Fighting Destiny (36 page)

“I would marry you tonight, if I could Darius!” responded Candasee fervently as she threaded her fingers through the soft curls of his hair as she arched into his warm embrace. The line of kisses he was trailing along her neck felt like liquid fire in her veins. She wanted him and she’d wanted this for so long. Even in the coolness of the night breeze blowing against her skin her temperature had already risen by a whole degree.

“I don’t want to ever be away from you again, I don’t want to know what that feels like ever again!” she confessed.

Everything about today was absolutely perfect, thought Candasee as she and Darius posed for pictures with Marianne and Francis. When Marianne heard the news that they were getting re-married, she suggested that they have a double wedding. Both she and Darius thought that it was an excellent idea and both she and Marianne got to work with the plans right away.

All of the guests she and D
arius would’ve invited, Marianne would have invited as well, so it made sense to combine the events into one. Even though it meant postponing their wedding for another three weeks, Candasee couldn’t have been happier. The extra time also allowed her father to fly in for the celebration. He and Darius had a long private talk in the study when he arrived at the house. But when they finally emerged, her father was happy to call him son for the first time.

“So Mrs. Brogan, have you guessed as yet where I’m taking you for our honeymoon?” asked Darius cryptically, as they returned hand in hand to their seats for the first dinner course at their wedding reception.

She had no idea
. 

H
e loved surprising her and he’d done so on their first honeymoon by taking her almost to the other side of the world to Bali. That trip was pure magic! If he could find a way to top that she would be surprised. The truth was that she really didn’t care where they went, once she was with him. She simply couldn’t believe it. They were married again and it felt even better the second time around.

“Are we going to Paris?” she asked trying to humour him knowing that Paris would be unlikely.

“No, not Paris, guess again.”

“What about Brazil?”

“Definitely not,” he whispered. “You have one last try my love!”

“Hmm, this is pretty hard; okay what about South Africa for a wildlife safari?”

“You’d be willing to fly for more than a day to get to our honeymoon?”

“I could make a tiny exception for the man I love,” she replied.

Darius laughed aloud and it was the richest sound she had heard in a long time. She’d missed hearing him laugh and ever since they reconciled, he’d taken time off from work and they’d spent a lot of time getting reacquainted and having fun together. They quickly rediscovered the lighter, jovial side to their relationship which many people had no clue even existed. She liked the fact that not many other people knew about this other side to Darius’ persona.  He was extremely playful, adventurous and open but he’d always reserved that just for her and for his family.

“Okay, so I blew all of my chances. Where are we going?” she replied coyly.

“Well, I know you don’t like flying so I decided to give that a rest this time around. I thought that perhaps you might enjoy a cruise, so I booked us on an extended cruise that will take us through the Mediterranean Sea. What do you think?”

Candasee liter
ally squealed in delight. She’d always dreamed of seeing the Greek Isles and she could do it now without feeling nervous about flying. But wait a minute, how long was this cruise? Would she get seasick instead? They were in the Caribbean and that was some distance away!

“I know you said extended but exactly how long is extended Darius?” she asked now wondering if they would be better off flying there instead.

“Does it really matter? We’ll be together all day and all night,” he added punctuating his words while tasting her lips. “I guarantee that you will lose track of time after I really get started on all I want to do to you on that trip! Day has a funny way of fading into night when you are fully occupied,” he growled seductively.

“Mmmm,” she moaned as she enjoyed the sensations his lips were creating on hers. In the background she could hear the wedding guests cheering them on and tinkling their wine glasses as they watched them kiss.

He was right! It didn’t matter how long the cruise was. She was even willing to fly if it meant spending this precious time with him. He was trying to be considerate to her feelings and that alone was more than enough.

“Okay, now it’s your turn!” she said.

“To do what?” he asked looking genuinely puzzled.

“To guess what I got you as a wedding present,” she replied with a smile. What could she buy for a man who already had it all? She’d spent a long time thinking about this and then she’d come up with the perfect thing. She would be making sure that his days of being a workaholic were now officially over.

“Golf clubs?” he asked, thinking about the invitations he kept turning down to join the country club’s golf team with excuses about having work commitments.

“Nope, try again!” she replied with laughter.

“A year’s free membership to your dance academy?” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Hmm, now you are giving me ideas to get you all signed up for beginner’s ballet, but sorry no that’s not it either!”

“Okay, so you bought me a brand new collection of all kinds of sexy, lingerie modelled privately by you?”

Candasee laughed at the hopefulness in his voice.

“Well I must admit yes to that one, but that isn’t the gift I’m talking about!”

“Okay, so tell me,” he said, with his interest piqued!”

“It’s not at all what you are expecting, so let me warn you first.”

“I’m starting to feel a little nervous now that you have that mischievous grin on your
face,” he remarked touching the tip of her nose playfully.

“It’s your fault for being so hard to shop for but at the same time being so wonderful to spend time with
.” Her expression softened with the truth of what she was saying reflected in her eyes.

“Okay, I admit to being guilty of both of those heinous crimes so stop with the suspense already, what is it?”

Clearing her throat to suppress a peal of laughter she leaned over and whispered in his ear, “I bought us a set of bicycles,” she said covering her mouth to suppress her laughter at Darius’ bewildered expression.

“A bicycle? Have you ever seen a billionaire on a bike?” he asked, trying to keep a straight face. Candasee was up to something as usual. She was practically cracking up as she told him her idea.

She shook her head from side to side indicating that she hadn’t, and by that time was trembling with humour.

“So what would make you think that I would want or need a bicycle then?”

“You are going to need it for our trip,” she said.

“What trip?”

“Well I thought it would be nice to get you out of the office and also out of your luxury cars and limos for a while. We can take a ride around the island’s coastline for as long as it takes us to make it back to our starting point. We can stop anywhere, eat, sightsee, and get a room in a bed and breakfast, anything. It will be a kind of a ‘
just flow and see where life leads us’
kind of trip.”

Darius smiled at his wife as his heart warmed deep in his chest. He never needed to try to impress Candasee with his wealth, but it was the simple pleasures like this which she helped him to reconnect with. They would be alone and out of any expected roles they had to play and could just be together.

“Have I told you since the last ten minutes, just how much I really love you Candee,” he said tenderly tilting her chin up with his finger.

“No, you haven’t and I miss hearing you say it already!” she replied with a fake petulant pout.

“Candasee, I love you and I love the idea of your gift already. Thank you for being you!”

“You are welcome.
We just need to decide when we’ll go after we return from our honeymoon.”

“Or we can take them with us on the boat and have the bike trip wherever we are.
It doesn’t matter to me where we are. I just want you to be there, wherever there happens to be. I just want to see your love for me shining in your eyes the way it’s shining now. I just want to kiss you, hold you and love you for the rest of our lives. I want to treasure every single moment we have together because I know what it means when you aren’t there and I never want to know what that feels like again.”

His heartfelt words touched her deeply because she felt the same way. It was so liberating to be so completely open with him again. She closed the gap between their mouths sealing their vows to love each other for a lifetime once more. She no longer believed in omens or in running away from what she felt. But this feeling of hope was what she now willingly embraced because it meant that every day would be something new and something valuable for them to share with each other.

“Hey you two, you are missing your own toast!” teased Marianne as she tried to get her son’s and daughter-in-law’s attention.

Darius and Candasee looked up both startled to see Francis raising a glass of champagne toward them as he blessed their union. Their guests laughed knowingly having already seen how deeply wrapped up they were in each other.

Picking up their glasses they received the toast and Darius returned the sentiment to his mother and her new husband as well.

“Today, I have the honour not only of marrying the most beautiful woman in the world, Candasee Brogan, but to also celebrate the wedding of my mother Marianne. Without her, none of who I am would even exist in this form today. I know that Francis loves her and that she loves him and I wish them both a long and happy marriage together.”

He raised his glass to them and so began a new chapter in their lives.

After making a stop at the house to pick up their luggage they arrived at the dock to board the cruise vessel Darius reserved for their honeymoon. The lights were already on in the gangway and soft music could be heard playing on board.

“Oh it’s so beautiful!” Candasee breathed as they walked hand in hand onto the ship. The captain and the crew were there all ready to greet them with warm smiles and two crew men took charge of their luggage.

“This way to the stateroom,” said the head crewman with a sweeping gesture indicating that Darius and Candasee should follow him.

B
efore she could register his intent, Darius swept her off her feet and kissed her softly on the lips. The crew member opened the door and nodded to them and left to allow them their privacy.

“Welcome
to our home for the next few weeks, Candasee!” he said as he lifted her and carried her over the threshold and into their room. It was breathtaking as she in its accents of turquoise yellow and white.

“Darius, if you keep doing things like this I won’t be able to stop crying
today,” said Candasee as a long tear slid out of her eye. She never expected to be this emotional about being on her honeymoon with Darius again but as she’d come to realize, this was all she’d wanted for the past two years.

He released her legs to allow her to stand and she encircled her arms around his neck and tip-toed so that her lips could meet his again. He
kicked the door closed behind him and took the time to taste her lips slowly as if he wanted to imprint the flavour of her upon his soul. Threading his fingers behind her neck he ran them along the sensitive skin there lightly making slow, soft strokes that matched the way his tongue swirled and mated hungrily with hers. Candasee was finally with him and they were married again and he wasn’t dreaming. He could taste her, feel her and smell her and it was intoxicating to all of his senses. Her tongue felt silky and smooth as she twined it longingly with his in this moment of reconnection.

The
double doors to the deck beyond were open and a light breeze blew in causing the wispy curtains to billow slightly. Tipping up her chin he studied how the lights caused her eyes to sparkle like diamonds.
He loved this woman so much
. She tip-toed a little to connect their lips in the slightest of brushes gasping as his hands traced the outline of her breasts through the thin material of the sundress she was wearing. She didn’t bother to put on a bra that evening and her nipples were hard and prominently displayed against the material.

“I’m never letting you go again Candasee, you can believe that. This time
we will end whenever life ends and even then I’ll love you from beyond,” he said rolling her nipples gently under the pads of his thumbs as he looked deeply into her eyes. She saw his need there and it matched all that she felt in her heart. Her entire being thrummed in response to his touch and she felt herself grow more and more aroused. He pushed her dress off her shoulders so that it pooled at her feet. In the moonlight, her dark skin looked radiant and smooth and the cool breeze caused her nipples to pebble even more.

“Are you cold?” he asked noticing her shiver.

“No! I am far from feeling cold right now Darius,” she said and it was true. Candasee felt as though her body was being subjected to a slow burn of the most intense kind. The kind where the flames started at her lips and spread throughout her body awakening and exciting every single cell one by one in rapid succession. This wasn’t just a feeling of desire but she wanted to be possessed, to be taken captive by Darius’ love for her. She wasn’t satisfied with just knowing they were together, she wanted to feel it deep inside as he filled her and stretched her to capacity. His gaze, as he just stood there looking at her body, was filled with blatant desire and a passion that was uniquely him.