Undeniable (Tortured Love Book 4)

by Ravenna Tate

  What would Houston say when she told him this? Would he still want to be with her? This would be a hell of a lot easier with the man she loved by her side. She couldn’t have lost him this easily. It wasn’t possible. If it was, everything she’d ever believed about the person he was inside had been dead wrong.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Five days after Rosanna had told him about the dreams and images, Houston was still at work, scarfing down a sandwich from Subway for dinner, when she called him for the third time that evening.

  “Why aren’t you taking her calls today?”

  Trust Annie to recognize the ring tone he’d set up for Rosanna and comment on the fact that he was ignoring it.

  “Busy.”

  “No wonder you were married three times…”

  “Fuck you.”

  “No thanks, but she might want to. Answer her damn calls, Cassidy.”

  Houston couldn’t help but chuckle. However, he wondered what Annie would say if she knew that he was a shithead coward who had avoided Rosanna all week. When the guilt didn’t overwhelm him, fear did. The ping of yet another voice mail sounded. Annie shot him a look he couldn’t pretend he hadn’t seen, so he picked up the phone and left the room. He’d rather talk to Rosanna outside, where no one could hear him.

  “Hey, babe. You okay?”

  “Have you listened to my voice mail messages? I’ll be at MetroHealth Medical Center all day tomorrow.”

  “What?” His pulse raced. “What’s wrong? Where are you?”

  “Houston, if you’d listened to my messages, or read the text messages I’ve sent, you’d already know. And to answer your question about where I am, I’m down the street. I didn’t want to waltz into the precinct unannounced, but it would be nice to see you in person. That is, if you still want to be with me.”

  It was the first time in three and a half months of dating her that she’d spoken to him like this. Because of that, he finally realized how much he’d hurt her. She needed him right now, and due to his own bullshit, he’d turned away from her. “Where exactly are you? I’ll come to you. Annie and is still here, and she’ll bombard you with questions.”

  “Ashamed of me?”

  “Oh God, babe. No. Of course not. Just trying to protect you from her.” And making sure Annie doesn’t get a good look at you. Because if Rosanna didn’t fit the description of the mystery victim to a tee, from two people now, no one did.

  “I’m parked in the PNC Bank lot.”

  “You shouldn’t be alone in this neighborhood at night.” He started walking.

  “I can handle myself.”

  There was no point in arguing the point with her. He’d be there in under a minute. Once he spotted her car, she opened the passenger side door and he slid inside. “Lock the doors.” After she did, he pulled her into his arms and held her. It felt so damn good to do so! “I’ve missed you, babe.”

  “You sure about that?”

  The pain in her voice broke his heart. This was all his fault. Houston pulled away and cupped her face. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

  “Just tell me why you’ve been avoiding me.”

  How the fuck could he do that? “This case is keeping me too damn busy.” It wasn’t exactly a lie.

  “If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear you ignoring me like you have been has more to do with what I told you Friday night than your work.”

  Fuck. “Okay. It did frighten me, but not in a way that drove me away from you. I’m worried for you. Is this why you’re going in for tests?”

  “Yes. I took your advice. I found a psychologist who had a cancellation Tuesday afternoon, and spent two hours in her office, telling her everything I could remember about the missing time. She pulled some strings and got me in to see a neuro-psychologist tomorrow, and he worked some kind of magic to get me scheduled for scans and other tests on the same day. I won’t have to take too much time off work this way.”

  “Work? That’s your biggest concern? Who gets all that done so quickly unless their physician is really worried? Does she suspect you have a brain injury?”

  “No. She merely wants to rule that out so we can get started on trying to recover my memories.”

  “Do you remember falling or having an accident in high school?” It would give a plausible reason for the memory loss, and likely rule her out as the victim of that gang rape, despite the many coincidences.

  “I don’t. And I sincerely hope that’s not the reason for all this.”

  What a horrible shit he was. He’d actually been thinking it would make things easier if that was the cause. If there was no actual injury, his theory was probably the correct one. Would she eventually recall that night at the party? If she did, her life was ruined and so was his.

  “I’ll take tomorrow off and come with you.”

  “You don’t have to do that, Houston. You’re busy.”

  Ouch. He deserved that. “You’re more important.”

  “Thank you for saying so. I thought I’d lost you.”

  Oh, God. He was worse than a giant shit. “You haven’t lost me. Please forgive me.”

  “Of course.”

  All he wanted to do at that moment was hold her and never let her go. “I have to get back to work, but as soon as I do, I’ll tell Ty I need tomorrow off.” He glanced around the interior of the car, looking for some evidence she’d had dinner. “Did you come here straight from work?”

  “No. I went home, ate, and decided to drive here when you wouldn’t answer my calls or messages.”

  “Rosanna, I am really sorry. What time do you need to be at the hospital in the morning?”

  “Seven.”

  “I’ll come over after work and spend the night with you.”

  “I doubt I’ll sleep well tonight.”

  “I don’t mind. I’d rather be with you.”

  At first, he wasn’t certain she’d agree. When her expression softened, he let out the breath he’d been holding. “All right. I’ll see you later.” She started the car. “Let me drive you back down the street. I don’t want you walking in this neighborhood alone at night.”

  The grin on her face sent his spirits soaring, and made him resolve not to shut her out again. He loved this woman with all his heart, and he was not going to lose her. No matter what.

  ****

  Rosanna was grateful Houston had spent the night at her place, because she barely slept. It would have been worse if he hadn’t been there, or if she still hadn’t heard from him. She was scheduled for a CAT scan first, followed by an MRI. Afterwards, she would see the neuro-psychologist in his office, and have an EEG, plus neuro-psych testing.

  It was difficult not to recall all the times she’d read reports from perps who had the same kinds of tests she was scheduled for today. She was ashamed to admit there were times she’d been skeptical of the results. Now, she was the one relying on modern medicine and psychology to prove a point. Although, to be fair, it wasn’t quite the same scenario. She hadn’t been accused of a crime.

  When she arrived, they sent her to the lab to have blood drawn first. The scans were no big deal, just annoying as hell since she had to lie still for so long. The neuro-psychologist was running behind, but at least they’d let her eat something after the CAT scan and MRI, so she wasn’t starving.

  It was wonderful having Houston with her, though he was clearly fielding calls and messages about work the entire time. She felt guilty not insisting he refuse to take a day off. He obviously hadn’t been feeding her a line about being so busy with a case. While that helped ease her fear that he had pulled away because he no longer wanted to be with her, his focus needed to be somewhere else.

  After all, it’s not like she was ill or having these tests because of a serious health issue. JoElle had told her that it was unlikely she had any lesions, or she’d have other symptoms besides memory lapses. JoElle had asked her about work, and whether Rosanna noticed any cognitive difficulties, problems with basic math, reading
, or coming up with the right words when she spoke or wrote.

  None of those had ever been issues with her. Only the missing year of high school, plus the fuzzy images. And up until Houston had told her about his old case, those had not altered or increased in either frequency or intensity. Hearing about the case had been the defining triggering mechanism.

  When Rosanna had asked JoElle if the two were connected, she’d been assured they would work together to find out, after organic causes had been ruled out.

  ****

  While Rosanna had her testing done, Houston wasn’t allowed to stay in the room, which was fine with him. He found a relatively quiet place where he could return calls and answer emails on his phone. Both Annie and Ty hadn’t been happy when he’d announced he needed today off.

  A whiff of familiar perfume caught his attention and he glanced up to see Rosanna strolling toward him. “Are you finished?”

  “Yes. Finally, I can go home. They’ll call me with the official results of everything, but the neuro-psychologist told me that a preliminary reading of my CAT scan and MRI showed no lesions or areas of concern.”

  “Babe, that’s wonderful.” He pulled her close so she couldn’t see the panic he knew must show in his eyes. “How about the other tests?”

  “Again, only preliminary results, but the EEG was normal, and he didn’t notice any cognitive deficits during the neuro-psych testing.” She disengaged from the embrace and looked up at him. Houston forced a neutral expression to his face that he prayed fooled her.

  “This means I can work with Dr. Thompson to find out what started all this. I can recover that missing year. This is really going to happen, Houston. I’m going to get my memory back.”

  There were no words. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. She was so damn happy, and under different circumstances, he’d be thrilled for her. But if she truly did recover those memories, all hell would break loose.

  The confusion on her face when he didn’t answer was worse than the pain last evening when he’d heard her voice out loud that she thought she’d lost him. He had to do something—say something to erase that look in her eyes.

  “I’m a skeptic, babe. I can’t help it. It’s the cop in me.”

  “Oh. Sure. Of course. I understand.” When she smiled again and put her arms around his waist, he was certain he no longer deserved her. “That’s okay, though. I’ll believe for the both of us.”

  “You do that.”

  An unmistakable look of lust came over her beautiful face. His dick jumped to attention. Fucking, traitorous body. “Let’s go to my place and enjoy the rest of your day off in private.”

  There was absolutely no excuse he could give her that would fly. None. And the simple truth was that he did want to fuck her. He missed her so badly it hurt!

  Who the hell knew how much time he had left with her? Would it be right to cause her more pain than he already had? He didn’t know the outcome of this therapy. It might not work. The psychologist had told her it wasn’t a guarantee.

  And he still didn’t know for certain that his theory about her being the girl in the frat house was true. For all he knew, any memories recovered might be entirely different. He had no choice now but to see this through to whatever conclusion lay at the end of it.

  “That sounds like the best offer I’ve had in a long time.”

  When she kissed him, tongue and all, right there in the crowded waiting area, Houston forced back the guilt and enjoyed the sweet taste of his woman’s mouth. The woman he loved. The woman he would die protecting from any person, or from any buried memory, that tried to hurt her.

  Chapter Fourteen

  If it hadn’t been for the fact Houston seemed more preoccupied than usual, Rosanna would have repeated the blowjob while driving surprise. Instead, she tried to sit quietly as he drove, but the excitement at finally having the chance to get that missing time back was almost too much to deal with.

  The sense of freedom that came with the possibility was new to her. She felt more alive than she had in years. Even the colors on the traffic lights seemed brighter than usual. Everything had changed in the space of a few days. And now that she knew she hadn’t lost Houston, her life was perfect.

  Once they were inside her apartment, she was on him, kissing him like she might never have the chance to do it again. He tangled his fingers in her hair and ravaged the inside of her mouth with his tongue. Rosanna moaned, pushing her body against his until there was no space between them. She couldn’t get close enough to him.

  Her hands found his ass and squeezed, although there was so much muscle there it was difficult to get a grip. She moved them around to his front, so she could rub them against the bulge in his pants.

  “Oh, Rosanna…” His mouth found her neck, where he tortured her with tiny bites along her jaw line. “I don’t deserve you.”

  “Yes, you do.” She unzipped his jeans and took out his dick. “Fuck me, Houston.”

  “Slow down, babe. We’ll get there.”

  “I don’t want to slow down. I want you inside me. Now.” She dropped to her knees and took his cock into her mouth. From the way he moaned and grasped her hair, she knew he was enjoying this. But when he pulled away and lifted her to her feet, Rosanna shivered at the look of pure lust on his face.

  “You are the perfect woman for me. I knew it the second our eyes first locked.”

  Even though she knew he might misinterpret it, she couldn’t help laughing as the memory of how they’d met filled her mind. “The second our eyes first locked, I was trying to wipe off the coffee I’d splashed on your shirt.”

  “And that coffee stain is as unimportant now as it was then. It was fate that day. You dropping off papers at the courthouse the same time I was there to testify.”

  “Fate or not, you had to go into court with a large coffee stain on your shirt, all because I was multi-tasking without much success.”

  He tenderly caressed her face. “Rosanna, no matter what happens, please know that I love you.”

  “I love you, too, but you’re kind of scaring me.” His gaze was so intense, and his voice edgy, as though he knew something she didn’t.

  “I’m not trying to.”

  “Okay. Good. No more talking. Let’s fuck.”

  A slow, sexy grin spread across his face before he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder as if she were a sack of potatoes. “Who am I to refuse my woman a request like that?”

  Her giggles accompanied them to the bedroom, where Houston dumped her on the bed. She barely had enough time to turn over before he covered her body with his and kissed her rough and hard. After he released her mouth, he trailed his tongue across her collarbones, sending shivers down her spine.

  “I’m going to make you wait, babe.”

  Rosanna grasped his hair as he licked and gently bit her nipples through the fabric of her sweater and bra.

  “I love it when you do that.”

  “Are you sure?” He raised his brows. “I can wait a long time.”

  “Oh yeah?” She shoved her hand between them and caressed his erect penis. “Doesn’t feel that way to me.”

  The laugh she loved so much filled the space around them. “Appearances are deceiving.” Shivers ran up and down her spine as he kneaded her breasts. Even with her clothes still on, the effect was intoxicating. She massaged his shaft, aching for that dick to be inside her.

  “You’re going to wait for it, babe.”

  “Even with me doing this?”

  One finger traced between her breasts, over her abdomen, and landed on her clit, where he rubbed hard. The movement forced her hand off his cock. “Now you can’t reach me.”

  “Tease.”

  “I never tease.” He massaged her swollen bud through the jeans, but she definitely felt it.

  “So what do you call this?”

  “Payback.”

  “For what?”

  “For being too damn sexy for your own good.”

&nbs
p; “Weak, Houston. Very weak.”

  “Oh yeah? Who’s the one squirming and begging right now?”

  When he clamped his mouth on her groin through the denim, Rosanna cried out in pleasure. He was right. He’d nailed her. How the man had so much self-control was a mystery to her, but she loved it. She loved the teasing and she loved the way he made her so crazy with desire she wasn’t above begging him to fuck her.

  “I’ll bet your hot pussy is soaking wet right now.”

  “Why don’t you take off my jeans and find out?”

  “Oh, I’ll take them off, but I’m not fucking you just yet. There’s something I keep promising you but haven’t delivered.”

  “And what might that be?”

  A wicked, sly grin had her wondering if she should have asked. Houston yanked off her jeans, taking her panties with them. He removed her socks and shoes, but instead of returning to what he’d been doing with that magic mouth a second ago, he sat on the edge of the bed and pulled her over one knee.

  “Houston…” She was so surprised, she had no idea what to say.

  “I’ve been threatening to spank you for weeks.” She gasped as he swatted each cheek, hard. He pinned her thighs with his right leg and held her across the lower back with his left hand. She couldn’t move, and the effect was so deliciously dominant that she nearly came.

  “Tell me you’ve been a bad girl.” One more stinging smack on each cheek forced another gasp from her. “I want to hear you say it.”

  “I’ve been a bad girl.” Her voice came out all breathy and low, but honestly, how could she help that? This was so over the top intoxicating that her clit began to throb.

  “Yes, you have.”

  “Oh my God!” He delivered five more blows to each cheek, alternating, and now they burned like fucking crazy. Each swat built on the next one, until she couldn’t distinguish the pleasure from the pain. The combined into one sweet, torturous sensation that sent shivers down her spine, and tiny contractions to her soaking wet pussy.