Lainie's mom popped her head in. "Are you ready, dear? They're waiting for your signal."
Lainie nodded, smiling. "Ready. Is Dad out there pacing back and forth like a madman?"
Her mom giggled. "You know it."
Trish patted Lainie on the back of her hand. She went to take her place as maid of honor. Lainie took a deep breath. Time to do this thing.
Lainie walked down the aisle at her father's side, his hand on hers, linked in his arm. Her mother sat in a pew of the small church they'd chosen for the ceremony, waiting patiently and lovingly for Lainie's father to join her. Her parents looked so... normal.
Lainie thought of the coming years - graying hair and wrinkles. The rocking years, as the song says - rocking babies, rocking ages, and so on. Her eyes burned with tears she refused to shed. Her heart filled with a longing she refused to let grow any stronger than it was. It was already big enough, this yearning within her for happily ever after. The sentiment and wistfulness nearly strangled her. If she let her hope overflow, she'd drown in disappointment when the time came for Cade to leave.
Yes, she thought, he might leave her someday, unless he came truly to love her. Still, her body and mind pined for Cade and permanency. When she saw him at the altar, her soul was lost, and love made her beam at him. He smiled back, his eyes shining with something she thought she recognized - a reflection of her own intense feelings. She refused to believe that he felt anything more than care and desire for her. Surely his eyes weren't filled with love and...
Cade took Lainie's hands in his, and they stood facing each other, repeating their solemn vows, Chuck on one side of them as his best man, Trish on the other as maid of honor.
Eloise held Eli in her arms.
Lainie gazed into Cade's mesmerizing coal black eyes, and Cade ran his thumb along the inner part of Lainie's wrist, caressing her lightly at her pulse point. She trembled, and he slipped the ring on her finger. She trembled even harder when it came time for her to do the same for him. She thanked God that she didn't drop Cade's ring. For the past week, she'd lived in anticipation of her wedding day and night. Surely Cade wouldn't lock himself away from her tonight, too.
All too quickly, the minister reached the end of the ceremony and pronounced them man and wife. Cade kissed her, passionately, slowly, completely, for all to see. This was the part she'd been waiting for. The pull of his kiss tugged at her nerve endings, all the way from her lips to the pit of her fluttery stomach, and lower. Heat pooled at her flowering center, swirled in her turbulent belly, and then curled her toes.
How many hours until the reception ended?
"Dance with me." Cade came up behind Lainie and wrapped his muscle-bound arms around her waist, enfolding her, capturing her, and whispering the suggestive words into her ear, his hot breath teasing her sensitive skin, tantalizing her, and turning her on.
"If you insist," Lainie whispered back. Cade ran his hand across her back and stopped at her waistline, sending sizzling shivers along her skin, building tremors along her already active and sensitized nerve endings, and warming her blood. When would Cade drag her away from the reception and have his husbandly way with her?
Lainie leaned into Cade, melding her body with his, blending and fitting with him perfectly. They swayed together to the sensual rhythm of a slow dance tune, almost making Lainie wish Cade hadn't asked her to dance. It was going to be long night, with him holding her, and nothing more. Cades stiffened, and his expression turned cold. She followed the direction of his icy glare. Drayton Clausen had just walked in - or rather, he'd stumbled in.
Chaos reigned.
Drayton yelled at the top of his lungs, slurring his words, "Lainie, you can't go home with him. You want me. You love me. Why didn't you invite me to the wedding? Didn't trust me not to stop this charade, did you? Oh, I know, honey. You didn't want me to make a scene. Well, you're getting a scene now, aren't you, baby-doll?"
Trish tried to take Drayton by the arm and lead him out, looking first at Lainie with an unnecessary apology, and then glancing back at Drayton with pity. "Drayton, please, let's go."
Drayton jerked away, shoving at Trish so hard that she nearly fell to the floor. Chuck caught Trish in mid-air, before she landed on the concrete in her silken bride's maid dress. Chuck looked furious, but he held his temper in check - barely. He suggested, "Drayton, this'll get you nowhere. Let's go get you some fresh air, bud. I'll take you home. You don't need to be driving like this."
Cade wedged himself protectively and possessively in between Lainie and Drayton, and Lainie could only force the tears back. She wished Drayton hadn't ruined her reception, and she hoped that Cade wasn't getting tired of dealing with the men in her life - the ones who kept ruining things for him and her. Cade had made the off-hand comment once that he was growing tired of this mess. Did that statement mean that he'd get tired enough of the hassle and hire someone else to take his place, so that he could leave Lainie and Eli to their own resources?
Surely not. Yet, she had no way of knowing just how devoted he was, to Eli, or to her. Her insecurities and the worries about her future weighed heavy on her mind, especially when something outrageous like this happened.
Cade planted himself immovably in front of her, like a proverbial brick wall. Drayton stumbled, trying to get a better view of Lainie, who was practically concealed behind Cade's wide shoulders and hovering body. Cade simply moved, almost imperceptibly, to block Drayton's maneuver.
Drayton hurled his alcohol-laden breath at them. "Lainie, come out of there. Stop hiding from me. Get the hell out of my way, bodyguard," Drayton snarled, his teeth bared, his fists clenched. Lainie was shocked to see this side of Drayton. She never would have imagined that he could take on this demeanor. "I need to talk to the woman you stole from me," he rasped, and then whined, "She's the only woman I've ever loved."
Cade stiffened and folded his arms across his massive chest. He didn't budge an inch. Drayton lunged, and Cade turned his lithe body, just enough to push Lainie gently to one side. Cade tripped Drayton with his other foot. The move was the smoothest thing Lainie had ever seen. It was like watching Bruce Lee or someone in a movie. Cade moved fluidly, locking Drayton in a hold with one hand, holding him still with his face smashed into the floor. Cade nodded to Chuck. "Get him out of here, and make sure he stays gone."
Chuck nodded back. "No problem, but why don't you and Lainie get out of here, too? I don't think anyone will mind if you guys cut out of here a little early, considering the circumstances. It's just family here anyway, and we understand."
Lainie figured that Chuck was right. The small private ceremony and reception being held in the conference room of Sambino's Italian Ristorante only included a wedding party consisting of her parents, Cade's mother, Chuck, Trish, and Eli. None of them would ever have believed that Drayton would go so far as to crash the party, knowing full well that he hadn't been invited, and knowing, too, that he'd be unwelcome, at least by Cade. Drunk as a skunk as Drayton was, he was unwelcome by everyone there.
Seeing Lainie's tears lingering, glimmering and shimmering in her eyes, Cade wanted to kill Drayton with his bare hands. Drayton had ruined this for Lainie. She had enough to worry about. Eli was still in danger, and none of them assumed even for a minute that the maniac after Eli would give up. Besides that, Cade himself had only added to Lainie's stress and discomfort, telling her he'd never love her. He found it hard to believe that she'd consented to marry him anyway. Now, her wedding reception had been crashed by someone who harbored unhealthy feelings for her - someone who seemed too persistent to give up... someone who seemed almost as persistent as someone who had a serious psychological problem... quite like a serial killer, or someone who'd threaten to kill a child.
Cade narrowed his eyes. Maybe Drayton was the culprit. Maybe the suspect they looked for had been right in front of their faces all along, and now stood right before their very eyes and under their proverbial noses. Maybe Lainie, Trish, and Chuck had been too trust
ing of Drayton, believing him honest, unwilling to think ill of him.
Cade didn't have that problem. He'd get Chuck on this tonight and let him find out through a background check if Drayton was who he said he was.
Cade barely suppressed a growl. Lainie would never belong to Drayton. She belonged to him, Cade, and he wasn't about to share. Not now. Not ever.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
The ride home was silent. When they pulled into the garage, Cade, having learned his lesson after having to replace the back window in his truck, closed the garage door and told Lainie to wait while he came around to her side.
He lowered her out of his king cab, letting her slide down his body, enjoying the silky feel of her satin dress and her even softer exposed-to-his-touch skin. Her eyes told him she wasn't the least bit afraid of him. She worked her way up to that aggressive level again. He could see it in her steady heated gaze and feel it in the way she let him hold her, the way she leaned into him, the way she parted her lips and let him take her mouth with his. Her unique taste and scent enveloped him and slammed into his libido. Her aroma gripped at his gut, and her intoxicating taste just about shoved him over the edge.
He didn't want to let her go, even for a moment, but he had to - at least long enough to lift her and carry her across the threshold. Not through her front door, of course. He wasn't risking getting shot at by some maniac waiting for them to come home. The kitchen door would have to serve as the threshold.
He lifted her and kissed her, and then walked through the door with her in his arms. He carried her into her bedroom and stood her by her bed, which he still hadn't begun to think of as their bed. He dipped his head to give her a kiss that rocked him to his patent leather shoes. He proceeded to unzip her dress, inch by slow, agonizing inch, their heat mixing, mingling, searing them together and locking their bodies in passion.
Lainie trembled, and a shiver echoed through him in response. If she was half as turned on by him as he was by her, they'd probably not last very long tonight either, no matter how slowly he wanted to draw out their lovemaking.
She let him pull the dress down over her shapely shoulders, and she looked up at him from under her lashes, enticingly, teasingly.
Lainie decided that she'd let Cade move at whatever pace he wanted to, tonight. The last time, she'd taken over, but she sensed that he needed this night to be different - this mating with her to be different.
She wanted him driven to the point of insanity, and she wanted him inside her, filling her. She knew how it felt to be loved by him, to have him move inside her, sliding over her, his weight melding her to the bed beneath him. She loved it and him. Limitlessly.
Within minutes, she was stark naked and burning for him, and he looked her over from head to toe, branding her with his possessive gaze, searching her body, studying her, as if memorizing her entire shape, every inch of her tingling skin.
She felt only a little self-conscious, knowing that she'd just had a baby, his baby, and she wasn't quite as solid and toned as she'd once been, but if the look in his eyes was any indication, he didn't notice her deficiencies. He certainly didn't care enough about them to stop ogling her or touching her. He let his fingers fall over her, touching here, touching there, starting at her eyes brows, skimming over her breasts, fluttering across her belly, and then stopping at the apex of her trembling thighs.
She shuddered and chilled, yet heated at the same time. Goose bumps popped out all over her sensitized body.
Thrilled by Lainie's reaction, Cade grinned widely. He loved to watch and feel her react to him. He loved to see her facial expressions and hear the sexy, throaty little noises she made, or the whimpering sounds she emanated as she writhed beneath him, or moved over him. It gave him almost as much pleasure to pleasure her, as it did to sheathe himself in her wet heat. Almost.
Stepping back, he undressed in front of her, letting her watch, and she did, not taking her eyes from his body even for a moment. Cade fought to keep control. It wasn't as if they hadn't seen each other naked before, but now they were married. Somehow, it was different. For Cade, things had changed the moment the minister pronounced them man and wife and permitted him to kiss the bride. His bride. His. Not Drayton's. Not anyone else's. His. He meant to keep her that way.
When he was completely naked, he said, "Touch me, Lainie."
She stepped closer, obviously more than willing to obey that command, and her scent filled his now-flaring nostrils. She reached for him, running her fingertips along his jaw line, and then down to his protruding male nipples, circling them with her fingertips, flicking them with her short nails, sending lightning bolts through his over-charged system, ramming desire into his raging-inferno loins.
He stiffened concrete hard, and Lainie noticed. Her eyes went wide, and the corners of them crinkled with her smile. His manhood grew and stood straight up, beckoning for her. She took him in her hand and ran her fingers down the length of him. Her other hand moved along his rib cage, and his muscles jumped at her sensual touch.
Cade's control snapped, and he flung her back onto the bed and climbed on top of her, growling, "I can't take it when you touch me like that. You seem to know exactly what sets me off."
She started to touch him again. He took both her hand in his and held them above her head. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"My turn." Cade stared into her round doe eyes, now wide and assessing him. He kissed her hotly, eagerly, devouring her, ravishing her, branding her. He sucked her throat until he was sure that his brand marked her there, too. He'd probably left a hickey, but, immature as it seemed, he didn't care who saw it. She was his. She was meant to be his. No one else's.
He took the nipple of her full breast in his mouth and suckled the baby's milk from it. The sweet fluid ran into his mouth. He drank the life-giving and sustaining liquid that gave nutrition to his child, and he groaned with the precious taste and humbling knowledge of it.
Lainie moaned under him and arched her chest towards him. He switched to the other breast and drank his fill from that one, too, licking the tip of her hardened nipple when he finished, and then delving his rough tongue into her navel.
Lainie nearly came up off the bed. Sqirming, she tried to free her hands from Cade's stronger, steel grasp. "Please... Cade... I want to touch you... I have to touch you."
Lainie was breathless, but Cade was ruthless. He had other things in mind. Ignoring her pleas for freedom, he moved down her body, still holding her captive. He lowered his mouth to her swollen femininity. He lapped one sweep of his lashing tongue over her clit, and then filled her opening with two fingers. He moved them within her, mocking the lovemaking motion.
Lainie thought she might go mad. She rocked against Cade's hand, trying to reach the pinnacle - the top of whatever mountain her body climbed. Just as she thought she might get there and find what she sought, Cade withdrew his fingers and replaced them with his long, hard length, filling her and sending her mind reeling and her body teetering on the edge, and then swirling into convulsions around him. She fell into an abyss of ecstasy the lengths of which she'd never believed possible, and she shattered with bliss.
Cade sank into her clenching body and let her bite into his shoulder to keep from screaming, but she didn't care how much noise she made. She loved that he could make her scream, for him, for more.
Cade began to move, slowly at first - shallow thrusts into her, smooth pulls out of her. Just when she'd calmed from the first onslaught of mind-boggling orgasm, he roused another wave from deep within her.
The friction between them and the heat that built as they moved together was like nothing she'd ever experienced. The climax she reached rocked her world. She flew over the edge, rode the wave of turbulence, and reached the crest of pleasure/pain. Cade's body tightened. He heaved a final plunge inside her and groaned a deep resonating sound, which she felt throughout her whole being. Surely, only a man a woman as close as he and Lainie could share something so beautiful.
Cade had come home.
If he hadn't sworn off love, he'd believe he'd fallen madly in love with his wife. For the first time, he wondered, What would be so wrong with that?
With Lainie's love words in his ear and him still deep and hard within her, holding her tightly against him, feeling her heartbeat calm, little by little, he floated contentedly back down to earth, watching the stars behind his eye lids sparkle then fade. Heaven. He'd reached it, and its name was Lainie. He needed her.
Minutes later, spent and weak with satisfaction, they lay locked to each other's sides, Lainie curled with her back against Cade's chest, Cade's arm wrapped possessively around her. "You know, Lainie. I'm almost convinced."
"Convinced about what?"
"That I can trust you. Maybe even love you."
Lainie went still, halting the figure-eight she'd been idly tracing in the hairs of his large forearm - the forearm connected to the hand that lazily held her breast. Did she dare speak? Did she dare ask him if he'd really said what he'd said? Did she dare believe it meant anything more than appreciating the aftermath of good sex? No. She didn't dare. So she stayed silent and still, and waited.
Cade nuzzled her ear. "Did you hear me, sweetheart?" She nodded, a lone tear escaping and running down her cheek. She remained speechless, terrified of breaking the spell. "I assume that wouldn't be a problem for you. If I came to love you." She shook her head, and another tear seeped from her other eye. "Are you sure? This is the quietest I've ever heard you when it came to talking about love."
Lainie didn't want to lose his newfound love, but what could she say? What could she do? "Cade, you know I love you... more than life itself. You know I want you to love me, too, but I can't make you love me. If you do, you do, and I'll treasure that love forever. If you don't, I'll take whatever you're willing to give me, and I'll make the best of it."
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