As per usual, I don't own the characters.
*** Please review ****
*** A/N: All chapters have been updated and re-spaced for easier reading. 8/2/17 ***
Chapter 1
Entering the bedroom, Remington closed the door elegantly with this foot as he still held his wife in his arms. His wife… he usually never thought of her that way, but tonight was different. Tonight he would show her how glad he was that she was in his life.
As he slowly let go of her legs, she slid gently down his body to stand face to face with him. Wrapping her arms around his neck she peered into his blue eyes. Without saying a word or losing eye contact with her, he reached back to turn the room lights off. It was then Laura realized he had lit candles around the room. The glow of the candlelight bathed his face in soft shadows, but his eyes stayed focused on her and her alone. And somehow, in the last few seconds they brightened into blue diamonds, glittering from the candle light.
"Why, Mr. Steele, I thought you were 'fluffing the pillows'?" Laura questioned her husband, one eyebrow raising slighty, but she still couldn't take her eyes off his.
"Just wanted some mood lighting, Mrs. Steele." Remington was watching Laura with such awe and wonder. "Is this woman truly going to become completely mine? Tonight?" he thought to himself. Without realizing it, a smile crept to his face, that crooked boyish grin he was known to flash the ladies.
Laura was still mesmerized by the color of his eyes but noticed his smile slowly creeping across his face. "Do you see something you like?" she asked.
"No." he replied still grinning at her.
"NO?" Laura started taking a step back, surprised at his reply.
Still smiling, he leaned into her and said "No, I see something I love". With one swift move, he slid his right hand along her cheek to pull her close as his lips quickly descended upon hers. His lips were gentle and soft, demanding to be kissed back.
Laura felt herself giving in, losing control of any rational thought. "Wait, did he just say love?" she thought. She couldn't think straight, his lips, oh those lips and his scent was so intoxicating.
Trying to keep some control, she slid her hand up the front of his soft blue sweater toward his shoulder. She wanted to break this kiss just so she could look straight into those amazing eyes but the longer the kiss went on she found she just couldn't. It was as if that kiss was now her lifeline. If she let go, she would drown in the blue pools of his eyes.
Slowly, Remington's kiss became an assault on all her senses. He gently separated her lips with his tongue and slid it softly around hers. He tasted like sweet cream and strawberries, the dessert they had enjoyed not too long ago.
His left hand held her lower back as his right hand still caressed her cheek, his thumb rubbing oh so softly in a touch that was barely there yet she knew if he stopped, she would be lost forever. She could hear his heartbeat (or was it her own), steady, beating, sounding much like a drum in the distance. She could feel herself leaning into him more and more, unable to hold her balance. Trying to steady herself, she pushed back slightly, breaking the best kiss of her life, gasping for air.
"Did you…. Did you say….. Love?" She looked at him, desperate for an answer. Not just an answer, but the answer to a truth she had been seeking for far too long.
Remington, still smiling, his lips just a bit fuller than before, his eyes sparkling that much brighter, replied, "Yes, Laura, my love. I do love you. I've loved you almost from the day I met you. You have been that one person I could never fool, I cannot lie to in good conscience nor can I walk away from. It is because of you, I finally feel whole." He took a deep breath and began to drop his head. It was at that moment, his own emotions began to spill forward.
Everything that had happened from him running away last year to try to find his real name, to their "wedding" on the fishing boat, to their attempt at a honeymoon in Mexico, culminating with Daniel's revelation about his birth and then his death came crashing down on him when he realized that through it all, Laura had been there. She was willing to go on this crazy ride of a 2 year charade marriage just to keep him in the States. She was HIS lifeline through everything the last few years. She did her best to keep him honest and now, as the biggest moment of their relationship was upon them, he was beginning to wonder if he was the right man for her.
He wanted her, God knows he wanted her, but he never wanted to hurt her.
