by Tina Martin
Melanie pulled in another long breath and said, “Okay. I’m ready.”
* * *
“So, it’s almost that time,” Dante said, looking at Dimitrius. He and his brothers were standing near the wedding chapel, all dressed in black tuxedos. “You ready for this, man?”
Dimitrius nervously rubbed his hands together and said, “Yeah. I’m ready.”
“You sure?” Desmond asked, “Because it’s not too late to go running for the hills.”
Dante chuckled. “Des, when you finally decide to get serious about your life, which I hope will be very soon, by the way, then you’ll know why I married, and why Dimitrius is getting married. I love Emily.”
“And I love Melanie,” Dimitrius said.
“And I love my freedom,” Desmond stated, then laughed.
Dante shook his head.
“I know it’s strange,” Dimitrius said, “But I loved her from the moment I saw her. I knew she was the woman for me.”
Dante nodded. “It’s not strange at all. That’s the same way I felt when laid eyes on Emily.”
“Well, I don’t believe in this love at first sight nonsense,” Desmond said, and just as he was speaking, the women came walking in their direction.
Desmond frowned when he saw Sherita. When had she arrived? And why did she have a camera swinging from around her neck. “What’s she doing here?” he mumbled to Dante.
“She’s the photographer,” Dante answered. “Sherita is a destination wedding photographer. We could really use her at the next mass wedding at the Grieving Hearts Connect Resort, don’t you think?”
Desmond gritted his teeth. Why did she have to be so gorgeous, wearing a teal dress that was as light as wind? She had the front of her hair pinned up, the back hanging long and pretty.
Dante glanced at Desmond and chuckled. “For someone who doesn’t believe in love at first sight, you sure are looking at Sherita like you could offer her a marriage proposal.”
Desmond blinked out of his trance and coolly slid his hands in his pockets. “That’s not going to happen.”
“If you say so.”
Dimitrius locked eyes with Melanie and licked his lips. Without question, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. And she was his…
His eyes roamed over her. She was wearing a white dress, not the typical wedding gown style of dress, but more like the type of dress one would wear to an all-white party. It hugged her curves so perfectly that he was already having thoughts of what her body would look like had it not been hiding behind the dress.
Melanie smiled when she saw Dimitrius, standing there waiting for her, and she was happy – proud he had chosen her to be his wife. Over the last four weeks, she’d learned so much about him, and she knew they had a long way to go before they’d fully gotten to know each other, but they had to begin their journey somewhere, and it was starting here, in Vegas, at a quaint chapel.
The minister had walked up to the podium and said, “So where’s the happy couple?”
“Right here,” Dimitrius said, extending his hand for Melanie’s grasp. He gently pulled her close to him and took a kiss from her lips.
“We haven’t gotten to that part yet,” the minister quipped.
“Sorry,” Dimitrius said. “I couldn’t resist.”
The minister began the ceremony with opening remarks.
Dimitrius and Melanie remained holding hands, then, gazing into her eyes, he mouthed, “Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“Now, I want you, Melanie, to repeat after me,” the minister said.
“Okay,” Melanie responded. And, repeating after the minister, she began, “I, Melanie Summers, take you, Dimitrius Champion, to be my lawfully wedded husband. To have and to hold,” she said, tears rolling down her face. “From this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish ‘til death do us part.”
Dimitrius wiped tears away from her eyes with his thumbs, then took her hands into his grasp again.
“Now, Dimitrius, please repeat after me,” the minister said.
Dimitrius began, “I, Dimitrius Champion, take you, Melanie Summers, to be my lawfully wedded wife. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish ‘til death do us part.”
“Now, if we can have the rings, please.”
“Wait,” Dimitrius said. “I need to say something first.” He looked at Melanie and said, “I know we have a long way to go in our efforts to learn each other. I don’t know what the future will bring our way, baby. All I know is that I love you, and that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Melanie. These last few weeks with you have been amazing. I feel like I’m a different man. I feel like I can do anything. For the first time in a long time, I’m living. I’m happy. And I want to make you happy…to give you a life that you once had only dreamed of. And I want you to know that there is nothing we can’t endure…nothing that will ever stop me from loving you. Nothing.”
Dimitrius wiped more tears from Melanie’s eyes and pinched his eyes together tightly before looking at her again.
Dante handed the rings to Dimitrius and everyone quietly watched as he slid the rock onto her trembling hand.
Melanie placed a ring onto his finger as well and, before the minister could officially pronounce them husband and wife, Dimitrius gently cupped her head in his hands and swooped in like a hungry eagle for her lips. He pulled her bottom lip inside of his mouth, taking his time to savor her. He wanted her to know how much he cared for her. How much he loved her.
His brothers clapped and cheered along with Emily and Sherita.
“We should go celebrate,” Desmond said.
Emily glanced over at Dimitrius and Melanie, still kissing, and said, “Um…I think they’re going to have their own celebration.”
“I think you’re right,” Dante said, throwing his arms around Emily.
When Dimitrius and Melanie finally separated, everyone offered their congratulations and Dimitrius quickly whisked his bride away.
Dimitrius carried Melanie to the elevator. When the doors closed, they kissed passionately, wanting each other with the same amount of desire. It didn’t matter that there were other people on the elevator with them. As far as they were concerned, it was just them.
When they arrived to their room, Dimitrius broke away from her to unlock the door, then he picked up where he left off, latching onto her mouth while he maneuvered out of his tuxedo jacket. When he had successfully done that, he picked her up, took her to the master bedroom in the suite and lowered her to the bed, kissing her with the same intensity as he had on the elevator just a moment ago.
He pulled his mouth away from hers. “Are you alright?”
As if intoxicated by him, she stared up into his eyes, seemingly in a trance and said, “Yes. I’m alright.”
“I know you’re nervous, but there’s no need to be, baby. Block everything out of your mind and focus on me, on us. I love you, Melanie.”
“I love you too, Dimitrius,” she admitted, the first time she had ever done so.
Dimitrius kissed her lips again, then kissed her neck, massaging his tongue against it, leaving his mark there before exploring other parts of her body.
“Oh, Dimitrius,” she panted. “Oh…sorry. I forgot you…didn’t like…that.”
“I love that, Melanie,” he said, looking up at her. “I didn’t want you to say it back then because it was a turn on. Now, you can say it all you want, baby.”
He sank his tongue deeper inside of her mouth and drowned his hands inside of her soft curls. Growls escaped this throat as they kissed, at the thought that she was his and he was having her like she was a juicy steak on his dinner plate.
She was as good as devoured.
“Don’t be afraid of me, Melanie. Touch me,” he urged.
Melanie strummed her fingertips up and down his back.
“That’s it, baby,” he told her.
Melanie closed her eyes, feeling the weight of his perfect body pin her to the bed, holding her hostage before their souls connected and fit together perfectly.
“You don’t know how much I need you,” he said, feeling her steady clenching him, their gazes locked as tightly as their fit below. “Oh, Melanie…”
“Dimitrius,” she uttered softly, rubbing the tip of her finger across his lips while their gazes held.
At the same time, he’d locked his hands around her wrists as her arms were extended above her head – flat against the bed. He was so hungry to have her, so fortunate to have married the woman he’d wanted for so long, and now he had her in every way. Had her right where he wanted her.
* * *
Staring into her face as she rested now, Dimitrius was at a loss for words. It still amazed him how she had just the thing to make him want to love again. With her, he felt things he’d never felt for any other woman. He didn’t consider himself an emotional man, but his emotions were all over the place – something he didn’t like, per se but something he would have to deal with because there would never be another woman like her. She was his. She would always be his.
That’s all he could think about while they made love for most of the night – how he would always love her. Have a family with her. They would have the perfect life together.
Chapter 21
Dimitrius had breakfast delivered to their suite in the morning. The food had been there for at least thirty minutes while he waited for his sleeping beauty to awaken. He wasn’t in a hurry to eat. He enjoyed watching her sleep, her hair a mess and splayed out on a pillow. She was tired. He’d given her body several workouts, thorough ones. She was inexperienced in a lot of ways, and he liked that about her. That would give him the opportunity to do a lot of teaching.
He watched her change positions and, at her new resting place, he could see her face. Her cheeks appeared to be a pinkish color and she had a peaceful look. A serene one. A satisfied one. Her lips were together and she breathed so softly, he could barely hear her.
Unable to restrain himself from doing it any longer, he tenderly stroked her face with the back of his index finger and watched her eyes open.
“Good morning, my beautiful wife.”
She smiled and said softly, “Good morning, my handsome husband.”
Dimitrius leaned closer to her, took a kiss from her lips and said, “I got some breakfast for us.”
Melanie sat up and rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”
“It’s almost noon.”
“Weren’t we supposed to check out at eleven?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t want to rush you, so I paid for another night, even though we’re leaving this evening.” He kissed her lips again and said, “Let me bring the food over here, and we can eat in bed.”
“Alright. I’m going to run to the bathroom real quick.”
Melanie hurried to the closest bathroom, then washed her face, making sure she didn’t look too horrible for her new husband. But while she stared at herself in the mirror, she thought of the secret she kept from him, forcing it to the back of her mind. For the first time, in a long time, she was happy and she didn’t want anything to destroy the happiness she felt with Dimitrius.
* * *
After breakfast, they made love again. And when they were able to keep their hands off of each other, they dressed, packed their suitcases and took a taxi to the airport. Dimitrius couldn’t keep his hands off of her in first class, on their fight home. All he could think about was the fact that they were a newly married couple and would be living together under one roof. He couldn’t wait to make love to her in his bed. In their bed, and he would do so tonight, under the skylights, until she had all she could stand.
Chapter 22
Three days later, Dimitrius was sitting in Dante’s office with Desmond beside him, having their weekly status meeting. Dante told Dimitrius not to come in to work since he’d just gotten married a few days ago, but he wanted to stay abreast of the happenings surrounding The Champion Corporation. Besides, this was the first opportunity they had to discuss the re-launch of eRoll. And he had something else he needed to discuss with them.
“So how’s life on the dark side been so far?” Desmond asked, then chuckled.
Dante shook his head.
“There is no dark side,” Dimitrius said. “Melanie and I are doing just fine. And since we’re on the subject of Melanie, I want to let you two know that I do not want her working here.”
Desmond frowned and snapped his head back. “What?”
“What do you mean, you don’t want her working here?” Dante asked.
“Just what I said. I don’t want the both of us cooped in this office. I want her to be able to do whatever she wants. I want her to start her own business if she wants to. I don’t want her working here. So I think we should offer the position to Kurt Hempstead.”
Dante frowned. “Did you already discuss this with Melanie?”
“Not yet. I’m going to talk about it with her tonight.”
Dante shook his head. “And what if she wants to work here, Dimitrius? We already had a two-week delay because she had to give notice on her job, then Des pushed her start date back for another two weeks so we could focus our attention on the Vegas presentation and now you’re telling me you want to take her out of the equation altogether? She’s supposed to start on Monday. And she’s no longer working at the hotel, right?”
“No, she’s not working there anymore, nor does she need to. Now I realize the delays in getting someone in here to assist Desmond, but it’s not going to be my wife. I don’t want her working here. Period.”
“Then that sounds like something you should’ve discussed with her, especially since y’all haven’t moved in together yet,” Dante said.
Desmond sat up in his chair. “Y’all aren’t living together?”
Dimitrius shook his head. “No, not yet. She needs time to get some things in order.”
“Hmm,” Desmond said. “That doesn’t sound good.”
Dimitrius dismissed his prying brothers and said, “Listen…we have to hire Kurt. End of discussion.”
“Okay,” Dante said. “Des, are you okay with that?”
“Looks like I’m going to have to be.”
“Alright, then it’s settled,” Dante said. “Moving on, let’s talk about the re-launch of eRoll. Dimitrius, I know you haven’t been back one-hundred percent at work, but is your team noticing an increase in the number of new accounts?”
“Yes, especially from the small business side of the house which is the market we were hoping to see some improvements. And, since it rolled out this weekend, the new payroll app has had over five-hundred thousand downloads. That’s an average of one-hundred thousand downloads per day for a total of over a million dollars in revenue. I say that’s pretty good.”
Desmond and Dante nodded in agreement.
“I’m heading out to New York on Friday to meet with the top staffing agency in the country,” Desmond said. “And I will not leave that office until I convince them to sign up with eRoll.”
“So I guess the pressing matter is to get Kurt in here and trained as soon as possible,” Dante said. “And you’re absolutely sure you don’t want Melanie to have the position,” he asked, looking at Dimitrius.
Dimitrius nodded. “Positive.”
“Okay. Well, Des, when exactly do you want Kurt to start?”
“We need him ASAP, man. I know I’m going to be out of town for the next few days, but I have to get him in here. Maybe you can show him around for a few days, and he can shadow Dimitrius for a few hours…”
“Alright. That’ll work,” Dante said. “And you’re calling him today, right?”
“Yep, as soon as this meeting is over,” Desmond responded.
“Alright. Well, if there’s nothing else…”
“Nope,” Desmond said, standing. “Nothin
g for me.”
“Nothing for me either,” Dimitrius added, following Desmond to the door.
Chapter 23
Dimitrius changed into some workout gear as soon as he was home, then jumped on the treadmill, running nonstop at a high rate of speed. He enjoyed working out as a way to relieve stress and to keep his body ripped, but he also liked to do it to keep his mind off of something that was bothering him. And the fact that they’d been home three days after being married in Vegas and Melanie hadn’t made an attempt to move in his home didn’t sit well with him. What was she waiting for? Was she still not convinced of his love for her? How could she not at this point? Had he not shown her that he’d give her the world? That he wanted nothing else out of life other than to make her and his family happy?
Still, every time he brought up the subject of her moving in with him, she’d quickly dismissed it. Even after they’d made love last night, he mentioned it, only to listen to her shy away from the subject. Not anymore. He planned on finding out why she was hesitant to make the move over dinner tonight.
* * *
Melanie stepped inside Emily’s boutique, watching her as she chatted with some customers. She walked further in, looked around, remembering how Dante had surprised Emily by redecorating the place.
When Emily was able to break away from her customers, she walked over to Melanie and said, “Hey, girl. Give me two minutes, okay?”
“Okay. Take your time. I’m in no hurry.” Not like I have a job to go to, Melanie thought since she wasn’t due to start working at The Champion Corporation until Monday, something she realized Dimitrius was tight-lipped about discussing. It almost seemed as if he hadn’t wanted her to work there with him. Did he see it as a problem for husband and wife to work together?