by Katie Dowe
“Isn’t it obvious?” Tessa asked furiously. “She had this notion in her head that Kurt belonged to her. You knew it all along Carmen and you fed her that notion as if it were vitamins.”
“I am sorry.” The woman looked anguished. “I have called the police. I cannot go back home because she threatened to kill me.”
“How about I get you some tea Carmen?” Erica said as she got to her feet.
“Thank you.” Carmen blinked back the tears. “I am so sorry,” she added looking at Alexis before they left the room.
“Baby, are you okay?” Kurt asked her anxiously.
“I would like to go and lie down if you don’t mind.”
“I will come with you.”
“No!” she said forcefully. “I just need to be alone for a few minutes.”
Kurt’s hands clenched into fists as he watched her walked away. He was hard put not to follow her.
“She blames me and she is right. It is my fault.” He said grimly. “She could have killed her. That’s what she set out to do and she killed our baby.”
“You never encouraged her,” Kathy reminded her.
“Didn’t I?” he asked bitterly as he strode out of the room.
“I would never have dreamed that Connie would do something like that.” Kathy said looking at her sister.
“I believe,” Tessa said quietly as she stared into the fire. She told Kathy what happened in high school and what the girl had said to her when she was here last. “She hides it well and she would have hidden it to worm her way into our brother’s life. Thank goodness he did not fall for it.”
*****
She was curled up on the bed when he came into the room several hours later. He had spent the time going about his work but his heart had not been on it. He should have seen it! He had thought in agony. But he had been too self-absorbed to realize that letting her down gently had not work and Alexis had almost paid the price for his stupidity.
She did not look at him as he came into the room. He went to the bathroom to take a shower and came back with the towel wrapped around his narrow waist. She still did not look at him. “Tell me what you want me to do.” He said quietly as he stood there looking at her.
She raised her eyes and finally looked at him her heart twisting as she gazed at his magnificent body. His hair was still wet and was slicked back from his face and onto his shoulders. He had shaved and his cheeks bore evidence of it because he had managed to knick a piece of the flesh. “Did you sleep with her?”
“No!” he came and knelt at the side of the bed. “I told you that I kissed her once and there was nothing there. I thought of her as a sister.”
“And yet you were contemplating marrying her.”
“It was an idle thought.” He framed her face with his hands. “I have been torturing myself with the fact that I was the one who caused this and I would not blame you if you left me but I am begging you not to. Please Alexis.”
“You think I want to leave you?” She asked him incredulously as she came up on one elbow causing her nightgown to gape open. “Really?”
“Oh Christ!” he whispered shakily. “I expect to come in here and see you packing.”
“I would rather be nowhere else except here.”
“You have your memory back so I figured--”
“You figured that I would want to go back to where I lived before.” She framed his face with her hands. “I belong here Kurt,” she whispered. “I have figured that out even when I could not remember. That apartment that I lived in will be sold. I have to go back there eventually to put it on the market as well as my parents’ place but this ranch is where I belong. You are my family. You my love — and your sisters and mother and the people who work for you. I feel comfortable here and I cannot wait to be your wife.”
“Alexis,” his throat felt clogged as he scrambled up and got on the bed next to her. He lifted her up and put her to sit on him. “I wanted to wait until you were well enough--”
She pulled her nightgown over her head and he gazed at her breasts with the large nipples. He had not been with her for a week and he was beginning to go into withdrawals. “Baby,” he cupped her breasts and passed his thumbs over the nipples watching in fascination as they became puckered. She leaned over and he took a nipple inside his mouth sucking on it urgently, his fingers biting into her flesh. She eased up and removed the towel causing his erection to spring free.
“Now please!’ she panted.
“Baby, are you sure?”
“Stop asking me that. I want to feel you deep inside me.”
He did as she asked and she sank down on him, her body shivering as he went in deep. He held back but she was having none of that as she started to move over him frantically, her fingers digging into his chest. “Harder,” she moaned. “Please Kurt. Give me everything.”
His control broke at that and he switched position, pulling her legs up to his chest as she pounded into her. Alexis babbled out his name incoherently, her fingers digging into his muscled forearms as she lifted her body to meet his ever thrust. He bent his head and took her lips with his, the passion overriding his caution as he moved his mouth over hers roughly. She stiffened and dragging her mouth from his she screamed out his name as the orgasm tumbled through her with a force that almost unseated him!
*****
“Hey,” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled up the covers. “That was pretty wild.”
“It was,” Tessa snuggled closer to him. “Alexis is okay and so is my brother and that lunatic Connie is going to the asylum.”
“I cannot believe that she was like that.” Ian said with a shake of his head.
“Men!” Tessa snorted. “You are so dense.”
“Why? Because we only saw a genteel beauty?”
“She played you and every man she came across and showed you what you wanted to see.”
“You are right. But still.” Ian curved his hands around her. “We grew up with her for crying out loud.”
“And she had made up her mind that she wanted to become a Murphy and that was that.”
“I have been in love with you for years and I would never do something like that.” He told her softly.
She lifted her head to look at him. “Because you are into saving lives.” She whispered.
“And I believe in the old saying: ‘If you love someone or something let it go if it comes back to you it was meant to be.’ He lifted a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear. “You came back, didn’t you?”
“Is that so?”
“Hmm,” he pulled her over him and held her fast.
“What are you doing?”
“I am suddenly feeling hungry again.” he whispered.
*****
“I was rough,” he passed his large hands over her body as he searched for signs that he had gone overboard. He cringed at the teeth marks above her breasts and remembered feeling as if he was bursting out of his body as he spilled his seed inside her. “I am sorry baby.”
“Do you hear me complaining?” she asked him mildly as she ran her hands over his chest. “I made a few marks myself.”
“You did,” he smiled at her gently. “We have to take it easy for a while.”
“I have no intention of doing that.” She told him with a grin as she reached between them and took his soft penis in her hand. “I want more.”
“Alexis,” he groaned.
“What?” she used her other hand to pull his head down.
“You are impossible,” he said with a shaky laugh as he took her lips with his.
*****
“I am leaving after the holidays,” Jake said casually as he put his pants back on. He had made up his mind two days ago. There was an air of excitement around the ranch. The boss was getting married and to a lady they all loved. The activities were numerous with the flying in of wedding dresses and of course a wedding planner who came and consulted with the bride to be and the mother of the groom. He had started being with K
athy almost every night and she had been filling him in on what was happening.
“What?” she scrambled up and wrapped the blanket she had taken with her around her naked body. December had stepped in with flurries and bitter cold.
“You knew it was coming Kathy.” He said with a sigh as he pulled on his shirt. “I am moving on. I never stay at a place for too long. This is the longest I have ever stayed put.”
“I thought we mean something to each other,” she whispered achingly.
He turned away from her tears, his heart tearing apart. “I have to go.”
He stiffened as he felt her behind him and swallowed as she wrapped her hands around his waist. “I am coming with you.” She said resting her head on his back.
“No, you are not!” he enunciated the words as he turned to face her. “I walk alone Princess.”
“I am in love with you,” she told him tearfully. “If you are determined to leave I am coming with you.”
“There won’t be any soft beds and fancy clothes and food where I am going Kathy. And besides I would rather keep my hide if it is all the same to you. Your brother would string me up if he knew you were sleeping with me let alone running off with me.” His voice softened. “I care about you too, but I have to go.”
“I am pregnant.” She blurted out.
He stepped back and looked down at her in shock. “What?”
“I am pregnant.” She repeated.
“You are lying.” He said tightly.
She dropped the blanket and he stared at her beautiful body. “Look at my breasts. Do they seem different to you?”
“Stop kidding around, Kathy.”
“I only found out two nights ago when I started to bring up back everything I ate. I have stopped eating in the dining room.”
“You cannot be pregnant,” he said looking at her aghast.
“I am and that means you have to stay.”
*****
“Ms. Turner!” Allan the apartment manager called out, staring in shock as she walked in with Kurt Murphy by her side. The news had been sketchy at most. All they knew was that their plane had gone down and there had been no survivors. He had been racking his brain trying to figure out what to do with her apartment. “We heard that you were--”
“Dead?” Alexis said with an ironic smile. “I am alive. This is my fiancé Kurt Murphy.”
“I know who Mr. Murphy is,” He said coming forward to give the man’s hand an enthusiastic shake. “A pleasure to meet you, sir.”
Kurt had changed his faded denims and broad brimmed hat for a dark blue business suit complete with a deep burgundy tie. He had decided to make a day of it so they could tie up loose ends. He had refused to put her in the position of flying in his private plane after all that she had been through and had driven them, ignoring the very long drive making sure he stopped at pit stops so they could rest and get something to eat. He was planning on them going back tomorrow. He had a feeling that he was going to have to deal with his sister and that drifted Jake which was something he was not looking forward to. But he was the man of the house and he need to play his part.
“I am afraid I lost my keys in the crash. Could you--”
“Of course Ms. Turner. Here you go.” Allan handed her a bunch of keys. “Will you be looking to sell?”
“Any interested buyers?”
“A couple of young attorneys have been asking around.”
“I will let you know.”
He held her hand as they took the elevator up. “These are fairly new apartments,” he commented as he looked around. “I think one of the guys at the club invested in them.”
“I bought it when I started working at the magazine with the help of Mom.” She opened the door and they went in. “I always found solace here.” She took off her coat and hung it on the peg with him doing the same. She wandered around the living room. It smelled stuffy and had a neglected air about it. “I never had time to cook so I would order take out or go over to--” she stopped and looked at him.
“You can say his name Alexis,” he told her quietly as he sat on a stool in the kitchen. “After what I put you through I have no right to be jealous of a man from your past.”
“I never loved him.” She sat opposite him and reached over to take his hands in hers. “You have to believe me. And I wondered if I did not sleep with him to get him to see my way of thinking but I am not like that.” She squeezed his hands. “I am a professional and believe in working for what I have. I love writing. I had numerous fights with my dad because of it.” She blinked back tears. “I hated the way he died.”
“Hey,” he titled her chin up. “You are going to get past it. I am here.” He looked around. “Do you want to order in?”
She nodded. “Can we stay the night here?”
“Of course. We are going to have to discuss what to you want to do with the apartment.”
“And my parents’ house.”
“That as well.”
*****
Kathy took a deep breath and knocked on her sister’s door before pushing it open. Tessa was in for the night because Ian had gone to some medical conference in New York for a couple of days.
“Hi. What’s up?” she asked looking up from the laptop she was working from. They had had an early dinner and she had decided to get some work in before she went to bed. And the truth was she missed Ian very much.
“I am afraid I did something pretty awful,” Kathy wrapped her robe around her and sat on the edge of her sister’s bed.
“Oh?” Tessa put away her laptop and gave her sister her full attention. “What is it?”
“I have been seeing Jake.”
“I know.”
“Does everyone?”
“Pretty much.”
Kathy leaned her head back and her blonde hair tumbled down in luxurious waves. “I am afraid I have fallen hard.” She said with a self-deprecating laugh.
“Nothing awful about that.”
“He is leaving after the holidays.”
“Oh honey.”
“I told him I am pregnant.”
Tessa stared at her sister in shock. “Are you?”
“I wish I was.” She sighed tremulously.
“You know that is not the way to start a relationship, right?”
“I am smart and men fall over themselves for me to notice them. I had to pick the one who does not care if I have an extra eye in my forehead.”
“You need to tell him the truth.”
“I know,” she said moodily as she clasped her hands together. “I wanted to make him stay.”
“He would have noticed eventually that there was no baby honey.”
“I never looked that far.” She looked at her sister. “Why can’t he stay?”
“I suspect he is not the staying type.”
“He is running from something and I aim to find out what.”
“Kathy, leave it alone.”
“I can’t.” she said with a grim smile. “I am in love with him and I am not giving up on him.”
*****
“I am not coming back there Dad, so you can stop calling!” Jake hissed as he clenched the phone in his hand. Ever since Kathy had told him that she was pregnant he had not been able to concentrate. He had started getting restless and panicky because this time he would not be able to go away without looking back. He had gotten involved with her and it was tearing him apart.
“You need to take over the family business Jake. Your mother and I miss you. Please come back home.”
“So you can continue telling me what to do?” he asked bitterly. “No thanks.”
“I promise not to get in your way. Anything you want to do it is entirely up to you.”
“I am not cut out for corporate Dad and you know it.”
“You are my only child! Who is going to run the business?”
“Give it to charity!” he hung up and flung the phone onto the bed of hay. The other men had turned in for the night but he had b
een helping a calf who refused to take its mother’s milk.
“What’s going on?”
His head whipped around and he closed his eyes as he saw her standing there. “Go to bed Kathy.”
“No,” she wrapped her jacket around her. “We need to talk.”
“What? Are you going to tell me that I need to step up in preparation for being a dad? I am not ready for that.”
“I lied to you,” she said quietly as she came into the room.
“What?”
“I lied to you about being pregnant.”
“Why?” his voice was harsh and his eyes cold.
“I wanted you to stay.” She sat on one of the stools scattered in the barn. “I love you but I am not going to trap you.”
“How generous of you,” he said sarcastically feeling the odd disappointment in his gut.
“I also did a little digging and discovered that you are Jake Montgomery of Montgomery Fruits. You guys make the best tasting hundred percent fruit juice in the country. Now I have to ask myself the question: why are you here when you are worth millions?”
“My parents are worth millions,” he said as he stared at her, feeling grudging admiration for her determination. “Not me. I don’t want it.”
“Why?”
“None of your damned business.”
“I am afraid it is,” she got up and came over to where he was sitting on a bale of hay and stood between his legs. “I am not pregnant but I am in love with you and I know you feel something for me too. You are just too stubborn to admit it.” She wrapped her hands around his neck. “If you leave here without me you are going to be very miserable.”
“You think too highly of yourself,” he told her grimly.
“I always have.” She rests her forehead on his. “I cried myself to sleep last night and wondered how I am going to do without you and then I stopped crying. Do you know why?”
“I am sure you are going to tell me,” he said sarcastically.
“Because I know that even if you left you are going to come back because we belong together.” She whispered.
“You have been reading too many novels Princess,” he told her but his resistance was getting weaker.
