Chapter 52 52
Stefan's gaze slid over his bride, her lush body wrapped in a slim-fitting satin gown of the palest lavender. While the top portion was a simple tank style with thin beaded straps, the skirt hit the floor and fishtailed in the back. It was the sexiest wedding dress he'd ever seen, and it showed off her curves to maximum effect. All he wanted to do was push everyone aside and explore each of those curves.
Being in a chapel and surrounded by friends quashed that idea, and he moved up beside her, wrapping his arm around her.
Alana smiled at him as he rubbed her spine and pressed a kiss to her temple. "Come on, let's feed these people, get them all drunk and slip away."
She tipped her head to look at him, her lips twitching. "Detective, you've planned for everything."
He grinned. "Just looking out for every contingency." She smiled and he whispered for her ears alone, "You look more beautiful than I've ever seen you, Alana."
"I feel that way." She touched the side of his face, ignoring the camera flashes and the people around them. "Thank you for all this."
His gaze raked her ruthlessly. "I won't let you down."
"I know."
The two words were the start of the trust Stefan needed, and he kissed her gently. But it wasn't only him she was worried about, she thought as they left the chapel. What if she let him down?
__________
Alana sipped champagne and stared out over the wide river. She was amazingly content. Though this was the first time she'd been parted from her child overnight, her parents were having fun with their grandchild, and Stefan's father was planning to join them in the morning for an outing.
Yet with the knowledge that she wasn't alone anymore, the anxiety she'd carried for some time slipped off her in waves with each passing moment.
She smiled to herself and took another sip of champagne. The slap of water against the seawall seemed to match the occasional glitter and pulse of the stars in the blanket of night. She pulled the combs from her hair and shook it out, tossing the combs aside and letting the warm breeze sweep over her.
She felt Stefan come up behind her, her senses tuning into him like radar. She leaned on the balcony rail. "I'd almost forgotten how beautiful it was in this town."
"For the first time since I arrived you look completely peaceful."
She glanced at him as he moved up beside her, his white T-shirt stretched tight over his muscles.
"I am." She stared at her glass for a moment, then looked out over the moonlit water. The trees sighed with the breeze, moss dancing like a lacy hem beneath a skirt of branches.
"I'm a little relieved, too."
"How so?" He sipped his drink, then put it aside, resting his forearms on the rail and folding his hands—mostly to keep them off her when he wanted badly to touch her.
"I didn't really want to be a single mom, Stefan."
His brows shot up.
"I thought I did. But when you showed up and bullied your way into my house and my life—'' he smiled at that "—I realized how much Juliana was missing. How much my life was a bit—" she shrugged "—empty."
"It looked pretty busy to me," Stefan said.
Alana ran her finger around the rim of the glass. "I want you to know that if you ever find someone else in the future for any reason and want out, I'll understand."
"I won't."
"Excuse me?"
He grinned, took the glass from her and, setting it aside, drew her into his arms. "I thought I was keeping you from finding someone else, too, but I don't want you looking elsewhere."
She wouldn't. She knew that in her heart that very second. "Demands already?"
"I have what I want," he murmured, his gaze lowering to her mouth. "Can you say you're satisfied?"
She threw her arms around his neck. "Ask me in the morning."
His smile grew wider by the second. "That's what I love about you, Alana—you never say what I expect."
"What are you expecting? And if you say nothing, I'll know you're lying."
He met her gaze steadily. "Fidelity, honesty and your trust."
Both realized he didn't say love, yet neither acknowledged it.
"Two out of three?"
He settled his arms more comfortably around her. "I know you trust me, Alana. You just don't want to admit it."
Cocky, isn't he? She thought "How would you know?"
"You wouldn't have married me if you didn't trust me a little. And I know you wouldn't have let me get this close to you or Juliana either," he said, and laid his mouth over hers.
Alana felt something inside her unwind, go loose and languid, then wrap around him. Ribbons of desire slid along her body with every second he kissed her. It was slow and tender at first. He molded and toyed, nipped and licked, playful and patient, and when she thought she couldn't draw in air fast enough, he moved to her throat. He kissed the base of her throat, slid his tongue lower, and she felt the sudden exquisite rush he gave her splinter over her. Her arms slipped from his neck and she palmed his chest, wanting his hold to tighten, to be stronger. Because she'd been alone for so long.
Because she loved this man. Only this man. It was like finding safety and contentment in his arms, as if it had been stripped from her, and only now was she allowed to let the feelings back into her heart. His touch weakened her and she loved it. The strap slid off her shoulder, and her zipper was slowly undone, the snug bodice easing from her.
"It's been eating at me all night."
"Oh, yeah, what's that?" She tipped her head back as his mouth made a damp path over the swells of her breasts.
"Wondering what you've got under this gown."
"Not much."
He groaned. "Every time I see you dressed, especially when you get ready to go to work, I always imagine and know there is something completely feminine underneath."
She laughed. "Is that so?"
"Yeah, my imagination would be a good weapon of torture." Stefan leaned back, anticipation rocketing through him and making his fingers ache.