Page 107 of Third Time is the Charm
Darcy nodded. “I think he realized that his sister wasn’t who he thought she was a long time ago. It’s Charles though, so I’m sure he held onto some hope for a while once everything calmed down. But, after the wedding, I think he realized that there was an evilness to her, one that was buried so deeply inside no one would be able to get it out.”
“I just keep seeing her face and the determined hatred all over it; she truly believed that I ruined her life by taking you ‘from’ her. How does someone even become like that?” she mused softly, biting her lip as she saw the bright red bloodstain against the crisp white of his tux shirt; her stomach rolled at the sight.
“She buried her anger and resentment instead of addressing it – just like I did; the only difference being that I still had people that cared for me, whom I let in – or who forced their way in to help bring me back from that edge. Caroline has no one because she wanted no one and now she can spend the rest of her miserable life in a cell. Alone.”
She registered the truth in his words and for a moment, Beth couldn’t help but feel sorry for Caroline. “Are you sure this is just a flesh wound?” Her voice pitched higher with concern.
“Positive,” he replied as she began to unbutton the front of his shirt, cautiously removing that from his body as well. “Charles is going to call his parents and let them know.”
Beth nodded, her focus completely drawn to his arm. Seeing the now-bare wound gave her a little more comfort; the blood-soaked shirt had made it look a lot worse than it was. He was right – the bullet had just grazed him, leaving only a decently sized gash on his arm.
“Are you sure you don’t want someone to look at this? Or clean it? What if you need stitches or pain medication or something?”
“Beth.” He cut off her questions, his fingers tipping her face up to his. His eyes burned straight through hers and she knew right away that he had more pressing physical needs than his injury. “Right now, you are everything I need.”
Chapter 30
She swallowed over the lump in her throat. His other hand plucked hers off of his arm, lifting it up to his mouth in order to kiss the tender skin of her palm. His fingers brushed back and forth over the ring he’d given her earlier.
Beth felt his exhale harshly against her hand. “I can’t help thinking that if I hadn’t given you this ring earlier, she wouldn’t have tried to kill you; you almost died tonight because of me.”
Beth sucked in a breath at the desolation in his tone, quickly shaking her head in denial. “No, Darcy – tonight, I lived because of you.” Her other hand reached up to cup his face. “Caroline had that gun with her and she was going to use it regardless of what I said or she saw. This ring did not change that;you did not change that.Because of you, I chose to fight. Earlier, I asked you to be my sword. This ring… your love for me… was my weapon and my strength. All I could think was that I wasn’t willing to let her take any more from me… any more from us.”
“I don’t deserve you,” he whispered, watching a tear roll down her face.
“I don’t care,” she replied. “You are everything that I want.”
Slowly, his head bent down to hers to gently kiss her, tasting the salty-sweetness that was a mixture of her and her tears.
“Marry me?” he asked against her lips.
“Yes.” She smiled into their kiss just before he deepened it.
His arms came around her, pulling her flush against his body. The heat from his naked chest scorching through her. Beth moaned, wrapping her arms around his neck and angling her head to give him deeper access to her mouth.
His tongue stroked over hers, stoking the flames that spread through every cell. His hand grabbed onto her ass, pulling her tight against the hardness of his erection. His other hand moved to the back of her neck, undoing the closure at the top of her dress. Beth felt the material give way, the straps sliding swiftly down from her shoulders. The top of her dress only stayed up covering her chest because she was pressed so firmly against him.
“Say it again,” he whispered as his lips slid from hers to kiss the sensitive skin along her jaw. Beth tipped her head back, exposing more of the pristine, pale skin of her neck to him.
“Say what?” she asked breathlessly. Darcy growled against her neck, lightly biting the tender skin. Beth gasped, realizing what he wanted. “Yes, I will marry you.”
His mouth closed over the bite sucking firmly on the spot as he pushed his chest away from hers for a split second, allowing the top of her dress to fall, exposing her bare breasts.
She moaned as her nipples came into contact with his hard chest. Her hands tangled in his hair as his mouth moved down onto the slope of her shoulder. His fingers hooked into the bunched black silk around her waist, tugging downward. Her dress fell to the floor with a soft swoosh, leaving her standing naked except for her matching black silk panties. Darcy groaned against her collarbone as his hands sunk into the soft flesh of her ass, kneading it as his mouth continued to trail further south over the swell of one breast.
“Say it again,” he rasped hoarsely against her nipple, his tongue coming out to toy with the aching peak.
“Yes,” she gasped. “I… will marry… you.”
At the end of her breathless statement, his mouth closed over the tormented bud, pulling it deeply into his mouth. He sucked rhythmically on her nipple, his tongue swirling around the tender, erect tip, sending sparks of electricity straight to her core. She pulled his head tighter against her, willing him to take more of her farther into his mouth; her moans accompanying each draw of his mouth.
His lips released her, kissing a trail over to her other breast.
“You are mine,” he said hoarsely just before he captured the unattended nipple, repeating his torture.
Beth wasn’t sure that she could even feel her legs anymore. She only knew that she was standing because she could see Darcy bent over her chest. The agitation and heightened emotions from earlier now only made her pleasure more intense, her cells craving a physical release from the stress that had built up and that Darcy was now turning into molten pleasure as it flowed through her veins.
His mouth released her nipple, blowing a steady stream of air over the sensitive peak as he knelt to continue to kiss his way down her stomach. Beth felt his fingers hook up underneath the edge of her panties and pull them down over her legs. His hand gripped her right calf, lifting her foot out from them. Instead of setting it back down on the floor, his hand slid up under her knee, hiking her leg up higher to rest over his shoulder.
