“I love you,” she whispered and felt him drop a kiss to the top of her head.
“And I you. Now…why don’t the two of you go and enjoy your party?” One last squeeze and he left her, strolling toward the corner of the grand ballroom where a few of his closest friends waited.
“He really is something else,” Sean muttered.
Melinda looked up at him, ready to defend her grandfather—then she saw it wasn’t necessary. Sean must have read the battle-ready light in her eyes though because he grinned.
“No offense intended,” he said, holding up both hands in surrender. “I mean it. Might not like how he gets things done, but you’ve got to admire a man who goes after what he wants and doesn’t take no for an answer.”
In spite of her inner turmoil, Melinda smiled. “Of course you would admire him. You’re a lot like him.”
Both black eyebrows rose high on his forehead. “Is that a compliment or an insult?”
“Maybe a little of both.”
“I can live with that,” he told her, then steered her off the dance floor before they were crushed by the expanding crowd. Tucking her hand through his arm, he walked with her to a set of French doors and then stepped outside.
The cool breeze wafted over them both and Melinda drew her first easy breath in hours. It was good to get away from everyone for awhile. She looked back over her shoulder and watched all of the wedding guests dancing and laughing, and felt like an outsider at her own wedding.
“You’re doing it again,” Sean said softly.
“What?”
His strong, tanned fingers cupped her chin and gently turned her face to his. “Wasting time on regrets.”
“That’s not it.”
“Then what?”
She took a breath, stepped free of him and walked to the edge of the balcony. On the other side of the railing, soft, outdoor lighting made golden puddles in the garden. The heavy scent of jasmine drifted to them and overhead, the moon was bright, dazzling in the sky. “I just thought that when I got married…”
“You’d be in love?”
She looked at him. “Well, yes.”
“Understandable,” he allowed and leaned one hip against the stone balustrade. “And you still can one day.”
“No, this is it for me,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’m not looking for love or romance. So, no more weddings.”
“Funny,” he murmured, “I said that once.”
Surprised, she looked at him. “You were married before?”
Sean frowned and wished he could bite back those words. He hadn’t meant to mention that first miserable marriage. Hell, he had never spoken of it—until now at precisely the wrong moment. What did that say? Was it a Freudian slip? Great. Now he was going to psychoanalyze himself. Good times.
Meanwhile, his new wife was staring up at him, waiting for an explanation, and he knew damn well he wasn’t going to give her one.
Which would only make her more determined to uncover his secrets. One thing you could depend on with a woman, he mused silently, they had ways of worming information out of a man and they didn’t usually give up until they’d succeeded.
Maybe he could avoid that by giving her a little without spilling his guts.
Shrugging, he said only, “It didn’t take.”
“So you’re divorced.”
“Not anymore,” he said, giving her that half smile again. “As of now, I’m a married man.”
Her mouth curved slightly in response, but the action never reached her eyes. “Yes. Married.”
He turned and looked out at the garden and the moonlit ocean beyond. The soft wind ruffled his hair and teased at the edges of his jacket. “Don’t sound as happy about our bargain as I thought you’d be.
“It’s complicated.”
“Didn’t taste complicated to me,” he said, turning his head to look at her.
Dam n she was beautiful. He had thought that when he saw her walking down the aisle toward him that he would want to bolt. Instead, he’d stood there as if nailed to the floor. Unable to look away from the picture she made. That black hair falling over bare skin. The stark white gown that clung to her curves only to spill down around her legs in sensuous folds of silk. The swell of her br**sts with each breath she took and the sheer, steely determination in her clear blue eyes. All of it had seemed designed to seduce him into staying right where he was—the perfect bridegroom looking at his future.
Their audience had sighed with appreciation when Melinda slid her hand into his and Sean could still feel the charge of heat he had felt when their palms brushed. Then dancing with her, kissing her had opened up a whole new world of hunger inside him and he was still trying to deal with the ramifications.
Standing with her in the moonlight wasn’t helping the situation any, either.
She took a breath, blew it out and said, “Sean, about that kiss…”
Yeah, it was pretty much uppermost in his mind at the moment, too. Well, that and the incredible hard-on it had caused. Damn, he hadn’t reacted that fast to any other woman before. Just the feel of her body meshed to his had set him off and so far, the ache in his groin didn’t show any signs of leaving.
Which meant that the next two sex-less months were going to be even harder than he had anticipated. He gritted his teeth at the thought, but couldn’t bring himself to regret that kiss. If anything, he wanted more.
“It was a good one,” he admitted, turning his back on the view so that he could study the woman he had married.
Moonlight caressed her skin and made the strapless white dress she wore almost glow with an otherworldly light. She was, in a word, breathtaking. He could hardly tear his eyes off of her.
The filmy material of her gown highlighted an amazing figure. Everything about her made him want to grab hold, pull her close and kiss her until neither one of them could draw a breath. And Sean had never really been known for his restraint.
It was taking everything in him not to touch her again. To feel that electrical charge of something amazing when their skin met. He wanted to slide his hands over her body until she was moaning and sighing in pleasure. His groin ached like a bad tooth and everything in him felt coiled and more than eager. If he had his way, he’d be taking his new bride upstairs to her suite, where they’d be living together for the duration.
He’d lay her down on the closest flat surface he could find, then he’d hitch the skirts of her dress up and stare down into her eyes as he pushed himself inside her. He’d feel her long legs wrap around his hips, pulling him higher, deeper. He’d watch her eyes glaze and listen to her panting breath and groaning sighs. He’d feel her slick heat surrounding him as he emptied himself inside her and then before the last of their cl**axes had stopped rippling through them, he’d do it all over again.