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“Oh Alexis” she cried kissing him again.
“I thought I had lost you…….I was so miserable” she had muttered her kisses trailing over his face, eyes and cheeks as her hands cupped him, till with a groan of want he had rolled over, pulling her with him until she was straddled over him. Then he had captured her mouth with his, his kiss long and languorous as they had both once more lost themselves in the need for the other.
This time they had slowly, not frantically as the first time. Their hands and mouths fully exploring the other, driving each other to the brink before pulling back, both knowing exactly how to touch and excite the other. Finally he had pulled her once more over him as she had taken him deep within her and together they had driven the other to the ultimate place. Darkness had momentarily taken Tessa with the intensity of her , as he had held her whispering love for her as she did him. The moment was wonderful as they both knew they were each other’s and only each other’s.
Finally they had lain together spent and satiated, so content to be where they were. It was Tessa who had first broken the silence as she had frowned moving from the crook of his arm to pull herself up so that she could look into his face.
“How did you find me?”
She asked, seeing as he has smiled softly.
“When you hung up on me Tess, I didn’t know what to do………I was in France…..thousands of miles away”, he had reached out a hand to gently stroke her hair.
“I caught the first flight I could get back home” his face scrunching up with distaste.
“I even had to fly economy” he had said, as she had laughed throwing her hand over her eyes dramatically.
“Oh no!!!!!” she had mocked as he had laughed.
“Well if that doesn’t tell you how much I love you………..” he had let the sentence trail off as she had given him a soft kiss, her eyes bright and happy.
Pulling her back he had grinned, determined to continue his story.
“Anyway, when I got in I went straight over to your grandfather’s….. when he found out you had broken the contract he was only too happy to help me, gave me all the information he had, and by the way he was less than happy with you” he had added, giving a small laugh.
“But you will be glad to know that he offered me Marcie again” looking mischievously at her.
“Might have to take him up on that offer one day”
Laughing as she had smacked him playfully.
“He told me that the only person he could imagine you running off to was to your Aunt, Maggie Spiers, I don’t think he likes her very much” he had added.
“So obviously I thought she couldn’t be all that bad” hearing as Tessa had giggled.
“He didn’t tell me of her relationship with Andrew though” she had heard the tinge of anger in his voice, as he had looked up at her, his face suddenly so serious.
“I have a confession to make” he had said gently.
“After losing our……..” his voice had broken slightly as she had moved her hand to gently stroke his cheek both pulling strength from the other, both seeing the momentary look of pain cross the other’s eyes.
“I knew that we had to get rid of your grandfather from our lives, that whatever he had on you…..had to stop. So I had Andrew investigated” he said, with a small mirthless laugh adding,
“Guess I should have asked my detective for a family check too”
Tessa had looked at him her eyes wide with surprise.
“You did?”
Nodding he had looked nervously back.
“He found out everything, and I gave him new instructions…….to find your cousin’s embezzler”
Tessa had gasped.
“Are you telling me that it is because of you that he was caught”
She had seen as he had nodded again.
“They found him last week and he was arrested………..but I insisted that my involvement be kept out of it. It was important to me that you were able to decide without feeling obliged in any way”
Tessa’s eyes shone brightly.
“You did all that for me?” she had muttered gently dropping her head to kiss his mouth again.
However he had gently pulled her back determined to finish.
“At the hospital Tess, I was heartbroken and I knew you were hurting too, and I wanted to be with you so much, but with Andrew hanging over us…..”
He had paused for a second his voice becoming stronger.
I wanted you free from your grandfather’s blackmail……….and I needed you to see how much I loved you…….to see that if you turned your back on this man, that perhaps one day you could love me”
She had seen the small hurt on his face.
“As much as I wanted you with me ……….. I knew that I needed us to be a real husband and wife…. that it had to be a choice you made of your own free will”
Tessa had looked down at Alexis, the love she had for him glowing in her features.
“Oh Alexis……….I love you so much………..I have for so long……… I wanted to tell you, it was tearing me apart not to……….and then when you kept me at a distance……….I thought you hated me, and that was worse”
She had heard him groan.
“No………every day apart was torture……..but I knew that when we next talked……..it had to be sorted, you had to be able to make your own choices, not those of your grandfathers….and then when you left”
His voice had cracked slightly.
“I felt broken Tess…………I had planned on coming home the following week when everything would have been sorted…….and then you were gone, you left me, and I knew I had to find you……….talk to you”
Moving his hand to cup her face, his fingers gently stroked her jaw raising small shivers throughout her body.
“I had come planning to beg you to give us another chance, to tell you how much I loved you, and that I knew that you could learn to love me instead of him. When I turned that corner and saw you in his arms Tessa, I wanted to kill him”
Tessa had chuckled softly.
“Poor Andrew, he is the gentlest person in the world Alexis, he really isn’t used to being called out……..especially by very angry husbands of his cousin”
Alexis had groaned softly.
“Not the best impression to make on the family who actually care for you. I don’t think they are going to forgive me”
Tessa had smiled softly, her eyes taking on a sad tinge as memories of her past had flooded in on her.
“They will, they are good people Alexis” looking down into his eye, she had slowly moved to nuzzle into him. She had felt his arm move around her to hold her within his embrace, for the first time starting to talk about herself, as though she needed him to see the difference between Maggie and John.
“My father was Maggie’s younger brother. He loved my mother very much” she had began.
“They had planned to marry, when he was killed by a drunk driver. It devastated my mother, and she was never really the same again” the pain was clear in her voice as he had pulled her in closer still, gently kissing the top of her head.
“She did her best Alexis to bring me up………..but she was not strong enough to stand up to my grandfather. Maggie tried to help her, she was always there for her, and she understood… she really did. When my mother died, she had left a will stating that she wanted my Aunt Maggie to raise me, my grandfather was furious. I guess he saw me as another pawn to use in later life….. like Marcie.” She had felt Alexis shake his head below her.
“You would never be like that Tessa, never”
She had smiled.
“Maybe…. John tried bullying Maggie…….but she is as tough as he is” chuckling she had continued.
“He met his match in her, and he was not very happy. But thanks to my mother not wanting me to grow up as she had………. I grew up with Maggie from when I was 10, and I was happy. I had Maggie and Andrew…and I owed them so much. When I found him ready to kill himself……”
Alexis had gasped.
“Kill himself?”
Tessa had nodded softly telling him of that day, the day before they had met, and begging him not to ever repeat it.
“I was prepared to do anything ……..anything to save him and his family”
Alexis had held her tight, finally seeing why she had gone through with the marriage to him and loving her even more for her loyalty to those she loved.
With another groan he had murmured.
“And I go and threaten him and make an idiot of myself”
Tessa had pulled herself up again, her eyes smiling once more.
