by Ladew, Lisa
West kissed her lightly on one hand. “Never?”
“Never.”
“Not even if I beg you to?”
“No.”
“What if I say it?” he said, nipping lightly at her finger, then running a hand as lightly as he could down the arm to her side. She pulled the arm down and covered her side. “What if I beg you to let me fuck you?”
Katerina squeaked again and moaned lightly.
West ran a hand over her nipple and found it hard and ready. “What if I ask you how you want me to fuck you? Hard? Or soft? Would you say it then?”
“Oh God,” she said softly, and West heard embarrassment in her voice still. He pulled her gently to him and kissed her, first on the lips, then gently on both breasts. Her breath came faster in her throat and he ran a finger gently down her stomach, just playing, just softly touching her in her most sensitive spots. She sucked in a tight breath and breathed his name.
“Don’t West, it’s embarrassing. It wasn’t me.”
“Not at all? It wasn’t you even a little bit?” West asked, hoping it was her, knowing it had to be her.
Katerina bit her lip and pulled her chin in farther.
“Katerina, may I fuck you again? But softly this time?” He swirled his fingers as lightly as he could around her velvet softness, barely touching her. Her hips arched into his hand and her arms finally fell away from her face.
“Yes, West, please do.”
“Please do what?”
Katerina opened her eyes and looked at him. He waited for the words to come out of her mouth, but instead, she rocked his world in a different way.
“West, I love you too. I have for weeks now. I don’t know why I never told you. Scared, I guess.”
“Oh baby, you don’t ever have to be scared with me. I’ll never hurt you if I can help it.”
“I know West. I know that now.”
West bent forward and sealed his lips over hers and made the most beautiful love to her that he could, praying it was enough to wash away all of her demons once and for all. For Katerina. She deserved the very best.
<<< The End >>>
<<< Epilogue >>>
Almost two weeks later, West kissed Katerina goodbye one morning, and left her and Jordan to their afternoon of shopping and massages. He was about to meet Blaise for a few hours of dirt biking. He’d learned that it’s never a good idea to give up something you love, just because you might get hurt. Opportunities to be hurt in life were all too common, and hiding from them meant hiding from life, from love, from excitement, and from everything good in this fragile world. He wasn’t going to do that anymore.
As he drove, he thought about the last two weeks. Katerina seemed content, for now, to let him support her. He knew that wouldn’t last, but he also knew she just couldn’t face going back to work yet. Face the endless questions to her and gossip about her. Lieutenant Masterson had promised her she could take at least two more weeks off, and still come back to work if she wanted. Emma Masterson was just awesome that way. She’d had her own demons to vanquish, and her own emotional scarring to deal with. She understood. West was taking a few weeks more of his accrued vacation, for the first time in almost three years.
One thing Katerina wouldn’t do was talk about what had happened down in that hole. When Detective Gagne forced her to go to the police station for questioning, Katerina had said only “I don’t remember,” to every question. When she had finally been allowed to return home, she had retreated into her earlier state of constant sleeping and refusal to respond to anyone for three days. West didn’t ask her one question about it. He knew she wasn’t ready. He didn’t know if she’d ever be ready, and he knew her greatest wish was to forget the whole thing had ever happened.
She’d been unfailingly sweet since the incident with the knife. She had talked to Agnes on the phone once, and apparently the talk had been helpful, because her fits of rage were gone. Twice though, West had looked up to find her watching him, something very much like fury in her eyes and the set of her body. Once, she had startled him while he was sleeping by standing over him, motionless, her fists clenched at her sides. But when he spoke to her, her eyes cleared and her body relaxed at once. He sometimes wondered if he was imagining it.
West pulled up at the trail head to the Tetam woods and turned off his truck. He waited in the sun, smelling the evergreen trees and listening to the noises of the forest until Blaise pulled in. He could tell right away that Blaise had something on his mind.
“What’s up, man, your mom OK?”
“Yeah, she’s good thanks. Jordan got her into a citizenship test tomorrow. I’m sure she’ll pass too, with all of the coaching Jordan has been giving her.”
“That’s good.” Jordan and Blaise had taken the word ‘polite’ to a new level with the way they carefully spoke and tiptoed around each other now that Blaise had redeemed himself and Jordan had forgiven him. West wasn’t sure what to make of it, but he hoped it lasted. He didn’t need any more fighting from the two of them.
“I got a call from my contact at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.” Blaise took off his sunglasses and fixed West with a hard stare. West knew he wasn’t going to like what was coming.
“Dylan is communicating. Someone outfitted him with one of those computers for paraplegics. He’s told everybody who has come in his room that he wasn’t electrocuted, that he was touched by the hand of God and his body couldn’t handle it.”
West made a face. “The hand of God?”
“That’s what he says. And he thinks Katerina is dead. And - this is the worst part - he has apparently become telepathic.”
West dropped his keys out of his hand as the strength ran out of his limbs.
“What?”
“Yeah, it’s all over the hospital. Most people won’t touch him because of the way he looks and because of what he did, but the nurses and doctors who have to touch him? He’s telling them secrets about themselves. Mostly horrible things it sounds like. Like the worst thing they’ve ever done. The gossip right now is that he told everyone in the room that the cardiologist was cheating on his wife with one of the nurses, who was also in the room. Both of them turned red and rushed out and the cardiologist has refused to treat him anymore.”
West looked out at the forest, his good feelings gone, and wished Dylan Phillips had never been born.
He wasn’t going to tell Katerina. Ever.
And for the first time in his life, he contemplated killing someone in cold blood.
<<<<<<<<<<<<< >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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About the Author
Lisa became a full time author in the summer of 2014, fulfilling a childhood dream. She lives in the Inland Pacific Northwest, and is married with 2 sons. She is a U.S. Army veteran, plus former paramedic, 911 calltaker/police radio dispatcher, and volunteer firefighter. Her husband is also a veteran, and a retired police officer. Connect with her on her facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/LisaLadewAuthor or email her. [email protected]
