Chapter 17
The Wellington Chamber of Commerce dinner was lovely. Spread out across the ballroom of one of the finest hotels in the city, it was free of garish neon uplights and balloon arches. Instead, crystal chandeliers and warm candlelight spun prisms of light across a sea of crisp white tablecloths while tall plinths held flower arrangements in creams and yellows stationed evenly around the room.
As the event’s MC made his closing remarks from the stage, Aleki skirted around the edge of tables filled with business people high on the table wines and their own success, his eyes roaming over the crowd in search of one person.
He finally found her, clad in the black sequin dress from Mae and Luke’s wedding, her stomach swelling slightly under the clingy fabric. The vision socked him in the gut, lust and love and longing all wrapped up in one thick fist that stopped him in his tracks. As he watched, she lowered her head to speak into her small headset, her eyes scanning the room. Even from the shadows her gaze poured over him like warm honey when they locked eyes. He moved towards her, measured steps that masked the wild thump of his heart until he stopped just out of arm's reach.
“Aleki.” Stella sounded out of breath.
“Little star. I have missed you.”
That was all it took. She threw herself into his arms, knocking her headset askew and he revelled in the warm press of her body, the crisp scent of her perfume, the rub of the silken strands along his jawline as he pressed kisses to her hair and forehead.
“I’m so sorry, Aleki. I’m sorry I didn’t believe in you.”
“Hush, little star. I gave you no reason to. I can never forgive myself for undermining your importance to me and I will spend every moment of the rest of our lives making it up to you, if you’ll let me.” Pulling back, he stared down into her shining green eyes. “I love you, Stella Warren. I love you for your strength, your righteousness, your good heart, your clever brain, and everything in between. I love you for giving me the blessing of a child and for giving me yourself without reservations. I am so sorry I could not do the same for you from our beginning. Can you ever forgive me for being too scared to see that what we have is stronger than any of my fears?”
“Of course,” she whispered, pressing her palm against his cheek. “Of course I can. I love you so much, Aleki. I’m so sorry I left.”
“No, my star, you were right to go. You knew you deserved better than I was giving you.”
The music swelled in the background as the band started playing. Tiki Taane’s ‘Always On My Mind’. The hundred dollars he’d flicked the guitarist on his way into the venue had been worth it.
“Will you dance with me, my love?”
“God, yes.”
He led her onto the dancefloor, the thrum of the reggae-based beat washing over him as he finally held the woman he loved in his arms, free of the fear that had dogged him the entirety of his adult life.
“Aleki?” Stella blinked up at him, her eyes huge and lovely under the sparkling lights. “I have something to tell you. I’m taking on a new partner. Jessie is buying into the business. I’m going to be able to do a lot more work remotely, even—” she hesitated slightly “—even from overseas. For at least six months of the year I can live fully in Avali, and then just come back every three to four weeks for the wedding season.”
His body stopped swaying and he clutched her to him tighter. “Are you serious? You did that? For me?”
“For us.” Stella corrected, firmly. “I want us to be a family. We can’t be a family from three thousand kilometres away. Our baby needs their father there for school plays and sports games and scraped knees and to learn about their country and culture.”
“Oh my love,” he sighed into her hair. “My love. You didn’t have to do that.”
“I wanted to. It’s time to give up a little control. Our child isn’t the only one who needs to feel loved, Aleki. You need to feel it too, and that means I need to be there to make sure you do.”
Cradling her face in his hands, Aleki pressed a kiss to her lips, surrendering to their sweetness. Lifting his head, he gazed into her eyes.
“I’ve discussed my role with my father. For the next ten years while he’s still able to rule, my royal duties will be reduced. We’re forming several Parliamentary subcommittees to cover some of my former roles, and I’ve been assigned an ambassador-like role to New Zealand with the sole focus of strengthening relationships between our countries. I was planning on moving here fulltime. If you’re happy to move to Avali, I’ll be able to travel with you and the baby when you come back as part of that official role.”
“Oh!” Stella sighed up at him, her eyes shining with love. “You would sacrifice the time with your people for our family?”
A growl rumbled out of his throat. “I would do anything for you, little star. You are the light of my life, and I will spend every day of our lives proving it to you.”
“Yeah?” Stella pressed the lush curves of her body against him, a playful smirk pulling at her lips. “And what about the nights? Will you spend any of the nights proving it to me?”
His blood heated, swirling down and pulling tight through his groin. “I’ll prove it to you tonight.”
Desire swam in Stella’s gaze. Without breaking eye contact, she pulled at the headset looped around her neck and spoke into the mouthpiece.
“Jessie? Meet me at the ballroom entrance. It’s time for you to take the reins.”
Her delighted laughter floated behind him as he pulled her off the floor and practically dragged her towards the entrance, their fingers linked tightly. After a breathless handover to Jessie, Aleki led his woman to the elevator bank and stabbed at the button for the penthouse.
“You have a room?”
“I do,” he growled, watching the climbing numbers light up the screen.
“That seems presumptuous.”
“Not presumptuous, my love. Desperate, yes. And perhaps optimistic. You have given me the courage to take chances, and this one has paid off.”
She melted into him as soon as the doors closed behind them, their lips locking as he ran his hands down her body, grasping at the lush curves of her ass.
The bell dinged and they stumbled out of the elevator into the penthouse suite, zips and buttons loosening at the speed of light. Finally they tumbled on the bed, skin-to-skin, as he gazed down at her, caramel waves spread across crisp white cotton, like a shining angel that had saved him from his lonely life. Then she moved, sliding one perfect leg up over his hip and he was lost. He plunged into her, eyes rolling back into his head at the warm, perfect fit of her body around his, holding him a prisoner of lust as his body rejoiced in the feeling of coming home. After several long moments he felt her flex around him and he moved, long, slow unhurried drags designed to tease and worship while sensation buzzed at the base of his spine. When Stella’s breath came in sharp, hot pants, he reached down and pressed against the tight bundle of nerves, his lips never leaving her skin, kissing and licking and whispering promises onto the surface of her body where they settled like tattoos. Then she was clenching around him in waves, gripping at the base of him in a perfect clutch of heat while she gasped words of love that flowed over his skin and down his torso, wrapping around him and carrying him over the edge on a tidal wave of desire.
Satisfaction settled over him, a thick golden blanket that wrapped around his body as he pressed a lingering kiss to the lips of his beloved and stroked his hand across the light swell of her stomach where their baby grew.
This is where you belong. This is home.