The clock on the wall ticked for about 20 minutes before Grace and Lucas managed to pull away from each other, at least as their lips were concerned. The hands still didn't let go of each other.
"It feels like Sunday when I know you are coming", whispered Lucas, his voice warm and husky.
Grace smiled, her eyes shining with happiness.
"I will always come home to you", she whispered and hugged him tightly as she heard him let out a sigh as he buried his face in her hair.
"I love you", he whispered into her silky curls, inhaling her sweet scent.
She gently brushed her cheek against his and closed her eyes.
"I love you too", she whispered back.
Lucas pulled away a bit and took both of her hands. Bringing them up, he gently kissed both of her palms.
"Shall we make that phone call now?", he asked and smiled happily as she nodded, her smile widening.
Lucas took the phone and brought it to the settee where Grace was already sitting. He sat down next to her and picked up the phone receiver.
His free hand wrapped around Grace's shoulders making her snuggle lovingly into his side.
The line connected and Lucas smiled as he heard his Mother's voice.
"Hello, Mother", he greeted her warmly.
Helen smiled as she heard her beloved son's voice.
"Lucas, darling! How are you?", she asked warmly.
Lucas glanced down at Grace and his smile grew.
"I am very well, Mother. In fact, I have some news I want to share with you. Is Father there?", he asked, almost bursting from excitement and happiness.
Helen slightly creased her eyebrows.
"Yes, he is here. Do I need to call him?", she asked.
Lucas smiled softly.
"Yes, please", he replied.
Grace looked up at him and moved closer as he placed a phone receiver on the ear closer to her. They waited until Helen finally said that Martin was there too.
Lucas took a deep breath in.
"You know that I've been seeing Grace for quite some time now", he started to talk.
Only to have his Mother huff out.
"Finally you've found a woman who deserves you, not that self-proclaimed Princess Perfect!", she said, her voice sharp as a razor.
Martin sighed in frustration.
"Helen", he said, his voice sounding exasperated.
Helen glared at her husband.
"What?! Grace is lovely, amazing, she saved our son's life twice, Martin! For me as his Mother that means everything!", she snapped, always getting angry as she remembered how upset and worried she was for her son after the Elizabeth fiasco.
Martin nodded.
"Yes, I know and I agree with you, dear. I would just like you to stop talking about the past", said Martin.
Helen raised up her chin.
"I just want Lucas to learn from his mistakes", she said.
Lucas shook his head, letting out a breath of frustration before covering a phone with his palm and whispering to Grace:
"They are talking about me like I didn't even call them!", he glanced down at his love and smiled as he saw her shoulders shaking from laughter "Maybe I should just send a pigeon with a message?", he quipped silently, causing Grace to widen her eyes and cover her mouth with her palm in order not to burst to laughter as she looked up at Lucas.
His smile turned almost wolfish at the sight.
"Oh, Miss Bennet, you are breaking the Rule here", he whispered as he gently pried her fingers away from her lips, only to replace them with his warm lips.
Grace giggled silently into their kiss.
"My apologies, Governor", she said flirtatiously.
At that moment, they heard Helen calling Lucas' name.
He removed his palm from the phone receiver and smiled.
"Yes, Mother?", he said warmly.
Helen smiled.
"Did I hear Grace's voice? Is she there?", she asked.
Lucas moved a phone away from himself so both he and Grace could talk to his parents and listen to them.
Grace smiled.
"Yes, Helen, I am here", she said.
Helen let out a breath.
"Lucas, why didn't you tell me she was there?!", she said in a scolding tone, causing both Grace and Lucas to chuckle silently. Helen didn't hear their chuckle so she smiled and asked "How are you doing, dear heart?"
Grace's smile grew even more at hearing the endearment Lucas' Mother used for her while they were still here, in Capitol City.
"I am wonderful, Helen. How are you and Martin?", she replied, snuggling closer to Lucas.
"We are fine, Grace, thank you. I am sorry for my rant. I just wanted to point out how happy we are that you are part of our son's life", Helen said warmly.
And that was the moment Lucas was waiting for.
"Well, I am glad that you feel that way because Grace will become even more important part of my life", he gently tightened his hold on his love's shoulder and smiled as she smiled happily at him "Mother, Father, I asked Grace to marry me. And she said yes!"
Both Helen and Martin gasped.
"Lucas! Oh, that is the best news ever!", exclaimed Helen.
Martin smiled happily.
"Congratulations, my son!", he said.
Lucas smiled, feeling ecstatic at his parents' warm and happy reaction to the big news.
"Thank you", he said and closing his eyes, Lucas gently kissed his beautiful fiancée's hair.
"Grace?", Helen's voice was warm.
Grace leaned in closer to talk on the phone that Lucas still held between them.
"I am here, Helen", she said with a smile.
Only to look up in surprise at Lucas as she heard Helen letting out a sound that resembled…
Crying?
Panic settled in Grace's heart.
"Helen, what's wrong?", she quickly asked.
Martin rubbed his wife's back in comforting, circular motion as Helen wiped her wet cheeks.
"Oh, my dear Grace", she mumbled silently "Nothing has been wrong in my son's life ever since you came in it."
Grace looked up at Lucas, lost for words. Her heart felt like it was squeezed and she swallowed hard.
Lucas gently smiled at her, his eyes speaking volumes.
He agreed with what his Mother just said.
"Nothing has been wrong in my life ever since you came in it", he whispered, never breaking eye contact with his beautiful fiancée.
Grace felt her eyes misting with tears.
Lucas gently kissed Grace's forehead before speaking into the phone receiver.
"Thank you very much, Mother, you just made my fiancée cry and we have a photo shooting for our engagement photo. How is it going to look like if my future wife is in tears in the photo?!", he quipped.
Helen silently gasped.
"Oh, Grace, please, forgive me! I didn't mean to make you cry!", she silently sniffed "I just want you to know how blessed I am that we will be able to call you our daughter!"
Martin gently smiled.
"Both of us are blessed. Congratulations, Grace!", he said.
Grace smiled.
"Thank you so much. I am the one who is blessed", her voice shook and she wiped her cheeks with her shivering fingers.
Only to feel Lucas gently wiping her tears with his thumb.
She smiled at his gentle touch.
"Did you set a date?", asked Martin.
Lucas took a handkerchief from his suit pocket and handed it over to Grace who was smiling through her tears, before he answered:
"Yes, Father, we did. February 14th."
Helen nodded, turning practical.
"Alright, I will immediately look into what needs to be done and we will be in contact the entire time", as Lucas tried to speak, she spoke in a warning tone of voice "Don't you dare to interrupt me, Lucas! I am your Mother and I want to make that day the happiest day for the two of you. I assume that your sister is in charge too, Grace?"
Grace nodded, smiling.
"Yes, she already started with some preparations. Won't let me do a thing, she says she wants to make that day perfect", Grace smiled as she remembered her big sister's words.
Hellen smiled in approval.
"Excellent. Lillian is a very smart lady. I will be in contact with her. You two don't have to worry about anything! Now, go, get that photo taken so I can brag to my friends what a lovely daughter I will get!", she finished with a big smile.
Grace exhaled a shaky breath and wiped her cheeks. Seeing how emotional she got, Lucas pulled her closer into his side.
"Thank you, Mother. We should get ready, photographer will be here…", he pulled out his pocket watch and saw that it was 11.15. Smiling, he added "...any minute now."
Grace looked down at his pocket watch and her eyebrows creased slightly as she glanced at her handsome fiance.
"We still have 45 minutes until photographer comes!", she said, barely audible, but Lucas' eyes widened as he grimaced pointing toward the phone.
Grace stifled a laugh.
"Alright, darling. We will talk later. Kiss Grace for us, bye", Helen said and they hung up.
Putting the phone down Lucas turned to look at Grace, pretending to be annoyed.
Grace giggled.
"We DO have plenty of time left! Why did you hung up so early?", she teased him, enjoying the feeling of his arms wrapping her in his warm embrace.
Lucas' eyes darkened a bit.
"Because…I got a task from my parents", at Grace's puzzled look, his lips curled up a bit "They told me to kiss you", his smile turned seductive "And I take my tasks very seriously, Miss Bennet."
Grace felt her toes curl up in her shoes at the mere sound of Lucas' voice.
She bit her lower lip as he inched closer to her face.
"I am sure you do, Governor. I just didn't see it yet", she felt his breath warming up her lips, sending her breathing into a complete chaos "You will have to prove it to me that you are such a diligent, hard working man like you are claiming to be."
Lucas' eyes turned almost black.
"With pleasure, mon amour", and with those words, his lips melted into hers, kissing her longingly, like she was the air he breathed.
Grace sighed as he kissed her, his lips warm and soft…and hers.
She felt a huge wave of love washing over her as this amazing man kissed her like there is no tomorrow.
His lips moved against hers without giving her a chance to breathe properly and she sighed, opening up to him, only to shudder deliciously as she felt his warm tongue entering her mouth and caressing it in long, circular, gentle motions. She arched into him, silently mewling in delight at his loving touch. Her sweet sounds turned Lucas' heart on fire and he held her tightly against him, their kiss deepening even more, their tongues dancing around each other in a flaming dance, her body pressed into his.
He could feel every soft curve behind her dress and as she sneaked her fingers in his hair and pressed gently, Lucas groaned into their kiss, before he broke it, trying desperately to hold back.
He fought for breath as he looked down at Grace, his entire body shivering.
"When we marry, I will never let you go. Never", he whispered passionately.
Grace's entire body pulsated from his closeness and touch and she fought hard to calm her breathing down. Her eyes looked up at him and she hovered her lips over his, leaning her forehead at his, feeling his eyelashes brushing against hers.
"You promise?", she whispered, breathless.
Lucas slightly nodded as he gently squeezed her sides.
"I promise, mon coeur", he gave her a short, soft kiss "I promise."
—--
The first time I looked in your eyes I knew
That I would do anything for you,
The first time you touched my face I felt
What I'd never felt with anyone else.
I want to give back what you've given to me
And I want to witness all of your dreams,
Now that you've shown me who I really am
I want to be more than just your man.
I want to be the wind that fills your sails,
And be the hand that lifts your veil,
And be the moon that moves your tide,
The sun coming up in your eyes.
Be the wheel that never rusts,
And be the spark that lights you up,
All that you've been dreaming of and more, so much more,
I want to be your everything.
When you wake up I'll be the first thing you see
And when it gets dark you can reach out to me,
I'll cherish your words and I'll finish your thoughts
I'll be your compass baby when you get lost.
I want to be the wind that fills your sails,
Be the hand that lifts your veil,
Be the moon that moves your tide,
The sun coming up in your eyes.
Be the wheel that never rusts,
And be the spark that lights you up,
All that you've been dreaming of and more, so much more,
I want to be your everything.
I'll be the wheel that never rusts,
And be the spark that lights you up,
All that you've been dreaming of and more, so much more,
I want to be your everything,
I want to be your everything,
I want to be your everything, I want to be your everything.
("Your everything" - Keith Urban)