02 Unforgivable - Untouchable (28 page)

“
Yes or no?” I asked simply. I didn’t want to do anything to make him uncomfortable, he was much too important to me to ruin a beautiful friendship.

“
Okay, but if you lose your level head we’re both in big trouble.”

I didn’t know why he was concerned about it. It was true I’d only been on the receiving end of affection from him, but how hard could it be to draw a line and stop? “I’m not going to flip out and jump your bones, Ryan.”

“
Okay,” he said softly, still sounding unsure, but rolling to his side.

“
Well, it certainly isn’t going to be easy,” I laughed, trying to fit against him. “You’re like a giant from this perspective.” I slipped my arm around his waist, but had to move it up to his chest so I could get a good angle on his neck. And then I started laughing.

“
What’s so funny?” he asked seriously.

“
I feel like a freaking vampire getting ready to bite your jugular!” I teased as I made a lunge for his throat.

“
Damn that tickles,” he said, scrunching his neck.

“
Okay, okay, I’ve got it under control. I swear all I’m going to do is kiss your neck and you tell me how it feels.”

He was still laughing, “You know this is kind of fun, Leese.”

“
Be quiet and be still,” I warned as I prepared to kiss his bared skin. I didn’t think I was going to get into this, but as I breathed, nibbled, kissed, and suckled against his skin, I lost all sense of what I was doing. His reaction as he moaned and whispered my name only made me want to do more to him.

My hand, which was supposed to only be holding around his waist was feeling every gloriously muscled and softly sculpted part of his chest. My body had become molded to his as my hips began to move in a once familiar pattern against his body and the heat flooded me. I was breathing hard as I rolled away and began pulling his shoulder to roll him toward me.

When he turned to me, I was over the invisible line and I didn’t care. I knew the words I was afraid to utter were resting on the tip of my tongue.

“
Leese, baby, are you okay?”

I took his hand and brought it to my breast and then closed my eyes as I permitted his touch. I could feel him gather above me, his muscled arms came around each side of me. My breathing was getting faster, as I felt his lips barely brush against mine.

“
Shit, Leese, this is really going to happen, isn’t it? You’re going to let me do this when I don’t have a frickin’ clue what I’m doing. But you’ve got to ask me, baby girl, you have to do what you said or I can’t go any further.”

Micah, Micah, Micah, was all I kept screaming inside my head. “N—no,” I said pushing him away, my other hand went to my own forbidden places as I remembered Micah’s words that I didn’t need to have a man for this moment. In seconds the shockwaves hit me so hard I doubled over, turning away from Ryan and crying out at the sheer magnitude of the first orgasm I’d had since the last time Micah brought me to this point.

“
What the hell was that?” came his stunned words.

I was still in a ball and crying my eyes out. I tumbled out of the bed and ran for the bathroom, nausea flooding my senses over what I’d done right in front of him. I washed my face, splashing the cold water on my skin and simply wanting to drown myself.

I felt his hands on my waist. Crap! I hadn’t locked the door. He never came in on me in the bathroom.

I grabbed a washcloth and buried my face into it, I couldn’t look at him. I was so ashamed. “I’m so, so sorry, Ryan—I’ll sleep in the other room and tomorrow I’m getting out of here.”

“
Whoa, don’t you dare start talking like that.”

I straightened slowly and finally looked at him, “I was just a freak show in the bedroom and I can’t—”

“
Freak show? Baby, you were so freaking damn sexy I thought I was gonna die watching you. I just never knew it was
that
intense for a girl.”

“
Well, trust me I have no clue if I’m normal or not. I blew it, Ryan—I totally blew my control and if you hadn’t asked me to actually say it, I would have been your first and I can’t do that with you—it’s just wrong. I promised him forever. I can’t promise it twice.” I broke down sobbing, flinching as his arms encircled me.

“
Shhh, it’s okay. I know you’re trying to do everything right, but baby you’re forgetting something really important,” he said, as he tipped my chin up, “you’re still human.”

“
But I’m so ashamed.”

“
I thought you were beautiful, not to mention you had the strength to push me away.”

“
How can you stand me? I satisfied myself and left you laying there.”

“
Go back to bed, Leese. I’m going to take a shower.”

I looked at him wondering if he was telling me something with his remark.

“
Yeah, I know how to take care of me. I’ll be in there in a little while. Goodnight.”

I climbed in the bed still unable to believe what happened. I was awake when he returned to the bed and cuddled up behind me with his arm around my waist.

When morning came, I woke early and dressed and grabbed my purse. I was going down to the Saturday Farmers Market. Besides, I needed something to clear last night out of my head. Ryan would sleep until noon, so I locked the house and began a slow walk toward the market.

The café was on the way and I decided I’d stop and have a coffee and a muffin. I kept getting this odd feeling someone was following me. There were quite a few people out this morning doing the exact same thing I was doing, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. I stopped at the café and sat at an outside table for two as I sipped the piping hot Hazelnut coffee and picked at a blueberry muffin. I was glancing through the local newspaper when a shadow crossed my morning sunshine. I turned and my heart lurched hard against my chest; David Gavarreen was standing beside me.

I panicked, and started to stumble away from the table when he reached out with a steel grip and put me back in the chair.

“
I need to talk to you,” he said in a low voice. “Your mom is worried sick.”

“
Micah—where is Micah?” All I could think was if David was with me, Micah might be at the house doing something unforgivable to my best friend.

“
In Louisiana,” he said simply, “I talked him in to letting me do this.”

“
Do what?” I asked, straightening in my chair and gathering back my courage.

He reached under his arm and pulled out a manila envelope, “He wanted you to have these so you’d know you can go on with your life. You don’t have to run or try, pitiful as you are at it, to hide.”

“
I haven’t used a credit card or a cell phone or—”

“
You left a cash trail all over the place. I guess you didn’t realize the bank had all the numbers on those bills you took. Micah threatened the banker and got the list and all we had to do was wait for them to start popping up. You’ve dumped a shit-load of them here and the fact that Ryan lived here for a few years made this too easy. I’ve been watching you for three days. But I have to admit the hair did throw me for a few seconds.”

“
How’s Mom?” I changed the subject, but I had been aching to talk with her.

“
She’s wonderful. You of course are on the biggest shit list I’ve got—you ripped my brother’s heart right out of his chest, and if I wasn’t so crazy about your mother, I’d probably go ahead and waste you for hurting him that way. You know he’s back in the mob and bad as ever. That’s one reason I’m here now, he and I are leaving the country tomorrow on a big job and I hope like hell we both make it back alive, although I don’t know if he really cares if he does or not.”

“
Don’t—don’t say that. I didn’t want to hurt him—I—”

“
You’ve sure got a funny way of not wanting to hurt someone.” He picked up my coffee and took a long drink, “Open your envelope. He wanted to be sure you read it and didn’t simply throw it away.”

“
I wouldn’t throw it away,” I growled, tearing open the seal and pulling out what appeared to be legal documents. “An Annulment?” My breath caught in my lungs as I said the word. Suddenly I felt dizzy and sick all at the same moment.

“
Yeah, he had to say he forced you into marrying him, but it was the only way to get it.”

I stared at him blankly. I couldn’t believe Micah had annulled our marriage; it was as if it never happened.

“
I have to ask you something and you’d better tell me the truth. Did you do anything with Micah’s money?”

“
His money? I’ve never touched his money—I don’t even know what bank he keeps it in. Why?”

“
When he got out of the mob, Dad sold every business Micah owned and liquidated all his assets. He had a hundred and twenty-three million in the bank. Now, he has less than three million. It’s a little hard for a hundred and twenty million dollars to simply vanish and he won’t say where it went. You honestly don’t know what happened to his money?”

“
No, I’d never do anything like that. Can I—”

“
Yeah and none of us figured you’d run off days after that wedding you were so determined to have, either.”

“
I have my reasons and I can’t change them.”

“
I know, blue-eyes and black hair, I’ve seen him.”

“
He’s…” I stopped myself. We had been so careful to tell everyone here in Colorado Springs that we were just friends that I almost said the same thing to David. That would have caused more suspicion than I could handle when Micah showed up to get the rest of the riddle solved. “Please, David, if you’re going with him on this—this job, please don’t let him get hurt. I know you think I’m some kind of nut case, but I really still love him with all my heart, just don’t tell him. I’d die if something happened to him. Please keep him safe and bring him back without another gunshot or knife wound.”

“
That’s my intention. I’ve got to go,” he stood up and pushed in his chair. “Call your mother. Oh, and Micah said to tell you to start ‘living your life,’ whatever the hell that means. Goodbye, Leese.”

And he walked away as I sat there and watched him get into a dark sedan and drive off.

I never made it to the market. I walked in a daze back to the house and put the annulment papers on the coffee table and simply crumpled up on the floor. It was around eleven when I felt a touch on my arm.

“
He found us, didn’t he?”

“
It’s over, Ryan. He isn’t coming to look for me. He’s leaving the country tomorrow.”

“
He annulled the marriage—I saw the papers,” he was trying to be as gentle as possible when he uttered it. “Did he give these to you?”

“
No, he didn’t want to come, so he sent his brother instead,” I said, still lying on the living room rug as Ryan tried to coax me off the floor. I wasn’t budging, so he joined me.

“
Leese, I know this hurts, but it means you can get on with a normal life now. We can finish our last year of school. You can go out and buy a car for yourself. We’re going to be fine and you don’t have to jump every time someone comes to the door. We—”

“
I can go home,” I said quietly, but evidently loud enough to cause him to go silent.

“
I don’t think that’s a good idea, baby girl, because if you go home and I stay here it’ll only be a matter of time before he thinks you’re available and shows up. You said this guy forbid you to get back together with him or else—”

“
I know the or else, Ryan. Please, don’t remind me.”

“
Leese, I have to know. Do you really want to go home? Because I’d like to think you’d rather—rather stay here with me. With the marriage annulled, your promise to him isn’t—”

“
Yes it is, Ryan. I made the promise, not the piece of paper. I love him more than ever, I just never expected him to give in and walk away. I guess he was telling me the truth the day in the hospital when he said he’d rather give me to you a thousand times over than for something to happen to me.”

“
Me? He said he’d rather give you to me?” Shock and surprise were clear.

“
It’s a long story and I can’t discuss it now,” I said, wiping my eyes. “But to answer your question, no I don’t really want to leave here, but I’ve got to call my mom.” My cell phone had a full battery the night when I listened to all the phone messages and then turned it off and put it away. I was pretty sure the battery would still be good as I sat up on the rug and drug my purse beside me.

“
I’m—I’m going to go outside and let you talk.”

My cell phone powered up and I hit the speed dial for Mom. Two rings and I sighed as I heard her voice. It was a long conversation. I couldn’t tell her any of the real reasons for me leaving because she might say something to David, who would tell Micah, and who knew what Micah would do if he knew the real person who caused all of our problems. So, I had to stick with the lie that I simply loved Ryan a little more, but didn’t realize it until I met up with him the day we left together.