Author's note: I have to break this chapter in two parts because it would be too long.
—--
Grace ran from her closet to her bed trying to put her necklace back on as she took it off during the shower. But, try as she might, she couldn't do it.
"Shoot!", she hissed, stopping in front of the mirror, fiddling with a clip of the necklace.
Lillian entered at that moment and grinned.
"Wooow, don't you look earth shattering!", she complimented her sister's look as she took in little black dress, black shoes and her long hair flowing down her back.
Grace turned around with a look of panic.
"Please, help me put this on", she held a necklace to her neck "I can't seem to close the stupid clip."
Lillian gently pried her sister's shivering fingers away and closed the clip.
"No wonder. You are shaking like a leaf", she looked at Grace's reflection in the mirror as she gently fixed her long hair "Is everything alright?"
Grace took a breath in.
"Yeah, I guess I am just nervous. I hope he likes what I planned", she mumbled, brushing her fingers across the material of her dress. She turned around to look at Lillian, her teeth nervously pulling on her lower lip "You think he'll like the dress? It's not too much?"
Lillian snorted, causing Grace to look at her in a sheer panic.
Oh these two were just as bad as another!
"Are you kidding me?! He will flip out when he sees you!", said Lillian "Poor man won't be able to keep his hands off you!"
Grace smiled, her cheeks turning rosy as her nervousness turned into a bubbling excitement.
She grabbed her purse, a bag with nicely wrapped presents and grinned.
"Well, wish me luck!", she giggled at her sister as she rushed outside and down the stairs.
Lillian rolled her eyes good-heartedly and shook her head as she followed her sister, calling out:
"Yeah, like you need it!", she grinned as she stopped in the hallway, crossed her arms and watched as Grace buttoned her coat and left the house, yelling "bye" as she went away.
Lillian shook her head, smiling warmly as she locked the doors.
—--
Dress casual.
Lucas fixed the sleeves on his dress shirt, deciding to leave three top buttons open. No tie, no vest, only his suit jacket, which will probably be off later.
He slightly shook his head, a small smile curling up his lips as he looked down at her note that was resting on his night table.
What has she planned?
His heart warmed at the mere thought of her wanting to do something for him. He never had that and he knew that she knew about it. He knew that she was completely open about her affections for him and that she did it all because she truly loved him, but she still left him utterly breathless and speechless every time she did that.
And he adored her more and more every single day because of that. Because she showed him that true love is a closed circle of giving and receiving…and not just one way street.
He tried to call her right after his boring meetings were over, but it seemed like she was determined to keep him in suspense, waiting to see what she had planned for him, testing his patience like nobody else before.
And driving him absolutely mad with desire to see her.
Lucas checked the time.
18.52.
He smiled to himself as he put his suit jacket on and grabbed his coat.
As he left his room he nearly bumped into his butler Simon.
"Oh, apologies, Governor. I was just about to knock at your doors to tell you that your driver has arrived", said Simon and Lucas slightly creased his eyebrows, looking at his butler.
Was Simon stifling a laugh?
"My driver?", he asked, confused as he walked down the long corridor.
Simon fell into a step with him.
"Yes, sir. Right in front of the mansion", said Simon, coughing slightly in his palm.
Yep. Definitely stifling a laugh here.
Lucas glanced at him in complete confusion as he put his coat on, rushed to the doors and opened them.
And felt all air being knocked out of his lungs.
Grace stood in front of the mansion, leaning against the hood of his car, her long brunette hair sparkling in the light as she looked at him under her eyelashes and smiled.
Lucas slowly went downstairs, step by step, and came closer to her.
"Good evening, Miss Bennet", he whispered with a soft smile.
Grace bit her lower lip as she uncrossed her arms and let him pull her closer to him.
"Good evening, Governor", she whispered against his lips and inhaled a sharp breath as he kissed her, stealing her breath away.
She kissed him back, her fingers sneaking into his hair as her tongue caressed his mouth lovingly and passionately.
His palms squeezed her lower back and he pulled her flush against his body, breathing her sweet scent in.
As their lips slowly parted from each other, he looked deeply in her eyes, his dark orbs caressing her with love so strong that she nearly started to cry.
"I missed you", he whispered "You weren't answering my calls", he brushed his lips lazily against hers and let out a breath "And drove me mad."
Grace breathed heavily, her fingers stroking the back of his neck as she smiled against his lips.
"Good. Absence makes the heart grow fonder", she whispered.
Lucas gave her a smouldering look.
"You are too much absent from me as it is", he said silently, his voice dropping down for one octave "I believe that I would always be quite fond of you…", he moved to whisper in her ear "...even if you were by my side 24/7."
Grace closed her eyes, letting out a shuddering breath as she felt a huge tremor shot through her body at the meaning of his words.
Even if you were by my side 24/7.
She swallowed hard and tried to calm her breathing down.
As he slowly pulled away from her, Grace licked her lips with a tip of her tongue as she got lost in his dark eyes.
Lucas leaned in and kissed her moistened lips, making her whimper silently.
This man is going to be my undoing.
As they pulled apart, she looked down for a moment, trying to stop her racing heart down.
And then she looked up at Lucas and her lips curled up.
"If you continue to hold me like this, we'll never leave this street", as both of them chuckled at her words, Grace added with a warm smile "And you'll never open your presents."
Lucas' facial expression turned puzzled, his eyebrows slightly creasing.
"Presents?", he silently asked. As Grace nodded, bubbling with excitement he slightly shook his head as he softly smiled in confusion "What for?"
Grace's eyes softened.
"And why not?", she gave him the car keys and quickly went inside the car. Opening the window, she leaned on its frame and smiled warmly "Can't a girl give some presents to the man she loves without needing a special reason or occasion for it?", she watched as he slowly smiled and rushed toward the driver's seat.
Nearly jumping from excitement on her seat Grace quickly grabbed a bag from the backseat and pulled it on her lap, just in time when Lucas closed the doors and turned toward her.
Grace handed him the bag over and watched as his eyes slightly widened at the size of it.
"Grace", he looked up at her and whispered "It's too much."
She waved him off.
"Oh, shush and just open it already!", she said excitedly "I'm dying here!"
Lucas slowly smiled at her bubbling excitement and pure joy as he took out the first wrapped thing and opened it.
Only to gasp in surprise:
"King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band!", he looked up at her "Where did you find it?"
Grace grinned at his reaction as he turned the record to look at it on both sides with a big smile on his face.
"Oh, there's this old guy who sells the records at the flea market. The man is a human jukebox! I swear, he probably has the records that not even all those musicians have!", she chuckled and he looked up at her.
"Oh, you have to take me there! I'd love to see his collection!", he grinned.
Grace nodded and waved her fingers like she wanted to speed things up.
"Deal. Go on, you have two more things in there!", she said impatiently and bit her lower lip as Lucas took out one item and unwrapped the paper.
His eyes went wide open as he saw what was inside.
He slowly turned to look at her, not saying a word.
And sending Grace spiraling from pure excitement and joy into sheer panic.
She glanced from Lucas' eyes to a book in his hand and felt cold sweat washing over her.
"I'm sorry…have I misunderstood? During our train ride I thought you said that one of your favourite books was 'Dangerous liaisons'...", her voice drifted away to a silent mumble "I cannot believe that I messed this up!"
But, she could barely finish her sentence when Lucas reached for her waist and pulled her close to him, crashing his lips against hers, turning her mind into a mush.
Grace sighed as she cupped his cheek and kissed him back, moaning in pure pleasure as she felt his tongue caressing her mouth like it was his fountain of life. She trembled as his kiss only intensified, delighted at the reaction she got.
She held onto his shoulders as he devoured her mouth, feeling warmth settling deep down in her.
A desperate need for air made them break the kiss, but he didn't let her go. Leaning his forehead on hers, Lucas caressed her cheek with his thumb.
"I love you, Grace", he whispered, kissing her rosy lips once again, agonizingly slow, making her shiver even more in his arms "I love you."
Grace smiled shakily as she looked him in his eyes.
"You have one more present, my love", she gave him a short, sweet kiss and quickly reached to grab the last item from the bag. She gave it to him and watched as he opened it, not going back to his seat, but still leaning toward her.
Grace smiled happily as he slightly gasped as he saw a book in his hand.
And as he looked up at her, Grace's heart felt like it grew a few times more at the variety of emotions on his handsome face.
"What have I done to deserve all this?", he silently asked.
Grace's hands took a bag and placed three items from his lap back into the bag, before she turned back to look at him, her facial expression turning serious and gentle.
"You deserve even more, my Lucas", she slowly started to talk "You deserve to be loved and cherished. You deserve to know how much I love you. You deserve the best of everything…and you deserve more than you ever had. And why?", she brushed her fingertips across his hairline and cheek "Because you made me feel all those things", she silently finished.
Lucas' eyes softened and he pulled Grace close to him, hugging her tightly and gently kissing her soft hair.
"Thank you so much. I love it", he whispered "Thank you for being you", and with those words he kissed her gently, his heart feeling like it would burn from love she gave him so selflessly, openly and sincerely. As he pulled away he let out a breath "This is… I… I don't know what to say. Thank you, my angel."
Grace smiled gently at him.
"You're welcome, my love", she smiled as she added "But, it's not over yet. Come on, turn the car on. I'll tell you where to go."
Lucas nodded as he started the car and drove through the unknown streets for a couple of minutes.
All of a sudden, they were in a small street and Grace told him to pull over. She jumped out of the car and rushed toward his side of the vehicle.
He smiled as he went out and looked around the quiet little street, trying to figure out where was she taking him.
Grace grinned and took his hand.
"Come on", she gently pulled on his hand and led him toward the building that looked like an apartment building.
But, as Grace looked at him and smiled, she opened the doors on the building…
…And Lucas stopped dead in his tracks.
The sound of a band playing jazz music live at the stage, the smoke, the people moving around…
He felt Grace's lips near his ear as she spoke.
"This is the place where Lillian and I go sometimes to let our hair down and dance a bit", she pulled away a bit and looked around, slightly bouncing on her feet to the rhythm of music, then turned back and looked at Lucas "What do you think?"
His lips curled up as he looked around, feeling the music reaching his senses, relaxing his tired nerves and he nodded.
"I love it. I can't believe that I didn't know about this place before", he said.
Grace smiled as she tugged at his hand.
"Come on, I made a reservation in the back. We don't want someone to call the press when they realize that the Governor himself listens to the jazz right beside their tables", her grin widened and Lucas chuckled at her gentle, loving teasing, allowing her to take him to their table.
As they reached their table, Lucas took Grace's coat as she took it off and put it on the bar settee.
He unbuttoned his own coat and started to take it off while he looked back up…
…And for the second time that evening he felt all air leaving his lungs and his heart almost stopping in his chest at the vision in front of him.
His Grace stood two or three steps from him wearing a short black dress, like the ones that just started to enter the world of fashion.
She looked shyly at him under her eyelashes, but then smiled at his frozen posture, his coat's sleeves still on his arms as he completely forgot to take it off.
Actually, he forgot to breathe too.
So when she approached him and leaned in to free him from his coat, he let out a breath and took one right back in as her perfume stirred his senses in the most delicious way.
As she threw his coat over hers, hoping that it would help his scent linger on her coat, she looked up as his hands pulled her toward him, his eyes darkened as he inched closer to her face.
"You look breathtakingly beautiful", he whispered, his breathing heavy and deep "Literally breathtaking. You made me forget how to breathe."
She smiled shyly at his compliment, her entire body tingling from the feeling of him so close to her.
Her fingers moved to his chest, ghosting over the exposed skin on his neck.
Such a difference from his usual sharp look.
And she loved it
Her eyes were drawn to his skin and she bit on her lower lip as she felt him inhale sharply at her touch.
His fingers moved to her lower back and he pulled her closer, causing her to quietly gasp as she felt her body slamming into his.
She looked up at him, her heart beating faster every second.
And as she put her fingertips inside the opening at the top of his dress shirt, she reveled at him closing his eyes, letting out a shuddering breath.
And she leaned in and whispered directly to his ear:
"Well, Governor…you are not the only one who's losing their breath and mind tonight."
End of Part One.
—--
You're my lover undercover,
You're my sacred passion and I have no other.
You're delicious, so capricious,
If I find out you don't want me, I'll be vicious.
Say you love me and you'll have me
In your arms forever and I won't forget it
Say you miss me, come and kiss me
Take me up to heaven and you won't regret it.
You are the one
You're my number one
The only treasure I'll ever have.
You are the one
You're my number one
Anything for you 'cause you're the one I love.
You're my lover undercover,
You're my sacred passion and I have no other.
You're a fire and desire
When I kiss your lips, you know, you take me higher.
You're addiction, my conviction
You're my passion, my relief, my crucifixion.
Never leave me
And believe me
You will be the sun into my raining season.
Never leave me
And believe me
In my empty life you'll be the only reason.
You are the one
You're my number one
The only treasure I'll ever have.
You are the one
You're my number one
Anything for you 'cause you're the one I love.
You're my lover undercover
You're my sacred passion and I have no other.
("My number one" - Helena Paparizou)