Nathalie gave Alain a kiss and hug, then hurried out the door with Dominic carrying an overnight bag.
* * *
The Soleil Hotel was only two minutes away from Nathalie’s house. That was good because Dominic couldn’t last any longer before he got his bride all to himself. She looked a vision in a white silk and lace wedding dress that came to the knees of her shapely legs.
He parked the car and walked her inside to their room down the left hall. Each room had a balcony that overlooked La Gaude. Earlier that morning he’d procured the card key and had arranged for flowers to be put on the dresser and table.
Once inside their room, he lowered their overnight bags to the floor and caught her around the waist from behind. “You’re trapped now, ma belle. There’s no escape.”
She whirled around, her green eyes burning with love for him. “I have news for you, mon amour. I told Minerve I’d never let you out of my sight and I meant it.”
Slowly he unpinned the gardenia corsage he’d given her. After he’d unfastened the buttons of her wedding dress, she slipped out of it while he removed his suit jacket and tie.
“I love you, Dominic. You’ll never know how much.”
He studied her exquisite features, taking his time. “We have all day and night to show each other. I can’t wait any longer.”
“I don’t want to wait,” she cried.
He picked her up in his arms and carried her through the sitting room to the bedroom. Once he’d followed her down on the bed, he lifted a lock of hair to h
is lips. “Do you know you have strands of gold and silver? You’re like a princess come to life with your hair splayed around you. And you have a perfect mouth. When we met in the tent, I couldn’t take my eyes off you. You beguiled me.”
“You enchanted me.” She kissed his jaw. “When I left the tent, I wasn’t the same woman who’d gone in. I didn’t know a man like you existed.”
“By some miracle we’ve found each other. I swear I’ll love you forever, mon coeur.” Burning with desire for her, he lowered his head to kiss her seductive mouth. At the first touch he was gone. Her response enraptured him, sending him to a different world where all that mattered was to love and be loved.
* * *
The sun was going down by the time Nathalie became aware she was lying against her husband’s rock-hard body. Dominic’s legs had trapped hers and his arm lay across her hip possessively. No woman on earth would ever know this kind of joy because there was only one Dominic. Being loved by him made her feel immortal.
Nathalie wanted to know his possession again and started kissing him. They’d married a lot sooner than many couples, but that was part of the fascination of loving him and learning new things about him.
“Nathalie,” he murmured. Suddenly he’d come awake and pulled her on top of him. “No man ever had a lover like you. To think you’re my wife!” He started to kiss her again, filling her with rapture.
* * *
The room had grown dark by the time they came awake again. She eased reluctantly out of his arms. “It’s almost ten o’clock, Dominic. We haven’t eaten all day. You must be starving. I’ll call for room service.”
While she reached for the house phone and put in an order for meat crêpes, crème brûlée and coffee, he’d gone in the other room for their bags. When he returned, he was wearing a striped robe, and he answered the door to bring in their food.
They ate in bed. She faced him. “I’ve never been this happy in my life. If my stepsister hadn’t loved Raoul the way she did, we would never have met. The thought of that...” She couldn’t finish.
“I don’t like to think about it either, so we won’t.” He moved the tray to the floor, then pulled her into him. “I’ve been so impatient to make you my wife we haven’t talked about the practicalities of being married.”
She raised up on her elbow. “You sound worried.”
“In a way I am. Your mother lost your stepdaughter, then your stepsister. Soon Alain will be living with his father. Today I took you away from her. I want both of you to be happy.”
Tears stung her eyes. She was married to the most remarkable man in the world. Nathalie flung her arms around him. “I love you for thinking of her and caring about her. There’s no one like you, but La Gaude isn’t that far away from Vence. We’ll work things out.”
“What if she moved to Vence? I’d help her get into a house near our villa. She wouldn’t have to work anymore and could have time for friends as well as being a grandmother. Raoul’s house is only two streets away from us. I’d like to be there for her and offer support if the idea appealed to her.”
She shook her head in disbelief. “You’re so generous and amazing. What did I ever do to deserve you?”
“I keep asking that question about you. The women who’ve been in my life have been so different from you. There’s nothing shallow about you. You’re an exceptional woman in every way, Nathalie. It means you’ve had exceptional parents. I see the way you are with Alain. The love you’ve shown him is a revelation.”
“He’s easy to love,” she said in a broken voice.