She felt reborn.
Although fairly certain that she wasn’t a virgin, this was still all deliciously new to her. Venus let her instincts take over and found herself enthralled. Enthralled and completely in awe of what was going on. She couldn’t have ever felt like this before.
She couldn’t have, she silently insisted as he kissed the side of her neck and made a minisquadron of sensations go off like fireworks within her. She would have remembered this, remembered the man who had lit her up inside.
Yet, no man came to mind, no fireworks display was recreated. This was all original, all being felt and richly savored for the first time.
Somehow, it seemed fitting. He’d rescued her, caused her to live again. It was fitting that she become his.
Just when she thought she’d experienced all there was, she discovered that there was more.
So much more.
The fireworks were no longer in her head, they were in every part of her body.
She sensed it was all coming to one grand crescendo. Eager to experience it all, Venus lifted her hips up to his in a silent invitation.
Trevor finally drove himself into her. The next moment, she closed her legs around his lower torso, drawing him into her as far as she could just as the final explosion occurred.
It was worth the buildup, she remembered thinking just before her mind separated itself from her body and floated away.
Chapter Eleven
For a moment, he thought of quietly slipping back into the restaurant and letting Venus have her privacy.
It was a night very much like when he’d rescued her. Maybe that was why she’d been drawn here to the terrace. She was leaning against the railing and staring at the ocean.
He found himself watching her for another moment, wondering what she was thinking.
Wondering about her.
He no longer cared about the woman she’d been. He only knew that he was attracted to the woman she was. The woman who steadily crept into his heart.
The restaurant had closed its doors for the night forty minutes ago. Twenty minutes ago, the last of the patrons had walked out of the restaurant, silver foil swans filled with leftovers clutched in their hands. Shortly thereafter, the rest of his staff had gone home for the night.
All except for Venus.
But when he looked for her in order to take her home, she was nowhere to be found. When he called her, there was no answer. From out of nowhere, panic sliced through him, lethal and sharp.
What if she was gone?
What if she’d suddenly remembered who she was and, overwhelmed, had rushed out to rejoin her life without saying goodbye?
That was crazy, he upbraided himself. Venus would never do that. She would have said something to him before leaving.
But then, he’d never been this happy before, or this excited about a relationship. It was only natural to assume that such happiness didn’t exist in the real world. So he went looking for her when he should have been busy shutting the rest of the restaurant down. When he found her, the sense of relief was amazing. That was when he knew he was in trouble. He was getting too close—but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
The breeze played with her hair, ruffling it with cool affection. He walked up quietly behind her, still debating whether or not to disturb her. Just as he made his decision to withdraw again and turn away, he heard her voice, soft, low, ask, “Who do you think I was?”
Trevor crossed the terrace again and slipped his arms around her waist, standing behind her. He held Venus to him, thinking how natural this all felt. As if this was where his life was supposed to be, right here, in this spot, with this woman.
“You mean before I pulled you out of the water?”
He heard Venus sigh. In frustration? Resignation? He couldn’t tell. And her response gave him no clue. “Yes.”
“That’s easy.” He felt her turn her head against his chest, her eyes raised in silent surprise. “A mermaid. A wondrous, mythical creature too beautiful to exist in the real world—except that you did. And do.”
She turned completely around to look up at him, her breasts brushing against his chest, sending shockwaves of warmth through him. Any sort of physical contact with her, however minor, always did that these days. It was hard to imagine that only two months had gone by since he’d saved her. It felt like a lifetime.
It felt like a blink of an eye.
“No, really,” she pressed. “It’s been almost nine weeks since you found me. Shouldn’t I be remembering something? My name, or who I was, where I came from? Just some tidbit.”
Trevor could feel her frustration. Empathy surged through him. He knew how he’d feel in her place—like a prisoner.
“I don’t know.” He leaned his cheek against the top of her head, drawing in the scent of her hair. Savoring it. “I just know that I’m lucky to have found you and that if you remember, then maybe I’ll lose you. So, to be honest, I’m not all that eager to try to figure out who you were.” She drew back her head to look at him. “I only know that I really, really like who you are.”
Venus smiled then and threaded her arms around his neck, curving her body into his. “Me, too. I was just thinking that if I never remember anything about my past, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad. I’m happy. From what I hear, that’s not such an easy thing.” Her eyes shone as they looked up into his. “I like being happy with you.”
His heart felt so full, he thought it would burst. This was a very new sensation for him. Even when he’d been with Alicia, he hadn’t felt like this. He hesitated to name the feeling. For now, he was just going to savor what was.
Trevor held her close to him. Held her so close that there was no space for negative thoughts. The kind of thoughts that played devil’s advocate and whispered in his mind. There was no denying that he felt as if he were on borrowed time. No denying that he was falling for this mermaid he’d pulled from the sea. Because any plans for a future with her could only be laid on a foundation of sand, he forced himself to focus only on the moment.
Even if it meant that he was functioning in a fool’s paradise.
So he stood there with Venus in his arms, saying nothing, living in the moment, grateful that it was there.
The banner across the front of Kate’s Kitchen proclaimed it to be closed for a private party. It didn’t mention that the private party was his brother and new sister-in-law’s wedding reception.
For the last week and a half, Trevor had pulled double duty and made preparations for the celebration while still running his restaurant at maximum perfection. Sleep became a rarity.
To his pleasant surprise, Venus had been invaluable. She was there with him every step of the way, acting both as his right hand and his gofer, doing whatever was needed. It amazed him at how tirelessly she worked with him and how well they meshed together. And every minute of every day, as they worked, he thought about turning their partnership into a permanent thing.
But there was no time to talk about anything except the reception. The time beyond that seemed far away. Trevor tried to convince himself that this was a blessing.
And then, finally, the day of the wedding came. His mind was on last-minute preparations. For him, the ceremony was a blur. All except for how beautiful Venus looked in an electric-blue gown that defied gravity and emphasized her small waist.
As beautiful as the gown was, he longed to see her without it. The thought kept him going long after his energy should have been depleted.
“Trevor, you outdid yourself,” Kate said, finding him an hour into the reception. As if to emphasize her sentiment, the seven-tier wedding cake was brought out and housed in a corner until later. It looked more like a work of art than something spun out of flour, eggs and sugar.
As ever, Trevor received the compliments with modesty. “I had help.” Looking around, he saw Venus bringing a bottle of champagne to the table that Travis and Trent, along with their dates, shared. He beckoned her over. “I’m not sure if I co
uld have pulled it off without Venus.”
Venus joined him just in time to hear the second part of his statement.
“You would have.” There was no false modesty to her words. She meant them. “All I did was run some errands and pick up some of the slack. It’s your menu, your recipes, your show,” she added. “Can I get you anything, Mrs. Marlowe?”
“No, and it’s Kate, please,” she reminded the younger woman. Kate placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “You both did a great job,” she complimented them with sincerity, then added a bit more softly, “You make a nice team.”
Trevor laughed, shaking his head. “There you go again, Mom, being subtle.”
Kate looked from her son to the woman she thought perfectly suited to him. “I think we’re possibly past that at this point. In fact, I’m sure of it. Why don’t you two go and dance a little?” she suggested, then bent down, lowering her voice. Her next words were for Venus’s benefit. “I taught him how to dance so he has no excuse.”
That might be the case with Trevor, Venus thought, but there was another possible obstacle. “I’m afraid I don’t know if I know how to dance.”
Emilio was handling the kitchen, along with several of the staff he had retained for tonight. That left him as free as he chose to be.
Trevor never hesitated. He extended his hand to Venus. “Why don’t we go and find out?”
Gamely, she slipped her hand into his. “Okay, but if I step all over you,” she warned, “remember, you asked for it.”
He made his way over to the dance floor. “That doesn’t exactly make me shake in my shoes. Being stepped on by someone who weighs maybe a hundred pounds if she fills her pockets with rocks doesn’t hold much terror for me.”
“I weigh more than that,” she protested.
“With the rocks in your pockets?” he asked, drawing her into his arms. It was a slow song and he began to sway to the rhythm.
Without realizing it, she fell into step, her movements echoing his. “No, seriously, I weigh…” And then her voice trailed off. She raised her eyes to his face, frustration and wonder mirrored there. “I don’t know how much I weigh.”
Trevor bent his head down so that his words were only heard by her. “My guess about your weight would be that it’s perfect.”
She could feel herself smiling inside. “You are very good for my ego.”
“Anytime,” he murmured. “Oh, and by the way, you can dance.”
She’d forgotten about that. After checking her foot placement, she then glanced up at him, more than a little satisfaction and pleasure warming her. “I guess I can.”
She did more than just go through the motions, shadowing him. Venus could feel the rhythm throbbing through her, could feel the beat from her fingertips all the way down to her feet. Was this a natural ability? Or had someone taught her?
Small questions nagged her but the urgency to know the answer diminished with each passing day.
“They really look happy together, don’t they?” Trevor commented. When she raised her head, he nodded his toward Mike and Miranda.
As she looked in their direction, something small and troubling reared its head. She couldn’t put her finger on it, couldn’t explain it. It was like the sudden appearance of a pebble in her shoe. A splintered thought flashed in her brain, a hairsbreadth away from taking on form.
And then, the next moment, it was gone. Disappearing into vapor.
Mentally, she shrugged it off. She nodded in response to Trevor’s question. “Yes, they do.”
“Would you be happy…?” he asked her. “Married,” he added.
Oh God, this was coming out all wrong, Trevor rebuked himself. He was so much better at creating things in the kitchen than stringing the right words together. She probably thought he was some kind of mentally arrested idiot.
“I don’t know,” she told him. All of a sudden, her stomach ached, the sides pinching together at the very mention of the idea. But because an answer seemed important to Trevor, she pushed on. “I do know that it would depend on who I was marrying.”
“How about me?” That, too, didn’t come out right, he thought, but he’d given up trying to wax poetic. The main thing was to get the words out.
Stunned, she stopped dancing. “How about you what?”
He took a deep breath, then plunged into the icy waters. “Marriage. How about if I was the one you were marrying?”
For a moment, she said nothing. She forced herself to push back the wall of fear that threatened to overwhelm her. She had no idea what had generated it, only that fear had no right to be in the same place that Trevor occupied.
“Then yes,” she answered, “I would be happy.”
The song ended just then and people returned to their tables. He took her hand in his. Instead of returning to their table, Trevor led her to the terrace. He closed the doors behind them.
The night air was chilly and she wrapped her arms around herself as she waited for him to speak.
“Do you want my jacket?” he offered.
“No, I’m okay. Did you want to say something to me in private?” she guessed.
Trevor slipped his hand into his pants pocket. His fingers curled around something small and square. It was still there. The box he’d placed there this morning after he’d gotten dressed for the wedding. The box he’d gotten at the jeweler’s when he picked up Mike and Miranda’s wedding rings.
Taking it out of his pocket, he slipped it into her hand and closed her fingers over it.
She looked down at her hand. Her heart slammed against her rib cage. There was hardly enough air in her lungs to ask, “What’s this?”
Nerves tangled around uncertainty. “Why don’t you open it and see?”
Whatever air she did have in her lungs came to a complete standstill, as did everything else, freezing in place as she opened the box.
A feeling of déjà vu washed over her.
She’d done this before, been in this exact same place once before, looking down at an engagement ring.
She waited. Nothing else materialized, no insight, no faces, no breakthrough. Nothing.
But the feeling of elation that came rushing at her, that was new. That was different. She would have sworn to it on a stack of Bibles.
“It’s beautiful.” Venus raised her eyes to his, almost afraid to ask, afraid of spoiling the moment. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“In my own, inept, clumsy way, yes. Yes, I am.” Taking the ring out of the box, Trevor slipped it on her finger. “I know it’s only been a short while, but I feel as if I’ve known you forever. I can’t really remember what my life was like without you.”
She grinned from ear to ear. She couldn’t help it. What she felt inside came spilling out. “That makes two of us. Except that in my case, Trevor, it’s actually true.”
He took her into his arms. “In my case, too,” he whispered just before he kissed her.
Despite the happiness in the foreground, something bothered her. Some nagging little detail that refused to take on shape or dimension. But this time, she didn’t even try to make it clearer. Instead, she shut the fragments out, refused to try to put them together. All she wanted was to savor the moment and the man.
Venus molded her body to his, absorbing the kiss and every wave of heat that went with it. The happiness she felt was real and that was all—all—that mattered, she silently insisted.
I love you, Trevor Marlowe, with every inch of my body and soul. I always will, she silently swore even as the kiss took her deeper and deeper into a deliciously endless abyss.
The sound of a distant, delicate cough penetrated. Reluctantly, Venus drew back, letting the world back in. Kate was sharing the terrace with them, standing just at the door.
“Hey, you two, sorry to interrupt, but Miranda’s about the throw the bouquet,” she told them, beckoning them both inside.
“I don’t need a bouquet,” Venus said. To prove it, she held up her hand in the classic p
ose of newly engaged women everywhere: wrist bent to show the ring off to its maximum advantage.
Moonlight reflected off the surface of the pear-shaped diamond, making it appear blindingly brilliant.
Kate made no effort to hide her pleasure, pleasure that came with only the smallest drop of surprise. She threw her arms open and embraced not her son, but the woman who had captured his heart.
“Welcome to the family, Venus,” she cried.
“Hey, what about me?” Trevor asked. Theirs was a demonstrative family, thanks to Kate. “Don’t I get a hug, too?”
The smile on Kate’s lips made her look like the personification of mischief. “I’ll let Venus take care of that.” Stepping back, she eased the door closed. “Carry on” was her parting whisper.
Wiggling her hand just a little, Venus watched in rapt fascination as the light from the lamp on the table played off the stone on her finger, catching it and breaking it apart into a hundred separate, dazzling colors.
Trevor slid down beside her on his sofa. Rather than take her back to his parents’ house after the reception, he’d brought her to his apartment for a private celebration.
“I’ll buy you a bigger one when I can afford it,” he promised. He had been tempted to get a much larger stone to begin with, but a large debt was not the way to begin a new life together.
“Don’t you dare,” she cried, covering her ring protectively with her other hand. “I don’t want a bigger stone, I want this one.”
“Most women like big stones.” He wasn’t an expert on women by a long shot, but that seemed to be the way things were.
“That’s when it’s a bribe because they’re not getting a man of quality.” The moment the words were out of her mouth, she felt her stomach pinch again, as if she’d uncovered a deeper awareness. But this wasn’t about her, this was about them. “I would have taken a string of yarn tied in a bow as long as you came with it.”
“I can afford more than a string of yarn,” he told her with a laugh. “And judging from the way you’ve been looking at the stone, I don’t think yarn would have had the same impact.”
[Kate's Boys 02] - The Bride With No Name Page 11