Magical Weddings (60 page)

And then she slid lower still. Tension heightened as Kelly deliberately wrapped her fingers around his length, before she licked, laved, and finally took him into her mouth. She worked slowly, deliberately, until she could feel Luke losing control.

But she was losing control too. She felt the urgency pounding between them, and releasing him, she rose up on her knees to straddle him, and Luke groaned. He guided her when she took him in and rode him–until finally clamping his legs around hers, Luke moved powerfully, flipping her over, and thrust into her again. Pressing her on, he was driving her harder, until their breaths were ragged gasps, and their senses spun, until surrender rushed in and overtook them, fusing them and ultimately healing their hearts.

****

“How’d you know I’d be so happy to see you today?” Luke asked, softly, with his eyes still closed. Twenty minutes later, they were still basking in the afterglow, and Luke felt so damned good.

She laughed. “A tornado by the name of Melanie McDaniel came into my office to visit with me this morning,”

Opening his eyes, Luke smiled and pulled her into his arms. It was time to tell her
everything
. A few moments later he began speaking quietly into her ear. “My dad was a flight commander, who died when he was training another pilot.”

Kelly started, easing back within his arms as she studied him.

“It was a freak accident that happened while the recruit he was training was landing–somehow he misjudged the distance and crashed into a hangar. They were both killed on impact. That’s why it was such a tragedy. It was peace time, and my mom was inconsolable. I think that’s why she latched onto the first man who paid any attention to her after my dad died. She’d never held a full-time job. She and Dad got married straight out of high school. And she had to find a way to take care of me. ” Luke hesitated, and Kelly’s arm tightened around his waist. “Along with my little sister, Cassie,” he added softly.

Kelly blinked. “A sister? Oh, Luke–I never knew you had a sister.”

“I think that was why it was so easy for me to talk to you at the beach when we were kids.” After a long, thoughtful silence, he continued, “How much can I say, Kel? I think you know what my stepdad was doing to me–he’d been molesting his own son, Josh, for years. My mom and sister died in a car accident after she and my stepdad began fighting–over me, according to Josh. I think she finally realized what was going on. They’d only been married for a few months–and I’ve always been proud of the fact that she stood up to him–she was stronger than I thought. But I’d disappeared that night and my mom was frantic, trying to find me. The car she was driving had–issues, and it wasn’t safe for her to drive. Apparently, the brakes went out on the car, and the car rammed into the guard rail over at the boat landing. She and Cassie went straight into the water. And since it was the middle of the night…”

“Oh, Luke.” Kelly wrapped her arms around him more tightly, burying her face into his shoulder. “So how did you end up living with your stepdad, after your mother died?”

Luke hesitated. “For a long time, I never knew how I happened to end up with him, either. I found out later–after my stepdad was captured–when Sam Danielson discovered records in the house. Turned out, John Turner had adopted both me and my sister, right after he married my mom.”

“I don’t understand, Luke. Why would he go to that much trouble to try to take care of you–and take custody–considering the slime that he was?”

“Can’t you guess, Kel?” Luke scowled. “What else could it be, but
money
? My Dad had left annuities in me and my sister’s names. Unlike life insurance, which he would’ve gotten in one lump sum–the company made regular payments after the death of my mom. I had to be living with him so he could collect them. And he
never
took care of me. There was rarely any food in the house. If it wasn’t for Mrs. Barelli at the bakery, Josh and I would’ve starved to death. As for the abuse…” Luke closed his eyes before continuing, “it went on and on for the next few years. Sometimes Josh could stop it–and sometimes he couldn’t. I pretended I was an eagle, Kel, soaring overhead, thinking about everything except for what was really happening to me at the time.”

“Oh, Luke. So that’s the significance of your tattoo,” she said softly, running her fingers lightly over his shoulder.

“It’s was Josh’s idea–he asked me what I wanted to be, if I couldn’t be me. I think it was the way that he tried to handle it all, when he was younger, and he was the one being abused. In fact, once, when Josh tried to stop my stepdad from coming after me, he nearly died. Somehow, I eventually dragged him into the car, and got him to a doctor all on my own later that night. But it wasn’t too long after that when he drove me over to his friend’s, and she began working on that tatoo.” Luke hesitated. “I think that he knew that it was just too difficult to stop my stepdad.”

“But I’m curious, Luke. With everything that was happening, why didn’t Josh go to the authorities?

“Initially, I think it was a trust issue. Josh tried to go to the cops when he was younger, and whoever he told sold him out.” Luke lifted his hand, covering her mouth with his fingers. “You’d better not ask anymore. I’d be getting too many people in trouble, since there’s a lot more to the story now.”

Although her curiousity didn’t appear to be even remotely satisfied, Kelly nodded.

“I found out after they arrested my stepdad for the robberies, that there were a bunch of people here in town who were working on getting me away from him–including your dad and grandpa. Apparently, I wasn’t as good at hiding the sordid details of my life from my school counselor, as I’d thought.”

Kelly shook her head dazedly. “I can’t believe what you’ve survived Luke.”

“Believe it or not, there’s more,” Luke added grimly. “Sam discovered that John had upped the life insurance on my mom to an incredible amount. I doubt that John wanted my sister dead, but I’m not so sure that he felt that way about my mom.”

Kelly gasped.

“But Sam was never able to prove it. The brake line was worn out in the car–and not actually cut–but I’ll never believe that it wasn’t intentional.”

“He’s in jail now?” Kelly asked, wearing a worried frown.

“For now.” Luke hesitated. “I testified, you know, about the robberies–and…uh, the other.”

“I had no idea,” Kelly said softly. “All that time you were living with Grandpa, and coming over nearly every day to our house.”

“It was something you never needed to know about, Kel. You were only a kid.” He kissed her lightly on the lips. “Now–it’s time to drop the subject,” Luke said firmly. He moved the back of his hand gently over her cheek, staring deeply into her beautiful blue eyes. He’d never been able to open up this much with another person before. She suddenly smiled, and Luke was so happy, it hurt–for the first time in his life, everything was right with the world.

Luke watched as Kelly approached him from the pathway circling the beach. Dressed in a pair of super tiny shorts, her legs seemed to go on forever. Even though she was obviously wearing a bikini under a loose coverup, Luke frowned. The itsty bitsy top of royal blue barely covered her breasts.

But damn, she was a lovely sight with her white-blond hair dancing loosely over her shoulders–and she was all
his
. Now–if he could only get used to the envious stares from other guys, he’d have it made.

But Kelly was obviously irritated with him about something–her deep blue eyes were flashing fire when she left the path, hiking towards him through the sand.

Just noticing Kelly, Hawk got to his feet with an excited yipe, and strained at his leash, trying to reach her.

She finally halted, and immediately began scolding. “Luke Bryant, I can’t believe you walked all the way over here by yourself. And with the dog, too? What if you’d fallen? Or gotten hurt? You didn’t even leave me a note. If you hadn’t mentioned something yesterday about walking over here, I never would’ve guessed where you were. Do you know how worried I’ve been?”

But Luke was suddenly taken aback, when Kelly stood over him, backlit by a smoky blue haze. He shook his head dazedly. “Did you ever have that feeling, Kel, that everything was finally right with the world, and maybe you’re exactly where you needed to be?”

Kelly blinked, and seconds later her anger was apparently forgotten. “Yes, I have, as a matter of fact.” she answered softly. “The first time we made love.”

Luke laughed. “Yeah, well…me, too–when it comes to that, it’s a given.” He waved a hand at the beach, and then pointed to a bunch of scraggly white pines. “Do you recognize exactly where we are, right now? You were pretty young at the time.”

Kelly started, before gazing around her at the beach and the trees. Finally smiling warmly, she walked straight towards Luke and bent down, kissing him lightly on the shoulder. And the effect was the same as it’d been years ago, after he’d just pulled Kelly out from the water; Luke felt like he’d been blessed.

Luke sighed contentedly. “Am I wrong for enjoying it–when you yell at me?

Kelly began to laugh, dropping down to the sand beside him. “You really shouldn’t be sitting here at the beach without a shirt on,” she said, matter-of-factly.

Luke didn’t care about exposing his wounds to the world anymore. Kelly had convinced him that his scars were a badge of honor–although soon he’d be going through surgery to remove some of the heavy scar tissue. “I think that I’m ready to move forward–to drive again–maybe even fly again. I’ve gotta begin getting out on my own.”

Reaching into her bag, she pulled out the tube of suntan lotion that she carried with her everywhere. After opening it up and squirting it out on her palm, she began rubbing the ointment into his skin. Once she was finished, she grinned, popping the top onto the lotion and shoving it back into her bag.

“But I surrender, Kel,” Luke said softly. “I love you taking care of me.”

Kelly hesitated. Luke could tell she was becoming emotional. “I surrendered my heart to you a long, long time ago, Luke.” She gazed out across the lake. “Maybe even back when I was six years old, when you ran into the water to save me.” She sighed. “But I know that it’s time for me to cut loose a little. I just love the way you’ve depended on me these last few months–after you went so long without even speaking to me.”

“Don’t remind me about what an idiot I was.” Luke said, gruffly. “You were always there for me. I think you knew how much I really needed you. Heck, you even bought the cabin cause you knew it’d be the perfect place for me to heal. But this doesn’t mean that I’m ever going to stop depending on you, Babe.” He gazed out toward the lake. “And now we’ll even be working together, with the plans for the airport. I can’t believe I went nearly an entire month without realizing you were the one feeding me all that useful information.”

Kelly gave him a pensive smile, appearing to be distracted. She began rubbing Hawk behind the ears–he’d wedged his body between the two of them–before turning her attention to the mass of shiny metal attached below Luke’s knee. “Alright, already–just tell me–how’s the prosthetic working out?” she asked.

Luke grinned. “Good. It’ll do for now.”

She looked surprised. “For now?”

“Yeah. I’ll need to upgrade within a few years.” Luke hesitated. “I need to have a little more flexibility, to do everything I want to do.”

“Hmm?”

“Not just for driving, and maybe for flying someday–but for…dancing.”

Kelly blinked. “
Dancing?
”

“Hmm, hmm.” Luke continued to gaze at her intently. “Let’s say on the gazebo–at the Dragonfly Pointe Inn? Maybe at our own wedding?” He gave her a rueful smile, as her eyes filled with tears. “It’s kind of a fantasy I’ve always had, Kel–you and me–getting married on that gazebo–and dancing out there under the stars again afterwards.” He hesitated. “It’s weird, but it was one of the first regrets that I had after I discovered I’d lost my leg–thinking that I’d never get the chance to dance with you again.”

By this time Kelly was crying in full force, and Luke scooped her up into his arms and onto his lap. “Do the tears mean yes, Babe?”

“Oh, Luke. Of course I’m saying yes. I’ve loved you forever.” She settled back into his arms with a contented sigh, and Luke rested his chin over her shoulder, cheek to cheek.

As they continued gazing out across the lake, with the waves lapping gently into the shore, Luke’s thoughts became insightful.
Did
he really believe in happily-ever-after?

He smiled. Damn right he did…now. Sure–his happily-ever-after might be a little bit different than everyone else’s. But gazing out across the lake and over to the trees, before looking down at Hawk and then at Kelly, Luke realized that even in his dreams, he’d never envisioned the fantasy of the life that he had right now. They’d each surrendered their hearts. And Luke had everything he’d ever hoped for, and more, with Kelly by his side.

A member of the Romance Writers of America, as well as the FTHRW Chapter, Tamara Ferguson is the best-selling and multi-award winning author of the Tales of The Dragonfly Romance Suspense Series.
Tales of the Dragonfly Book II: In Flight
was a 2014 WINNER at the Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards. Her latest release,
That Unforgettable Kiss
was recently a top ten Amazon bestseller in Kindle Saga Fiction. Visit her at
http://www.KissedByFate.com
, or email her at
[email protected]
.