Unbreakable (16 page)

“Are you all right?” she whispered, pushing the hair away from her face. She cracked her eyes open and finally looked at me.

“Yes,” I said and leaned down to nuzzle her neck. “I just wanted to say good night and that I love you.”

She slipped her arms around my neck and pulled me down for a kiss. “I love you.”

“We love each other,” I said, smiling.

“We do,” she said with a light laugh. “We’re disgusting in our schmoopyness.”

I laughed at the Seinfeld reference. I rolled off her when a sudden bout of vertigo struck and laid my head down on the pillow. “Oh, God, I’m still drunk.”

“Put one foot on the floor,” Kate said and rose up on her elbow. “I’ve heard it helps to stop the room from spinning.”

I did, sliding one leg out and hanging it over the side of the bed.

“I hope you don’t think this will become a habit,” I said, rubbing my eyes.

“Drake Morgan,” Kate said in mock disapproval. “I’ve seen you drunk what – maybe three times since I’ve known you. You being a lush is the last thing I worry about.”

I turned to her, watching her face. “What
do
you worry about?” I said, honestly wanting to know. “Is there something about me that bothers you ? Something you want changed? Tell me and I promise I’ll stop it or correct it. Anything.”

She snuggled closer, a smile on her face. “Anything?”

“Anything,” I said, tightness in my throat that she actually had something that she wanted me to change, and that I was doing something wrong.

She leaned closer, her voice low and conspiratorial. “Sometimes, on occasion, when you’ve been working long hours and are home really late? Well, sometimes, you forget to close the closet door when you put your coat away. It has to stop.”

I turned to look at her face, checking for her expression. She burst out laughing.

“Oh,
you
,” I said and grabbed her, pulling her against me. “I was serious.”

She pulled back. “What makes you think I wasn’t?” Then she giggled again and kissed me. “Drake Morgan, you are the sweetest most considerate man. There’s nothing I want to change about you.
Nothing
.” She brushed hair from my eyes. “I love you just the way you are.”

I pulled her against me and we lay like that, me with my leg thrown over the side of the bed, foot touching the floor, her with her arm around my chest, her head on my shoulder. I felt bad that I wasn’t telling her about Lisa Monroe but she was so happy and so good to me, I didn’t want my past to come back and not only haunt us, but ruin her happiness.

Then the room started to spin again.

“I think I have to throw up,” I said and she let go of me and sat up in bed.

I sat up quickly and then ran to the bathroom. I made sure to close the door first and then I ran the water so Kate wouldn’t hear me.

When I was finished, after washing my face and brushing my teeth yet again, I went back to the bedroom, where Kate was snuggled down into the covers, her expression amused.

“Feeling better?” she said lightly.

“Yes,” I said and slipped into bed. “Complete waste of a polish sausage and sauerkraut.”

“Karma’s a bitch,” she said and laughed.

“That wasn’t Karma. It was a combination of beer, bourbon, and vodka. You’d think a man my age and profession, a doctor, would know better, but you’d be wrong.”

“You’ll be better now,” she said and then kissed my cheek. “Good night.”

“Good night,” I said and kissed her back.

Then I turned out the light.

CHAPTER TEN

Kate

My bridal shower, such as it was, went well although there was a place for a best female friend that was notably empty.

On Friday, while Drake lay in bed for the morning and recovered from his bachelor party, Elaine, Christie and I went to Elaine’s favorite day spa for the full treatment. We arrived before 10:00 a.m. and dressed in the spa’s thick white robes and slippers, then went for a massage, followed by a manicure and pedicure. Then we all had our hair washed and set and I tried out a hairstyle for my wedding day. I’d brought along the veil that I would wear and the stylist tried several hairstyles that used it.

In the end, we settled for an updo with a couple of long tendrils falling in curls around my face. Drake had asked me to keep my neck bare and so I expected he had some piece of jewelry that was meant to signify our new relationship. A collar of some sort that would be known and understood only by the two of us.

We went for a nice lunch at Elaine’s favorite restaurant near Central Park and I gave Elaine and Christie a small gift each to commemorate the wedding. Pearl drop earrings in white gold. Then I was home at about two o’clock. When I arrived, I saw that Drake had showered and dressed and was sitting on the couch with his feet up watching some game.

“There you are,” he said when I came over and gave him a kiss. “How did it go?”

“Good,” I said and touched my hair, which was still up. “Do you like this? And this?” I held up one hand and one foot to show him the mani/pedi results.

“Mmm,” he said and grabbed my foot, kissing my toes. “I like it. I like everything. The whole package.”

He pulled me down and kissed me on the mouth this time.

When I pulled back, I looked in his eyes, which were still bleary. “How are you feeling?”

“Rough,” he said. “Serves me right.”

“We have the rehearsal dinner tonight. I hope you’re up for it. Dave and Ken will be coming. Maybe you should check with them and make sure they’re good to go.”

“I already did,” Drake said. “They’re fine. They both moderated themselves all night. Colin kept up with me and isn’t feeling too good, but he’ll be fine. All of them will be ready for the wedding and reception at the Tea Room.”

I nodded and sighed, a twinge of anxiety about everything in my gut. “Is everything set? I’ve been checking things off on my to-do list.”

“Everything’s set. All we have to do is go to your father’s for the rehearsal and then the dinner, and then show up for the wedding. That’s it.”

“Good,” I said and glanced around the apartment. “Are you packed?”

“Packed and ready to go. I have a limo arranged to take us to The Ritz after the reception, and one to take us to the airport when it’s time to catch our flight on Sunday. Then it’s nothing but sun, surf and sex for a solid week. You can relax, Ms. Bennet,” I said and stroked her cheek. “I’ve taken care of everything. I’ll have you home and ready to get back to work on your thesis on the following Monday.”

I sighed once more, trying not to be too stressed out about everything, but I wanted things to go perfectly once we finished our vows. After the wedding ceremony was over, it would be a limo to Central Park for pictures, and then to the Russian Tea Room for the reception. I could relax. Someone else would make sure everything ran smoothly.

“Come,” Drake said and pulled me down. “Lie beside me for a while.”

I did, my arm around his chest, his arms around my shoulders. I scooched in closer to him, his warmth so comforting. Drake turned off the television and switched on the sound system using the remote and we listened to some soft music and cuddled for the rest of the afternoon, speaking in soft voices about our plans for the 8
^th
Avenue apartment once we came back from our honeymoon.

Finally, at about five o’clock in the afternoon, we started preparing for the rehearsal dinner at my father’s. According to tradition, Drake’s family should have hosted it, but since he had no family around, my father wanted to have everyone over to the penthouse.

“But you’re already hosting the reception,” Drake protested when Elaine suggested it earlier in September. “Let me put something on for everyone.”

“Nonsense,” she said. “Besides, it’s easier for Ethan to do everything at our place and going out to the Tea Room for the reception will be stress enough. He doesn’t like to go to a lot of fuss, what with handicapped parking, the wheelchair, and everything. He’d prefer people to come to our place for the rehearsal diner. You understand.”

Drake nodded and held his hand up. “Of course,” he said softly. “I understand completely. I don’t want to let down my side of the bargain, that’s all.”

“Don’t worry,” Elaine said. “As long as you show up, you’re holding up your side of the bargain.”

“You have no worries on that score,” Drake said with a grin.

“We’re only too happy to host the dinner at our place,” Elaine said. “It will be fun. Besides, I have caterers doing everything so all I have to do is show up and smile.”

And so it was that both the rehearsal dinner and wedding were being held at my father’s apartment on Park Avenue. The wedding reception was still at the Tea Room but everything had been arranged so that there would be the least amount of hardship on my father.

I touched up my makeup and wore a new dress bought specifically for the rehearsal dinner. It was a sleeveless black chiffon dress over a black sheath, with a v-neck but not too deep to be vulgar. I was well contained, in other words, but still was sexy. I wore the diamond collar necklace with the black velvet choker that Drake gave me on New Year's Eve. The diamond fell perfectly at the base of my throat. I wanted to wear it because it was symbolic of our first commitment to each other and I thought it went well with the black dress.

“What do you think?” I said and stood in front of Drake, who was at the mirror in the bedroom, fastening his tie. “This is my new dress.”

He stopped what he was doing and came over to me, his hands on my shoulders. He glanced up and down and then turned me around in a circle.

“You look delicious. Completely edible.”

I smiled and smoothed the chiffon over the sheath dress. “A little sexy but not too much?”

“Perfect.” He leaned in and kissed me. “And I like the choker. It’s goes well with the dress and reminds me of last Christmas when I gave it to you.”

“That’s why I wore it,” I said and stood in front of him so I could see myself in the mirror. “I think I knew back then that I wanted to marry you, but I was probably too afraid to think that far ahead. The idea of you owning me, possessing me, in every way, made me so happy.”

“It made me happy as well, but when I say I own you, I mean I own your heart and body. Your mind is your own and I always want it to stay that way.”

“I know,” I said and turned to face him. “I want it to stay that way as well.”

“It will, at least on my part. I don’t want a slave, Kate. I want a life partner, who just happens to like to be manhandled during sex,” he said and grinned in that sexy way that sent a thrill through my body.

“
Manhandled
…” I said and smiled back, going up on my tiptoes to kiss him.

He grabbed me and then proceeded to manhandle me, rocking me back and forth and then picking me up and throwing me over his shoulder. I squealed in surprise when he took me to the bed and then plopped me down on my back.

“Yes,
manhandled
,” he said, wagging his eyebrows. “I can handle you, Ms. Bennet. I’m a man, so manhandled is perfect for what we have.”

I smiled and closed my eyes when he lay on top of me, his body between my thighs, his face over mine.

“Open your eyes,” he said, his voice low.

I did and looked into his baby-blues, which were very determined. A thrill ran through me just from the intensity of his stare.

“You. Are.
Mine
,” he said and ground his pelvis against me. “See what saying that does to me? What
you
do to me? Just the thought of you being mine makes me hard as rock.”

He
was
hard as rock and I gasped when he found my pussy and rubbed against me.

“We don’t have time,” I murmured when he kissed the skin beneath my ear. “The Hangin’ Judge is serious about punctuality…”

“No, we don’t, and I would never consider keeping the Judge waiting,” he said and ran his lips along my chin. “But we will when we get back. I can think of nothing more perfect than a good hard fuck on the night before our wedding.”

“Me, either,” I said and smiled up at him. “Anything less than a good hard fuck would be inadequate.”

He smiled and then kissed my mouth. “That’s my girl,” he said, his voice deep and smoky with desire.

Then he sighed and lay on top of me without saying anything.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I’m fine,” he said and rose up to look in my eyes. “I’m just enjoying the moment. We’ve both been so busy, I feel as if we haven’t had time to really talk.”

“We have a whole week ahead of us,” I said and brushed hair from his eyes. “We can talk and laze around and eat and drink and sleep…”

“And make love,” he added with a grin.

“And fuck,
hard
,” I said, my fingers threading through his. He smiled down at me.

“I love you,” he said softly.

“I love
you
,” I replied.

“We have to go,” he said and glanced at his watch. “Now. The officiant will be there soon, so we don’t want to keep him waiting, either.”

“Nope,” I said. “My father runs a tight ship. We should really be early or else suffer his wrath.”

Drake rolled off the bed and helped me up. I adjusted my dress, smoothing down the skirt while he did the same to his clothes and then pulled on his suit jacket. He looked like a million dollars in his slate grey suit with black tie and white shirt. It offset his black hair and blue eyes.

“You look delicious as well, and I can see why they call you Doctor Delish,” I said and eyed him up and down.

He laughed out loud at that. “Here at Morgan Enterprises, we aim to please,” he said with a grin. Then he held out his hand to me. “Let’s go.”

The rehearsal went off without a hitch and since our ceremony was so simple, and involved no church or priest, it was pretty much a walk through the process and then we were done. It was good to meet our officiant, Steve McLean, a justice of the peace who worked in my father’s offices back when he was on the Supreme Court of New York. Elaine had already arranged the furniture so that there were two rows of chairs for those who were taking part in the wedding. Heath and his family, Dave Mills, the O’Rileys, and members of Mersey and their families. All told about eighteen people.