by Bev Elle
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” she reiterated like a mantra.
When their lips finally met, they latched on and didn’t let go for an awkward amount of time.
“Um, you guys might want to get in here before those barking dogs bring the whole neighborhood out to watch you two make out on my doorstep,” Lisa said.
They stopped kissing just long enough to notice Lisa, who stood with her arms folded, watching them in amazement. Shanice showered him with more kisses.
“Sorry,” Trevor said. “Didn’t mean to be rude.” He closed the door and did a bow-legged walk toward Lisa, still carrying Shanice in his arms. Holding her carefully with one arm, he reached the other hand out to Lisa and introduced himself. “Trevor Kyle.”
“I would certainly hope you’re the Trevor she’s bent my ear about for the past four years and not some random guy who showed up on my doorstep to make out with her.”
Trevor laughed. “That’s one thing I’ll admit being guilty of.”
“Make yourself at home,” Lisa said. “I’m going into my room to watch some riveting Friday morning TV, unless you brought a sex-starved friend with you from prison who I can play with today.” The girl had the nerve to look hopeful.
Shanice tore her lips away from him. “Lisa!” Then to Trevor, she said, “Remember how I told you she has no filter?”
“I’m beginning to see that firsthand,” Trevor said. “And the answer is no. I tried not to make any friends while in prison. Sorry.” His mind went to Donald Hemphill, the federal agent had been the closest thing he’d had to a friend while he’d been inside. He might have to ask the guy for another favor. Later.
“Too bad,” Lisa said. “Hey, aren’t you out early? I thought Shanice said you were getting out on Monday. We had the GPS ready to pick up your ass early Monday morning.”
“Yeah, baby. How did you know I was here?” Trevor scrambled to think of an answer. He was grateful when Shanice said, “Oh, you called my parents.”
“Something like that,” he said.
Lisa backed towards the hallway, “Well, you kids catch up, fuck like a couple of bunnies, or make sweet love on my parents’ couch. It’s leather, so you won’t leave stains like I did on their other sofa that one time when I was in high school.”
Trevor shook his head, and Shanice grew almost purple with embarassment. When Lisa disappeared down the hall, they collapsed against each other and laughed.
Trevor said. “Where are her parents?”
“After our graduation, her father had to go out of the country on Air Force business and her mother went along. I’ve been here with Lisa for three days... waiting.” Her amber eyes clouded up again, and her chin quivered. “And now you’re here.”
Trevor pulled her close into his arms and molded her to him. His body had yearned for this kind of closeness when she’d visited him the few times she’d been able to or on nights after he’d talked to her on the phone. Even when he read one of her letters. Now he had the woman he loved in his arms, and he never wanted to let her go.
Of course, he’d have to for however long it took for Hemphill and his team to get enough on his uncle to take him into custody. Trevor hoped like hell it would be as easy to get him to confess his part in the scheme, while simultaneously providing the other part of the code to retrieve the stolen funds.
His face grew warm when he realized he was sporting a boner the consistency of granite. He gently held Shanice away from his body, but she pressed back into him. “Sweetheart,” he said sheepishly, “If you don’t stop that I’m going to have a messy and embarassing situation on my hands.”
“What?” she mumbled against his chest. “Oh!” She jumped back, but her focus was drawn to what was going on in his pants. He felt his face heat up even more, and he turned away from her to try and discreetly adjust himself, but his body wouldn’t cooperate. Then he decided it might be better if he sat down, so he strode over to the couch, where Shanice promptly joined him.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’d be more worried if you didn’t have that reaction to me after seven years.”
“I know, but that’s not all I want from you, Shanice. I love you, and I want us to do everything how Isaiah used to say, ‘decently and in order.’ Just like he did with your mother.”
“But why?” Then her plea turned to resolve on a dime. “Trevor Kyle, I have done without you for seven years, except on paper and by telephone most of the time. I’ve been married to you in my heart since you admitted your feelings for me after three years of langishing in that prison, hoping we’d all forget about you. If you don’t make love to me tonight, I’m going to explode!”
He became more and more shocked as she kept on talking. “What if it had been Monday when I’d gotten out?”
“Semantics,” she said. “I promised myself you would make love to me on the day you got out of prison, and that day is today.”
“What’s the rush? The world isn’t ending. After I’ve gotten on my feet, we’ll get married in your father’s church and have that honeymoon in Africa you’ve always wanted.”
The tears came again and broke his heart. All he could do was look at her with all the love he had in him as she pleaded her case.
“You pushed me away, not once, but twice,” she whispered through a pained voice that affected him almost as much as the first time he’d rescued her from the bullies. “I won’t survive it again. I need to have something of you that will assure me you won’t push me away again.”
“If I took advantage of you like that, I’d be as dishonorable and untrustworthy as the monster my uncle made me.”
“You are the honorable man my father and David Kyle created, not who your uncle tried to make you. So, no more waiting. I need you to make love to me, Trevor, because I need you to know from this day, not some arbitrary date in the future, we are one and we will never be separated again.”
It was all he could do not to grant her wish. As much as he wanted to, he knew if he took her before they were married, he wouldn’t be able to look his future father-in-law in the face. Long ago, when Isaiah came to terms with the way his daughter felt about Trevor, he’d exacted a promise from him, and as much as Shanice had tried to get him to break that promise even before he went to prison, he couldn’t do it. He had only one alternative.
“Let’s not wait, then.” He paused for effect. “Marry me, tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Yes. We’re in Vegas, the elopement capital of the world. There are little chapels all over this city,” he looked at his watch. “Let’s go get our paperwork done at City Hall.”
She stood as if the action was her answer and gave him a level stare. “Let’s go do this.”
“Yeah?”
“But, before we go, I need you to ask me again, and this time do the down on one knee thing.”
Trevor could only comply.
Chapter Twenty One
Special Agent Donald Hemphill took the stool next to Trevor at the hotel bar. Trevor was having a boilermaker. Hemphill flashed his credentials and waved the pretty blonde bartender away, but not before he gave her a broad smile and an “I’m your man if you want to get out of here later” wink.
Trevor glared at the FBI agent, who was almost as much of a chick magnet as James Bond, a fact he’d come to know in the almost eight years they’d known each other. At least once a year while Trevor had been imprisoned, Hemphill had collaborated with him on one case or another. “Last I checked, drinking wasn’t on the list of no-no’s for ex-cons.”
“Maybe not, but I know from experience brides don’t care much for sloppy-drunk grooms on their wedding nights. It dulls the performance.”
Trevor did a double-take. “How’d you know about that?”
“Connections. I got the memo. And if I got the information this fast, what makes you think Phil won’t? He has ‘connections,’ too.”
“I don’t care. With all that’s going on, she’s the one good thing in
my life. I want to make her happy.”
“But you’re putting her in danger. He’s threatened her to get to you.”
Trevor shook his head. “I can take care of myself. And Shanice. I’m going to give her a honeymoon, too.”
“Trevor,” Hemphill said and sounded like he was trying to control himself. “Phillip could already be in town. You should be holed up in your hotel until we do this thing. I knew it was a mistake when you refused protective custody.”
“I’ve been in prison for seven years. You guys standing guard while I sit in my room would be the same thing.”
Hemphill put his hand on Trevor’s arm. “But if something happens to you, our whole case falls apart.”
“Isn’t what you’re doing considered harassment or something? I don’t need babysitting. I’m a man of my word. I’m going to help you get Philip.”
Hemphill narrowed his eyes. “I’m not so sure. Can you even think straight where Shanice Bailey is concerned?”
Trevor groaned and scrubbed his face. “I’m marrying Shanice tomorrow, whether you like it or not. Philip is a shifty bastard. He may get me to transfer that money and put a bullet in my head before you and your entourage get a chance to storm the room.”
“You should have more faith in me, Trevor. Have I ever been bested by anyone other than you?”
Trevor knew Hemphill’s record. He was good at catching the bad guys, which is why Trevor put his trust in the guy in the first place.
“Isn’t there a first time for everything?” Trevor asked.
“Maybe a better question right now, is why are you drinking on what should be the happiest day of your life? From every indication, this is the girl who’s stuck by you like Tammy Wynette. What gives?”
Either Hemphill was asking the right questions, or Trevor was ripe for spilling his guts. “Shanice has a nursing degree and a promising career ahead of her. What have I got? A felony charge and nothing substantive to offer her in the way of a secure future.”
“Apparently, you didn’t read the fine print, my friend. If we get enough to convict Philip, not only will we protect you and yours from any retaliation on his part, the federal government is prepared to offer you a job in our cybercrimes division once he’s safely put away,” Hemphill said.
“Will I have to move to Quantico?”
“Not necessarily. You can work mostly from home. We might need you to come in every once in a while and train the other agents in the division from time to time, but you and the new Mrs. can live wherever you want.”
“That would be somewhere in Florida.”
“So, you’re going back home,” Hemphill’s tone indicated it was a statement, not a question.
“Yeah, I don’t want to take Shanice far away from her parents, if I don’t have to.”
“Look at you. Already thinking like a husband and believing you’ll survive your Uncle Philip.”
“Just wait till I tell you what else I want.”
“Okay, keep it down to something doable. Even I can’t work miracles.”
“I’m sure you can do this, even if you have to spot me until Uncle Sam gives my request a green light.”
“You want an advance,” Hemphill stated.
“It’s not unreasonable. I have a wedding and a honeymoon to bankroll all of a sudden.”
“This is true. You’ve likely earned every cent, given the help you’ve provided us the last seven years. I can go up to five figures without having to fleece my superiors.”
“Cool. How soon can you get it?” Trevor asked.
“Give me a couple of hours.”
“Banks are open here on the weekends?”
“Trevor, this is Sin City. Everything’s open on the weekend.”
“Please recite the vows you have prepared for one another,” the slight, balding minister said. Lisa, the maid of honor, wedding planner, and self-appointed amateur photographer, snapped pictures, while Donald, who’d been wrangled by Trevor into being the best man out of necessity, played videographer. He’d been worried about Lisa and Shanice catching on to who he was, but in the tux, he didn’t look like a federal agent.
The Burning Love Wedding Chapel was the first one they found that resembled her father’s church. If they were going to do the Vegas thing, they’d wanted it to look more like a sacred ceremony than the cheesy “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas” clichés. The minister’s wife played the organ. Rather than the overused Elvis hits, she’d actually played classical music. Of course, it was a far cry from the hymns that would’ve been played in her father’s church, but Shanice seemed okay with it.
Decked out in a white silk tea-length dress that looked enough like a wedding dress, Shanice sighed as if she were willing herself not to cry and said the words without reading them. “Trevor, even when we were children and you became my best friend, my protector, and my champion, I remember thinking that one day you would be my everything. You are the manifestation of what God desired for me, even when I didn’t know what to ask Him for. You loved me when I didn’t know how to love myself. We’ve gone through some dark times, but as we join together today, I promise we only have to look forward to living in the light. I will love you until death parts us, and I can no longer say the words.”
It was Trevor’s turn, and he hoped his voice wouldn’t shake. “Shanice, my heart is so full today, because it feels like we’ve always been joined together. Biological parents may have forsaken us, but we each were blessed with mothers and fathers who loved us more than blood, and they are with us in spirit today. When I look at you, I see the faith you’ve always had in me and realize only God could have put there. You have always been my friend, but as I take you as my wife and the future mother of my children, please know I will love you all the days I have on this earth and beyond, if possible.”
The minster looked to Donald, “Do you have the rings?”
Donald did an elaborate patting of his pockets before he came up with the rings. Everyone took a collected sigh of relief when he grinned and held them out to the minister.
“Please repeat after me, Shanice. ‘With this Ring I thee wed, with my body I thee worship, and with all my worldly goods I thee endow, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.’ ”
Once they’d each repeated the only phrase they chose to keep from the traditional vows, the minister declared. “By the power vested in me by God, the State of Nevada, and the city of Las Vegas, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Trevor, you may kiss your bride.
The minister’s wife began a rousing rendition of Pachelbel’s Canon in D as Trevor kissed Shanice so thoroughly, her knees buckled.
“You two are married now, you don’t have to keep making out like a couple of teenagers,” Lisa said as she snapped several more shots of them in a lip lock.
“Yeah, last I checked your honeymoon suite was waiting for you on the strip,” Donald said.
The minister said, “Mr. and Mrs. Kyle, we’d love to watch you two revel in your marital bliss, but I’ve got another couple getting married in ten minutes.”
They finally pulled apart and joined hands before they walked quickly out of the chapel. Lisa, the minister’s wife, and Donald threw rice at them as they exited.
Then they had dinner at a supper club, where they danced the night away. At one point, Trevor could see Donald and Lisa involved in a serious conversation. Lisa seemed to be on the attack, but Donald looked like he was holding his own.
Chapter Twenty Two
“I’m going to take things slow,” Trevor said. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
Shanice nodded. “Okay.”
As Trevor removed his clothes, he alternated by removing some of hers until they were both undressed. When they had their fill of looking at one another, he picked her up and carried her to the bed, where he laid her down. Shanice averted her eyes shyly and closed her legs.
He lay down next to her then leaned over and caressed her face. “I love you, Shanic
e. Don’t ever forget that.”
Trevor was more alive in this moment than he had ever been. He knew this wouldn’t be the greatest lovemaking session of all time, but he’d try to make it special for her. He also had to make sure it wasn’t over before it began. He first had to concentrate on making her relaxed and comfortable.
“Okay, just relax. Close your eyes.” Shanice did as she was told. Then he brought his hand down and touched her. She jumped and opened her eyes. “It’s okay. I’m just trying to get you ready.” Shanice closed her eyes, and he began again. He slowly ran his finger up and down and could feel her getting wetter. This was good. That meant less pain for her. “How does that feel?”
“Mmmm…good,” she said.
“Great. Now I’m going to slowly insert my finger. It may hurt a bit, but it’ll help for what’s to come.”
Shanice nodded, and he carefully slid his finger inside her. She tensed for a moment then seemed to relax. He moved in and out of her and watched her face. She was so beautiful.
“Now I’m going to add another finger.”
He hated to see the look of pain on her face, but it was about to get a lot worse. As he slowly worked his fingers in and out of her, the pain seemed to go away and turn to pleasure. Then she moaned and shook, and he felt her orgasm. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen.
When she seemed to come down, he said, “Shanice, could you open your eyes and look at me?” When she did, he said, “Look, I’ve been in prison for seven years. I’ve been dreaming of this day for a long time, and now that it’s finally here, I don’t want to mess it up.”
Shanice put her hand on his cheek. “You can’t.”
He smiled. “Well, we’ll see about that. It’s been a while. I’ll try to hold on as long as I can, but this will probably go pretty fast. If it does, I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
“Trevor,” Shanice said, “no matter what happens, this will be amazing, because I’m with you. I’ve wanted this for a long time, too. We’re going to be fine.”