He had done so countless times over the last week. She had even found him holding a silent vigil by Beth's side when she'd been forced to leave her to take a quick shower, after she couldn't stand her own smell anymore. Beth had woken up as she'd padded back into the room, and the tenderness with which he had responded to her niece's whispered question had lodged a big permanent lump in her throat.
He was far too dangerous to her well-being when he showed this softer, much more human side of his, and he seemed to be doing so more and more often.
"It's no big deal. I couldn't find one that I liked, so, yes, I had this one made. It reminded me of you. Like I said, if you don't like it, I'll get it changed."
"No, it's perfect, thank you." She risked a glance up at him, and her throat went dry at the quiet intensity with which he studied her. She cleared her throat, and still her next words came out croaky. "Will you put it on me, please? That's something one does, after all."
She held her breath as he stepped so close to her his body heat warmed her frozen skin. He was so solid and warm and just alive that it took her breath away. He cupped her hand and slid the ring on her left ring finger in one fluid move. Once on he kept hold of her hand and used his free one to tip her chin up. She had about a second's warning before he bent and closed the distance to kiss her.
This was no gentle brush of lips on lips; no, this was a determined assault on her senses, and she couldn't help but open to the insistent pressure of his tongue, demanding entry. He pulled her up and flush against him, until her breasts were squashed against his chest, and she stood on tiptoes to get closer to him. Her hands curled around his broad shoulders, and his roamed to her ass, molding her against the impressive ridge of his cock.
She whimpered her need into his mouth, and he took the kiss deeper. Ever more passionate and demanding, his tongue dueled with hers, and he groaned when she kissed him back. The vibrations travelled through her, and arousal pooled low in her belly and soaked her underwear with a gush of her juices. She gave herself up to sensation, to the sheer joy of the knowledge that he desired her as much as she did him, at this moment in time anyway. All her worries fell away; the only thing that mattered was his scent and heat surrounding her, and the hot throbbing between her legs, that made her raise one leg and grind her pussy shamelessly into the erection tenting his trousers.
By the time he finally broke the kiss, she was ready to jump him there and then, regardless of her niece sleeping in the bed, regardless of the fact that anyone could walk in at any moment and disturb them. Fortunately, he had more sense than she, as he disentangled himself from her slowly, and heat rose in her cheeks at her body's wanton behavior.
He framed her face and studied her, a small smile twisting round his full lips, and he ran his thumb over her mouth. It felt swollen from his earlier attentions, and his eyes darkened to the deepest black she'd ever seen.
"My sweet little Alice. We should save something for our honeymoon, don't you think? At least, we know we're compatible in this department."
He kissed her nose and stepped away from her with another rueful smile that had her insides curl in excitement at the heated promise in his onyx eyes.
"We're going on honeymoon?" She grimaced at the squeaky quality of her voice, and clenched her thighs together to relieve some of the delicious ache in her core.
He simply smiled and nodded, just as Beth woke up and broke the moment.
Chapter Five
Alice stared at her reflection in the mirror, not really recognizing the person looking back at her. Today was her wedding day. A day that should be the happiest day of her life, yet fear and regret gnawed hole in her tummy. She wasn't frightened of Lakota as such. He had given her no reason to be frightened of him, rather the opposite. Her heart gave a suspicious little lurch every time he walked into a room, and when he bestowed one of his rare smiles on her, the ones usually reserved for little Beth, parts of her just melted. She was fiercely attracted to him, and by some sheer fluke he seemed to find her attractive, too.
Alice was under no illusion that there was anything more but basic lust involved on his part, at least. Her own emotions were far too complicated to try to make any sense out of. If only things were different, but that was just wishful thinking. As much as she might hope for more this was a mere business transaction. She had sold herself to the highest bidder, and as Lakota needed to get married, this was the perfect solution to the problem she'd presented. Not for the first time Alice wondered at the demons that drove him, at the need to do right by his brother.
Family was important to Lakota. That much was obvious. It showed in every smile he gave little Beth, in the myriad of things he did to make the little girl's stay in hospital nicer for her, and in the way he tensed and the shutters came down, whenever his late brother was mentioned. It was almost as though he blamed himself for his brother's death, and he was trying to atone. What for exactly, Alice couldn’t even begin to guess at.
But as fond as he seemed to have grown of her niece in the process, and as much as Beth pleaded to be bridesmaid at their wedding, he had become an unmovable statue at the suggestion that they postpone the wedding.
Beth had sulked, Elizabeth had frowned, and Alice had forced herself to keep her lips curved into the semblance of a smile.
Lakota had not met any of their gazes. He had simply stood up, and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but the date is fixed. We're getting married on Friday." He'd exited the room, the thud of the door too loud in the stillness his departure left them in.
"Well, he has his reasons I am sure. We can see the video, Beth. It will be fine." Mum had fixed an overly bright smile on her face for Beth, but when she looked at Alice the shimmer of unshed tears in her eyes, had almost been Alice's undoing.
Alice closed her eyes and shook her head to clear away the fog of emotion. She was a big girl. She could do this—she had to do this—she was under contract after all. Lakota might be fond of Beth, but he was a man of business, and one just did not cross him in business, and business was all this was. As long as she remembered this, she would be just fine, so it was probably just as well, that neither Mum, nor Beth, nor any of her friends would be at this wedding. It would be easier to stick to her side of the bargain, if she didn't have to act the doting bride, even if she did have the horrible suspicion that she wouldn't have to act much.
She hadn't seen Lakota since that day in the hospital. Percy had said he was busy with business, and had relayed Lakota's instructions to her in minute detail. Not one moment of their wedding was left to chance. From her underwear to her dress, the bouquet she carried, and her hair and make-up, expertly applied by the stylist who had shown up at her house this morning, everything had been taken care of.
She couldn't fault his taste. The cream lace dress fitted her like a second skin and showed her curves off to perfection. The off the shoulder design cinched her in at the waist, and the skirt gently flared over her hips, and ended just above her knee. The slightly off kilter hemline finished off a timelessly elegant look, and with her hair arranged in a messy up-do, and her new smoky eye make-up making her look rather mysterious, she at least looked the part of Lakota's bride.
Theirs was to be a quiet registry office wedding at a secret location to throw the ever nosy reporters off the trail. As far as Alice could ascertain, Percy was to be Lakota's witness, and hers was the ever efficient, if slightly nervous, wedding planner Lakota had employed.
The knock on the door shook Alice out of her internal musings.
"Are you all right in there? We'll have to go, or we'll be late, and Mr. Kemnay does not appreciate tardiness." The words held an almost pleading tone, and Alice forced a smile on her lips and opened the door to a rather relieved looking Susan.
"Oh, you do look beautiful in that dress. You will make such a stunning couple. If only Mr. Kemnay would have allowed a more open wedding. It would make for the society wedding of the year."
Alice drew a face
at the thought, and Susan shrugged her delicate shoulders.
"Yes, yes, I know. He said you wouldn't care for all the hoopla, but really, if I snared myself a hunk like him, I'd want the world to bear witness to that fact." Susan beamed at her, but quickly sobered when Alice simply stared at her.
"Were you not berating me mere minutes ago that we would be late? I wouldn't want to cost you your commission, so perhaps we ought to get moving," Alice said.
The overly styled and primped wedding planner's practiced smile slipped a little more, and she gestured for Alice to follow her.
Flashlights exploded in her face the minute she stepped out of the front door, and Alice was rather grateful for the quick appearance of Lakota's driver, who had both her and Susan settled in the back of the limo in record time. Safely hidden behind the tinted windows, Alice breathed a sigh of relief, and the driver smiled at her through the rear view mirror.
"If I may so, Miss, you look stunning. Now, relax, I'll have you there in no time at all."
Alice smiled back at him and tried her best to ignore Susan's excited chatter in her ear, until the woman's phone rang, and something in the tone of her voice drew her attention.
"I see … well, yes, but at this late hour… Right, and this was arranged, when? Fine, but I still expect to be—" She clicked her phone off with an affronted, "Harrumph," and sank back into the plush covers with a frown.
"Is everything all right, Susan?" Alice asked.
"Oh, yes, everything is fine, or so I am told. He's only gone and changed the venue at the last minute. Lord knows who he has employed to do that. It certainly wasn't me, and how I am expected to work in these circumstances is beyond me. The man is simply impossible."
Before Alice could ask her to explain those cryptic comments, the limo stopped, and Susan got out without as much as a good bye. In the blink of an eye they were moving again.
"Don't worry, Miss, I know where we're going. The boss has got it all sorted. Just sit back and relax." Again he smiled at her, and Alice snapped her mouth shut. Lord only knew what was going on.
Half an hour later they pulled up at the back of the hospital, and a bewildered Alice scrambled out of the limo to find a smiling Sara waiting for her.
"Surprise!" Sara squealed and pulled her into a bear hug, as the limo pulled away. "God, you look stunning girl. Let's go and get you married."
"What are you on about? I can't get married at the hospital? Can I? And what on earth are you doing here?"
Sara punched her arm and simply grinned at her.
"It's a surprise, you ninny. And you didn't think I'd miss your wedding, did you? Now hush up and just follow me, because we're attracting too much attention, and that hunk you're going to marry is going to have my pelt if I don't get you there in time."
Alice was too stunned to take it all in. What on earth was going on? Sara just laughed and dragged her past the curious bystanders, into the lift, and up to Beth's floor. However, they didn't stop at her door but outside the dayroom, which seemed to have been converted into an impromptu chapel.
Artfully arranged flower decorations were everywhere, but Alice only had eyes for Beth. Propped up in a wheelchair, with her drip and oxygen supply hooked up behind her, and flanked by two nurses, her niece was grinning at her from ear to ear. She held a small bouquet of her own in her tiny hands, and looked so fragile, yet excited, that Alice had to fight back tears. Her mother stood to one side, and Sara joined her with a wide smile. She whispered something to Elizabeth, and her mum's smile deepened.
Alice sensed rather than saw Lakota's quiet approach.
"Let's get married, little Alice."
****
Some of the tension that had held onto Lakota all day evaporated when Alice walked into the room. He released the breath he hadn't even been aware of holding, stepped closer to her, and ran a finger over the delicate line of her neck. A shudder went through her, and her eyes widened when she saw the two blue blankets draped over his arm. She turned fully and smiled at him. Such an uncertain, yet hopeful gesture that tore at his insides, and made him grateful that he had kept his plans a secret.
He couldn't even explain it to it himself, this need he seemed to have to please his little Alice. He'd expected an argument when he announced that their wedding would go ahead regardless of little Beth's wishes. But Alice had stood up for him and never once complained. Only her eyes had shown her hurt, and suddenly he couldn't stand what he was doing to her. What he was doing to them all. So he'd hatched this plan to surprise her, roping in her friend Sara. The bubbly redhead was only too happy to help, and she now approached to take the bouquet out of Alice's trembling hands.
"Let me take that now. You need your hands free for those."
She winked at Lakota and pointed to the blankets still draped over his arm. Alice handed over the delicate bundle of lilies, and kept her head bent as Lakota wrapped the tribal blanket around her shoulders. Their hands met as she took the ends off him, and a tear splashed onto his fingers.
He suppressed a curse, and he tilted her head up to see her expression. Another tear escaped her expressive eyes, and he used his thumbs to wipe them away. The room faded away until it was just the two of them, staring at each other in the ways of the old world. Lakota was dimly aware of Percy wrapping the other blue blanket around his shoulders, and he grabbed the ends to hold them together.
He knew Alice would know the ritual of the blankets, having majored in Native American history at University, before her niece's illness forced her to drop out of her studies, and sure enough, she edged closer to him.
"Pilamayaye, Lakota." The whispered thank you in his mother tongue touched him more than he would have thought possible, and he lowered his forehead to hers.
"Taŋyáŋ yahí, my little Alice."
She smiled, and he pulled away. Holding the blanket together with one hand he held out his free one, and his chest felt suspiciously tight when she did the same and her slender fingers curled around his. Together they walked to the front where the chaplain was patiently waiting for them. As the ceremony started, Lakota lost all sense of time, giving his answers on auto-pilot.
The mixture of traditional tribal rites and the modern western ceremony blended together beautifully, and he knew deep down in his bones that he had done the right thing by combining the two. He might have left his heritage long behind, but he couldn't deny it, not even for what was in effect a sham wedding. However, hearing Alice giving her slightly hesitant answers, her small hand trembling in his, it didn't feel like they were pretending. He ground his teeth when she pushed the matching wide platinum band on his left ring finger, and the chaplain pronounced them man and wife.
Percy took the blanket off his shoulders, and Sara took it off Alice's to be replaced by the larger white blanket, representing their future together. They clasped hands and stepped underneath, and Lakota shut his eyes to stop the unexpected rush of emotion swamping him. He was getting maudlin in his old age, but when he opened them again, and saw Alice watching him, something inside him broke. A primitive urge to protect and possess turned his pulse crazy and sent heated arousal pulsing through his veins. He might only have married her because he needed to look presentable, but somehow little Alice had marched right under his defenses, and now she was his, truly his.
He pulled her to him with a growl proclaiming his ownership, and when she melted against his frame, he tasted heaven.
****
Cocooned under the white blanket, there was no getting away from Lakota. Not that Alice would have wanted to. As the ceremony wore on, Lakota had lost more and more of the thin veneer of civility, and he had turned into the warrior his origins had made him. Were it not for the business suit he wore under the blanket wrapped around his broad shoulders, Alice could have easily pictured him out in the open, atop his horse, like his ancestors had once been. He'd left his hair loose for the ceremony, and it hung round his face in perfect straight strands, reiterating the wildness about him�
�that savage streak her body responded to instinctively. By the time the chaplain pronounced them man and wife, and the white blanket settled over them, representing their new start, Alice had been a quivering mass of need.
She'd been shocked to the core to see him incorporate his tribal traditions. Whatever possessed him to do that, she couldn’t even hazard a guess, but it had been one shock too many on top of the amended venue and her family being in attendance. She couldn't have wished for a more perfect wedding had she planned it herself, and she let herself be swept away with the illusion. And illusion was all this was, she had to remember that, but as they said their vows, they didn't seem as though they were just pretending. His deep voice penetrated her very soul, and when he tightened his hand on hers as she said her vows, such incredible hope had settled in her heart, it was fit to bursting with it all.
She clung to him now, every molecule of her surrendering to the fierce, almost savage way he kissed her, as though he was branding her as his forever. He murmured an old Sioux prayer in-between kisses, heartfelt words of love and hope, and an ancient belief in the powers surrounding them that reached deep within her and let that seed of hope blossom and spread like wildfire.
She kissed him back with the same intense need to brand and claim, and his groan trembled through her. Whatever lay ahead for them, whatever happened, she would never forget those intense few minutes under their blanket when time stood still, and the connection between them seemed so strong, nothing could shake them.
As abruptly as he'd grabbed her, he released her when the blanket was lifted amongst loud cheering from the assembled little crowd. Alice blinked in the sudden bright lights of her surroundings, and returned the hugs from her mum and Sara, before she bent down to kiss little Beth. The little girl's smile looked strained, and her skin had taken on an unhealthy ashen tone that worked faster than a cold shower to burst the little bubble of happiness Alice had found herself in.
The Billionaire's Unwanted Virgin Page 6