By the time the afternoon was over, her mother had a beautiful wedding dress—unanimously approved by all of her children—and Vicki had two new siblings.
But the warm fuzzies disappeared when they returned to the house and tension seeped back in as she wondered where Ty was. She’d seen him, but they hadn’t really spoken much since their arrival two days ago, on Saturday.
He was in the room next to hers. Vicki sometimes heard him moving around late at night. Sounding as restless as she felt. Thus far, she had resisted the temptation to join him, not sure what her reception would be. But she wasn’t sure how much longer she could stay away from him.
Vicki—needing some isolation after two solid days of nothing but family time—pleaded a headache and made a beeline for her room, while Hugh and Charity headed outside to the pool, and Miles took Stormy for a walk.
The family wing of the house was wonderfully cool and quiet. The only sound was the soft tread of her bare feet on the floor.
She stepped into her room and leaned back against the door with a quiet sigh of relief and then nearly jumped out of her skin when a dark, masculine voice enquired, “Tired?”
“Crap!” Her hand flew to her chest, and she glowered at the man reclining on her bed. He looked much too comfortable “Ty, you scared me half to death. What are you doing in here?”
“Checking to see if my principal is okay,” he said, pursing his lips as he sat up and ran greedy eyes over her body. And just like that, the air-conditioned room no longer felt cool. Heat prickled on her skin, making her feel feverish.
“So, you’re working right now?” she asked, undoing the top two buttons of her loose slip dress.
His eyes flared and he swallowed, his focus riveted on her hands.
“Working?” he echoed absently. His hand went to his crotch to adjust the massive erection she could see straining at his suit pants.
God, she missed his jeans. He had dressed for work since their arrived. Even though he hadn’t really been required to spend any time with her.
“Are you working, Ty?” she repeated patiently. And he blinked slowly, as if he couldn’t quite comprehend her words.
“Uh…are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine.”
“Do you need me to drive you anywhere?”
Her lips twitched at the ridiculous question, but she shook her head somberly. “No, thank you.”
“Then,” he husked, now actively stroking his length through the expensive fabric of his pants, while he watched more and more of her chest being exposed. “I guess I’m off duty at the moment.”
“Yay,” she said with a muffled whoop, and launched herself at the bed. He caught her and dragged her beneath him while claiming her mouth for a deep, drugging kiss.
They didn’t speak for a long time after that. The only sounds in the room were soft sighs, quiet words of encouragement, and deep groans. Accompanied by the rustle of fabric, a crinkle of foil, a snap of latex, then the smooth glide of skin against skin, building into the rhythmic crescendo of flesh pounding against flesh.
Their bodies created a gentle, beautiful sonata, unique to Vicki and Ty. Vicki couldn’t recall a time they had made love so tenderly before. They didn’t usually do quiet and gentle. More often than not, the music they created was raunchy, dirty, and a little rock and roll.
When it was over, they fell back in a tangle of limbs. Exhausted and sated, they were content to simply remain in each other’s arms.
“That was pretty amazing, Mr. Chambers,” Vicki whispered, stroking his damp, broad chest. Her head was cushioned on one of his hard biceps, while his hand idly played with her hair.
“I would have to concur, Miss Hollingsworth. It was fucking fantastic. I needed that. I thought you were mad at me.”
“Did it upset you?”
“Hmm?”
“Did it upset you to think I was cross with you?” she elaborated. His hand stopped playing with her hair for a second as he considered her question.
“I…well, yes. Of course.”
Instead of probing further—like she wanted to—Vicki turned onto her stomach, dropped her palm onto his chest, and propped her chin on the back of her hand to look at him.
“I’m not angry. I admit, I was a little annoyed and hurt about the plane thing, but I got over that pretty quickly. I understood why you did what you did. Then when we got here, I wasn’t sure how—if—we could make this work. There are so many prying eyes around. I’m always with my family. I thought you’d prefer it if I kept my distance.”
“Fuck, I’m sorry, Vicki. This isn’t fair. You deserve a guy who can give you the world.”
She watched him closely as she said, “Don’t worry, Ty, I’m sure the man I deserve is somewhere out there. I know I’ll meet him in the end.”