“Yes, I think I can see how much you want me.” She chuckled.
“Eve, you're killing me here.” He moaned as she circled again.
“Hmmm, nothing is bringing up memories.” His eyes flew open and he watched as she dipped her head to taste his skin. His hips did jump from the mattress then as her tongue licked him, circling and sucking until he thought his eyes would bulge out of their sockets. Somehow, his hands had ended up in her hair, and when his fingers ran over her scar, he pulled them away quickly, not wanting to hurt her, not wanting to remember what had brought them here.
“Eve?” He watched as she sat up, a smile on her lips, then she reached over and took another condom from the box. When he reached to take it from her, she pushed his hands away, playfully.
“I'm in charge this time, remember?” He watched as she opened the package and slowly rolled it on him. Did she know that the simple act of protection was almost taking him to the edge?
When she was done, he moved to grab her, but she pulled back and shook her head. “No, I'm still in control. All you can do”—she leaned over, her hair resting on his chest as she whispered—“is lie there and take what I give you.”
Closing his eyes, he tried to count or think of something that would steady his heartbeat and the desire that was raging in him. Her hands ran over his body, and soon his mind was focused on one thing only. Her.
He felt the bed dip and looked up as she straddled his hips. Now, it would be now. But instead, she sat on his thighs and rubbed her hands over him, gripping him and using her fingers to pleasure him.
“I wonder how long you can go before you lose control.” She smiled.
“You little vixen.” He smiled up at her. Her skin was shining in the light of the fire. Her eyes sparkled with mischief and desire. That was when he knew he'd lost his heart. His hands came up and gripped her hips, raising her until she hovered above him. “Take all of me.” He groaned as she slid down on him fully. Her head fell back and she gasped. Her hands went to his chest as she held on. “Ride, just move.” He moaned as she began to move slowly on him.
He tried to let her set the pace, but his hands on her hips started pushing and pulling until their paces matched. He could see her building and knew that he couldn't last much longer. Leaning up, he took her nipple into his mouth and as he sucked, he joined her in the victory.
The next morning she joined him on the beach for a jog. He made sure to cut his normal run in half, just in case. He didn't want her to push herself too much, yet. The weather was supposed to take a turn later that afternoon so he spent a good deal of his morning chopping wood and bringing it up to the house. It almost seemed like they had a normal life there in the old house on the bluff. He could almost forget the lies and the reason they were there. The truth and the thought of it surfaced and hung over him like an anvil waiting to fall.
Eve was sitting on the bar stool in the kitchen watching Carter make breakfast when he turned to her, still holding the spatula.
“How about a trip into town today?”
“Town?” She enjoyed the look of him as he cooked. There was just something sexy about a man in the kitchen.
“Yes.” He turned back to expertly flip the spinach and tomato omelet he was making. “There are several antique shops in town and some more along the highway. I thought we'd look for some furniture.”
She couldn't explain it, but her heart rate tripled just then. “I must like shopping.” She smiled. “My heart is racing and I think I actually feel dizzy.”
He turned and smiled. “Shopping is one of your favorite past times. Mitch and I always hate it when you drag us along.”
She laughed.
Four hours later, she was still just as energetic as when they had started shopping five stores earlier. Carter did little complaining, but she knew he was wanting to call it a day. They had picked out several great items for the house including a file cabinet and a bookcase that matched his grandfather's desk in the office.
They were currently at a flea market a few towns away. The large green barn was filled with antique and second-hand items, and she'd lost sight of Carter again. There was quite the crowd in the large building that smelled of straw and dust. She chatted with a few people she came across and enjoyed just being out in public. She was looking for some curtains that would go in the large living room windows when someone brushed against her side. She felt a wave of dizziness and tried to grip the table in front of her before she hit the floor.
When she opened her eyes again, she was looking into Carter's eyes and knew he was both worried and mad. There were several other people standing around her and she immediately felt embarrassed.
“You have to know your limits. This is all my fault. I should have stopped you an hour ago,” Carter said quietly as he pulled her into a sitting position and held up three fingers in front of her.
“Three.” She answered his unasked question. “My eyesight is fine.” She tried to smile and show him there was nothing to worry about. She wasn't feeling dizzy now. She even felt like her energy levels were still strong. Frowning, she started to get up. “What brought that on? I'm not tired,” she asked herself.
“No, don't get up yet.” Carter tried to hold her down. “Just wait awhile. Someone is running to get you a bottle of water.”
She shook her head. “Carter, I'm fine. I don't feel dizzy. My eyesight is fine, no blurriness. Honestly, besides being a little hungry, I feel fine.” She pushed him away until she could stand up. When she did stand, she mentally checked everything as she looked around the barn. Yes, everything was normal. Well, as normal as it could be with a concussion and memory loss.
A short, older woman rushed up to her with a bottle of water. “Here now, drink this down. You'll feel better.” She looked towards Carter. “I have an office over there.” She pointed towards the side of the barn. “If you want to take her and let her sit for a while. There's a nice sofa for her to lie down for a spell.”
Eve shook her head. “No, I'm fine. Really.” She drank some of the water and realized she was more than a little hungry. “I suppose I'm just a bit hungry.” She smiled. The crowd of people started walking away, leaving her alone with Carter and the older woman.
“There's a wonderful deli just this side of town. You can't miss it. You just let me know if there is anything I can do. I hope you feel better.”
“Thank you, I think that's just want she needs.” The woman walked away, leaving Eve alone with Carter. He started pulling her towards the exit.
“Really, Carter. I feel fine. Maybe just some lunch and we can come back. There were these lovely lace valances.” She looked over her shoulder as Carter tugged her towards the door.
“Later. Right now, we are going to get you some food and you're going to spend the rest of the day in bed.
An hour later, after stopping by the quaint deli and eating a full turkey sandwich on a toasted wheat roll, she found out he wasn't joking. Every time she tried to get out of bed, he'd said something about calling a doctor, and she'd ended up sleeping the rest of the day away. By sunset, she was wide-awake and bored out of her mind. Carter had spent the rest of the day working on his laptop while sitting at the small desk in the room. No doubt he was trying to remain near her so he could watch over her.
That evening after he'd cooked her a large pot of spaghetti, they sat in front of the fireplace and watched an old movie from one of the bookshelves, which was full of old VHS movies. Her feet were tucked underneath her, covered in large wool socks. She looked out the window and noticed snow falling outside.
“Oh! It's snowing.” She jumped up and ran to the window to look out. In the porch light, she could see that the large white flakes were sticking to the grass. Carter walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, standing behind her as he pulled her close.
“We've had plenty of snowball fights in that yard,” he said as he kissed the top of her hair.
“Really?” For just a moment, sh
e closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of being held. Had she always felt this way about him? It was hard to explain, but he felt like home, he sounded like home, and he even smelled like home.
“Hmmm, of course, you've never won a battle.” He chuckled. “Mitch holds the title of snowball king. There's just something about that guy. You put a ball of snow in his hands and he turns into a maniac.”
She smiled as an image of a thirteen-year-old Mitch popped into her head. He was wearing a dark gray jacket that was two sizes too big for his skinny teenage body. His gloves were too small and he had a dark red knit hat on. He was laughing like a villain from a movie as he threw ball after ball in her direction. Even when she was down on the ground, he stood over her and dumped a handful of snow on her face. Cold seeped into her shirt as snow breached the layers of her protective clothing. Even her feet were wet and cold as the snow penetrated her boots and socks. Mitch stood over her and laughed. “Serves you right. Next time you plan a sneak attack on the King of Snow, you'd better make sure you pack a parka.” Mitch stood above her, his hands on his hips as he threw his head back and laughed.
“Eve! Eve?” Someone was screaming at her. The sound penetrated the memory. She blinked a few times and realized she was lying on the couch, looking up at Carter.
“What?” She tried to sit up. Carter placed his hands on her shoulders, keeping her still. “What happened?”
“You tell me. We were having a nice moment, watching the snow and next thing I know you're taking a face plant, almost through the window.”
She looked at his face and realized how pale it was. His hands shook as he held her still and there was pure fear in his eyes. Reaching up, she took his face in her hands.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you.” Then she remembered what had happened and smiled. “I had a memory.” She saw even more fear creep into his eyes and wondered why.
“What?” He pulled back and looked at her. “What memory?”
“A particularly bad snowball fight with the King of Snow.” She laughed and then described the scene to Carter as he sat beside her looking troubled. When she was done telling him the memory, he was frowning. “Okay, why are you frowning? From my point of view, it was a great memory. Did something happen?”
“No, it was a fun day. I wasn't there to help you defend yourself because the King had already taken me out and I was stuck under three feet of snow.” He chuckled then sobered. “I'm just worried that you're going to pass out every time you remember something. I think we need to go into town tomorrow and have you checked out at the clinic. Maybe even drive into the city and see a specialist.” He started to get up, but she grabbed his hand.
“Carter, I'm fine. I don't know why I passed out twice today. Maybe it's my brain’s way of trying to heal itself. I feel fine. I don't even have a headache. I'm not dizzy and my vision is fine. Can't we just wait awhile?”
He stood and shook his head. “They told me you might have other symptoms, none of which were passing out every time you remembered something. I think it's best if we have it checked out. Just in case.”
For some reason, the thought of going back to a hospital made her feel down, like she was taking a step back in her healing. She'd come so far since they'd arrived here. Her arm was almost completely healed and she'd remembered something. Maybe it was perfectly normal what was happening to her. She started wondering what she had to do to persuade Carter she didn't need to see a doctor.
“Don't give me that look.” Carter said from across the room. He was flipping through the phone book, probably trying to find a local doctor.
“What look?” She crossed her arms and glared at him.
“The one that tells me you're about to try and swindle your way out of seeing a doctor.” He smiled and went back to flipping through the phone book. Her shoulders slumped a little. It was getting annoying that he had the ability to read her so well.
Chapter Ten
Carter sat out in the waiting room and felt like pacing. The array of beautiful fish that swam happily in a very large tank in the doctor's waiting room did little to calm his nerves. They'd driven into Portland to see a head injury specialist there.
Eve had insisted that he stay in the waiting room while she went back to see the doctor. Since he'd won the two-day battle of coming to the doctor, he considered this a small sacrifice he'd willingly make. Since her first episode, she'd had a total of three fainting spells. Each one lasting longer than the first. It was the one that had happened last night that had finally caused her to agree to come in and be seen. He'd walked in on her in the bedroom, and she'd been lying on the floor, one leg in her pants, one out. She was lucky she hadn't hit her head.
When she’d come to, she'd been so excited that she'd finally had a memory with him in it, even thought it had been from when they'd been in high school.
She'd told him about the memory and said she remembered it like it was yesterday. To be honest, he'd totally forgotten the episode. There had been another teen, Angie something, who had been picking on Eve for ten years. This particular day, Angie, along with a couple of other girls, had placed a large wad of bubble gum on Eve's chair. Then they had followed her around and called her names and pointed it out to everyone.
Eve had shown up at Carter’s locker between classes and he’d known something was wrong before she'd made it across the hall towards him. Her face was set in determination and anger.
He smiled now, remembering. There was nothing sexier than seeing Eve angry. Somehow, she just glowed during those times. Maybe that's why in the last few years he'd liked pushing all her buttons.
It took her less than a week to get Angie and the other girls back. But she didn't stoop to their level, no, not his Eve. She went beyond anything that they would have done to her. Instead, she hit Angie where it hurt the most. Angie's boyfriend, Jim, was captain of the football team. He was the type that didn't do a lot of homework, but instead chose to spend his time working on his form.
Carter let it slip while talking to a friend in the library—one of the best places to pick up gossip—that he'd seen Jim making out with Angie's best friend Karley. The news took less than three hours to reach the entire school, including Angie. Then they had sat back and watched the whole scene unfold.
Angie and Karley had caused such a scene that the teachers had to separate them. Karley had actually walked away with a large chunk of Angie's hair in her fists. Eve, Carter, and Mitch all chuckled as they were pulled into the principal's office.
It wasn't one of Carter’s finest moments, but he did stick up for his family. After all, that's what Eve and Mitch were to him.
He looked up to see Eve coming out of the doctor's office with a smile on her face. “Well?”
“She says I'm fine.” She started walking towards the door, but he reached out and took her hand, halting her.
“Eve?” He waited until she looked at him. “What did she say was triggering the blackouts?”
She took a deep breath. “I'll tell you everything she said over lunch.”
How could he argue with that? He'd been in the waiting room for almost two hours. Taking her hand in his, they walked back out to the car. “I know this great seafood place just down the street.”
They sat in the packed restaurant in a booth overlooking the cove and enjoyed clam chowder together.
He waited for her to tell him what the doctor had said. He knew that the more he pushed her to tell him, the longer it would take her to spit it out. Finally, when his bowl was almost empty, she set her spoon down.
“First off, she wanted me to have another CAT scan. That's what took so long. Anyway, she said pretty much the same thing that the doctor in Chicago said. It will take time to recover. I will have headaches, blurred vision, etc. etc.” She took a drink of her water and he knew she was purposely leaving out the part he was waiting to hear. He looked at her until, finally, she sighed and looked back.
“She doesn't know why I'm blacking out.
She thinks it could just be a side effect each time I remember something. She doesn't want me using heavy equipment, yadda yadda.”
He thought about it. “Has she ever seen a case like this? After all, she is a specialist that handles head injuries.”
“Yes and no. She's seen plenty of amnesia cases, but none of them have blacked out upon triggering a memory.” She looked at him and he could see fear in her eyes for the first time. “Honestly, it makes me want to stop trying to remember anything.”
He reached across the table and took her hand. “Don't worry, I'll be here. We'll take it easy. You've been doing too much around the house.” He frowned and thought about all the stuff he'd allowed her to help with the last few days.
“Carter, I've barely lifted a finger. Besides, there isn't much more to do. It's not like I can go back to work. I don't even know if I still know how to do my job.” This time she frowned.
Secret Identity Page 9
