Be My Bride: BWWM Romance (Brother From Money Book 19)

by Shanade White

  “Kimone Bail- I mean Makeida,” she corrected hastily, still not used to her married name.

  “That’s all right hon, I still use my maiden name.” Sandra said with a laugh, holding out her hand to shake the younger girl’s. “I married in haste and for money and am now repenting in leisure.” She said wryly.

  Kimone looked at the girl curiously and realized that she liked the girl’s frank attitude. “It can’t be all that bad.”

  “It’s worse.” Sandra leaned forward as if revealing a well kept secret. “I was a model for many years and spent the money I made on everything money could buy with no thought for the future and before I knew it, I was as broke as the proverbial church mouse. So I accepted the first offer I received and ran with it.” She sighed and lifted her left hand; the ring finger blazing with a very large diamond and patted her already perfect coiffure. “He is not such a bad guy when you look past the ex-wives and children and the fact that he snores loud enough to wake a cemetery but I am not in love with him and neither is he with me and that was the biggest mistake I have ever made.”

  “So why are you still with him?”

  Sandra laughed; the tinkling laugh tinged with irony. “I have gotten too used to the good life honey and I am afraid I cannot do without the trappings of wealth. But you are lucky. That husband of yours seems to worship the ground you walk on; I have only seen you two together since you came in but I know complete love when I see it. I envy you.”

  She had been hearing it too many times now to ignore it. Peter loves her. She had entered into the marriage as a matter of convenience but she wondered if he had initially. He was the one who had suggested marriage to her and he had not given her a clear cut reason as to why he had wanted to marry her.

  She turned her head slightly to look at her husband who was nodding and smiling at something the man had said to him and for a brief moment his eyes caught hers briefly and the look spoke volumes. Her lips parted slightly as she stared at him and she felt the pull of the powerful attraction between them. It was as if they were the only two people inside the crowded room.

  It was Sandra’s light touch on her arms that broke the spell. “Honey save that for when you guys get home,” the girl said with a laugh.

  “How long have you been married?”

  “Too long,” Sandra said with a wry shake of her head. Their meal had arrived and they dug into it with gusto. “Ten years and I have learned to live with Alec and grit my teeth in the bedroom. I cannot have an affair because I signed a pre-nup and if I am found with another man, I stand to lose everything.”

  Kimone put down her cutlery and stared at the other woman in sympathy. “That’s an awful way to live,” She told the girl frankly. “I would prefer to live without a loaf of bread in my closet before I live like that.”

  “I did poverty before honey and I am not going down that road again.” Sandra said firmly, her eyes straying a little bit to her husband who was digging into the meal as if it were his last. He was not so bad to look at; except for the floridness of his face and his paunch. “I figured that I have done ten years of it, surely I can go another several years.” With a fatalistic shrug she turned back to Kimone. “Enough about my life now tell me how on earth you landed such a totally eligible man.”

  Kimone laughed and told her that they had actually met in a coffee shop but she left out the part about the marriage of convenience and by the end of the evening she and Sandra were fast friends.

  Chapter 9

  Kimone heard from Sandra on Monday. She had given her number at the dinner and had promised to keep in touch. They had left the restaurant at eleven and had been too exhausted to make love but Peter had woken her up early Saturday morning with his hands and mouth on her body.

  It was early afternoon and the store had been extremely busy since they opened the doors at eight a.m.

  “Hi Kimone, it’s Sandra from dinner,” the woman said as soon as she answered the phone.

  “Hi Sandra, of course I remember you!” Kimone indicated for Samantha to take over for her; she had been having a tea party with the children and one little girl was in the middle of pouring tea. “How are you?” she stood up and walked towards her small office, closing the door behind her.

  “I am doing okay girl just thought I would give you a call.” There was a little pause and then she continued. “Can we meet for lunch?”

  “Of course,” Kimone answered without hesitation. “When do you want to meet?”

  “How about tomorrow at noon? Is that okay with you?”

  “Of course,” Kimone frantically made some readjustments inside her head. She was supposed to go to an antique show tomorrow and she had wanted to make some minor adjustments to the office.

  “Great,” Sandra’s voice sounded relieved. “Let’s meet at ‘Café Du Jour’ you know where it is?”

  “Yes, I will be there.”

  She made plans to see Dawn after closing, whether she wanted to see her or not but when she had called her friend; the girl had been so subdued and apologetic and had told her that she was coming around to the store.

  *****

  “I have been such a brainless idiot,” Dawn said quietly as soon as she walked in. It was a little after seven. Kimone had called Peter and told him she was going to be late as she was going to be with Dawn and he had told her he had a late meeting anyway. The weather was beautiful with a hint of spring in the air.

  “Yes, you have,” Kimone agreed with her, a smile playing around her full lips. The girl looked totally beat up and not the Dawn she was used to seeing. She locked the door behind her friend and took a seat on the sofa she had recently acquired, patting the space beside her. “You said some pretty nasty things to me the other day but I understand you are going through a lot.”

  Dawn looked at her and to Kimone’s horror she burst into tears.

  “Honey,” Kimone pulled her towards her, her arms going around the girl’s heaving shoulders. She waited until the tears were spent and reached for a tissue in the box on the table.

  “Thanks,” Dawn patted her face dry and pulled away slightly. “He cried when I told him I could not be with him anymore.” She stared into space as if reliving the awful experience. “We were at my apartment after the wedding and he was talking about setting a date for our wedding when I blurted it out. I could not stand another minute of pretending that I was in love with him and pretending that I was enjoying his lovemaking. I had to tell him and he cried. I felt like the lowest form of lowlife because that was what had happened to me before and I did it to someone else.”

  “Oh honey, I really thought you were in love with him,” Kimone reached over and clasped her hands; hands that were twisting together nervously.

  “I thought I was too until I saw the way Peter looked at you at the wedding and even before that and when you guys were on the dance floor; the way you looked at each other. I realize that Gregory and I did not have that. I was so afraid of ending up alone that I let myself think I was in love and he was the one. I don’t want to be with someone because I am afraid of ending up alone. I want to be with someone because I am so in love that I can’t bear to be away from that person. I want what you have with Peter.”

  “I have a confession to make.” Kimone told her quietly; sitting back against the cushion and looking at Dawn. The girl’s face was tear streaked and she looked so forlorn that Kimone felt her heart moved for her. “It was not like that at first. We got married for different reasons but the first time we made love it was as if something happened. Now I have discovered that he is someone I want in my life until death do us part and all that; I have fallen in love with him,” she paused, the revelation bursting inside her heart. It was the first she had ever said it out loud and with a sudden rush of elation she felt it. She loved him. She loved him so completely that she wanted to run from the store and tell him right away. “You will find something like that Dawn and whatever it is you are going through, please remember that I am her
e for you.”

  Dawn nodded solemnly. “I tried calling Gregory but he is not returning my calls. I want to tell him how sorry I am.”

  “Oh honey, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Kimone told her. It broke her heart to see her friend so broken up. “How about I take you to lunch sometime this week.” She had wanted to say tomorrow but she remembered that she was having lunch with Sandra and she was sure the girl wanted to tell her something personal.

  “I would love that, and since you have become the wife of a billionaire, I am going to choose the most expensive restaurant in town,” Dawn made a pathetic attempt at teasing.

  “I would expect no less,” Kimone told her solemnly, reaching over to pull the forlorn friend into her arms.

  *****

  She planned it carefully. She had closed the store a little after Dawn had left and had called Amy to find out where Peter was and was told that he was at a meeting at the office. She went to the house to find that Annabelle had left a dish of fried chicken and shrimp fried rice in the oven and a lemon meringue pie for dessert. The woman was a whiz in the house and whatever Peter was paying her, she deserved more.

  She set the scene. She had found several candles in the kitchen cupboard and lit several in the bathroom and rest in the bedroom. After which she drew a scented bath and soaked in it for several minutes before going into the bedroom to cream her skin with an expensive cream she had bought just a few days ago. Then she slipped on a black silk negligee and nothing else; she was determined to make him know how much she loved him and get him to admit that he loved her too. She had finished setting the table and was berating herself for not buying a bottle of wine when she heard the key turned inside the lock.

  For the first time since she knew him, she felt herself shaking a little with nerves. She had turned off all the lights and only the glow of the candles lit the room.

  “Kimone?” his voice sounded just inside the doorway.

  “In the dining room and leave the lights off,” she called out to him. He made his way uncertainly towards her. He had taken off his jacket and loosened his tie and placed his briefcase on the table beside the door.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Just thought I would play the part of a wife for the first time,” she came over to him and just stood there in front of him. He smelled the whiff of something exotic coming from her.

  “What brought this on?” he asked her teasingly, not touching her.

  “I made a discovery today,” she took the initiative and wrapped her arms around his neck; the movement pulling apart the thin material and revealing the curves of her breasts. His breath caught inside his throat as he felt her nakedness against him. He'd had a rough day at the office. A major deal had fallen through and he had to let go two of his staff because of insider trading and all he had wanted to do was to just take a shower and pull Kimone into his arms and fall asleep.

  “What discovery?” his arms went around her small waist.

  “That this is far from a marriage of convenience.”

  He went still at her words, hardly daring to believe that she was saying what he was thinking. “What do you mean?” his voice had gone hoarse.

  She used a hand to push the hair from his forehead and then slide it down his strong jaw. “It means darling that I am in love with you and I think you feel the same way; or at least I hope you do.”

  Peter could not move. His day had been so crappy he had thought nothing could make it get better but he was wrong; how he was wrong. “You love me?” he held her away from him slightly.

  “I think so,” she wrinkled her brow for a minute, her eyes impish. “Having never been in love before I am not really sure but I feel my heart racing at the mere thought of you and when you touch me I feel as if I am on fire, like right now. So what do you think?”

  “I think it’s the same way I am feeling but maybe ten times that,” he told her hoarsely. “I have wanted to tell you for so long but I was a coward and kept telling myself that you were going to reject me. My secretary could not understand why I stopped her from getting my coffee at the coffee shop but insisted on going there myself.”

  “You loved me then?” Kimone stared at him her eyes round.

  “I fell in love with you the first time you almost gave me third degree burns with the scalding hot coffee.” He teased her.

  “But that was the first time we met!”

  “I saw you and that was it for me so I kept going back trying to work up the courage to ask you out.”

  “Oh Peter,” Kimone whispered. “I never knew.” She went back into his arms. “I was such an idiot and it took people telling me how much you loved me to realize that I love you too.”

  “I was planning to tell you soon,” he told her softly, his heart hammering inside his chest.

  “Ready to eat?” she asked him.

  “Unless you are on the menu.” He responded, pushing aside the thin wisp of material and touching her nipple.

  “I am,” she said faintly as he bent his head and took the nipple inside his mouth.

  “I had this whole seduction scene planned,” she gasped as his mouth pulled on her nipple. “In the bedroom.”

  “We will end up there,” he murmured, his tongue swirling around the tight bud. With a groan he lifted her up into his arms, his mouth still working on the nipple. Kimone tunneled her fingers through his hair, arching her back as he took the stairs hurriedly until he reached the bedroom.

  He placed her on the bed and the negligee gaped open, revealing that she was not wearing anything underneath. With a groan he took off his clothes with unashamed haste and climbed on the bed beside her. “I have waited so long,” he said huskily, his hands spanning her small waist. He bent his head and captured her lips in a devastatingly tender kiss. Kimone opened her lips beneath his, her arms going around his neck as she returned the kiss her heart melting. How could she not have seen what he felt for her?

  His hand drifted down her body and between her legs reaching for and touching her mound before placing two fingers inside her; moving slowly at first but feeling her move against him restlessly he increased the tempo, swallowing her moans of pleasure inside his mouth. His erection was so full and hard that it had become painful and he knew if he did not enter her soon he was going to burst from wanting her.

  “I can’t wait!” he gasped as he shifted so that she was underneath him. He pulled out his fingers, wet from her passion and used it to lubricate his throbbing penis before putting it inside her, pushing until he was at her core before he started moving inside her. With a hoarse cry, Kimone locked her feet around his waist, lifting her hips to take him in further, wanting to give him her all. He gathered up her hips and with a feral cry escaping him he thrust inside her over and over again, his control slipping and disappearing as she returned his thrust with her own, her fingers digging into the flesh of his shoulders, her mouth opened and pants escaping her as she surrendered to him.

  He felt his penis throbbing as if it had a life of its own and he knew his release was near but he wanted to hold it back; he did not want to stop; he wanted to make love to her for the entire night and into the morning. With a soft cry, she bit his shoulder, her perfect teeth drawing blood as she felt the immense passion washing over her and her control flying out the door.

  Peter let go; his seed rushing through his testicles as a river gone wild and he gripped her against him, the pain of his shoulder just a blur in his mind as he came inside her, crying out her name and his love for her; his voice broken as he gave her his body and all of him.

  Kimone shuddered as she embraced the overwhelming feeling coursing through her body as he held her close to him; his forehead resting against hers, his body shaking; and his penis still throbbing inside her.

  “I love you so much that I can’t find the words to tell you,” he murmured, against her mouth, his tongue reaching out to touch the side of her lips. “I can only try to show you.”

  “I lo
ve you too,” she whispered softly. “My husband.” She held his face between her hands.

  “My wife,” he murmured. “My love, my heart.” He bent his head and took her lips with his and started moving inside her again. His movements were unhurried as his hands roamed her body, molding it to his. He was not in a hurry; not when it came to her. Shifting positions, he placed her on top of him without easing out of her and he held her to him as if his life depended on it.

  *****

  Sleep did not come to them that night; there was too much to do and say and after making love for the third time that night they talked. He told her again how he had fallen in love with her the very day he saw her and had been in love ever since. “I have been giving thanks that Amy had been out with the flu that day,” he told her softly. She was snuggled in the crooks of his arms and she kept kissing different parts of his face.

  “That’s terrible,” she murmured, her hands resting on his chest, loving the feel of his muscles and the springy hair on his chest.

  “I know but I can’t feel any remorse.” He kissed one soft cheek. He could not believe she loved him even though he had suspected she was leaning towards it and now that she had told him; he did not know what to do with himself. “Tell me again.” He urged.

  “I love you Peter, my husband.” She told him huskily, pulling down his head and taking his lips with hers. There were no more talking for a long time yet.

  *****

  He wanted them to stay home from work the next day. But Kimone protested that she had made a luncheon date with Sandra. “You remember her from the dinner party last weekend right?”

  She gasped as he ran a finger over her nipple still wet from his mouth. It was already a quarter past seven and they were still in bed. She had called Samantha and told her she was coming in late and he had called his secretary and told her to postpone his early meeting.

  “The one married to the old guy?” he bent his head and took the nipple inside his mouth, pulling on it gently.

  “Peter I can’t think or have a conversation when you are doing that,” she said breathlessly, her hands grabbing his hair. He had woken her up with his mouth feathering over her cheek and as soon as her eyes opened he had been all over her.