by Terri Reid
He took her hand and brought it to his lips.
She smiled up at him. “We’re not done yet,” she whispered. “We need the rings.”
“Oh, the rings,” he said, turning to Ian who handed them both to him.
Bradley handed Mary his ring and he held hers. “I go first this time,” he said.
“I give you this ring to wear with all my love. And as a ring has no end, neither shall my love for you.”
He slipped the delicate gold ring on her finger and then placed a kiss on it.
Mary took his hand in hers. “I give you this ring to wear with all my love. And as a ring has no end, neither shall my love for you.”
She slipped the gold band on his finger and pressed a kiss on it.
“By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” the minister said. “Bradley, you may now kiss your bride.”
Bradley lifted the veil and looked down at Mary’s face for a moment. “I love you,” he whispered, and then he kissed her with all the love he was feeling.
Wrapping his arms around her, he lifted her up. “I love you so much,” he exclaimed, twirling around with her.
Throwing her arms up in the air, she laughed out loud. “I can’t believe we are finally married.”
He lowered her gently to the floor. “Believe it,” he said, just before he kissed her again.
A moment later, with the recessional music playing, Sean led Linda back down the aisle towards the door. As he passed the back pew, a flash of red hair caught the corner of his eye, and he turned his head, but couldn’t locate it again.
“Come on, Sean,” Art said, “There’s food waiting for us.”
Reluctantly, Sean moved out of the church and onto the sidewalk in the front to await the bride and groom. He scanned the crowd, trying to find the red hair again.
“Sean, are you okay?” Linda asked him.
He smiled down at her. “Sorry, I’ve just been working on a case in Chicago and something caught my eye that reminded me of her…I mean it,” he said. “But that was fairly rude of me. Let’s go find Bob, so he can show off his beautiful new wife.”
They wandered through the crowd, Sean keeping his eye out for the red head and Linda looking for her husband. They spotted Bob just before the announcement that the bride and groom were coming out of the church.
The crowd moved to the front of the church and applauded as Mary and Bradley came out. Bradley bent down and kissed Mary again and the applause increased. She smiled up at him. “Don’t get used to it,” she teased. “You won’t get applause every time you kiss me.”
“Well, applause will definitely not be what I’m after,” he whispered, wiggling his eyebrows at her.
She blushed brightly and he laughed and placed another kiss on her lips.
As he led her down the stairs to the waiting car, Sean rushed up the stairs to meet them. “Hey, congrats,” he said casually.
“Thank you, Sean,” Mary said, hugging him. “The tuxes were just what I wanted.”
“I told you I knew a guy,” he replied with a grin. “Hey, did you happen to see someone, a woman, with red hair? Bright red hair?”
Mary smiled at him. “Sorry, Sean, she’s taken.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“That’s Gillian, Ian’s fiancée.”
Chapter Fifty-three
The elevator door closed and shut out the sounds of the reception. Mary and Bradley had said their good-byes and escaped while the party was still going on. After a few moments of canned music, the elevator doors opened and suddenly Mary felt like she couldn’t breathe. “Mary, are you all right?” Bradley asked.
She nodded slowly, not able to find her voice at first. Clearing her throat, the first noise came out like a squeak and she jumped. “I’m just a little nervous,” she confessed.
He took her hand in his and led her out of the elevator and the doors closed behind them. Then he stopped and turned her towards him. “I love you,” he said.
She nodded again, and swallowed hard. What if he looked at her scarred body and was repelled? What if she was no good at sex? What if she…
He placed his hand under her chin and lifted it slightly so she would meet his eyes. “I said I love you,” he repeated. “Let me show you how much.”
He bent forward and placed a chaste kiss on her lips. She kissed him back. He kissed her again, lingering and tasting her. She felt her heart pound against her chest. He softly feathered kisses across her face and along the side of her neck. She shivered and felt her body respond as warm, liquid fire coursed through her veins.
He continued teasing her with soft kisses on her neck, her throat and her face. She moaned softly. “Mary,” he whispered, his breath soft against her cheek.
“Uh, huh?” she sighed, angling her head back so he could have better access to the sensitive skin under her chin.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“So, good,” she exhaled. “So very good.”
He scooped her up in his arms and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He waited until she looked up at him. “I love you, Mrs. Alden,” he said.
She smiled up at him, emotion shining from her face. “I love you back, Mr. Alden,” she said.
He carried her to their room and set her down next to the door. “Just a moment,” he said, slipping the keycard into the pad and opening the door.
He scooped her up again and carried her into the room. “Don’t want to risk any bad luck,” he said.
“You just like picking me up,” she teased.
“No, I just like holding you in my arms,” he replied, the smile fading from his face.
He kissed her again, pouring his emotion into the kiss. She slid her arms up around his neck and threaded her fingers through his hair, pulling him closer to her. He slowly lowered her body, so she was pressed against him, dangling in the air, and he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.
“Bradley,” she whispered, panting softly.
He nibbled on her neck. “Yes?” he asked.
“I need…” she breathed. “I need…”
“What darling?” he questioned. “What do you need?”
“I need to get out of this dress, so it doesn’t get ruined,” she finally said, her breath coming out in gasps.
Chuckling, he slowly loosened his hold on her so her feet could touch the ground. “Ruined?” he asked. “As in ripping it off you?”
She blushed. “It could happen.”
He leaned forward and kissed her again. “Oh, yes, it could have,” he said soberly.
This time the blush started on her face and spread over her body.
He stepped away from her. “Okay, you go change and I’ll wait here for you,” he said.
She lifted the skirt of the dress and hurried into the bathroom. Only when she closed the door behind her, she realized there was no way she would be able to get the dress off by herself. She opened the door and peeked out from behind it. “Um, Bradley,” she said.
“Yes, Mary,” he replied, as he walked around the room and examined some of the features.
“I seem to have run into a little problem.”
He turned towards her. “What is it?”
She sighed. “I can’t get out of my dress by myself,” she admitted.
A slow smile spread across his face. “Well, one person’s problem is another person’s good fortune. Come out here.”
Her skirt lifted slightly, she made her way back to him and turned around. “See, the lacings, I can’t reach them.”
He pulled up a chair and sat behind her. “So where do they start?” he asked.
“At the very bottom,” she replied, feeling the blush starting again. “The ends are tucked at the very bottom of the lacing.”
She felt his fingers touch her low back through the dress as he searched through the folds to find the ribbons and felt them slide as he pulled them up. “What now?” he asked, his voice slightly rough.
“You need to unthread the ribbons through the little eyelets,” she replied softly.
The rhythmic swishing of satin pulled from satin and the muted sounds of soft breathing were the only noises in the room. Mary felt her skin burn any time Bradley’s hand inadvertently touched her bare skin beneath the dress.
When he had unlaced eight inches of the corset he could see her pale peach flesh. Holding the sides of the dress apart, he leaned forward and placed a kiss on the small of her back. Inhaling sharply, Mary felt a thrust of heat throughout her body. “Bradley,” she whispered.
He angled his head and kissed her again, lingering on the spot where her back disappeared into the curves of her bottom.
Mary, her knees suddenly weak, clutched the poster of the bed in front of her, to keep from falling to the floor. But the return of the sound of the laces being slipped from their moorings helped her to calm her racing heart.
He was more than halfway up her back when he stopped again. “Bradley?” she asked, afraid to look over her shoulder because she knew what he could see.
The angry crisscrossing of scars from where the bullet exited her body was a picture she could see with her eyes closed. The red puckered welts, the jagged scars and the too-white stripes of pulled skin. She held her breath, waiting for him to move away.
The first kiss was soft, tentative, as if he was afraid of hurting her. The next one followed a line of scarring from just below her shoulder blade to just above her hip. “Bradley,” she moaned softly. “Please.”
He didn’t respond, but continued to rain kisses across the scars and blemishes on her back, treating each area with passionate devotion. He slipped the last few layers through their lacings and her back lay bare before him. Slipping his hands into the opening of the dress, he rested them on her waist and pulled her backwards so he could rest his head against her. “I will never forget what you had to go through to find me,” he whispered. “To save me.”
A shuddering breath ran through her body, and she found she couldn’t speak as soft tears made their way down her cheeks. He lifted his head and kissed her back once again.
“Go, get ready,” he said. “You’re undone.”
I’m undone in more ways than one, she thought as she hurried to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She glanced at herself in the mirror, her arms wrapped around the front of the dress to hold it in place, her eyes wide and wet, and her mascara smudged. “Yeah,” she sniffed. “That’s a look every groom wants to see on his wedding night.”
Taking a deep breath, she stepped out of her dress and hung it carefully on its padded hanger. Then she opened the box she’d left in the room earlier that day. The black silk negligee was softer than anything she’d every owned. She slipped it on and the coolness of the cloth on her overheated body made her shiver. She stepped back in front of the mirror and smiled; it fell over her body in soft sexy folds and barely skimmed the tops of her thighs. She took a few more minutes to freshen up and then, with a deep breath, opened the door to the bathroom.
The glass of water Bradley was holding fell onto the carpet with a soft thud, but he didn’t even notice. He stepped forward, his eyes filling themselves with the vision of Mary. Sweet, sexy Mary. He couldn’t believe she was his.
She stared at the man who was now her husband. He was bare-chested and barefoot with only his black tuxedo pants hanging low on his hips. She swallowed as her mouth went dry.
Almost afraid to touch her lest he lose control, Bradley held out his hand and felt even more desire when she placed hers in it and looked up to him with love and trust in her eyes. “You’re beautiful,” he exhaled. “So beautiful.”
She smiled cheekily. “But am I sexy?” she asked.
He closed his eyes for a moment, holding back a groan. “Oh, yes,” he acknowledged hoarsely. “You are very sexy.”
Leading her across the room, they stopped next to the bed. She moved into his arms and slipped her arms around his waist. “I love you, Bradley,” she said, placing a kiss on his chest.
He bent down and placed a kiss on her head and then continued kissing her cheek, face and finally her neck. Scooping her up, he laid her back against the pillows on the bed and bent over her, one knee on the bed beside her and kissed her again. “And now,” he breathed softly against the sensitive spot where her neck met her shoulder.
“And now,” he whispered, as he slid the strap from her shoulder and kissed the spot where it had been.
“And now,” he said, lifting his head and looking at her, love shining in his eyes.
“And now,” she stammered, her heart in her throat.
A wicked smile spread across his face. “And now, I’m going to take you sledding.”
A surprised bubble of laughter slipped from her throat and she threw her arms around his neck. “That sounds perfectly delightful,” she laughed.
“Oh,” he murmured against her mouth. “It will be.”
Chapter Fifty-four
Sean picked up his drink and sipped it slowly, watching Ian and his fiancée across the room. Now that Mary and Bradley had left the reception, things were winding down and people were intermingling throughout the restaurant area. But those two had not left the quiet intimate corner they had settled into at the beginning of the evening.
They’re engaged, he reasoned silently. Of course they want to be alone. They haven’t seen each other in months.
He stared at the soft waves of red hair cascading onto her shoulders and falling down her back, and shook his head. The week Ian announces his Irish fiancée is arriving in Chicago, my Irish mystery woman shows up? How can that be a coincidence? There has to be something going on here.
He shifted his chair again, to try and get a glimpse of her profile, but she casually turned as he moved and once again, all he saw was hair.
“Sean, if you have to go to the bathroom, get up and excuse yourself,” his mother, sitting next to him, teased. “You’ve been shifting around in your chair all evening.”
He turned to her. “Sorry, Ma,” he said. “Just trying to get a look at Ian’s fiancée.”
“Lovely girl,” his father said. “And she hails not far from where your grandmother lived.”
“Really?” he asked, his interest peaked even more. “How close?”
“Just on the other side of the woods,” he said. “Walking distance really.”
Standing up, Sean picked up his drink and nodded to his parents. “I think it’s time I met the lovely lass,” he said.
There was no way she was anyone else but his woman of the woods. It just made sense. There were just too many coincidences. He just hadn’t figured out how he was going to break the news to Ian.
He schooled his features in a disinterested fashion and rolled his shoulders, releasing some of the built up tension. Approaching the table, he nodded at Ian. “Hey, Ian, how’s it going?” he said, inwardly wincing at his obviously too casual approach.
Ian smiled up at him. “Sean, have you a minute to meet my fiancée?” he asked.
Sure, your fiancée, he thought. She’s not your fiancée; she’s been using you to get to me.
He couldn’t lie to his friend. He couldn’t not tell him about the woman he had been connected to all of these years. He had to tell him the truth.
“Ian,” he said, meeting his friend’s eyes. “There’s something I need to tell you. Something about your fiancée and I.”
“Gillian and you?” Ian asked. “But, I haven’t even introduced you yet. Are you daft, Sean?”
Sean sighed. “Okay, go ahead and introduce us.”
“Gillian Flanagan, met my friend, the great fool, Sean O’Reilly,” Ian said.
Sean spun quickly to accuse the woman who had played with his friend’s heart. “You…” his voice caught in his throat.
It wasn’t her. This fresh-faced pixie with the saucy smile and sparkling brown eyes was not the Celtic warrior he’d seen in the underground garage.
She leaned fo
rward toward Ian. “Is he bollixed then?” she asked, her soft Irish lilt making her concern over Sean’s sobriety somehow more embarrassing.
He forced a smile and extended his hand. “No, not even a wee bit fluthered,” he replied, adding a bit of Irish to his own voice. “Just taken, I am, by your beauty. I’m Sean O’Reilly.”
“Ah, you’re one of Mary’s brothers,” she replied. “She’s a lovely girl.”
Sean nodded. “Yes, she is,” he admitted. “Even if she is my sister.”
Ian sat back in his chair and studied Sean for a moment. “You mentioned there was something you had to tell me about Gillian,” he said. “I’m waiting.”
Sean shook his head. “No, I was mistaken,” he said. “I thought she was someone else I knew.”
Gillian looked up suddenly and smiled. “Another woman from Ireland with long red hair?” she asked.
He nodded. “Actually more of a will o’ the wisp,” he muttered.
Her smile widened. “Well, when have you heard of an Irishman who didn’t love a good story?” she asked, pushing out the chair next to her. “Have a seat, Sean O’Reilly, and tell us your story.”
Epilogue
The gales of the moor swept around the ancient estate whistling through the turrets and sailing across the keep. In the older section of the castle the tapestries shivered as the wind slipped through ancient window panes and crumbling limestone. But in the new, renovated section, the occupants slept peacefully as the furnace blew hot comfortable air into each carpeted, remodeled room.
Bradley woke with a sleeping Mary nestled in his arms. He could really get used to this, he thought with a smile. Sliding his arm carefully out from under her, he rolled over in the giant four-poster bed and looked at the bedside clock. It was nearly three o’clock, they’d only been sleeping since midnight, but Mary had made him promise that he would wake her so they could make love during the witching hour. She had said it was for good luck, and there was no way he was going to argue.
He rolled back, leaning over her and gently pushed the hair from her face. He studied the soft line of her cheek and marveled at the length of her lashes as they fell on her face. She was so beautiful. He bent closer and whispered in her ear. “Mary, darling, I love you.”
