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Date Posted: 00:52:08 01/29/08 Tue
Author: Hannah
Author Host/IP: port176.dialup.bfree.on.ca / 66.207.116.176
Subject: Northern Woods, Chapter 136
In reply to: Hannah 's message, "Northern Woods" on 00:49:40 01/29/08 Tue

Chapter 136

Nikita hung her new dress on the closet door, leaving the garment bag in place to protect it until she put it on.

“May I see your new dress, Kita?” Michael asked when he walked into the bedroom and saw the bag hanging there.

“No, not yet.” Nikita said with a twitch of her lips as she sat at her dressing table preparing to apply her makeup. “I want to surprise you.” She was determined that he wouldn’t see it until just before she was ready to go downstairs.

Michael smirked at her teasing tone. She looked so beautiful, with her hair swept up in a professionally done cascade of curls as she sat there in her white robe.

“I have something for you to wear with your dress.” Michael said quietly as he sat on the bed behind her.

She turned then, surprised to realize that she hadn’t seen the jeweler’s box in his hand.

“Oh Michael!” she exclaimed. “You didn’t buy me something else did you?”

“I did.” He said firmly as he pulled his love out of her chair and tugged her over to the bed to sit beside him. “I want you to have this Kita. I hope you like it.”

With trembling fingers, Nikita took the midnight blue velvet box from her husband’s hand and carefully opened the hinged lid. The necklace nestling within on turquoise satin was artfully constructed in a simple, but breathtaking design. The elegant item was composed of over a hundred graduated cut diamonds set in platinum and there was a set of matching one carat stud earrings as well.

Michael watched her overwhelmed expression with pure delight.

“Like it?” Nikita stuttered out with a look of total astonishment on her face. “Michael… I don’t know what to say!”

“Say you’ll wear both the necklace and the earrings tonight.” Michael said firmly. “For me, chérie?”

Without a word, Nikita flung her arms around his neck and hugged him fiercely.

Michael smiled and hugged her in return, but his smile turned to a frown when he realized that she was shaking as sobs racked her lithe form.

“Kita?” Michael asked; concern lacing his voice. “What’s wrong, ma douce?”

“I don’t deserve you, Michael.” She sobbed, when he held her away slightly and looked at her beautiful flushed face. “I certainly don’t deserve presents like this!”

“No,” Michael said firmly as he brought his hand up to cup her chin gently and lifted it so that she had no choice but to look in his eyes. Gently, he used his thumbs to wipe away her tears. “No…” he repeated, sensing that she was about to protest further, “you do deserve things like this!”

“Why?” she wondered out loud.

“I’ve told you before, if anyone doesn’t deserve someone, it’s me who doesn’t deserve you. I wasn’t a good person before I met you Kita… I admit it.” Michael said seriously as he continued to gaze at her lovingly.

“What do you mean?” Nikita said, genuinely puzzled as she looked at his handsome face. “You are a good person Michael… I knew that when I met you.”

Michael closed his eyes and sighed. Then he dropped his hand from her chin, suddenly feeling that he was unworthy of the contact.

“Kita, you’re going to meet my friends tonight and the women who I dated before I met you.” he whispered.

“And?” she coaxed him to continue. Sensing his withdrawal, she grabbed his hand and squeezed it slightly.

“If you’d asked any of my friends to describe me two years ago, they would have called me a cynical womanizer.” Michael admitted reluctantly as he opened his eyes once again to take in his bride’s beauty. “And they would have been right.”

“If you acted that way it was because Elena hurt you and you were afraid of being hurt again.” Nikita said insightfully. “That type of reaction’s only natural.”

“Yes, she hurt me, but that doesn’t excuse what I became.” He admitted quietly. “I was not a ‘nice’ man. I know that.”

“What do you mean precisely?” she asked softly.

“I was a philanderer, Kita.” Michael reluctantly admitted. “I’d date one or sometimes two women at once.”

“No. You’re not like that.” Nikita insisted, horrified at the picture he was painting.

“I was like that, mon ange. I never had any intention of marrying any of them.” Michael confessed.

“It doesn’t matter, Michael.” She responded immediately.

“Why would you say that?” Michael said in surprise. “Why would you defend a man like that? I’m not worthy of you, chérie.”

“You let me decide that Michael. From what you’ve told me, you were afraid those women were after your money.” Nikita insisted.

“Yes, I was afraid. And yes, like I told you before, they were all after my money. None of them cared about me. However, that doesn’t excuse the fact that I used them.” Michael said honestly, loving how she rushed to the defense of the man he’d been then. There was no doubt in his mind that man would never have deserved this angel.

“You may have had sex with them Michael, but it sounds like they used you, if you ask me.” Nikita said tenderly. “They were using their bodies to entice you to marry them even though they didn’t love you. I can’t imagine doing that. It’s wrong.”

“And what I did… that doesn’t bother you?” Michael asked in surprise. “I took what they offered even though I didn’t care about them.”

“Of course it does Michael, but you’re not the man you were then. I can’t judge you for what you did before you knew me. I just know you’re not like that now.” Nikita said softly. “I know you love me.”

“I do.” Michael replied as he kissed her delicately and gently brushed her cheek with the tips of his fingers. “You have no idea how much.”

“I know.” She replied and kissed him once again.

“After dealing with Elena” Michael continued with a heartfelt sigh, “the last thing I needed was another woman like her. When I realized that all any of them thought of was my money, I became cynical. I lost respect for any of them and used them. In the process, I lost respect for myself too. Yes, I left Montreal because I missed Adam, but I also came to see what a monster I had become! I was ashamed…. and that’s when I decided to leave Montreal for my cabin.”

“I’m glad you did.” Nikita replied tenderly as she stroked his handsome face and played with his curls. The adoration she felt for him was plainly visible on her sweet face and shining in her sky-blue eyes.

‘Mon Dieu! How did I ever deserve this woman?’ he thought in wonder.

“I was afraid to tell you this before, because I was sure you wouldn’t marry me.” Michael confessed in a soft, almost hesitant voice.

“I would have.” Nikita assured him in a voice that was just as soft. “None of that matters to me.”

Michael smiled slightly as he shook his head in wonder, amazed at her capacity for forgiveness. Then his expression turned serious again as he forced himself to continue.

“The women you’re going to meet tonight are going to do their best to poison your mind against me.”

“They can try, but they won’t succeed.” Nikita said firmly. “You’re the man I love; faults and all.”

“Are you sure chérie?” Michael asked.

“Of course I am. It doesn’t matter to me what you were like before Michael; that’s the past. You’re not like that anymore and I know that.” Nikita insisted firmly. “I think you’re a wonderful man, my love. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have treated me the way you did when we met.”

“How did I treat you?” Michael asked softly as he in turn gently played with a tendril of her hair. He was curious to know her opinion of their first meeting.

“You were so gentle and loving with me Michael… right from the first moment you spoke to me. You treated me like I was made of spun glass… like I was precious.” Nikita said softly as she continued to look at him adoringly. “No one has ever treated me that way.”

“You are precious.” Michael affirmed decisively. “I knew that the moment I saw you.”

“Don’t you see, Michael? If you were the sort of man you think you were” Nikita said with passionate conviction, “you’d never have felt ashamed of your actions before you left Montreal. In fact, it’s doubtful you would have left at all.”

“Adam…” Michael began, only to be firmly cut off by his insistent bride.

“I know… you left because you missed Adam and you were lonely without him. And I understand what you became Michael… but that doesn’t matter anymore.” Nikita insisted.

“But…” Michael began.

“No. You may have acted like a philanderer for a while my love, but if you really were the sort of person you claim you’d become, you would never have felt shame for your actions. And you certainly would never have acted the way you did when you met me. You wouldn’t have seen me as someone who was ‘precious’ either. You would have seen me as someone to take advantage of.” Nikita said firmly.

“I could never see you that way Kita.” Michael said quietly; while he listened intently to her logic.

“I know that Michael. You never acted that way with me and you never will. It’s just not in you. I doubt you ever saw any of your girlfriends that way either. You most likely acted the way you did with them as a defense mechanism; especially when you realized they were pursuing you to get their hands on your money. Besides, a ‘cynical womanizer’ wouldn’t have married a girl like me!” Nikita insisted.

“Oh?” Michael asked, amused now by her fervent argument. “How would a man like that have treated you?”

“He would have either raped me that first night or lied to get me in bed and then left me later.” Nikita said vehemently. “David would have treated me that way and you know I’m right. A man like that certainly wouldn’t have slept with me nude for two nights and never touched me. He wouldn’t have married me either and he certainly wouldn’t have wanted to renew his vows in front of all his friends!”

‘I did touch you… Mon Dieu! I wanted you so much it was torture resisting you! I’m so glad you don’t realize that!’ Michael thought as he gazed lovingly at his bride. ‘If you’d known what I did that night you likely would have smacked my face and I would have deserved it!’

“David was a fool… and anyone who treated you that way would be too.” Michael said quietly; still not convinced.

“I also think you’re being too hard on yourself. You may have acted poorly before we met Michael, but I really doubt you’ve ever been anything but a good man.” Nikita said decisively.

“How can you be so sure?” Michael asked, curious as to where her logic would go now.

“I know because I know who you are inside, Michael. You’re a good and decent man, my love. I love you and I believe in you. And your love is all I need. You don’t need to buy me things like this.” Nikita said firmly, looking down at the velvet box that was resting on the bed beside her hand. “It’s beautiful… and expensive….”

Michael smiled slightly, while his heart soared with joy.

‘Mon Dieu, merci pour cette femme!’ he thought as gratitude for meeting his wife infused his soul.

Silently, he picked up the velvet box from it’s resting place on their bed, while Nikita watched his actions in wide-eyed wonder. Michael removed the necklace from it’s nesting place and gently fastened it around her neck. Then, he carefully put the earrings in her earlobes, softly kissing each of her cheeks when he finished.

“Michael?” she asked questioningly. ‘Hadn’t he been listening?’

“Yes, it is. And it belongs here.” Michael said with sincerity, and then he leaned forward again and gently brushed his lips against his wife’s.

“Michael?” a puzzled Nikita repeated, when he moved away slightly.

“Yes, this jewellery is beautiful… and yes, it’s very expensive. However, it’s not as beautiful as you are, Kita. You always see the good in people, don’t you? Even in the man I was. That’s why you deserve things like this.” Michael said softly with a loving smile, as he stopped a further flow of her sweet words with a gentle touch of his index finger to her full, sensuous pink lips.

“But…” she began.

“No” he said firmly and Nikita’s eyes widened as she saw his tender gaze turn serious. “You do deserve things like this, my love. More than you know. If you want I could name a hundred more reasons; but the only important one is that you’re the woman I love.”

“Michael..” Nikita whispered, as her hand came up to his face, caressing it lovingly, while her luminous blue eyes never once left his.

Michael closed his eyes, reveling in her gentle caress, and saying a silent prayer of thanks for the gift of her presence and her love. Given his past, he was certain he didn’t deserve her, but knew he’d never be happy without her in his life.

“You don’t realize it chérie,” he continued, opening his eyes once more to gaze at her lovingly, “but before we met, I had given up hope of ever meeting someone as wonderful as you are. I never would have believed an angel like you existed. You can’t even begin to imagine how lonely I was!”

“Oh Michael…” she said with a soft sigh, meaning to object further. The renewed tenderness in his expression stopped the flow of her words and then he gently kissed her.

When the kiss ended, Michael continued resolutely.

“I know that my friends are going to see the change in me tonight and it’s all your doing!” Michael said sincerely as he stroked her soft cheek tenderly and gazed lovingly into her sky blue eyes. “When you agreed to marry me, you made me incredibly happy, chérie! You can’t even begin to imagine how much your love means to me!”

“I love you too Michael.” Nikita said with a tender smile as she stroked his face lovingly.

Michael smiled tenderly in response to her whispered words. “All I know chérie, is that I’ve never felt this way before and I need to show you how much you mean to me with things like this jewellery. Words just aren’t enough.”

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