Fourteen
So much for the small, intimate wedding party, Cliff thought good-naturedly several hours later.
Everywhere he looked, there were family and friends pressed around him and Diana, shaking his hand, kissing Diana’s cheek and offering words of congratulations.
Each wished to share in their day and their happiness, and Cliff was pleased to let them.
If it wasn’t their guests pressing in around them, then it was Joan and Katie.
The two popped up all over the hall, jostling gaily around the room like court jesters.
Every now and again Cliff captured Diana’s gaze, and the aching gentleness he saw in her eyes tore at his soul. Beyond a doubt, he knew that she was just as eager to escape as he was.
Other than their meeting in the church, Diana hadn’t had more than a moment to talk to this man who was now her husband.
They stood beside each other in the long reception line and were so busy greeting those they loved that there wasn’t an opportunity to speak to each other.
When there was a small break in the line of relations and friends, Cliff leaned close and whispered in her ear, but she scarcely recognized his voice.
His aching whisper was filled with raw emotion.
“I adore you, Mrs. Howard.”
Her eyes flew to his as the shattering tenderness of his words enveloped her.
So many things were stored in her heart, so much love she longed to share.
Because she couldn’t say everything she wanted to, Diana moved closer to Cliff’s side.
Very lightly she pressed her hip against his.
Cliff slipped his hand around her waist, drawing her nearer and tighter to him.
For the moment at least, they were both content.
Hours later they arrived at the hotel room, exhausted but excited.
A bottle of the finest French champagne, a gift from Cliff’s brother, awaited them, resting in a bed of crushed ice.
Cliff gave the champagne no more than a fleeting glance.
He wasn’t interested in drinking—the only thing he wanted was his wife.
He wrapped his arms around Diana and kissed her hungrily, the way he’d been fantasizing about doing all afternoon.
He was starving for her, famished, ravished by his need.
Diana eagerly met his warm lips, twining her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in the thick softness of his dark hair.
She luxuriated in the secure feel of his arms, holding her so close she could barely breathe.
She smiled up at him dreamily and sighed.
“I didn’t think we were ever going to be alone,”
she whispered, her voice shaky with desire. Pausing, she pressed her face against the side of his strong neck.
“Me, either.”
His voice wasn’t any more controlled than hers.
His gaze fell on the bed, and the desire to make love with Diana wrapped itself around him like a fisherman’s net, trapping him.
He didn’t want to rush Diana—he’d hoped their lovemaking would happen naturally.
It was only late afternoon. They should have a drink and a leisurely dinner first, but Cliff doubted that he could make it through the first course. “Shall we have a drink?”
he asked, easing her from his arms. Over and over again, he silently told himself to be patient, to go slow. There was no reason to rush into this when they had all the time in the world.
“I don’t want any champagne,”
Diana answered in a husky whisper.
“You don’t?”
Smiling, she shook her head. “I want you. Now. Don’t make me wait any longer.”
Cliff’s knees went weak with relief, and he turned to face her. His heart pounded like a giant jackhammer in his chest.
“Oh, Cliff,”
she murmured, holding out her arms in silent invitation. “I don’t think I can wait a minute more. I love you so much.”
His eyes glowed with the fire of his passion as he reached for her. He kissed her once, twice, hardly giving her a chance to breathe. Their bodies strained against each other, needing and giving more.
Wildly Diana returned his kisses, on fire for her husband, desiring him in a way that went beyond physical passion.
In response to Diana, Cliff wrapped his arms around her, bringing her close to him so she would know beyond a doubt how much he longed to make her his.
Somehow, while still kissing, they started to undress each other.
Deftly Diana loosened his necktie, rid him of his suit jacket and unfastened the buttons of his shirt.
When she splayed her hands over his bare chest, she sighed and reveled in the firm, hard feel of him.
With some difficulty, Cliff located the zipper in the back of Diana’s dress and fumbled with it.
Diana sighed into his mouth and reluctantly tore her lips from his.
She whirled around, sweeping up the hair at the base of her neck to assist him and resisted the urge to stamp her foot and demand that he please hurry.
Their clothes were carelessly tossed around the room one piece at a time.
By the time they’d finished, Diana was breathless and weak with anticipation.
She’d thought to hide her imperfect body from Cliff, eager to climb between the sheets and hide, but he wouldn’t allow it.
Cliff broke away long enough to study Diana.
His sharp features, hardened now with excitement, softened with indescribable tenderness.
Just looking at her made the breath catch in his throat and the blood surge through his veins in a violent rush.
His senses were filled with the sight of her as his eyes swept her body in one long, passionate caress. His breath was labored when he spoke. “You’re so beautiful.”
“Oh, Cliff.”
Tears pooled in her eyes.
Her body carried the marks of childbirth, but her husband saw none of her flaws.
He viewed her with such a gentle love that he was blinded to her imperfections.
Her heart constricted with emotion, and Diana was certain she couldn’t have loved Cliff Howard more than she did at that precise moment.
His self-control was cracking, Cliff realized as he pulled back the sheets from the king-size bed and tossed the pillows aside.
He wanted Diana so much his breath came quickly, no matter how hard he tried to slow it, and his heart beat high in his throat.
He kissed Diana again and pressed her back against the mattress.
After the lovemaking their arms and legs remained tangled as they lay on their sides facing one another.
Cliff was trapped in the web of overpowering sensation.
He saw her tears and felt his chest tighten with such a tender love that he could have died at the moment and not suffered a regret.
Everything in his life until this one moment seemed shallow and worthless.
The love he shared with Diana was the only important thing there would ever be for him.
He’d found more than a wife; he’d found his life’s purpose, his home.
Murmuring her love, Diana slipped her arms around his neck and pulled his head to hers.
Her kiss was full, holding back nothing.
Again and again Cliff kissed her.
They were soft, nibbling kisses; the urgency of their lovemaking had been removed.
They both slept and woke late in the evening.
While Diana soaked in a hot bathtub, Cliff ordered their dinner from room service.
Her stomach growled as the smell of their meal wafted into the large pink bathroom.
She was preparing to climb out of the water, when Cliff came to her, holding a fat, succulent shrimp.
“Hungry?” he asked.
Diana nodded eagerly.
It’d been hours since she’d last eaten—morning, to be exact—and at the time she’d been too excited to down anything more than a glass of orange juice.
“Good.”
He plopped the shrimp in his mouth and greedily licked the sauce from the ends of his fingers.
Darting a glance in her direction, he laughed aloud at her look of righteous indignation.
He left the room and returned a couple of moments later with an extra shrimp, taking delight in feeding it to her.
Diana hurriedly dried off and dressed in a whispery soft peignoir of sheer blue.
The lacy gown had been a gift from Shirley Holiday, with instructions for her to wear it on her wedding night.
When she reappeared, Cliff had poured them each a glass of champagne.
He turned to hand her hers and stopped abruptly when he viewed her in the sheer nightgown, his eyes rounding with undisguised appreciation.
“Do you like it?”
she asked, and did one slow, sultry turn for effect.
Cliff only nodded; to speak was nearly impossible.
Diana took a sip of the champagne and pulled out a chair. One by one, she started lifting domed lids to discover what he’d ordered. “Oh, Cliff, I’m starved.”
He dragged his gaze from the dark shadow of her nipples back to their meal. His gaze fell to the table. Food. Their dinner.
“Filet mignon,”
Diana said, and sighed her appreciation. “I can’t believe how famished I am.”
She looked up to discover her husband’s eyes burning a trail over her.
Cliff moistened his lips.
Diana’s gown teased him with a soft cloud of thin material that fell open to reveal her thigh and the top of her hip.
He found he couldn’t tear his eyes off her.
Wistfully he cast a glance at the bed. He dared not suggest it—not so soon after the last time. Diana would think he was some kind of animal.
“Cliff?”
Diana whispered.
He squared his shoulders and forced a smile.
“Cliff Howard.”
Although he made a gallant effort to disguise what he wanted Diana knew. This man was a marvel. “Now?”
He looked almost boyish. “Do you mind?”
She glanced longingly at her dinner, grabbed a second shrimp and smiled. Standing, she reached for his hand and led him toward the bed.
“Married life seems to agree with you,”
Shirley Holiday commented three weeks later, after Cliff and Diana had returned from their honeymoon.
There’d been some adjustments, Diana mused.
They’d recently moved into their two-story house, situated between Des Moines, and Salt Water State Park and were still unpacking.
The girls had settled into their new school and were learning to adjust to sharing their mother, which was something they hadn’t realized would happen once she and Cliff had married.
“It has its moments,”
Diana agreed.
Like the first night they were in their new house! Cliff had just started to make love to her, when Katie burst into the bedroom, crying because of a bad dream.
Cliff murmured something about having a nightmare of his own, while Diana scrambled for some clothes.
The first thing the following morning, Cliff had put a lock on the bedroom door.
Then, later in the same week, Diana and Shirley had planned on hitting a sale at Nordstrom’s, when Cliff had shown up at the house unexpectedly.
She’d thought, at first, that he’d come to take her to lunch, but he’d had other plans. Giggling, Diana had phoned her friend and said she’d be a few minutes late.
“I can’t remember the last time I saw you this happy,”
Shirley said with an expressive sigh. “You know, I feel responsible for all this.”
“For what?”
Diana asked, joining her friend at the kitchen table.
“For the two of you getting together.”
It took a supreme effort on Diana’s part not to remind her former neighbor that she had done everything within her power to discourage Diana’s relationship with the known playboy and womanizer, Cliff Howard.
“So when do you start your college classes?”
Shirley asked while Diana poured them each a second cup of coffee.
The bride glanced in the direction of the kitchen calendar that hung beside the phone. “In a couple of weeks.”
After the wedding, Cliff had insisted Diana give up her job with the school district. As far as her future was concerned, Cliff had other plans.
“I think it’s wonderful the way Cliff’s encouraging you to go back to school. How long will it take you to get your nursing degree?”
Grinning, Diana propped her elbows on top of the oak table. “About ten years, the way we plan it.”
Shirley’s eyes widened with surprise. “That long—but whatever for?”
“I plan to take a couple of long breaks in between semesters.”
“But, Diana, that doesn’t make sense. This is a golden opportunity for you. I’d think . . .”
“Shirley!”
Diana stopped her. “We’re planning on me having a baby as soon as possible.”
And another the following year, if everything went according to their schedule.
From the way Cliff had been working at the project, Diana believed she was bound to be pregnant by the end of the month.
Not that she was complaining. The lovemaking between them was exquisite, just as she’d always known it would be. Each time her husband reached for her, she marveled at how virile he was. And how gentle.
The conversation between the two women was interrupted by Cliff, George and the girls, who came through the front door, returning from a golfing match.
“We’re back,”
Cliff said, leaning over the chair and kissing Diana’s cheek.
“Cliff let me drive his golf cart,”
Joan announced proudly as she entered the kitchen. “It’s only a few more years, you realize, till I’ll be old enough for my driver’s permit.”
“All Cliff let me do was steer,”
Katie complained, plopping herself down in the seat beside her mother.
“Next year you can drive the cart,”
Cliff told her.
Katie responded by folding her arms and pinching her lips together in a pretty pout. “It’s not fair. Joan gets to do everything.”
“The older one always does,”
Joan answered with a superior air.
“Are you going to let her talk to me that way?”
Katie demanded. “Just what kind of a mother are you?”
“Girls, girls,”
Cliff said, without raising his voice. Joan and Katie stopped arguing, but when they didn’t think he could see, Katie stuck her tongue out at Joan, and Joan eagerly reciprocated.
Cliff did his best to disguise a smile.
He was smiling a lot lately.
Marrying Diana and taking on the responsibility for Joan and Katie had changed him.
There’d been so many wasted years when he’d drifted from one meaningless relationship to another, seeking an elusive happiness, finding himself chasing after the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
But now he’d found real love, experienced it firsthand, and it had altered the course of his life.
That night, Diana fell asleep in her husband’s arms. A loud clap of thunder woke her around midnight. She rolled onto her back and rubbed the sleep from her face.
“I wondered if the storm would wake you,”
Cliff whispered, raising himself up on one elbow in order to kiss her.
Diana kissed him back and looped an arm around his neck. “Have you been awake long?”
“About five minutes.”
Once more, his mouth tenderly grazed hers. “Have I told you lately how much I love you?”
“You showed me a couple of hours ago!”
He nuzzled her neck and the familiar hot sensation raced through Diana, and she sighed her pleasure.
Cliff kissed her in earnest then, wrapping her in his arms. “What have you done to me?”
He growled the question in her ear. “I can’t seem to get enough of you.”
“Do you hear me complaining?”
Completely at ease now with his body, she touched and kissed him in places she knew would evoke a strong reaction.
“You little devil,”
Cliff whispered raggedly.
“Want me to stop?”
“No,”
he answered on a low growl. “I’m crazy about you, woman.”
Diana stiffened and turned her head toward the bedroom door.
Cliff was instantly aware of the change in her mood. “What is it?”
“Katie.”
“I didn’t hear her.”
“She’s frightened of storms.”
Already Diana was freeing herself from his arms.
Mumbling under his breath, Cliff rolled onto his back and swallowed down the momentary frustration. “I’m beginning to relive a nightmare of my own. When are you going to be back?”
“In a minute.”
Diana climbed out of the bed and reached for her robe.
“Give me a kiss before you go,”
Cliff insisted, then yawned loudly. “Wake me if I go back to sleep.”
Diana willingly obliged. “I shouldn’t be long.”
“Hurry,”
he coaxed, and yawned a second time.
Diana was gone only a matter of minutes, but by the time she returned and slipped between the sheets, Cliff was snoozing.
“Sweetheart,”
she whispered, gently shaking him awake.
He rolled over and automatically reached for her.
“Honey,”
Diana murmured.
“Just a minute,”
he whispered sleepily. “I need to wake up.”
He nibbled softly on her earlobe.
“It’s Katie,”
Diana told him.
“What about her?”
“She’s frightened by the storm.”
“I’m frightened, too, but I understand—go ahead and go back to comfort Katie.”
Diana pushed the hair from his face and gently kissed the side of his jaw. “She doesn’t want me—she requested you.”
“Me?”
“You.”
A slow, easy smile broke out across Cliff’s handsome features. Comforting his daughter in a storm. It was exactly the kind of thing a father would do.
* * * * *