That realization immediately spoke to my longing for intimacy. When Corrine finally pronounced the words that sealed my marriage to Derek, I couldn’t wait to have his lips press against mine. Corrine hadn’t even yet recited the traditional, “you may kiss the bride,” and Derek was already holding my waist and pulling me against him, his lips covering mine.
I lost myself in the heat of his kiss. When his lips pulled away from mine, I found myself leaning forward, practically begging for more until I saw a huge grin on his face.
Derek winked at me. “I want to kiss you, Sofia, but if we go on like this, I might end up hauling you out of the wedding reception and right to my bedroom.”
Right then, I became fully aware that we weren’t alone. Our friends and loved ones were still surrounding us. I practically jumped from where I was standing when they began to applaud us – the newlyweds.
“Sofia Novak.” Derek’s smooth baritone pronounced. “Mmm… I love the sound of it.”
As much as we tried to keep a show of chastity during the rest of the wedding festivities, we simply couldn’t keep our eyes or hands off each other. The idea that I was Sofia Novak was still ringing in my head, emphasized even more when our friends approached us with unadulterated glee.
“You did it!” Ashley exclaimed, as she threw her arms around me. “You married a vampire.” She then gave Derek a teasing look-over from head to foot. “This vampire at that. Who would’ve thought? You better take care of her.”
Derek grinned, his eyes focusing once again on me. “I’d better. She’s my life.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever see this happen.” Gavin grinned and nodded. “History is being made right here. Congratulations to you both.”
“I guess we’re sisters now,” Vivienne said, clasping my hands tightly.
“We are,” I responded, as I embraced her. “Thank you, Vivienne…” I whispered into her ear, recalling the price she paid in order to get me back to The Shade not so long ago. “For bringing me back to him.”
She chuckled. “Well, that wasn’t entirely selfless… we all like him a lot more when he’s around you.”
Derek feigned being wounded as he squinted his eyes at his sister. “Hey… I heard that.”
To that, Vivienne just laughed and winked. “I love you both.”
“Here’s to hoping you don’t kill each other,” Cameron teased, as he lifted a glass of wine toward us. “Welcome to married life.”
“Don’t scare them, Cam,” Liana reprimanded.
I felt Derek’s hand tighten against mine and then a sudden feeling of heaviness settled on my chest as we greeted more of our guests. It wasn’t until Kyle approached that I placed the reason behind my sudden melancholy. Seeing Kyle as human made me remember what had to happen tomorrow. We were going to test the cure and we had no assurance whatsoever that it was going to work on Derek.
Kyle smiled at me as if he could read my mind. “It’s going to be okay, Sofia.” He cast a longing look at Ian and Anna who were dancing. He swallowed hard and then looked at Derek. I could tell by the reaction on Derek’s face that he was thinking what I was thinking.
When Kyle left us with his congratulations, I couldn’t help but turn toward Derek and hug him as tightly as I could, clinging to him.
“I don’t ever want to lose you,” I confessed breathlessly against his ear.
He shook his head. “You won’t, Sofia. You can never lose me.”
He sounded so sure of it, but the heaviness in my chest remained. Suddenly, I began to feel greedy for him. I wanted to make most of the time from then until the following day. “Can we go now? Please? I want you all to myself…”
“My thoughts exactly.”
We made as gracious an exit as possible and found ourselves speeding our way to the Lighthouse, another reminder that the moments we were spending together were borrowed. We didn’t even plan a honeymoon, because we weren’t sure if we were going to have one.
Of course, we still wanted our first night as a married couple to be intimate and special, so when I was asked by the girls where we wanted to spend the night, no place seemed more special and intimate to us than the Lighthouse.
“Sacred space,” I spoke out loud, just before Derek pushed me against the door that led to the octagonal room on top of the Lighthouse. I then responded to his kiss, my hands clinging to his neck.
His lips departed from mine. “What?” he asked.
“Sacred space,” I repeated breathlessly, as I twisted the doorknob to show him what we did with the room. “That’s what Rosa called this place. Ashley says that the room has an energy to it… something that says that it belongs to us. Just us.”
He smiled when he saw the room. The sectional couch in the middle of the room was shoved to one side. In its place was a thick mattress with linen sheets and a thick red blanket. White rose petals were scattered all over it. Candles surrounded the room. Derek had them lit within seconds.
“They were right.” He nodded. “This is our sacred space.”
I began to walk toward him, but halted immediately when to my surprise, he stepped away from me. His smile faded as he looked at me from head to toe. His breath visibly hitched as his electric blue eyes rose to my face, causing me to shiver with desire.
I swallowed hard, sensing his tension. His hands balled into fists and his muscles went rigid, as if he were trying to gain control. I didn’t have to ask what was going on in his mind. It’d been a long time since we last made love, a long time since he swore that he wouldn’t take me to his bed until after he’d married me.
I gave him a soft smile. I reached toward my back and tried to unlace my corset. My eyes were fixed on Derek. I actually enjoyed seeing how nervous he was. I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish the task myself so I unlaced it as far as I could before walking toward him and asking for his help.
I couldn’t stifle a giggle when he flinched as I took my first step. “Relax, won’t you?” I told him, unable to hide my amusement. “You’re acting like it’s the first time you’ve ever be with a woman.”
It didn’t help to ease the tense look on his face. I still walked toward him, lifting my hair up so that he could undo the laces. I could feel his fingers trembling as he went about the task.
Once we were able to remove the corset, I turned to face him. I then began to pull his tux off and unbutton his shirt. I was already on the fourth button, when his hand clutched mine, stopping me from continuing the task.