Authors: Calista Fox
Though that wouldn’t be any better. He didn’t miss the way
Shana commanded attention no matter where she went. She’d clearly
misinterpreted the interest in her all these years. Drake could easily see it
for what it really was—appreciation of her assets by both men
and
women.
She swiveled her hips and he groaned as his cock stirred.
Her embracement of her culture and his continued assurance he found her sexy
seemed to have helped her come into her own. She danced, she sang, she even
dressed more provocatively, showing off her curves instead of trying to hide
them. Tonight she wore a turquoise mini-dress with thin straps sitting on her
bare shoulders. The color was a vibrant complement to her tanned skin. She didn’t
bother with sandals when at the house, preferring to kick them off and go
barefoot. Her long, dark curls flowed over her shoulders and crested the tops
of her breasts, plumped up by the tight bodice of her dress.
He would have forgone the margaritas and whisked her
upstairs to make love to her, now that he was thoroughly aroused, but he had a
few surprises in store for her this evening. The first one arrived a half hour
early.
The doorbell rang and he said, “Why don’t you get that,
love, while I finish in here.”
“Must be the lobster delivery,” she said excitedly. “Those
are going to be oh so tasty tonight.”
She sashayed away and his grin returned. He ditched the
margaritas and instead set out several champagne glasses. He pulled out a few
bottles of champagne he’d stashed behind some food on the bottom shelf of the
fridge. Then, he peered around the corner of the wall that ran halfway across
the room, separating the kitchen from the formal dining room directly behind
him. The rest of the first floor of the casita was open and airy.
Shana reached the door and pulled it open, instantly
squealing in delight as Jane stood on the other side of the threshold.
Clasping Jane’s hand and dragging her inside, she closed the
door as Jane deposited a large package on the foyer table and returned the hug
Shana gave her.
He tamped down the territorial growl lodged in his throat.
As was the case with Miguel, he had to deal with others finding the love of his
life as appealing, and as sensual, as he did.
Pulling Jane—who snatched the elegantly wrapped box from the
table—into the kitchen, Shana said to Drake, “You planned this, didn’t you?”
He nodded.
“You sneaky devil! How long have you kept this from me?”
“A week or so,” he told her, thrilled she was so delighted.
Even if he had to share a little of her affection with Jane, seeing her so
pleased made him happy.
Jane set the white box with a wide, silver satin bow on the
granite-topped island and gave Drake a quick hug.
“Things going well at Body Scenes?” he asked.
“Exceptionally well.” She beamed. “I think I run the place
better than you do.”
He chuckled. “I’m sure you enjoy wielding your power and
deciding who gets an invitation.”
“I’ve found it challenging and intriguing to bring together
an eclectic mix of notables.”
“Didn’t know you had an eccentric side.”
She smiled up at him. “Really, I love it. But I do miss
you.” She turned her smile on Shana. “Both of you.”
Shana gave her another squeeze. “We miss you too.”
The doorbell rang again and Shana’s face lit up once more with
excitement. “The lobsters.” To Drake, she asked, “You ordered one for Jane,
right?”
“Of course.” He turned to his assistant. “Would you mind
getting that? I’ve something to show Shana.”
“Not at all,” Jane said. “Though I’m dying to know what’s in
that package I picked up for you in Paris.”
“Paris!” Shana gasped. Her gaze snapped to Drake. “What have
you done?”
He merely grinned. Jane went off to get the door and he
gestured for Shana to open her present.
She looked closely at the gift for the first time and her
eyes widened as her fingertips swept over the embossed name along one edge of
the box. She paused for a moment, myriad emotions crossing her beautiful face.
Then, tentatively, she pulled the loose ends of satin and unraveled the bow.
She lifted the lid and set it aside. Peeling back metallic silver tissue, she
gasped again as she stared down at the creation he’d had replicated.
“Oh, Drake.” Her fingers grazed the sparkly, white-lace
bodice before she carefully lifted it from the box.
Drake slid his arm under the satin skirt so it didn’t touch
the floor, but was laid out for Shana to admire.
“It’s perfect,” she whispered in a shaky voice. “Every
stitch, every bead. Phillipe LaVallier made this just for me?”
“Guaranteed to fit. I sent him one of your dresses.”
“The blue one I thought I’d left in Playa Del Carmen? I kept
meaning to drive over and get it, but you’re always distracting me.”
She didn’t look at him as she spoke. It seemed she couldn’t
take her eyes off the shimmering gown.
“He returned it,” Drake said of her blue dress. “It’s in
this box, beneath more tissue.” He confirmed this by rummaging around with his
free hand.
She was still mesmerized.
It seemed a good time to say, “I want you to wear this
tonight. When you marry me.”
Finally, her gaze flashed to his face, shock in her eyes.
“What did you just say?”
He gazed intently at her. “I suppose it would be more
appropriate to get down on one knee, but I don’t want to drag the train of this
dress on the floor.”
Her mouth gaped.
Pulling a small box from the front pocket of his dress
pants, he flipped the lid with his thumb and presented a ten-carat, pear-shaped
diamond ring to her.
“
Oh
.” Her eyes misted. “That is absolutely
breathtaking, Drake.”
“It’ll look even better on your finger.”
She gathered up the dress and carefully nestled it back in
the billows of tissue. Drake took the ring from its velvet holder and placed it
on Shana’s finger.
“You will marry me, right?” he asked, because she hadn’t yet
said yes.
Fat teardrops crested the rims of her eyes and trickled down
her cheeks.
“I want to spend the rest of your life with you,” he told
her. How he’d survive it when she passed, he had no idea, but that wasn’t
something he allowed himself to dwell on. They hadn’t discussed making her a
vampire and he assumed it was an unspoken agreement that she would remain
human.
But then her gaze lifted from the ring on her finger and met
his. “I want to spend an eternity with you.”
His breath caught. “Forever?”
“And ever and ever.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tight. She
circled his neck with her own arms and relief washed over him. He’d never have
to give her up. He’d never have to be without her.
“Would you look at the size of that rock!” Yvette’s voice
filled the room as she reached for Shana’s hand and inspected the ring…until
Shana detangled herself from Drake and threw her arms around Yvette.
“Oh my God!” she shrieked. “I can’t believe you’re here!”
Beside them, Finn said, “Drake told us it’d either be a
surprise wedding or a night of drowning his sorrows in a case of Cristal.”
Releasing Yvette, Shana gave Finn a quick welcome hug and
then turned back to Drake. “As if I’d say no.”
More tears of obvious joy streamed down her cheeks.
“Now, Shana,” Jane said as she yanked a paper towel from the
holder on the counter. “If you keep crying, you’re going to end up with red,
puffy eyes and that just won’t do in your wedding photos.”
She clamped a shaky hand over her mouth, as though holding
back a shriek of delight at the idea of wedding photos. At the idea of a
wedding. Her wedding.
Drake could hardly contain his own excitement. He welcomed
Yvette and Finn and then popped the corks on three bottles of champagne while
Jane filled the chillers with ice.
The doorbell rang once more and Shana laughed. “Finally, the
lobsters.”
“An entire feast, actually,” Drake said. “Along with a
florist, a photographer, a videographer, a wedding decorator and a guitarist.”
“Hope you remembered the officiant,” Jane said.
“Of course.”
Shock crossed Shana’s face again. “You planned our
entire
wedding?”
“We even have cake. Compliments of Yvette and Finn.”
“Unbelievable,” she said on an exhilarated breath. “Most men
can’t be bothered with any of this.”
“Well,” he said as he pulled her back into his arms. “I’m
not like most men, am I?”
“No, you are not.” She beamed up at him. “You are most
definitely one of a kind. That’s why I love you so much.”
His grin was a devilish one, he knew. “I thought it was my
mammoth—”
“Drake!” Pink tinted her cheeks as she swatted playfully at
him.
He laughed, then let go of her. “Upstairs, love. Let your
bridesmaids fuss over you. The best man and I have some drinking to do.”
“You realize you’ve completely put me to shame,” Finn
lamented as Jane went off to answer the door again and Shana and Yvette headed
upstairs with her new dress. “I’ll never be able to top this with Yvette.”
“She wouldn’t want you to plan your wedding,” Drake said.
“Something tells me it would need to be social event of the season, and that
requires a legion of expensive wedding coordinators pulling rabbits out of
their hats to meet ridiculously impossible expectations.”
“I have so much to look forward to,” Finn deadpanned.
Drake raised his glass to his friend. “You’ll jump through
every hoop they ask you to so Yvette gets the wedding of her dreams. Trust me
on this one.”
“Yeah, that ring you gave Shana is something else. And the
dress… That alone probably costs as much as my BMW.”
“Not quite. But even if it had… What could I do but have it
designed for her? She’s wanted to wear it since she was fourteen. Of course I
had to give it to her.”
“You’re a good man, Drake.”
He even felt like one, with Shana. But there was no denying
he was glad to be a vampire so he’d have more than a mortal lifespan to share
with her.
“Thank you for coming,” he said to Finn. “I consider you a
good friend and it means a lot to me that you’ll stand beside me tonight.”
“I expect you to return the favor.”
“Certainly. If you ever get around to proposing to Yvette.”
Finn sipped his champagne and then said, “Something tells me
it’ll be inescapable after this evening.”
“And you’ll be damn glad, won’t you?”
Finn smiled. “To wake up every morning next to that
firecracker? You’d better believe it.”
When Yvette and Jane were done with her hair and makeup,
Shana stood in front of the full-length mirror in her and Drake’s master suite
and willed herself not to gnaw her crimson-colored lips as Jane deftly fastened
the buttons that started at her hips and ran up to the middle of her back. The
lace dipped a bit lower there than it did in the front, though the rounded tops
of her breasts crested the scalloped edges of the bodice.
“All done,” Jane said, and Shana breathed a sigh of relief.
It fit.
“You look sensational,” Yvette said in genuine awe. “That
dress was meant for your figure. It’s a perfect fit and so very beautiful.”
“You’re stunning,” Jane told her. “Drake will be on his
knees, thanking you profusely for saying ‘yes’. That’s if he can even breathe.”
She smiled at her friends. “Thank you, both. I am so lucky to
know you and it makes me want to cry that you’d come all the way here to share
this with me.”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Yvette assured her as she
gently squeezed Shana’s hand. “I just can’t imagine how I’m going to live up to
this spectacular vision before me if Finn and I ever get married. You’re
seriously going to blow Drake’s mind.”
She flushed over the compliments, but accepted them
graciously. They’d both proven to her that she needed to stop all of her
internal obsessing and accept who she was and how she looked. So much so, she’d
taken to writing about her experiences, her painful past and her new outlook on
life, along with everything she’d learned about her heritage. The reception of
her online postings to her web community had been overwhelmingly positive and
also therapeutic. She only wished she could help Jane with what ailed her. She
hoped that her and Yvette being her friends provided at least some relief to
the longing for human contact Jane feared indulging in because she didn’t fully
trust herself.
Staring at herself in the mirror, Shana had to admit she
looked exactly as she’d always hoped she would on her wedding day. Deliriously
happy and radiant. What more could a girl ask for?
Except…she’d gotten more out of the deal than what she’d
dreamed of in her youth.
She had three earnest friends wanting to stand by her side.
She had a renewed connection with her family. And she had the sexiest, sweetest
man-vampire-fiancé waiting downstairs to marry her.
She had everything she’d always wanted and so much more.
Fighting back another wave of tears, she said, “I could
stand here all night and admire this gorgeous gown, or…I could go get married.”
Jane laughed. “Trust me, there will be plenty of photos for
you to admire the dress to your heart’s content.”
“Please,” Shana scoffed. “I’ll be wearing it twice a week
for dinner, I’m sure.”
“Drake will appreciate that,” Yvette said. “Though I
guarantee he’ll get his money’s worth when you walk downstairs.”
“Indeed,” Jane chimed in. “Let’s go marry you off,
Cinderella.”
She lifted Shana’s train and followed her out of the room.
Yvette had brought the bouquets upstairs. All three were perfectly round
sculptures made of red roses and tied with shimmery, sheer ribbon. Shana wore
no jewelry other than her new ring and a pair of diamond studs, not wanting
anything to detract from the dress. Her long hair was styled in plump curls and
secured away from her face with diamond-encrusted clips Jane gave her as a
wedding gift. The strands cascaded down her back, revealing the shoulders left
bare by the cut of the bodice.