Paradise Found
Page 16
In one movement, he swept her up into his arms and carried her inside where his bed was only a few feet away. He lay her gently on top of the cotton bedspread and reclined at her side, facing her.
“I love you, Victoria,” he whispered, brushing a stray strand of hair from her cheek.
“I love you.” She smiled, a warm glow filling her. Never in her life had she felt such contentment. Looking into Daemon’s sparkling eyes was like gazing into a crystal ball. With him her future was clear. No longer would she have to run away to find herself. All that she was and all that she would be was home with him.
“I’m worried about Justin,” Victoria said, wondering how another change in his life would affect him.
“You needn’t worry about Justin. Everything will turn out better than expected, you’ll see,” he assured.
“I hope you’re right.”
He winked. “I’m right.”
“When do we tell him about the baby?” Victoria asked.
“If we marry soon, we won’t have to tell him right away. Our reputations will be safe and the conception date our secret.” His lips brushed hers. “Babies are born prematurely all the time.”
“You do think of everything, don’t you?”
He reached out and drew her against him in an intimate embrace. “Tonight, you’re mine. Completely.”
As his lips touched hers, the tingle from head to toe was like a reaction from a first kiss. Victoria glanced at the shimmering diamond on her finger. This was an evening of new beginnings.
As his kisses grew more demanding and probing, Victoria answered them with a longing of her own. Trembling lips, nibbling teeth, tongues dancing in liquid fire ignited her mouth, her throat, her entire being.
Daemon peeled off her blouse. A cool breeze from the overhead fan brushed her flesh as he traced a line of burning kisses down her neck to chest. Each kiss was like a brand pressed into her. Unclasping the front hook of her filmy bra, her breasts parted in release. His hands squeezed as his lips suckled one and than the other. Her moans blended with the sound of crashing waves outside. The tide rolling in coincided with her rising passion.
Lifting his head, Daemon looked down at her, misty eyed. No words were necessary. She could feel the love radiating from the depths of his being to hers.
She inhaled the salty ocean air blended with the scent of tropical flowers. Paradise couldn’t be more aptly named. With Daemon she had found paradise.
“You know, Victoria, by marrying me, you might be spending more time horizontal than vertical,” he whispered, placing his hands in the waistband of her shorts.
She rolled over and on top of him, startling him. “Speak for yourself.”
Reaching down, she unbuttoned and unzipped his cotton slacks. Daemon eased out of the fabric. In turn, Victoria shimmied out of her shorts and satin bikini underwear.
She lay prone, the length of her body over his, flesh skimming flesh. As his passion hardened beneath her, she squatted over him, allowing that part of him entry. As he eased into her, she softly moaned. Leaning over, she bucked against him, riding waves of longing. The release was spontaneous and sent shivers radiating down to her toes. She met his misty gaze and her lips trembled. His lips trembled, too and droplets of perspiration dampened his brow.
“Who’s going to be horizontal?” she asked in a husky whisper.
A grin creased Daemon’s face.
In one swift motion, he had her in a tight embrace and rolled her over until he in the dominant position. Looking down at her, he chuckled.
“Not fair,” she said.
“You know what ‘they’ say, all is fair in love and war. This is love, Victoria.” He bent down to kiss her full on the lips.
Yes, she knew it was love. The real thing.
Chapter 26
“Married? You’re getting married?” Alexander Wells’ voice blasted through the telephone line.
“Yes, that’s right. I’m marrying Victoria Montcherry.”
There was a long pause.
“I really don’t care what you think. I just called to inform you, that’s all,” Daemon added. He drummed the fingers of his free hand on his desktop at Paradise Helicopters.
“I just hired her for a very important position at Eden.”
“As an employee, what she does in her personal life should have no bearing on her professional life.” Daemon seethed at thoughts of Victoria in his father’s embrace.
Though he often wished she hadn’t accepted the position at Eden, Daemon could see the benefit of having Victoria on board. As she had stated, together they would make formidable opponents against Alexander. As the future heir and equal partner, Daemon had clout. He had always considered Eden an anchor around his neck. With Victoria’s help, he now saw an opportunity for altering the firm’s policies toward a more environmentally-friendly stance. He could help institute positive change, assuring a green future for his children and for his Islands.
“So Victoria is astute enough to be an executive at Eden but not good enough for your son?” Daemon spat.
“She’s still a mixed blood native.”
Daemon scoffed. “I’m as Seychellois as she. What’s important is that I love her and she loves me and we’re going to build a future together.”
“You have to consider Eden’s future.”“You’ve covered Eden’s future. Victoria is an asset to the firm and, contrary to what you think, I do keep up with Eden’s operations.”
Alexander sighed. “You’ve always had a mind of your own.”
“I wonder who I inherited that from?”
“Okay, live life on your own terms. I suppose since I never interfered when you were a child, I can’t do anything now.”
His father was backing off. That was a switch.
“I suppose if you’re going to get involved with an Island woman, at least the Montcherry woman has business sense and can be beneficial to Eden resorts.”
Always business.
“Father, I’m marrying for love, not business.”
“Son, I want you to know that I married your mother for love.” There was a short pause on the line. And, son, I’ve always loved you, too.”
Alexander Wells attended the wedding. The ceremony was held at Daemon’s hilltop home, on the teak deck overlooking the ocean. Victoria was resplendent in a white gauze and lace gown as she grasped her father’s arm. Jacques LeGrande led her down the expanse of flower-lined deck toward Daemon who stood next to the robed priest, the Vicor from Bessye’s parish.
Daemon brushed a hand through his hair as his gaze met Victoria’s. Justin stood beside him, attired in a similar dark tropical-weight suit. Doris stood across from the men, her floral bouquet bobbing from nerves at her first stint as a maid-of-honor.
Victoria gazed down the narrow aisle created on the deck, grasping her father’s hand. Her father. Never had she even dreamed that she would have a father escorting her at her wedding. She glanced at Jacques, whose eyes twinkled at her. If only her mother were present to witness the event. Bessye had always lamented, wondering if Victoria would ever marry. Tears puddled in Victoria’s eyes just thinking about her.
“Oh, Mamma,” she whispered.
“She’s here in spirit,” Jacques replied in a hushed tone, startling her from her thoughts. She met his soft gaze and he winked.
As they continued their walk, she looked toward the floral arbor where Daemon stood, tall and self-assured. She wanted to pinch herself. That handsome man with his radiant smile was going to marry her. She had to travel around the world, only to return home to the Seychelles to find a husband and father to her children.
Daemon would be the perfect husband and father. The way he cared for Justin was evident in their close stance and the glances the two men exchanged. Justin smiled and to Victoria the earth moved. She had made the right decisions for once in her life. Reconnecting with her father, becoming a part of Justin’s life and loving Daemon were perfect choices. She had finally trusted her he
art.
How ironic fate was. Her life had come full circle. Home. She was home. Home.
Author Biography
Purveyor of the written word, Nancy Loyan Schuemann has been writing ever since she began composing picture books for fellow students in elementary school.
After graduating with a BSBA degree in marketing from John Carroll University, she pursued a career in sales and marketing. During the past ten years she has incorporated those skills into a professional writing career. She is a freelance writer specializing in construction, design, architecture, histories, profiles, antique safes, dance, travel and special interest in local and national publications. She has taught writing at the prestigious Chautauqua Institution in New York State.
Nancy is a Cleveland, Ohio native who shares her knowledge of the city as author of
Cleveland, Ohio: A Photographic Portrait and On the Threshold of a New Century: The City of South Euclid, 1967-1999. Her love, however, is writing women’s fiction. Her first novel, “Paradise Found,” a multicultural romance set in the exotic Seychelles Islands was published in 2011. She has since contracted with Crimson Romance (a division of Adam’s Media), her first release being “Lab Test,” a humorous paranormal romance. She is also the author of “Hearts of Steel,” a contemporary romance and “Wishes and Tears,” a time travel romance.
Travel has taken her around the world, including trips to Europe, Great Britain, South America, Egypt and the exotic Seychelles Islands. When she’s not writing, Nancy teaches and performs, Middle Eastern dance as “Nailah.” She shares her life with her husband and her Pointer/Labs, Amber and Topaz. Her web site is www.NLSScribe.com
Table of Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Author Biography