The Ghost of The Lightner Museum

Chapter Forty Five

Slipping on violet satin gloves that went up to my elbows, I silently focused on settling my hard breathing and the tingles spreading from my fingertips. The evening grew more golden outside the second floor window behind lacy cream curtains, seagulls flying by with their musical calls.

Footsteps came up the stairs behind me, yet I didn't turn. The setting sun outside the window enraptured my eyes with a sense of deep sadness. Why did my spirit feel as if it would be the last one? We were running from fate. We had train tickets, bound for a new life, free from the past.

And yet...tonight felt like the night. My heart told me it had to be. It must be.

"God...damn." Aaron's husky voice crept up behind me, breathing warmly against the nape of my neck, hands wrapping around my waist and drawing me back against the curve of his body, "You'll be the death of me, Charlotte. I'm going to have to fight every man who even looks in your direction tonight."

The color drained from my face at his choice of words. Of course, I knew he enjoyed teasing me, but I couldn't tell if he realized how that statement came out.

Probably not.

I smiled and settled my head against him while his lips left featherlite attention and care to my neck and jaw. His slender hands, his lean and exact painter's fingers felt up the curves of my body as if forming a masterpiece by memory, studying every angle and plane.

"I wish we could just stay here." I suggested softly, turning partly in his arms to lift my green eyes to his shining pools of gold, "Why must we go? Let's just leave now, baby."

His soft, sculpted lips curved at the corner, exuding his prominent cheek bones and dimples. I blinked at how handsome he looked, so dressed up in his refined, pressed black and white tuxedo with a midnight black neck cloth, and yet still boyish with his sun-kissed, russet, wild hair that swept hoydenly about in waves and just above his eyes, his deeply tanned skin that reflected his love of the sea...he would always look untamed no matter how hard he tried.

"I know you are anxious. I know you may be even a little frightened, but my sweet, little, wife, please trust me. This night means so much to me for so many different reasons. I need you by my side. You're my anchor. I want to share this moment with you." He clasped my chin with his thumb and forefinger with only the barest of pressure, lifting it before softly stroking his thumb across my lips. "I love you, Charlotte. Do it for me, baby."

I smiled with my lips, my eyes and my cheeks, soaking up his words and his adorable modern endearment with a sweetness that engulfed me in honey warmth. My heart was like a sponge for his love and I knew I would follow him anywhere. Even off a tower.

I leaned up in my violet satin heels and golden ballgown to kiss his cheek, yet he clasped my face and showed me he would much rather kiss my mouth. My insides turned into sumptuous pudding, my hands slid up and into his tawny hair. A soft low sound of approval came from his chest, igniting fresh kindling within my stomach. His hands formed to my frame, venturing down, cupping my romp in a fistful of silk. His tongue caressed my own and he breathed with languid indulgence, his hands subtly gripping me tighter.

When he eased back, his hunger-filled eyes captured mine with a bright intensity, a glimmer of questioning inside their depths. I nodded silently, my lashes lowering, my own gaze traveling back down to his lips and already craving his kiss again.

"Alright. Yes, of course. I know how important this is to you." My voice betrayed me in shaky nerves, but his immediate smile full of love and summer shine had me smiling back. He suddenly stepped away from me, dropping his arms and leaving a void emptiness in his wake.