by Maya Moss
“I love you, Allison…”
“I love you too, Rick…”
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Chapter 20
“God, she hated Rick sometimes. She hated the way that Rick was always so sure of himself, always thought he knew the difference between right and wrong. And I wanted him to save me. Save Monica! What a joke! But, Rick didn’t need Monica to save him. And Monica hated him for it....” Monica’s Diary.
They left Allison out of the hospital after two days, and Rick thought that they have been so lucky. Monica was finally in jail, and detective Martinez assured them that she would be charged with murder, attempted murder, and stalking, and would probably be locked away for a long time.
Allison asked if he wanted to go home or stay a little longer at the resort, and Rick agreed with her that it was time for them to relax and think about the future.
Rick stood up to change his shirt, so that they could go out to breakfast. During all this, Allison was standing where he left her on the sofa, following his every movement. She wasn’t a prude, being a mature woman and all, but seeing him almost naked, acting as if it didn’t bother him at all, was too much for her shaken nerves. Every movement was emphasizing his muscles and providing new material for her imagination. The few times she had the opportunity to really touch his body wasn’t enough to satisfy the hunger she felt burning deep inside her.
Too lost in her thoughts, she didn’t see him looking back at her, until it became obvious that he knew what she was thinking about. The mocking smile that appeared on his lips was a proof of that.
“Do you still like what you are seeing?” He already knew her too well for Allison to lie or change the subject.
“You know I do.”
At that, Rick’s eyes hardened, and he took a deep breath. Allison recognized his serious expression, and prepared herself for what was going to happen next.
“Then say it,” he interrupted her babbling thoughts. “You are more than what I could ever want in my life. I know you love me; don’t you see how much I love you back?”
“Why do you have to be so understanding? You make it so difficult to be mad at you.” The kiss he gave her after that was all she had ever wanted. The moment his lips met hers, her whole body felt an electric charge passing through it. Slowly, her head fell on his shoulder, his hands gently cradling Allison’s body close to his. No more I love you were said, but she had never felt so loved in her life.
We stayed quiet, Allison’s hand lying over his heart as he held her in his arms, content to run his hand up and down her back and press an occasional kiss to her temple. During those few minutes, they were getting to know one another more closely, saying all that was unsaid through small touches and soft kisses.
“Thanks, Rick.” The words were softly spoken, but packed with heavy feelings. He kissed her forehead, and murmured a quiet “Thanks, to you.”
He took her hand, and then guided her slowly back to the soft sofa. Allison’s wide eyes never left his as he sat down and tugged her with him. She held her breath at the look of desire in his eyes, and slowly moved her head to press their lips together. Finally feeling safe, she closed her eyes and let him show her what love was.
He opened his lips, and started sucking on hers, sending tiny tingles all over her body and waiting patiently for her to open her mouth in return. Rick captured her lips, and she moaned at the feeling of his tongue entering her mouth. He took her head in his hands, and guided her into straddling his legs. His right hand reached behind her head, and tugged off the band holding her hair together, until he was able to free it and tangle his hand in it.
Slowly, his other hand curled around her waist, bringing Allison closer to his chest and the bare skin under her hands. It took her some time to master the courage to touch and caress him the way he was touching her, but now her hands freely explored his large chest and broad back, leaving red marks behind them.
Allison’s quick and deep breaths made it impossible to speak, although she was sure that she had nothing to say at the moment. She moved her hands up to hold his shoulders, while feeling him sucking gently onto her neck. Allison shivered when his lips latched onto the hollow of her throat. Heat was emanating from their bodies, when he looked intently into her eyes and asked. “Do you want me to stop? We don’t have to do this right now.”
Feeling every fiber of his body burning with want and hearing him asking her if she wanted to stop, make Allison love Rick even more. She wanted to say so much at that moment that as a result she ended simply by kissing him again.
Their combined moans made them laugh and smile. And God, that laugh made it all even more perfect. When he finally lifted his face, their eyes locked. His pupils were wide blown, and his breathing was becoming more elaborate.
Rick lifted her from her place on his lap, and slowly placed her on the sofa near him. He went to put his shirt on, and made a stop in the bathroom, before looking back at Allison.
She almost laughed at how they looked right now, flushed (or, in his case, almost flushed), sweaty, happy, and smiling at each other like fools.
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Chapter 21
“My obsession ruined my life....” Monica’s Diary.
Two months later...
“This is the second diary I start writing in my life. The first one was all about an obsession that at the end managed to ruin my whole life. This one, I hope to be about new beginnings...”
“They brought me in front of the judge, and I was sentenced to 20 years of prison in a psychiatric facility. It was my worst nightmare. Everything I have ever worked for was destroyed and lost forever...”
“The firm where I worked wanted nothing to do with me, my colleagues would not even come to visit and the man I loved with all my heart was marrying someone else.”
“I lost everything... And when I did, I finally realized that there are more things in life than just success, money, and love. Strangely enough, I found those little things in the last place I ever imagined.”
“My prison turned out to be my salvation. Inside its high and scary walls, I met people who showed me what I have been missing in life. They were all like me – criminals, sick and disturbed people, who took the law in their own hands. They were like me – people, hurt and alone in a world where different meant dangerous and unwanted.”
“I see now what I have done...”
“Rick and Allison were not the real problem. The problem was me! In my mind, having someone meant having him just for myself. I never actually learned to really love, because if I knew how to love them, I would have left Rick go and be happy for him no matter how much that heard me.”
“The doctor is constantly saying that I should try to love first of all myself, but how can I love something so horrible? Not even my father was able to love me! I thought Rick did, but I was mistaken again.”
“Love yourself... the doctor keeps repeating. I would try and would make amends.”
“I am making friends here, good friends that would last for life and I am starting to realize that nothing would ever be the same for me.”
“My beauty and success are things of the past, but I am happier now that I had ever been.”
“If someone told me now that money is the secret of true happiness I would laugh at him. What about popularity, position, or fame? Neither of them provides the kind of happiness and contentment that everyone longs for. There are other things that bring you far closer to getting truly happy! They will set you on the path to sustainable happiness.”
“Happiness was one of the most misunderstood words in my vocabulary, yet she searched for this intangible state my whole lives. If I only had this or that, if I met the right partner, have a big house, a new car, the job I've always wanted, then I would be happy. Only now that I have lost everything I discover the lasting joy that is within.”
“Am I going out of my mind? Or am I finally seeing things clearly?”
/> *********************************
Allison received the letter when she was alone at home. Rick had some important deal to close, and had told her that he would come home late in the evening.
The letter was from Monica, she could tell that the moment she saw it. The simple white envelope was wearing the stamp of the prison she was staying in. Allison debated for a long time what to do with it, and finally decided that she must open it when she was alone. It was addressed to her, and that spoke a lot.
The single piece of paper was covered in words, something that once again surprised her.
“Dear Allison,”
“I know that this letter will come as a surprise to you, but do not worry, I will not repeat in it what I have told you so many times before. The letter is not about me and Rick or you and Rick, on the contrary, this letter is about me, and that is why I want you to read it carefully.”
“I am not going to say that I am sorry about what I did to you and Rick. I do not think that there are enough words to express that feeling, but I would like to tell you that now I know what I did. That is right – I do not suffer from delusions anymore. My obsession with you and my mistaken love for Rick are gone. I am a normal person now, a person who will have to carry to the end of her days the weight of her actions.”
“My life (and I do not wish to use it as an excuse) had made me what I am and Rick and his kindness were too much for me to let go. I realize now that I made your life a living hell, but what I thought I felt then was justifying all my actions. They make it so easy when they say that love forgives everything.”
“Allison, please, tell Rick that I am sorry for my actions, and that he is not guilty of anything. Whatever I did, I did it myself and I am the only one to be guilty of crime.”
“I hope you two were able to find happiness, after all I did to destroy it.”
“Forgive me,”
“Monica”
By the end of the letter, Allison was crying, and that is how Rick found her one hour later. She said nothing, but simply gave him the letter to read. He read it carefully, and then reread it again, unsure of how to take what Monica was saying to them.
“What does she mean with this letter?” he asked Allison.
“I think, she wants to tell us that she is no longer a danger to us,” Allison explained to him. “The therapy and rest must be helping her understand how wrong she was, and now she is trying to make amends.”
“She says she is sorry.”
“Yes, but the letter is not about saying how sorry she is. Can you imagine waking up from a dream, and finding out that you have killed a person while sleeping? I think this is how Monica is feeling right now.”
“Are you going to respond to her letter?” Rick asked her after reading the piece of paper for the third time.
“Not right now. I need some time to think about it, and find the right words to say.”
“When you do, please, tell her that we are happy together.”
Allison smiled up at the man she loved more than the life itself, and once again thanked God for bringing him into her life.
*********************************
Epilogue
“The success of a journey could be seen only when it ends...” Monica’s Diary.
Allison was on the edge of sleep when it occurred to her. She really wanted to push the thought away, and deal with it in the morning, but it was too horrible to ignore, swelling and looming in her mind until she could not bear staring at it any longer.
“Oh God,” Allison exclaimed, stirring restlessly.
“What?” Rick’s hand stayed on her shoulder.
Heaving a sigh, she muttered, “Liz is never going to stop teasing us about this.”
Allison could practically hear the gears turning in Rick’s head as he took that little information in, and then, slowly, offered, “Well, there is no reason to tell her, is there? I mean, it isn’t like she wasn’t already making assumptions.”
The woman blinked up at the darkened ceiling with a slight, thoughtful frown. “You really think that will work?”
“No, but she isn’t going to say anything if we don’t. And I don’t know about you, but when it comes to this?” His hand slide around Allison’s body to loosely curl around her hand. “I am going to have to say it is our problem, not hers.”
Liz had been assuming things about them from the moment Rick started to stay the night. She was teasing them and making little comments about the way things were according to her. Allison tried to play cool and considering that up until tonight her assumptions were invalid, it was okay. However, what about now?
“Rick,” she breathed after a moment, lazily settling forward, deeper in his hands. “I like the way you think.” Rick started to place gentle, cherishing kisses against her shoulder.
“Just the way I think?” he asked, lips brushing her skin, and hand stroking her bear arm. Allison felt silent, pretending to consider the question, and then laughed when Rick bit on her shoulder in retaliation.
“You’ll say it eventually,” he muttered when they were both quieted again. He didn’t sound too put out by her reluctance, though; he sounded more amused and fond than anything. It meant that Allison didn’t actually have to respond; Rick knew how she thought, and what she felt. Then again, anything she could do, he could do better.
“Hey, Allison,” he said, covering her hand with his own and interlacing their fingers.
“Mmm,” she hummed, pressing her nose against the back of Rick’s hand.
“Would you marry me?”
“Do I get a ring?” she asked.
Allison was surprised at how full her own chest felt right now, and a sudden, reckless need to break the moment apart swelled inside her. Then again, nothing about tonight had been safe in the least, and she… she was surprised to discover that she sort of liked it.
Silently, he took hold of her hand, using his thumb to turn the diamond ring on her finger. The stone was clear and set in a gentle setting, just what Allison liked. He gave her the ring after dinner, just before they fell into bed together. It has been three months since Monica was gone forever from their lives.
Now all they had to worry was their own lives and happiness.
“I love you, Allison,” he confessed. “It scares me, how much I love you.”
“I love you too, Rick, and there is nothing in the world that will make me forget that.”
“Yeah,” Rick agreed. His hand turned hers, holding her back, and twining their fingers together.
“You think we can really do this?” Rick asked. “You think we can tell everyone else that all that matters in this world is you and me?”
They mattered.
“I know we can,” Allison answered. “We are going to be okay, Rick.”
She let out a breath Allison didn’t even know she was holding, relaxing back against the warm weight of Rick’s chest. It might just be the afterglow talking, but somehow – someway – she knew that he was right.
“I believe in pink.
I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.
I believe in kissing, kissing a lot.
I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong.
I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.
I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles.”
Allison’s Facebook Page
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The End
Thank You
I hope you enjoyed ‘Obsession (A Romantic Suspense Thriller)’ and would love to know what you thought about it. If you have a moment to spare, I would appreciate it if you could leave a review of this book at Amazon. Your opinion goes a long way in helping others decide if a book is for them.
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Thank you so much.
Maya Moss
Romantic Mystery Thriller Suspense Publishing House
Booklist
A list of books published by Maya Moss:
• http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Suspense-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00UVOXH3C/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-textHYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Suspense-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00UVOXH3C/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865570&sr=1-2&keywords=romantic+thriller"&HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Suspense-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00UVOXH3C/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865570&sr=1-2&keywords=romantic+thriller"ie=UTF8HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Suspense-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00UVOXH3C/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865570&sr=1-2&keywords=romantic+thriller"&HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Suspense-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00UVOXH3C/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865570&sr=1-2&keywords=romantic+thriller"qid=1429865570HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Suspense-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00UVOXH3C/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865570&sr=1-2&keywords=romantic+thriller"&HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Suspense-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00UVOXH3C/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865570&sr=1-2&keywords=romantic+thriller"sr=1-2HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Suspense-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00UVOXH3C/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865570&sr=1-2&keywords=romantic+thriller"&HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Suspense-Mystery-Romance-ebook/dp/B00UVOXH3C/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865570&sr=1-2&keywords=romantic+thriller"keywords=romantic+thriller
• http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Romance-Suspense-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00VBHRDRO/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-textHYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Romance-Suspense-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00VBHRDRO/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865607&sr=1-4&keywords=romantic+thriller"&HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Romance-Suspense-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00VBHRDRO/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865607&sr=1-4&keywords=romantic+thriller"ie=UTF8HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Romance-Suspense-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00VBHRDRO/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865607&sr=1-4&keywords=romantic+thriller"&HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Romance-Suspense-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00VBHRDRO/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865607&sr=1-4&keywords=romantic+thriller"qid=1429865607HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Romance-Suspense-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00VBHRDRO/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865607&sr=1-4&keywords=romantic+thriller"&HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Romance-Suspense-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00VBHRDRO/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865607&sr=1-4&keywords=romantic+thriller"sr=1-4HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Romance-Suspense-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00VBHRDRO/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865607&sr=1-4&keywords=romantic+thriller"&HYPERLINK "http://www.amazon.com/Romantic-Thriller-Romance-Suspense-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00VBHRDRO/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1429865607&sr=1-4&keywords=romantic+thriller"keywords=romantic+thriller
