“Your cousin spoke to my heart. He said there was a man out there who loved me body and soul. To quote him, ‘Don’t be afraid. Have faith in his love for you. If you don’t, that would be the real tragedy.’ I knew it was true and came as fast as I could to find you.”
Dominic’s black eyes burned with love for her. “Let’s get out of here. I need to hold you so I can believe this is really happening.”
He got up and pulled her to her feet. Still gripping her hand, he drew her through the crowd to the outside of the bistro. “Where’s your car?”
“Around the corner.”
“How did you know I was at the Guinguet?”
“I followed you and Raoul from the tour after I’d texted him earlier. He told me you would be there.”
A painful squeeze of her hand told her how happy that had made him. They were both out of breath when they reached the Peugeot. “Mind if I drive?”
“I want you to. I’m shaking too hard to get behind the wheel.”
Dominic helped her in, then hurried around and got in the driver’s seat. He had to adjust it to accommodate his long, powerful legs. She handed him the keys. Within seconds he’d started the engine and drove out to the street.
Nathalie didn’t care where they were going. She clung to his hand, dying to get in his arms and stay there. As he drove them to the heights of the city, she knew where they were going. The moon shone down on the beautiful site of the white villa surrounded by the dark cypress trees.
“I’ve bought the place, so it means we’re private here.”
“You already did?”
“Yes. No matter how long it took for you to come back to me, I wanted it for us.”
“Darling—”
He pulled into the driveway and drove up to the side of the villa. In the next breath, he turned off the car and reached for her. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this? I’m only going to say this once. We’ll adopt as many babies as we want when we decide it’s right. What matters is that we’ll be man and wife. Do you hear me?”
“Yes, darling.”
He lowered his mouth to hers in an explosion of needs they’d had to repress.
She moaned aloud. “Dominic... I love you so much you can’t imagine,” she cried, giving him kiss for kiss until they were devouring each other.
Time became meaningless as they attempted to appease their hunger, but the fire kept building. Over and over again their passion engulfed them. He was such a gorgeous man in every way, no amount of love she could shower on him would ever be enough. Every touch of his hands and mouth ignited her senses.
From the first moment she’d looked into his eyes at the interview, he’d brought her alive. Until then she’d been in a deep sleep, but no longer. He was the answer to her existence.
“You’re the most beautiful thing to come into my life, mon tresor,” he murmured, kissing her with abandon. “I’m so crazy in love with you, I don’t know how long I can wait for our marriage.”
“I feel the same way and never want to be apart from you again.”
He cupped her face in his hands. “Let’s have a wedding as soon as possible with your mother as witness.”
She fingered his luxuriant black hair. “What about your family?”
“I’m afraid we’ll have to leave them out of it. Tell me you understand.”
“Of course I do,” she cried without hesitation. Eleven years away from his family was explanation enough.
“You’re incredible,” he cried, kissing her with increasing hunger.
“Tomorrow I’ll tell Maman we’re getting married right away.”
“How about Sunday, four days from now?”
“If only we could.”