Awakening (A Dangerous Man, #1) (4 page)

T
he next few hours pass in a blur. I am happy and excited,
but I’m also afraid in a way that I cannot explain. Maybe I am afraid of
change, or maybe I am afraid of David Preston. I don’t really know.

First, he goes with me to the shop, where I haltingly tell
Stacey that I’m getting married and going to Seattle with David. I ask her to witness
the ceremony, and she agrees, even though I can see from her face that she is
worried about me and sure that I am making a mistake.

Am I making a mistake? I am happy, I always dreamed
of falling in love, maybe this is it, but even if it is not, I am sure that if David
leaves for Seattle without me, I would not be able to bear it.

Back in my apartment, after his shocking proposal, he called
his assistant in Seattle, Linda Mays. She arrives a few hours later, while we
are at the shop, a glamorous looking black haired vision, in a pencil
skirt and an incredibly tailored jacket. She takes one look at me and tries not
to show her surprise. I try not to show how cowed I am by her obvious sophistication,
as I give her the documents she needs to get us a marriage license from the
courthouse.

After she leaves, he seems reluctant to leave me alone with
Stacey. After a while, he leaves for the Fairview, where he’s staying, and where
I will join him for lunch.

As soon as he’s gone, Stacey sits me down for a talk.

“Are you sure of what you are doing?” Her face is a study in
worry. In fact, she looks more worried than she did yesterday. “Marriage is not
something to jump into, especially with someone you hardly know, you only met
him yesterday you said.”

I nod, how do I explain to her that I understand her fears,
but I am more afraid of not leaving with him than of anything else?

“You don’t have to do that, you know,” She says. “I spoke
with Trevor Beak.” Trevor Beak is the manager at the local grocery store, and I
wonder what this will have to do with me. “He says there may be a position for
you as an assistant trainee manager,” She continues, “You may not have to leave
town after all.”

I smile and nod. “I’m glad you’re looking out for me,” I
say, touched by her concern, “but I’ll be fine, I promise.”

She nods, and there are tears in her eyes. She draws me into
her arms and hugs me tightly, surprising me. I want to cry because for a moment
I think I can feel what it may have been like to have a mother.

At lunchtime, the black sedan comes for me. The driver, a strong
looking but clean-cut man who tells me that his name is Steve, looks pleasant
but barely says a word to me. At the Fairview, David is waiting for me in the
restaurant. Even though in the morning I tried to make an effort with my
clothes, wearing a gray skirt and a white blouse, I still feel out of place,
like a schoolgirl.

He is sitting alone at a table close to the windows, and
when I enter he turns to look at me, and my stomach twists. The memories of
last night engulf me and I want him in a way that surprises me.

He smiles and stands, he is wearing a dark blue suit, and he
looks so beautiful I can’t catch my breath. “Hello Sophie.” He says as he pulls
the chair out for me.

“Hello.” I reply, breathing in the scent of him. I can’t believe
that he will soon be mine.

The waiter comes, and he orders for both of us, looking at
me for approval. I nod, I am not hungry at all, at least what I want cannot be
served on a plate.

When the waiter leaves, his eyes hold mine, and there is a
teasing glint in their depths.

“You have to stop looking at me like that.” He sounds
amused, “or else I will have to take you up to my suite right now, and have you
for lunch”

I sigh at the image, “Why don’t you?” I whisper. It’s
exactly what I want.

He leans back in his chair and smiles. I stare at him, I
don’t think I’ll ever get used to how incredible he is to look at. “Linda will
be here to pick you up after lunch, to shop for a dress.” He shrugs. “We’ll be
married by tonight.” His eyes are full of promise, “and then I’ll show you
everything I’m thinking of doing to you right now.

There is no way I’m going to be able to eat now, I think, trying
and failing to stop the throbbing between my legs. I press my thighs together
and sigh. I can’t wait for tonight.

“So when did you two meet?” Linda asks me later, as we
browse the racks for a good dress, me hesitantly, she, rapidly, as if she knows
exactly what she is looking for. She ignored me throughout the drive in the car
to dress shop, which she has picked out all by herself.

“Yesterday.” I reply. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I try
to say it as if it means nothing, as if people get married all the time
a day after they meet.

She snorts and continues browsing the rack. I prickle
with irritation at the sound, but I don’t say anything. Suddenly I am
determined to choose my own dress. I start to look for a dress too, determined not
to wear anything she picks out.

Luckily, I find an off-white dress, sleeveless with a wide
neck. It’s the kind of dress I’ve always dreamed of wearing. I pick it off the rack
and tell Linda that I’ve found what I want. She nods in approval when I try it
on and that rankles too.  I don’t need her to approve my choices.

We buy other things, lingerie that makes me blush, while Linda
looks at my reddening face as if she has never seen a blush before, shoes, a
few other dresses, and then we go to a hair salon to fix up my hair and makeup.
By the time I’m all dressed up, I don’t recognize myself. I don’t look my age,
that’s for sure. I look grown-up and elegant.

Stacey meets us at the courthouse with her Brett, her husband,
who looks confused by the whole thing. They both witness the ceremony, which
for me, is only a blur. All I can see is David looking perfect in the dark blue
suit promising to love me forever. I know it’s probably silly to imagine that I
love him, but as I watch his lips say my name, I’m very sure that I do.

The official says something and David lifts my hand to slide
the rings onto my finger, two rings, a sparking engagement ring, and a plain
wedding band. I know his assistant has picked them out, but I don’t care,
because I am happy and in love, and for the moment I know that everything is
going to be all right.

S
erena Grey discovered her first love when she was a child,
and that love, reading, has been her constant companion since then.

She still loves to read, but now she also writes, because
the stories in her head won't leave her in peace otherwise. When she's not
reading and writing, she enjoys cocktails, coffee, the Vampire Diaries, Smash,
and constantly drools over Gabriel Macht as Harvey Spector in Suits.

T
he journey to Seattle is silent. Steve, the chauffeur
keeps his eyes on the road, and my husband, I still can’t believe he is my
husband, studies some papers on his lap, totally ignoring me.

I can’t stop looking at him though. As I watch his strong
fingers flip through the papers, my mind drifts to last night, my wedding
night, and I feel my skin heat up.

I sigh and turn to look out of the window at the woods
flying by.

It’s still hard to believe that this man, who I only met
three days ago, is my husband and that I am leaving the life I have always
known to go with him to his home, his city, his life, of which I know nothing.
However, I don’t care, I love him, and I’m sure he cares about me.

He hasn’t looked at me at all. With him acting so distant, it’s
easy to wonder if I’m not mistaken, and just being a silly child imagining
myself in love. Why would he love me? After all, I am just an inexperienced eighteen-year
old. I steal another glance at him, but if that’s what he thinks, he wouldn’t
have married me in the first place, would he?

Why would he marry me at all? Aunt Josephine would have said
something about ulterior motives. But what ulterior motives? I’m neither rich,
successful, nor exceptionally beautiful. In fact, I was the one who begged him
not to leave me.

I push the thoughts to the back of my mind. My body is
aching from last night. I sigh again, David is still engrossed in his papers. Last
night it had been me he was engrossed in.

After the ceremony, we had all gone back to the hotel for
drinks and dinner. Halfway through dinner, which I was too tense to eat, he’d
suddenly stood up and announced that he was retiring with his wife.

The look in his eyes had filled me with such want that I
almost couldn’t stand up. The next thing I knew he picked me up and carried me into
the elevator amidst embarrassed cheers from our few guests.

We were alone in the elevator, and as soon as the door
closed, he claimed my lips, his tongue delving hungrily in my mouth. His hands found
their way under my dress and started to knead me gently through my new lace
panties. I was whimpering with pleasure by the time the elevator stopped.

Then he lifted me again and carried me to his room. Someone,
probably his assistant, Linda Mays, had arranged for wine in an ice bucket, and
strawberries. He ignored those. He dropped me, barely able to stand at the foot
of the bed and pulled down the zipper of my dress, pulling it off my shoulder
along with the straps of my bra.

When my breasts were free, he covered them with his hands,
kneading them until I fell against him and he had to guide me unto the bed.

He pulled my dress up around my waist and pushed my panties
aside, then his tongue was between my legs, and I was moaning and whimpering. In
only a few moments, my body had started shattering around his mouth. Then he
stopped suddenly. While I was still wondering why, he pulled down his pants and
in the next moment, he had filled me completely.

I came immediately, the warm sweetness shattering my body
into a million pieces, then as he continued to move, I felt the pleasure build
up, again, heat starting up in my core and spreading until even my fingertips
were filled with pleasure. I screamed my release the same time as he
groaned loudly and collapsed on top of me.

Then I said it. I love you.

And he didn’t say anything.