“I’m so excited about this, and thank you again for humouring the extravagant wishes of your mother!” she said.
“Mom, you know that I would do anything to see you happy! I’m just glad that I could!” he said hoarsely with his voice registering a touch of sadness as he continued to watch how close and intimate Candasee and Nathan looked together as they kissed and talked on the beach.
“Hey, I don’t like how you sound, where is my confident son?” asked Marianne with concern.
“He’s here somewhere,” replied Darius trying his best to laugh even though it felt like a hot iron was being passed straight through his body. It was a strange sensation, being unable to breathe, and feeling like he was dying and waking up all at the same time.
Marianne wasn’t fooled at all by Darius’ false bravado. The world knew him as powerful and wealthy but to her he was always her caring son, who all his life made sure never to add a day of worry to her life. The hardest thing about raising him was in getting the work she needed to pay the bills and to put food on the table. When Darius came of age he vowed to her that she would never have to work as hard as she did again and he followed through on that word. She now lived the life of luxury and ease and knew that she was the first motivator for her son’s success.
Right now though, she could hear the unmistakable sound of pain in his voice.
“Darius, you know you can’t fool me, I gave birth to you and raised you. What is it?” she pressed.
“You know me so well Mum!” he replied wondering if he should say all that was on his mind at the moment.
“Okay Darius, Francis and I will be there at the hotel tomorrow and then you can tell us what’s bothering you!”
“Mum, there’s no need for all the fuss. I just thought of you and wanted to see how you were, that’s all! How is Francis?”
“Both Francis and I are fine, you have seen to that Darius, and stop trying to change the subject. I want you to hear me well. Thirty-eight years I have known you like the lines on the palms of my hands and I know when something is bothering you. I am coming down tomorrow and then you can tell me what is going on, okay! I am not taking no for an answer.”
Darius knew it was useless to argue with his determined mother and it was always good for them to catch up anyway. He’d remember to tell Portia to schedule her in for lunch the next morning.
“Okay, I will see you tomorrow!” he relented and said goodnight before disconnecting the call.
Candasee and Nathan were now walking back to the boardwalk to retrieve their shoes. Candasee looked strikingly beautiful and radiant in the moonlight as her flowing white ankle length dress clung to her legs in the light breeze. Even in the dim light he could see how she was the centre of Nathan’s gaze. She raised her hand to touch his cheek tenderly and the sparkle of the diamond on her hand caught the light.
“Your boss huh?” whispered Darius to himself wondering why Candasee felt the need to lie to him this morning about the depth of her relationship with Nathan. He almost thought Nathan was the one that was interested and that perhaps their relationship was a little one-sided but now he could see that he was the one intruding on what was obviously a very close relationship. Maybe Candasee was right, their time was long past. Perhaps it was best that he found that out now than to have gone to Barbados with any grandiose expectations. He’d waited too long and now he would have to live a life of regret.
Nathan hopped up onto the boardwalk before taking Candasee’s hand and leading her up the stairs. They were laughing and having a great time together, the way he was beginning to wish he’d done while they were still married.
At this point in his life he had it all, money, prestige, businesses, houses around the world, a private yacht, a private jet and right now in this moment he knew he would give it all away just to hear Candasee say, “I love you”, to him again. What were his billions when he was still sitting alone, wishing he could have what money could never buy him? Candasee was right about following the heart and following her dreams. She looked so radiant and happy and she was doing what she loved and she was finally with someone who she...
He couldn’t finish the thought. He hadn’t come this far without being able to hold onto a little thing called faith. It was one of his strongest attributes. When he believed in something he held to it despite all the evidence he was presented with. This had won him so many victories in his life to date, but none had come as close to his heart as this. Many nights of prayer and talks with Ramon had confirmed one thing to him this past year and it was that he and Candasee belonged together. They both felt and knew it in the beginning but now blocks were in the way. He’d chosen to forgive himself and his father and to allow his soul to heal. It was painful but necessary!
He his resolve again and decided that he wasn’t about to give up before he could even have a proper conversation with Candasee to find out how she really felt about him without her anger in the way. Somehow he had to explain to her why her dancing was so hard for him to accept and how he’d been able now to finally let it all go. If even after that she was committed to keeping her engagement, he would let her go and wish her a happy life, he promised himself.
Standing up, he left a tip on the table for the wait staff and proceeded to walk back to the hotel keeping a safe distance behind the strolling couple.
Chapter 7
The first streaks of daylight were emerging above the horizon as Candasee unlocked the glass doors leading out to the balcony and stepped out into the cool, crisp morning air. The sky was a beautiful shade of orange, violet and blue and from her room she could see that that tide was low and the beach stretched out like a wide band of peach-coloured powder for several kilometres. It looked so inviting that she wanted to go down immediately for an early morning swim and jog. Peeking back inside the room she could see that Nathan was still very much asleep.
They had planned to go jogging this morning together and now that daylight arrived, she was ready and rearing to go. Last night at dinner, she really let her guard down fully with Nathan and they had a wonderful time together, she recalled as she looked down at the ring on her hand with a smile.
When they made it back to her room last night, they watched a movie and she sat in the circle of his arms as they watched a rerun of the movie Hitch with Will Smith. It felt really good to laugh with him and make out, forgetting everything that was troubling her. It was clear from the way Nathan’s eyes followed her the entire night, that he was extremely aroused and that he wanted to make love to her. He had been extremely patient with her and he didn’t force the issue. Thankfully, they’d fallen asleep during the film and she woke up in the circle of his arms instead. It was time to move on and it didn’t matter where she was. She would overcome this inner battle with her confusing feelings for Darius.
Seeing him with Solange last night had upset her more than she’d bargained for but she had no right to feel that way and she was determined to crush those feelings until they disappeared completely.
“Candasee get a grip! It’s over! Besides it’s clear that Darius is involved with Solange and you have a wonderful man in Nathan,” she muttered to herself as she surveyed the beach below. So why did the thought of him being with someone else annoy her so much? Just thinking about it again made her want to throttle him. Even two years after the divorce her heart still remembered him and even more so now that they were in the same hotel and on the same property. This was irrational thinking. Darius had no control over what she did and who she spent time with anymore. The divorce took care of that, didn’t it?
She tip-toed back across the room and retrieved her jogging clothes and a bathing suit from her suitcase. This would be the second time she stood Nathan up for their jogging time but she needed some time alone to think. She took off her ring and placed it in her bag, brushed her teeth quickly and then slipped as quietly as she could out of the room closing the door behind her.
When she arrived in the lobby, to her surprise t
he camera crew for the travel show were already there looking around the grounds for the perfect place to begin recording. This was the first official day for the travel show, so not wanting to draw attention to herself, she took another pathway through the duty free shops and finally past one of the hotel pools down to the beach. It was still very early and she wasn’t really up for much conversation so she was happy that she didn’t meet anyone she knew on her way down.
Finally on the beach, Candasee stretched a little before she began jogging. Down here in the fresh, salty air she could feel all the pent up stress in her body melting away and her thoughts became clearer. She ran to the end of the beach and back to the other end again before walking back to the area where she emerged near the pool deck and stripped down to her bathing suit.
She ran down the beach and into the water splashing and feeling free like a child at play before diving right in. There was no point in wading on the shore trying to decide if to swim in the cold water. A slow entry would only prolong the chilly initial agony. The water was cool and smooth and very clear this morning. She swam underwater for a while and opened her eyes just in time to see tiny fish swimming by close to her face.
Swimming was such a great idea and she felt so free and so relaxed. She swam a few laps before lying afloat on the gently undulating waves, admiring the rays of the sun as the morning progressed and the sky became brighter. It would soon be time to return to her room and get ready, so she decided on one final dive before leaving.
When she finally rose to the surface, the salt stung her eyes and she rubbed them to relieve the slight pain of having them open underwater without any goggles. As her vision cleared she became aware that she wasn’t alone anymore.
“Good morning,” said Darius as he watched Candasee emerge from under the sea like a goddess in mythical times. The metaphor made him smile and he was glad now that he followed his intuition and decided to take a jog on the beach to clear his mind before his interview with Sally Flanders later that morning.
“What are you doing here?” asked Candasee suddenly feeling very exposed in her cobalt blue two piece bathing suit. “Were you following me again?” she demanded.
“No, actually I needed to clear my mind this morning so I thought a jog and swim would be the perfect start to my day. To my surprise here you are. It’s obvious we still think alike,” he replied with his gaze sliding appreciatively along the length of her sleek, toned body.
He might as well have used his hands because what Candasee felt in that his sweeping gaze was enough for her body to betray her matching desire. Her nipples tightened almost painfully as she took in the muscular contours of his frame and the unmistakable evidence of his arousal. He’d only looked at her and she was already struggling to maintain some semblance of control over her emotions.
“Where’s your fiancé this morning, oh sorry your boss?” he asked wanting to see her expressive eyes and the way she would respond.
“I should be asking you the same thing about your girlfriend, Solange, right?” asked Candasee with flashing eyes unable to keep her anger and tinge of jealousy from creeping into her voice.
“Solange?” asked Darius surprised by her quick and cutting response.
“Yes the beauty in red, who you had dinner with last night! I don’t think she would appreciate all of the attention you are currently paying to me,” she retorted.
Was Candasee was jealous of Solange? Darius noted this with great interest the way her eyes narrowed and how she placed her hands on her hips as she spoke. She wouldn’t be jealous if her heart was closed to him.
“You are jealous of Solange aren’t you?” he teased without thinking and immediately regretted revealing what he’d noticed.
She didn’t respond to him at all but instead her features became closed and she was suddenly walking by him and out of the sea. Darius lunged and caught her wrist and to his surprise she was trembling.
“Hey Candasee I’m sorry, don’t leave yet. I didn’t mean it that way.”
“No, I have had enough, the sea is all yours now!” she snarled trying to tug her hand away.
“Maybe, but I don’t want to enjoy all this beauty alone! Do you remember how many times we found ourselves on the beach at sunrise making love Candee?” he asked softly using his other hand to follow the movement of a drop of water running along her other arm. The sensation of his finger running along her arm only heightened her awareness of him and deepened her irrational desire to stay exactly where she was standing.
“You know what Darius, stop this game, it isn’t funny anymore”, she replied nervously. Would she always be such a mess of emotions around this man?
“Candasee, I swear on my mother’s life that I’m not playing any games with you, and you know how important my mother is to me!” he replied forcefully.
As she searched his eyes and his expression, and even his body language she could not find the lie in him or the indicator that all these drastic changes in attitude and attention were part of some kind of joke.
“What do you want from me then?” she asked.
Darius looked at the beautiful woman standing before him and how the beads of saltwater clung to her skin, how the grey of her eyes complimented the bright blue of her swim suit. She was so beautiful, his dream, his only desire. How did he tell her that he wanted their marriage back? How could he communicate that he was sorry, that he regretted all the wreckage he’d created through his attitude? So far his attempts at using words were failing miserably at getting her to see that he meant what he was saying to her. Maybe it was time to bypass her mind and show her exactly how he felt.
Her breaths were coming rapidly as she waited for him to answer and he did, suddenly pulling her toward him, taking her face between his big hands and capturing her mouth in a scorching, hungry kiss. She tasted like the sweetness of mint and as his tongue swept past her lips he feverishly tasted and reclaimed what he had been dreaming of for more than a year now. She moaned softly at the initial contact between their mouths and just like it was the most natural thing in the world Candasee felt the fire that had been quenched within her relight and expand to a roaring inferno as she instinctively wrapped her arms tightly around Darius and surrendered to this savage yet sensual invasion.
This was what he missed and dreamt of and craved and now that he finally had a taste of her he couldn’t stop. He wrapped his arms tightly around her and poured all of his love for her into this kiss and she was kissing him back fiercely as well. Suddenly, he remembered the scene between her and Nathan on the beach last night and he drew away from her suddenly.
“Open your eyes, Candasee, I want to see your eyes!” he demanded roughly.
Candasee felt like a feather slowly drifting back down to the earth and her entire body was on fire with passion for this man. It was as though nothing had changed between them, nothing at all. Her eyes fluttered open in response to what he said and she focused on his matching grey eyes which were searching her face intently.
“I know what you said to me when you came to my room that night and I know that you are engaged to Nathan right now, but it’s never going to work with him, because we aren’t over. It’s just a matter of time before both of you figure that out! I see it in your eyes now and I felt it when you kissed me back just now. You still love me!” he declared boldly.
Candasee groaned within and she closed her eyes, now embarrassed at her instantaneous response. Kissing Darius immediately swept her out of any of her conscious reservations and now he knew her secret. She would be damned before she let herself admit it to this arrogant jerk though!
“Darius, I don’t know what you think you saw or felt from me but, I think we both got a little carried away just now with our familiarity and that’s all!” she lied panicking a little under his penetrating stare.
She’d kissed Nathan so many times before and even last night when all the romantic conditions were present, and it didn’t come close to igniting what this one kiss did
just now. She felt so alive and present in her body again for the first time in two years and it was terrifying what that could mean.
“I don’t believe you! You were always a terrible liar!” Darius replied calmly.
“This doesn’t change anything between us Darius, don’t read anything into this. It was a mistake and nothing more.”
Not waiting for her to try to continue explaining all of what was happening between them away, Darius reclaimed her mouth but gently this time, tasting and lingering on her lower lip and then her upper lip and then the corners of her mouth, sampling ever part of her before gently tasting inside her delicious mouth once again. Hot lines of electricity seemed to be spreading out from her lips and radiating out across her face in response to what Darius was doing. Her palms were pressed against his chest to resist him but she had no strength to apply any pressure. This felt so right, and it was as though the signatures they’d made on their divorce papers were absolutely meaningless, because as Darius was proving to her now that ink could never break the connection between two souls.
“I love you, Candasee, I still love you and I’m not waiting another minute to admit it!” he whispered raggedly against her lips. Immediately, she felt all the strength go out of her legs until it was only Darius’ arms holding her up and out of the rolling waves. The stunning realization that this man still owned her heart and soul was too overwhelming. After all that happened she didn’t want to resist him. Noooo! she thought, fighting against everything within her.
“Darius no wait,” she said pulling away with some effort from what seemed like a strong magnetic current pinning their bodies together.
“Don’t say anything yet. Don’t try to figure out anything. This doesn’t need any words. If there is one thing you can’t deny it’s the way you feel Candasee. I can’t deny how I feel about you and I am not prepared to hide it anymore.”
Fighting Destiny Page 11