Some Kind of Angel (14 page)

On his wedding day, Michael stood dressed in his tuxedo under a Royal Palm, watching his bride walk down the aisle of the gently swaying palm fronds.  His heart nearly stopped.  How beautiful she looked.  He knew that his face must be showing all that he felt for her, affection, admiration for her beauty, protection.  He would never again let anything happen to Leslie like the trouble that had befallen her when she became entangled with Adam.  After today, she was his to care for, watch over, and love.

They said their vows with a soft Florida breeze lifting her veil and the shadows of the palm fronds moving over their heads.  When the ceremony was over and Michael was invited to kiss his bride, he bent his head just as the veil floated in front of her face.  She turned her head to let it drift away and missed his kiss.  Soft laughter came up from the watching family, but Leslie made up for it by capturing Michael’s face in her hands and kissing him very thoroughly.

The wedding meal was held inside the house; everyone seated at the long table in the dining room, all the Camerons and the Rutledges.  The Cameron contingent of the family had flown in for the wedding this morning in Hunter’s private plane.

Michael knew that he should not feel self-conscious sitting with Leslie’s family and Lynne’s family, but he did.  There were so many of them, he could hardly keep them straight.  Lynne had invited her family of Camerons and they had come in full force to see Lynne’s sister-in-law get married.  At one of the round tables sat Hunter, Liz, their seven year old daughter Madeline, and their two year old son, Philip.

Justin’s family filled another table, his wife, Anne, their five year old son, Josh and their two year old twin daughters, Jessica and Janine, dressed to the nines in their little pink chiffon dresses.

Alex and Susan were easy to remember.  They had only one child, an adorable little boy named Johnny.  Michael was extremely startled to realize that he’d already seen Susan in New York.

The room was filled with tinkling as family members tapped their spoons against their glasses.

“Why are they doing that?  Michael turned to me, his face wearing such a perplexed expression that I wanted to laugh.  Michael was not often perplexed. 

“They want us to kiss.”

“Now?  Here, in front of everybody?”

“Now, here, in front of everybody.  It’s a custom.”

“A very strange one, I must say.”  He sat there, unmoving. 

“Haven’t you ever attended a wedding reception?”

“No.”

I was too intent on getting my kiss to think how odd that answer was.  I leaned toward him.  “This won’t hurt, Michael.”  And I kissed him, just a gentle brush of my lips.

He did not expect to be nearly overwhelmed by the wonderful perfume she wore, or the seductive rustle of her wedding dress as she moved toward him, or the gentleness of her lips.  Her wisp of a veil teased his cheek as she moved away.  He felt as if he were in some exotic dream where every sense he had was being overloaded with pleasure.  There it was, that unwelcome swelling between his legs which he had no control over, that peculiar swelling which created a hunger in him that only sinking himself deep in Leslie could appease.  He was thankful that the tablecloth hid his erection from the sight of Leslie’s family.

Leslie’s mouth turned up in a strange little smile, and the next thing he knew, she placed her graceful hand directly over his swelling part.  “Leslie…”

“Don’t you know that pleases me, my darling husband?  Don’t you think I love it that one little brush of my lips makes you want me?”

“Quite frankly, I do not know what to think.”

“Oh, Michael.  Sometimes I wonder if you
are
from another planet.  You seem so…naïve for a man.”

He wanted to protest and say he wasn’t naïve, but what could he say he was, really?  Before he could form any words, Leslie lifted a glass of champagne to his lips.  “Have a drink, love.  It will help.”

He drank.  It didn’t. 

“Taste this braised beef.  It’s quite wonderful.”  She held the fork to his mouth and he dutifully took her offering.  “My family raises some of the best beef in the country.  Besides,” she got that little coquettish look as she tilted her head and smiled at him, “You’ll need to keep your strength up.”

He didn’t know about his strength, but that other part of him was definitely up and showed no sign of going down.

Leslie continued to feed him, a cool shrimp, a bit of potato and more beef.  At last she put her fork down and stopped torturing him with food he could hardly swallow.  “Mother’s cleared the living room so that we can have our wedding dance.”

“I do not know how to dance, Leslie.”

“That’s all right.  We’ll just hold each other and move around a little bit.  Pretty soon, everybody else will start to dance and no one will care what we are doing.”

There was one more session of glass tapping and one more kiss.  Then Leslie took his hand and led him into the living room that had been stripped bare of furniture and rug.  She turned to him and held up her arms.  He had not the faintest idea what to do.  Gently, she took his left hand in her right and held his right hand to show him how it should go around her waist.  “Good heavens, Michael.  We’re married now.  Hold me close.  Close enough so our bodies are touching.”

“Like this?”  He pulled her into him and there he was, surrounded by that lovely drift of her perfume and the rustling sound of her dress.  He could feel her breasts against his chest, and the swelling got harder.  She leaned into him and looped both her arms around his neck, leaving his other hand to clasp her waist.  “I honestly thought this would be hard for me, Michael.  Marrying you.  But it feels like…heaven.”

Heaven knew it was hard for him.  There would be no relief until he could get her alone, take her in his arms and bury his body in hers.

As they continued dancing, other couples joined them on the floor, Hunter holding Liz close, Justin, twirling Anne around and making her laugh, Alex doing an exaggerated two step with Susan.  Gabe seemed content to watch his extended family enjoy themselves.  Jake had taken the floor with Lynne and executed a deep dip and a kiss.  Dorian also kept to the sidelines, his eyes on Natalie across the room.

With all the children standing there watching and jumping up and down, Michael told Leslie, “Let’s keep the children amused for a moment so their parents can enjoy a bit of freedom.”  In addition, it would get him off the dance floor.

“Oh, Michael.  Who but you would be so kind to think of that?”  She immediately sat down on the edge of the floor with her white silk spread all around her and said, “Who wants to play duck, duck goose?”

“I do, I do,” chorused the childish voices.

Michael volunteered to be it.  He picked Madeline first, but allowed him to catch her.  So he was still it.  He picked David next, but David had him in less than five steps.  After that, he let all the little children, including the two sets of girl twins and Johnny, attack him at the same time, catch him and crawl all over him. 

At last, Leslie said, “I think maybe we should stop playing this game.  I don’t want my husband to get too tired.”

At her hint that the game was going to end, all the children piled on Michael.  The girls smothered him with kisses.  The boys just tugged at his arms.

“Okay, gang, that’s enough.”  Leslie pulled the top two girls, Madeline and Jessica, to their feet.  “You keep kissing him like that, and I’ll get jealous.”

When I extracted Michael from the last child clinging to his leg, I murmured in his ear, “I’m going to throw my bouquet and we can leave.”

“We can leave…while everyone is still here?”

“They’ll understand.”  I went out to the dining table and came back in with my bouquet.  “Line up, girls.  Let’s see who the lucky girl will be to catch my bouquet and get married next.”

I stood with my back to the girls, but I tossed it straight at Natalie.  When I turned around, Natalie stood there holding the bouquet with a look on her face that could only be described as horrified.  Instantly, Elizabeth was at her side.  “It’s just a silly suspicion, darling.  It doesn’t mean anything.”  She took the bouquet from Natalie’s hand and escorted her away into the kitchen. 

“I should go see what’s wrong,” Lynne said, but Dorian’s hand on her arm stopped her.  “Let Mom handle it.  You two, go on.  We’ll keep the party going, right, Gabe?”

Gabe looked puzzled and not very interested in the party, but he said, “Right.”

Enough with my family.  I grabbed Michael’s hand and towed him out of the house and along the path to the guest house that Mother had made ready for us so that we might have some privacy, since there would be no honeymoon.  Lynne’s brother Hunter had offered us a cozy hideaway near one of his island hotels, but Michael felt we needed to get back to the store as soon as possible.  I wasn’t too eager to land on a Caribbean island with my burgeoning stomach.

I opened the door to the charming little house and immediately began pulling the shades and closing the curtains.  “I think my family has exhausted you.  Would you like to take a little nap first?”

“No.”  He pulled me away from my task of creating privacy for us and his hand went to the zipper at the back of my dress.  He neatly drew it down.  It fell away from my body into a sea of silk.  I took hold of his hand for balance and stepped out of the dress.  I thought it such a shame that this beautiful dress had such a short life as my bridal gown.

Michael nearly had a heart attack.  She had on a half bra that barely covered her breasts, a white thong and a white garter belt holding up her lacy white stockings.

“Where would you like to start, Michael?”  The smile on her face was both beatific and mischievous.

“Start?”

“What would you like to take off first?  Would you like to start with my garters?”

“Is that the usual place?”

She laughed.  “I have no idea.”  She took his hand and placed it under her garter.  “It unsnaps like this.  See?” 

He did see.  He unsnapped both garters and since the stocking started to fall down her leg, he thought perhaps he might help it fall.  He rolled the stocking down and off her pretty foot with those delicate pink toenails and said, “Now what do I do with it?”

“Give it to me,” she said, and tossed it in the general direction of the bureau.  It missed and fell on the floor.  He moved to pick it up and she caught him back.  “Uh, uh.  You have more work to do.”

He didn’t need her help this time.  He unsnapped the other two garters, rolled the stocking down and tossed it toward the bureau.  It landed neatly on top.

“Show off,” she said.  “Now the bra.  It unhooks in front.  I thought that would be easier for you.” 

He slid his fingers next to her warm flesh and undid the hooks, one by one, his heart beating furiously fast.  The bra fell away and her beautiful breasts were there in front of him.  He moved to put his hand on her but she said, “No, Michael.  You have to finish undressing me.”

When he hesitated, she put his finger inside her thong and helped him pull it down her leg.

And there she stood in all of her beauty for him to see.  He could even see the tiny mound where her baby grew.  He loved it all.

“There’s something wrong, Michael.”

“I don’t think there’s a single thing wrong.”

“You still have your tux on.”  She drew off his tie slowly.  Then she eased her hands under his jacket and it fell at his feet.  She unbuttoned his shirt, unbuckled his cummberbund and pushed him to sit on the bed so she could untie his shoes.  When she had him naked, she said, “Now, let’s see what’s been bothering you ever since I kissed you.”

She took his penis firmly in her hand and began a slow up and down dance with it.  “Leslie, please.”

She pushed him down on the bed, still holding him.  “What is it, Michael?”

“You’re making me feel very…weird.”

“Is that what you call it?”

She adjusted his legs and crawled over the top of him to fit him inside her.  He moaned and she cried out with her own satisfaction.

“Do you like it, Michael?”

“I don’t think
like
is quite the right word.”  His voice didn’t sound at all normal.  To his ears, it was strained, very unlike his usual tone.

“What is the right word, Michael?”

“I think desperate might be it.”

“Desperate?”

“Desperate for more of you.  Is there any way…”

She lifted his buttocks and went deeper inside him. 

“Ah, yes.  Now I need…I need to feel your breasts against my chest.”

When had a man ever been so honest about his needs?  I came down on him, trying to keep the deep penetration even as I leaned forward to rub my breasts around and around on his chest. 

He rose up then, and I could feel his desperation as he caught my mouth with his and used his tongue to penetrate deeply into my inner recesses. 

Michael took every part of me inside and around him and I felt it then, his complete possession of me.  And what a strange feeling it was.  It was like being lifted to heaven.  I was so completely one with him that there was no room for wondering if I was doing the right thing.  It was…perfect.