Taking him, p.15
Taking Him, page 15
‘Ah, I’m happy for you,’ Cormac said, and he genuinely meant it. Geri had a natural knack with numbers, but with the way she looked, very few companies would give her a chance. He hated that she was left giving guys a quick hand job in return for being allowed to do a job she really wanted to do. Even if it was only the basic bookkeeping stuff.
He raised his glass to his friend before knocking the remaining brandy back in one gulp.
‘Are you okay?’ Geri asked. She pursed her lips as she considered him through her blue fringe.
‘I’m tired. This day was supposed to be about me and Victoria.’ He sighed as he turned back around to the view beyond the garden walls. The moon sparkled off the ocean in the distance, and Cormac yearned for the freedom it offered.
‘Er, that’s what this party is for, is it not?’ his friend asked. She joined him at his side, mimicking his position by resting her elbows on the balustrade as she turned to admire the view. ‘And if I’m not mistaken, it was your face gracing TV screens around the world earlier on. Your lips locking that made the city go mental. Apparently, you could hear the cheers from miles away. Although I suppose every place was probably doing the same thing.’
That was still a crazy thought. Cormac Blake, who’d kept his head down, his nose clean, and had strived not to leave a digital fingerprint anywhere, was probably the world’s most famous man today. Victoria promised that in a few weeks, he’d go back to being someone that people wouldn’t remember. He’d scoffed at that, but she’d reassured him he’d take on the air of someone people would think they’d seen before but couldn’t quite place. He decided he’d happily accept that if he could have it.
‘That’s the thing, our moment was then, but this’—he pointed over his shoulder back towards the ballroom—‘isn’t for us, it’s for him.’
‘Ah.’ Geri nodded her head in understanding. She knew his feelings on the King and the way the family treated Victoria and her sisters. ‘I see.’
They watched in silence as an ocean liner’s silhouette appeared between the moon and its bright reflection in the water. After a few minutes, Geri asked, ‘So why don’t you guys just leave?’
‘Because—’
‘You’ve greeted the guests, listened to the toasts, done the dance, cut the cake, spoken to about a gazillion people—’
‘And you want to be an accountant.’
‘Ignoring you. You’ve done everything. All Victoria has to do is—’
‘Throw the bouquet.’ Victoria’s voice startled them. She stood there smiling at them both. ‘We can do it in about ten minutes; then we’re free to leave.’
‘That’d be nice,’ he said, taking her in again. After the photographs and before the party, she’d changed into a second dress—which had caught him by surprise. It was a beautiful silky thing that he just wanted to run his hands over. It was still ivory in colour, but shorter and thus easier for her to walk and dance in. But it made her look less princessy, which he found a little disappointing. Although the fact she still had the Tears of a Queen perched on her perfectly coiffed hair made him smile.
She’d told him her grandmother had waltzed into the room just as she was about to walk out without any form of tiara and demanded she put it back on. Married women weren’t supposed to walk about at formal occasions with a naked head, apparently. Another weird rule he didn’t understand, but she looked amazing and he found himself telling her so.
‘Thank you,’ she said, dropping her gaze slightly. She blushed at his compliment and he couldn’t help the smile that came from knowing he could make a woman of her stature flush like a teenage girl meeting her crush for the first time.
‘I’m just gonna… Yeah,’ Geri said, pointing to the doors that led back inside before disappearing. Cormac only saw her move from the corner of his eye because he couldn’t tear his eyes from his wife.
It was still surreal to think that he was a married man. And even though they’d only met eight or nine weeks ago, it felt like an eternity. He knew there was so much to still learn about the woman in front of him, but he also felt like he’d known her forever.
‘You look rather good yourself,’ she told him as she stepped closer. ‘And that tie of yours…’
‘This little thing?’ he teased, his hands reaching up to adjust it slightly. Her eyes dropped to watch his fingers caressing the silk, and he grinned as her tongue slipped out over her lips to wet them. He’d specifically asked his valet that morning to create the insanely intricate knot, hoping it would have just such a reaction. ‘You like it?’
‘I suppose.’ She shrugged her shoulders as she tried to look nonchalant, but he could see that she really wanted to touch it. ‘Although,’ she paused and bit her lip, looking up at him through her lashes. He wanted to haul her to him, devour her mouth with his as he ran his hands up her legs, pushing up her skirt to—
‘—I think it would look better on the bedroom floor.’
He growled as he reached out and grabbed her waist, hauling her against his wanting body. She gasped at the action, her hands falling against his chest to steady herself, but her eyes were brought level with his tie. Her fingers inched towards it, slowly, as she bit down on her lip and glanced up at him.
‘If you’re not careful, princess,’ he said, his voice deep and gravely as he tried to keep control of himself. ‘I’m going to make love to you out here, up against this railing.’
‘Promises, promises,’ she whispered huskily.
‘How long do we have to stick around for?’
She glanced at the diamond encrusted watch on her wrist. ‘Another five minutes before I throw the damn flowers.’
‘What are we going to do for five minutes?’ he said as he lowered his head towards hers. She sucked in a breath, thrusting her small but perfect breasts out and Cormac found himself dropping his forehead to hers, closing his eyes tightly and biting down on his own damn lip. She mewed a little in protest, but he knew that if he kissed her now, he wouldn’t stop.
The music inside had changed since she’d come out, a slower melody playing as the band began to wind down.
‘Dance with me,’ he whispered.
‘What?’ she replied, her voice filled with confusion. Unable to step away himself, he gently pushed her back a step so he could hold out his hand to her properly.
‘May I have this dance?’ he asked. She glanced between his upturned palm and his enquiring face before she carefully reached out and placed her hand in his. He walked her towards the ballroom but stopped halfway to the state room and turned to face her. He dropped her hand before bowing to her deeply and standing again. She stared at him questioningly, before lowering herself into a curtsey.
He smiled and held out his hand again, when she took it, he pulled her into a perfect frame and began to move. She moved with him effortlessly, instantly following his steps as if the two of them had danced this way a thousand times before, but her befuddled face told a different story. They’d only practised one dance together, a formal waltz he’d been told was the traditional first dance of Avalonian royal couples. She had no idea he’d been secretly learning the tango to surprise her at some point.
It wasn’t overly complicated, but the twists and turns made it look dazzling and dramatic. She gasped as he pushed her away only to pull her back to his body, holding her close before dipping her low.
She smiled as he spun her, stopping her with her back to his body, his hands sliding down her slight curves before grabbing her hips and turning her sharply to him. She landed against his chest just as the music calmed again and it allowed them to take a few standard steps.
‘The tango?’ she said a little breathlessly. ‘I’m guessing Tonya taught you this as well?’
He laughed. ‘Yes, I wanted to surprise you.’
‘But the tango?’
‘What? If Arnold Schwarzenegger and Al Pacino can do it, it’s probably the coolest dance you can learn, right?’ he said with a shrug before he whisked them across the balcony in a series of turns.
‘I knew I shouldn’t have insisted on a nineties film night!’ she said with a laugh as she rolled away from his body before being pulled back to him again. He knew his moves weren’t as complicated or as proficient as those in the films, but he was glad they brought a smile to her lips. Perhaps with some more practise, he could lead with just a single hand on the small of her back and do one-handed dips with her, like Arnie had in True Lies. She’d be able to do fancy kicks and drop down his body before slowly sliding back up his—
A soft round of applause caused him to stumble in his step and the two stopped dancing, immediately turning to see their guests gathered at the now fully opened windows that separated the ballroom from the balcony. The King and Queen stood front and centre of the crowd, their hands gently clapping what was meant to be a private moment between him and Victoria.
He wanted to snarl and snap at the crowd, to tell them they had no right to intrude on this. They’d been witness to almost everything else that day between himself and Victoria—including witnessing his realisation that he loved the woman in his arms—couldn’t they just have this? But instead of yelling at the lot of them to piss off, he forced a smile to his face, pulled Victoria in closer, and nodded to the group as they began to disperse.
‘Victoria!’ Alexi said, hurrying over with the bridal bouquet in hand. ‘Sorry to have spoilt your dance’—well, at least someone recognised when they weren’t wanted—‘but it’s time to throw the bouquet.’
‘We’re all dying to know who’s next!’ shouted Blair, one of Alexi’s friends.
‘Want to know if you’ll land one of the princes here?’ Victoria asked her sister with a giggle, which Cormac found rather adorable. ‘There’s a number of heirs to a few thrones here for you to pick from this evening.’
Alexi rolled her eyes. ‘I already know which country I’m going to be queen of,’ she said with such conviction, Cormac wondered if she was already engaged and was the next to be announced.
‘Really?’ Victoria scoffed. ‘And which one is that?’
‘You’ll have to wait and see, just like everyone else.’
Victoria snorted a noise of disbelief at her sister’s proclamation.
‘Come on already!’ Francesca, one of Victoria’s cousins shouted. ‘Throw the damn thing!’
‘Okay, gather round!’ Victoria said before glancing up at him. ‘If you have your phone, I suggest you film this. It’s so going to be worth it!’ He frowned before fishing his device from his pocket as all the single women gathered in front of the doors a good few feet from Victoria. A number of men that had separated from the earlier crowd had stepped to the side to watch the spectacle and were already holding up their phones to capture the moment.
Victoria turned her back to the group. ‘Three, two, one!’ she shouted before letting go. The group of girls squealed and shouted as they watched the arch of the bouquet and all began to clamber towards where they thought it would land. The men around began to laugh as the flowers hit the group and a mad scramble was made by the women. Cormac had the brief thought that a rugby scrum was far more civilised; elbows were flying, nails were out, and the noise… God, he thought being tortured might be more humane!
‘They’re hers!’ He heard Alexi scream as she pulled one woman away from another by their hair. He winced at the thought, but couldn’t stop watching for love nor money, wondering who the hell had managed to succeed securing the delicate posy in such a mess.
‘Let go!’ Blair shouted, as she bodily forced two or three other women away from the centre of the commotion. Victoria watched with hands to her face as the winner was heaved up off the floor by two other women.
‘Hattie?’ she breathed as she watched the third Snape sister stagger to her feet. Her dress was crushed and crumpled, her headdress of flowers was completely skewed—there was certainly no saving it as had been planned—and Cormac thought her lip looked a little swollen. She certainly looked dazed as she stood there staring at the bashed blooms as if she had no idea what they were and how she had come by them.
The men at the side-lines cheered and one man came along, hand out, fingers waving as he collected his winnings from his fellow spectators.
‘They pulled names from a hat earlier,’ Victoria told him as Alexi and Pippa helped Hattie limp back inside. He hoped they got her a very stiff drink. ‘Please tell me you got every single moment of that?’ He glanced down at his phone to see it still focused on Hattie just as the curtain was pulled back over the windows. He nodded. ‘Nice. I want to watch it again and again and again—do you know how many of them I’ve been in?’
He hadn’t thought of that.
‘Ever been the one to catch it?’
She shook her head. ‘I never really tried for it. To be fair, I don’t think Hattie did though either, she was just caught in the middle. I’ve seen women lose teeth before today in one of them.’
‘Seriously?’
She tapped her left incisor. ‘Blair, Alexi’s friend, took an elbow to it about two years ago at Vanessa Smyth’s wedding.’
‘Bloody hell.’ He stared at the small groups of women that were left, fixing each other’s dresses and hair, and trying to look as if they hadn’t just participated in the free for all, before they ventured back inside. ‘Does this mean we can go now?’
‘Oh, yes,’ Victoria said, pressing herself against him as he wrapped her in his arms again. ‘And as soon as we get to our room, I want you to do everything you were thinking of doing to me earlier—we’ve got our own private balcony after all.’
Victoria held Cormac’s hand tightly as she dragged him through the maze that was the palace’s hallways. All night she’d been pulled this way and that, yet it always seemed to be in the opposite direction from her new husband. She had been spun around the palace’s biggest ballroom in the arms of almost every man save for the one she really wanted, and now that she was free of her grandfather’s timetable, she wasn’t going to waste another minute.
She wanted her husband, had been desperate for him from the moment she’d seen that damn tie he’d worn in the church. And that kiss… It had not only sent her knees week, but melted every bone in her body. She’d forgotten about everyone and everything and had never wanted it to stop.
If it wasn’t for the fact that anyone could come walking through one of the hallways at any moment, she’d have pushed Cormac up against the nearest wall and had him take her there and then. Her breath quickened at the thought and her step faltered at the idea of doing such a thing.
‘…you sure?’ a male voice whispered from around the corner she was about to take. Victoria jerked to a stop and took a step back. Cormac wrapped his arms around her and held her close as they paused, holding their breaths as they tried to hear who it was.
‘Oh God, I’ve never done this be— Oh!’
Victoria’s eyes grew wide in the dim hallway as she recognised the hushed voice. To others it would have been difficult to discern, but he’d whispered secrets to her so often that it could only be one person—Alistair.
‘Don’t— Don’t stop,’ her cousin whispered heatedly before letting out a long guttural moan that straddled the line between pleasure and pain. Victoria slapped her hand over her mouth, unsure if she was stopping a burst of laughter or an exclamation of disgust at catching the perpetual virgin prince in flagrante.
She looked up at Cormac who stared down at her with amusement in his eyes. He raised his brows, asking if they were going to drop in on the lovers, but Victoria shook her head. They were definitely not gate-crashing whatever first time experience her cousin was embarking upon. Instead, she unwound herself from her husband’s grasp and quietly lead him in the opposite direction, going the long way to their room, and hoped no-one else decided to retire early that evening. Alistair’s pornographic moans followed until Victoria deemed them safe enough away to run at full pelt, giggling the whole time.
‘Who was that?’ Cormac asked, whispering even though they were too far for the clandestine couple to hear them.
‘Alistair,’ she laughed. ‘Finally getting his rocks off.’
‘Finally?’ But Victoria shook her head. It wasn’t right to discuss her cousin’s problems, and discussing the lack of Alistair’s sex life was definitely not going to set the mood she wanted.
Especially as they’d finally managed to reach their room.
She hurriedly unlocked the door and slipped inside, pulling Cormac in with her by his lapel. He’d barely closed the door behind them when she was on him, a desperate need within her to claim his lips again. He kissed her back with a fervour, gathering her up in his arms.
‘Tell me,’ she said, huskily, when Cormac broke the kiss to trail his lips down her throat. ‘What you were thinking of on the balc—’ Her words were cut off as he pressed his lips to the juncture between her neck and shoulder, making her gasp in pleasure as he bit down just a little.
‘I was thinking,’ he murmured as his hands finally found the zip of her dress. ‘Of how I’d have bent you over the railing, gathered your skirt up around your waist, pushed your knickers to one side’—Victoria groaned as desire flooded through her at the image—‘and just made love to you there and then.’
She’d thought it to0, had pictured it so clearly, and it had turned her on more than anything else she’d ever thought of before in her life.
‘Stop,’ she whispered as his fingers inched the zip of her dress lower.
‘What?’ Cormac lifted his head, his eyes dazed, and confusion written on his face as his fingers stilled. His befuddlement only grew as she stepped back, out of his grasp, reaching behind her to wiggle the zip back up into place. One step turned into two, and then another as she walked further and further into the palace’s wedding suite and towards her new goal.
