Intimate Strangers (13 page)
She took a much deeper breath than most people do while asleep and Tiaan assumed that she’d finally woken up. It was with a heavy sigh that he finally began a much needed apology to her. “I’m so sorry, Chelsea. What happened to you – it was my fault. I’ll never forgive mysel–”
Rolling to face him, she stopped his speech by pushing a finger to his lips. “I wouldn’t change a single thing that has happened to me, because if I did, we might not be here right now. I might not have you, or Ruan, and I don’t want to consider life without you two. Every choice I made, every path I took, they were all leading me to you, to this moment, right here and now.”
There was still one little matter that needed attending to.
“Marry me,” he asked the question again, eyes glued to her face. “Soon. I don’t want to wait any longer for our life to begin. Together.”
She claimed his mouth again, clasping her fingers at the base of his neck. Tiaan used this opportunity to continue erasing the horrifying memories and kissed Chelsea as he was – a man who needed this woman,
his
woman, to survive.
When she finally came up for air, Chelsea whispered one word while touching her lips to his jaw.
“Yes.”
Epilogue
This fabric might be rather costly but damn, did it ever itch. Tiaan wished he’d agreed to Chelsea’s pleas for a small, private ceremony on a beach. He could be wearing jeans and a lose-fitting shirt in place of the suit he currently had on.
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts on clothing. “Come in!” he called, struggling once again with the tie. When the hell was the last time he’d worn one?
Ah
, he remembered. Court. With Reynolds.
His nostrils flared, temper heated at the memory of that loathsome man. However, the man had been caught with a fourteen year old Mexican girl and was going away for a very long time. To hammer that final nail into the Senator’s coffin, Tiaan allowed Mac to ‘anonymously’ send in the copy of the tape where one of Reynold’s hired goons admitted to the plot against Tiaan and Chelsea. He didn’t have to worry about that bastard any longer.
“Well, would you look at this?” Mac spoke through deep, grumbling laughter. “Never thought I’d see the day when Carstens got hitched!”
Tiaan scowled, shaking the bastard from his head. “Shut up and help me with this.”
Thick fingers somehow expertly twisted the silk fabric into a perfect Windsor knot. He moved his hands to Tiaan’s shoulders and squeezed. “I’m proud of you, Christiaan,” Mac’s voice, heavy with emotion, cracked slightly. “I couldn’t ask for a better friend. I’m only sorry–”
“Ah.” Tiaan waved him off. This wasn’t the time to get into a deep conversation with his oldest friend. “Don’t make me cry or I’ll ruin my make-up.”
The pair burst out laughing.
Once he had regained his composure, Mac straightened his jacket and steeled his expression. “Let’s get you in place.”
The hardest part, in his mind, was already over. His fears were unfounded in the face of the amount of joy Chelsea and Ruan brought to him. Now, he only had the rest of his life to live, to laugh, to love, and be loved.
“Right.” Taking one last glance in the mirror, Tiaan preceded Mac out the door and began the short trek to eternal bliss.
~~~
In the midst of Hannah’s fussing over hair, makeup, clothing, and the so-called necessary wedding day items, Chelsea’s eyes and full attention were glued to Ruan. His cherub’s face rested against her chest, one ear pressed to her heart. When she first said that she was going to wear Ruan in a sling on this day, everyone present at the time had been shocked. Slowly though, they had come to see it her way. This day might be about two people who cared deeply for one another, joining forever, but it was also about family.
Together the three of them made a family.
Eyes drifting shut and a smile playing on her lips, Chelsea inhaled deeply from the top of her son’s head. She loved Tiaan, she knew this now. Some unknown and utterly irrefutable force had brought them together, a pair of intimate strangers, but fate had bonded them for life, sowing the seeds of affection. In every experience they shared, Chelsea and Tiaan learned patience for each other. In the heat of their passion, they learned to let themselves and their fears go. In the face of disaster, they grew stronger, closer.
The days, weeks, months, and indeed years to come would be filled with trials, tests of their devotion to one another. She felt it deep within, the universe daring her to fight it. As long as she had Tiaan by her side and was willing to work with him, she knew there wasn’t anything or anyone who could possibly stand in their way of the ultimate goal.
Lifelong happiness and love.
Yes, they may have been intimate strangers when they met that night, but now Chelsea, Christiaan, and Ruan were a family. Thrown together by passion and desire, kept together by love as deep and boundless as the oceans themselves.
“Are you almost ready?” Kayla asked. “Dad and Tiaan are waiting.”
Chelsea rose from the velvet settee that Hannah had parked her on earlier, cradling Ruan’s sleeping form through the sling. “Never been more ready for anything in my life,” she admitted through a broad grin as she was led out of the room and down a long hallway.
Knowing the next moments would bind the three of them together forever calmed her nerves. Knowing what Tiaan had planned for their honeymoon sent fluttering through her tummy and heat sizzling down to her toes.
“
Two months,
” he had told her. “
You, Ruan, and I in a tropical setting. Every time he goes to sleep, I am going to taste you, Chelsea. I am going to make you scream my name until everyone on the island knows who makes your toes curl.
”
She shivered in anticipation at the memory of him holding her firm against his hard body, the attraction he felt for her evident through his jeans.
“
I love you, Chelsea. I will always love you. There is no until, my feelings have no time limit. My love for you is as infinite as the universe itself.
”
Those last words rang inside her mind as she caught Christiaan’s stare. Completely involuntarily, her mouth parted wide, her happiness worn for all to see. He smiled in return, bronze flesh glistening in the sunlight, dark hair shimmering, and his deep whiskey eyes filled with joy and yearning.
As she began her trek down the aisle to meet the love of her life, her father took her right elbow and linked their arms. Chelsea fought the onslaught of tears when he stopped her to plant a loving kiss to the top of Ruan’s head.
“We love you, Chells-Bells,” he whispered, touching his lips to her cheek. “And we couldn’t be more proud.”
To verify her father’s words, Chelsea found her mother’s face in the crowd. She was smiling and even offered a quick but enthusiastic wave. How had they known about today? She certainly hadn’t called them.
“Your soon-to-be husband made the arrangements,” her father announced softly. “Christiaan called us about a week ago and said this was our chance to make amends, and to meet our grandson. He said if he were, and I quote, ‘too bloody stubborn and foolish’ to realise what a wonderful woman you are, then we didn’t deserve to know Ruan.” He smoothed a nervous hand over his silvery locks. “We’re so sorry. Can you forgive us for being the daft old fools that we are?”
Chelsea responded by hugging him, reveling in the feel of her father’s arms around her once again.
Yes, all the pieces were falling into place. She returned her smile and focused her eyes on Tiaan. His lips tugged back at one corner and he quirked a brow.
She responded by pushing back her shoulders and heading down the aisle.
To the future.
To happiness.
To everlasting love.
To Christiaan.
The End
About the Author
Danielle Taylor has lived in and travelled to many countries. She enjoys many different genres – both writing and reading – and always seems to have a project on the go. Feel free to like her page on
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