Betrayal's Shadow (20 page)

Just for now.

Her hands slid down his belly and then clasped him. He ground himself against her and buried his groan against the silkiness of her hair.

Her fingers squeezed, moving over him in enticing, sensual strokes. She kissed his jaw as he jerked in response to her attention.

“You’re not going to leave us hanging like this, are you?” she purred into his ear.

“You’ll be too tender…” He gritted his teeth as she reached lower to caress his balls.

“And if I want you again?”

His fingers drifted along her cheek. “You deserve—”

She rolled to her back and snaked a hand around his neck to coax him over her, hooking her leg behind his to assist. “I’m a liberated woman. I deserve a man who desires me. The rest is all my call.”

He grunted in agreement, pushed her down to the slab, and leaned over her, his hair teasing her skin as he gave her a smile. “You most definitely have one of those.”

***

Mia drifted boneless in a fog of half sleep, enveloped in Turen’s hold in the quiet of the dark. She had no idea how long they’d lain like this. The vague question of how she’d remained here during even a brief nap entered and then left her consciousness.

His finger traced along her cheek. “You’re awake.”

She pressed a kiss into his palm, not bothering to answer. He rolled off her, but clasped her to him, keeping their bodies connected. She moved closer to fill the space and before she had time to worry about her neediness, his arm slid possessively around her back to curl her closer.

The earlier tension of his muscles was gone. However, she only had to move and he would be hard again, even sated as they were. At least he no longer fought himself and tried to tamp down his instincts. She soothed a hand down his back and felt rather than heard his sigh.

“Did it help?”

“Mmm.” His answer rumbled across her body as he nuzzled her hair.

She shook her head in mock frustration against his chest. “I mean with control over the drugs.”

“The compulsion has receded a bit.” He stroked his fingers from her shoulder blade to her waist, spreading his fingers to let his thumb tease the underside of her breast. “But the want isn’t close to satisfied. Did I hurt you?”

“No,” she murmured.

He threaded his hands through her hair and brought her mouth to his. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”

“It’s the drug.”

“No.” He growled and clamped his teeth over a sensitive spot on her lower lip, only to lick over the mark and finish with a kiss. “The drug makes the want a compulsion. You are the catalyst, my craving. The compulsion may diminish but I will still want you.” He pressed his erection against her hip, punctuating his words.

How she wished that were true. She kissed his cheek and stroked down the indent of his spine to the muscled swell of his buttocks. It would take nothing to inspire him again. The distraction would be more than enough for her not to think beyond the moment.

What a lie. She could already hear reality chiseling a crack in their peace. In spite of the passion and pleasure they’d shared, she needed more. She wanted him, wanted to see a look of love in his eyes as he took her. The sign might not be there and certainly didn’t belong to her, but she didn’t care.

She blinked and turned her head, trying to hide.

His lips kissed over her temple, then followed to her cheek and the path of her traitorous tears. “I have hurt you.”

She shook her head and turned to his lips. “I just want to see your face, your…”

He pressed in, feathered a kiss and pulled back to grasp her hand. Moving it to the pulse of his neck, he spread her fingers and held them there. He rolled their bodies until his elbows framed her shoulders. His hips shifted, her legs parted, and he entered her in one deep stroke. Her body, tender and weary, leapt to life for him.

When she started to pull her hand away from his neck, he pressed it back.

“No, leave it there. I’m going to let you see.” He moved his hand to the skin above her pubic bone, splaying his fingers as he had positioned hers.

“From your pleasure, I can feel your heartbeat here.” His fingers brushed her skin. “With my hand, with my lips.”

At his next shallow thrust, she let a small moan break through her lips and felt his pulse jump beneath her fingers.

“Your pleasure, my response.”

She gentled her fingers against his pulse in wonder, but he moved her hand to cover his lips and cheek. With a quick kiss, he set up a shallow rhythm, one to keep her tense and eager but not close enough to what she needed.

His hand moved up her body, his knuckles brushing her nipple as his head bowed next to hers. Then he plunged deeper, his stroke faster.

She let out another moan, but it was the tightening muscles of his cheek and the quick drag of air beneath her fingers that spiraled her need.

“I can see you through your body’s responses. Even if I can never see your face in full sunlight, love, every shiver and breath you take speaks to me.”

He moved her hand to his abdomen as he nipped her earlobe, and then his stroke pulsed faster. “The catch in your breath, the heated flush of your skin and the rhythm of your heart.” His tongue swirled behind her ear, and his teeth followed with a quick bite, forcing another gasp from her and a clench of his muscles beneath her fingers. “Each an image of your emotions.”

She angled to give him access as his teeth rasped along her shoulder. Another bite and she moaned, the quiver of his muscles feeding her arousal, his emotions bleeding from his body through her fingertips and swirling the peaks within her even higher.

“The signs of your body are here for me to read, in spite of how much I desire to see the passion in your eyes and the expressions on your face as I make love to you.” He moved her hand around his neck. “Feel between my shoulder blades.”

She gasped as he bent to suckle her nipple. A corresponding growl emanated from his chest, one that rumbled beneath her fingers. Before she could think, his hand gripped her thigh, opening her more to him, allowing a deeper, harder slide into her body.

He moved faster, his angle and pace driving a whimper from her lips and a grunt from his. His hand held her tight, but his thumb teased at the pocket between her thigh and pussy lips, the maddening stroke alternating with his pace.

His lips touched hers. “I can feel your need beneath my thumb. Right before you come, your muscles start a delicate quiver that shoots like little sparks of energy.”

His breathing, now as rapid as hers, transmitted his need. She could feel the sweat on his back, slick and hot.

“I’d be happy just to bring on that quiver and feel it beneath my lips all night long.”

Air dissolved from her lungs. Whether it was the responses of his body beneath her fingertips or the low, throaty caress of his words or his pistoning rhythm as he drove into her, she could only hold on as the crest broke. A tight, high keening split through her lips, captured immediately by his mouth, as she rolled in one long wave of pleasure joined with his.

Minutes later, still panting hard, she gripped him, her cheek to his chest, with the thundering beat of his heart to comfort her. His arms cradled her, and he tucked his face into the curve of her shoulder.

“Could you see me, Mia?”

He pressed a kiss to her skin and she snuggled closer. “I see you, Turen.” Those damn tears threatened again. “I would know you anywhere.”

He rolled to his side, carrying her with him, and she thought perhaps he hadn’t heard, but his words whispered to her in the dark. “That’s right, love, anywhere at all.”

CHAPTER 12

The warmth on her cheek felt good. Seconds ticked by until the brightness and heat intruded. Mia blinked against the sunlight streaming on her face and flipped over in bed. One eye cracked open to check the clock. Eleven. Not too bad. Given the lingering fatigue and stiffness of her muscles, she wouldn’t have been surprised to find she’d slept away the day.

She pushed out of bed and stumbled to the shower. Rote repetition had her in the kitchen dressed, starting coffee, and checking for messages on her answering machine, wondering how she’d gotten there.

“Mia, this is John. I’ve sent you a few emails about your proposal, but I need some committable dates. Give me a call back. It’s Wednesday, noon.”

The message beeped, and she jotted down the note. She should have checked her messages yesterday but she rarely had many so she hadn’t bothered.

“Mrs. Bowman, this is Ellie Strathmore, Mr. Dennison’s secretary. He asked me to have you give him a call about a claim we received against your husband’s estate. If you could give us a call by tomorrow, Thursday, it would be most helpful.” The beep sounded again.

“Mia, this is Ed Dennison. It’s Thursday, four o’clock. I need you to give me a call. We’ve received an unexpected suit against your husband’s estate that requires an acknowledgement by tomorrow. I’m going to send a courier with a copy of my summary and the papers. I’d prefer to talk to you before I send a response.” Again the beep.

Her hand halfway to the coffeepot, Mia frowned and turned to the calendar on the wall. She might have forgotten messages on one day but this was only Thursday morning. She’d arrived back home at around three o’clock, before the sun even cracked across the horizon.

Mia set her coffee mug down with a thunk and walked to her office to click on her computer. A minute later, the screen lit up, the time and date registered in the bottom corner of the screen. Mia sank into her chair. She’d lost
a whole day
.

Wednesday night she’d made her way to Turen, and every muscle in her body still radiated with the intensity of the experience. The ghosting of his hands and lips over the most intimate parts of her body still created ripples of pleasure.

But if today was Friday, then she’d been with him for more than twenty four hours. She had never been with him that long—and the whole time spent in each other’s arms. No wonder she’d slept so late.

With a deep breath, she picked up the phone. The office of Brackston, Levy, and Dennison handled the settlement of her husband’s affairs. They’d handled her business legal affairs over the years.

“Mr. Dennison, please. This is Mia Bowman.”

The line switched over immediately. “Mia, I was worried you were too upset to call. Glad to hear from you. I want you to know that you don’t need to be concerned, but we do need to respond.”

“Ed, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

There was a long, uncomfortable pause. “You haven’t read the couriered papers?”

“No, I’ve been…away for a few days. If they left the papers, I’ll look at them, but could you just lay it out for me?”

A heavy sigh issued across the line. “We’ve received a lawsuit claiming a portion of Alexander’s estate for a minor child.”

Mia frowned at the computer screen. “What minor child?”

“One being carried by a woman who claims Alex as the father and stipulates he acknowledged the baby and intended to care for it.”

The coffee started to churn in a sick swill in Mia’s stomach as the acid backwash clogged her throat. “Can someone do that?”

“The law allows any legitimate claim to be pursued. The frivolousness of the case is, unfortunately, the burden of the recipient. But there are limits to what a suit such as this can touch, and it would depend on the birth of the child and proof of parentage.”

“What limits?” Mia held her breath and tried not to swallow so she could get through this call. She just had to make it to the end. Part of her was so glad Alex was dead, because right now she could just kill him for this final blow of humiliation.

“If she can prove paternity, she can make a bid for a portion of his 401k—she wouldn’t be entitled, but I’m just stating my suspicions. Of course, she and the child would have social security during the child’s minority. The additional requests for his insurance and the house would be rejected. The stated beneficiary governs the insurance and the house—”

“The house is mine and only mine. My grandmother left it to me. It’s in my name, not Alex’s. As it is, the insurance barely paid for Alex’s funeral and his debts.” The debts had been high, probably indicative of how Alex had funded his adultery. Setting up a second home was costly. Mia closed her eyes, counted to ten and tried hard to remember herself back in Turen’s arms, his breath on her cheek, far away from this nightmare.

“You should be covered, but we will double check everything for you. I understand how upsetting this seems, but please keep in mind it could take a long time to play out, and frankly time is on your side, Mia. You and Alex were married. His petition for divorce wasn’t filed before his death, so that’s negligible as well. Legally this woman could spend years on attorney fees with no results. And she would first need to prove paternity.”

“So what do I need to do? She can’t touch
my
property or
my
earnings, can she?” Mia walked with the phone back to the kitchen and opened the freezer door. She stuck her head inside to quell the heat and nausea threatening to bubble over. The cold helped. That and the pouch of peas she rested her forehead on.