Page 64 of Nico
"You need to change that." Gripping her hair, he yanked her head up and crushed his mouth to hers.
He was dying, slowly by degrees. Emotions were crushing him, and he was so hard, he swore he could drill through steel. But he was determined to prove a point. He wanted her to want him just as desperately as he needed her.
The kiss left her weak and needy. He made her feel vulnerable and crushed. Her hands came around his neck to cling as her mouth fused to his.
When he felt her capitulating, he ended the kiss to move down the length of her body. He used his mouth ruthlessly,introducing tongue and teeth until she was sobbing out his name.
When he finally drove into her, the climax was vicious, like a thousand pins slashing through her insides. His control broke. Gripping her hips, he drove into her one last time and tumbled with her as she crested again. His body heaved and shuddered, his heart straining.
When it was over, he collapsed on top of her, body coated with sweat and trembling. He had just enough strength to shift to the side, to prevent himself from crushing her. Wrapping his arms around her, he brought her up against him where she curled into him like a lost child.
Neither of them spoke for several minutes and the only sounds inside the room were the harsh breathing and the hum of the central heat. His mind whirled as thoughts battered at him furiously. He had been rough with her. His anger had propelled him into doing something he had never done with a woman before.
But then again, this was a first for him. He had been so damn angry and afraid, he had taken it out on her. He wasn't going to apologize. He had made his point.
What she did with it was up to her. But he knew bloody well that she was never going to leave him. That was non-negotiable.
She finally stirred against him. Tilting his chin down, he gazed on the face washed with tears. The wet spiky lashes filled his heart to the brim. Her lips were swollen, magnificent eyes bright.
Love for her made him weak and there was no denying it. He was going to have to convince her that there was no going forward unless it was with each other, tied and bonded to each other for the rest of their lives.
"If it's not clear to you already, let me reiterate." His hands were clamped around her waist as if he was bonding them together. "I adore you." His voice was quiet and forceful at the same time.
Her heart shuddered and then righted. "Gracie..."
"Was crying for you." He tucked strands of hair behind her ear, letting his touch linger. "She's done the wandering away deal before and we considered getting her a leash. She's just gotten the ability to walk recently, and she is using it to explore. She wandered from Nadine and my mother had a difficult time trying to find her at a tea party. Incidentally, she sends her apologies for her harsh and unreasonable words."
Her fingers curled on his chest. "I was terrified. The thought that she had been kidnapped and held for ransom sent fear coursing through my body. It occurred to me then, who she is. And that people would look at her and see a means to an end. You're the heir to a fortune and on top of that, you are well known, your art..."
"Shh." He placed a finger vertically over her lips. "Don't spoil it. I've spent my entire life being aware of who I am, and I decided from early on that I would never allow any of it to make me stop living. I'm not careless, but at the same time, I refuse to live in a bubble."
He tilted her chin up. "We will make mistakes and in the future, will ensure we have Gracie with us at all times. But what I will not accept ever, is you staying away from me. That's not acceptable. We're getting married, even if I have to drag you by your hair to the altar."
Her lips trembled as fresh tears burned the back of her eyes. "Is that so?"
"Yes. I'm not living my life without you in it."
"Then I suppose I'm going to have to give in gracefully."
"I suppose you should."
Bending his head, he brushed his lips against hers. Then took the kiss deeper, until she was clinging to him.
*****
Even though the wedding was small and intimate, it generated a lot of press. The bride was exotically beautiful and another black woman to capture the heart of a member of the exclusive Elite Club. On top of that, there was a child involved, one with quite a story behind her.
The days leading up to the ceremony were fraught with tension and preparations. The reception was being held at the manor in the great hall and would be open to several hundred people, friends of the family as well as people from the company. Gracie was very excited to be part of the bridal party and could barely contain herself.
She had no idea what a flower girl was, but that did not stop her from being excited.
"I did not agree to two hundred and fifty people. Jesus Christ, mother, you're turning this thing into a damn circus."
She merely gave him a coolly composed look and took the sheet from him. "You're the heir to a very powerful company as well as being very successful in your own right. You cannot expect to just slide by unscathed."
"I should have convinced Sadie to elope."
"You would end up breaking our hearts."
