Only You (27 page)

Read Only You Online

Authors: Francis Ray

Tags: #Romance, #Erotica, #African American, #Contemporary, #Fiction

BOOK: Only You
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Everything was going to be all right now. Blade loved her. Nothing else was important.
 
 
L
ater that afternoon, Sierra was surrounded by her family who loved her, two of whom had risked their lives for her, and she was lonely. The Dallas police and FBI agents had arrived ten minutes after the kidnappers were captured. She’d heard the authorities try to take her rescuers to task for going out on their own, but none of them seemed to listen.
The rest of her family arrived with the police. Her mother and Blade insisted Sierra be seen by a doctor. To keep the kidnapping out of the newspapers, one had met her at Navarone Place. No one wanted to put ideas into anyone else’s head. The doctor had cleaned and bandaged her wrists, then left.
Since then her family hadn’t been more than a few feet away. She smiled at the jokes as they intended, sampled the array of food Brandon and Martin had prepared, played with the children. Yet the void wouldn’t go away.
“What?” she asked.
Brandon frowned down at the barely touched food on her plate, then lifted his troubled gaze to her. “I asked if you want something else.”
“I guess I’m a bit tired.”
“Of course.” Ruth, sitting next to Sierra, helped her to her feet. “Why don’t you lie down?”
She didn’t want to lie down; she wanted Blade. She looked over her shoulder at the door. He should be here. Why wasn’t he?
“Blade is a good man to have in your corner,” Luke said. “Your kidnapping really ripped him apart.” He looked down at Catherine by his side. “I don’t know if I would have held it together as well.”
“And it happened to him twice,” Sierra said. There was utter silence in the room. “I won’t go into details because it’s Blade’s story to tell if he ever wants to. He blamed himself then and now.”
“This wasn’t his fault,” Morgan said.
“I know that,” Sierra said softly. “Convincing Blade is another matter.”
“Men in love often don’t think straight,” Daniel said with a playful gleam in his eyes.
Sierra simply stared at her cousin. She knew Blade cared, but did he love her? Was it possible? Had he been telling the kidnappers the truth?
Brandon pulled Faith closer. “I guess I won’t have to worry about him.”
“You’ll never have to worry about any man.” Faith snuggled against him.
Sierra looked around at all the couples, including Aunt Felicia and Uncle John Henry, who had gone through rough, uncertain times and had made it work because they deeply loved each other. “Excuse me; I want to talk to Blade.”
“Are you sure, Sierra?” her mother asked.
“He might not be the one you chose, but he’s the one my heart chose.” She kissed her mother, then hurried for the door.
 
 
S
ierra paced in the elevator. As soon as the doors began to slide open on the top floor, she was out, almost running down the hall. Shane and Rio were just emerging from Blade’s penthouse.
“Hi, fellows,” Sierra greeted them on passing; then she knocked on Blade’s door.
“He left an hour ago.”
Stunned, she spun around toward Shane.
“As soon as you were back in your apartment, finished with the police statement, and the doctors checked you out, he called Jess to tell him you were all right, then Blade left,” Shane told her.
“He didn’t say good-bye.” It sounded inane and pitifully needy to her own ears. Her chin lifted. She did need his love and didn’t care who knew.
“He couldn’t,” Rio said.
“Why?” she demanded.
“Or he might not have left,” came Rio’s answer.
Her pounding heart calmed. Rio was as closemouthed as they came. He also cared about Blade. His words meant Blade cared. Now it was left up to her. “Thanks.” She hurried back to the elevator.
“Where’re you going?” Shane asked.
“To ask Daniel if I can borrow his jet if I can’t get a commercial flight out to San Francisco.” She jabbed the elevator button.
Rio whistled. “How did you know where he went?”
“I just know.” It was where they had shared their first kiss, where they started falling in love. He’d go there to remember and try to put her memory to rest. She wouldn’t let him.
“You won’t have to do either,” Shane said, stopping beside her. “As soon as the chopper left him at the airport, I had the pilot return here. It’s waiting for you on the helipad.”
The elevator door opened. She stepped on. “Thanks. Maybe Daniel’s jet can take me from there.”
“Not necessary,” Rio said, holding the door open with his hand. “There’s a jet fueled and waiting at the airport to take you to San Francisco. There’s enough room for your family, since I don’t think they want to be away from you at the moment. Two limos are waiting at the airport.”
“I don’t know what to say.” Her voice trembled with emotion.
“You have what it takes to heal or destroy him,” Shane said seriously. “It’s about time one of us found happiness with a woman.”
“Speak for yourself,” Rio said, and let the door close.
 
 
S
hirtless, barefoot, his pant legs rolled up, his feet gritty, Blade walked along the beach at the back of his house in San Francisco. He had been away from Sierra a little over eight hours, and he ached. How was he to face day after day without her?
Stopping, he stared up at the star-filled sky. The stars looked close enough to touch. Sierra had wished on a star on this very beach.
“Trying to forget me again?”
Blade whirled, thinking his imagination had conjured her up. Then she touched him and he knew she was real. He wanted so desperately to hold her, love her. His silly heart leaped before he could order it not to.
“You can’t run from love,” she said.
He almost laughed, but it would have torn at his very soul. That much he knew. But he could try. “I don’t recall saying I love you.” As soon as the words left his mouth he wanted to recall them. There had always been honesty between him and Sierra.
Her arm slid around his neck, her tempting body pressed closer to his. “You have a poor memory.” She nipped his bottom lip, nuzzled his neck, then bit. He shuddered. “Is it coming back to you?”
“Sierr—” Her name ended on a groan as her breasts brushed against his naked chest. Her nipples hardened and so did he.
She leaned away from him and he almost jerked her back. “It was more than sex between us, Blade. We shared more than just our bodies. We shared our hearts, our hopes, dreams, fears. Falling in love is the scariest thing I’ve ever done, and the easiest. Don’t let what those men did take you away from me.”
He touched her, with just his fingertips, the pain in her voice too much to deny. “I can’t keep you safe.”
“Could another man? Is that what you want?”
He jerked her to within inches of his face. No man would ever touch her, know her sweet cries of passion, feel her come apart in his arms, have her wake up … His thoughts stumbled to a halt. That was exactly what would happen, had to happen, to keep her safe. A misery, sharp and painful, hit him.
He released her and stepped back. His face closed.
“Blade?”
“Go home, Sierra.”
“I am home. Wherever you are is my home,” she said. “I’m not letting those two jerks ruin my life or yours. Despite what you think now, we were happy. I’m not giving you up.”
He stared as she paced on the beach, her beautiful hair flying in the night breeze, determination in every line of her incredible body. “You’re not?”
She stopped and faced him. “I told you I always get what I want, and I’ve never wanted anyone or anything as much as I want you, Blade Navarone.” She put her hands on her slim hips. “You only have to decide two things.”
“Only two?”
“Yes, the first is if you want a big traditional wedding or one on the beach where we first kissed and began falling in love. The other is how we’re going to spend at least part of each year in Santa Fe with my family.”
“You think you can dictate to me?”
“You got it.” She got in his face. “I already have a house in Santa Fe. I can take it off the market. More like a castle really, with enough room for Jenkins, Martin, Shane, and Rio.”
“You have it wrong.”
Her heart cried out. No. She couldn’t lose him. She wouldn’t.
His hands settled on her narrow waist. “I began falling in love with you when I first saw you. I wanted you then. I still do.”
“And?”
Please, you’re almost there,
she thought.
He smiled down at her; then his face grew serious. With Sierra he’d never be lonely or dread the night again. This time the Master of Breath and God had heard and answered his prayer. He was grabbing the precious gift they’d given him and holding on with an iron grip.
“I love you completely. Only you.” He brushed his lips softly against hers. “How about marriage and a reception at Navarone Riviera Maya? Jacques can decorate your house in Santa Fe for us. Now all you have to decide is how soon you want to be my wife, my life, my everything.”
“Blade! Blade!” she cried happily, and went into his arms again, knowing their love would last a lifetime. She had accomplished what she had feared impossible, gained Blade’s love.
 
 
O
n the cliff high above them, Luke curved his arms around the shoulders of his wife and his mother. His brothers and their wives stood nearby. “Looks like Sierra is the only one who chose her own mate.”
Ruth simply smiled.
 
Ruth Grayson couldn’t stop crying.
She’d tried all afternoon, but on occasion the tears welled up in her eyes. She’d gone through the handkerchief her sister-in-law Felicia had given her, and was now working her way through those of her brother, John Henry, and her sons. But who could blame a mother when her daughter had just married the man of her heart, the one man who matched Sierra’s fire and her spirit, Blade Navarone? The beautiful wedding had taken place under a newly constructed archway covered with orchids on the beach at Blade’s home at Navarone Riviera Maya.
Watching Sierra and Blade dance barefoot on the beach for the first time as man and wife swelled Ruth’s heart with love and gratefulness to God and the Master of Breath that they were both safe and so much in love. She refused to think of the horrific time when Sierra was being held by kidnappers, just as she had refused to believe that this day might not happen. She’d been right in selecting Blade; the tricky part had been getting them in the same place at the same time. But a mother has ways.
“They still think Sierra’s the only one to select her mate?” Felicia asked from beside Ruth.
Ruth’s smile wobbled as Blade kissed Sierra’s cheek and brushed his hand tenderly over the orchid in her hair. Not for the first time that day Ruth thought of Sierra’s father. He would have been so proud of her, of all their children. “All that matters is that they’re happy.”
“And they’ll stay that way,” Felicia said. “Any man who can plan a wedding this elaborate in five weeks and call in favors to get two-hundred-plus people here on private yachts to keep the wedding a secret has my vote.”
Ruth nodded, then smiled. “After Daniel and Madelyn’s marriage, our family is familiar with secrecy. It helped that the reception wasn’t a problem with all the chefs at his disposal, and that Sabra knew a designer who could be trusted to make Sierra’s gown. Blade and Sierra will have their time alone if Blade, Shane, or Rio have anything to say about it.” Ruth’s gaze went to the two muscular men who were never far from Blade or Sierra, their gazes watchful, their bodies alert. “They’re dangerous men, and I thank God and the Master of Breath for them.”
Felicia shook her head. “Doesn’t seem to stop some of the women in the family from trying to flirt with them.”
“I think for each of them there is one special woman waiting,” Ruth mused. “For helping our family, I’d like to see them know what it is to be truly loved.”
Felicia cut her eyes at Ruth. “You aren’t think—”
“Blade and Sierra are coming this way,” Ruth said.
Blade, in white shirt, black pants legs rolled up, tuxedo jacket and tie gone, and with his arm curved proudly around his wife, stopped in front of his mother-in-law. “Thank you again for Sierra. I’d be honored if you’d dance with me.”
“The honor is mine.” Ruth put her hand in Blade’s calloused one.
Sierra, dressed in a creamy white replica of the chocolate gown worn the night she and Blade first kissed, gazed after her husband and mother, her eyes shining with love. On the third finger of her left hand was an exquisitely designed wedding ring with a four-karat red diamond center stone surrounded by flawless white diamonds. Blade had wanted a ring that matched Sierra’s uniqueness and fire. “I wish everyone could be as happy as we are.”
Felicia hugged her niece to her. “So does your mother.”
“But I picked Blade all by myself,” Sierra said proudly.
Felicia remained silent, her thoughts on Ruth’s earlier statement. Could it be that Ruth wasn’t finished matchmaking? Felicia pushed the thought to the back of her mind as Luke came to claim Sierra for a dance, then Felicia’s beloved John Henry was there for her. She’d loved him from the moment she’d first seen him. When they had separated, it had almost killed her. Real love was priceless.
“I guess you and Ruth’s matchmaking days are over now that Sierra is married,” John Henry said, smiling down at her.
“I guess,” Felicia said, then laid her head on her husband’s broad shoulder. Secretly, she wondered. Whatever decision Ruth made, she’d have Felicia’s full backing. She knew what it was like to be estranged from the one you loved, to lie awake at night wishing, hoping, yearning.
John Henry lifted his head. “Are you all right? You’re shivering.”
Being away from him those years had been hell on earth. “As long as I’m in your arms, I’ll always be all right.”
His eyes darkened, narrowed. “Let’s leave the reception early and go back to the yacht.”
She laughed and snuggled against the man she’d love for a lifetime. “You’re shameless. You know we can’t.”
“Wanna bet?”
Felicia smiled. Love was everything and she was blessed to be loved by a wonderful man. If she and Ruth could help others find happiness, it would be heartless not to. Time would tell if Ruth was serious, but at the moment Felicia’s couldn’t concentrate because her husband was nibbling on her ear. Looks like they’d be leaving the reception early after all.

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