A Promise of Forever (21 page)

Katelyn was relieved, when she was finally able to put some distance between them.
In another second, her true feelings would have been revealed to him.
The relief was only temporary because he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her once again.
This time, he was gentler and more loving with his kisses.
It didn’t take long for him to regret what he’d done and he pulled back.
He was annoyed with himself as he leaned back against the rail post he let out an audible sigh of disgust.

“Every part of me is on fire with want for you right now.
Whether you choose to admit it or not, you want the same thing I do.
Would you deny that?” he asked with a deep husky drawl.

“No.
You’re wrong, I don’t want you, and what’s more, I hate your Neanderthal tactics.
I seem to be the lone recipient of your bad behavior,” she shouted.
“I am not your wife, Gianfranco, nor am I your sex slave and I don’t intend on being either,” she stated sternly.
He makes me so angry, I could spit!

Gianfranco ran his fingers along the edge of her mouth ever so gently, barely touching her lips, until he thought she could take no more.
Of course, he affected her.
She could lie all she wanted to but she was his.
She belonged to him.
His hands reached into her coat and traced the hollow of her throat.
She let out a whimpering sigh as he moved his other hand down her back until he touched the bottom of her spine.
He then pressed her body into his, close enough so that she could feel his erection through their clothes.

“I can prove how much you want me, right here, or there on the porch, if you want me to.
But I’d rather have this discussion somewhere more private, perhaps in the warmth of the house.
Which will it be, Katelyn?” he asked rather thickly, his voice was barely able to hide the intenseness of his plight.

“I’ll go inside with you but this particular discussion is over.
You are not going to control me, Gianfranco.
I will choose my own friends and you won’t be telling me how to behave when I’m with them,” she said grounding out how angry she was with him.

“How to behave…you have got to be kidding.
I arrive here to find out that my future wife was out on a date.
Then, when you finally do show up, I have to witness you practically mauling another man in public,” he added angrily.

“I did no such thing,” she spat out, wishing she could slap his face.
How could he think so little of me?
“Furthermore, it is none of your business what I do.
You are such a barbarian.”
Katelyn turned and stomped angrily inside.
She was feeling really perturbed and she could see that his feelings matched her own.
Neither of them could hide the displeasure they felt for each other at the moment.

As they each became angrier, the more absurd the situation seemed and the more she wanted to laugh at the hideousness of it all.
What a pair we make.

“Our daughter is lying in a bed upstairs; she cannot witness the two of us behaving like juveniles,” she added to avoid her nervous laughter from showing its ugly head.

At the mere mention of Jenny, Gianfranco became incensed.
“Let me emphasize two things, Katelyn.
First, I would never do anything to hurt Jenny in anyway and that includes my behavior toward her mother.
Secondly, you are now bound to me whether you like it or not.
The addition of a ring on your finger means very little to me.
Whatever Brody may or may not mean to you; that cozy little display I just witnessed is over.
Do I make myself clear?”
It was a question that he didn’t require her to answer. It was more of a demand and she would have little choice but to agree to it.

Katelyn was furious with him and the way he was treating her.
She stood before him and said nothing in defiance.
It was better to ignore him than get riled up by him and dragged into a screaming match of his own making.

She closed her eyes and briefly shut him out.
She didn’t want to be tempted by him and show her weakness, for which there was no cure.
She wondered why he reacted the way he did toward her when clearly his feelings for her were superficial.
It was Jenny he wanted in his life and, unfortunately, she came as part of the deal.

He was getting frustrated and angry; he bitterly chose his next words with care.
“In three weeks’ time, you’ll be my wife and nothing you say or do is going to stop that reality from happening.
In the meantime, I expect your loyalty and if that includes severing your ties with Brody Calder and Adam Taylor, then so be it.
They may have had the pleasure of knowing your body once, but they’ll never know your body again.”
He came to a halt and stood before her, his eyes burning with desire, as he willed her to look at him.
He held her shoulders and stilled her from pacing.
“You belong to me now,” he said before crushing her lips to his.

There were no concessions made as he staked his claim.
This was not the future she had envisioned for herself and Jenny but she was being left without options.
She tried with all her might not to react to his kiss but he was right; she belonged to him, body and soul.
There was no hiding the fact that she wanted him and he knew it.
She couldn’t deny him what her body gave to him so freely.
It was as if her body and brain were separate entities and both acted without the will of the other.

“We should go inside; I want to let you know that Kevin had the foresight to put me in the room adjoining yours.
There’s only a door between us; be forewarned that a locked door will not keep me from you if I should desire to come to you.”

Katelyn tried to ignore the effect he had on her.
She tried with every stitch of strength she had not to give in to the craving she found impossible to resist.
She stood silently and thought about what he was saying.
She found it amusing that he would think he’d have to break down a door to get to her.
It is much easier than that.
I’ve practically given you the key to my heart and my body.

His gaze flickered briefly from anger to compassion and then to understanding, if only for a moment.
“I know what I’m asking of you isn’t easy.
Think of Jenny. Are these two men so important to you that our daughter’s happiness should be jeopardized?”
He didn’t wait for a reply because he couldn’t bear to hear it.
He locked the front door behind him and turned to help her with her coat.
It only took a brief second but it was just enough for her to collect her thoughts and regroup.

There were tears in her eyes and she couldn’t stop them from rolling down her cheeks.
She could feel his regret as he tried to keep his feelings hidden from her.
Does he blame me for his unhappiness; for forcing him into a marriage he doesn’t want?
Is there another woman?
Perhaps the woman in the silver picture frame that he had kept near his bed on the plane, is she the woman of his dreams?
Katelyn regretted that she hadn’t taken the time to check who the woman in picture was.
Their eyes met for a fraction of a second and, in that time, he gently pulled her into his arms.
He wiped the tears from her eyes and apologized to her for all the sadness he had brought to her life.

“I think it’s time we get you to bed,” he said with tenderness as he led her to her bedroom.
He stalled for a moment at the door, filled with regret as he fought to remain gallant.
He didn’t like seeing Katelyn like this.
He knew she felt defeated and hopeless, a rare feeling for her.
Her tears were more than he could handle and his gaze lingered on her emerald eyes for longer than he should have allowed.

“I’m not pleased with the tactics I had to use to make you my wife but I didn’t know what else to do.
I thought I was doing what was best for our daughter and now I’m not so sure,” he said, trying to muster up the courage it would take to walk out the door.
“We can make this work.
I’ve been to hell and back these past couple of days and the only thing I’m sure of is that you and I belong together.
I want you in my life, Katelyn.
I want my daughter in my life and I need to get to know her.
I need to make up for all the time I’ve missed,” he said.

As he soaked in her beauty, he crossed the room and put his hand on the doorknob that would separate them for the night.
He hesitated and turned to her with the image of how comfortable she was with Brody still burning in his head.
He couldn’t help but feel hurt.
Her response to him was just the opposite.
He was also appalled when he found out that she hadn’t shared the news of their upcoming wedding with Kevin or Sylvia.
They were both shocked when he asked them how they felt about the news.

“Why didn’t you tell Kevin about us?” he asked hesitating at the door.
The pain was evident in his voice as he spoke.
She wanted to explain her reasons for holding back the information and to hold him in her arms so she could console him from the betrayal he once again felt at her expense but her body wouldn’t and couldn’t move.

“I wanted to give you time to reconsider,” she whispered into the darkness.

He didn’t react at first; he stood silently and pondered for a minute.
“I want you and Jenny in my life, no matter what the cost,” he said caustically.
“Would it be so terrible for you to be married to me?” he said in a broken voice.

There was pain hidden in those feelings as his eyes locked on hers.
It was obvious that he believed she detested the thought of marrying him.
He is so far from the truth
.
Really, she couldn’t remember a time when she didn’t love him.
It was as though fate had played a sick joke on the two of them, bringing them together at a time when it couldn’t have worked.

“Is this what you really want, Gianfranco?
I don’t think I could bare it if your heart wasn’t in it,” she said swallowing down the tears that flowed so freely.

He let go of the doorknob as his eyes lingered on her for what seemed an eternity.
It wasn’t until he was sure of what he saw in those emerald eyes that he made his move.
“I want to make love to you but I have to know that it’s me you want.
I need to hear my name on your lips when I make love to you.
I have to know you’re sure this time because after tonight there will be no turning back.
I promise you that,” he enunciated as he waited for her response.
She nodded in agreement but he needed to hear her to say it out loud.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yes,” she whispered faintly.
He lifted her into his arms and didn’t stop until he reached the bed.
He paused briefly as he went to the door and turned the lock.
He walked back to her and started undressing himself and had her watch.
She watched from the bed with curiosity as he pulled his black sweater over his head and threw it to the floor and then his crisp white tee shirt too.
Seeing his chest bare, she could hardly breathe.
His shoes disappeared under the bed, as well as his socks.
He knew she was mesmerized, enjoying the striptease she was witnessing.

He maneuvered his way between her legs and, just as quickly, he unbuckled his pants, almost unzipping at the same time.
He pulled her up off the bed and began to slowly and methodically undress her.
He reached down and undid the two buttons holding her shirt together and then threw the shirt to the floor, quickly followed by her pants.
As her pants fell to the floor he directed his attention to her body and what she had on beneath her sweater.
The nude and black teddy she wore was barely visible and he gasped at the sight of her breasts as they peaked out of the flimsy material.

“Lie to me if you have to but tell me you wore this for me,” he begged.

“I knew that you would show up sooner or later and I dressed accordingly,” she uttered softly and truthfully.

He cradled her face in his hands adoringly as he kissed her slowly and deeply.
He then brushed the straps of her teddy off her shoulders and let it fall down to her waist, exposing the breasts he loved and needed.
He ran his tongue over them and suckled the erect buds that had been crying out to him from under the thin fabric covering them.
As he stood up, no longer kneeling between her legs, Katelyn could feel his erection as he removed the last of the barriers that stood between them.
Gianfranco gently laid her down on the bed and rejoined her as he buried his face in her neck and took in the sweet nectar of her scent.
He spread her legs apart with his knee so that she could feel his need at the juncture of her being.