He pulled her closer. “I want to do this. You’re starting to make me think that maybe you’re the one who’s having second thoughts.”
She shook her head. “Absolutely not. Because at this point my mother would kill me if I did. Did you see all those people out there?”
He nodded. “I think the entire town closed down for business to be here,” he said with a chuckle. “I guess we’d better give them something to talk about.”
She gave a nervous laugh. “I guess so.”
His gaze shifted to the bodice of her dress, which showed generous cleavage, and he found himself thinking about the chocolate color of her nipples and the weight of her breasts in his hands. They hadn’t made love in over a week, but tonight all that would change. Tonight he would make love to his wife.
Bianca gave him one final look of uncertainty. “Are you sure?”
London pulled her into his arms. He pressed his lips to her forehead then pulled back. “I’m sure.”
“If you change your mind—”
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Before she could get it out, he lowered his mouth to hers, brushing his lips back and forth. Bianca brought her hands to his shoulders, holding on to him as he traced the shape of her mouth with his tongue. With a sigh, she opened her mouth and he teased her with his tongue, wanting to let her know that this was just a taste of what was yet to come. Tonight he was going to make her his. Finally, she placed a hand on his chest and pushed away. She stared up at him with her lips moist and parted.
“I’m not changing my mind,” he reassured her. “Now go before I yank that gown from your body and make love to you right here, right now. To hell with all of those people waiting.”
She must have seen that he was serious because she backed away and hurried out the door.
As soon as she was gone, London released a long breath as he moved to look out the window. Mark and the minister were outside waiting under a gazebo at the center of the magnificent rose garden.
It was showtime. Struggling to breathe, he turned on his heel.
Reaching for the brass handles, he opened the French doors and strolled over to his assigned place next to his cousin. His eyes traveled over to the several hundred people sitting under the cool shaded trees, waiting for the wedding to begin. His sisters waved from the second row. Waving back, he gave them a wide grin.
They were happy for him.
Things were not going to change. He and Bianca would share a home and he would have a companion in his bed for the next year. And when the time came, they would both go their separate ways. Although he had every intention of being a permanent part of her child’s life.
“Is everything okay?” Mark asked.
“Yes, everything is fine,” he said.
“For a minute there I thought maybe she had come to her senses and wanted a real man like me.”
London ignored his cousin’s wisecracks, clasped his hands in front, fixed his gaze on the opposite end of the aisle and waited.
Jabarie escorted Bianca’s mother down the aisle. She took her seat upfront and gave London a sweet welcoming smile. His belly knotted. She trusted him with her daughter. And he wouldn’t let her down.
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From the corner of the garden a harpist plucked out a tune. His talented sister, Denise, stood off to the side with a cordless micro-phone in hand as she sang Stevie Wonder’s “Ribbon in the Sky.”
The double French doors leading from the main part of the house opened and one by one the wedding party came out. A grin curled his lips when Brenna and Jabarie’s three-year-old daughter came down the aisle carrying a small basket of flowers.
Arianna scattered rose petals randomly as she made her way up the aisle. When she reached the end she rushed to sit on her grandmother’s lap.
The music changed to the wedding march and London breathed in admiration as he caught sight of Bianca floating regally toward him on the arm of her father. The tie knotted at his throat threatened to choke him. For the hundredth time he was overcome by his desire for her. Sunlight, soon to set into dusk, danced on her curls and sparkled on the beading of her dress. He squared his shoulders and awaited his bride.
On the verge of hyperventilating, Bianca struggled to regulate her breathing and then she met London’s gaze across the garden and forgot about breathing altogether.
The strength in London’s gaze drew her forward as surely as her father’s firm grip on her elbow, guiding her down the aisle.
Not once did her eyes leave London’s. She took in his attire.
London was mainly a khakis and polo shirt man, yet this afternoon, he wore a finely tailored tuxedo, as if he had been born to wear one. In fact, he looked handsome and downright dangerous. His good looks were enough to bring any woman to her knees, and today she was no exception.
When she reached the end of the short aisle, he held out his hand. Everything is going to be all right, his steady brown gaze seemed to tell her. Her father released her, kissed her cheek and stepped away. London took his place beside her. His warm fingers curled around hers and a sense of calmness settled over her.
The minister began the traditional service Bianca had heard many times before. The familiar words eased the tension that gripped her stomach. London eased a simple gold band on her finger and repeated his vows in a firm, confident voice. When it Angie Daniels
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was Bianca’s turn to say her vows, her voice trembled and when she finally slid the wide gold band over London’s knuckle, she gasped. It was officially too late to change her mind.
“I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The minister closed his prayer book and beamed. “London, you may kiss your bride.”
Bianca met his eyes. He smiled at her and he leaned in close.
Her heart stumbled then raced. His hands curved over her bare shoulders and his long fingers sent a heated rush over her body.
She dampened her lips. She thought she saw a flare of something besides lust before London bent his head, but he lowered his lids before she could identify the emotion. Bianca leaned into him, resting her hands against his strong body. She felt safe and in danger at the same time.
His mouth opened over hers. The world around them disappeared. The flick of his tongue on her bottom lip struck her with the charge of a lightning bolt, and then he tasted her. She couldn’t help but taste him back. Delicious. Her hands slid up his neck.
She tunneled her fingers through his hair. His palms eased down over the slick fabric of her gown, pulling her firmly against his body and deepening the kiss.
Loud applause and laughter penetrated the sensual fog.
London slowly lifted his head. Bianca stared up at him for a long intense moment, and she realized that if she weren’t careful, she would definitely be in danger of losing her heart.
“Ladies and gentleman, allow me to be the first to introduce Mr. and Mrs. London Brown.”
The photographer moved in close and the flash went off in her face. Blinking rapidly, Bianca pasted on what she hoped looked like a blissful smile while inside her world had just been turned every which way.
She was only vaguely aware of her surroundings, of Debra hugging her tightly, and Mona and Denise with tears in their eyes, kissing her on the cheek. “My brother could not have made a better choice,” Denise said. Clarence kissed Bianca and shook his son’s hand as he congratulated them both.
Finally, Jessica turned to their guests. “Please join us on the patio for cocktails,” she said in her best hostess voice.
Chapter 20
The wedding. The kiss. The announcement that Bianca was now his wife hit London hard. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
My wife.
He watched her all during dinner and the cutting of the cake.
Now the deejay had slowed down the music and he was moving across the patio to claim her.
“Sweetheart, can I have this dance?”
Bianca smiled up at
him, then offered him her hand, and he escorted her out onto the dance floor. Instantly, he pulled her against him and she locked her arms around his neck.
“I think everything went quite well,” she said as she followed his lead.
“No, things went better than well.” Their marriage was supposed to be temporary, him helping a friend. End of story. Only he wanted more…after the small ceremony, he wanted a lot more.
“Hey, what’s going on in that head of yours?” Bianca asked, getting his attention.
London gazed down at her smiling face, then seared her mouth with a long, passionate kiss. “You. I can’t stop thinking about Angie Daniels
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you,” he murmured, then pressed his lips to hers again. When he finally came up for air, he held her tightly against his beating heart. “Do you feel that? That’s how you make me feel.”
She leaned back and stared up at his face, seeing how serious he really was. Her eyes grew large and round, filled with surprise.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“Say that as soon as this song is over you’ll be ready to sneak out the back door.”
Her lips curled in a smile that challenged his libido. “I’ll meet you in the limo.”
Half an hour later, London unlocked the front door and shoved it open. He swept Bianca up in his arms. She gasped, squirmed and kicked her feet. He tightened his hold. “Hold still before I drop you,” he whispered against her ear.
She giggled and wound her arms around his neck. “Will you put me down?”
“Not until we’re inside.” London stepped inside and kicked the door closed, then slowly lowered her to her feet and immediately brought his mouth to hers. He couldn’t get enough of her.
He took her hand. “Well? What do you think?”
Bianca tore her eyes from him and suddenly realized that she was in London’s home, now their home, for the first time in over a week. She glanced around, eyes wide.
“Oh, my goodness! When did you have time to do all this?”
“I hired a crew to have it ready in time for our wedding.”
“It’s beautiful!” She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. When she had insisted that it was a waste of time for him to sell his home, since their marriage was only going to last for a year, he got her to agree to move in with him. However, Bianca had hinted that the house lacked warmth and femininity and she was going to make some changes after she moved in. Refusing to let his pregnant wife lift so much as a paintbrush, London had hired a crew to renovate his house in seven days.
“It’s my gift to you. I want you to feel like this is your home.”
“Thanks to you, I already do.” Rising onto her tiptoes she pressed her lips to his. London groaned then swung her into his arms and carried her down the hall.
“Where are we going?”
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“To bed. You can look at the rest of the house later. Right now, I need to make love to my wife.”
As soon as they were in his room, he lowered her onto her feet. Bianca pushed away and walked around the room, admiring the eggshell walls, the plush cream carpet and the large bed that was set high off the floor. On the wall above the bed was a sunset beach scene of deep rich colors painted across a large canvas.
“That painting is gorgeous,” she said with admiration.
He swiveled his head to look at her. “The moment I saw it I thought of you.”
While she looked around at the decor and rich, new furnishings, he slipped out of his tuxedo jacket and loosened his tie. “I’ve been dying to do that all day,” he said after blowing out a long breath.
Bianca hadn’t heard a word he said. She stood at the center of the room still shaking her head with disbelief. “Baby, you okay?”
She swung around. “London, I can’t believe you did all this.
Everything is exactly the way I would have wanted it.”
He tossed his shirt over onto a cream-colored upholstered chair in front of a large picture window, then moved beside her and slipped his arm around her waist. “I’ll have to admit, I couldn’t have pulled it off without my sisters’ help.”
“I’ll have to thank them personally.”
“Later. Right now we’ve got business to attend to.” He lowered his mouth to hers and slipped his tongue inside, giving her a sample of what was yet to come. She pressed her hands to his chest and leaned into the kiss, giving as good as he gave.
“Tonight will be the first time I make love to you as my wife,”
he whispered against her lips. Calling her his wife sounded so right.
Bianca’s hand slid along the hard ridges of his abdomen down to the narrow patch of hair leading downward. She eased her hand lower still over the erection that strained against the fly of his pants.
“Well, well. What do we have here?” she asked with a hint of mischief in her eyes.
London’s head fell back and he let out a low groan. She smiled as she slid her hand over the full hard length of him.
“Bianca,” he whispered hoarsely as his hand closed over hers and stilled it. “Don’t.”
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She leaned into him, pressing her breasts against him and whispered, “Why not?”
“Because if you don’t stop it’s going to be over before it gets started and that is not the type of wedding night I had planned for us.” He moved her hands behind her back with one hand and unzipped her dress with the other, then watched it fall to the floor.
Bianca immediately kicked it away. His gaze turned smoldering and hot as he eyed her thong panties and the garters holding her thigh-high stockings in place. London pulled her against him.
With a wicked smile on her lips she pushed him back on the bed then climbed on top and straddled him.
Leaning forward, she pressed her breasts to his chest, then rocked gently against his erection and his grip on her hips tightened. His hot mouth grazed her throat as she whispered in his ear. “You want me?”
“You know I do,” he growled against her cheek.
London’s hands roamed her body up her back then down over her hips and back to her shoulders. His fingers twisted in the straps of her bra. He eased the straps down, leaving her breasts exposed to him. Desire flashed in his dark eyes. He bent his head to her and his tongue glided over a nipple, causing it to pebble tightly.
Her breath caught. He gave her no time to recover from his touch. His hands cupped her breasts and kneaded them gently.
His tongue flicked the other nipple and it puckered to an almost painful point.
She gasped as the pleasure built deep inside. Her fingers gripped his steel biceps. She looked down at him as he laved and sucked her taut peaks.
One hand left her breast and eased up the outer side of her thigh. He touched the exposed skin above the lacy top of her stocking and expertly unfastened the garter with a quick flick.
While doing so, his fingers grazed the damp crotch of her panties.
She flinched and London groaned loudly at her reaction. He released her nipple and allowed his tongue to run along her neck and cheek before meeting her lips.
Bianca was almost breathless. Her insides hummed. Her temples pulsed. She was hot and turned on beyond words.
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“London,” she urged, desperately needing him to touch her.
“Please.”
He kissed her again. His lips and tongue tangled with hers.
As he deepened their kiss, his finger pushed aside the material between her legs and brushed over the wet flesh.
Bianca broke the kiss and gasped. Sharp stabs of desire pierced her deep inside. Her hard nipples grazed his skin as she fought for a full, steady breath.
London stroked her until she was panting in his ear. She rose up a bit off his lap, giving him better access. He found that precious nub and rubbed it slowly, intensifying the throbbing.
&
nbsp; Bianca closed her eyes and her lips parted slightly as a sigh of lust and longing passed through them.
Then his fingers slid inside her and she cried out, her body responding fervently to the sudden, sweet intrusion. The pressure inside her mounted to an unbearable degree as he took her to the brink. But she wanted more than this. She wanted all of him.
“Don’t you want to be inside me, London?” she asked on a labored breath.
“You know I do, baby,”
She reached for his hand, removed his fingers and unfastened his belt. She unzipped his pants and slid them below his hips. The tip of his hard penis strained above the waistband of his sexy black briefs. Her fingers skimmed over the smooth skin and he bucked beneath her touch. She pushed the briefs down, then her hand wrapped around his thick shaft.
She eased her body over the head of his cock and rubbed it against her wet flesh. London groaned. His chest rose and fell sharply with his quick breath. Bianca slowly drew him into her body, one exquisitely sensual inch at a time. His hands cupped her breasts and his thumbs teased her nipples. She took him in farther, then eased back, drawing him out of her. She repeated this motion over and over until he gave a low primal groan.
Finally, Bianca drew him completely inside her and rocked against him. When she knew they were both close, she increased the tempo, riding him hard and fast. His hands grabbed at her hips, and he pressed her down onto him as he arched upward, meeting her strokes and thrusting deeper and deeper inside her.
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“I’m going to come, baby,” he said on a harsh breath.
“Yes, London. Now!”
His hands slid to her bottom and he cupped her cheeks. He pushed himself into her and he felt her body shake just before he convulsed with an orgasm.
Moments later, a shattering climax rocked her body and she cried out. She squeezed her inner muscles tightly around him.
He desperately wanted to prolong the sensations rioting inside his body for as long as possible, because their time together would only be temporary.
Chapter 21
Bianca stared out the window of the airplane for the third time.
“London, where are we going?” she asked, burning with curiosity.
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