Chapter 15
He somehow managed to pick her up and carried her to the sofa in the corner of the room where he collapsed. Drawing her into his arms, he pulled the throw over them, his breathing ragged.
He had emptied himself into her and was now weak and far from satiated. There was a reception going on a few feet away, but he did not care about that. Their clothing was strewn all over the floor, but that did not matter.
She was still trembling. Wrapped around him, her slender curves pressed to his, he felt the tremors passing through her. They would have to talk, but right now, he just want to hold onto the miracle of her being here with him.
Several minutes ago, he was floating in a sea of thick despair and now, he felt as if he was on a cloud. God! How he loved her.
She lifted her head to look at him and he felt a jolt at the look on her exquisite face. He could never hate her.
“What?” He asked mildly, his fingers roaming her back.
“We just had sex on the floor,” she looked around the room, realizing for the first time they were in an extensive library. “With ancient volumes staring down at us, not to mention pictures of what I assume to be generations of Pendergast.”
He chuckled at that – the poignancy of her usual direct approach giving him pause.
“We did.”
“I have never done it on the floor before.”
“Any regrets?”
“None whatsoever.” She turned to look at him, a sober expression on her face. “Michael came to see me, to intervene. I thought all was lost,” she shook her head. “Even now, I don’t see how you can ever forgive me for my part in what happened.”
“I told myself that I never could.” One hand drifted up to stroke her cheek and he felt a pang at how much weight she had lost. He had believed he was the only one suffering, but he was wrong. “I was so angry with you; I could not function. And there was the pain. I could not sleep. I started drinking.”
“Merrick…”
He shook his head. “Just let me get this out. I blamed you for everything, but that was wrong. I refused to see what the hell was in front of me because Jason was family.
Then when I met you, I did not care about anything else. I had been given a second chance at happiness, and it blew me away. Nothing else mattered.” He smiled crookedly. “You changed my focus and my goals.
All I wanted was you.” He saw the tears swimming in her eyes and felt his heart quivering. Was it any wonder he was in love with her? Completely and irrevocably tied to her? She was strong and tough, but there was heart and soul there.
“I am sorry.”
“I know, baby.” He shifted so that he could face her. “Are you willing to marry me?”
He saw the cloud coming over her face and felt a spurt of annoyance.
“We could live together…” She grabbed onto him when he started to leave and held on tight.
“Dammit!” She glowered at him. “Okay fine. If you want to take me on as a wife, then that is your damn problem. I am warning you what you are up against. I hate attending functions and I am not bloody well giving up my job. I will forget your birthday and important milestones because I will not care about any of it.”
“Anything else?” He asked coolly.
“Yes, damn you. This is…” She was about to say a mistake, but she stopped and realized that being without him was going to be the end of her. “I love you.” She whispered.
“These past couple of months without you has been hell on earth. I was unable to eat and sleep. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I can face whatever it is as long as you are with me.”
Emotions stormed through him and for a moment, he could not speak. Gathering her against him, he breathed her in, his face buried in her hair. When he lifted his head, his eyes were suspiciously bright.
“We get married next week.”
She opened her mouth to protest and then closed it. Sliding on top of him, she sheathed him and watched as his eyes darkened.
Minutes later, they vaguely heard the persistent knocking on the door but were too busy exploring each other’s mouth. When the knocks did not yield a response, the door was pushed open slightly.
“I have been tasked with coming to find out if you two have killed each other. Margo, your partner said that you are carrying.”
Lifting his mouth from hers reluctantly, Merrick arched a brow at her. “Are you?”
“Always.” She was breathless and hot from his ardent attention.
“Where?”
“In my ridiculous excuse for a purse.”
“Uncle Merrick?”
“Come on in, Michael.” When the young man stepped in, he tried to ignore the clothing strewn on the floor and the couple, obviously naked, wrapped around each other.
“Is the reception over?” He kept a firm arm around her, even though she wasn’t trying to break free.
“Just about. Julia and I are ready to leave.” His gray eyes twinkled in amusement. “Jennifer is making noises and threatening to come and find you.” He glanced at Margo. “Detective Michaelson wanted to know if you’re ready to leave.”
He nudged his chin down to look at her. “It seems we have an awkward situation on our hands.”
“Not me!” She told him airily. “Brad is just my partner, you on the other hand came with a date.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“Absolutely.” She grinned at him. “You might want to put some clothes on before facing her and the rest of the guests.”
To shut her up, he seized her lips and had her sighing into his mouth.
Michael cleared his throat loudly. “I will - uhm – just be on my way.”
“Wait outside for a bit, I would like to talk to you.”
When his nephew closed the doors behind him, he continued kissing her.
“Merrick…”
“Hmm.” He loved the taste of her.
“Michael is waiting.” She did not want him to leave.
“You’ll be here when I get back?” He ended the kiss reluctantly.
“I will, I promise.”
“Good.” Kissing her roughly on the mouth, he rose and went to get dressed.
Looking back at her lying against the cushions with her hair spread over the silk, he felt his heart turning over. “This will not take long.”
His nephew was still standing outside, waiting for him. “Whatever I have that you want, just ask.” He said quietly. “I owe you my life.”
Michael grinned. “It was really my pleasure. You two belong together.”
“We do.” Bolstering a smile, he headed towards the ballroom, to attend to the unpleasant task of getting rid of his date.
*****
She stretched languidly and smiled. It felt good. No, great. She had come here with the intention of having it out with him and trying to put it behind her, but now it looks like she was sticking. She loved him – Lord, how she loved him. So much so that she could scarcely believe it.
When the doors were shoved open, she started to say something but stopped as the woman stormed into the room.
“You must be very proud of yourself.” Janey stood there vibrating, her pink gown with the silver etchings shimmering. “You ruined our family’s lives, by lying to Merrick and all of us and now you are back here spinning more lies to get him to take you back.” She swept a scornful gaze over the woman on the sofa. “No doubt using your body…”
“Stop it now.”
Both of them looked towards the doorway where a furious Merrick was standing.
“Merrick, darling, I was just…”
“Leaving. Go and see to your guests. I will excuse what you just said to the woman who is going to be my wife and chalk it down to your worries over Jason. But you get one shot. Just one. If you ever speak to her like that again, there will be consequences. Is that clear?”
“Merrick…”
“Is that clear?” His face was cold and uncompromising.
“Janey.” Maurice had come up behind him and hustled into the room to take her by the arm. “I apologize.” He gave Margo a brief glance before practically pushing his wife out the room and slamming the doors shut.
Merrick rushed over and sat at the edge of the sofa, an anxious look on his face. “It took longer than I expected, and I never thought Janey would come in here, let alone insult you like that. Baby, I am so sorry.”
He felt his heart spiking as she continued to look at him without speaking. Then it turned to anger. “If you think you are going to worm your way out of marrying me, think again. I will hunt you down…”
“I was just here thinking that she caught me with no clothes on and I could hardly get up to kick her ass while I am only just wearing boots.”
He blinked and stared at her in stupefaction for a full minute. Then snatching her into his arms, he laughed, relief shuddering through him. “I adore you.” He managed as he buried his face in her hair.
“Yeah. Yeah.” She clung to him, loving the feel of his body against hers. “How did the judge take it?”
“Not very well.” He eased back to look at her. “Want me to take the boots off?”
“Are we staying here?”
“No. I want you all to myself. Are you on duty tomorrow?”
“No.”
“Good. We get to spend all day in bed.”
“You just want to use my body.”
“And what a body.” Pushing her back, he slid in next to her. “Just let me hold you for a bit.”
“I have no problem with that.”
*****
“I should let you get some sleep.”
“Why?”
“Because…,” his mouth trailed the length of her neck, his teeth nipping into the hollow of her throat. “I cannot get enough of you.”
“I love hearing that.” Her hands skimmed over the bunched muscles of his shoulders with obvious delight.
“I don’t want you to tire of me.” He really should stop. They had been at it since they arrived at his place and that was two hours ago.
“I will let you know when and if that happens. I love the feel of you. So lean and muscular. Like a wolf.”
“Wolf?” He lifted his head and gave her a quizzical stare.
“Hmm.” Her fingers skimmed the stubble on his firm jaw and trailed down to the dent in his chin. “I need to ask you something.”
“Ask away.” Placing his hand over hers, he brought it to his mouth to kiss the palm.
“Can you talk about her? Your fiancée.”
He felt the quick tug of grief and realized that he was over it – over the past and looking forward to the future. A future with the woman in his arms.
“Yes.” Settling back on the pillows, he cradled her and stared up at the ceiling. “We were young when we met.” His hands skimmed over her back. “She was sweet and always had a smile on her face.
My parents had a very good marriage, and I wanted that for myself. When I met Laura, I felt the attraction, but it took me some time to approach her. When I did, she was open to a relationship. But I wanted to wait to get married. I did not want to tie myself down so soon and I wanted to be certain.
When she told me she was pregnant, I knew it was time to do the right thing, and we got engaged. She was so excited about the baby, the upcoming wedding, that she insisted on flying to Paris to purchase her trousseau.
I was supposed to go with her, but I was just starting out at the company and there was a new drug being put out on the market and I was in charge of the legalities of it. I could not get away and I asked her to wait, but she wouldn’t,” he paused for a bit, and she turned her head to look at him.
“I was in a meeting when I got the news.”
“You blamed yourself.”
“Yes, I did.” He smiled at her intuitiveness. “I kept saying that if only I had gone with her or be firmer when I asked her not to go, she would still be alive. More than that, I grieved for my unborn son and was resentful that she had taken that away from me. Unreasonable, I know, but grief has a way of doing that to a person.”
“How do you feel now?”
“Free.” His hands cupped her face. “Wonderfully happy and head over heels in love.” His expression became sober. “I started feeling guilty right after I met you.”
“Why?”
He traced the outline of her full bottom lip and felt an answering tug in his belly when it quivered. “What I felt when I first met you was nothing compared to what I felt for her. It was like a quick one – two punch that took my breath. When I first made love to you, I felt as if I was being thrown into the eye of a very violent storm.” He smiled wistfully.
“I had crushes in high school and was even in a semi-serious relationship in college. With Laura, I contemplated marriage for the first time. But with you, I knew without a doubt that I could not live without you.” His hand cupped her cheek. “You blew me away and it frightened me.”
Her heart took a slow dive. “Can you imagine what it was like for me?” She whispered. “I grew up without anyone to love me.
Until I was eighteen, I thought I was alone in the world and then Aunt Sybil came into my life, and it took me years to warm up to her. I am still uncomfortable with her show of affection. Then I met you. It was an assignment, but from the very start, I felt something.
I had to sleep with you. I was jeopardizing my job, but for the first time in my life there was this explosion inside my chest. I tried to deny it at first, told myself that I should stop…,” her fingers curled into his chest. “But I couldn’t. I am fifty-two and for the first time in my life, I am in love. God! Talk about scary.”
His hands trembled as he used them to frame her face. “Let’s be scared together.” He drew her up and captured her mouth in a smoldering kiss.
*****
They argued about her wedding dress.
“I am paying for my own damn dress. I might not have the kind of money you have, but I have savings, and I happen to know what I want.”
“I have seen your wardrobe!” He held up a hand as she hissed at him. They had gone to meet her aunt, and the woman had been utterly charmed by him. She and Janey and Maurice had come to some sort of truce, and she realized that Merrick had a lot to do with it.
The precinct was buzzing with the news about her upcoming wedding to the man she had been investigating a short time ago and the press was having a field day with it. His people had issued a statement as a way of getting them to leave her alone, but one or two reporters still found their way into ambushing her when she went to work.
She also refused to wear her square cut diamond engagement ring to work and that caused another argument.
“What if I lost it? Or go out on a raid and get robbed? I am a cop for crying out loud. What are people going to say when they see me wearing big ass diamonds?”
“That you are engaged to a wealthy man. That you are mine, that it is a symbol of our love for each other. The ring is insured if you are worried about theft. Or is there something else? Like your partner for instance. Was there something going on there?”
She had given him an incredulous stare. “We had a moment, once – years ago and nothing after that. You cannot possibly be jealous of him.”
He had felt foolish even bringing it up, but where she was concerned, he was unreasonable.
“I would like you to wear the ring.”
She had compromised and was wearing it on a chain around her neck. The things she did for love, she thought darkly.
Now she was dressing to go out and tie herself to a man for the rest of her life. And she was not wearing white, because that would be just plain stupid and lacking in class. Not that she was a fashion expert or anything.
Which was why she had sought the advice of one who was. Monique Romano had come through for her and had taken her call personally, welcoming her to some sort of ‘clique’- but she would have to get used to that.
The dress had cost the earth, and she had balked at the price, but as Monique reminded her, this was the only time she was ever getting married.
“And you might want to accept the fact that Merrick is a very wealthy man and has a certain standing in society.” She said in her gentle voice. “It took me a while to get used to being married to a man of substance. Even now, I find myself wondering how come.”
The dress was a stunning electric blue with a cowl neckline, with straight lines, clinging to her curves. It was not long, just slightly below her knees.
The sleeves were tight and reached to a point at her wrists. He had given her diamond earrings and necklace to go with the engagement ring. Her hair had been styled by a professional who had arranged it into a soft coil at the nape of her neck.
“You have such a graceful throat. It would be a sin not to show it off.”
Her shoes were painted to match her dress, and she was sure she was going to slip and fall flat on her ass and end up disgracing both of them. But they looked good on her.
She looked up when her aunt came bustling into the bedroom. She had stayed at her place for the night, overriding Merrick’s protests.
“My dear!” The woman gushed, blinking behind her glasses. “How lovely you are. That young man is going to be unable to take his eyes off you.”
“That’s the plan.” She was not nervous, but anxious to get it over and done with.
“Ready?”
“As I will ever be.” She flashed the woman a grin. “Let’s go get me hitched.”
*****
They had planned for a small ceremony, but at the end, it had turned out to be larger than they expected. They were getting married in the small chapel she attended since she joined the academy.
The decorations had been done by the ladies of the church and Margo had no idea where they got so many flowers in the height of winter. But she suspected her fiancé had something to do with it.
Commander Williams was waiting for her as soon as she stepped out of the limousine, bundled up against the frigid January weather.
“You look unlike a cop, Sullivan.” He murmured as he took her arm and guided her towards the entrance. “And that’s a compliment.” He added before she could respond.
“Thank you, sir.” And may I say, how sharp you are in your tux.”
She grinned as he automatically tugged at his tie. “Damn monkey suit.” He muttered. “I am happy for you. Never thought I would see the day.”
“Neither did I. Feels weird.”
“Must be.” He stopped talking as they cleared the threshold, and the music changed. Her eyes went straight to the man standing at the altar, his own black tux suiting his tall, leanly muscled frame.
The look on his face, the light in his eyes was just for her and it gave her a jolt to know that he had eyes only for her. As far as he was concerned, she was the only woman in the world.
Love overflowed and wrapped her around and without a doubt, she knew this was exactly where she belonged.
He came forward to take her hands, nodding briefly to her commander.
And just stood there for a minute, taking her in. “My beautiful bride.” He whispered as he guided her towards the minister who was waiting.