Loving Memories

by Imogene Nix

  “No, don’t say that. You saved me...that’s what counts.”

  He stepped back, his usual graceful gait unsteady. “We need to talk.” “Yes, we do, because I think I know what caused Lola to stop talking.”

  Chapter 12

  They sat in the deeply padded seats where they’d sat a mere two nights before. The wine- red leather was cool and squishy, and Jenny had to stop herself from cuddling down into it. Her body ached, and the shape of the chair molded around her.

  Steve placed a glass of soda water beside her on a coaster. She thanked him and waited for him to settle to whatever it was he felt he needed to discuss.

  “So...you said you think you know...” He waved his hand in the air, and she watched, mesmerized. “Jenny?”

  “Oh! Well, I can’t be one-hundred percent sure just yet, but based on the way Lola reacted tonight, I believe she has seen previous assaults. She was calm—too calm under the circumstance. I would say it’s as if she’s been in this situation before.” Jenny lifted the glass to her lips and sipped. “This may be a gut reaction, but I don’t think I’m too far off the mark.”

  He nodded. “I see.”

  “Steve, I don’t know that any kind of treatment will be fast. In order to be successful, it’s going to take time. She’ll need to form a bond with her psychologist before they can really commence any kind of therapy. Even then, it’s going to almost need to be play-based or art- based, so she doesn’t feel strained or—”

  “Or pushed. Yes, I see where you’re going.”

  Jenny slumped further back into her seat, her gaze settling on the photographs on the wall. “She’s going to need a steady hand...someone who’s willing to go the whole way with her. I wouldn’t be surprised if she doesn’t also have a problem with abandonment too, given the loss of Cara and whatever happened to her parents and family.”

  He picked up the glass and sloshed it around while frowning down at the iced tea. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I’d like you to stay, to take on her therapy.”

  She’d expected this, but it wasn’t something she should do. The oath she had taken wasn’t something she’d set aside easily. But they needed to find an answer and quickly. The people certainly weren’t giving up anytime soon, that much was obvious.

  “I shouldn’t. I mean, Lola is almost Cara’s daughter. It feels wrong...” But the thought of how long it could take for Lola to become comfortable with someone else was a concern.

  “We don’t have time, surely you understand that.” It was as if he’d read her mind.

  She bit her lip and turned away. “I couldn’t—”

  “No. It has to be you. You’re the only one we can trust right now.”

  The truth of his words speared her. The longer she quibbled, the longer it would take to get to the bottom of Lola’s issues. And in the meantime, they might hurt Lola. Or Steve.

  The thought left her shivering. She couldn’t let that happen. “Okay, but only until we can find out what happened, then I must hand it over to another psychologist.”

  He nodded and sipped again on the drink. “We also need to talk about—”

  Her head snapped up. “No, we don’t.” Her cold words were aimed at shutting down the situation, but he sat back in the seat gazing at her.

  “We do. Otherwise we’ll be walking around each other, wondering how to cope with this thing between us.”

  She gulped. As much as she wanted to avoid it, he wasn’t going to let her. And he was right. It needed to be resolved.

  “All right then, what did you want to say?” She steeled herself, fingers gripping the arms of the chair now that she had put down the drink.

  He blushed, and she grinned just a little bit at his discomfort. “It was an accident, a case of losing our inhibitions and trying to deal with our grief.”

  Watching him, it was clear he’d been practicing the words all night. “So it was just an accident? Unintentional, and will never happen again?”

  Steve opened his mouth, and Jenny waited for the confirmation, but it didn’t come. His face clouded and he looked away.

  Something warm settled in her chest, and a fascination rose in her. Could it be? No, he couldn’t possibly want her, and besides, Cara was firmly between them.

  “I can’t promise that.” His low words startled her.

  “Look, Steve. seriously, you don’t want me. I’m so messed up I don’t know up from down, and I already have enough hang-ups to carry around with me. You wouldn’t want someone with that level of issues pulling you down.” She said the words quietly. “And I’m not the kind of woman you would want or need by your side.” She smiled, trying vainly to hide the pain in her words.

  He frowned. “Jenny...you are...”

  “I’m large, and I’m not the woman of your dreams. We buried her today.” Oh God! How those words hurt, but they had to be said. Steve was one more thing she couldn’t have.

  His face darkened, and she wondered if she’d been a little too brutal. She stood as he did, ready to leave the room, but he moved toward her.

  “Why? Why do you put yourself down like that?” His words bit as surely as the grip of his fingers on her upper arms.

  “It’s the truth. Sure, the truth hurts, but I won’t hide from—”

  His mouth crashed down on hers, silencing her harsh answer, and his tongue demanded entry. Entry she couldn’t deny him. It swept within the cavern of her mouth and she could taste him—delicious, dangerous, all man.

  She pulled away. “You shouldn’t—”

  “I can, and I will. You’re beautiful, Jenny. I watched you today with Lola, how kind and loving you were. Soft when she needed it, and firm too when it called for that.” His large hands framed her face, and she nuzzled closer to feel the warmth of his touch on her skin.

  Her body yearned for him. Her nipples swelled and her breasts engorged. Her panties grew wet, and she pressed her legs together as the instant arousal burned her. “Don’t do this, Steve.”

  She whispered the words, and yet he still dipped his head toward her mouth again.

  “I can’t help myself. You’re like an intoxicating drug.” His lips found hers, and this time the touch was gentle.

  Her frustrations and concerned fizzled away. They could talk tomorrow, when there wasn’t need pooling inside them both.

  Instead of words, he gave her slow touches and caresses. He drugged her with the feel of his fingertips as he brushed the hair from her face then traced her brows before dipping to her lips. His fingers trailed over the side of jaw. She arched her neck and swallowed as his thumb settled to her lower lip, the tiniest pressure destroying her with subtle eroticism.

  She clung to Steve’s shoulders, her lips opened, and she flicked her tongue over the pad of his finger. He hissed, jerked, and stilled for a moment. Their gazes meshed...held...then his evocative exploration continued.

  His hand moved down her neck, tracing her collarbone, then slipped down her arm. His eyes burned a path where he touched, and she yearned for more.

  Dear heavens! He was barely touching her and she was so aroused!

  He backed her against the wall, and once his fingers found hers, he linked them and pulled away from her. She frowned as he lifted their twined hands above her head.

  “You’re exquisite, Jenny. I adore the way your breasts draw my eyes. Your arse is round and full, just right for my hands to touch and knead,” he whispered.

  She shivered under his touch. He let go of her hands, and she started to lower them. “No...leave them there.”

  His hands sought the zipper closure of her track top, dragging it down slowly, and she melted before he released the cloth. The top gaped open and she knew he could see her utilitarian bra. She also wasn’t small or pert. He laid a shaking finger against her beaded nipple through the cotton lycra fabric.

  “Your skin is so pale, your nipples look like ripe strawberries set in the most exquisite cream.”

  His words seduced her as ef
fectively as his touch, and she couldn’t help herself, dropping her arms and covering his hand as it continued exploring her dips and hollows, her hips moving in an unconscious rhythm.

  “Steve?” She needed to know where this was going.

  He drew back slightly. “Jenny...tonight will you choose to stay with me? With no alcohol? No inducements? Just two lonely people who want each other?” His husky words stilled her movements.

  Was this what she wanted? Did she want to sleep with this man? Enjoy his body for as long as he wanted her?

  She gripped his hand and pulled it away from her breast.

  “Yes.”

  With slow, careful movements, he drew her down the hall past Lola’s room. This time he opened the door to a room she hadn’t entered. Only dimly did she note the chocolate tones of the comforter, the pale walls. He turned on a bedside lamp and carefully watched her as he shucked his clothes.

  “I’m going to touch you all over. Kiss every inch of your beautiful skin. Then I’m going to fill you, and when you cry out, I’m going to suck you dry before I love you again.” His eyes glittered, and his face was drawn with desire.

  His pants slipped to the floor and his underwear followed. Her mouth dried and her fingers curled, itching to run over the skin he’d uncovered.

  The heat in her belly flared higher and hotter, and the skin of her pussy lips quivered. She lifted shaking fingers to push away her top but he was there once more. Gloriously naked, with his erection jutting from between his legs. A line of dark hair trailed down from his navel to join with the thickly curled hairs that did nothing to hide just how aroused he was.

  His muscles moved in the light, and she gasped, noting the strength in his body she had barely seen before.

  The material of her top fluttered to the floor and his arms wound around her, his fingers searching for the clasp of her bra. He breathed heavily, and she wanted his lips against hers. Jenny gathered all her determination, rose to her tiptoes, and laid her open lips against his. This time his mouth devoured hers, his whiskers rasping the skin of her face as their tongues danced.

  Her bra released and her breasts sagged, but she didn’t care as his hands burrowed beneath the cotton, molding themselves over the heavy globes. His thumbs flicked, and she pulled away, arching and crying out. “Steve?”

  “For me. All for me.” With a savage jerk, he pulled the straps from her and the bra went sailing over his head.

  The primal need in his eyes matched the hunger within her. His fingers tugged at the band of her pants and found the panties below. He forced them down with a jerky motion, all the vestiges of civility stripped from them both as they groped at each other, desire flashing between them.

  She stepped from the clothes, and his hands firmed, kneading her flesh. She gasped as a finger traced from her arse to her damply ready intimate folds.

  When he dipped a hard, questing finger inside her, she moaned and shook. Her body tightened. She was so very ready for his invasion.

  “Steve. The bed...” She hissed the words, and he laughed savagely.

  “Not yet.” His words left her senses reeling.

  What more... Rational thought fled as he kissed her deeply, his passion possessing her completely.

  As the thought began he moved, slowly slipping down her body while he searched every inch of her skin with his lips and tongue. He found one breast, suckled for a moment, then shifted to the other.

  “Oh God, Steve. More!” Her demand was almost soundless.

  He continued licking and nibbling as he traversed her body. He stopped at her rounded belly, dipping his tongue into her indented navel. Her thighs shook and she panted, hungry for oxygen and more of the exquisite torture. When his tongue drew circles around the dent, she flamed hotter than ever before. The burning sensation below the touch of his finger stole every thought while he continued the light, thrusting movements between her legs.

  He dipped further, pulling his finger from within her. When he licked his finger, her legs nearly gave way at the carnality of his actions.

  He reached out, using the wet finger he’d just enjoyed to part her folds. “So beautiful.”

  He toyed for an instant with the nub of her clit and flicked it with his tongue. Jenny thrashed, lost in the hazy world she’d never experienced before. Never like this.

  He placed his mouth over her mound, the sweet heat tearing a moan from her throat. He suckled her intimately, and she shook and shivered.

  “No more. Oh, please, Steve...No more!” Blindly, she pulled at him, dragging him back up her body.

  Their lips met and clung. The taste of her essence on his mouth surprised her. The musky tang added to the danger of his touch. Together, they shuffled to the bed and fell upon it, the mattress see-sawing under their combined weights.

  Hands moved urgently as she cupped the weight of his balls, testing the fullness, then her fingers wandered over his erection. It was hot and silky, yet firm beneath her touch. She found the slit at the tip and felt the dampness that leaked from it. He was as turned on as she was.

  His fingers fondled between her legs and at her breasts. She opened her legs wide, showing him wordlessly just how ready she was for him. He looked down, holding himself still against her.

  “Last chance.” He breathed heavily and she knew what he needed to know.

  She glanced down, saw they had reached the point of no return, and threw caution to the wind. “I want this. I want you inside me. I want to feel the burn.”

  His mouth descended, tongues mating as he slipped inside her. His movements were slow, undulating, and she met his thrusts as her hands roamed over his back, scoring his flesh, branding him hers.

  The fever built, each move ratcheting her higher and tighter until all that remained was the hunger and desire. He groaned against her mouth as she gasped, feeling him fill her all the way.

  Jenny arched, her fingers gripping tightly at his hips as he pushed himself a little further in, seeking release. When it came, the orgasm was strong. It buzzed through her veins. She gave herself up to the sensations, her womb tightening rhythmically.

  He grunted, thrusted one last time, and his body convulsed in her arms, finding release. Deep within she felt the jetting of his seed, and she loved it. Every minute detail shone with crystalline clarity.

  He held still against her. Then slowly he moved to lie beside her in the darkness, his arm gathering her close. Their harsh breathing calmed and they dozed.

  Steve woke gradually, letting his body climb through the layers of wellbeing that wrapped around his consciousness. The feel of a warm, curvy body snuggled close beside him confused him for just an instant before he realized it was Jenny. She lay there naked against his nude form.

  He turned, and she scooted away slightly. He frowned and looked into her face. She was deeply asleep, but the action worried him. Even in sleep, after their amazing bout of lovemaking, she pulled away.

  He didn’t like that at all. It spoke of problems he didn’t know about or understand. He lay back, letting his arm rest over his eyes while he considered the problem.

  Someone was after Lola, because she knew something. Someone had killed Cara, and it seemed safe to assume it was something to do with the threat to Lola.

  Someone had hurt Jenny, and for a moment, the fear ballooned within him, until he heard her softly snuffling in her sleep.

  Jenny...generous, loving, and lonely Jenny, beautiful Jenny, who’d given him all her passion, not holding anything back. At the edge of his conscience the thought that she meant more to him raised its head. Fear had him slamming the lid on any thoughts like that. Remember Cara!

  He frowned. They’d both wanted this connection, but it wounded him that Jenny had withdrawn from him, even unconsciously. He guessed it had more to do with her past than their mutual feelings of betrayal to Cara. That he couldn’t do a damn thing about it bothered him even further.

  Each time he and Jenny made love—had sex, he corrected himself—t
he bond between them grew. Each taste and touch left him wanting more.

  He thought back to her words that had stung him, propelling him into the action that had led to the wonderful intimacy they’d shared. I’m large, and I’m not the woman of your dreams. We buried her today. He still felt as if he’d betrayed Cara with each kiss, each teasing touch, and each choice he made, yet the guilt didn’t have the depth it had the first time.

  The knowledge that Cara may as well have been lying in the bed between them right now, along with the memory that they’d just buried her, made him feel sick—for both himself and Jenny.

  He mourned Cara’s loss, he told himself. She’d been a bright flame in his life, but now she was gone...dead.

  He forced his mind from the negative thoughts that swirled around. He needed to make his offer to Jenny, the one that would keep her there for Lola.

  Liar! His mind screamed that he wanted more than help for Lola, but he steadfastly refused to consider that. The thoughts chased around in his mind, leaving him even more confused and frustrated.

  He tossed and turned, and Jenny half-roused.

  “What...where?”

  Her husky voice aroused him once more. His penis started to swell, and his heart rate sped up. How on earth can I want her again so soon? But he did. He wanted everything she had to offer.

  Jenny moved slowly, the sheet dropping closer to the curve of her breast. “Steve?” Her breathy enquiry was little more than a sigh of half-awareness. Her eyelids fluttered closed again as she drifted back off to sleep.

  A seed of devilry entered his mind. Carefully, he peeled the sheet from her body where she had pulled them up around her gorgeous, lush form. Her pale skin shone in the dim light, and he let his gaze travel over her. He had suckled both those breasts, enjoying the plump bounty. He realized that skinny women really didn’t appeal to him. He much preferred to have something to touch and hold onto.

  Steve’s gaze rolled down her body, finding the indentation of her waist, her rounded tummy and navel. His inspection continued downward, while his fingers teased the thatch of hair at the entrance to her hot, moist core. The one he’d recently filled and fitted around him like a glove. Just thinking about slipping into her heated his body, he had to suppress a groan.