Letters Home (9 page)

“Is he nervous?” I asked.

“You could say that…but not for the reason you might be thinking.”

Okay that was good, because my brain was coming up with some pretty awful reasons. “Okay, do you want to elaborate, because right now I’m thinking he changed his mind.”

“Are you kidding?” He scoffed. “He’s in there hoping that you didn’t change
your
mind.”

That melted my heart, knowing that Nate was as nervous and excited as I was. A warm tingling radiated through my chest. “I would never change my mind about marrying him.”

“Well, then let’s get to it.”

Colin looped his arm through mine and led me through the door of the chapel. I’m sure the chapel was beautiful, but my eyes were drawn to the man standing at the front in full dress uniform. It wasn’t the first time I’d seen him in it, but today, something about him took my breath away. There was a sense of rightness in what we were doing. Nate’s eyes landed on me, wandering down to my toes and back up, the appreciative smile on his face just about buckling my knees. Thankfully, Colin kept his arm firmly wrapped around mine as Marissa stepped in front of us. She turned and handed me a bouquet of gerbera daisies—my absolute favorite. My eyes snapped up to Nate’s and he winked at me. He knew exactly what he was doing.

Colin looked down at me. “It would be my honor to walk you down the aisle.”

I smiled. “I love that idea.”

We made our way down the aisle to where Nate, Marissa, and the chaplain were waiting for us. When we reached the front, Nate traded places with Colin and bent down to whisper in my ear. “You are more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed.”

“Thank you.”

“Danielle, this is Chaplain Hayes. Chaplain Hayes, this is my fiancée, Danielle.” He gestured between us.

Chaplain Hayes reached out his hand. “Hi, Danielle, I’ve heard a lot about you.”

I placed my hand in his. “Hello, and thank you so much for doing this for us on such short notice.”

“It’s my pleasure. Should we get started?” he asked looking between the two of us.

“Yes,” Nate and I said in unison.

“Are the witnesses ready?” Chaplain Hayes asked.

Colin and Marissa nodded and I noticed the glistening in her eyes. Since Marissa didn’t often get emotional like that, it just served as a reminder of how momentous of an occasion this really was.

“I understand that you want to use your own vows, is that correct?” he asked.

Did I miss Nate telling me this?
My gaze scanned the room, never settling as I tried to remember. In my panic, I felt Nate squeeze me hand. With an effort, I tried to calm myself to listen.

“I thought we could just speak from the heart,” he said timidly.

Ironically, considering I was a lawyer, I wasn’t usually good at talking in front of people—preferring to have what I was going to say planned out—but I couldn’t deny the excitement in Nate’s eyes. He was the only one I’d do this for. “Okay.”

The smile that spread across his face was infectious and he turned us to the chaplain. “We’re ready.”

Chaplain Hayes nodded. “Dear friends and family, we are gathered here today in the sight of God to witness the joining of Nate and Danielle, as husband and wife. Before we do the exchanging of rings, they have something they’d like to say to each other. Nate, why don’t you go first?”

Nate turned to face me and, taking both my hands in his, he gazed into my eyes and cleared his throat before beginning. “Danielle, since the moment we met, you’ve been my light in the darkness. Your smile lifts my spirits, and your love makes me feel like the luckiest man in the world. There are so many things I want to promise you, but I also know the realities of the path I’ve chosen and I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that you’re willing to share this life with me. I can’t promise to be with you every moment of everyday, but know that when I am with you, I’ll make the most of every second. I can promise you that my love for you will never die and that you will always hold my heart, and know that even when I’m away, you will be the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think of as I fall asleep to dream about our time together. You are my heart, my soul, and every breath I take. I love you, Danielle Renton, and I am so happy that you’ll be my wife.”

The words made my heart feel so full. My vision blurred as tears of absolute bliss filled my eyes. When one of them slipped down my cheek, Nate reached up and used his thumb to brush it away. “Don’t cry,” he whispered.

“That was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Danielle, are you ready?” Chaplain Hayes asked.

Even though I felt my hands begin to shake, I took a moment and collected my thoughts before beginning. “Nate, every moment I’ve spent with you over the last nine years has been filled with the most amazing memories, and I can’t wait to make a million more. Your love for me shines through in everything you do, and I’m so grateful you’ve chosen to share that love with me. My heart beats for you and you alone. I know there will be hard times, times when you’re away and I wonder how I’m going to do it, but I promise to always let my love for you help me through those times—knowing that while I’m here missing you, you’re somewhere missing me. I promise to be whatever you need me to be, even if it’s a shoulder to cry on. I know your job isn’t easy and I want to be your rock. I will always be here to shower you with my love. You are truly my one and only and I can’t live without you. I love you, Nate Lewis, and I’m even happier to become your wife.”

It was Nate’s turn to be caught in the moment. I could see the tears shimmering at the edges of his eyes. After a moment, we turned back to the chaplain. “Nate and Danielle, thank you for showing your love for one another.” He turned to Nate. “Nate, do you take Danielle Renton to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, so long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

Chaplain Hayes then turned to me. “Danielle, do you take Nate Lewis to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, so long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

Chaplain Hayes turned to Colin. “Do you have the rings?”

Colin nodded and reached into his pocket. My face was beginning to hurt from all the smiling but I couldn’t help how happy I was. I hadn’t noticed the rings being given to Chaplain Hayes, but he handed the smaller one to Nate.

“Nate, repeat after me. ‘I give you this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you.’”

Nate smiled, lifting my left hand and placing the ring at the tip of my ring finger. He slid it down and as he repeated the words it was hard not to stare at the ring on my finger, but if I wanted the chance to kiss my husband we needed to finish this ceremony. Chaplain Hayes turned to me and handed me the larger ring. “Danielle, will you please repeat after me? ‘I give you this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you.’”

I picked up Nate’s hand and placed the ring at the top of his ring finger, sliding it down with my vow. “I give you this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you.”

Chaplain Hayes smiled. “By the power vested in me by the United States Government and the state of Georgia, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

One of Nate’s arms wrapped around my waist, the other cupping my nape as he pulled me forward, his lips pressing softly to mine. It wasn’t a passionate kiss, but it was one that I felt all of the way to my toes because of the significance of it. Our first kiss as husband and wife.

It seemed like forever, but my guess was that only seconds had passed, when Nate let me go, linking his fingers with mine.

“It is my honor to present Sargent and Mrs. Nate Lewis.”

“Thank you, Chaplain Hayes,” Nate said, shaking his hand.

“It was my pleasure, Sargent.”

Nate slipped his arm through mine and turned us to face Colin and Marissa, who immediately wrapped their arms around us.

“I’m so happy for you guys,” she squealed. “We need to go out and celebrate.”

Colin reached his hand out to Nate, only to pull him into a man hug when he accepted it. “Congratulations, man.”

“Thanks,” Nate said, patting him on the back.

“Well I don’t know about you guys, but I’m starving,” Colin said.

“You always think with your stomach,” I laughed.

“And…?” he replied, dragging out the word.

“All right you two. You’re as bad as actual siblings,” Nate chuckled. “Why don’t we go get lunch and we’ll figure out the rest from there.”

I smiled. “I like the sound of that.” We were finally husband and wife, it didn’t matter what we did as long as we did it together. “Where should we go?”

“I’ve got an idea,” Marissa said. “Why don’t you guys follow Colin and I there.”

“Okay,” I said.

We signed all of the paperwork for the chaplain and made our way out of the chapel. There was a spring in every step I took and with Nate’s hand at the small of my back, I felt loved and cherished. It wasn’t exactly how I thought we’d get to this point, but in the end it was absolutely perfect.

We followed Marissa and Colin to a restaurant downtown for lunch. It was a quaint, but elegant little restaurant. Lunch ended up being a lengthy affair, and although Marissa and Colin wanted to go out to celebrate, Nate and I agreed that we wanted to be alone for the rest of the night. But we did promise that we’d go out and celebrate sometime the following week.

Once we pulled into the parking lot of our apartment Nate jumped out and ran around the front of the car to open my door to help me out, but before I had the chance to take a step, he swept me up into his arms as if I weighed nothing, and brushed his lips across mine. “I love you, Mrs. Lewis.”

“I love you too.”

He carried me to the front door and across the threshold, until he finally set me down in our bedroom. My gaze found his and the fire burning in those emerald depths, caused me to gasp. There wasn’t a second to think about it as his lips descended to mine. Cinnamon. The taste almost sent me to my knees. There would never be a moment in this lifetime that I would tire of kissing Nate, and as his lips moved slowly, teasing me, a warm heat spread from my chest to every part of my body, my hands slid up around his nape to fist in his hair. A quick little tug and Nate was groaning into my mouth.

His lips tore away from mine. “As gorgeous as you look in this dress, I’ve been dying to get you out of it all day.”

In answer, I leaned up on my toes and slid my tongue across his lips. Opening, he slipped his tongue into my mouth, tangling and fighting for control with mine, while his hands grazed up my back to the zipper of my dress. The passion of our kiss built to such a mind numbing point that I didn’t realized he’d unzipped my dress until it pooled around my feet. Stepping out of my embrace, he let his eyes wander all over my body. Just the feeling of his gaze on me had my panties feeling a little damp. I reached forward to undo his jacket, when he took another step back—just out of my reach.

“No, no, no. You get to watch.”

God, he was such a tease. In a move that was slower than molasses, his hands moved to the first button on his jacket. He continued undoing the buttons slowly, until the front of the jacket came free and slipped down his arms to the floor, the broad muscles of his shoulders and chest stretching the fabric of his shirt as he reached forward to begin unbuttoning it. The sight of this beautiful man had my mouth as dry as the Sahara desert. His patience must have run out, because he quickly undid the buttons and let the shirt drop to the ground. Toeing off his shoes, he pulled his pants, boxers and socks off all in one motion.

“I think it’s a little unfair that you still have so many clothes on.” He smirked and took the two steps needed to close the distance between us. With one hand behind my back, he put the other behind my legs and lifted me up against his chest, gently lowering me to the bed, letting his hands glide down the exposed parts of my body in a desire-inducing caress.

“Mmm…” I hummed in the back of my throat. “Touch me.”

Bracing his hands either side of my head he bent over and placed a brief kiss on my lips. “Aren’t we the demanding wife.”

I reached behind him and placed my hands on his ass and pulled him down on top of me, squeezing until he finally took the hint and pressed his lips to mine, almost devouring me with the intensity of the kiss. My pulse was pounding hard through my veins. The feel of his lips as the moved down my neck to my breasts, sent shivers through my body and in no time at all he had the clasp of my bra undone and threw it, sending it soaring across the room. His tongue flicked out against my nipple and a spark of sensation shot through the core of my body. Our breaths became pants as his mouth took over from his tongue. He sucked my nipple into his warm, wet mouth and when he was done lavishing one breast he licked his way across my chest, showing the other one the same attention. My back arched off the bed as the need to be filled by him became overwhelming.

“Nate, please,” I begged.

He lifted his head from my breast to look down at me and I could see the same haze of lust I was caught in reflected in his eyes. Sitting back on his knees, he used both hands to lightly caress his way up my legs until his thumbs met at the core of my body, causing goose bumps to break out all over my skin. As his fingers deftly slid my panties down my body and onto the floor with the rest of the clothes, I shivered. His fingers skimmed through the wetness until he slipped one inside. The feeling was exquisite.