by D. L. EVANS
“Since when are they ever?" she replied. "I know Annie’s in the eye of a hurricane now Adam, but she’s innocent of anything wrong. You’ve got to help her. I think you’re the only one who can.”
“I will," I said. "You know I’ll do whatever it takes.” I looked down at the top of her head and put my arm around her shoulder. “And yes, I will talk things through with Mom this very evening. Two thousand miles away in the Florida Keys and I still have no secrets. God, the bossy women in my life. Now, I’m truly afraid to ask this, but is that everything that Annie said?”
“Funny you should ask?” I didn’t laugh. “But Annie agreed with something Savannah told me years ago.” She left my side and walked over to the door. “Annie also said that I should give Mack Mackenzie a second chance.” I refused to make a comment. “Do you still think that she should mind her own business when she’s so good at minding ours?” Lauren laughed as she went out the door. What an exit line. She was born to be on stage.
Chapter Forty-One
Adam Stone:
Adam needed to see Annie. He needed to know, absolutely, the limits of her abilities. Did she see his arguments with Savannah as an observing third party? Could she see his memories? This possibility was so uncomfortable, so invasive that Adam considered ending his relationship, or whatever it was, with her. Then why did he have to face her? He didn't call; he just hoped that Annie would be alone in the privacy and seclusion of her studio where, without interruptions, she might feel like talking. The guilt he'd carried around for two years was his alone and not to be examined or discussed with anyone and this needed to be clarified.
When he arrived at the warehouse he was surprised to see two workmen, one high up on a ladder, installing what looked like a new surveillance camera above the door. He wondered what had happened to the previous one? He pressed the buzzer and the door opened without him having to identify himself. As Adam entered the elevator he tried to centre on the fact that he was angry, that his privacy had been invaded and he needed some answers. In fact, he was fighting the need to just see her.
The door opened and Annie stood there in the middle of the room staring at him without expression. She had some filmy, loose fitting, clingy gown on, tied at the shoulders and her hair was pulled up into a knot on the top of her head. She looked so beautiful in the afternoon light that his mouth went dry.
"We need to sort some things out," Adam finally managed to say. He needed some water.
Annie knew instantly that something had changed, something in his energy. Adam stood very still, studying her with his liquid brown eyes, trying to keep calm and relaxed. Annie knew he was trying too hard to distance himself from his emotions. She sensed anger deep under the surface and instinctively knew that everything he felt for her would hinge on how she was going to handle the next few minutes. She wondered how much she could risk? He was so damn attractive in his black pullover and tight jeans. He had lost weight and looked incredibly strong. She tried to control her thoughts but all she could think of was how badly she wanted to see him naked, run her fingers through his thick wavy hair; smell his skin, taste his mouth, press against his body.
"Would you like something to drink?" she offered. "Some wine or bourbon perhaps?"
He needed a double or maybe two but said, "No thanks, it's a bit early, but I would like some water."
She nodded and went to her fridge. Adam said that he had noticed the security van and a couple of guys that looked like they were installing a new camera outside the front entrance as he drove in.
"Yes," Annie said as she handed him a glass of water and ice, "that's why I'm here instead of at the gallery." The camera at the door had been moved to make a blind spot but the new one has a wider angle of view and can be locked in position. They're also checking out the whole system," she explained.
"A blind spot? Who moved it?" Adam asked.
Annie moved to her open kitchen area and poured herself some water. "You better sit down, Adam. I have to tell you about an incident that happened downstairs after the wake when Winnie dropped me off here."
Adam sat and waited for her to continue.
She said "Please don't over react, and do let me finish before you ask any questions, OK?"
Adam was puzzled but agreed.
Yes, Annie thought to herself, there definitely was a sea change in his energy field. His dead wife was no longer present up front in his thoughts where Annie usually sensed her, but had now safely faded into his memory archives. It seemed that Adam, on his own, had come to some conclusions that he could live with, perhaps with Lauren's help. It had definitely been worth the risk Annie had taken getting Lauren to intercede. If anyone could blast through his guilt with logic and common sense it was that dear lady but what had it cost Annie to set it in motion? Could Adam trust her now, she wondered?
"A man was waiting," she started softly, "in the dark, near the door, for me to come home from the wake. He was sent by someone to assault me, I'm pretty sure of that much."
Adam stiffened with a dozen questions, ready to explode, but she cut him off before he could speak.
"Before you ask, I don't know why or who sent him, just that he was not to kill me, just rough me up. That meant rape to him. He's done it before. He hates women."
A knot of anger was forming deep inside Adam. He knew Annie was in serious danger and it was coming closer.
"What happened?" he asked trying to remain calm.
"I frightened him, Adam," Annie replied slowly. "I assaulted his mind and scared the crap out of him with his own memories. He left in pretty bad shape, mentally."
"Christ. You could have been killed. Could this be the guy who has been watching you?"
"No, I'm sure of that, Adam. And you know I am not defenceless. I just wish I could have found out why he was sent here to frighten me and who sent him but I was too busy trying to diffuse his intense anger."
"Do you know his name? Describe him."
"I know his name is Jack because in his memory his awful mother called him Jackie boy. He's tall, six three, handsome, white, slight build with grey-brown hair. He smells of cheap after-shave and wears expensive clothes. He fakes a good education but did not get past high school.
"We'll find him through Mack" Adam said. "We need to find out what's going on and he may be our first real lead. Are you sure you're alright?"
"Yes, but I want you to know more about my abilities. It is what you've been wanting to know isn't it?"
Adam nodded in agreement not sure that he really did want her to continue.
"Well, it's important that you understand," she continued, "probing someone's mind is not easy and it costs me. It's not always possible either. I get nosebleeds and headaches so I don't do it if there isn't a good reason. In this case, this creep is or was a bully. I could ride his anger and adrenalin back into his memories. After that his own fear defeated him. The whole incident took about five minutes. And believe me Adam, nothing the police could do would frighten him as much as the ghost of his mother that I made him see in his head.
Adam didn't know what to say. She forced a memory in someone else's brain. How can this happen? Who had ever faced something like this before? What would Mack make of it?
"But this is all beside the point isn't it… " Annie said. "And to answer your question, I'm not reading your mind but it doesn't take a genius to figure out why you're here. I know it must have something to do with a conversation you must have had with your sister, right? A conversation that was about me, right?"
Adam took a deep breath. This was so important, but he didn't want her to turn off now, just when she had started to explain. Could she stay out of his mind? Was it even possible? "I want…. " he started badly. "I need… I mean…" He couldn't seem to assemble the words. "Look," he started again, "the past with my Savannah….
"I know," she interrupted, "I really do know, it's private Adam. I took a chance, a big one." Annie continued, "It's just that the scene in your mind was ver
y clear. That only happens when someone plays it over and over, Adam, like a looped piece of film and it becomes … um, sort of imprinted on their brain." She looked at him and he could see the remorse in her lovely eyes. "I'm so sorry that I didn't keep it to myself" she said. "I know it's private and you are entitled to have your memories," she took a slow breath, "it's just that this one that was such a part of your present, it was … hurting you. You were dissolving under the weight of it and I care, Adam. I cared from the first time I saw you at the gallery. But you could never see me … in the way I wanted you to see me with …." She had backed off from the pain and guilt that he kept suffering like an irresistible drug.
Adam said, "You thought my memories of Savannah were a barrier of some sort?" He realized what she was saying but she was wrong. "They weren't," he said, "but maybe the guilt was. I wanted to take back that day a million times."
Annie sighed and looked away. Adam wanted to pull her back. "I also felt something at our disastrous first meeting" he offered, "but when I put my foot in my mouth yet again, I thought you wanted me to … well… bugger off, you know, to Jupiter or Pluto or beyond."
She laughed.
Annie felt relieved that she had weathered their first crisis. Adam seemed to have forgiven her for crossing that intimate line but she must never give him cause to mistrust her again. He wanted her. She felt it like heat radiating out of him. Was he comfortable enough to make a move or was she going to have to jump him? God, she thought, what does a woman have to do to jump-start this delicious hunk? Annie touched her throat.
"Are you sure he didn't hurt you, Adam asked? "You're not just being brave here so I won't worry?"
"No, just a few bruises and a small nick from his knife but I left him a bit of a mess, I think."
"Christ, he had a knife, the bastard! He could have stabbed you Annie. Why didn't you call the police?" The thought of her being hurt was more than he could bear.
This brought up another problem with her 'abilities'. "I couldn't let the police see what the assault cost him, whoever he is," Annie explained. "He had a breakdown Adam, or maybe a meltdown. I'm not sure how a doctor would describe it but he will not be the same for quite a while, if ever, and I'm OK." Annie assured Adam with a smile.
He took her chin in his hand and lifted it to look at her throat and saw the small cut. He inhaled her fabulous scent and gently touched her smooth warm skin as he lowered his head to kiss the tiny wound. He swore the earth shifted just touching her. Annie shuddered and took a breath. He held her head and looked into her eyes, his fingers buried in her brown-gold hair and found her mouth with a deliciously slow, endless kiss. Her mouth opened for him and he felt the tip of her tongue search out his own. The blood roared in his ears. He pulled back and gasped for breath. "Listen," Adam struggled to say, "it's been… a long time since…. I don't want…"
"You talk too much Adam," Annie laughed. "Don't you know yet that nothing happens to me that I don't want to happen? God knows I've been dying for you to hold me. You're afraid that you may hurt me with your … need for me but you can't. I need you too, so don't stop now or things might get drastic…" she laughed.
Adam laughed too but he wanted her so badly that he was afraid to move. The air seemed electrically charged and the hair stood up on his arms. His erection was becoming painful confined in his jeans. Annie took the lead and reached down and undid the button and zipper. She pushed them down, along with his underwear, then knelt down and, holding him gently in both hands, took him into her mouth as she stroked him. Adam stopped breathing. The world was spinning. He heard himself moan and realized how close he was. With the last ounce of control he lifted her to kiss her mouth again before it was too late. Soft lips, darting tongue and gentle bites. She was warm and fluid moving like silk. Adam's sweater came up over his head and he stepped out of the tangle of pants and underwear around his ankles. He was naked but Annie was still dressed. They were still kissing when her dress strategically fell from her shoulders to the floor, leaving her completely naked. He stared at her firm unbelievable breasts with tight puckered nipples and her smooth flat belly and the gentle curve falling into shadow below it, savouring every moment.
He had to touch her everywhere. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs so tightly around him he could feel her heat as he carried her to the bedroom. They were surrounded by light, dust motes dancing in the air, desire flooding their senses. Adam placed Annie against the pillows and kneeled before her. He kissed her mouth, her exquisite chin and down her neck. She moaned moving her legs and hands over his skin, devouring the scent of him. He ran his tongue over her breasts teasing each of her nipples until she cried out. Somewhere in the deep intelligent part of his brain he hesitated and remembered that she was unprotected. Annie sensed the reason for his hesitation and reached over to her dresser. Time had no meaning. In seconds she expertly and quickly covered him with the condom. She arched back like a drawn bow, legs parted, her heels pushing her up off the bed, using one hand to guide him inside her. There was no surrender as she moved under him. He kissed her continuously while he moved with her, breathing in the scent of her hair and kneading the flesh of her back and waist, pulling her against his thrusts. They exploded together, cresting the wave that shook them as one being.
"Wow," Annie said quietly gasping for oxygen. "That was amazing. I may have trouble ever getting out of bed again," and she laughed.
When Adam was able to answer, he said, "I warned you that it has been a while, a long while… And who said you could get out of bed yet. I'm not finished." He kissed her chin and started working his way down. Her fingers were in his hair. Soft purring moans and deep breaths came from her throat. Her hips were raised and moving in small circles and there was moisture on her belly that tasted like heaven to Adam. Then he moved lower. She parted her thighs for him and he explored where she was most sensitive as she arched in demand for release. Her fingers locked into fists as she rose, riding her desire like a current. He moved his tongue more quickly, flicking it around and around, and then plunging it in and out of her while he cupped her round taut behind with both hands, drawing her even tighter against his mouth. The orgasm suddenly ripped through her and she screamed. He kissed her mouth to cover her sounds. When Adam eventually pulled back slightly and looked at her beautiful face, her eyes were opaque and glassy. She was spent! She was incredible! And she was his!
Chapter Forty-Two
ANNIE STANFORD:
Annie smiled to herself. Adam was everything she'd ever wanted in a lover. She prayed he would be able to handle the reality of her gifts and stay with her. His dear Savanah had finally been gently moved to a more distant memory and now there was room for her.
A phone call from Richard Stanford’s nurse, Alma Thompson, prompted Annie to drop in at the nursing home a week before she was due for her bi-monthly visit. According to the nurse, the old man was upset, rambling about family history and his blood pressure was in the stratosphere. Alma reported that a detective named Mack Mackenzie, misrepresenting who he was, and an author, Adam Stone had questioned her uncle without the usual permissions and he was furious. Nurse Alma thought a visit from Annie might calm him down. Annie was hopelessly behind in her work but she rationalized that a few more hours wouldn’t make any difference one-way or the other. It was the least she could do for Alma, who lived in a war zone tending to Uncle Richard. She also wasn’t one to ask for favours, so it had to be serious.
It was a wonderful afternoon to be outside under the clean white sun and Annie loved any excuse to drive. The Porsche gears shifted like silk under her hand, all four hundred plus horses knowing who was boss. It was the only time she felt completely alone and in control. The uneventful drive to Summerhill Glen gave Annie time to sift through some uneasy feelings. Something still simmered, like a low-grade infection that wouldn’t go away. Adam was never far from her thoughts but there was something else, something he seemed to magnify, some nagging peripheral awareness that things were
n’t right. Was she still being watched? Yes, those feelings were more or less constant, fading in and out when she was alone and could focus. But that was a more general sensation. Was it simply the many cameras she passed through on a daily basis? Why couldn’t she tune them out? Things had seemed to intensify about the time that all the security was installed. Big brother protecting priceless chattels. And Alison was being more sisterly than usual. It seemed that Allison couldn’t make up her mind about Adam either. Men were such a mystery to her. Annie admitted to herself that her uncle’s health was not the only reason to see him. Her curiosity was peaked. What was the real reason for Adam and Detective Mackenzie’s visit? What were they up to? What questions had they asked?
She parked her car and nodded briskly as she passed the front desk receptionist who entered her name automatically in the register. Nurse Alma smiled thankfully when she walked in. Uncle Richard certainly was in a bad state. His heart condition had taken its toll on his frail bird-like body. Nothing could disguise the anger in his eyes as she pulled a chair to the side of his bed. He immediately ordered the hovering nurse out of the room with a flick of his claw-like hand. She rolled her eyes, winked at Annie and left muttering it was time for her tea break anyway. Annie waited as he cleared his throat in a half-hearted apology for his rude behaviour. The gesture was wasted on her as she was used to his abrasive manner. The sun shining through the open sparkling leaded glass windows placed elongated diamond shapes across the large bed. Fresh flowers adorned the carved headboard and side tables, no doubt thanks to Alma.
