3 Seductions and a Wedding
Page 20
Mind, body and soul.
Brock Arsenal took to the stage and sang his ballad to the bride and groom as they danced for the first time as husband and wife. After the second verse, he called the rest of the bridal party to the dance floor. Mallory took a moment to watch Leo swing Jessie in a crazy circle around the room, while Drew dipped and twirled Annie as if he were channeling Fred Astaire. She and Ajay, however, merely swayed. He had her hand clasped in his and pressed tight against his chest.
“This can’t be the end, Mallory,” he said.
“I know,” she said.
“You have to give me a chance to—what?”
She smiled. His eyes had widened and he stopped moving.
“I said ‘I know.’ I don’t want it to end. I want you, Ajay. I love you.”
She’d expected a long silence, a pregnant pause while he processed her confession, but his reaction was immediate. He slipped his hands down her bottom and lifted her, spinning her as he kissed her in front of everyone in the room.
When he finally set her down, Mallory expected the attention to trigger her phobia, but Ajay kept her gaze focused on him while he whispered words she’d never in her life imagined he’d say.
“Mallory, I love you, too. If you promise to marry me, I’ll be the richest man in the universe.”
“Marry you? But we’ve only been together for two days!”
Ajay’s devoted expression didn’t waver. “My parents only knew each other for a day before they married. My grandparents only an hour. And yet, they’re all still together. I’ve run from commitment my whole life. I’m done. If you’ll have me, I’m yours forever.”
Mallory could barely speak, but she breathed deeply and finally managed to utter the most important word she’d ever speak in any language. “Yes.”
Epilogue
AFTER FOUR HOURS of talking, eating, drinking and kissing on command every time someone at the reception clinked their glass with their fork, Bianca squealed with delight when Coop danced her into a corner, twirled her behind a lighted palm tree and proceeded to kiss her senseless. Over the course of the day, she’d kissed her new husband more times than she could count—and each time, she recognized how different his mouth felt on hers.
She couldn’t accurately describe the sensation, but if she had to give it her best guess, she’d declare that when they were only engaged, their kisses spoke of needfulness. Now, the joining of their mouths represented the ultimate combining of their spirits.
She still wanted Coop with raw desire, but needing him was no longer necessary—he would always be with her. In her heart. In her mind. In her soul.
They slipped onto a deserted balcony overlooking the Hills-borough River. Coop shut the curtained glass door firmly, then put a chair in front of the handle to guarantee them more than a few seconds alone.
“Mrs. Rush,” he said, taking both her hands and tugging her close.
“Mr. Rush,” she replied, kissing along the ridge of his chin.
“Or are you keeping Brighton? We’ve never discussed it.”
“I don’t care,” she said honestly. “Do you?”
“All I care about is you, beautiful. I can’t believe our friends pulled off a surprise wedding. I can’t believe Leo and Jessie are back together.”
“Apparently, weddings make everything possible.”
She sounded giddy and dreamy and girly and silly and she loved it. Life couldn’t be more perfect than at this very moment. She had the man of her dreams in her arms; the night was cool and clear. In the morning, they’d set off to the private island in the Keys where they’d first traveled together with no expectations or responsibilities beyond enjoying each other.
“I’m not so sure about Annie and Drew, though,” Coop complained.
She was nibbling on his neck, so she sensed his scowl more than saw it.
“Lighten up,” she chastised. “Annie’s a big girl. She doesn’t need her brother or anyone else dictating her life to her. You know Drew, and my brother is the real deal. He would never hurt Annie or the boys.”
He grumbled for a split second more, until he realized she was loosening the waistband of his tuxedo. Then his growls turned to groans of pleasure, which emboldened her all the more. She and Coop could not be the only bride and groom in the history of weddings to sneak off and enjoy their marital rights slightly before the official start of the honeymoon.
But before she could slip her hands into his pants, he asked, “And what about Mallory and Ajay? He already called his mother. Our next trip will likely be to India for their wedding, and they’ve only been together for two days.”
Bianca chuckled, then took him in her hand, loving how quickly his body responded to her touch. “Not everyone has to wait ten years, Mr. Rush.”
He kissed her as he scrunched her skirt up to her waist and flicked aside the wispy material of her satin lingerie. “I’d say you were worth the wait, Mrs. Rush. Wouldn’t you say the same?”
Actually, she couldn’t say much of anything. Before she could form an answer, Coop pressed inside her. On a quiet balcony with only the stars to witness their first time making love as husband and wife, Bianca and Coop clung to each other, pleasured each other and loved each other with the passion that had sustained them for a decade and would, without a doubt, keep them together for the rest of their lives.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-5622-8
3 SEDUCTIONS AND A WEDDING
Copyright © 2010 by Julie Leto Klapka.
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