana, last night was perfect. It’s how I want my life to be, to have that feeling of belonging to and with someone, forever. I never felt that with Claire. Ever.”
Tears gathered in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks. I’d helped him see what he wanted and now...
“And now that you know what you want, you’re going to go find it.” I couldn’t bear looking at him and I dropped my eyes.
“No.” He dropped my hands, lifting my chin with his fingers, forcing me to meet his gaze.
“I’ve already found it, Dana. Here, with you.”
Ben leaned forward, lips brushing against mine. I hesitated, my mind spinning. He’d found what he wanted, with me? I pulled away.
“But in the chapel, she asked you. And you said there was no one else.”
The corners of Ben’s mouth turned up in a grin, his eyes coming alive.
“I play poker, Dana. I can bluff when I need to.”
This wasn’t happening, couldn’t be happening. “So you lied to Claire?”
He shook his head. “I couldn’t tell her, in front of everyone. What I said was true, I don’t love her like she should be loved. But it would have crushed her to know there was someone else.” He traced a finger across my cheek, brushing away a tear.
“But I wasn’t sure either...about how you might feel, about me, about us. I couldn’t tell a room full of family and friends that I’d fallen in love with you, without knowing how you feel.”
My heart lurched in my chest. He’d said he fallen in love with me. I closed my eyes, willing myself to speak, opening my mouth, but I couldn’t make a sound.
“Dana? Could you love me? If you don’t, I understand.” The heartbreak in his voice broke my silence.
“Yes.” I opened my eyes, looking up at him. I tried to smile but my lower lip was trembling, so I nodded.
“Yes?” Ben was searching my face, his hands holding mine again, squeezing them hard.
“I do...Ben. I love you.”
I was in his arms then, pressed against his chest, crying into the starched shirt. He held me like he was never letting go, one hand splayed across my back, the other on the back of my head, fingers tangling in my hair.
“Oh, god, Dana, you don’t know how afraid I was you’d tell me no, or that this wasn’t what you wanted, or...” His voice broke and I pulled away, looking up at him. His eyes were bright with tears unshed.
“Ben...it is what I want. And I do want you.”
He kissed me then and the longing I’d felt in his other kisses was gone. This kiss was full of passion and love and lust and heat, everything I felt at the moment and I gave back as good as I got. He held me against him, almost crushing me. I finally broke away with a gasp.
“Come on.” He smiled and shrugged out of his jacket, dropping it to the floor, as I turned toward the bed. He caught me as I turned, spinning me back against him. His hands were everywhere, tugging my dress over my head, fingers sliding beneath the edge of my panties. I was busy with the buttons on his vest when I felt the clasp on my bra released.
“I thought you were patient with unwrapping your presents.” I laughed up at him, starting at the buttons of his shirt.
“That was when I thought I’d never see you again. Now, I want you and I’m not waiting.” He was tugging at the straps of my bra and I threw up my hands.
“Okay. You win. I’m yours.” The last pieces of my clothing were on the floor and I stood naked, suddenly shy, as Ben looked at me. I was grateful for the dim light.
“You are beautiful, Dana. You know that,
right? I couldn’t get you out of my mind today.” He touched my shoulder, fingers trailing down my arm. I shivered and he kissed me while he made quick work of the rest of his clothes.
He pulled me against him, skin to skin, and I melted a little at the warmth of his body in my arms. In a graceful move, he walked me backward until my legs hit the bed. I sat down and then slid my legs under the covers. He crawled in next to me, stretching out along side of me, pulling me back against him.
“I could still smell you, your scent, on me when I got back to my room. I didn’t want to give that up, that last fading reminder of you. Getting dressed was the hardest thing I’d ever done. I wanted to leave, turn around, run away.”
“You could have stopped all this, before, I mean, couldn’t you?” I watched his face as all the emotions he’d felt crossed his face.
“I got caught up in what I was supposed to do, not what I wanted. It just all spiraled out of control.”
“What made you speak up though?” I thought he’d say seeing me, or remembering something Alex had said. But his answer surprised me.
“You know the story of Nate and Sophie, right? Love at first sight? Sophie told me, a long time ago about her mother, Prudence, my great-grandmother. She’d told Sophie to always follow her heart, never give in, never settle. In love, or in anything else.”
Ben looked down at me, his brows furrowed. “I’d never met her, Prudence, she died before I was born. But I had this image of her, almost like I could hear her voice, telling me now was the time, now was the moment. And it was.”
I went still in his arms, a shiver coursing through me as the image of the woman seated next to me in the chapel came up in my mind, the words she whispered just before Ben spoke.
“Ben, you saw me in the chapel, right? Who was the woman sitting next to me?”
His frown deepened. “You were in the last pew, sitting alone. There was no one sitting next to you. Why?”
I shook my head. “Nothing...never mind.” I reached up, pulling him to me, kissing him hard. My mind was reeling with unanswered questions, but right now, none of them mattered. All that I wanted and cared about was here, in my arms, alive and warm, and wanting me back.
“Nothing that can’t wait.”
We spent the rest of the day in my bed. We came together that first time in a rush, almost impatient in way, wanting to make this real, right here and now.
After, Ben lay sprawled on his back, breathing hard. Our fingertips touched across the bed. I turned, looking at him, his profile in the early afternoon light. The rain had stopped and it was lighter now in my room. I rolled onto my side, running my finger down Ben’s nose. He caught my hand, kissing my fingers.
“Do you know how happy I am right now?”
I smiled. “I do.” It was there, in the contentment and happiness in his eyes, the love that I saw there, to the relaxed smile on his face. I leaned forward, kissing him softly. His arms went around me, and he pulled me on top of him.
“It’s written all over your face.”
Chapter Seven
Epilogue
Ben was gently shaking my shoulder.
“Dana, wake up. It’s almost dawn.”
I rolled onto my back, stretching, and opened my eyes. The bed curtains were still drawn, the room slightly chilly. I pulled the quilt up around my shoulders, burrowing deeper into the softness of the feather bed.
“No...not yet.”
Ben kissed me softly before slipping out of bed. I could hear him getting dressed and I opened one eye.
“Where are you going?” He was standing, shirtless, at the end of the bed, the soft gray light outlining his chest and arms.
“Come back to bed with me.” I held out my hand, but he shook his head, smiling. I watched as he pulled a sweatshirt over his head.
“I’ll be back. Sleep a little longer.”
The door closed behind him and I closed my eyes. I was warm and comfortable, drifting in that half-light between sleep and wakefulness, my mind drifting.
This was the end of our first week in the Cotswolds, on a walking tour, just like he’d done with Nate when he was a boy. My body was still ached at the end of the day from walking, but I loved every minute of it. And nights with Ben, in the inns we found in the little villages, made me forget every ache and pain.
We’d been almost inseparable since we’d left Breaker Island. I’d gone on Ben’s charter flight back to New York. We’d separated long enough for me to visit my apartment and see Lisa, to collect my belongings, and my cat Frank.
“You got the prince after all? I knew it...I knew this would happen. I’m so happy for you!” Lisa was helping me pack, stopping every so often to hug me and dance me around the room. Frank was equal parts alarmed at the commotion and happy to see me, rubbing against my legs before darting beneath the bed.
“I’m so sorry, Lisa. I’m leaving you with my half the rent.” I sat on my bed, in a welter of clothes and shoes. I was worrying a shirt in my hands.
“Oh, my god, Dana. Don’t worry about me.” She shook her head. “I can take care of myself.”
“I still can’t believe it, Lisa. I’m still in shock, I think.”
“But no wedding plans? No proposal yet?” She sat across from me, taking the t-shirt from me and refolding it.
“No, not yet. He just left a bride at the alter. I don’t think he’s ready to go through that again.”
“But you love him? Really, truly? And he loves you?” Lisa stopped folding clothes.
“Really truly, all the way. It’s pretty amazing.” I smiled, still unable to believe it all. But it was true.
“I’m so happy for you.” Lisa launched herself across the bed, almost tackling me in a bear hug. Frank had crept on the bed but scurried off to the closet.
So I’d settled into Ben’s apartment, along with the cat. It was a few days later that Ben asked me if I wanted to take a trip. He said he still had the better part of the six weeks he’d planned for his honeymoon before he needed to be back at the office.
“I have an idea.”
And so we were in the Cotswolds, Frank left behind, being cosseted and pampered by Ben’s housekeeper, to whom he’d taken an immediate liking.
I heard Ben at the door to our room and sat up, yawning. He’d gotten in the habit of bringing me breakfast in bed, but usually at a more civilized hour than this. He came in, balancing a tray. It was breakfast, the full English breakfast I’d come to love, with eggs, sausage, black pudding and the ever-present grilled tomato slice. The first time I’d been presented with the huge amount and variety of food, my eyes widened and I’d pushed away most of it, unable to finish. But now, after a week of walking, I could polish off the whole thing and if Ben wasn’t finished, I’d pick away at his until he made me stop.
“I thought we’d get an early start today.” He set the tray on the bed and poured me a cup of tea. I breathed in the fragrant steam and gingerly took a swallow of the piping hot liquid.
“We don’t have that far to go though, do we?” I scooted up against the head of the bed, arranging pillows behind me. Ben slid the tray across to me, taking his plate.
“No, but...well, you know...I just thought...”
He was acting odd, but I was already eyeing up my breakfast, deciding where to start.
And then I saw it. Tucked beneath the napkin, between the knife and fork. A small black velvet box.
I looked at Ben and found him watching me intently. I picked up the box.
“Ben?”
“Go ahead, Dana.” He stood, setting his plate on the bedside table, and sat next to me on the bed, arm around my shoulders. “Open it.”
I held the box a moment, my heart racing, before opening the lid. Inside was a ring, a simple platinum band with a single diamond in the center.
Ben reached over and gently plucked the ring from the box. He took my left hand in his and I looked up at him.
“Dana, I love you, more than I thought I could love anyone.
Would you marry me?”
I nodded, unable to speak. He smiled and slowly slid the ring onto my trembling finger. He brought my hand to his lips and kissed the ring.
“I take that was a yes?”
“Yes...” I nodded again, looking down at the ring. “A thousand times yes.”
“Do you like it? If not...”
“I love it. And I love you. It’s perfect.” I held my hand out, watching the diamond catch the light. Ben lifted the breakfast tray off the bed and set it on the floor before stretching out next to me. I snuggled down beside him, curling against his chest. Breakfast could wait.
“You deserve the best, Dana. I want that for you. And I’m going to try to be the best husband I can be for you.” He kissed my hair and I heard the devotion and love in his voice. Without looking, I knew there were tears in his eyes, matching my own.
“We all get what we deserve.” I whispered the words I’d heard on Breaker Island against his chest.
“What?” He lifted my face to his. “Did you say something?”
“I said I love you. And you’ve made me very happy.”
He kissed me then and it was a long time before I had a chance to even think about breakfast.
THE END
About The Author
Adriana Hunter writes stories for those who live to dream. Her stories run the gamut, from romance, fantasy, paranormal to captivating stories of seductive medieval nights, and wild, adult fairytales.
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Debt of Honor by Opal Carew
Copyright © 2012 by Opal Carew
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.
Seduction in the Sun: Adult Romance Box Set (9 Sizzling Tales with BBW, Billionaires, Bad Boys, and Alpha Males) Page 29
