Family Ties XIV

The breeze gently stirred the candle flame, causing it to whip against the smoke-stained glass surrounding it. The soft tinking as it licked the globe was as erratic as the beat of Bill’s heart, made that way by watching Laura sip her wine and gaze at the sunset.

The sheer, breathtaking beauty of her in the golden-hued light had forced him to look away for a moment, to catch his breath and calm the organ beating wildly in his chest.

He’d set out to seduce her properly tonight, to treat her to a romantic supper, complete with dancing, and she was seducing him just by sitting there, radiant and unassuming, sunlight worshiping her as it always seemed to do.

Braving to raise his eyes once more, he drew his gaze along her profile down to where the necklace he’d given her lay against her creamy skin. On the drive here and even now, she touched it, her fingers grazing over it, circling it in a caress, almost as if assuring herself it was real, and every time she did, she smiled, telling him his gift had been received for the reason he’d given it — as a sign of his love and commitment.

He supposed it was a bit overdue even though they’d never exchanged formal vows, but they’d also had other things on their minds with her cancer diagnosis.

Bill had actually been considering buying something special to give to her before this next treatment until this morning, when going through the one crate he’d brought with him from the Valkyrie, he’d come across the wooden humidor that had been his grandfather’s. He’d opened it, not remembering what all was in it, and found the necklace inside. It had been in the same velvet box that it had been in when his father had given it to his mother on their tenth wedding anniversary, the year Bill had been born.

When he’d inherited it, along with all his father’s other belongings, he’d not really known what to do with it. He’d already been divorced from Carolanne and there’d been no daughter or significant other in his life for him to give it to, so he’d put it away, thinking maybe one day there’d be a granddaughter who’d like something of her great-grandmother’s.

Bill had thought, upon seeing the necklace again, that Laura would appreciate the significance of such a gift and what it meant to him, and he’d been right. The minute she’d opened the little box, he’d known. The trembling in her hand as she’d held and opened the box and in her body as he’d put the necklace on her, and the way tears had instantly gathered in her gaze and she’d been rendered speechless had told him that she was not only surprised but deeply moved. So was he, her reception what he’d hoped for and then some, making him love her with a deepening and expanding intensity.

As he watched her, her gaze returned to him. She smiled almost shyly and drew her hand down from her neck. Bill just smiled, rasped, “I’m glad you like it.”

With a little tilt of her head and a bright but gentle smile, she responded on a breath, “I love it.”

Her words made him want to touch her, to reach across the table and cradle her jaw before kissing her as softly as he knew how. The table between them wouldn’t allow for that, though, so he issued an invitation instead. “Would you like to dance?”

She nodded and placed her glass on the table, moved her napkin from her lap to set atop her near-empty plate as he rose, tossing his napkin in his chair as he moved to her, holding out a hand. She took it and he loved the feel of her slender digits sliding across his palm, smooth and soft as silk. He curled his darker, thicker ones around them and guided her across the deck, between the tables, to the dance area.

It wasn’t a very big space, but it was big enough for them and a few other couples to move their feet to the music provided by the band adjacent.

One hand splayed at the small of her back, the other holding hers, he moved them into the flow and chuckled as she fell into step with him, saying, “You really can dance.”

“Yeah.” He grinned, relishing the feel of her bounded in his arms and the intimate smile she gave him was enough to have him dancing up amongst the clouds. He wondered if she knew what she did to him when she smiled at him like that, looked at him the way she was, with happiness and a not so small amount of wonder, with that distinct knowing of him. She always stripped him bare when she did, exposed him, putting his love for her on display for anyone and everyone to see if they but looked.

And he didn’t give a frak what anyone saw. The stoic mask he’d worn much of his life, that served him well as a military commander and was such a part of him just fell away when he was with her, lost in the moment … lost in her.

Like now.

Easing them from one song into the next, Bill knew he was grinning like an moron, but he couldn’t help himself. He had the best damned looking, most amazing woman in the place in his arms and he would be taking her home and sharing a bed with her, and waking up with her in the morning. And he was going to do it every single day for the rest of his life if he had his way.

Her cancer could go frak itself. The diloxin, too. It could take her hair, make her sick and tired, but he refused to let either take anything from them. It wasn’t a new vow on his part, but it seemed to gain importance and he grew more determined to see it through each time he made it anew.

He considered that he might just love her too much, but he couldn’t stop himself from loving her more, couldn’t and wouldn’t retreat from what he felt now. He had looked for her for a lifetime and now that he’d found her, he would never, ever leave her.

That’s what the necklace meant, and as he looked down at it now, his heart hammered out that contract against his ribs. It wasn’t new either, but it was being chiseled again, once more down to the marrow of his bones, into his very soul. It burned in his veins like wildfire and filled him with a desire to do something he’d never considered with Carolanne, or any other woman. Something he’d never had a desire for until this very moment.

But it wasn’t something he would do without talking to her. She needed to understand what he wanted to do, what it meant, and why he wanted to do it. And he wanted her consent, would not do it without it.

He didn’t ask there, though, on the dance floor or in the restaurant. He waited until they were back home, until he was bare chested and her clothing lost somewhere near the bedroom door, until he was easing her back on the bed and dropping warm kisses over her breasts and throat. Then and there, he murmured the words against her skin and felt her shiver.

When her fingers threaded into his hair and drew him back and up, bringing his face over hers, she whispered but one question: “Where will it be?”

Not would. Will.

Unimaginable happiness rising, Bill smiled and slid a hand along her arm, urging her to give him her hand. She did and he placed it on his chest, above his heart. “Here,” he breathed and watched her smile.

“Can I be with you when it’s done?” she asked, all but breathless as she did.

“If you want,” he rumbled, caressing her fingers. “It’s usually tradition.”

Her eyes darted back up to meet his and she whispered her answer with a degree of excitement that he hadn’t expected. It delighted him to no end.

“Yes. Absolutely. Yes.”

< Family Ties XIII | Family Ties XV >