Boston Avant-Garde: Impetuous (23 page)

It felt as if the whole world had ground to a standstill. His words were painfully close to slapping a label on their relationship. She didn’t want to be that woman—the one who needed a piece of paper, some jewelry, or a ceremony in front of witnesses to make it real. But deep inside, she needed to know he wasn’t just talking about the present. She wanted to know beyond doubt that she wasn’t alone in what she felt.

“I love you.” His chuckle reverberated in his chest. “There’s a good word for you. And here’s another one: mine. As in, you’re mine. You belong to me and I belong to you, and that’s all that matters to me.”

Her heart was full to bursting with emotion. “I love you too.” She brushed his lower lip with her thumb. “And I think I’ve belonged to you since the night you taught me what a real kiss was.”

He laughed, rolling her onto her back and dipping his head to cover her mouth in a passionate reminder of exactly what a real kiss should be. She clung to him like he was her anchor in a storm. Being with him was a little like walking on the edge. It was exactly where she wanted to be.

NICOLAI TRACED THE delicate contour of Desiree’s shoulder blades with his fingertips. “Your sister is really going to marry that asshole tomorrow?”

“You mean, are we really going to let her go through with it?”

He tried to imagine letting someone he loved marry a man like Jackson Wilhelm, who would have happily raped Desiree the night before he married her sister.

“Selena is a grown woman. Erik and I can’t make her decisions for her. Besides, our mother is happily blind to his faults.”

It didn’t take an empath to sense the worry Desiree harbored for her sister. “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to watch her take her vows and wait for the moment when he shows his true colors. She’s going to need me and Erik more than ever when it happens.”

She threw one leg over his body and laid her cheek against his chest. Her beauty took his breath away. Her dark hair was tousled from their earlier lovemaking. It made a gorgeous frame for her elegant face and expressive green eyes.

The sounds of the casino had grown fainter as night faded into the small hours of the morning. Soon it would be dawn. Dante’s staff would begin moving through the club, releasing the patrons so they could return to their regular lives. They would leave the decadent club for the real world of societal rules.

Snuggled into the pillows and blankets of their borrowed suite, Nicolai had the satisfaction of knowing that what he held in his arms was all he could ever want in any reality. Whether they were letting time pass in a club or making love in the bed they shared in his apartment, it was more than enough.

“Nicolai?”

He picked up the thread of their conversation. “So you’re going to a wedding this afternoon.”

“So are you.”

“You shouldn’t put me in places where I might break your idiotic society rules.”

“That’s why I need you there.” She tweaked the silver bar in his right nipple, the sensation snaking right to his groin and making his cock sit up and take notice.

“Not sure I understand.” He had to remind himself forcefully to keep his mind on the matter at hand and not on the sexy woman curled up against him. “If that snot-nosed piece of shit makes a pass at you, I
will
lay him out cold.”

“If he’s still standing when I get done with him, I fully expect you will.”

“If you’re going to whip his ass, why do you need me there?”

“I want you there for
me
, Nicolai. You’re mine, and I want everyone to know it. I don’t care about my mother or Harmon or even my brother for that matter. I want to be with you. This is a family event, and you
are
my family.”

Her words undid him. Nicolai rolled her over, nudging his way between her long legs. She made soft sounds of desire when he captured her lips in a possessive kiss. He molded their mouths together and showed her how much he needed her. His shaft thickened, hardening to a point just below pain. She spread her legs wider and tilted her hips, inviting him without words to enter her body.

The sensitive head of his cock brushed her wet slit, delving into her folds and slipping past her entrance. She was unbelievably hot and tight. Her slick embrace welcomed him, pulling him in and holding him close as he thrust into her core.

He matched the rhythm of his kiss to the slow, relaxed strokes of their sex. She grew hotter with arousal, and their bodies made wet noises of pleasure. Her sweet cream coated his balls, soaking his shaft and creating the intoxicating slide of his flesh against hers that sent Nicolai spiraling toward climax.

Wanting her to come, needing to feel her orgasm, he reached down and pulled one of her legs over his arm. The new position sent his shaft sliding across her clit. She gasped and arched her back with the increased sensation.

Dipping his head, Nicolai took one of her nipples in his mouth. He rolled the bud between his lips and scraped his teeth across its delicate surface. She cried out, her eyes closed as she raced toward completion.

She grew tighter, her muscles clamping down on his cock as he continued to thrust into her pussy. His climax nipped at his heels, pooling in the small of his back as he fought to stave it off. He wanted just a little longer to feel her sweet release.

She cried his name when she came, her channel convulsing around him. He slammed his cock into her as he lost control and poured his release into her welcoming body. Bracing his weight on his forearms, he watched the emotions flicker over her face.

Finally she smiled, reaching up and brushing his face with the lightest touch. “So will you come to the wedding with me?”

“Wild girl, I’ll go anywhere you ask me to as long as you’re there with me.”

And he would.

“Do you take this woman, forsaking all others, cleaving to her so that you might be joined in holy matrimony, until death do you part?”

Jackson gazed at Selena with an earnest expression on his face. “I do.”

Seated between Erik and Nicolai in the second row of folding chairs, Desiree wondered if lightning would come snapping out of the sky and zap the bridegroom dead. She half expected it to, despite the fact that the weather was a perfect balance of bright, clear sky and warm fall sunshine.

A cool breeze rustled through the drapes adorning the Greek revival columns that surrounded what would eventually become the outdoor dance floor. Across the lawn, tables and chairs surrounded the caterer’s tent. Delectable smells danced through the air, giving the guests a tantalizing idea of what was to come. Three bartenders prepared for the rush that would happen after the happy couple finished their “I dos,” and Leslie Hampstead’s Trio Dolce waited for their cue to play the couple back down the aisle once the deed was done.

Nicolai squeezed Desiree’s hand, gently drawing her attention back to the ceremony. She met his dark gaze and knew she would be fine. When this insanity was over, she was going home with the only guy at the party who was really what he seemed.

“Selena Adriana Aasen, do you take this man, forsaking all others, cleaving to him so that you might be joined in holy matrimony, until death do you part?”

Selena was the picture-perfect bride. Desiree could almost believe her sister had somehow managed to custom order the textbook dewy-eyed expression fixed on her face. She gripped Jackson’s hands, her bosom heaving up and down beneath the low-cut bodice of her dress. A strangulating bra several sizes too small had finally given her sister enough cleavage to make the dress work.

“I do.”

Finally!

What might it be like to stand up there with Nicolai and promise to love him forever? Did they really need a ceremony to make it real? It wasn’t as if she didn’t already know she’d love him forever. She tilted her head to get a look at his profile, marveling again at how she’d managed to find someone so utterly masculine, real, and in-your-face honest.

He’d worn black dress slacks and shoes, and a steel-colored dress shirt that made his dark eyes just that much more intense. Hammered silver rings hung from his ears, and she knew the ones bisecting his nipples matched. Every time he took a deep breath and his shirt drew taut against his chest, she could see the faintest outline of what lay beneath. It was a constant teaser.

“If you keep staring at me like that, we’re going to have to excuse ourselves.”

His low murmur made her cheeks blush red-hot.

On her other side, Erik made a low sound of disgust. “Seriously, would you two get a room?”

She couldn’t deny the satisfaction of giving her brother a taste of his own medicine. She’d felt like a third wheel to his and Talia’s perfect match more than once. Now it was his turn.

“You may kiss the bride!”

Leslie’s violin swelled into song, punctuated by Niles and Jen on the viola and cello. The assembled guests stood and clapped as the newly married couple turned to walk back down the aisle, hand in hand.

“Thank God that’s over.” Desiree gave a halfhearted clap of her hands.

Nicolai pulled her into the circle of his arms and glanced around at the other guests. They’d already started to mingle on their way to the bar and buffet tables. “I feel like I’m watching another species in their natural habitat.”

Erik snorted. “Give it a few months and we’ll be watching you walk down the aisle.”

Leaning to one side so she could look up into Nicolai’s face, Desiree tried to evaluate his expression. He didn’t seem to find the suggestion offensive, but she knew how he felt about conventional labels.

“Well?” Erik poked Nicolai in the arm. “Are you going to make my sister an honest woman or not?”

Desiree reached up and smacked her brother on the back of his head. “Actually, Erik, I think I’m more honest with Nicolai than I’ve ever been with my family or friends. I don’t think we need a piece of jewelry and a ceremony to make it official. He’s mine. I’m his, and that’s all that matters.”

Joshua Breckenridge appeared next to Erik. “And
that
is the most insightful thing I’ve ever heard come out of Desiree’s mouth.”

“Thank you, Joshua.” Whether she’d been permanently mellowed by Nicolai’s presence in her life, or the situation with Jackson had created peace between her and Josh, his words seemed genuine instead of trite or sarcastic. “I’m glad you and Seth could make it.”

Seth Overton nudged his friend, his dark good looks the perfect complement to Joshua’s blond hair and blue eyes. “We never miss a chance to hear Leslie perform in public.”

“Besides, Erik, Seth, and I go way back.” Joshua watched Selena and Jackson soak up their moment of triumph as the photographer ushered the wedding party away for photos. “And friends should always support friends in times of need.”

“Or when their baby sister leg-shackles herself to the biggest asshole on earth,” Erik muttered.

Her brother’s expression was one of barely controlled disgust. Desiree’s heart gave a sympathetic lurch. Selena might have been the spoiled brat, but she was still their sister.

Joshua shifted his stance, his posture growing tense. “Game faces on, team. The lioness approaches.”

Desiree’s mother had spent a lot of time choosing what she considered the perfect mother-of-the-bride dress, finally settling on a strapless bustier gown with a full skirt and a chic jacket that put it just over the edge of appropriate. Annaline might have enjoyed inviting the crème de la crème to her daughter’s wedding, but she didn’t want them to think of her in terms of a future grandmother. The combination of dove-gray designer gown, upswept blonde hair, and smoky green eyes told the whole world that Annaline was still a sexy woman to be reckoned with. To her eldest daughter, who’d worn an understated lavender suit, it looked like she was trolling for her next ex-husband. Joshua was right. She definitely qualified as a lioness. There was something in her walk that seemed almost predatory.

“Seth, Joshua, I’m so glad you could join us for this happy occasion.” Annaline gave them her best hostess smile. “Your firm has been so indispensable to the Aasens in these matters.”

“Always a pleasure, Annaline.” Joshua took her hand and brushed his lips over the backs of her fingers in a courtly gesture that would have been mocking coming from someone with less charm.

Seth clasped his hands behind his back and glanced over at the string musicians playing unobtrusively beneath a pink and white bower of hanging roses. “Leslie and the Trio were very happy to work Selena’s wedding into their schedule. Leslie and Talia have been friends for almost as long as we’ve known Erik. We’re all practically family.”

Desiree had to smother a giggle at Seth’s not-so-subtle reminder that they, like Erik, had embraced what Annaline had been known to refer to as the “dark side.” Her mother’s expression faltered beneath the practiced smile, her gaze sweeping the group until it settled on Nicolai as though sizing up prey.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think you’ve introduced me to your date, Desiree.”

Desiree hadn’t even taken a breath to answer before Nicolai extended his hand. “Nicolai Anastas. Erik and I have been longtime business associates, but we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting yet, Annaline.”

Convention forced her to shake the offered hand. “And how did you meet my daughter?”

“We met in a bar. In Back Bay,” Desiree interjected. She didn’t want to put Nicolai into the uncomfortable position of explaining a chance meeting that had only happened because she’d been out looking for trouble.

“You met in a bar.” The flat tone in her mother’s voice didn’t match the polite expression pasted on her face. “How interesting.”

I’ll bet.

“Desiree was waiting for a friend and stopped in for a drink.” To his credit, Nicolai did not laugh out loud at the G-rated version of the truth he was dealing her mother. “I happened to be tending bar that night, and we hit it off.”

Desiree had to bite her lower lip to keep from bursting into laughter. They’d hit it off? What a way to describe her throwing a lemon wedge at his head before she attacked him and demanded he take her up to his apartment and have sex with her. How had she gotten so lucky? The results of that night could have been utterly disastrous. Instead, she’d found the one man who would give her exactly what she needed while helping her to curb her self-destructive urges.