Star of His Heart - Brenda Jackson [66]
“Yes. As soon as it can be arranged, we’ll marry the Christian way.”
Netherland lifted her brow. “Is there supposed to be another way?”
“Yes, the Indian way. The way we’ll do tonight.”
His fingers, she couldn’t help but notice, left her back and slid beneath the hem of her skirt and softly stroked her bare thigh.
“Marry? The Indian way? Tonight?” she whispered thickly, not sure if her voice had emitted the words loud enough for him to hear them.
“Yes. The ritual calls for the joining of our two souls, our two spirits and our two hearts into one. It will be just you and me, speaking words committing our lives together and to each other. To the Cherokee Nation our union tonight will be just as binding as any other because it will come straight from the heart. Our hearts.”
She nodded, not capable of speaking, especially when his fingers continued to stroke her thigh. She felt an immediate sense of loss when he pulled his hand from under her skirt and reached out to her.
“Give me your hand.”
He placed a beautiful leather band with studded diamonds around her wrist, then took her hands in his. She felt the strength of his hand enveloping hers. Then he closed his eyes and began softly chanting some sort of Indian song. When he finished, he opened his eyes, and their gazes locked.
“Netherland,” he began in a hoarse voice, a voice that she could tell was thick with emotion. “Since the moment I first laid eyes on you, I wanted you. You are my soul, the very essence of my being. You are my kindred spirit, my mate. Heaven and earth may one day pass away but my love for you will last forever. I will honor this vow I make to you, a promise and pledge on the graves of all Cherokee warriors before me. I will be a good father to the children we will have together, honoring you as their mother and as my wife, my woman. To love and to protect you. I commit myself to you and no matter where I go, you will always be here,” he said, placing their joined hands over his heart. “For always.”
“Ashton.” Netherland’s voice trembled as tears clouded her eyes. She felt the rapid beating of his heart beneath their joined hands. His words had touched her deeply as he pledged his life and his love to her. “I didn’t want to love you,” she said softly. “I didn’t want to be a part of your life, and I didn’t want you to be a part of mine but I discovered the more I fought against you, the more I wanted you and was drawn to you.”
She leaned in closer to him. “I love you, Ashton, with all my heart and with all my soul. I want to share your dreams but more importantly, I want to be a part of them. I hope everything in your visions comes true, and because of you I believe that miracles are possible. Because of you I believe in love. And from this moment on I surrender. I surrender all to you—my heart, my body and my soul.”
“Netherland,” Ashton murmured as he released her hands, bent his head and pulled her closer into his arms. Before she could take her next breath, he captured her mouth with his in a kiss that was long, slow and deep, seeping heat from her lips to his. Their tongues mated, crazed with passion, driven with need.
Netherland suddenly broke off the kiss. Gripping Ashton’s shoulders and tilting her body sideways, she tumbled them onto the floor. For a brief few moments they lay side by side, gazing at each other as they tried to get their rising passion under control. She then shifted to her knees over him. “Make love to me, Ashton. Make me yours completely,” she whispered sensuously and at the same time reaching down and sliding the palms of her hands up his shoulders.
With lightning speed Ashton hooked his arms around her waist and scooped her off the floor with him. He held her tightly, enfolded in his arms as he carried her into the bedroom. Once there he gently placed her on the bed and stood back and looked at her, inhaling her sensuous scent.