For the Sake of Their Son

by Catherine Mann

  Seeing the flush of pleasure wash over her skin snapped the reins on his restraint and he came, the hot pulse jetting from him into her. Deeper, and yet somehow not deep enough as he already wanted her again.

  As his arms gave way and he sank to rest fully on top of her, he could only think, damn straight, she was his.

  But he hadn’t been able to keep Lucy Ann before. How in the hell was he going to manage to keep the new, more confident woman in his arms?

  A woman who didn’t need anything from him.

  * * *

  Tingling with anticipation, Lucy Ann angled toward Elliot. “I need another bite now or I am absolutely going to pass out.”

  She gripped his wrist and guided his spoonful of flan toward her mouth as he chuckled softly. She closed her lips over it and savored the creamy caramel pudding. All of her senses were on hyperalert since she and Elliot had made love—twice. The scent of strawberries still clung to the sheets even though they’d showered together, making love in the large stone spa before coming back to bed.

  Eventually, she would have to sleep or she would be a completely ineffective mother. But for now, she wasn’t ready to let go of this fantasy night, making love with Elliot in a castle.

  The luxurious sheets teased her already-sensitive skin, and she gave herself a moment to soak in the gorgeous surroundings. Beyond Elliot. The man was temptation enough, but he’d brought her to this decadent haven where she could stare up at carvings of a Dionysian revel on the bedposts or lose herself in the images of a colorful, wall-sized tapestry depicting a medieval feast. The figures were almost life-size, gathered around a table, an elegant lord and lady in the middle and an array of characters all around from lecherous knight to teasing serving maid. Even the scent of dried herbs and flowers that emanated from the linens immersed her in a fantasy world.

  One she never wanted to end.

  She scooped her spoon through the flan and offered a bite to her own sexy knight. “I have to say our dance tonight ended much better than our sophomore homecoming ever could have.”

  “You’re right about that.” He dipped his spoon into the dessert for her, picking up the rhythm of feeding each other. “Lady, you are rocking the hell out of that sheet.”

  He filled her whole fairy-tale fantasy well with his broad shoulders and muscular chest, the sheet wrapped around his waist. There was a timeless quality about this place that she embraced. It kept her from looking into the future. She intended to make the absolute most of this chance to be together.

  They’d had sex before. They knew each other’s bodies intimately. Yet there was a newness about this moment. She looked different now that she’d had a baby. Her body had changed. She had changed in other ways, as well. She had a growing confidence now, personally and professionally.

  Lucy Ann searched Elliot’s eyes...and found nothing but desire. His gaze stroked over her with appreciation and yes, even possession—stoking the heat still simmering inside her.

  “I have to confess something.” She angled forward to accept the next bite he fed her.

  His face went somber in a flash even as he took the spoonful of flan she brought to his mouth. He swallowed, then said, “Tell me whatever you need to. I’m not going anywhere.”

  She carefully set her utensil onto the platter by the last strawberry, her body humming with the memory of the moment they’d shared the fruit, the moment he’d thrust inside her. The intensity of it all threatened to overwhelm her. She desperately needed to lighten the moment before they waded into deeper waters.

  “I may like simplicity in many parts of my life—” she paused for effect, then stretched out like a lazy cat until the sheet slithered away from her breasts “—but I am totally addicted to expensive linens.”

  “God, Lucy Ann.” He hauled her against his side, her nipples beading tighter at the feel of his bare skin. “You scared the hell out of me with talk of confessions.”

  “I’m serious as a heart attack here.” She rested her cheek on his chest, the warmth of him seeping into her. “Every night when I crawled into bed—and trust me, cheap mattresses also suck a lot more than I remembered—those itchy sheets made me long for Egyptian cotton.”

  “Ahhh, now I understand.” He tugged the comforter over them. “The fairy tale here is The Princess and the Pea. I will be very sure you always have the best mattresses and sheets that money can buy.” He patted her butt.

  “My prince,” she said, joking to keep talk of the future light for now, all the while knowing that inevitably they would have to steer the conversation in another direction. “I don’t think I ever said congratulations on your win today. I’m sorry you missed out on the parties tonight.”

  “I’m not sorry at all.” He stroked back her hair, extending the length with his fingers and letting damp strands glide free. “This is exactly where I wanted to be. Celebrating with you, without clothes—best party ever.”

  “You do deserve to celebrate your success though. You’ve come a long way through sheer determination.” She hooked a leg over his, enjoying the way they fit. “Although I have to say, I’ve always been surprised you chose Formula One over the NASCAR route, given your early days racing the dirt-track circuit.”

  Why had she never thought to question him about this before? She’d simply followed, accepting. He’d always taken the lead in life and on the track.

  He’d begun racing with adults at fourteen years old, then picked it up again when he graduated from the military high school in North Carolina. He was a poster boy for the reformative success of the school even without people knowing he periodically helped out Interpol.

  Elliot rested his chin on her head, his breath warm on her scalp. “I guess I have a confession of my own to make. I wanted to go to college and major in English. But I had to make a living. I went back to racing after school because my credit was shot.”

  English? It made sense given the way he’d always kept a book close at hand, and yet she couldn’t believe he’d never mentioned that dream. A whole new side of Elliot emerged, making her wonder what else he’d kept secret.

  “Because of your arrest history?”

  His chest rose and fell with a heavy sigh. “Because my father took out credit cards in my name.”

  Her eyes closing, she hugged an arm tighter around him. “I’m so sorry. Nothing should surprise me when it comes to that man, but it still sucks to hear. I’m just so glad you got away from him.”

  “You should be mad at me for leaving you,” he repeated, his voice hoarse. “I let you down.”

  “I don’t agree.” She kissed his chest before continuing. “You did what you needed to. I missed you when they sent you to North Carolina, but I understood.”

  “All the same, you were still hurt by what I did. I could see that then. I can even feel it now. Tell me the truth.”

  So much for keeping things light. They would always have to cycle around to the weightier stuff eventually. “I understand why you needed a way out, believe me, I do. I just wish you’d spoken to me, given me an opportunity to weigh in and figure out how we could both leave. That place was bearable with you around. Without you...”

  She squeezed her eyes closed, burying her face in his chest, absorbing the vibrant strength of him to ward off the chill seeping into her bones.

  “I like to think if I could go back and change the past that I would. Except I did the same thing all over again. I let you go. You deserve to be put first in someone’s life, someone who won’t let you down.”

  Where was he going with this? Where did she want him to go?

  After that, he stayed silent so long she thought for a moment he had drifted off midthought, then his hand started to rove along her spine slowly. Not in a seductive way; more of a touch of connection.

  He kissed the top of her head, whispering into her ha
ir still damp from their shared shower, “I didn’t want to leave you back in high school. You have to know that.” His voice went ragged with emotion. “But I didn’t have anything to offer you if we left together. And I couldn’t stay any longer. I just couldn’t see another way out except to get arrested.”

  She struggled to sift through his words, to understand what he was trying to tell her. “You stole cars on purpose, hoping the cops would catch you?”

  “That pretty much sums it up.” His hand slid to rest on her hip, his voice strangely calm in contrast to his racing heart. “After that first night in jail, I started stealing cars on a regular basis. I didn’t expect to be so good at it. I thought I would get caught much earlier.”

  “Why did you want to get caught?” she repeated, needing to understand, wondering how she didn’t know this about him. She’d thought they told each other everything.

  “I figured jail was safer than home,” he said simply. “I didn’t worry so much about myself with my dad, but I worried what he would do to the people around me.”

  “You mean me and your mother?”

  He nodded against her head. “Remember when we went on that trip to the beach and my old rebuilt truck broke down?”

  “You mean when the tires fell off.” Only his incredible reflexes had kept them from crashing into a ditch. It had been a near miss.

  “Right. When the first one fell off, I thought what crappy luck. Then the second one came off, too....”

  Her stomach lurched at the memory. “We were lucky we didn’t get T-boned in traffic. You had fast instincts, even then.”

  His arms twitched around her, holding her too tightly. “I found out that my father had taken out a life insurance policy on me.”

  She gasped, rising up on her elbows to look him in the eyes. His expression was completely devoid of emotion, but she could see the horror that must be on her face reflected in his eyes.

  “Elliot, do you really believe your father tried to kill you?”

  “I’m sure of it,” he said with certainty, pushing up to sit, the covers rustling and twisting around their legs.

  “You had to have been so scared.”

  Why hadn’t he told her? Although the second she finished that thought, she already knew the answer. He didn’t want to put her at risk. Debating the fact now, insisting he should have told the police, seemed moot after so long. Better to just listen and figure out why he was telling her this now.

  “I didn’t have the money to strike out on my own. I knew the odds of teens on the street.” His head fell back against the carved headboard. “I figured the kids in juvie couldn’t be as bad as my old man.”

  “Except you were sent to military reform school instead.”

  Thank heavens, too, since his life had been turned around because of his time in that school, thanks to his friends and the headmaster. The system did work for the best sometimes. Someone somewhere had seen the good deep inside of Elliot.

  “I finally caught a lucky break.” He cupped the back of her head, his fingers massaging her scalp. “I’m just so damn sorry I had to leave you behind. I see now I should have figured out another way.”

  “It all worked out—”

  “Did it?” he asked, his eyes haunted. “Your mom’s boyfriends... We’ve talked about so much over the years but we’ve never discussed that time when I was away.”

  Slowly, she realized what he was asking, and the thought that he’d worried about her, about that, for all these years... Her heart broke for him and the worries he’d had. She wondered if that’s why he’d been so protective, giving her a job, keeping her with him—out of guilt?

  “Elliot, the guys my mom saw were jerks, yes, and a few of them even tried to cop a feel, but none of them were violent. Some may have been perverts but they weren’t rapists. So I was able to take care of myself by avoiding them. I escaped to Aunt Carla’s until things settled down or until Mom and her latest guy broke up.”

  “You shouldn’t have had to handle it yourself, to hide from your own home.” Anger and guilt weighted his words and tightened his jaw until the tendons flexed along his neck. “Your mother should have been there for you. I should have been there.”

  She didn’t want him to feel guilty or to feel sorry for her. Angling up, she cupped his face in her hands. “I don’t want you to feel obligated to be my protector.”

  “I don’t know what else I can be for you.” His voice was ragged with emotion, his eyes haunted.

  They could have been teenagers again, the two of them clinging to each other because there was so little else for them. So much pain. So much betrayal by parents who should have valued them and kept them safe. Her shared past with Elliot wrapped around her so tightly she felt bound to him in a way she couldn’t find words to explain but felt compelled to express, even if only physically.

  Soaking in the feel of bare flesh meeting flesh, Lucy Ann kissed Elliot, fully, deeply. She savored the taste of flan and strawberries and him. A far more intoxicating combination than any alcohol.

  And he was all hers, for tonight.

  Nine

  Their tongues met and tangled as Lucy Ann angled her mouth over Elliot’s. They fit so seamlessly together as she tried to give him some sort of comfort, even if only in the form of distraction. Sex didn’t solve problems, but it sure made the delaying a hell of a lot more pleasurable. Her mind filled with the sensation of him, the scents of them together.

  His hands banded around her waist, and he urged her over him. She swung her leg over his lap, straddling him. His arousal pressed between her legs, nudging against the tight bundle of nerves at her core.

  She writhed against him, her body on fire for him. “I need... I want...”

  “Tell me, Lucy Ann,” he said between kisses and nips, tasting along her neck, “tell me what you want.”

  She didn’t even know what would settle out their lives or how to untangle the mess they’d made of their world. Not to mention their emotions. “Right now, I just need you inside me.”

  “That’s not what I meant.” He held her with those mesmerizing green eyes, familiar eyes that had been a part of her life for as long as she could remember.

  “Shh, don’t ruin this.” She pressed two fingers to his lips. She didn’t want to risk their conversation leading down a dangerous path as it had eleven months ago.

  Even thinking about their fight chilled her. That argument had led to the most painful time in her life, the time without the best friend she’d ever had. They couldn’t go that route again. They had Eli to consider.

  And as for their own feelings?

  She shied away from those thoughts, determined to live in the moment. She shifted to reach in the bedside table drawer for another condom. He plucked it from between her fingers and sheathed himself quickly, efficiently, before positioning her over him again. Slowly, carefully—blissfully—she lowered herself onto him, taking the length of him inside her until he touched just...the right...spot.

  Yessss.

  Her eyelids grew heavy but the way he searched her face compelled her to keep her eyes open, to stare back at him as she rolled her hips to meet his thrusts. Every stroke sent ripples of pleasure tingling through her as they synced up into a perfect rhythm. Her palms flattened against his chest, her fingers digging into the bunched muscles twitching under her touch. A purr of feminine satisfaction whispered free as she reveled in the fact that she made him feel every bit as out of control as he made her feel.

  His hands dug into her hips then eased, caressing up her sides then forward to cup her breasts. She sighed at the gentle rasp of his callused fingers touching her so instinctively, his thumbs gliding over nipples until she feared she would come apart now. Too soon. She ached for this to last, to hang on to the blissful forgetfulness they could find in each other’s arm
s. She flowed forward to cover him, moving slower, holding back.

  Elliot’s arms slid around her, and he drew her earlobe between his teeth. Just an earlobe. Yet her whole body tensed up with that final bit of sensation that sent her hurtling into fulfillment. Her nails dug into his shoulders, and she cried out as her release crested.

  He rolled her over, and she pushed back, tumbling them again until the silver tray went crashing to the floor, the twang of pewter plates clanking. He kissed her hard, taking her cries of completion into his mouth. As orgasm gripped her again and again, his arms twitched around her, his body pulsing, his groans mingling with hers until she melted in the aftermath.

  Panting, she lay beside him, her leg hitched over his hip, an arm draped over him. Her whole body was limp from exhaustion. She barely registered him pulling the comforter over her again.

  Maybe they could make this friendship work, friendship combined with amazing sex. Being apart hadn’t made either of them happy.

  Could this be enough? Friendship and sex? Could they learn to trust each other again as they once had?

  They had the rest of the month together to figure out the details. If only they could have sex until they couldn’t think about the future.

  His breath settled into an even pattern with a soft snore. What a time to realize she’d never slept with him before. She’d seen him nap plenty of times, falling asleep with a book on his chest, but never once had she stayed through the night with him.

  For now, it was best she keep it that way. No matter how tempted she was to indulge herself, she wouldn’t make the mistakes of her past again. Not with Eli to think about.

  Careful not to wake her generous, sexy lover, she eased from the bed, tiptoeing around the scattered cutlery and dishes that looked a lot like the disjointed parts of her life. Beautiful pieces, but such a jumbled mess there was no way to put everything back together.