A Creed in Stone Creek - Linda Lael Miller [132]
They still had crepe-paper streamers to hang in the reception hall, and folding chairs to set up, and programs to fold for the special service preceding the wedding itself. There was simply no time to waste.
Steven caressed her.
Melissa moaned. “Steven Creed,” she murmured.
“What, Melissa Creed?” he asked.
“You know damn well I can’t resist you when you do that—”
He chuckled, the sound throaty and innately masculine, and kissed her neck. And he intensified his efforts.
“Think of it this way,” he murmured, against her flesh, already kissing his way down her body. “You’ll be glowing with—happiness—”
Melissa groaned. “Steven—”
He kissed her belly, one hand playing gently with her breast, the other parting her, preparing her for pleasure.
“Do you want me to stop?” he asked.
Melissa’s back arched slightly as he worked her with easy circles of his fingertips. “I’ll—be—late—” she protested, forestalling the inevitable. When it came to sex, her husband always got his way, and she always wound up glad he had. Still.
“Melissa?”
“What?”
“Do you want me to stop?”
Melissa swallowed and finally gave in. “No,” she gasped. “Damn you, no.”
Steven chuckled at that, and went on about his business, and five long minutes later, Melissa was in the throes of a glorious orgasm, the first of several.
ELVIS WAS SPORTING a little kerchief, made to resemble a tuxedo front, and his coat gleamed with a recent grooming. Byron Cahill, the dog’s fast friend, crouched beside him, stroking his ears, offering encouragement. Matt was nearby, too—during the ride to town, he’d beamed up at Melissa and said, “Now Tessa and Tom will be a family, like us!”
And her heart had melted into a warm pool of love for the earnest little boy, the one she already loved as completely as if she’d borne him herself.
Now, Melissa smiled. Only in Stone Creek, Arizona, would a dog serve as best man at a formal wedding.
“I hope you made sure he’s—comfortable,” Melissa said to Byron, who was now a fixture at the animal shelter and also training as a veterinary assistant, under Olivia’s guidance. She saw him practically every day, now that she was working for her sister’s foundation.
Byron flashed a grin at Melissa as he stood. “We were just outside, weren’t we, Elvis?” he said.
Andrea came to his side, and he slipped an arm around her, squeezed. Since Melissa had finished out her term as county prosecutor and declined to run for a second one, the office was held by a seasoned attorney from over in Indian Rock, and Andrea worked for him now.
Tom appeared, wearing a real tux, fiddling with his string tie. He was clearly nervous, and glanced down at Elvis, who seemed eager to take their places in front of the altar and wait for the wedding march to begin.
“Relax,” Melissa counseled, fixing her friend’s tie for him and then kissing his cheek. “The fuss will be over soon, and you’ll get to spend the rest of your life loving Tessa.”
The sheriff’s face lit up at the reminder. “Thanks,” he said.
Melissa turned him bodily in the right direction and gave him a little push. Tessa, resplendent in her wedding dress, was already on her mark in the church’s entryway, on the arm of her brother, Olivia’s husband, Tanner, who would give the bride away.
“Go,” Melissa ordered.
Tom looked back at her, then down at Elvis. He grinned.
“Showtime,” he said.
ISBN: 978-1-4268-8769-7
A CREED IN STONE CREEK
Copyright © 2011 by Linda Lael Miller
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher, Harlequin Enterprises Limited, 225 Duncan Mill Road, Don Mills, Ontario M3B 3K9, Canada.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,