Wedded in Passion (5 page)

Tracing a finger around the flat disk of one
of his nipples, I could feel the world pressing in on us as the
orgasm began to abate.

I was sure my mother had already tried to
call me to tell me about the reception hall. It was probably past
time for me to start making calls to cancel tomorrow’s
arrangements. I couldn’t put things off indefinitely.

“
I guess I should try and
get into my room.” Pushing away, I started to get up.

His grip kept me in place. “Please don’t.
Let life take care of itself. Give me tonight, Katy.”

There was sincerity in the depth of his eyes
and something else that I could not decipher.

Not looking forward to the decisions that
awaited me, I agreed. “I don’t want this night to end either.”

Once again, tossing worries away, I gave
myself permission to stay in the moment.

Moving me to the couch, Char kissed me
briefly then stood and took off the rest of his clothes. Once he
was just as nude as me, he picked me up and carried me into the
bedroom.

Laying me down in the center of the bed, he
joined me. Starting at the top of my feet he kissed up my legs,
licking and nipping my skin as he parted my thighs.

As his tongue slipped between my labia and
stroked my clit, I was lost.

Char had me clutching the sheets as he loved
me with his mouth and gave me one orgasm that folded into two.

By the time he continued his kisses up my
torso and passed my breasts, I was more than ready to have him
inside of me once again. Opening myself to him, I wrapped my arms
and legs around him as he thrust his cock deep, burying all his
thick length to the hilt.

We kissed and made love, then made love
again with me spooned against him and his arms around me.

Dawn was cresting in the sky by the time we
were both exhausted and sated.

Not realizing I had drifted off to sleep, I
woke with a start. “Oh, shit, I have to go.” I tossed the covers
back and tried to move his heavy arm off my waist to get up.

Waking with a groan, Char yawned and sat up.
Wrapping his arm tighter around me, he pulled me back beneath the
covers. “Where are you rushing off to?”

“
My suite.” Unable to look
into the eyes of the man that revealed my heart to me last night, I
said, “This was nice, but I have a wedding to cancel.” I tried to
turn away.

Holding me firm, he said, “Nice? That’s what
you call the amazing night we had?”

“
Um.” I licked my lips,
trying to keep my composure. I made the mistake of looking into his
face.
Man his eyes are beautiful in the
morning
. They were the color of homemade
caramel.

“
Katy?”

“
No. Of course not. It was
amazing to me as well. But…” This was the conversation I didn’t
look forward to having. Why couldn’t he just allow me to get
dressed and leave?

“
But what?” His hand on my
hip rocked my body, pulling my attention to him.

However, instead of
looking into his face my gaze locked on that necklace again; the
ring. “We both have lives, a story of pain. This was an
amazing
respite, but it
is time for us to get back to reality.”

“
Both have stories of
pain?”

Rolling my eyes, at his attempt to ignore
the talisman that was hanging around his neck between us, I said,
“I can see the ring, Char. I know you were either engaged to
someone or at least considering popping the question before some
woman must have hurt you.”

Seeing the stunned look on his face, I used
that opportunity to shove away from him, he released me. I sat up
on the side of the bed. That’s when I realized my eyes were on
fire. Really burning from the ache in my heart.

Shit, I’m going to
cry.
I knew it. Yesterday I hadn’t wanted
to cry over the asshole that cheated on me. However, today I fought
the tears because I felt like I’d lost the man I loved even before
I knew I loved him. Another already owned his heart.
Isn’t that damn poetic justice?

Sitting there I gulped in
air. I didn’t have a right to the pain infiltrating my heart and I
knew it. If I hadn’t walked in on Lenzy and Michael, I would have
even now been getting ready to marry someone else. Even as much as
I was angry and hurt by what happened yesterday, I knew I wouldn’t
be sporting Michael’s ring around my neck.
Oh, hell, no.

“
Katy, look at
me.”

I didn’t want to.

“
Please,” Char
urged.

The soft pleading in his voice drew me.
Turning, I faced him. He had removed the necklace and was now
holding the ring out to me.

Frowning, I looked from it to him, but
didn’t take it.

“
You’re right. I did buy
it for someone. Someone that I love very much. I felt like I was
losing the person. That she was drifting further away from me.” He
exhaled hard and dropped his hand, clutching the ring inside of
it.

I could see the toll it was taking on him to
reveal this to me. His eyes had darkened, become shadowed.

“
You don’t have to tell
me.”

“
Yes, I do,” he growled.
“This
woman
I
love. Had another man. I didn’t care. I was willing to put it all
on the line for her. That’s when she called me.” He
paused.

I sat there, completely intrigued by his
tale, and waited.

“
I was already in the
airport. Had just gotten off the plane with the ring in my pocket.”
He looked at me. His eyes holding mine.

I couldn’t look away. The room had an eerie
silence to it, like right before a summer storm when everything was
still, even birds had already flown away.

“
What happened?” My voice
didn’t sound like my own, I couldn’t explain it.

“
She called and said that
the guy she was dating was jealous of our relationship. Our
friendship. He’d told her he wanted to marry her, but he wasn’t
comfortable unless he was the only man in her life.”

The cry broke from me.
Like a thunderbolt it hit quick, hard and out of nowhere. I never
saw this coming.
How much of a fool was
I?

Char’s face blurred in front of me, but I
recognized the gesture, he was holding the ring out to me
again.

“
Read the inscription,
Katy.”

I was shaking all over. Fiercely wiping my
eyes, I took a steady breath. A little calmer, I reached for it.
Looking into the ring I saw the engraving read:

I need you, Katy.

“
I need you, Katy.” His
hand covered mine. “More than the air I breathe. This time away
from you almost killed me.”

Staring at him, I said, “But you came to my
wedding.”

“
Yeah. I knew it would be
the hardest thing I did, but I needed the closure. I needed to let
you go and move on. I wanted you to be happy. If this guy did that
for you. If I had seen it with my own eyes I would have done
it.”

I had to ask the next
question. Know how far Char would have gone for me. “If it appeared
that I
wasn’t
happy?”

“
If anyone can show just
cause why this couple should not be joined together, let him now
speak—”

“
Or else hereafter forever
hold his peace,” I finished.

“
I would have stopped it,
Katy.” Lifting my hand he kissed it. “If another man wasn’t going
to make you happy, I would.”

“
My mother had been so
insistent in that part being in the ceremony. Michael had become
furious with her, but she told me that it was tradition and that I
shouldn’t spit in the eye of tradition. I told the minister to keep
it in.”

He smiled at me. “I do love your
mother.”

“
Good. I think she feels
the same about you.”

We laughed.

Then Char became serious again. “I love you,
Katy. I always have and I want you to be my wife.”

My heart was soaring on a cloud of joy. “Are
you sure, Charles?”

“
Yes, Katherine, I
am.”

I scrunched my nose at the name.
“Touché.”

Releasing my hand, he got up from the bed.
In the buff, he rounded the bed and kneeled before me.

He was handsome. The co-geek I knew in
childhood had grown into a devastatingly handsome, smart and
compassionate man.

He reached for my hand, still holding the
ring. “Will you marry me?”

“
Yes.”

Rising, he pulled me to my feet and kissed
me. Pressed against each other we let the passion build and
ignite.

I found myself on the bed again, flat on my
back with Char inside of me. Pausing, he took a moment to slip the
ring on my finger and then placed a kiss next to it.

Pulling his face down to mine, I kissed him
and made love to my true fiancé.

Two hours later, as we got out of the
shower, the phone rang. Char hustled around the bed and picked up
the receiver of the hotel phone.

“
Hello.”

I continued drying off as I listened to
him.

“
Good morning, Mrs. Heely.
Sorry my cell must have shut off.” He winked at me as he lied to my
mother.

Last night he’d turned his cell off saying
he didn’t want us to be disturbed.

I mouthed, ‘You’re in trouble.’ Even though
I knew that between the both of us, if my mother was calling him I
was in trouble.

“
Don’t worry, ma’am. I’m
sure she’ll turn up soon. Yes, I’ll look for her. I promise you
I’ll find her and get her to the church.”

Teasing him, I dropped the towel and enjoyed
seeing the desire brighten his eyes. I got on my hands and knees
and crawled toward him.

“
Just give me a few
minutes.”

I slowly licked my lips as I reached out and
pulled the towel from around his waist. His cock was rising under
my perusal.

“
Make that an hour. Yes,
see you in an hour.” He ended the call and leaned down and kissed
me hard.

I was panting.

“
If we had enough time for
another shower I’d be between those beautiful brown thighs, right
now. But we don’t. We have a date with a preacher man.”

Pouting, I said, “Fine. But, you owe me
tonight.”

Reaching out, he swatted me on the ass.
“You’re going to get more than you can handle tonight. Trust
me.”

Squealing, I got up from the bed.

“
Now let’s get you back
into that dress you love.”

“
Only if you slip into
your suit.” I crossed the room to the closet and slid the door
open.

“
Deal.”

“
We just need to stop by
my room for under clothing, shoes and so I can do something to my
hair.”

“
I’ll get management to
meet us up there. Mrs. Randle.” He pulled me into his
arms.

“
I like the sound of
that.”

~YH~

“
Char, you found her.” My
mother, Martha, stepped away from my father in the vestibule of the
church and pulled me into her arms. “Katy, your father and I have
been so worried. First, we couldn’t get you on your cell, then you
weren’t in your room and your dress was gone. I didn’t know who
else to call. I got that damn Michael…sorry, Michael on the phone
but he just said I needed to talk to you and hung up. No sign of
Lenzy either.”

The ass. How dare he be rude to my
mother.

“
I’m fine, Mommy.” I said
as we pulled away.

“
What’s going on, baby
girl?” My father, Jason Heely, asked as he slipped his arm around
my mother’s shoulder as if he wanted to give her support for
whatever I was going to drop on them. “The church is packed with
guests and we don’t know what to tell them.”

I smiled, hoping to reassure them. “I’m
getting married. You still want to walk me down the aisle,
Daddy?”

“
Absolutely.” He frowned.
“But, Michael hasn’t arrived. No one has even seen him or his best
man.”

“
We don’t need him,” I
told them.

My parents were looking at me oddly, then
they turned those same curious eyes to Char as if hoping he could
enlighten them.

Char stepped forward, just as tall as my
father and giving him direct eye contact. “I’m going to marry,
Katy. If you two give us your blessing.”

“
Well, I’ll be damned,” my
father said. Stunned, he grabbed hold of Char’s hand and pulled him
into a fierce hug as he pummeled the younger man’s back, showing
his approval.

“
Oh, my…” my mother’s
voice faltered as tears welled up in her eyes. Stepping to me, she
cupped my face. “I’ve always thought the two of you would be
perfect together.” She kissed my cheek.

I looked over at the man who was my best
friend, the real love of my life and smiled. “I should have
listened to you a long time ago.”

“
Everything happens in its
own time.” My mother’s voice was full of elation.

When my father finally released Char, Char
hugged my mother and smiled broadly when she kissed him on the
cheek.

“
Your mother will be so
hurt she missed this, Char.”

“
I’m expecting an earful
when Katy and I go visit after the twins are born. However, I think
she will be happy that Katy is a part of the family officially.”
Char winked at me.

I wondered how I’d missed that so many
people in both of our families wanted us together. How I’d been so
blind to the love that was even now shinning in Char’s gaze as he
looked at me.