It wasn’t until later that evening that they were able to complete the calls to both sets of family members.
“Isn’t this the most beautiful night you’ve ever seen?” Cassy asked, from where she stood on the balcony. Thick scented candles were on every available surface.
“That depends,” Gordan said, from behind her. His left arm was around her waist, his hand spread against her midsection just below the fullness of her breasts. Her curvy bottom was nestled against his thighs.
Cassy tilted her head back so she could look at him from over her shoulder. “Depends on what?”
“How one defines beauty. I find you a lot more appealing than a few stars.”
She laughed. “Tell me more, Monsieur Kramer.”
Turning her until her breasts were pillowed on the left side of his chest, Gordan said, seductively, “I’d rather show you, Mademoiselle.”
His mouth was hot and insistent on hers, his tongue stroking hers as deeply and intimately as he would like to stroke her feminine center. When he eased back, he was out of breath.
“Oh, honey!”
“I’m fine,” he whispered breathlessly, pressing her against the long, hard length of his shaft. There was no mistaking what he wanted. Judging by her husky feminine moan, nor was there any doubt what she also wanted. He moved her against his arousal.
“Gordan...” she whispered, breathlessly. “We should not be doing this.”
“We should be doing more,” he insisted, once he could breathe evenly. “Or haven’t you noticed how much we need each other?” He paused, then said, “And don’t tell me you don’t want me. I can feel your pointy little nipples even through my shirt. Besides, you were making that sexy sound you make deep in your throat when you’re fully aroused. Stop telling me no.”
She stroked her fingertips over his bearded cheek, closing her eyes as she tried to shut out the erotic memories of his soft beard on her breasts, moving down her stomach to her...
“Cassy?”
“I know that you are—” she searched for the right word while easing her hips away from his “—ready. Please, try to be patient. We have no choice but to wait until your lung has healed.”
“The problem area is a lot lower,” he complained.
Cassy could not help laughing. At his scowl, she brushed his lips with hers. “I’m not laughing at you, but, my love, you know I want to make love with you, also. That has not changed—nor will it.”
“It’s been too long since I’ve been inside of you.” His frustration was evident as he pressed his mouth against her throat, loving her feminine scent. He dropped his arm and took a long moment to slow his heart rate. “I like waking every morning and looking into your pretty eyes.” He surprised her when he asked, “Have you been happy here with me these past few weeks, baby?”
“Oh, yes.”
The pleasure he found reflected in the warm sparkle of her dark eyes satisfied him. She looked as if the stars were captured in her gaze.
“Have you been?”
“Without question.”
“Gordan,” she said, unable to hide the sudden anxiety in her voice.
He smoothed the soft crease in her brow. “What is it?”
“I want you to be sure. I don’t want you to feel trapped or feel as if you have lost your freedom.”
Gordan shook his head. “What I regret is the anguish and unhappiness I put us both through all these months. I get furious with myself when I remember how I let what happened between me and Evie affect what was happening between the two of us. That mistake nearly destroyed what we have.”
“It’s over,” she soothed.
“It should have never happened. Your leaving showed me, as nothing else could, how deeply I valued you. I never want to go through it again.”
“It was devastating trying to make you change when I realized I couldn’t. I did what I felt I had to do,” she said, quietly. “It hurt us both.”
“I know, but it was never your fault. It was mine. The blame was never yours. And I hated when you started seeing Foster. You hit me where I was most vulnerable.”
“But I didn’t do it to hurt you. Besides, Adam was never more than a good friend.”
He stroked her nape. “You didn’t have to tell me that. But I’m glad you did. I had no right to be jealous—but it didn’t stop me.”
“Adam came to see me—a week or so before the crash.”
Gordan’s mouth tightened. “I can’t fault the man’s taste in women. What did you tell him?”
Cassy smiled. “Thank you, but no. I had enough problems. I had no room in my heart for another man. Only you, my love.”
He grinned. “Good.” He dropped his head until he could touch her lips to his. “Sweet...so sweet.”
Cassy fought the urge to deepen the kiss. “We can’t...”
He frowned, saying, “I hate this.”
Cassy studied him.
“What?”
“We should postpone the wedding,” she said.
“No!”
“You can’t tell me you won’t be upset on our wedding night if we can’t make love.”
“Of course, I will—if that should happen. But it won’t happen. Come with me and I’ll show you.” There was no mistaking the determined glint in his eyes.
“Will you be serious? What if we can’t make love for another two or three months, like the doctor warned us. You know as well as I do that he said it could take as long as six months before your lung is completely healed. Look what happened today.” She caressed his face. “We should consider putting the wedding off until you’re completely better.”
“Hell no!” he scowled. “We are going to ...”
“I don’t mind waiting until you are better. But you’re...” She let her voice trail away.
“I’m what?”
“Stubborn! And I think you will be furious with yourself if we have to wait a while. It might be easier if I go home for a few months.”
“Absolutely not!”
She glared up at him while he glared down at her.
“Why are you being so unreasonable about this?” she demanded.
“If you must go back to California for a few months, I’ll be sitting next to you on the plane. We’re done with being apart. Got that?”
Cassy nodded. “But I only thought....”
He brushed his lips against hers again and again. When he groaned and would have deepened the kiss, she pulled back, dropping her head on his shoulder.
“The wedding has been set for the twenty-fifth. I will be there. Will you?”
“I will. Oh, Gordan. I’m not trying to make you angry. It’s just that I don’t want you disappointed in any way on that day—our wedding day.”
“You didn’t have to explain. Baby, I know you’re concerned about me.”
Cassy watched as Gordan began blowing out all the candles. Then, he grasped her hand and pulled her along with him. She didn’t bother to ask where they were going. She knew by the time they’d reached the living room.
She considered pulling away from him but quickly dismissed the thought, not wanting to put any strain on his injuries. Gordan did not slow down until they were in the bedroom with the door closed.
“Gor....”
Cassy could not say more because her lips were crushed beneath his. He licked them before his tongue slid between their cushiony softness, inside to her sweet bounty, and lightly caressed her.
Cassy moaned, feeling her knees weaken, but she did nothing to resist him. His hot caress was intensely provocative before he pulled back. Although her heart was racing in sweet anticipation, when she looked at him, worry immediately replaced desire.
His lungs had suffered because of a few moments’ loss of control. He was fighting for each new breath.
Her arms immediately went around him, even though she was furious with him. She wanted to shake some sense into him while hot tears raced down her cheeks.
“You know better. Weren’t we just talking about this?”
“I’m...fine. Give...me...a...second.”
When he had caught his breath somewhat, she helped him to the side of the bed.
“Sit here.” He indicated his lap. When she shook her head no, he persisted, “Please.”
“Behave,” she scolded him. “Do you need help?”
Her hands went to the small buttons lining the dress shirt that had been bought several sizes larger to accommodate the cast. When her fingers reached his waist, his hand went behind her and unzipped her purple dress, then pushed it off each shoulder in turn.
He watched with satisfaction as it clung to her shapely hips. A gentle tug sent the garment to the floor. She stood in lavender, lace-edged panties and bra.
“Please,” he whispered, indicating the bra.
Cassy hesitated, studying his eyes. It was the first time she had actually undressed in front of him since his return from the hospital. Although they slept together, she took care to dress and undress in the privacy of his dressing room.
“I want to…look at you. Hold you...against me, tonight... baby.” He paused for breath. “Nothing more.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
Their eyes locked in understanding. He was seated with his muscular thighs apart. His arousal was unmistakable. She slowly unhooked the clasp and let the garment drop to the carpet.
“Don’t stop there,” he said, throatily.
Cassy’s hands were unsteady as they dropped to her hips. She eased her fingers beneath the lace and eased the panties down until she could step free of them.
She could feel the heat of his gaze moving over her. He lingered on her breasts, caressing their fullness, then he practically scorched her skin with a hot path down her ribcage to her waist, then lower. She closed her eyes, yet felt the heat of his eyes on her feminine mound.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “Thank you. It’s so good...to see you like this. Nothing concealed...no secrets.” He caressed her with the deep tone of his voice. “Baby, I wish I... could show you how important you are to me...how much I love you,” he said, quietly.
Cassy smiled at him, her eyes brimming with love. “I know, but not tonight, soon.” She went to him, pressing her lips against his throat. “I love you.”
He groaned, and would have pulled her onto his lap, but she eluded him. She removed the sling carefully to support his arm and let it rest in his lap before she worked his shirt off.
“I will be so glad to get...this thing is off.”
Holding his injured arm, he rose to his feet so that she could unhook and unzip his slacks. After he had stepped out of them and his briefs, Cassy eyed his tall, dark frame. She smiled at him.
“Only a few more weeks.” She briefly stroked his chest and pressed her lips to the puckered scar were he’d had surgery, but she did not linger.
“Cassy...” he moaned. Then Gordan lay back against the pillows.
“Need this?” she asked, holding up the sling.
He nodded and accepted her help. She smoothed his frown by kissing his bearded cheek and brushing her mouth briefly with his.
“I can’t wait to be your wife.”
“I can’t either,” he said, curling a strong left arm around her waist and pulling her down beside him. Pressing his open mouth against her throat, he said, “I’ll never give you a reason ...to regret marrying me.” Stroking a hand down her spine, he murmured throatily, “I want you to look in the top drawer of the dresser...on the right-hand side.”
“Now?”
“Now.”
As she crossed the room, she was aware of his eyes on her back. She decided then and there that she adored the feel of his warm gaze on her bare skin.
“The velvet case. Bring it to me, please.”
“Honey, what have you done?”
He chuckled. “You’ll never know until you bring it here.”
Once she was settled against his side, he flipped the lid open.
Cassy gasped. Inside the satin-lined box were the brilliant amethyst and diamond lever-back earrings he had given her for her birthday. There was also a matching bracelet and two rings.
He lifted the rings and held them on his wide palm. “Do you like them?” he asked, softly. “The engagement ring has exactly...four and a half carats to symbolize each year we have loved each other.”
The center princess-cut amethyst was surrounded by a double tiered row of marquise-shaped diamonds. The wedding band was channel set with alternating rows of amethysts and diamonds. Like the earrings and the bracelet, they were set in platinum.
“Oh!” she whispered, blinking back tears. Cassy watched as Gordan slid the engagement ring on her left hand before he placed a kiss in the center of her palm.
She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I’ve never seen anything so lovely. Thank you.”
He quirked a dark brow. “The earrings should look familiar. They’re the ones you threw at me on your birthday.”
Flirting with him through the thickness of her lashes, she asked, “Should I apologize?”
He chuckled. “I deserved it. Put them on. I’ve waited a long time to see you in them.” But, before she could move, he snapped the matching bracelet around her wrist. “Now, model for me.”
Cassy complied, jumping up and walking around the foot of the bed, turning her head from side to side while holding out her hand. “What do you think, my love?”
“I think I’m lucky to have you. You are breathtaking.”
They pulled the comforter back and cuddled together beneath it. Cassy snuggled with her head on his left shoulder, her legs between his. The room was plunged into darkness, the only light coming from the moonlight through the sheer curtains at the wide window.
“Tired?” he asked, close to her ear.
“Too excited to sleep. How about you?”
“I’m excited all right. I just can’t do a thing about it.” His long-fingered hand caressed down her back to her soft bottom. “Cassy...”
He kissed his way down her throat to the swells of her breasts. He licked her cleavage, then he stopped and just held her. His heart raced and his breath was quick.
“I have nerve enough to have an erection...but I can’t do a thing about it.” Then he whispered into her ear, and told her in vivid details how he would like to make love to her.
“Soon,” she moaned. “It will be more than worth the wait, don’t you think?”
“As long as you’re wearing my rings and have my name... I can wait. The loving is not just the lovemaking.’’ He paused for breath. “You’re all that matters to me. If I lost everything... tomorrow it would be okay, as long as I have you. I need you, Cassy.”
“I need you, too, my love. In spite of what we had to go through to find each other again, it’s wonderful. I’m glad it happened the way it did. It makes our love so special—worth holding on to.”
“There was never a time when I didn’t want you...with me, baby. It was why I first suggested...we live together. I was fed up with those lengthy separations.”
“I hated them, too.”
“Are you going to miss your work at the inn?”
“Yes, but not nearly as much as I would miss being with you. If I get bored with being a housewife, I can always open a pastry shop in one of the hotels.”
“Mmm. Or you can always take over Jillian’s job. It’s available.”
“What do you mean? Surely, you haven’t fired the multitalented Jillian?”
“I’m going to offer her a promotion. We’ll need a hotel manager for the South African resort. Jillian is more than qualified.”
“South Africa, hmm. You think it’s far enough away?” She laughed.
“I hope so. She made the mistake of making a play for me. She won’t...get another opportunity to come between us.”
“I appreciate that. Although, how can I blame another woman for being attracted to you?” Cassy caressed his midsection. “You’re so wonderfully sexy.”
He chuckled. “I’m glad you think so.”
Then she said, seriously, “Are you sure you have time for a wife? I don’t want to have to make an appointment to see my own husband.”
“If I’ve learned nothing else through all of this, I’ve learned that life is too short to waste. It’s Wil’s turn to travel. That way...we can divide our time between Atlanta and Martinique. And, if it’s absolutely necessary...for me to travel, I’d like you to be with me.”
“And a baby?” she whispered.
He laughed, giving her a squeeze. “As soon as we can...manage it. I love you, Cassy.”
“I love you, Gordan.”
They talked late into the night, making plans for their future filled with love.