“I’m not of his choosing. He doesn’t approve of me. We… both know what’s happened.”
“Nothing will happen to you, I swear upon my life.” Danica’s hands held hers so tightly that she grimaced. “I love you, Alicia. I didn’t understand what I felt for you was love when we first met. I didn’t believe in love at first sight until that moment.”
Alicia chuckled. “You didn’t make me feel like it was love.”
“I treated you like I would have treated any other woman until then. I’m sorry for that.”
“Don’t be. It was fun.” Alicia’s foot slipped out of her shoe and rubbed against Danica’s leg. “I’ve had nothing but fun with you in that regard.”
There it was. The wicked grin she saw once upon a time in a dream. “I’ll make sure we always have fun. Including tonight.”
Alicia shivered. As used as she was to Danica’s ideas of making love by now, there was something about tonight that upped the ante.Don’t fret, girl. A lot is riding on it for us.It didn’t even have to be tonight. Tonight was the first night out of many to come.
“I don’t know if I’ve told you this yet, Alicia.” Sometimes she could speak so softly, so deeply that Alicia struggled to hear her beyondThat is a sexy voice.Sometimes, she could not believe she was married to this remarkable woman. Alicia had only started getting used to the idea of dating her when Danica asked her to marry her. Danica Moreau did not waste any time. “A long time ago, I met someone who claimed to know my future. I didn’t believe them, of course. Do you believe in fortune-telling?”
Was that a genuine question? Furthermore, was she telling her this story again? Alicia would go along with it. “Not really. Suppose I could be swayed if I had enough evidence.”
“I feel the same way. I consider myself a logical woman. I have to be. Yet I felt something in the universe the moment I first saw you. It wasn’t merely a spark. I’ve felt plenty of sparks with women over the years. What I felt with you was a whole fire burning in my heart.”
Sometimes? She had such a way with words that Alicia got lost in the sound of her voice. This woman didn’t have a minor in Rhetoric for nothing.
“You’re my soul mate, Alicia. I knew it long before we even met. I saw a picture of the woman I would someday marry, and it was you. The only thing I could not anticipate was actually meeting you.”
“That’s sweet.”
“I’m serious. I know it sounds crazy and completely against everything you may have thought about me, but I’ve never been so serious about something before. I’ve not once second-guessed my feelings for you. Every time we’re together, I think about how ludicrously lucky I am to have found you. We may have moved quickly, but we unfortunately did not have more time to get to know each other before this had to be done. I don’t regret it. Do you?”
“No.” Alicia was too sheepish to suggest otherwise. “It is a little overwhelming, though. Not just being married, but working for such a prestigious company as yours and planning our futures so carefully. It’s a lot to take in.”
“If there’s anything I can do to help you adjust, do not hesitate to ask.”
There was one thing Alicia could think of. It would wait until they got home.
They spent another hour by the river, drinking more delectable wine and dreaming of the day when they would be able to better appreciate what they shared. The mosquitoes were more relentless by the time Danica finally suggested they head back to their new home. Alicia nervously took her hand as they slowly walked back to the limo and got in, Danica leaving a large tip for the organizers, who now cleaned up their table.
“Home,” Danica told the driver. “Drop us off at our private entrance, please. Jim,” she then said to the bodyguard riding shotgun, “we would appreciate the utmost privacy tonight.”
“Absolutely, ma’am. I’ll do my sweep and then be out of your way.”
“Thank you.” Danica put up the privacy partition after that. No wonder. She was so quick to throw herself on her wife that Alicia barely had time to breathe.
Their home was spacious and quiet. The maid, who had started work that day, was out for the evening. Danica wentinto the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of champagne and two flutes. By the time she rejoined her wife in the living room, the bodyguard announced that everything was clear and went to stand guard in the main hall, far from the primary chambers.
“Come,” Danica bade, leading her antsy wife to their room. “Let’s have a toast.”
“Another one?”
The champagne bottle opened with little fanfare. Alicia accepted a filled flute with a smile. “We can’t have enough toasts. To our legacy.”
Alicia toasted to this with the faintest frown on her face. Danica immediately caught on.
“What is it?”
“If I may request one thing tonight… ma’am.”
Danica finished downing her champagne and hooked her index finger around the hook on her wife’s collar. Alicia jerked forward, gasping in arousing relief. “What is it?”
Her eyes fluttered beneath her gravitas. “Just do it. Don’t make me second-guess anything. Don’t second-guess anything yourself. I want you to completely take over tonight, Danica.” Alicia wrapped both arms around her shoulders. “Own me, Wife.”
