“Because this marriage is not a business arrangement,” he said firmly.
“But—”
“It’s a marriage of dreams. Accept that for what it is.”
Happier than she had ever been, Maddie nodded and did just that. She wasn’t at all surprised when Romi caught her bouquet.
Maddie had been aiming after all.
What was surprising and even a little worrisome, was that Maxwell Black caught the garter. The look he gave Romi would have had Maddie running for the hills, but her friend just blushed. And looked more than a little interested.
Huh. That was something to think about.
After Maddie’s own honeymoon.
She smiled so much during the reception that her cheeks hurt by the time the white Rolls-Royce arrived to take them away.
* * *
Maddie was surprised when the car pulled up in front of the Ritz-Carlton instead of Parean Hall.
She turned to Vik. “I thought we were going home.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Going home?” she asked, confused and not minding a bit.
“Home. Our home,” he emphasized.
Heat she did not understand crept into Maddie’s cheeks. “But we aren’t there.”
“No, we are here. And this moment the only three people who know that are you, me and the driver.” Vik sounded very proud of that fact.
“What about security?”
“Not even them. Not tonight. No friends. No family. No security. No press.”
Delight suffused her. “Tonight is ours.”
“Yes.”
“I like it.”
“Good.”
He carried her over the threshold of Suite 919, one of the two most luxurious sets of rooms on the club level.
Its beauty was lost on Maddie, though. She was way too focused on Vik to pay attention to marble floors and Chippendale furniture.
“Champagne?” he asked without putting her down.
She shook her head.
“Snack?”
A smile flirted at her mouth as she said primly, “No thank you.”
His eyes darkened with primal intent. “Bed then?”
“Oh, yes.”
He carried her into the bedroom and lowered her to her feet. “Did I tell you how lovely you are today?”
“You may have mentioned it, yes.”
He nodded, as if in serious contemplation. “I can only imagine one circumstance in which you could be more breathtaking.”
“Yes?” she asked.
“Let me show you.”
“Okay,” she breathed out.
He removed her crown and veil with careful, deliberate movements. Then he took off the jewelry he’d helped her put on earlier.
“I don’t think I told you. The pearls are exquisite. Thank you.”
“They are just little white beads until you are wearing them.”
“Oh, wow...I don’t know even know how to take some of the things you say.”
“As truth. We’ve established I do not lie to you.” He brushed his lips over the back of her neck.
She did nothing to suppress the shiver the small touch elicited. “Or at all, according to Jeremy.”
Vik came around and faced her, and then leaned down to press their mouths together softly for only a brief moment. “Or at all.” He kissed down her neck and along her bare shoulder.
Each caress of his lips left a trail of goose bumps in its wake and she was trembling with desire by the time he made it around to the back of her dress.
He undid the bodice, trailing kisses down her spine as he did so.
The silk of her corset was no barrier between his lips and her skin. He helped her step out of the dress and then took the time to carry it into the dining room and lay it on the table.
When he came back into the bedroom, she said, “Thank you.”
He looked at her questioningly.
“For caring about my dress.”
He shrugged as if his consideration wasn’t important, or maybe rather that it should be taken for granted. “It is a living memory for your family.”
She hoped she never stopped appreciating the big, but especially little things he did to take care of her.
“So, is this what you were talking about?” she asked with a sweeping gesture toward herself with her hand.
Maddie stood before Vik in her corset, panties, sheer silk thigh highs and glittery Jimmy Choo heels, but nothing else.
His smile was predatory when he shook his head. “Almost, but not quite.”
She stepped out of her heels.
“Closer.” Sensuality oozed through his voice.
She swallowed. They’d made love every night for the past five weeks, so nothing about this one should make her nervous.
But as much as he’d claimed to consider their promises at the Marin Headlands overlook to be enough to bind them, the look of possession in his eyes was about ten times more intense than it had been the past weeks.