CORAL - Fallen (A Romance Trilogy, Book 2) (44 page)

“WAKE UP SLEEPYHEAD.”
I
blink my eyes open
. Shit! I fell asleep!

“
Oh no!
”
I moan sitting up in bed
. “
What time is it?
”

Tristan is lying next to me, completely
naked.
“
Half five
,”
he answers
squeezing my inner thigh.

“
Did you fall
asleep?
”
I ask.

Tristan smiles deeply and stretches out his
body. “
Yes, you
’
re wearing me out woman
,”
he chuckles darkly.

I snort with laughter. “
Er...I don't think so
,”
I add dryly
. “
You
’
re the acrobat
,”
I blurt.

Tristan howls with laughter. “
Acrobat?
”
he
chuckles
with raucous laughter.

“
Yeah
,”
I chuckle back shyly.

He smiles warmly at me, leans down then
kisses the tip of my nose. “
Still want to go out?
”
he asks. I have to seriously think about
it, Tristan and
all night sex, or getting that dress on
and going out with Mr Sexy Mogul? It’
s a tough decision
to make.

“
Yes, you want to
spoil me, and I want to wear my new dress
.”
Tristan
’
s mouth
pops open. I quickly stop any reply by placing my finger against his lip
s. “
Let
’
s get ready gorgeous
,”
I say.

Jumping off the bed and taking Tristan’
s hand in mine, I lead him into the bathroom...

AN HOUR LATER
, I am stood
in front of the gigantic mirror in Tristan’
s bathroom.
Picking up my lip liner, I start to trace the
outline
of my lips; then I put on my lipstick. I feel excited, really excited, which is
unexpected – I'm going to go out tonight with my sexy man.

Standing back to look at myself, I nod at
my reflection with approval. I have styled my hair into big sexy waves, and
pinned it up on the one side. My make-up looks good, and I have my favourite
perfume on.

As I walk back into the bedroom, I take my
robe off and hang it up. Then I walk over to the walk-in closet and collect my
dress and the underwear I have chosen, which is a dark blue shiny corset, with
matching half thong knickers, and a pair of nude silk hold ups. Walking back
into bedroom I place them all down on the bed.

Taking a deep breath, I shimmy into the
knickers and clip the corset on, turning around I take a quick peek in the full
length mirror.
Whoa!
My boobs look massive!
Shit!
The corset
really pushes them up. Maybe I shouldn’
t wear this?
Get on with it Coral!

Turning away from myself, I sit on the edge
of the bed and open the packaging for the nude silk, hold-ups. I have never
worn anything like this before, I’
m nervous to know
what it feels like. Pulling the first hold-up on,
I’
m amazed by how nice it feels…
ooh so
soft!
I quickly pull on the other.
Hmm, really
nice…I have to get more of these!

Taking a deep calming breath, I pick up the
dress.
Here goes nothing!

Undoing the zip, I step both feet in and
carefully slide it up my body. Zipping it back up, I take a moment and sit on
the edge of the bed. I look down at my hands and see they are steady, no
shaking. My throat hasn’
t dried up
and my heart rate is normal, as is my breathing.

I continue to sit on the bed, waiting for
the moment to come, a feeling, an image….anything, but nothing happens, so I
launch myself up, and do a little celebratory dance!
I’
m so happy!

Stepping into the Roland Cartier heels, I
smile as I remember being so excited that I found them. They match the dress
perfectly in colour, and they glitter all over, plus, the ankle strap makes me
feel secure enough that I won't fall flat on my arse with nerves, and I like
the peep toes.

Picking up my bracelet from Tristan, I
clasp it shut around my wrist, it goes perfectly with the dress. Closing my
eyes, I turn around
in front of the mirror. I peek with
one eye first, then both. Ok,
boobs don’
t look so big now I
’
m
in the dress –
Phew!

I gaze back at myself in wonder. I'm in a
dress! I twirl around so I can see how the dress fans out, very pretty. Feeling
ecstatic with my choice, I grab my powder and lipstick from the bathroom, and
head back into the bedroom.

Picking up the navy blue clutch bag that I
purchased, I pop my make-up, some cash and my mobile inside, then head down the
stairs to find Tristan. As I turn to take the last flight of stairs, I hear
music playing, sounds soulful, almost haunting. I stop when I see Tristan
standing outside on the patio staring out at the view, deep in thought.

My nerves re-appear –
Come on Coral!

I take a deep breath and head down the
stairs. Tristan hears my heels clicking against the flooring and turns around,
seeing me his mouth pops open just like it did when he caught me dancing. I
notice his cheeks instantly flame and his eyes dilate as he drinks me in.
Boy
he looks good!

My blood heats in response. He’
s
wearing a pair of light mocha suit
trousers, and a crisp white shirt. The top three buttons are open, revealing
his muscular chest, and his sleeves are turned up to his elbows.
Damn he
looks over the top sexy!

“
Hi
,”
I squeak
,
cautiously approaching him. Tristan swallows hard. I laugh a little nervously
and walk towards him, taking his outstretched hand he pulls me into him.

“
You look...
wow.”
He reaches up and lightly traces him
thumb across my cheek, then leans down and kisses me softly on the lips. I
think he
’
s being careful not to
ruin my makeup.

“
Anyone would think
you’
ve never seen a woman in a
dress before
,”
I titter, trying
to lighten the intensity of the moment.

“
I haven
’
t until now
,”
he retorts, my breath hitches at his words.
“
Coral, you look stunning
,”
he says earnestly, stepping back he
assesses me for a moment then fr
owns deeply. “
I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you, every man in the room
’
s going to want you looking like this
,”
he growls.

I roll my eyes at him and smile. “
Who
’
s this singing?
”
I
ask.

“
I Love You by
Sarah McLachlan.
”
Tristan
stares down at me, his eyes
intense, then pulls me into
his body, wraps his right arm around my waist, takes my right hand in his left,
and starts dancing us around on the patio, keeping his eyes locked with mine.

I smile up at him. How nice this is,
dancing outside as the evening sun gently warms us.

Unfortunately, the song ends far too soon
for my liking.

“
That was
beautiful,
”
I say.
“
Thank you.
”

Tristan s
miles,
lifts our hands up in the air and t
wirls me around. “
You
’
re
beautiful. Would you like a drink before we go?
”
He
’
s so gentlemanly, I really love that about him.

“
Please,
”
I answer shyly. Tristan keeps hold of my
hand and walks us into the kitchen. The music has changed track;
it’
s really nice and m
ellow.

I turn to Tristan. “
Who
’
s this?
”
I ask.

“
Rogue Wave
,”
he answers
. “
The songs called Eyes
.”
I nod my head along to the plinky plonk of the guitar.

“
It
’
s good
,”
I say still nodding away. Tristan smiles, picks me up and twirls me
round
in his arms, in big swaying movements. “Tristan!”
I giggle, keeping my hands planted on his shoulders.

“
God, you smell so
good
,”
he murmurs against my
ear.

“
So do you
,”
I say as he puts me back down.
“
So you like my choice?
”
I ask fanning the dress out, feeling girly
and feminine.

“
Yes, you look
breathtaki
ng,”
he says.
Bringing my hand up to his lips, he kisses my knuckles.

I swallow hard. “
You
look really hot too
,”
I tell
him breathlessly.

“
Sorry
,”
he says
. “
Took the jacket off, got a little warm
.”

I shake my head at him. “Tristan, you look
great.”

He smiles warmly at me. “
Thank you baby
,”
he
says, holding his hand out to me.
I clasp mine within
his. Tristan looks a little nervously at me.

“
You ok?
”
I ask. He smiles a little crookedly at me
then blows out a deep breath.

“
I was going to wait
but…
”
I watch him walk away, I hear
his office door
opening, moments later, he returns with
a small box in his hand. I roll my eyes –
Seriously,
another present?

Reaching me, he smiles shyly at me then drops down on one knee
–
Holy fuck! –
My
heart starts pumping rapidly. Is this
what I think it is? Tristan opens the box, but I can't take my gaze away from
his loving expression.

“
I know I
’
ve already asked you
, but I wanted to do this right. And if you don't like what I’
ve chosen, we can pick another
,”
he says swallowing hard. “
Coral, I want to spend the rest of my life loving you, only you. Y
ou make me so happy baby, I can’t
imagine
spending the rest of my life with anyone but you. Would you do me the
extraordinary
honour
of marrying me?”

I manage to pull my gaze away from his eyes
and look down at the ring.

“
T
ristan!”
I gasp bringing my hands to my
mouth.

Bending down to look at it more closely, I
can see he has chosen another antique, and the design is beautiful. Elegant
flowers are entwined around the main band which holds a large single square
diamond, on each side of the stone lies a beautifully crafted butterfly, above
and below are intricate scrolls, it’
s simply
breathtaking.

“
Tristan it
’
s beautiful
,”
I gush
, tears pooling in my eyes –
Crap!

“
Is that a yes?
”
He asks, laughing nervously.

I feel giddy. “
Yes
,”
I squeak.

Tristan leaps to his feet and stands beside
me, carefully taking the ring out of the box he takes my left hand in his and
slides the ring down my wedding finger.

“
It
’
s Victorian, platinum. There
’
s a background story, want to hear it?
”
He asks,
gazing at
the ring sitting on my finger. I nod shyly at him. I have lost the power of
speech again.