Determined: To Win (Determined Trilogy Book 3) (21 page)

He stopped moving and pushed himself up. “Well, I’m starting to get tired of it.”

My eyes snapped open, and I stared up at him. He had a slight grin on his face. “What do you mean?”

“I mean,” he said as he lowered back down and started to kiss my neck, “that I’d prefer to start calling you my wife.”

“Ah, too bad, you’ll just have to learn how to wait. The wedding isn’t for months, Chief.” I couldn’t have cared less how we got married, but Julie had insisted on using McNeary Vineyards for the location, suggesting June because of the weather. Both David and I had been too starry-eyed to object, besides, five months
was
a short turn-around for a wedding.

“What if we moved up the timeline?” David said, as he gently nibbled my neck.

The suggestion made me pause and push him off me, so I could look at him in the eye. “Are you serious?”

“Absolutely, Samantha. We already have the rings.” It was true. One of the first things we’d done after getting engaged was buy our rings. David had insisted, saying it was the one part of wedding planning he wanted to be involved in. “I’d go to City Hall this morning, if you’d agree.”

I shook my head. “My mom would kill me. Carrie, too.”

“So invite them. Carrie can take a sick day.”

I stared at David. He wasn’t bluffing. A flutter of excitement ripped through my stomach. “You are serious, aren’t you? What about your job?”

“Samantha, I don’t know if you’ve noticed but,”

“Yeah, yeah, you own the company. Got it.” I closed my eyes for a moment and contemplated the options. The children’s center wouldn’t open for another two months. In a way, this was perfect timing. Maybe we could even fit in a little honeymoon. Eve had been helping me out with the new center, and she could probably handle any issues that came up while I was out. I took a deep breath and opened my eyes. “Okay. So you’re serious?”

“I’m in if you’re in, Ms. Sharp.”

I grinned. “Let’s do it.”

David wasted no time in calling City Hall for an appointment. Once he had an early afternoon slot secured, we both jumped on the phone, calling our closest friends and family. My parents were understandably concerned.

“Sam, are you sure you want to do this today? Why the rush? Is everything okay? Sam, you aren’t pregnant, are you? Oh, I worried this might happen if you moved in together—” My mom spoke urgently through the phone.

I laughed. “No, Mom. Everything is fine. I’m not pregnant,” I said, as I shot a look over at David, whose eyes widened at the mention of the p-word. “We just figured, why go to the trouble of a big wedding? We just want to do it now, with our closest family and friends. You guys can come right? I mean, Dad can get off work early, right? Do you need us to send the jet?”

“No, no, honey, we can drive. And I’ll take care of your father. Don’t you worry. I better go. I need to throw my dress in the wash. We will see you soon, honey.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“And hon,”

“Yeah?”

“We love you. And we love David. Thank you for including us.”

“Of course, Mom. Now go. Wash your dress.”

“Bye, hon.”

I smiled as I hung up. “Okay, my family is on their way.” I texted Carrie as well. She was understandably surprised but vowed to get there on time.

Oh, and what’s the attire?
Carrie texted back.

“Shit,” I said aloud.

“What? David had stripped and was wrapped only in a towel, on his way to take a shower.

“What am I going to wear?”

David furrowed his brow and walked past me to my enormous closet. “Surely you have something white in here.”

I followed him in and we both stood in front of the rack that contained all the dresses David had bought for me. We both scanned them, our eyes landing on the one white dress amongst them. We turned to each other, and at the same time said, “Perfect.”

The white dress I’d been wearing when we met. Or rather, the replacement of the white dress I’d been wearing when we’d met. It was simple, elegant. I pulled it out and hung it on the garment rack. It could be my ‘something old.’

“I’m asking Hilde to run downstairs and fetch some flowers,” David said as he sent a text message before heading toward the bathroom.

I nodded and proceeded to pick out some shoes and lingerie to go with my outfit. I chose the white bra and panty set David had seen at the Chanel store a few weeks ago. I hadn’t had an occasion to wear it yet, and I knew he’d like it. I pulled out some of his favorite heels, and wandered over to the shower, just as he was finishing up.

“It’s all yours,” he said, drying off his golden torso, the fluffy white bath towel doing a poor job of disguising his throbbing erection. I bee-lined toward it, eager to take what would be officially mine in less than five hours. “Uh, huh Samantha, I meant the shower.” he said, a devilish look in his eye. “You don’t get
this
until after the wedding.”

I squirmed at the seemingly arbitrary rule. But he knew what he was doing. Taunting me would do nothing but rile me up so that once we were alone I’d jump on him like a sex-starved maniac. This man was a master of manipulation. But so was I.

“Hmm. Okay. I guess I’ll just have to take care of myself then.” I said, moving over to the bed and grazing my hips with my hands.

He ran his hands through his wet hair, taking a deep breath. “Using your powers for evil, Ms. Sharp? Now that’s not playing fair.”

“Hmm. Are you mad? Maybe I should find someone else to marry today,” I said flirtatiously. That did it. David’s eyes grew dark as his pupils dilated. He pulled off his towel and moved over to the bed, crawling onto me.

“Don’t you dare, Samantha,” he growled, possessively. “You’re mine, and I’m never going to let you forget it.”

And he didn’t. He made sure of that. He fucked me hard, over and over, drilling himself into me so thoroughly that I knew I’d be sore for days. But I didn’t care. I loved it every minute of it. And I loved him. I took the domination fully, embracing his carnal need for me. I felt his cock throb inside me, causing my cunt to gush with pleasure as I tightened around him. Eventually, I unfurled as he bucked me to orgasm over and over until I was nothing but a melted pool of pleasure.

After a brief recovery nap, I felt him jolt next to me. “Fuck, we need to get to City Hall.” He murmured, his voice spent, like he’d run a marathon. I glanced at the clock. Shit, we’d taken much longer than I thought.

“I need to take a shower.”

“Can’t. No time,” he said as he moved to the closet, hurrying to put on his dark charcoal suit.

“I smell like sex.”

“So do I. But what’s more appropriate at a wedding?” he smiled, lasciviously.

I shook my head at him but couldn’t argue. We were late. I needed to hustle. In the closet, I pulled my lingerie on, laughing a little at the irony of it. Lingerie or not, I knew tonight was going to be a repeat of this morning. I slipped on my dress and shoved my feet into my heels before returning to the bedroom.

“Damn,” David said when he saw me. He finished tying his tie without a mirror, looking at me the whole time. “You look amazing. That dress is incredible on you.”

“Even the second time around?” I said, doing a quick spin before heading to the bathroom to do my makeup.

“You know what it did to me the first time you wore it. I think my cock is having flashbacks. I might have to have you again.”

“Uh, uh,” I said, shaking my head. “We really have to go. And don’t even think about trying to toss some wine on me.” I hollered back to the bedroom.

I heard a small chuckle as I refocused on the task at hand. Getting this just-fucked hair fixed in less than ten minutes was going to take a miracle. I ran a brush through it, and applied some glossing serum which fixed the frizz. I ended up settling on a messy low bun, one of my default hairdos. The hair gods must have been smiling on me, because somehow it managed to look somewhat elegant. I leaned forward and applied a quick layer of foundation, a light dusting of gray eye shadow, and some pink lipstick. I pulled back, examining my handiwork.
Good enough,
I said to myself. I was out of time.

David grunted and slapped me on my ass on our way out of the room. I smiled, glad he approved.

I looked down in my lap as the car parked in front of City Hall. Hilde had managed to find me a delightful little bouquet of white tulips at the corner flower shop. I carried them with pride as I got out of the car, and was greeted by large group of family and friends. It was amazing—everyone was there. Julie had even fetched Jake from UC Davis. When my soon to be father-in-law, Jack, got a turn at me, he pulled me in for a big bear hug.

“Thanks for coming, Jack,” I said, my internal organs pressing up against my ribs.

“Wouldn’t miss it, sweetie.” He pulled back and gazed down at me “And Samantha?”

“Thank you.”

I cocked my head at him. “For what, Jack?”

“For fixing him.”

I smiled at him. It was one of the nicest things he’d ever said to me. And it meant a lot.

“Okay, break it up you two,” Jenna said, coming up to us. “The lovebirds have an appointment to make.” I looked over at David, and he came over and grabbed my hand.

“Ready?”

“Ready.” And we walked hand in hand toward the little administrative office.

Our ceremony was performed on the grand staircase in the middle of the ornate Beaux-Arts main hall of City Hall. And despite the opulent surroundings, it was incredibly intimate. We read our vows from a black and white City of San Francisco photocopy, sharing the same vows with the thousands that came before us.

I went first, affirming my love for David with each word. And when it was time for him to reciprocate, the words he read off the little paper sheet caused his voice to crack and his eyes to water.

“I, David…”

41

I walked over to the window and looked out. A light dusting of snow was just starting to fall and the Eiffel Tower glimmered in the distance. I tightened the belt of my robe and then pulled the heavy silk curtains closed. I turned back to David who was lying in bed in a gray t-shirt and pajama pants. He was staring at me with a devious grin.

“What are you looking at, Mr. Keith?”

“Just admiring my gorgeous wife. That’s allowed, right?”

I sighed a happy sigh.

“What’s the matter baby?” David said, sitting up against the headboard. We’d been in Paris for almost a week, having flown there immediately following the wedding. It had been an amazing six days filled with delicious food, amazing art, and scandalously hot sex.

“Nothing. Nothing at all,” I said, climbing into bed with him. “I’m just blissfully content.”

“Good. Please let me know if you ever are feeling anything less than blissfully content, and I’ll do something about it, Mrs. Keith.”

I grinned. David had been more than eager to start using my new moniker. And I had to admit, it gave me a little
frisson
of excitement each time he said it. I turned toward him. “Seriously, though. Paris? Good call, Chief.”

“I aim to please.”

David’s phone vibrated from the side table.

I frowned as he picked it up. “That’d better be room service, offering to bring up some complimentary
gateaux chocolat
.”

David read a text message and then chuckled as he put the phone back down. “Better,” he said, turning to me.

“And pray tell, what is better than
gateaux chocolat
?” I asked, pulling myself up to straddle him.

“
Gateaux David
?” he said with a sly grin.

“Very funny. What was on the text? What’s the good news?”

“Let’s just say Evan Carmichael is going to be out of the picture for a long time.”

I gasped, slightly horrified he was bringing that name up on our honeymoon. But my curiosity was piqued. “What did you do?”

“Seems that somehow the IRS got a little tip about his tax returns. He’s been arrested on fraud charges. He’ll be behind bars for at least five years.”

My eyes widened and after a beat, I punched him playfully in the shoulder. “You didn’t!”

“Maybe. Would you have preferred that I hadn’t?” David asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Well,” I said, gently stroking the area I had punched. “I suppose not.”

“Oh, I almost forgot. I have to take a meeting tomorrow. London office. It’s the annual mid-year check in. I can’t get out of it,” David said, matter-of-factly.

“Really? On our honeymoon?” I sat back on my heels and sighed.

“I know. I’m sorry, Samantha. I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve arranged a surprise for you, to make up for it.”

Just then, there was a knock at the front door of the suite. I moved my face toward the noise and then back at David. What had he planned? He shrugged as I got up off him and shuffled towards the door.

David followed me as I made my way down the hallway of the massive suite, and I was almost at the front door when there was another knock. A female voice from the other side called out.

“Sam?”

Oh my God.
I threw open the door. “Carrie!?”

Carrie screamed, dropped her duffle bag on the floor and lunged at me.

“Surprise!” she exclaimed as she hit me with a big hug.

My mind was going a mile a minute. “Oh my God, Carrie. What are you doing here?”

Carrie glanced over at David, indicating that it was his secret to tell.

David put his hands up. “I’m afraid that’s my fault.” He cleared his throat before continuing. “I had asked Carrie about where I should take you for our honeymoon, and she told me about your little Paris fund. I figured it was only fair to fly her out, as well. You know … as a thank you gift.”

I turned and stared at my husband, a huge smile taking over my face. “This is perfect. Thank you.” I walked over and reached up to peck him on the cheek.

As I grazed his face, I lowered my voice to a whisper, “I love you, Chief.”

Our eyes connected. “I love you too.” He mouthed.

“You got a good one here, Mrs. Keith,” Carrie joked.

“Don’t I know it,” I said, looking back up at my gorgeous husband. “Don’t I know it.”