My First Half (Cate & Kian Book 1)

by Louise Hall

  It’s magic, Cate thought. It’s my Magic Dress.

  As they stood looking at the dress in the mirror, Lauren lifted Cate’s hair and twisted it into a soft chignon. “This would look really cute.”

  Everything fell into place after that. Lauren found her the perfect pair of shoes to go with her Magic Dress and they were back at the Belvedere even before Kian.

  Kian texted Lauren to say that he’d booked another room for the night and would be getting ready there. He’d see Cate at the chapel. “Which chapel?”

  “The Belvedere has their own wedding chapel,” Lauren explained. “It’s on the edge of the grounds. I’ve heard it’s really beautiful.”

  Lauren did her hair and make-up and zipped up her dress. “Are you okay?” She asked softly. Cate looked really pale all of a sudden. “Do you need to sit down for a minute? Can I get you some water?”

  She took hold of her hands and they were trembling a little. “It’s just nerves, hon. All brides get nervous before their wedding.”

  But what Cate felt was more than just pre-wedding jitters.

  Kian has never told me he loves me. We’re getting married and I don’t know if he loves me or not.

  She got up from the bed and walked out on to the balcony. Lauren guessed that she needed a few minutes of alone time. Cate pressed a hand to her stomach and murmured a quick prayer.

  Please tell me I’m doing the right thing. Tell me that if he doesn’t love me now that eventually he will and we’ll make each other happy?

  Lauren put a hand on her shoulder. “Hon, it’s time to go.”

  Cate took a deep breath and stepped back inside the hotel room. She touched the tinfoil ring once more for good luck.

  Can I love him enough for both of us?

  They took the lift down to the lobby and then walked out of the back of the hotel into the grounds. The sun was starting to go down and there were tiny white lights wrapped around the trunks of the trees. A little while later they came across a small wooden chapel. The doors were opened and inside there were no lights apart from a plate of candles at the altar. Cate looked up at the altar and Kian was stood there, watching her. Her heart felt like it was doing somersaults inside of her chest. He looked so handsome in his dark, grey suit. There was nobody else in the chapel apart from Kian and the minister who was going to marry them.

  Lauren slipped into the background as the wedding march began.

  Cate walked up the two small steps into the chapel and then walked slowly down the red, carpeted aisle to where Kian was stood.

  The ceremony was brief and then the minister announced, “you may now kiss your bride.”

  When he looked at her, there were tears in her eyes but she was smiling. “You OK?” he mouthed, reaching up to wipe away one of the tears that trickled down her cheek.

  Cate nodded. She didn’t trust herself to speak.

  The minister disappeared and suddenly it was just the two of them alone in this wooden chapel. Kian cupped her face in his hands and gently brushed his lips against hers. Cate felt like it was their first kiss all over again. He kissed her again, sucking on her bottom lip. She ran her fingers through his hair and he parted her lips, slipping his tongue inside her mouth. His kisses made her forget everything; all she could focus on was the gentle pressure of his lips, the slow exploration of his tongue inside her mouth.

  When eventually they parted to catch their breath, Cate buried her face in his strong, muscular chest. He wrapped his arms around her and stroked the small of her back; Cate felt safe there.

  When they stepped outside, it was dark. Lauren was waiting to sprinkle them with confetti. “Congratulations, Mr and Mrs Warner.”

  CHAPTER 22

  After the formalities were over, they walked back through the woods to the hotel, just the two of them, snatching quick, feverish kisses in the shadows between the trees.

  When they were a few steps away from the hotel, Kian swept Cate up off her feet.

  “What are you doing?” she laughed. “Put me down.”

  “I’m carrying you across the threshold. It’s tradition.”

  He carried her across the marble lobby to the bank of elevators. As they passed by the front desk, the receptionist smiled and offered them her congratulations.

  When they got in the lift, another man followed them inside. When Cate turned around, she realised it was Hollywood heartthrob, George Montoya. “Just got married?” he asked Cate in the same, sexy voice as his coffee adverts.

  She could only nod. Her life had taken a very surreal turn. Her sister, Remy was obsessed with George Montoya. He was her one and only free pass from her husband, Vincenzo.

  The lift stopped at the next floor and George stepped out. “You’re a very lucky man,” he winked at Kian.

  The lift kept going up, past their floor to the very top. “Did you push the button?” she asked, watching the numbers above their head get higher and higher.

  Kian grinned, “I’ve got a surprise for you.”

  The lift doors opened on to a foyer with a black and white tiled floor. The walls were crisp white and in the centre was a black lacquer table with a huge black vase of blood-red roses, their blooms as big as fists. On the table, in front of the vase was a white envelope with “Mr and Mrs Warner” printed in black ink.

  Cate picked up the envelope, which felt heavy and opened it. Inside was an old-fashioned gold key.

  At the far end of the foyer was a set of imposing black doors, which stretched from floor to ceiling.

  She turned the key in the lock and the doors swung open, revealing the most lavish hotel suite she had ever seen.

  Cate turned to Kian. “Are we supposed to be in here?” she whispered, looking around anxiously. The envelope had their names written on it but it must have been a mistake.

  Kian grinned. “It’s the Honeymoon Suite. I’ve booked it for the rest of our stay.”

  The reception room was huge; the walls again were crisp white and covered with a series of black and white photographs. There was a working fireplace, surrounded by charcoal-grey sofas piled with cushions. The main features of the room were the windows which stretched from floor to ceiling and covered the full length of the room. Beyond them, Cate could see a large stone terrace. Kian put her down on the floor and she walked slowly around the room, taking everything in.

  As she looked more closely at the photos, she realised that they were of a couple about to make love. The first photo was of a man and woman kissing open-mouthed, it was taken from the waist up and they were both bare. Their chests were pressed together. The man had his hand on the small of the woman’s back while she grasped fistfuls of his dark hair.

  The second photo was just a woman’s torso, arching towards the camera. Her throat was exposed as if she’d thrown her head back. A man’s hands were cupping her breasts, concealing her nipples. The definition was so high that she could see the tiny blonde hairs on the woman’s skin standing on edge.

  The third photo was of a man’s back. It was tightly-muscled. A woman’s fingernails were dragging up his skin. Again, the definition was so high, she could see the gloss of the woman’s fingernails and the scratches left behind on the man’s skin. At the bottom of the photo, the woman’s slender thigh was wrapped around his waist, casting a shadow over his clenched buttocks.

  Feeling hot and bothered by the photos, Cate slid open the glass doors and stepped out on to the terrace. There was a fully-stocked bar, a fire pit and a sun-lounger the size of a double bed. When she got to what she thought was the end, she realised that the terrace continued to wrap around the building. She could see the lights of the Strip, majestic against the darkening sky. On the other side of the building, there was an outdoor shower and a huge hot-tub.

  Cate looked at it, wondering if she would dare to go in it. She’d never been in a hot-tub before.

  “Do you like it?” Kian asked, coming up behind her. He slid his hands down her arms until their hands fitted together.

/>   “It’s stunning,” Cate replied, leaning back against him.

  “Come inside,” Kian smiled, kissing the back of her neck. “Let me show you the rest.”

  He led her back inside through the huge bathroom to a staircase she hadn’t seen before. When they got to the top of the stairs, Cate had to stop – it took her breath away. The bedroom was surrounded on all four sides by floor to ceiling glass windows with views of the mountains, the forest-like grounds and the bright lights of the Strip. It felt as though they were up in the clouds.

  In the centre of the room was a huge four-poster bed in dark, almost black wood. The posts were thick and glossy, carved in long sensuous lines. There was a white canopy and long, white drapes floated down on all four sides. The centre of the bed was covered in thousands of blood-red rose petals, filling the air with their heady fragrance.

  Cate walked slowly around the bed, fluttering her fingers through the dense carpet of silky petals. The glass doors at the end of the building were open and the white drapes danced seductively against her, brushing up against her bare legs. She stumbled and gripped on to one of the bed posts. It felt like a thousand hands were caressing her. She closed her eyes, lost in the moment.

  When she looked up, Kian was watching her. He was leaning on the banister, his arms folded across his chest. She could see the outline of his taut, muscular chest through his white shirt. He locked eyes with Cate and her breath hitched, his eyes were dark and dangerous. She felt a burst of butterflies inside her stomach.

  She looked down at her wedding dress, the ring glittering on her finger and she felt a heavy weight settle on her chest. She couldn’t do this.

  Cate hitched up her skirt, brushed past Kian and quickly ran down the stairs to the bathroom. She climbed into the huge bathtub, pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them.

  She couldn’t hear anything apart from her heart beating furiously out of her chest.

  She couldn’t stop thinking about those photos on the wall; except that it wasn’t an anonymous couple in those poses, it was her and Kian. She pictured herself stood in front of him naked and exposed, opening herself up to his judgment. Would he be disappointed with her small breasts?

  A little while later, Kian knocked on the bathroom door. “Cate, are you okay?”

  When she didn’t answer, he tried the handle and found it wasn’t locked. “I’m coming in.”

  “What is it?” Kian asked quickly when he found her sat in the bathtub. “Is something wrong? Is it the baby?”

  Cate shook her head. “Then what is it?” Kian asked softly. He knelt down at the side of the bath.

  “I’m afraid,” Cate said so quietly he could barely hear her.

  “Afraid?” Kian asked. “Of what?”

  Cate couldn’t look at him. “You.”

  Kian’s face darkened. “Me?”

  Cate tried to explain, “it’s our wedding night.” She twirled her wedding ring around her finger. “You’ll expect things from me.”

  “Is this about the night of Dad’s funeral, when we, when I…” Kian looked down at the bathroom floor. “I hurt you that night, didn’t I?”

  Cate realised what he was trying to say. “No,” she said firmly. “Please Kian, please look at me. I wanted you that night.”

  “Don’t lie to me. I heard you crying on the other side of the door.”

  She grabbed his face in her hands and made him look at her. “I wasn’t crying because of what we’d done. I was crying because of the way you’d looked at me afterwards.”

  “The way I…” Kian gritted his teeth. “Cate, I thought I’d violated you.”

  “Stop saying that,” Cate felt tears well up in her eyes. “You didn’t violate me. I wanted to have sex with you that night. All that day, I’d watched you try to be strong for everybody else and you were so sad, I wanted to take some of that away from you. I wanted you to forget what had happened even if it was just for a little bit.”

  “When I saw that stain on the bed sheet and then I heard you crying. I hated myself for what I’d done to you. I took your virginity like it was nothing.”

  “You didn’t take anything from me. I gave it to you willingly.”

  Cate kissed his lips but he could taste the salt of her tears. “Please,” she said, “please believe me Kian.”

  “I wanted your first time to be perfect,” he said, pressing his forehead against hers.

  “That’s a lot of pressure,” Cate said softly. “I didn’t care about my first time being perfect; I just wanted it to be with you.”

  They sat like that for a while, just holding each other. “Come on,” Kian said, lifting her out of the bathtub. “Let’s get changed.”

  Kian led her into the dressing room, which had empty racks and shelves on both sides. Continuing the theme from the other rooms, the carpet was jet-black while the walls and furniture were white. At the far end of the room was an antique dressing table with a large mirror and in the centre of the room was a blood-red chaise longue.

  Their suitcases were stood on either side of the chaise longue. “I asked them to move our things during the ceremony.”

  Cate unzipped her suitcase and there on the top were the red, glittery pasties Lauren had bought her as a joke.

  “Oh,” Cate laughed.

  “What’s up?” Kian said. He’d kicked off his shoes and socks and removed his tie.

  Cate’s tummy squirmed at the sight of him barefoot; he was just so freaking sexy. She almost couldn’t believe that he was her husband.

  Cate handed the glittery pasties to him and when he realised what they were, Kian raised an eyebrow.

  “Don’t get any ideas,” Cate blushed. “You’d have to get me very, very drunk to wear those.”

  Kian laughed, “We’ll have to save them until after the baby’s born then.”

  While Cate went back to rummaging through her suitcase, she heard Kian walk into the bathroom.

  “What do you think?”

  When she looked up, Kian had unbuttoned his shirt. Her eyes caught on that v, which disappeared inside his trousers. “Mm,” she had this sudden, desperate urge to lick him. With her cheeks flaming, she forced her eyes to continue upwards, over his washboard stomach. She could picture herself tracing those muscles with her tongue. No, she shook her head, trying to focus. He’d asked her a question. What was it? She forced her eyes upwards again to his taut pectorals and… the red, glittery pasties covering his nipples.

  Cate couldn’t stop giggling. Kian did a little shimmy for her and the tassels bounced and swirled. “I can’t believe…” She clutched her chest, which hurt from laughing so much. “I can’t believe you’re wearing pasties.”

  She grabbed her camera from the side of her suitcase. “Please let me take a photo.”

  “As long as you don’t tweet it,” Kian grinned. He did various bodybuilder poses while Cate snapped away.

  “Ooh,” Cate scrolled back through the photos she’d just taken. “This one’s going to be my new wallpaper.” She showed it to Kian, who smiled. “Yeah, yeah,” he kissed her forehead. “You just want to stare at my chest all day.”

  Cate followed Kian into the bathroom, where he removed the glittery pasties from his nipples.

  “Shit,” he winced, “that hurts like a bitch.”

  He quickly removed the other one and dropped them both at the side of the sink.

  Cate couldn’t resist. “Do you want me to kiss them better?”

  She pressed her lips to his nipple, tasting it with the tip of her tongue.

  His skin was so warm; she trailed her lips across to his other nipple. She felt his muscles tense underneath her lips, his breathing grew shallower and his fingers tightened on her shoulders.

  “Cate,” Kian warned.

  Cate wrapped her lips around his nipple and sucked gently. Kian let out a low growl.

  “Better?” Cate grinned, looking up at him.

  “Hm,” Kian frowned, running his fingers raggedl
y through his hair.

  Cate looked down and she could see the hard ridge of his erection straining against the front of his trousers.

  He seemed so big; Cate gulped and quickly turned back to the mirror. She tried to ignore the throbbing between her legs.

  Her hands trembled as she began to carefully remove the pins Lauren had fixed her hair with earlier. “Ouch,” she whimpered as one of the pins stuck in her finger. She dropped it on the marble counter and sucked on her finger; she could taste the metallic tang of blood.

  “Let me do it,” Kian said. He came and stood behind her, she could feel his erection pressing into the small of her back. The throbbing between her legs intensified and she squeezed her thighs tightly together to try and relieve it.

  Kian gently removed each of the remaining pins.

  Afterwards, he ran his fingers through her hair in long, slow strokes, checking for any stray pins. It felt as though he was touching her somewhere far more intimate. Cate felt herself leaning into his hands.

  “Cate?” She looked up at him through the mirror; his eyes were dark and fiery, burning her to the core.

  “I want to,” she said softly.

  “You want to what?” Kian raised an eyebrow.

  Cate blushed. “Please don’t make me say it.”

  “I need to hear you say it.”

  “I want you to…” Cate couldn’t say the words.

  “Yes?”

  “I want you to make love to me.” The words tumbled out before she could stop them.

  Kian brushed her hair to one side and gently kissed her neck. “I thought you didn’t want to?” he teased.

  “I do.”

  Kian reached for the zip at the back of her wedding dress. Cate started a little as his fingers grazed her bare skin. She felt her nipples stiffen inside her bra.

  He was agonisingly slow in unzipping her dress. It slithered down her shoulders, over her waist and down her slender legs like the fabric was caressing her skin.

  Cate was suddenly overcome with embarrassment; to be standing there in front of Kian in just the skimpy lingerie Lauren had insisted she buy.

  Kian slid his hands from the small of her back to her hips and pulled her backwards so her body was pressed against his. She could feel the taut muscles of his chest. He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth.