His words washed over her. Nothing she could have written would have been so perfect. She ran her hands up his arms. “Those are exactly the right words.” She brushed her cheek against his hand.
“I’ve always had this idea of what it would be like when I met the right guy. I was waiting for a fairy tale and nearly missed the very real story I was living. I met you and it took me about four months to realize I’d fallen for you on the very first day we met in the elevator. You looked at me and that was it. I was looking for the romance, for all the silly things...”
Graham smiled. “They’re not silly. But I’m not very good at the romance stuff. I’ll try the wooing, especially if it means kissing is involved.” He gently stroked her face. “But I have to warn you now I don’t think the courting thing will work,” he said solemnly.
Margaret buried her head in her hands. “Oh, please don’t remind me of everything I said.” She looked up at him and grabbed his hands again. “Graham, I’ll do it, no courting necessary.”
He was quiet for a moment. “Do what?”
She laughed up at him. “I’ll move in with you, the sooner the better. I was going to tell you tomorrow night.”
He dropped her hand and moved away. Her heart plummeted to her feet. What now?
Graham turned back to her. “That’s not what I want anymore,” he said.
Margaret was trying to read his eyes, trying to figure out what was going on here. What had she missed? Why... “Oh, well.” She swallowed and folded her arms. “What is this, then? Are you...”
Graham laughed, picked her up and crushed her against him. “There it is, that little chin you lift when you’re angry with me.” He smiled. Then he kissed her. It was wet, intense and left her breathless.
“What I wanted to say was courting takes time, and I don’t have time. You see, I don’t want you to just move in with me, I want to marry you, I want you to have my name, I want to make babies with you. The sooner, the better.” The world tilted and for a minute Margaret was worried she was going to faint. But Graham’s steady gaze was locked on hers and his big, strong hands had a firm grip on hers.
“Will you, Margaret? Will you wear my ring and be my wife?” he asked with his heart in his eyes.
“You want babies?” she asked and then held her breath. She wasn’t sure she’d heard him correctly. “You said you like kids if they belong to someone else, so would you want babies?”
Graham nodded, his eyes smiling. “If they’re yours as well, yes, I want babies. Never thought I would. But lately I’ve been having dreams of little girls with blond hair and eyes just like yours.”
Margaret tried to catch her breath, but she couldn’t seem to get enough oxygen into her lungs. She threw herself into his arms. He stumbled back and both of them fell on to the blanket, laughing. She landed on top of him.
“Was that a yes?” he asked, looking up at her, still smiling.
“Yes, it’s a yes!” She laughed. “You nearly gave me a heart attack!” She sobered. “I thought you didn’t want to get married again, so I was willing to move in with you. I just couldn’t stand another day without you in it.”
Graham gently lifted her up and to the side and sat upright. “I thought I only wanted you to move in with me so when it ends, there won’t be any hassle.” He bent down and kissed her. “But I realized very quickly I was never going to get tired of you, I was never going to reach a point where I wouldn’t want you. A lifetime was not going to be enough time. And I want you tied to me, in every possible way. That’s why, I have...” He fumbled in his pockets again and pulled out a square box. He lifted himself on his knees. “I have something for you,” he said. “I should have been on one knee, you should be standing...”
Margaret also stood on her knees, her breath lodged in her throat. Her mouth was dry, her heart was hammering away and it seemed as if the earth had stopped turning momentarily. “I don’t want to stand up, I want to be here with you,” she whispered.
Graham opened the box and she looked down. Inside the box was a ring. Her gaze flew up to meet Graham’s.
“Only diamonds didn’t seem quite right.” He took out the ring. “I found this emerald, your eyes...they’re like this stone. There are two small diamonds on either side...” He stopped speaking, his smile faltering. “If you don’t like it or prefer something else...”
She looked up at him. Her eyes were brilliant, shining like the green stone he had in his hand. “It’s exactly what I want.” She held out her left hand and he slipped the ring on her finger. It was a perfect fit.
Margaret looked down at the ring on her left hand and then glanced hesitatingly up at Graham. “Are you sure about this? We don’t have to get married...”
With one movement, Graham pulled her down on to the blanket so she was lying next to him. He leaned on one elbow and looked down at her. “I want to marry you. I want you with me, always. Anything else that’s not clear?” he asked gruffly.
“No.” She smiled and lifted her hand. She caressed his face with the back of her hand. “That’s what I want too. Will my fiancé now please kiss me again?”
Graham pressed a kiss on her forehead and stood up quickly. His face was flushed. “I can’t touch you, not here. I’ll never be able to stop. Come on, my apartment is just across the road,” he said hoarsely, and pulled her up.
“My roses,” she murmured and picked them up quickly.
He grabbed her hand and they started running. “What about the blanket?” she shouted.
“I’ll get it later,” he yelled back and increased his speed.
Before they crossed the road, he picked her up. “You are way too slow,” he teased and raced across the road, into the building, catching the elevator just in time. He pressed the button with her still in his arms.
Margaret slid sensuously down his body. “This was where I saw you for the first time, here in this elevator,” she murmured and lifted her mouth for a kiss.
“Margaret, we have to wait...I can’t...” Graham stammered.
But Margaret pressed herself against him and dragged his head down with her one hand. “I’ve waited my whole life for you. I don’t want to wait any longer,” she whispered just before her lips brushed over his.
With a groan, Graham caught her in his arms and deepened the kiss. Fusing their mouths together, he turned so she was standing against the side panel of the elevator. Restlessly, his lips roamed over her face, then farther down to where he was able to taste the satiny silk of her shoulder.
“This was exactly what I wanted to do all those months ago. On the very first night I saw you, this was going through my head. You really scared me.” His voice wasn’t quite steady.
Moving her bra aside, he filled his palms with her breasts, before bending down to taste her naked flesh. Margaret gasped, her fingers busy with the buttons on his shirt. And then her hands were on him, caressing him, loving him.
The doors of the elevator opened. Graham looked up, stunned. Dumbfounded, he stared at the doors while gasping for breath. He’d nearly made love to Margaret in a very public elevator.
Taking her hand in his, he tried to smile. “I don’t think when I’m around you. My flat... hurry.” He dragged her behind him while trying to get rid of his jacket. The keys fell and he swore. He bent to pick up the key and tried to unlock the door. Usually a simple task, but not when Margaret’s hands were on him. By the time the door to his apartment swung open, she was also pulling at his jacket, but within seconds, he had her up against the wall. And before she could take her next breath, he’d captured her lips again.
The damn jacket finally fell to the floor. He pushed the straps of her dress down and resumed kissing her breasts. She sobbed out his name and with his blood roaring in his ears, he pulled his shirt out of his slacks and over his head.
“I want to go slow, I want to make this...” Graham said and started to move away.
Margaret held his gaze while she unzipped her dress. When it pooled a
round her ankles, she was left wearing only a scrap of green lace. She held out her arms. “There’s all the time in the world for slow, but not tonight. I’ve waited so long,” she began but before she could finish her sentence, he’d pressed her back against the wall and his mouth and hands were on her breasts again.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered between caresses. “I can’t get enough of you.” His tongue wrapped around a nipple. She arched her back and pulled him closer. This was where she wanted to be, in Graham’s arms.
Time stood still. The wall behind her was cool against her heated skin; Graham’s rasping breath egged her to lose control as he stroked and fondled her breasts. She bent down, pressing kisses behind his ear, down his neck, while her hands glided over the wide expanse of his shoulders. He tasted like the sea.
Graham lifted his head and their mouths met again. His tongue slid inside her mouth and met hers in a wild dance. Need slammed into her. He deepened the kiss; pleasure ripped through her. She wanted to get closer to him, wanted to become part of him. Wrapping her arms around him, she held on tightly.
Inside of her was a burning need for this man. His hand moved up her leg and floating, she was moving closer and closer to a place she’d never been before. The previous time she’d been with Graham, he’d rocked her world. But now she knew he loved her there was so much more. And then she was almost there, hovering on the brink of something extraordinary. He cupped her. A low moan broke the silence and she bucked beneath his onslaught. With one sweep of his hand he stripped down the small triangle that still covered her and knelt before her.
Margaret gasped and stared down at him in wonder. His eyes were burning.
“I want to taste every centimeter of you,” he said hoarsely. He lifted her foot and while she was still trying to catch her breath, his lips and hands trailed a path up her leg. He spent long moments caressing her calf while his mouth found the sensitive spot behind her knee.
She looked down at him. She’d never been this vulnerable, this open to anyone. Her fingers stroked his head, got entangled in his hair. The emerald in her ring gleamed in the semi-darkness. She was bound to him in more ways than just with this ring. He’d not only captured her heart, he’d touched her very soul. This was why she could lay herself bare like this to him. A new wave of sensation swept through her.
And then his mouth found her. Her head fell back and she could feel herself spiraling away. “Don’t...just don’t stop,” she said brokenly, holding on to his shoulders. Sensation after sensation flooded her being until, with his name on her lips, she exploded. She sagged against the wall, but her legs gave way and she tumbled to the carpet where Graham caught her in his strong arms. He fell back and she landed on top of him.
Graham tried to keep a tight rein on his control, but it was slipping fast. Every breath he took was filled with her scent. Margaret was stretched out over him, every smooth, soft part of her draped over his body. “The bed...my room is down the corridor...we’re not going to make it,” he said, struggling for breath.
“Are we on the floor?” Margaret lifted her shoulders and tried to look around.
“Think so. We could try to get to the bedroom,” he said, rolling over so she was underneath him, “but I don’t think we’re going to make it.”
She was still struggling to breathe. “This is exactly where I want to be,” she whispered and brought his head down to hers. Her hands slid boldly over his body, moved down and down until she reached the buckle on his belt. She unclasped it, slipped her fingers inside his trousers, and found him.
Graham reared back and pulled her hand from his pants. “Not yet,” he growled, and grunting and swearing, he quickly got rid of his pants. Margaret held out her arms and with the blood roaring in his ears, he bent down and devoured her lips.
Her heart pounded against his hand and his love for this woman who was wearing his ring, who was giving herself so freely to him, robbed him of his last coherent thought. He wanted to give her all he had to give, he wanted to pleasure her, wanted to show her exactly how much she meant to him. He lifted himself above her and looked down into her eyes.
“Look at me when I take you,” he whispered urgently, keeping his eyes on hers as he slipped into her.
Margaret lifted her legs and wrapped them around him. Her hands landed on the muscles on his upper arms and she could feel them flexing beneath her fingertips. There was so much strength in him, yet the gentleness with which he loved her made her want to cry.
His gaze was locked with hers, his eyes burning into hers. She struggled to keep her eyes open: she didn’t want to miss anything. He began to move inside her and she tried to meet him thrust for thrust until she was spinning away. She was focused entirely on pleasuring him, on giving herself to him, body and soul. But then she was flying higher and higher until she splintered into a thousand little pieces.
When her eyes glazed over, Graham let go of the final remnants of his control and with a feral cry he emptied himself before he joined her flight over the final edge. The last thing he remembered was whispering her name.
***
Margaret opened her eyes slowly. They were still on the floor. She moved her head and found Graham looking at her.
“What?” She smiled.
“I still can’t believe you’re here, like this, with me.” He lifted up her hand. “And you’re wearing my ring. I was so scared I’d waited too long, made a mess of everything, I still can’t get my head around it.”
“Well, you will just have to learn to suspend disbelief—”
“...and enjoy,” Graham said, and bent down to kiss her.
When he lifted his head, Margaret looked around again. “There are candles. Did you manage all of this yourself?”
Graham laughed. “Jen and Yvonne. They didn’t trust me with this, thought I couldn’t do it on my own. There’s apparently a wonderful dinner also waiting for when we’re hungry.”
“Are you hungry?” Margaret asked and ran her fingers up his arm.
“Of course,” he said, catching her lips with his again. “But only for you.”
“We’re still on the carpet,” she said into his mouth.
“Yeah,” he said and he touched her face, her hair, and let his hand slip down her arm and up her body. He bent his head. “And I don’t think we’re going to get to the bed soon. Or eat any time soon.” He trailed his lips over her shoulder. “I think I’m going to like being married to you. This is fun.”
“You want fun?” she asked, and pressing him down, threw her leg over him and straddled him. “I’ll give you fun,” she teased, and started moving on top of him.
Graham was completely speechless for a few minutes. She was stunning. The light of the flickering candles played over her body and she looked like an ancient goddess. His hands folded around her hips and he lifted her up. No, scratch that. She was a real, flesh-and-blood goddess. His own flesh-and-blood goddess. She smiled down at him. She was as real as you could hope to find.
***
Much later, when they’d finally made it to the bed, Graham suddenly leaned on an elbow and looked down at her.
“I said it first.”
Margaret opened her eyes, she’d been almost asleep. She smiled drowsily up at him. “What?”
“You didn’t say I love you first, you only wrote it. I said it first,” he said smugly and fell back on to the bed.
Margaret pressed up on a forearm so she could look down on him. “You woke me up to tell me that? Well, now I’m awake...” She turned to him and touched his shoulder. “I want you. Again.”
Graham dragged her closer and covered her mouth with his. He wasn’t sure what he’d done to deserve a woman like Margaret, but he was going to enjoy every minute he spent with her.
***
Graham was pulling on a shirt when his phone rang. He’d spent the weekend at Margaret’s place and had only returned early that morning. He’d switched off his phone on Friday; he hadn’t wanted anyone or any
thing to interrupt their time together. He wished it was possible to just shut out reality forever, although he knew it would intrude at some point. And reality really came crashing down that morning when he’d switched on his phone on his way to Stellenbosch.
There were about twenty messages from Peter, ranging from pleas to threats. Graham just ignored these. The main reason he was here at all was to pick up his laptop and fetch extra clothes. He had very nearly decided to just buy another laptop and clothes, but Margaret had laughingly pushed him out of the house. She had to go to the bookshop anyway.
He had nearly turned back several times. He didn’t want to be away from her for one minute. He looked at the phone. He didn’t want to talk to anyone except Margaret, didn’t want to decide anything, didn’t want to plan anything. Peter wanted to talk about all those sorts of things.
But the call was from Jen, and he quickly answered, suddenly panicking. Margaret—what if something had happened to her?
“Jen, what’s wrong?”
“Graham, I... Louise was here early this morning and she saw the ring. The phone started ringing about ten minutes later. There are a whole lot of media people in front of the shop. I think...”
“On my way,” he snarled. Grabbing his stuff, he ran out of the house. He had to get back to Margaret as quickly as possible, that was all he could think about. He should never have left her alone, should have known the bloody media would get hold of the story in some way or another. Damn Louise. What kind of a cousin was she, anyway?
The wheels of his car skidded over the gravel as he raced for his gate. As he drove through the gates, he could see cars coming toward his farm from the front. He floored the accelerator and simply ignored those calling him from outside. Damn press.
She hated this. How was she going to cope? He was kilometers away from her. This would be the last time he would ever leave her alone. They had to sort out the living arrangements as soon as possible. A sobering thought struck him. That was, if she still wanted to be engaged to him. What if she decided this was too much to handle? She had told him she would hate to live like this. What if...
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