Chapter 12
"It's our wedding night." Lifting her head, she gazed at the half-moon and the scattering of stars.
"So, it is." He was holding her hand as they strolled in complete privacy on the beach. The others had retired to the ship to give them some space as ordered. He wanted to be alone with her.
"And you had a live reggae band as part of the entertainment." She shook her head in wonder and amazement at all the things he and his family had managed to accomplish to make the day perfect for her. She couldn't have asked for better.
"I thought you were going to have our babies right here on the beach." Turning her to face him, he gave her a reproving look. "You were dancing up a storm."
"I happen to love reggae and that Rastafarian looked very much like Bob Marley. Which wasn't surprising since he's in fact Ziggy Marley." She stared at him with wide eyes. "You're friends with Ziggy Marley."
"Acquaintances." He shot her a smile. "In the business we're in, we cross paths with celebrities every now and then." He trailed a finger over one smooth cheek. "He seemed quite taken with you."
"He's happily married and I'm a newlywed and very pregnant with my husband's triplets. I was fascinated by his locks. It kinda turned me on." She grinned at his narrow eyed gaze.
"Good thing, I'm a confident man." He had brought blankets and cushions because he had plans for them.
"You've nothing to worry about. Your brothers, on the other hand, sneaked in some pot. They were grinning like idiots." She slanted a glance at him as they continued walking the beach. "You didn't participate."
"I wasn't interested." He guided her to a shadowy path where the sea lapped lazily on the sand.
Spreading the blankets out, he drew her down.
"Besides I wanted all my faculties about me.
" Her hair had been hopelessly tangled by the time spent in the sea.
"It's my wedding night and nothing was going to interfere with it. "
"We're in full view of anyone who happens to be walking by."
"We're completely alone." He untied the strings of her bathing suit and pushed the beach robe off her shoulders.
The sea air was tangy and pleasant, the mild spring breeze dancing over their skin. It was a perfect setting for their wedding night and a proper ending to a wonderful and significant day. "When I saw you walking towards me, my heart literally stopped."
"I looked like a blimp." Her skin was already heating up despite the breeze stirring the palm trees.
"You looked like the most beautiful woman in the world." He corrected. His fingers trailed down her neck to the hollow of her throat. He had dispensed with his shirt his bare chest gleaming brown in the light of the moon.
"I thought to myself, here she comes. My woman, my mate, my heart." His hand curved around her neck, thumb pushing up her chin.
"I felt my heart aching and my blood boiling.
You stood in front of me and all the witnesses and declared to everyone that you belong to me.
" His eyes burned bright. "You're mine darling.
Every inch of you belong to me. And I'm yours.
" Taking her hand, he placed it over where his heart had picked up the beat.
"All yours, forever. Even in death." His voice thickened.
"Even then, you'll know that I love you. "
Her heart was swelling. "Christos--"
"Shh. I'm not finished. There are some things I did not want to say in public. For your ears only." His lips trailed over her cheek as he drank in the smell of her. Something elusive and exotic, mixed with the taste of the sea water.
"When I'm deep inside you, I am transported." He nibbled at the seams of her lips, easing them open. "I've never felt this way before. It's exhilarating and frightening at the same time."
"It's overwhelming."
He smiled at her breathless tone. "It's that and more." His hands cupped and reshaped her breasts, the nipples already reacting to his touch. "How are the babes?"
"Jumping around and playing havoc on my bladder. I need your lips on them." She spread her hands over his chest, loving the feel of the crisp dark hair on her skin.
"Sensitive?"
"Yes. Very."
"I imagine our babies suckling at your nipples." He laid her back on the cushions. "And it makes me crazy. But for now, I want to be the one feeding from you." His mouth slid over one first and then the other. Leanne felt her stomach muscles contracting and quivering.
"Tell me you want me." He whispered, tongue toying and tormenting her.
"I want you." She rolled her head restlessly on the cushions. The heat spiraling.
"Tell me how much." He demanded. For some reason, he felt the desperate need for validation. She was wearing his ring and his name and about to bear his children.
Nothing was more powerful than that. It made him feel like a goddamned king!
"Too much. Darling, I can't." She gasped.
"You can." His mouth closed over the nipple and sent the flames pouring through her body. He suckled hungrily, drawing in the nipple, savoring the taste of her. No one else exists. Not the ship in the distance with his relatives on board, not the islanders, nothing.
He did not care if they all decided to come and see what was going on. All he could think of was the woman in his arms. His woman, his wife, his mate.
It thrilled him that she belonged to him. She was legally, emotionally, and physically his. It powered his desire and had his heart beating wildly.
His hand drifted down her swollen stomach. His seed had been planted inside her and were growing each day. Nothing was more intimate than this. Than his children inside her.
As soon as he cupped her, he knew she was on the verge of erupting. Lifting his mouth from her sodden nipples, he met her gaze, made languorous by the intense emotions pouring through her.
"I want to see you go over." He told her thickly. His fingers toyed with the swollen flesh, his body jerking at the look on her lovely face. Her lips were parted as she panted, her body arching. "Go over for me baby." He urged.
Sliding his fingers into the ready and waiting warmth of her, he felt his own body quickening. The climax had her arching towards him, her fingers digging into his chest and shoulders.
"I love you. Do you know what it does to me to see you like this?" he demanded. "It destroys my senses. I need more. Taken more." Giving her a quick kiss on the lips, he trailed kisses down her cheek and then her neck.
Bypassing her nipples, he kissed the bulge where his children were nestled and took his time. Her body stiffened when he moved further down. His hands were splayed on her belly as he settled between her thighs.
"Christos!"
Lifting her hips, he closed his mouth over the sensitive flesh and had her screaming. When he plunged his tongue into the silky warmth of her, she lost it. The climax had teeth. It felt as if hundreds of tiny ants were crawling all over her and piercing her skin.
Her body vibrated madly, her fingers clutching at the blankets as she tried to anchor herself. He got behind her and entered her in one sure deep stroke and just stayed there for a minute, his body absorbing her heat and the exquisite pleasure of being sheathed by her.
Wrapping his arms around her thick waist, he held her against him, his heart hammering, his skin coated with moisture. When she turned her head, he met her gaze, his own bright with unleashed passion.
"You undo me." He whispered hoarsely. "There are no words."
She shook her head, unable to find the words herself. Her fingers twined with his as she lifted her head for his lips. The kiss was drugging and sweet.
He started to move slowly at first, his mouth buried on hers. And then gradually increased the tempo. She moved with him, her body in complete accord. This was the man who had saved her, loved her enough to do anything for her.
This was the man who had showed her that love exists. He was the light of her life, the core of her. His hand drifted down her stomach to tangle in the springy hairs covering her sex.
He swallowed her moans as she came again, his own body seeking and finding release. Dragging his mouth from hers, he cried out her name as if it was torn from his chest and emptied into her, his body quivering.
What seemed like hours later instead of minutes, she stirred against him.
"Sweetheart?" He whispered against her ear.
"Hmm?"
"We should probably go to the ship."
"Hmm. We could sleep here." She suggested, stretching languidly.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Twisting his hand over, he saw to his surprise that it was almost two AM. "We should get some sleep on an actual bed."
"It feels so cozy here." She murmured. Twisting her head around, she sought and found his lips. He was still buried deep inside her and was not surprised to feel himself hardening.
"I think we should do something about that before we attempt to board the ship." She whispered against his mouth, a smile curving her lips.
"Oh Christ." He groaned. Giving into the temptation, he drove into her and was immediately lost.
*****
"It's nothing." She insisted.
"It doesn't look like nothing. I'm calling Dr. Henderson." He started to rise when she laid a hand on his arm to restrain him.
"It's heartburn. And this one is kicking my ass." She rubbed her stomach slowly. "I ate some chocolate double mint ice cream and a slice of the wedding cake and the fried chicken. I just need-- Oh God!"
"What?" he surged to his feet in alarm as she struggled to get up.
"I need to throw up."
Taking her hands, he hauled her out of the sofa where she had been having a nap and hurriedly led her into the bathroom.
"If I go down, there's no guarantee, I can get back up." She warned.
"I'm here." Grabbing a fluffy white towel, he folded it several times and placed it in front of the commode before helping her down.