Refracted Crystal: Diamonds and Desire (9 page)

They had arrived the morning previously, as had the last occupant of the car. In a two piece dress suit that made her look as formidable as Kris had always remembered her, Elaine Christiansen beamed as happily as Anne and Andrew as she looked on the pair. “I won’t admit that I wasn’t surprised,” she had said meeting Kris again, “but in some sense I was not
completely
surprised. He needs you, you know.”

“Have I passed the test, then?” Kris asked, unable to keep a certain tartness out of her tone of voice, although Elaine had never been anything but kind to her. The older woman’s eyes narrowed slightly at this, and she tilted her head to one side.

“I’m sorry,” Kris immediately apologised. “I just remember something you said when we first met: he usually prefers them taller and skinnier.”

At this Elaine laughed and shook her head. “I’m the one who should apologise.” Her eyes narrowed again, however, though this appeared to be an attempt to scrutinise Kris, evaluate something about her clearly rather than to criticise her. “I suspect that marriage might be exactly the thing that is required now,” she said rather enigmatically.

That all of them were here now, however, meant that Kris was ready to take what was in many ways the most important step of her life. She had been nervous that morning, her stomach fluttering a little, at the memory that this was not the
first
marriage for Daniel Stone, but she quickly pushed that thought aside. There were to be no ghosts here on this day: they had been exorcised a long time ago.

Entering through the glass doors, decorated with ornate blue and gold designs, they passed the circular base of the marble staircase beneath the beautiful rotunda overhead. When first she had seen it, Kris had immediately wanted to marry there, but Daniel had laughed and shook his head. “While I could possibly get a city official to give us more than ten minutes there, if that ever got out someone might view it as bribery. In any case, I want a little more privacy when we actually tie the knot.”

“Are you ashamed of me, then?” she had asked, teasingly.

He shook his head and looked at her, his hazel eyes shining and dragging her towards him with invisible bonds.

They climbed the magnificent staircase until they came to the Mayor’s Balcony on the fourth floor. Beside large, semi-circular windows that poured in clean, white light, the carved arches of the ceiling above them curved up to meet the roof of the rotunda. Ornate urns marked the edge of the marble parapet, and as Kris and Daniel crossed the gleaming floor with their three guests behind them, an official waiting for them at the far end. She was a stolid black woman, dressed herself in a suit and smiling at the two of them as they approached.

The ceremony itself was simple and civil. Kris had searched her soul about this: deep inside, she thought of her father and the strong heartstrings that tied her to her family’s Catholicism. Yet her father was no more, and her family so distant from her now that those ties had loosened more than she could ever have imagined. Daniel himself was clearly agnostic, neither insulting nor overly concerned to whatever religious urges she may occasionally have felt. While it was clear that he would have done anything she requested in this matter, in the end she did not desire their marriage to begin with an act of hypocrisy.

As the official spoke to them her smile was broad and generous. Her voice was calm and assured, and Kris felt her heart swelling as the words floated over her.

“We are gathered today here in the presence of family and friends for the purpose of uniting in marriage Daniel Stone and Kristina Avelar, and to share in the joy of this memorable occasion.”

Kris was almost shy as she glanced across at Daniel, her eyes travelling up his broad chest to his solemn face. As his eyes moved from the official to Kris, so a smile dawned upon his lips.

“Marriage symbolises the intimate sharing of two lives. It is the development of a balanced relationship that is continually growing and changing...”

Around them, the bright light of the Californian summer shone through the windows, forming a halo around Kris’s body, sheathed as it was in white. With one hand, she clasped Daniel’s.

“No other human ties are more tender and no other vows more important than those you now assume...”

And here they stood now, Daniel so serious and yet so kindly as he gazed at her.

“Daniel, do you take this person, Kristina, to be your lawful wedded spouse? Do you promise to love and to comfort her and keep her in sickness and in health, in prosperity and adversity, and forsaking all others, be faithful to her?”

His voice was deep and calm, but Kris caught in it the slightest tremor of emotion as he answered: “I do.” When Kris replied to the same question, she was barely able to contain herself, her whole body rising up into the bow of the ceiling that arched above them.

Now, Andrew and Anne stood in to hand them their wedding rings, simple bands of gold. Daniel slid hers upon her finger so that it rested above the delicate diamond engagement ring that he had bought for her, and after he kissed her she turned to see Anne almost fit to burst into tears. Andrew himself was clearly having some difficulty controlling his emotion and radiated joy. Only Miss Christiansen appeared fully composed, nodding with quiet satisfaction towards the happy pair as they were pronounced man and wife and embraced each other in their first, wedded kiss.

A photographer had been hired to capture the event, and as they went to the stairs in front of City Hall he was waiting patiently by his tripod, asking them to pose and offering suitable blandishments while he snapped away.

Beside her, Kris felt Daniel suddenly become tense and, looking up at his face, observed him frowning. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’m not sure,” he replied quietly. “Forgive me, but we may have to cut this part of the celebration short.”

Following the direction of his gaze, she saw a trio of people running towards the building, one of them carrying a substantial TV camera and the woman at the head clutching onto a microphone.

“Come on, let’s go,” Daniel growled.

Agreeing with him, Kris stumbled along as best she could in her high heels while Anne, Andrew and the photographer looked at them in confusion. Elaine Christiansen, however, gave a resigned sigh as she saw the TV crew moving towards them and began to follow immediately.

“Mister Stone, Mister Stone!” The woman was calling out to Daniel and he, unable to move away too quickly without risk of causing Kris to fall, was forced to turn and face the crew.

“Can we ask a few questions?” the woman asked. She was bright and bold, Kris’s age or a little younger, and with a sleek, professional attitude that was eager for recognition.

“I don’t think so,” Daniel replied awkwardly.

“We’re reporting for SFN, and understand that you might be in the city for important business,” the woman continued, ignoring his uncooperative attitude.

“As you can see, this is a very important day for the bride and
groom
.” It was Elaine speaking now, pushing her way in front of him and addressing the reporter with a severe expression on her face. This did, indeed, cause the woman to quail for a moment, but still she persevered.

“Do you have any comments to make about the failed leverage bid on new Stone Enterprise acquisitions, and what this means for the future of the company?”

Daniel clearly scowled now, taking Kris up in his arm a little more roughly than he intended and hastening her along towards the cars which now waited for them. “I have no comment to make at this time,” he told them.

“What was that about?” Kris asked him in the car after he had bundled her in, sitting down heavily beside her.

“Nothing. Who knows?” he replied, suddenly looking tired and rubbing his face with his hands. “I’m sorry about that. Christ! Can’t I have a day away from fucking work?” When he removed his hand, his face was reddening with anger, his scars pale against his darkening skin. Then he leaned back. “I’m sorry,” he said in a quieter voice. “As you have gathered, not everything is hunky-dory in the world of Stone Enterprises, but I just wish, for one day—this day most of all—everyone else would fuck off and leave us alone.”

Kris placed her head against his shoulder and gripped his arm, soothing and consoling him as they drove back to the Fairmont Hotel.

It was much later when the two of them returned at last to their own suite. For several hours they had spent their time with their visitors, Anne and Andrew clearly overawed by everything that was happening to them on this visit, Elaine Christiansen emanating satisfaction at the marriage of the happy couple. And happy they were. Daniel’s anger at the incident outside the hall had passed fairly quickly, and he and Kris celebrated their wedding in style.

As they came to the door of their suite and he unlocked it, Kris still dressed in her simple white dress, Daniel in his suit, his tie dangling on either side of his unbuttoned collar, he paused. “There’s a certain tradition involved at this point, I think.”

She squealed with delight as he scooped her up into his arms, carrying her easily as he kicked open the door. She clung onto him with her arms around his neck, her legs wriggling back and forth and laughing all the way as he took her through to the bedroom and dropped her on the large, inviting bed. Dropping down almost on top of her, letting his weight fall onto his arms so that his face hovered a few inches above hers, he dipped his lips down towards her, letting her rise up to kiss him again and again, she drinking him in, adoring his scent and taste.

“I want you,” he whispered in her ear. “You don’t know how much I fucking want you, here, now.”

“Then take me,” she said, her dark eyes glittering as she looked up at him.

Drawing backwards, his body arching slightly as he stood, he towered above her for a few moments, looking down. His face was in shadow in this position, his smile ambiguous, his eyes catching reflected light. Seeing him this way—an almost demonic expression on his face—made Kris tremble as she lay there, utterly defenceless. Her sex which had already begun to flower in anticipation became even wetter, its moisture tricking along her thighs beneath her dress.

Still almost glowering, utterly self-confident in his mastery over her, Daniel removed his jacket, his shirt covered biceps bulging as he pulled them from the sleeves of his jacket. He began to remove his tie but Kris lifted her hand, making him pause.

“Keep it on,” she said. “We can find some use for that.”

This made him laugh, breaking the tension slightly, and he began to undo his trousers more quickly now, slipping off his shoes as well. When he was naked from the waist down, his shirt open to reveal glimpses of his firm chest and abdomen, Kris groaned and slid down the bed, coming to rest on the floor, her legs and feet sticking out beneath her at a slightly awkward angle.

He was so big, she thought to herself. So fucking big. He always was, and always for her, but it never ceased to amaze her. She had been here so many times before, but this was so different: now he was her husband. Her heart felt a surge as she thought this, and again she flowered deep within her, almost climaxing at the very notion.

Daniel said nothing as she sat on the floor, the edge of the bed pressed against her back. His face was darker in this posture, shadows crossing the planes of his cheeks and the orbits of his eyes. His pectoral muscles were rising and falling slightly, and she could hear his breath becoming slightly hoarse with lust. That he was filled with lust was quite clear from his erection, which was swollen and raw in front of him.

She reached up, slowly, with her fingers, brushing the tip of him and gently circling him. He was hot and stiff and hard, a pulse of burning blood in her palm. Her own breathing became more erratic now, and she shifted her position, rising up onto her knees a little, bringing her mouth closer to him. The scent of him, his pheromones and manliness, filled her nostrils, causing them to flare, and she felt an intensity, an excitement, that surprised her. How many times had she taken him? How many times had he filled her so completely that she thought she would die. And yet, here, now, she felt almost virginal—beginning again, an act of renewal so complete that nothing else mattered in the whole world.

As her lips parted and she began to sink down onto his shaft, his hands came up to the side of her head and touched her gently, holding the fronds of her hair. “Yes,” he whispered, his voice coarse. “Yes! Do it.”

She pushed herself down, taking him into her throat. Her lips were stretched now, and saliva was beginning to trickle from her lower mouth, coating him, making him wet. She herself was beginning to flood, her pleasure building up so much that, even though she was not touching herself, she was beginning to experience a mild orgasm herself.

Squeezing him with her fist, she rapidly moved her hand up and down his magnificence—a cock even more wonderful now that it was
hers
, completely and utterly. Possession made her lustier, more demanding, and she began to make whimpering, gagging noises as she pushed herself harder than they had gone for a very long time. An image flashed into her mind, almost long lost: Ernst’s
The Robing of the Bride
. The young girl, her pale flesh resplendent against the luxurious robe of feathers, attendants threatening and voluptuous, she regal amongst them all.