I felt uncomfortable too because she didn’t know the real reason for Mom’s death. I’d wanted so badly to tell her, but I couldn’t. Didn’t want to. Talking about it would make it real, and I would have to face the truth that Mom really did kill herself. It felt like the minute I said what really happened, I couldn’t go along believing the lie Dad had concocted.
“How did that go?”
“Not good.” She at least knew Dad and I didn’t get on well, and we weren’t close.
“He’s your father.”
“I don’t trust him, Halle. I really would be okay not seeing him, ever. But I think Mom would want me to. She wouldn’t like the way we’ve lived for the last fifteen years.” I knew that was right.
“Make amends. He’s your father. You only get one, and life’s too short to spend it in contention.”
I nodded, agreeing. Maybe I would go see him next week, at the house. The house I’d promised myself I wouldn’t set foot in ever again.
* * *
It was noon by the time I got to the motel. I always liked when the place was busy. It meant business. I took the steps two at a time deciding I’d go find Anya and drag her out to lunch.
I found her, but who I saw her talking to infuriated me.
It was the shark from the other day, and it could have been a déjà vu moment for me, but instead of coming into fine Halle talking to the guy, it was Anya.
Neither saw me come in.
The two were alone in reception, and the asshole had actually gone behind the counter to talk to her. Prick. He must have known the area was off limits, but he must have been using that as a scare tactic. Anya looked scared, so whatever he’d said prior to my arrival must have worked.
I could hear him now as he started talking again.
“Pretty girl like you, with a body like yours, I’m sure there are ways you can pay us back, all of us.”
He didn’t get to say another word to her because I was behind him in an instant, and in the same instant, I had him squished under my arm in a headlock. The fucker couldn’t even breathe.
“Fucking bastard, what the hell did you just say to my girl?” I didn’t know when in the hell I’d started thinking of Anya as being my girl, but the logistics of that didn’t matter. She was mine to look after.
The guy sputtered while Anya moved back into the wall near the bookshelf.
“Answer me. I’m fucking talking to you.”, I roared.
“We need payment.”
“So, you thought she should pay with her body. I should knock your teeth down your throat. I got a friend who’s a cop. I’m sure he’d just love to hear you repeat what you said.”
“I’m just doing my job. Boss saw her the other day.”
I released him and shoved him hard against the wall opposite Anya.
“Caine, be careful.” She winced.
I ignored her pleas and kept my focus on the asshole. “How much is the payment now?”
“Boss changed things up because of the arrears. He wants a hundred grand or the motel, whichever the your old lady prefers.”
“You can tell your boss he can go fuck himself.”
“It’s in the contract. If payment is forfeit for more than two months, we can make other demands.”
“I don’t care about that. It’s bullshit, and we won’t be bullied or forced into doing shit. I’ll pay off the original loan and the charges, and that is all you’ll get. Your boss can deal with me if he doesn’t like it.”
The guy had the audacity to laugh. I released him fully and pushed him.
“Get the fuck out and don’t come back here,” I snarled.
He backed away and stumbled but kept going.
This was all shit, fucking bullshit. Who were these guys, and what had Halle sighed up to? I thought I’d found the details in her office the other day, but it seemed like there was more.
Anya rushed to my side.
“Are you okay?” I asked, cupping her face.
She nodded. “Caine, I’m scared. I’m scared. I don’t think they were ordinary loan sharks. What kind of power could they have to demand a hundred grand or the motel? I can’t do either.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I’ll take care of it.”
“I—”
I silenced her with a soft kiss. She pressed against me, and I wished we were alone.
“Come on, let’s go up to the office.”
That was the one sure place no one would go to. We could be alone for a while, even if that was to talk.
Talking, however, seemed to be the last thing on her mind.
The minute we stepped inside the office and the door closed, she moved to me for a kiss, and my body took over.
I pulled her closer for a hot kiss and guided her over to the sofa area, where I pulled her into my lap. There we kissed and kissed. Full-on making out.
Making out the way I would have liked to when we were teenagers and I seemed a lot older than her.
It was funny how four years felt older when you were fourteen and eighteen, but like nothing now that we were twenty-eight and thirty-two. And I wanted her. Badly. The more I kissed her, the more my control slipped away and I found I couldn’t think straight.
Her hands on my face, her hands on my neck and my chest, her breast pressed against me, it fucking set me on fire in a way that I didn’t think possible. I wanted her, and damn, she wanted me too.
She must have been able to feel my cock pressing into her ass because she grinded herself over me, making me ache as she got even closer.
I wanted to touch her everywhere and have her. Smoothing up the curve of her waist, I touched the underside of her left breast, and she moaned into my mouth. Temptation seized me, making me hunger for more from her. I cupped the whole breast, filling my palms and squeezing, rubbing my fingers over the hard point of her nipple.
I did that circling around it, and she pulled back with a half pain-, half pleasure-filled expression on her face.
I pressed my forehead to hers, not wanting her to go too far from me, although it wasn’t far at all. I just wanted her.
“I want to taste you.” I groaned, brushing my nose over hers and squeezing the diamond-hard nipple between my thumb and forefinger. Fuck, she felt so damn good.
“Taste me, Caine,” she moaned.
“With pleasure, Miss Thing.” I smiled against her lips.
Chapter 9
Anya
* * *
All I knew was I wanted him. I wanted Caine to touch me everywhere and taste me.
Taste me and want me.
I wanted to escape reality and not even contemplate what had just taken place moments ago.
I couldn’t think of the shit I knew we were in, and I didn’t want to.
With a wicked smile on his face, he pulled down the straps of my top and my bra at the same time. Desire filled his eyes when my breast popped out with the painfully tight nipple pebbled and aching to be sucked.
The smile on his face as he looked me over was almost evil, filled with sin and sex. I sucked in a sharp breath as he lowered to close his lips over my nipple and drew me in to suck. Each suck made my nipples harder, aching with need for more. He alternated between lapping at the tips and sucking, driving me insane with his wild suckle.
Fuck, it was just like the other day when he’d first kissed me, and I lost my mind. I’d never hungered more for anyone. Raw need met pure desire, and it only intensified when he undid the clasp of my bra with one quick snap and unleashed my other breast.
He growled deep and low in his chest and got to work on giving the neglected breast the same attention he’d given the first.
The man knew what to do, how to please me, how to touch me, how to control that primitive desire that flickered between us.
Every inch of me lit up with the burning need to be his and succumb to everything he had to offer. That glow of desire that burned within me turned to lust, and I still wanted more. But he kissed back up to my neck, cup
ped my face, and pressed my lips back to his.
“We can’t here.” His voice broke with huskiness, deep and sensual, sending a ripple of awareness through me.
He smoothed his hands back down to fondle my breasts, rubbing the nipples between his thumb and forefinger.
“Why?” I asked on the edge of a breath, losing my concentration again from his touch. I didn’t want him to stop touching me, and the ache to have him inside me almost made me want to beg.
“The office is next to the break room. Anyone in there will hear us.” He nuzzled against my neck, and his warm breath tickled my skin. “What I want to do next would make you scream.”
My cheek brushed against the rough stubble of his.
“What were you going to do next?” I was desperate to know.
The devilish smile on his face revealed his carnal desire.
His clever hands slipped under my skirt, and a shiver coursed through me when he parted my legs slightly and started rubbing his finger over my already wet panties.
“You’re wet, baby.”
I answered with a moan.
He rubbed his fingers over the hard nub of my clit, and I watched the light green of his eyes darken to emerald.
“Fuck it, I’ll taste you, then I’ll go.” He moved me off his lap and shoved my skirt up to my waist, so he could part my legs wider.
I sucked in a sharp breath as he nuzzled his face right there between my thighs and pressed right into the cotton of my panties. Right into my core.
I had to gasp when he moved the cotton away, and I grabbed on to what I could of the leather of the sofa when without warning, he pressed his tongue right into me and started licking me clean. Licking and sucking. Licking and sucking to give me ultimate pleasure that set my soul on fire.
I cried out, a little too loud.
Shit.
Anyone passing by or in the next room would have heard me, and that was a cry of pleasure. If I’d heard that myself, I would have known exactly what was going on in here.
I clasped my hands over my mouth as he licked me harder and pulled on my already sensitive clit.
And like he said, fuck it, I couldn’t control myself. Nothing could have prepared me for the orgasm that tore through me. It grabbed me and held me in the height of passion and ecstasy. I allowed my head to fall back as mindless moans of pleasure poured from my lips.
With one last lick, he moved away from me and practically fled the room, leaving me in that state.
I wanted to be annoyed, but I knew why he did it. If he’d stayed, there would be more.
The thing was, I wanted more. So much more.
* * *
Caine
* * *
Fucking hell, I’d ended up having to leave.
As in leave the building and go straight home.
I’d jumped on my bike and headed home. Headed home and into the bathroom for a cold shower. It served me right. I’d asked for this shit right now, and the need to take care of myself like I was some hyped-up teenaged boy.
There was a reason why I always fantasized about her in places where I could have her. Like my bed.
Granted, we’d been in a motel, and what I should have done was drag her off to one of the rooms. I just hadn’t been thinking. Who could think when they felt this kind of torture? And there was no way that I was going to embarrass myself in front of her by exploding in my pants when she hadn’t even touched me properly.
She was the one I’d practically stripped naked and given an orgasm to. Me though, I got turned on from the sight of watching her and tasting her. What should have come next was me inside her, but five seconds later would have surely seen me lose control and embarrass myself. I knew it. I could feel it. That was all down to wanting her so badly it ached.
Fuck, I had to get a damn grip. I really did.
What was worse was, I never even got the chance to ask her what was going on with those guys, and since I was dying to find out, I would have to make my way right back to Anya later. I wouldn’t be able to rest until I spoke to her, and I had to see her. This wasn’t a phone call situation, not with what happened between us earlier. I just hoped she wasn’t mad at me for leaving the way I had when we were having such a damn good time.
Lopez gave me a little bit of a distraction with a phone call. I’d been meaning to call him but got sidetracked.
“Hey, man, just checking in on you.”
“Hey, I’m sorry.”
“Halle okay?”
“She’s not too bad. Looks like she’ll need surgery.”
“Damn, that sucks. I’m sorry, man.”
“Thanks. I have my fingers crossed she’ll be okay. Are you free Saturday?” I did need to see him. We actually hadn’t hung out in close to a year. Last time I came home, he was in San Francisco for his grandfather’s funeral. Then, last week, when we were supposed to meet, Halle got taken into hospital.
“Saturday is good. I’ll come to you. Should I bring the boys along?”
“Fuck yeah.” Terry and Sam were crazy. Hadn’t seen them in too long either, so it would be great to hang out.
“Cooool. Oh, Caine, I almost forgot the reason for my call.” His voice turned serious.
“You said you were checking on me.” I chuckled.
“I am, but there’s something else. I saw your dad downtown the other night. How’d it go with him the other day?”
That was odd. Dad never went into town at night. Well, from what I remembered. Maybe it was different these days.
“It was weird talking to him after so long. Let’s just say I’m not looking forward to seeing him again, but I’ll try. What was he doing downtown?”
“Well, I saw him talking to a really shady-looking guy.” Lopez got this cautious tone in his voice. “But, hey, I guess everyone looks shady to you when you’re a cop.” Although he laughed, there was an edge to the sound that told me Lopez was suspicious.
This was the second time today that I’d talked about my father. Both times had me experiencing the same off feeling because I didn’t trust him.
If I were to tap into my instincts, the same instincts that I’d used in the Navy, I would say I felt suspicious too. But of what? He hadn’t done anything, and him downtown at night talking to shady people was not exactly something to get worked up over.
Plus, this was Wilmington. Nothing ever happened here. Talking to shady characters in downtown L.A was more cause for suspicion.
“Did you see anything else?”
“The guy looked familiar. Italian guy. I don’t know. I just thought I’d mention it and ask you too how speaking to him went. No cause for alarm, I suppose.”
“Nah, I may see him sometime next week though.”
Maybe Wednesday. That gave me over a week to prep. I wouldn’t tell him either until maybe the night before, and then I’d go and see him. Just in case I changed my mind.
“Cool, well I’ll see you Saturday. Stay out of trouble.”
I wished he hadn’t said that. Famous last words. Trouble stared me right in my face the minute I walked back in the motel and laid my eyes on Anya.
It was close to six, and she sat out on the deck by the swimming pool.
The sun bathed her in the ambience of its light as it retracted into the sky, and there was a softness about her that made me want to run my fingers over her smooth brown skin.
Suddenly, I couldn’t think straight. The woman rendered me mindless, powerless to control, and all I wanted was her.
Chapter 10
Anya
* * *
I couldn’t look at Caine without remembering earlier.
He came straight over to me, pulled up a chair, and sat in front of me. Leaning his elbows down onto his knees, he looked me over with a tentative expression.
“I’m sorry,” he stated with a soft smile. It was supposed to be an apologetic smile, but the hint of mischief that lurked in his eyes stole away from the apology.
I wasn’t mad at him. The
re was nothing really to be mad about, but now I was curious about what he was sorry for.
“Which part?”
“Mainly because I ran away like a pussy and never thought to either drag you into one of the empty rooms or take you home with me.”
I looked him over, trying to bite back a smile but failing. “Oh. You sound like you have more on your mind.”
“I do. What I should have done earlier was ask you about the guy before kissing you. That would have played out better because I would have had at least ten minutes thinking time to plan out our get-together a little better. I just remembered now that room twelve is free, and so is eleven. We want room twelve because it’s on the corner and no one will hear you scream. What would be even better is if you came to my place. We could go there now.”
Now I was laughing. What in the hell was I going to do with this man?
“Did you call me your girl earlier?”
“Yes.” He held my gaze, staring. A few seconds passed with us just looking at each other before he blinked and straightened.
I remembered the summer before he’d left for the Navy. I was thirteen, and he was seventeen. His mother was still alive. She had one of her fundraisers. Caine’s date for the event was very beautiful. Like the many beautiful girls I always saw him with, but she was supermodel gorgeous with her auburn hair and bright green eyes. I’d watched him making out with her in the secret garden at the back of the mansion.
There were so many places they could have gone to, but fate had it that that’s where they went. To the place I liked to escape to when I needed to get away. The apartment I lived in with Mom in Chicago was so small and tight, no space to do much. To me, the Donoghue mansion was like paradise.
That was one of the days I’d never forget because I hid and watched Caine kissing this girl. Kissing her like she was the most desirable girl in all the world, and like he couldn’t get enough of her.
Kiss From a Rose Page 7
