“Well, I think that answers any questions we may have had around the ‘I do’ part of the ceremony,” our minister said lightly. There was more laughter as I pulled away slightly, my cheeks tinted pink. I stared up into those glittering green eyes that had woven themselves into my dreams. His skin was still too pale for my liking. A slight pallor lingered beneath the tan he’d picked up during our previous days in Maui. It made me swallow hard as I thought of all that I’d nearly lost in the past few months.
“Hey,” he said softly.
“Hey,” I said back, my voice husky.
“I’m so glad to see you,” he said. I nodded. I knew that he, too, had fears that still lurked. The last time we’d tried this, he’d waited for me to appear. He’d thought I’d had a change of heart. The reality had been worse. So much worse.
“Wouldn’t be anywhere else,” I answered gently. We sank into each other’s eyes for a moment until a quiet sound pulled us back to reality. The minister cleared his throat.
“Are you ready to begin?” the man asked.
As one, we turned and faced him, our fingers intertwined. I pressed against his warm body, loving the strength of him, the life that surged through him. The ceremony unfolded in a haze; words we’d planned in advance swirling around me, almost inconceivably. We were doing this. At last!
“Do you, Alec Walker…” the minister was saying.
I heard Prince say, “I do,” his voice clear and unfaltering. My own words were torn from me on a sob.
“Mr. Walker, you may kiss your bride,” I heard dimly. All I could think of was the face swimming within my tear-blurred vision. When Alec’s mouth covered mine, I was lost. The world could have evaporated around us then, and it wouldn’t have mattered.
When we finally pulled apart, the guests behind us gave a little round of applause, and it made me smile. His eyes were still on mine, still locking me to him almost too intensely.
“I am nothing without you,” he murmured.
“And yet you are everything to me,” I murmured back.
“I love you,” he said, cupping my face in both his hands. “Both of you. Always and forever. I’m not going anywhere.”
I swallowed hard. “I love you too,” I said brokenly. “Always and forever. I’ll be right by your side.”
Epilogue
Better Days
Sasha Walker
“You’re beautiful, Mrs. Walker.” His voice made me raise my head from where I’d been crooning over our child. I glanced at him leaning against the doorjamb, and I smiled.
“You’re not so bad yourself, Mr. Walker,” I answered lightly. He was naked apart from a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair made darker with water. Droplets ran down his tanned chest, and once again, I found my eyes drawn there. To the perfection marred only by the puckered scar over his breastbone. The reminder of the bullet he’d taken to save my life.
I moved silently away from the small bassinet supplied by the hotel for our daughter. She would sleep peacefully now, and that was just what I needed. Some alone time with her father.
“Are you tired?” he asked, and I loved him for it. My sleep had been disrupted for the first months of Paige’s life. She’d arrived squalling and had remained that way for six months. But things had settled as she neared her first birthday, and those restless nights had made way for blissful sleep.
I couldn’t help checking on her through the night, though. Perhaps I was overprotective. But who could blame me? Not long ago, I’d never believed I would have either of them. Or any of this…the life we now shared. It had seemed incomprehensible. And I would fight for it with my last breath. Not that it seemed necessary anymore. Our life couldn’t be more perfect. I couldn’t be more loved or cherished.
Still, he never took it for granted that I would have the energy for intimacy. It was a groundless concern. I could never get enough of him. Even though we’d made love every day during the week since we’d started this vacation, I still wanted him now.
A tightening down below made me lick my lips as I walked toward him. He recognized my expression immediately, and his eyes narrowed slightly. His lips curled up a little, then curled more as I reached for him and grasped the front of the towel at his waist.
“Oh my,” he murmured as I tugged the towel free and ran my eyes down the hard, naked length of him.
“Oh my,” I mimicked as I saw how his cock had immediately begun to stiffen in response. I shut Paige’s door carefully, then put a hand to his chest and pressed him away from the doorway toward our own bedroom. There was a sprawling four-poster bed that dominated the space, and I planned to put it to good use. Right now, in fact.
His erection was jutting like a homing beacon by the time I’d pushed him back onto the bed. He chuckled as he stretched out before me and folded his hands behind his head.
“Fuck, you’re beautiful,” I said beneath my breath.
“Me? Beautiful?” he replied. “Men can’t be beautiful.”
