Need You Now (Martha's Way Series Book 2) (32 page)

He smiled.
“You’ve been there for over a year.”

Lily’s heart kicked hard. The words
were referencing to his heart as well. She read the need in his voice and as
always it consumed her.

“Get a room and get off the dance
floor,” Jason grunted with Minka in his arms. “I
want
to dance with my wife.”

Minka gave her an apologetic look,
then wrapped her arms around Jason’s neck, and kissed her husband firm on the
lips. Lily spotted her parents sharing a table with Adam’s. Both husbands had
their arms casually slung on the ba
ck of their wives’
chairs. Keely was in Blake’s arm against a corner wall, kissing. She looked at
Adam. “I want what they have. I’m not jealous of their love
,
but I want
a chance to have my own HEA.”

The slightest frown touched his
face.

She smiled.
“Happi
ly ever after.
And part
of that is to be able to shout to the world your love for them.”

“You already know how I feel.”

The dance floor was almost filled
now. Lily took a step closer to Adam to make room and not get trampled. He
caught her wrist and hauled
her away from the crowd.
In silence, she followed him outside the room, down the hall. She peeked at her
table and met Rafa’s gaze, disappointment in his eyes. Once alone, Adam gently
pressed her against the wall, stepped into her, and cupped her face, ti
lting it up to his.

Lily felt her lips parted
voluntarily, waiting. Their gazes met for a beat then Adam slanted his head and
kissed her, rocking her world into total chaos. When he stepped back, her hand
automatically went to her lips. “You are trying to
break
me down.”

He smiled and took her hand in his.
“Let’s go home.”

She closed her eyes, fighting back
the temptation to throw it all to hell and go with Adam. “I can’t.”

Lily waited for him to push a
little more, just a little bit more and she might give
in. But he didn’t.

 
“You know where I’ll be, Liliana. Come to
me if you want.” He ran the pad of his thumb over her cheek then he was gone.

She wasn’t sure how long she stayed
with her back pinned against the wall, thoughts of everything she had with Adam
racing through her head. Part of her wanted to go to him,
that part was her heart. But common sense, the logical part, told her she’d
never be happy if she settled.

Lily exhaled. She needed air; cool,
crisp air to clear her mind. She peeled her body from
the
wall and opened the door to the garden and stopped. There in front of her,
Claire walked up to Forrest and kissed him with so much passion that it even
took Lily’s breath away. Even in the coolness of the night, heat seared between
them as Forrest enve
loped Claire in his arms,
deepening the kiss. The air between them filled with hunger and yearning.

Talk about passion.

“I’m all grown up now. I’m no
longer the snot-nosed girl who followed you everywhere,” Claire said once they
finally stopped for air.

 
“
I’ve noticed,
Claire. I’ve always noticed.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Claire
continued.

He released his hold of her and
gently fingered a few strands of her hair. “You’re temporary,” he said in a
husky voice. “I don’t want temporary.”

There was a long exc
ruciating silence between them. Then Forrest stepped back
and started toward the large door. He stopped when he spotted Lily and smiled
at her. She smiled back, aching for him, for Claire.

“Are you all right?” he asked Lily,
concern now replaced the dark m
ask of emotions on his
face.

“Yes. I just needed some air.”

“All right.
I’ll be
inside.” Then he disappeared without looking back at Claire.

Lily walked over to her friend.
Claire gave her a wry smile.

“You’re okay?”

Claire nodded, her gaze fixed ahead
into the night.
“You?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“You’re still wearing his ring.”

Lily glanced at the diamond around
her finger, her heart burned with hurt. “I will return it.”

“He loves you, you know.”

In her heart of hearts she
knew that.
“Just
not enough.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

“Sometimes
I’m terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants.
The way it stops and starts.”

Edgar Allen Poe

Heart
pinched in her chest, Lily turned off the ignition of Rafa’s Range Rover and
wondered what the hell she was doing in the middle of the night in Adam’s
driveway. Oh, yeah, to return the ring. She looked at the screen of her phone.
During the drive, sh
e played the scene over and over
in her head. She’d call him, actually text him and let him know the ring,
secure in its little black box, was at his doorstep.

The night
stretched before her like an endless black hole. Now she sat in the car,
examining al
l the cracks in her perfectly laid
plan.
  

What if he
failed to read her text?

Adam was
due to leave for Russia first thing in the morning. Which meant the ring, the
very expensive ring, might get stolen if left outside.
  

Riiight
.
This was Martha’s Vin
eyard and Adam lived in Chilmark for
Pete’s
sake, a
town with a population of less than a thousand people. People were known to
sleep with their doors unlocked, and windows wide open. Chances of anyone
stealing the ring were almost zilch, but nothing was a
hundred percent. Prudent was always best practice. She peeked at the ring
again, still on her finger.
 
Just to
be
safe
, she’d better hand it to him
herself and then walk away.

She stepped
out of the
car,
phone in
hand, ready to announce her arrival. The door opened, Adam appeared in another
one of his lounging around the house sweats, bare chest with a drink in hand.
She froze in her track.
 

“I wondered
how long you were going to stay in there.”
 

His vo
ice sounded husky, laced with whatever concoction he was
drinking. It warmed her body. “What’s in that glass?”

He lifted
the glass to his mouth and took a sip.
“Scotch.”

She should
have known. Scotch was his preferred poison.

One long
finger crooked at he
r direction. “Come closer.”

His voice
was dangerously low and sexy as hell. Liliana had been in situations where Adam
had been slightly drunk before and at times both had been tipsy. Those nights
always ended with an all-nighter until her body ached. Just
the thought made that delicate spot between her thighs
tremble. And she so didn’t want to go there. Well, maybe one more time. She
shook the temptation out of her head. She needed to be strong and maintain a
firm grip of her treacherous heart. She stepped
closer.
  

“Are you
drunk?”
 

He let out
a low laugh. “No.”

Lily had a
feeling it wasn’t for a lack of trying.
 

He looked
at her, his eyes twinkled and his mouth smirked in this smile that made Lily
know he was thinking something. And whatever it was pro
bably meant trouble for her.

“Come
inside, Liliana, it’s a cool night.”

“I
shouldn’t.”

“Then why
did you come to me?”

Good
question. Oh yes, to return that beautiful engagement ring he’d given her. She
almost forgot. She lowered her gaze to her finger then at Adam. “To return…”
But she hesitated and he took note of that.

His free
hand pushed the door wide. “Come inside.”
  

“I
shouldn’t,” she repeated, this time in a less convincing tone.

“Yeah, you
should.” His free hand pulled her gently inside the house. He kicked the door
closed, and finished the last drop of his scotch before setting the cup on a
nearby table. For a
beat neither spoke, the air
crackled with desire. A yearning that Lily knew no matter how hard she tried,
she’d never get over.

“The ring,”
she breathed, but couldn’t finish since her throat was tight with emotion.

 
He stepped closer and erased whatever
space left between them, crowding her. Holding her gaze,
Adam slid his hand around the nape of her neck and pulled her to him. Caught in
the trance, her eyes stayed on his as he lowered his mouth to hers, oh so close
but not quite touching. “The ring is yo
urs, Liliana,
forever.”

Then he
kissed her and the reason she found herself at Adam’s doorstep slipped out of
her mind. Things went out of control from there. His hands were on her,
everywhere, blending them together.

Her clothes
were removed quickly, he
r bra, then her panties,
leaving her in a pair of wild copper ballet flats. She kicked them off and
reached for Adam, desperately needing to feel his skin on hers. “I came here to
say goodbye.”

His gaze
lowered to her breasts pressed against his chest. “N
ever
goodbye, Liliana, we are forever linked.” He smiled then sucked on her bottom
lip. “Besides, this is much better.”

With one
quick motion, he swept her in his arms and carried her up the stairs into his
bedroom. His lips leaving warm trail of kisses o
n her
neck, her shoulder, and when his mouth found one of her breasts and ran his
tongue over her hardened nipple, she cried out.

They
tumbled on the bed, seeking each other out like wild creatures.
 
Hands everywhere, their shadows shifted
and she rolled
over him, straddling him. She kissed
him then, his face, mouth, and throat. Any piece of flesh she could find. It
was a hungry kiss, restless and desperate. Her heart ached and wanted at the
same time with an urgency she couldn’t control even if she tried.

“Your
pants,” she panted against his lips, “off.” Her fingers were already working on
the waist of his sweats. His hands brushed hers aside as he worked off their
last barrier until he kicked them off. She felt him grab his length and ran the
tip of his
erection against her entrance.

“Tell me
this is where you want to be, Liliana.”
 

Their eyes
met, his looked wild, reflecting the hungry desire she felt inside. “Yes.”

He rubbed
against her again. “Tell me.”

Dominated
by the hunger inside her, she stubb
ornly tried to
lower herself to his length but his hands clutched her hips and held her still,
silently demanding she answer. “I want.”

His head
lifted and his mouth found one of her breasts. He sucked it between his teeth.
“Me.”

Oh, God
yes.
Forever.
“Y
ou.”

He let out
a low laugh, satisfied with her answer. Then he was inside her. She cried out
at the firm, smooth entry. In typical Adam form he took control then, holding
her hips as he thrust up into her. “This is where you belong, Liliana, always.”

He reared
up, held her against him and rolled over her until and pinned her under him.
And then he was giving her what she craved for. He pummeled inside her,
expanding her walls with brutal strength and an urgency she knew wasn’t his
style.
 

 
Fast.
God,
yes.
She wanted
fast.

“You’re so
fucking delicious,” he murmured and crushed his mouth to hers.

Madness
took over then. Adam used his teeth, tongue and lips to pleasure her. Common
sense tried to sneak back and reminded her she was here to officially bre
ak things off and say goodbye
,
but she
quickly buri
ed all logical thoughts and lost
herself to
Adam, to their wild animal sex, until her system exploded.

*
*
*
*

Eyes
closed, Adam reached over and pressed the snooze button on his cell phone’s
alarm. Ten more minutes with Lily before leaving for his flight. He rolled
over, reached for her, and was greeted by emptiness. He opened his eyes and
stared at the unoccupied
space. He listened for the
water running in the shower, nothing. His gut tightened.

His
immediate reaction was to shut down. His body didn’t know how to react. Adam
fell back on his side of the bed, scrubbed a hand over his face. For years he
suffered wi
th insomnia and the one night he shouldn’t
have slept, he managed to sleep so hard that he didn’t even know when she
walked out of his house. A bad feeling boiled in his stomach.
Shit.
He shifted his weight and when he
was unable to get comfortable, he sat up.

Adam
reached for his phone and his eyes landed on the engagement ring he had slipped
on her finger. Yeah, this was bad. Rubbing the back of his neck, he picked up
the ring and rol
led it between his fingers. He sat
silently, a searing pain shot through his heart.
 

She wanted
love, the whole idea of love. He should have known she would never settle for
less. He was an idiot for thinking he’d won that battle.

A deep
sense of numbnes
s hit the pit of his stomach,
catapulting him. Last night she came over with the intent to break things off,
somehow he’d managed to sway her decision, at least delayed it. He’d thought he
succeeded in convincing her. In the end, she still walked away. He’
d overestimated their connection and underestimated her
strength.

He was an
idiot.

After a
beat, he carefully placed the ring back on the nightstand, cracked his knuckles
and rose to his feet. He had a commitment in Russia; sitting in his room wasn’t
goin
g to take care of that. A nice warm shower would
clear his mind. But halfway towards the bathroom, he stopped and hurtled to his
phone. He tapped the name of the airline on his contact list and pressed the
dial button. Minutes later, his flight was moved t
o
the early afternoon, which meant he’d arrive in Russia with enough time to go
straight to the track. The good news, now he had time to stop at Martha’s Way
for the brunch Jason and Minka were hosting before leaving for their honeymoon.
He knew Lily would
be there. She wasn’t due to leave
the island until later in the afternoon.

Two hours
later, Adam walked into the rustic atmosphere of the smaller dining area of
Martha’s Way. Fresh grilled breakfast flatbread woke up his palates. He ignored
it and scanne
d the room and spotted Forrest and
Charles Montgomery stood with bloody
Marys
in hand, talking casually.
Everyone was in attendance but one. Lily was nowhere to be seen.

Not too far
of a distance away, Minka waved at him, said something to Jason then came
to Adam.

“I thought
you were leaving for Russia.”

“I changed
my flight.”
Because I
needed to see her and make things right.
“Where’s Liliana?”

A sad smile
touched Minka’s lips. “She caught the first ferry out this morning.” She
reached into her purse a
nd produced a fuchsia
envelope with his name written on it. “She left this for you.”

Adam took
the envelope. “She knew I’d come after her.”

Minka
touched his shoulder. “I asked her to stay but she wouldn’t.” With another
small smile, she walked back to h
er table and sat by
Jason.

Envelope in
hand, Adam slipped out of the room. He’d stop by later and make small talk.
Right now he needed to read her note. He pushed the door and walked into the
garden and carefully opened the envelope and read the handwritt
en note.