Alyssa took a deep breath and met his gaze. Her usually self-assured expression was gone. She looked shaken, anxious. Was she worried he’d discover her lie?
Tamping down the ironic smile, he took her hands in his at the justice’s prompting. The older man paused and sent him a weighty stare.
“Kiss your bride.”
Now, this was something he’d been waiting for since she’d suddenly reappeared in his life last Saturday. Since that moment, they’d talked wedding details by phone and e-mail, the tone infuriatingly businesslike. Earlier this week, he’d had to take a damn PR trip to New York and hadn’t returned to Lafayette until yesterday. The simple ceremony hadn’t required a rehearsal, so he’d arranged a quiet dinner with his parents last night so they could meet her. He hadn’t been alone with Alyssa for a single minute this week. He hadn’t touched her since that disastrous night in her bedroom above the club.
He was dying to kiss her.
Luc cupped her face and leaned in. Alyssa clamped her hands around his waist, as if he were her anchor, and waited, breathless. Slowly, he pressed his lips to hers. Soft, a brush. A shared sigh. He lingered, slanting his mouth over hers again, a firmer press. Hunger crashed through him, sharp, fresh, demanding. Beneath him, Alyssa went pliant and opened to him. Luc was so tempted to sink deep into her, drown, guests be damned.
Later. Now was about their first kiss as husband and wife with family and friends looking on. Later, she’d understand exactly what he wanted from her and how badly he wanted it.
After savoring the meeting of their mouths a moment more, Luc eased back and stared down into her flushed, golden face. She sent him a nervous, tentative smile.
“Ladies and gentleman,” the justice said. “Mr. and Mrs. Lucas Traverson.”
Their guests politely clapped as the couple walked back down the aisle. Jack Cole reached out to shake his hand. Kimber kissed his cheek, whispering, “Be happy.” Sadie hugged Alyssa. Tyler still scowled.
The photographer, a friend of Luc’s, awaited them. He snapped a few pictures, posed them close together. Something greedy leapt inside Luc when the man suggested they kiss again so he could get a shot.
Restraining himself this time proved more difficult. The first taste had merely whetted his appetite, made the hungry beast inside him roar to life. Whatever lay between them, this—touching her— was always gripping and exquisite. To have the right to do it whenever he wished was heady.
The rest of the luncheon passed in quiet festivity. They cut the cake he’d made early this morning. Simple and all white fondant with beads of frosting decorating the edge of each of the three stacked tiers. White ribbons of fondant ran along the sides, so it resembled an elegant package. Fresh flowers circled the cake on the pristine white tablecloth.
He and Alyssa hadn’t talked specifics after he’d volunteered to handle this part of the reception. Now Luc was oddly nervous that she’d had something else in mind.
“You made this?” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “It’s gorgeous.”
“Amaretto with Swiss buttercream filling. I hope you like it.”
Together they cut the cake, and flashbulbs went off. Gently, he fed her a piece and she moaned, to his satisfaction. Then, with shaking fingers, she fed him as well. The desire inside him surged, tearing at his restraint.
Luc was still grappling for self-control when Deke rose and toasted them. “After one of the most inauspicious meetings, you’ve elected to share a future that I hope will be filled with love and all the best life has to offer. Congratulations.”
Holding her sparkling water, Alyssa leaned to him. “He couldn’t possibly have written that on his own.”
Luc laughed for the first time today. “I’m sure Kimber helped.”
Then Sadie rose to make her own toast. “To a great boss, friend, and human being, who’s always there for her employees, whether that’s lending a shoulder to cry on or a helping hand. You deserve great happiness. Luc, I haven’t known you long, but I’m hoping you’ll be a strong, positive force in her life and will love her as she is. To a long and happy life together.”
Moments later, the soft instrumental music he’d chosen sounded over the restaurant’s speakers. Luc rose and extended his hand to Alyssa. She bounced a surprised gaze up to him.
“Dance?”
She bit her lip, then stood. The guests were dead silent as they watched him take her in his arms. She felt good against him, too good. Hunger kicked up another notch, and Luc buried his face in her neck. Her peaches and cinnamon scent mixed with a light perfume, driving him mad with the need to hold her, strip her, take her.
“I thought the ceremony was lovely,” she murmured. “I’m sorry . . . I’m sure your parents would have preferred a fancier wedding.”
One that wasn’t rushed, in which the bride wasn’t a pregnant stripper—Luc heard regret in her voice. He lifted her chin with his finger. “They want whatever makes me happy. Proposing was my choice, and I don’t regret it. Sadie wants us to have a long and happy life together. Let’s start it by looking forward, not back.”
LUC’S earlier words on the dance floor echoed in her head. Could they really look forward without the past coming back to haunt them?
“What am I doing?” Alyssa asked aloud as Sadie helped her out of her wedding gown in Bonheur’s bathroom.
“You asked me this question when you were putting on your wedding dress earlier. The answer is still the same.”
“I know I’m providing a more stable home for this baby.” She sighed into her hands, regret crashing through her. “But I’m going to fall for Luc completely and utterly, and I’ll never be more to him than the great lay whose egg happened to meet his sperm.”
“You don’t know that. When he looks at you, I see something more.”
“Annoyance?”
She knew that wasn’t true, but she didn’t understand why he’d married her. She’d been perfectly willing to allow him whatever parental rights he wanted. Luc had given her some reasons for the wedding . . . but they all benefited her. What was in it for him?
And the uncertainty on his parents’ faces concerned her. It wasn’t disapproval . . . yet. But what if that came? What if her job, her life, her past, became a bone of contention between Luc and his family? Or between Luc and herself? There was a whole lot about her he didn’t know. And God willing, he never would.
Sadie shook her head. “Annoyance, no. Serious lust, totally. But I think it’s even more.”
Alyssa was afraid to hope that Luc had genuine feelings for her. Pushing it aside, she stepped out of her wedding dress, then turned her back to Sadie. “Can you take this off?”
Her friend hesitated. “No. That white corset is hot! You’ll knock Luc dead with it.”
Biting her lip, Alyssa wondered if that was a good thing. She’d tasted the desire in his kiss, felt a surge of her own. Hell, she did whenever he was in the same room. In the same zip code. But they had to start building their marriage on something more than sex and the coming child. They couldn’t do that if he kept seeing her as a stripper.
“I’d rather not.”