The Convenient Wife
by Kelly

chapter 28

"I told you that I was past denying this thing between us. It's real.
It's here. You feel it, too."

He stared into her eyes, daring her to contradict what he'd said. All
the while knowing that just like the last time they'd made love…she
couldn't refuse him. That wasn't his ego talking. It was just that
what they had was elemental…basic. She couldn't walk away from it any
more than he could.

He'd always hated needing anyone.

So he'd pushed his need deep within him…so far down that no one—not
Carly not even he, himself—could reach it. He'd called Alexis "just
sex" and "a one night stand" to distance his heart from the searing
pain of her loss. But just like that she'd been forced back into his
world. And just like that he couldn't lie anymore. He wasn't willing
to spend another night longing for the feel of her skin against his.

He needed her.

Sonny breathed in deeply and steadied himself. She was like a chess
game, and he was going for victory. He had to thinking strategically,
two or three steps ahead. Had to plan the moves that would be
guaranteed to make her come apart in his arms. Plan a match that
would ultimately win him his queen.

Now he upped the ante. He lifted his arms and peeled the tee shirt
from his muscled chest. Then he tossed it to the floor without ever
breaking eye contact with her.

Her move.

He waited.

And he hoped.

And he breathed.

Finally she answered his unspoken demand.

Her hands found the lapels of her robe, sliding its satiny fabric
from her body till it lay in a diaphanous pool at her feet. And his
eyes fastened hungrily on her long, sinuous form clad only in a
clinging black nightgown. The scrap of cloth did much for his libido
but little for his patience.

His move. Most definitely now his move.

He reached for the string that would loosen the cotton pajama pants
slung low on his hips, but found her hands atop his, stilling his
action. She gave him a smile at once suggestive and regal, unique to
Alexis. It went straight to his soul.

"Let me do that," she whispered, and slowly—oh, so slowly--she
divested him of the offending cotton garment, leaving him standing
before her on shaky knees in silk boxers.

Checkmate for Alexis.

He was trying hard to control his breathing now. Emboldened by the
graceful way she had stripped him of his clothing, he reached for the
delicate straps of her nightgown. He stroked them off her shoulders
almost reverently as memories came rushing back to him.

"It's almost like the slip you wore…that night," he murmured.

Her eyes lifted to his, startled, and he cursed himself for bringing
up the past.

"You remember?" she whispered.

"I remember everything," he assured her softly, leaning across to run
his mouth across her shoulder in a heady caress. "The way you
undressed for me. The way you held my hand. The way your mouth felt
on my skin. Some nights I remember everything until I ache."

His hands found her waist and he felt her breath hitch and then
release on a soft, sweet sigh. "A thousand reasons…" she whispered.

"Hmm?" He lifted his head.

"I had a thousand reasons why I should never make love with you
again," she whispered honestly. "And you just wiped them all out of
my head by bringing up that damn slip I wore. What are you doing to
me?"

He pulled her to him by her waist, and stared into her eyes,
unblinking. "Whatever you want me to."

"With my body, I thee worship…"

The words from the wedding ceremony whispered to him. And that was
what he intended to do this night. Worship her with all that he was…
answer her every request until she was mindless with need.

So the dance…as if choreographed by some unseen hand… began again.

Gently, he held her to him.

Sweetly, he nibbled at her mouth until she opened to him, and then
took her in a kiss that filled his senses with the taste and scent of
Alexis.

Tenderly, he swept her high into his arms, cradling her against his
chest, and carried her into the bedroom.

Softly, he lay her against the down pillows of her bed.

And slowly…inch by glorious inch…minute by endless minute…the night
grew hot and became an amalgam of touch, as he loved her exquisitely.
As he slowly and torturously traveled a path across her body… as he
traced the fine line of her collarbone with his fingertips and
followed them with his tongue…as he anointed her with warm, wet
kisses at the base of her throat…and on the satin of her thighs…as he
relearned by touch the details that had lived only in memory for so
long.

Trembling with the power of his passion, he slid against her and was
consumed by her heat.

His words were hushed whispers in Spanish sweet and soft against her
skin…words of love that he couldn't share in any other way. And words
of thanks to God for giving him a second chance.

***

"Justus Ward."

"Please tell your clients to bring their marriage license and any
other relevant documents to an emergency hearing Thursday at ten."

"That's three days away, Lansing!"

"Whine to the Judge. She approved it."

"What's this about, Ric?"

"We're challenging the validity of the marriage, Mr. Ward. You knew
we would. So come ready to defend your clients."

"Why are you doing this? Is what's between you and Sonny so deep
you'd hurt Alexis in the bargain?"

"I'm doing my job, Justus. And I will continue to do it. Just be
ready or the newlyweds will both be seeing the inside of a jailhouse."

chapter 29