Insatiable (36 page)

"As much as I hate hospitals, I think I need to go," she mumbled. Exhaustion and pain had taken over, she closed her eyes, and gave into them both.

Liam pulled his car up to the hospital entrance just as the nurse was pushing Aurora towards him in a wheelchair. He gently helped her into the passenger seat. After he helped her get buckled up, he turned to her. "How are you feeling baby?"

"Much better now, she tried her best to smile. She'd suffered a mild concussion, sprained ankle, and had cuts, scrapes, and bruises all over her body. Not to mention that her eye was still swollen, but the blurriness had gone away and she was well on the road to recovery. "God, a four day hospital stay and I still look like death warmed over. I can't wait to get home."

"Non-sense, you look beautiful, I can't wait to get you home," he winked and kissed her soundly on the lips. "And just in time for the holidays too. Wait until you see what Mari and Rosie have done to the place. They wanted to surprise you and give you a nice welcome home."

Aurora smiled again at the thought of seeing her two friends. She was glad that they were waiting for her to come home.

Nat King Cole's
The Christmas Song
played blissfully as they entered the house.

"Welcome home!" Her friends boomed and cheered. While they gently hugged and kissed her, Aurora marveled at the wonderful holiday decorations.  An oversized tree decorated with pine cones, holly berries, and strands of popcorn stood in the center of the room. A fire crackled in the hearth and Christmas carols streamed throughout the house.

Instantly she craved some old-fashioned carols, steaming cups of hot cocoa, filled to the brim with marshmallows and freshly baked gingerbread houses, oh and lots of snow.

"Place looks wonderful. Thank you ladies," she said. "And gents," she smiled at Nick and Martin.

"Welcome home Aurora."

Christmas Eve found them all together. Except for her ankle, she was almost healed. The swelling around her eye had gone down considerably and the cut to her back was beginning to itch. The doctor told her that it meant she was healing. "In another week or so I plan on devouring you," she whispered in Liam's ear.

It had been two weeks since Benjamin had taken her hostage and Liam hadn't left her side. During those two weeks, they'd found out that Benjamin had committed suicide in his jail cell. Until it could be determined whether or not he was fit to stand trial, Benjamin was being held at the local jail. He was waiting for the authorities to place him in a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. When the guards brought him dinner, he'd managed to smuggle a plastic fork in from his dinner tray, by the time they found him, he'd bled out. Before her friends could begin to worry, she put their minds at ease. "His life is over, and so is what happened. It's the holidays and I don't want to talk about it anymore. Between Liam and Jean and you guys, I've talked about it almost every day. I'm not going to waste any more time talking about Benjamin Parker. He's dead and gone and like I said, so is that night."

Later on, as the festivities wound down, Liam found Aurora out on the patio; she was staring into the dark night with her arms wrapped around herself for warmth.

She smiled and leaned into him when he stepped outside.

"Year's almost over."

"Yes it is. And I for one cannot wait to start the New Year."

"Aurora, you know that I'm in this for the long haul right? I mean, I'm not planning on going anywhere."

"Neither am I." She turned to face him. "Neither am I. But I have to ask you, are you sure you want to deal with all of this craziness?"

"I know that you have been through a horrible trauma, but believe me, there is no place that I'd rather be. I want to be here with you, through it all. Through the occasional craziness, the good times and the bad alright? So ask me something besides the obvious," he grinned and kissed her on the lips.

"I'm glad to hear you say that because I need you Liam Hunt, I need you." Her voice wavered and shook dangerously. "Yes, I did just go through something terrible, there was a moment where I thought that I might die. And when you go through something like that you realize what is really important, what matters, right?”

When he nodded his head in agreement, she continued.

"You, we matter Liam. We belong together and I'm going to do everything in my power to see that we stay together."

"You won't ever have to try baby, the both of us are in this together. I love you." His voice was soft, like a sensual caress. She knew then that he'd meant it.

"Now let's get you inside by the fire baby."

"Okay, but when we get inside, there's something that I need to do."

Deena was having the strangest dream. She was in a dark forest, and she could hear the sound of a baby crying. She began to search frantically for the child, the closer she got to the sound, the harder something tried to keep her away from it.  And just when she was about to give up, and fall to the ground, a hand reached out for her and stopped her from falling. When she turned to thank whoever had helped her, she saw that there were actually two sets of hands. Their faces were hidden under the darkness but as they drew closer, a warm and nurturing light emulated from them. She'd never felt such warmth and calmness. She was so calm in fact that she began to yawn in comfort, and when she opened her eyes, she was back in her hospital room.

She looked towards the doorway and saw a nurse scurry by. She glanced around the room and noticed that she was not alone. Her parents had finally made it. Ever since she'd been admitted, the authorities were trying to get in touch with her parents. They were on a cruise ship when they were finally notified of their daughter's abduction. And now they were fast asleep in chairs close to her bed. Her mom was holding her hand. Her body still ached all over, and her hand was trapped by a sea of tubing that was attached to fluid-filled bags, which hung overhead.

"Deena, sweetheart, you're awake," her mom whispered. "Frank, honey, wake up, our baby is awake."

Her father jumped to his feet and bent over her. As they gently kissed her, she could see genuine relief flood through the both of them.

"I'll go get the nurse," her father said. Before he left the room, he kissed her on the forehead once more.

He returned a short time later with a nurse in tow.

"Welcome back," the nurse smiled warmly.

She'd been in the hospital for over a week, and finally seeing her parents brought tears to her eyes.

"Oh sweetheart don’t you worry, as soon as the doctor gives the okay, we're going to take you home."

Her father sat on the edge of her bed and gently patted her on the hand.

"Deena, I'm so sorry that this happened to you. The police say that you were instrumental in helping to catch that lunatic and you saved the life of another woman."

She could see that her parents were proud of her actions and at the moment, she was too.

Even though the doctors had advised against it, Deena wanted to be discharged from the hospital. She insisted that she'd recover better at home and, after much debate, the doctor overseeing her care had agreed, but under one condition. After the holidays, she would have to make an appointment to see a psychologist. Her doctor told her that she'd just been through a traumatic experience, and that it would take some time before she felt whole again. Deena agreed wholeheartedly and was discharged into the care of her parents.

She wanted to spend the holiday's at home with her family. As much as she hated the small town where she came from, when her father pulled off the interstate, she almost cheered at the sight of it. She now loved everything about the small town. From the decorations, to the tree lined streets, she had never seen such a wonderful place. When he pulled into the driveway, she knew that she was home, the home that she fought so hard to get away from. Seeing it now caused tears of joy to run down her face.

When Aurora called the hospital to check on Deena, they told her that she'd already gone home. It was a disappointment to her because she had wanted to thank her for helping to save her life, and she wanted to tell the young woman that she held no ill- will against her for luring her to the bungalow.

"At least she's home now and will be able to spend the holidays with her family, but I would have liked to have said thanks."

"I'm sure she knows how grateful you are," Liam handed her a glass of wine.

"I'm sure she does too, but I'd like for her to hear the words come out of my mouth. Nick, do you think you can get me her home number?" Her glance was hopeful.

"Sure, you'll have it first thing tomorrow morning," he smiled at his friend.

"You'll be able to wish her a Merry Christmas," Rosie chimed in.

Christmas morning brought snow, and lots of it. Aurora was sure that it would only add to the day's festivities.

"Merry Christmas baby," Liam wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. He felt incredibly warm, her head was spinning and her heart was light.

"Merry Christmas. When can we open presents?" Her eyes lit up.

Liam laughed at the sight. He hadn't seen that spark in her in a long time, and for a while he feared that Benjamin had permanently extinguished that spark.

"As soon as we get out of bed and head downstairs, but Christmas or not, I'd be happy to spend the entire day in bed with you," he whispered in her ear.

"Me too, okay maybe after we open the presents," she grinned.

"Now come on, get up, let's …" A sharp pain in her back made her stop mid-sentence.

Liam sat up, his attention focused on her. "What is it?" His concern was mounting.

Aurora took hold of his hand. "It's nothing, just got up too fast," she grinned. "I forget sometimes," she winced and rubbed her side."

"I won't let you forget, now promise me that you'll take it easy, alright?"

"Of course I will." She kissed him. "Now let's open some presents."

She'd had a full house, as both Martin and Nick had been invited to stay over, and the two eagerly accepted.

Not since her childhood had she experienced such a wonderful Christmas. Between Rosie's
Charles Dickens
inspired holiday meal, and the overabundance of gifts that everyone exchanged, it proved to be the best Christmas of her adult life. And she silently prayed for many, many more.

She'd even been able to talk to Deena. When she heard Aurora's voice, tears fell down her face. She'd been thinking about Aurora a lot lately, and she hoped that given the season, and circumstances, Aurora would find it in her heart to forgive her for luring her to the bungalow.

"I know you were under extreme duress. There's nothing to forgive," Aurora reassured her.

"I'm just glad that you're okay. If there is anything I can do, anything at all, you just let me know. I mean that Deena, anything."

Deena swallowed back tears. "I appreciate that, and I just might take you up on that, but not just yet," she smiled over the phone. "Not just yet. Merry Christmas, Aurora."

"Merry Christmas, Deena."

Chapter Twenty Three

"Liam has been so patient with me, but I'm more than ready. Tonight after the clock strikes twelve, it's gonna be on baby."

Aurora was sitting in the kitchen, she and Mari were watching Rosie begin preparations for their New Year's Eve meal. She was making Coq au Vin, Chicken in a wine sauce, and the smells flowing through the kitchen were divine.

Mari chuckled and groaned in angst. "You and me both, I think I'm ready to take things to the next level with Nick." She popped a grape in her mouth.

Rosie stopped in mid-stir and turned so that she could look at them.

"Funny, you should mention that because this has been the most unbelievable holiday that I could have ever imagined," she giggled, "and after tonight we are going to be a bunch of extremely satisfied women." They all chuckled loudly.

"I have a feeling that tonight is going to be lots of fun ladies, lots of fun."

Deena stood naked in front of the full length mirror, there were still a large amount of bruises all over her body, and the doctor told her that she might have some scarring. She didn’t care about any of that though; all she cared about was the baby she was now carrying. Benjamin Parker's baby, a lone tear ran down her face as she stared at her reflection. She hadn't yet told her parents that she was pregnant, how could she? They'd been so supportive so far, but she thought that if she told them she was pregnant, they'd throw her out of the house.

She wrestled with the idea of getting rid of it. It was after all, the child of a serial killer and rapist. What if she decided to carry it to term? It might grow up and become just like its father, a killer. But what if it didn’t? What if it grew up to be a decent human being with love for mankind? That was a chance she wasn’t sure she wanted to take. She needed help in making her decision and she could think of only one person who she could trust, Aurora Collins.

"Maybe I should wait until after the new year," she whispered softly and caressed her stomach.

The red sequined party dress fit Aurora to a tee. She wasn’t able to wear heels yet as her ankle was still painful so she opted for a pair of red ballet flats. Both Mari and Rosie had put on the cocktail dresses that they'd gotten using the gift cards that Aurora and Liam had given them as one of their Christmas gifts. Both wore their sexy attire with attitude and finesse. Mari looked stunning in a royal blue cocktail dress, and Rosie looked equally divine in her little black dress.  It was almost time for their guests to arrive and the kitchen was abuzz with conversation and laughter.

When Liam took one glance at Aurora, he remembered how her beauty seemed to jump start his heart and libido each and every time that he saw her. Her dark hair, wild with curls and spilling to her shoulders, makeup perfected to an art. She was beginning to look like her old self, sexy, seductive, and strong. "You look absolutely stunning."