Chapter 17 - Dawn Over the Harbor
The winter dawn broke over Boston Harbor with a breathtaking, theatrical brilliance. The rising sun pierced through the crisp, freezing air, painting the sky in vibrant streaks of amber, violet, and pale rose, casting long golden shadows across the snow-covered piers and the dark, churning waters of Berth 14.
Inside the penthouse suite, the world was utterly still.
Tessa stirred from a deep, peaceful sleep, feeling the warm, immovable weight of Rafe’s arm draped securely across her waist. She opened her eyes, watching the golden light creep slowly across the hardwood floor and warm the heavy Persian rug near the foot of the bed.
On the bedside table, catching the first direct ray of morning sunlight, the platinum ring on her left hand flared with a brilliant, diamond-hard spark.
Rafe stirred beside her, his dark eyelashes fluttering open as his gray eyes adjusted to the morning light. He looked down at her with an expression of such raw, unfiltered devotion that it took her breath away, just as it had on the very first day they met in the chaos of the emergency room.
“Good morning, Dr. Bennett,” Rafe murmured, his voice thick with sleep and absolute contentment.
“Good morning, Mr. Calder,” Tessa replied, sliding her hand up his chest to rest over his heart, feeling the steady, powerful rhythm beneath his skin. “Are you planning to stay in bed all day, or do we have a wedding to quietly ignore until Liam tries to plan a parade?”
Rafe let out a rich, rumbling laugh, pulling her flush against him so there was not a single inch of space left between their bodies.
“The parade can wait,” Rafe whispered against her lips, his gray eyes shining with an intensity that promised a lifetime of unyielding love. “Right now, I have the only thing that ever truly mattered.”
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“Forever, Rafe,” she whispered, leaning up to meet his lips in a tender, lingering kiss.
“Forever, Tessa,” he answered softly, as the brilliant golden light of their new beginning flooded the room, sealing their story in a peace that nothing in this world could ever break.
