by Janet Eaves
He sat with a thud. As they watched the truck pull away, he turned to her.
“He wasn’t there. I searched the cab and the sleeper. The guy admitted talking to him today, but he said neither he, nor his boy, had seen him since late afternoon.”
“What about any of the other rides? Could he be with them?”
“Maybe.” His head shook in doubt. “I asked the guy in the truck. He said he didn’t think so. Said the company was pretty strict about picking up someone these days. Especially kids. He thought it was unlikely.”
“But we can’t give up.”
Michael studied her face. It was full of hope and concern. “No,” he answered, “we can’t.”
The next hour was spent tracking down every vendor, every ride, and every vehicle thought to have some connection with the carnival. The rain gave way to a thunderstorm and Kate could no longer sit alone in the car as Michael questioned each driver, than she could kiss the moon. Soon, both she and Michael realized that their hunt was futile. Everyone they met was kind and sympathetic, however, to no avail. Danny had disappeared. Finally, wet and tired, they gave up.
“It’s no use,” Michael reluctantly told her. “I don’t think he went this route. It’s time to head home.”
Kate stared straight ahead for about ten miles. He glanced her way several times, then finally pulled to the side of the road, removed the keys from the ignition, and laid them on the dash.
“What are you doing?”
“Getting your undivided attention. We’re not moving until you start talking.” She squeezed her eyes shut.
“Kate…”
She jerked back, her eyes flashing open. “Where is he?”
“I don’t know, honey, but I’ll do everything I can…”
“You! You think you can fix this? How do you propose to do that? You can’t fix everything Michael.”
Puzzled, he stared back into her glazed eyes, wondering what had put the confusion back in them. “Kate, I don’t understand what has you so upset.”
She looked off into the night. “Don’t you see? What does Danny have? Who worries about him if he comes home late? Who sees that he eats right, or that he has friends to play with, or that his homework is done? No one, Michael. What in world does he have to come home to?”
“You, Kate. You worry about him and so do I.”
“But it’s not the same. He has no permanent place, no family to care. He’s never had that and it is so unfair. He doesn’t know what it’s like to come home after school to milk and cookies. I bet he never had anyone to tuck him in at night or read him a story.” She paused and the tears fell. “Dammit. And it’s all my fault.”
Michael slid next to her and cradled her in his arms. Kate let out a series of sobs on his shoulder.
“I should have taken him in. I should have thought of it sooner. I was so damned afraid.” She turned her tear-streaked face up to his. “I’m so afraid,” she whispered, “of losing again…of hurting again that I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t let him in, I couldn’t let you in. And now, oh, Michael, is it too late?”
He smoothed a few damp stray hairs away from her face and dried her tears with the pads of his fingertips. “It’s never too late, honey.”
He traced her lips and she closed her eyes. Her chest heaved against his as he kissed her lips, softly, then urgently. His mouth dropped to her chin and she arched her neck, making tracks to the tender skin at the opening of her shirt.
Kate clutched his jacket into her fists. “Michael, I need you,” she breathed.
“I need you, too.” Still close, he tipped her face up to look into her eyes. “It’s not too late. You heard what Jamieson said. It could work. When we find him, we should give him a home.”
She held onto his gaze as though it were a lifeline.
“I love you, Kate,” he continued. “Let’s do it. Forget the fear and the pain.” He whispered now, nuzzling her ear. “I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. Marry me. We’ll adopt Danny and give him a home. You can have milk and cookies for him in the afternoon, and help him with his homework, and worry about him when he’s late. You can, and so can I. Marry me, and we’ll do it together.”
Kate buried her face in his shoulder and breathed deeply. He felt every shimmy of her inhale and exhale.
“I’m so afraid of losing the people I love again that sometimes I think I can’t bear it. Michael…?”
Michael lifted her face and peered into her eyes. “I love you, Kate. I can’t promise you nothing will happen to me, or to Danny for that matter. We never know that. All I know is that while I’m here, I want to be with you.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yes. I’ll marry you.”
Chapter Seventeen
The man gave him a bologna sandwich and then made him go down into the cellar. At first, Danny thought it was a joke, now he was pretty certain it wasn’t. He was completely surrounded by darkness. When the sun was going down, he could see a sliver of light at a window all the way across the cellar, but now there was nothing.
He’d eaten the sandwich hours ago. His stomach was empty now and he was thirsty. He hadn’t eaten much yesterday, he guessed it was yesterday. His stomach rumbled.
He didn’t sleep either. He sat on the top step and leaned against the cellar door leading into the kitchen. He might close his eyes every now and then, but the sounds always woke him. There were sounds all around. Night sounds, he guessed. Crickets, hoot owls, a dog barking—those sounds didn’t bother him. It was the others, the ones he couldn’t identify in the dark that bothered him. A shuffling at the bottom of the wooden stairs. A creaking in the ceiling above him. A hurried scurry of what he hoped was just a mouse. And the things that crawled around his ankles. He brushed them away when they did, he wished he knew what they were.
Later the wind howled through the night. Lightning flashed. He welcomed the tiny shaft of light that poured through the sliver across the way. Rain beat wildly against the window.
He was cold. The cellar was damp and it stunk. He had to go to the bathroom. He was hungry. When would the man be back?
I have to get back. Everything was working out so good. They were laughing and joking. They seemed so happy. I even saw Michael kiss her on the top of the Ferris Wheel.
I’ve got to find a way to get out of here. Before it’s too late. Before they forget me and make some other kid their son.
I want to be their son. Me. It’s the only thing I ever wanted in my life.
I gotta find a way outta here.
Chapter Eighteen
It was almost eight o’clock in the morning. The sun rose on cue, bringing a host of purples and roses and oranges splashing across the Tennessee hills. Kate dozed for the past forty-five minutes, her head in Michael’s lap.
Michael made several calls not long after they’d turned the car around and headed south, calling in some favors, and requesting help in locating Danny.
With those burdens lifted for the short haul, Michael concentrated on one thing—making Kate his, and figuring out how to do that without breaking any laws, legally and ethically.
With her head cradled against his thigh, her long, strawberry blond hair fanned out, he watched her sleep. She dozed soundly against him, wrapped in a blanket. He threaded his fingers through her locks, smoothing away the unruliness of the long night. His fingers drew a line along her jawbone; his hand cupped her chin in his palm.
As he lovingly caressed, emotion swelled his chest. She would be his wife. Was it the right thing?
He grew solemn. Her fears were great, he knew. He didn’t make light of them. He could help her overcome them if given half a chance. Was he being selfish? Perhaps. He possessed his own fear.
Fear of losing her.
He should drop the investigation. Ask for someone else to take the case. Or resign. His love for Kate far surpassed any quest to prove something, or to right a wrong. He knew in his gut she was clueless about Carpenter’
s deeds. The real problem was Rob Carpenter. There was an element of danger here, particularly if the bastard was alive. And if that were the case, he needed to know what was going on, to protect her.
Perhaps he should stay with the investigation after all.
His head swam with the probabilities of what Kate would do if she found out the truth. In a sense he was betraying her, keeping information from her. He only hoped that everything would come to a head soon, and that his convictions were wrong.
If so, Kate would never learn the reason he stepped into her classroom in the first place.
****
“What are you doing?” Kate stifled a yawn. “You can put me down, you know.”
“Not a chance, sweetheart,” Michael said as he carried her up the stairs at his home, “I’m a man on a mission to get you warm.”
“Hm,” she giggled. “And how do you propose…?”
He captured her lips with his, halting her questions. And she let him.
A couple of hours earlier she had agreed to marry him and now, she was going to let him thoroughly make love to her. Placing her squarely on the floor beside his bed, he grasped the bottom of her sweater and tugged. “Let’s get rid of this.”
Kate shivered at the sudden change of temperature. He flung the sweater to the floor. Michael’s eyes softened as his gaze traveled from her lips to her breasts and she suddenly realized how much he wanted her. Her breasts were taut and swelling; her nipples peaked as they strained against the thin strip of nylon and lace.
Michael grazed her waist with his fingertips, pulling her closer. “Your skin is so cold,” he whispered, nuzzling her ear.
“Not for long.”
“Kate, I…”
“Shsh.” She placed a forefinger against his hot lips. “It’s okay.”
“Do you want to talk?”
Taking his face into her hands, she answered, “No.”
In one swift movement, he gathered her into his arms. She hugged his neck, threading her fingers through his hair. He teased at her earlobe, then gently probed. His tongue flicked in and out of delicate places, unleashing a building desire.
Glad that he carried her, she knew her knees were too weak to stand. Something stirred deep in her belly. Something not there before. She ached for his touch.
His breath wafted hot across her cheek. Her heart thumped erratically as her passions held at bay for so long begged for release…and she knew that with Michael, there would be no holding back.
To her surprise, he exited the bedroom and entered the bathroom. Her body slithered down his and she stood beside him. With one hand, he reached into the shower and turned on the water, the other he kept firm at her waist.
Connecting with her emerald eyes, he removed her bra with deft fingers. He ran his hands over her shoulders, sending tingling sensations down her spine. At the base of her neck, he gingerly caressed with his thumbs. Then he kissed the soft hollow of her neck, where those thumbs had just massaged, and moved lowered to lave his tongue firmly in the crevice of her cleavage.
Kate moaned. Moving with urgency, he molded her breasts into the cup of his palms. He explored with both hands and tongue.
Her breathing deepened, her chest heaving with the touch of his rough hands on her sensitive skin. She threw her head back and clutched his shoulders. Hot in here. Steam rolled out of the shower and she felt tiny beads of perspiration popping out on her forehead.
Michael dropped to his knees and with skilled hands, unzipped her jeans. Smoothing his palms around her rounded hips, he pulled them down to her knees. His fingers slipped under her lacy bikini panties, squeezed and kneaded her buttocks, pulling her to him. His lips were hot against her inner thigh and Kate knew that she couldn’t stand much longer.
“Michael,” she murmured. “I can’t…”
Within seconds she stood before him stripped of everything. Michael quickly removed his own clothes. Taking her hand, he led her into the steamy shower.
The water stung her back, only heightening her passion. Hot and delicious against her skin. Each pore alive, as if a flowering bud, opening to new experiences. Kate expected to miss none of it. She tilted her head back and let the water sluice over her hair, rinsing away the cold of the rain and letting the sensual steaminess permeate her senses.
She stretched to the ceiling with a tiny squeal of delight. Michael’s large hands grasped her about the waist and hauled her up to him. The hardness of his body excited her. She ran her hands over his back, then smoothed them to his waist, and lower. She marveled over the hard planes and angles of his anatomy—and the rigid organ in her hand.
Like velvet at her fingertips, under the steady stream of water.
Michael gasped as her fingers wrapped around him. Her touch was pure heaven. They pushed closer to each other, his hardness driving between her thighs, they’re lips melding, tongues exploring, hands and fingers searching. His mouth hungrily covered hers, as if a starving man finally being offered life-giving nourishment.
Her kisses sent ripples of pleasure through him. He ached for her. Wanted to be inside her, filling her.
Michael took her head in both his hands, threading his fingers through the now dark red tresses. “I can’t stand much more of this,” he breathed. “I want you so… Warm yet?”
“Yes. Hot.”
“I know baby. Let’s get out of here.”
Grasping her hand, they ran dripping for the bedroom. Michael flung blankets and sheets back, and Kate lay down. He covered her body with his.
Their wet bodies glided together. Hungry kisses turned into nips and bites as he teased her with his lips and teeth. He lowered again to lick the still warm droplets of water from her breasts. Kate closed her eyes and relaxed. Sensing her comfort, he moved downward.
He flicked his tongue over her taut belly, pausing at her naval. A hand to her inner thigh searched for her slick folds. Opening her to him was almost more than they both could stand.
She arched into him and cried out, clasping his shoulders.
“Michael…” she moaned.
He pushed into her with his fingers, her moistness assuring him that she was ready. Moving over her center, her thighs opened.
Kate gasped as he penetrated. She ached for his silky touch, his hardness within and pushing. Pumping. His thrusts were firm and smooth, eager and urgent. She gripped and held, pulling him deeper and deeper.
Surprised at her urgency and wanton desire, she strained to match his strokes. Wet and hot, they came together. Giving in to some primal need. The tension in her pelvis growing incredibly tight as Michael’s thrusts became faster and deeper. More determined, methodical.
Mind-bending.
Her world burst into a million thrilling, stinging raindrops, mimicking the storm outside the window, building on a crescendo of thunder. Her body dissolved into a tingling mass beneath him, soft and languid. Michael grunted with one last satisfying thrust, then collapsed and trembled as he clutched her to him, calling her name.
They lay together, limbs intertwined, their bodies enjoying a slow return from wherever it was that passion had taken them. Michael eased himself off her and tucked her body into his.
Like a glove.
He took a deep breath and sighed. “I love you, my future wife.”
Kate smiled and laid her arms over his as he spooned her.
“Promise me you won’t die on me,” she whispered.
“Kate…”
“Just say it. Promise me. I know you can’t really, but just say it, please?” She squeezed her eyes shut tight against threatening tears.
“I promise you I won’t die.”
Kate squeezed his forearm. “That’s good,” she said, “because I won’t let you.”
He rocked her until they both fell into blissful and long-awaited sleep.
****
Kate woke a few hours later, her body warm and full from making love with Michael. She lay in his arms, not daring to move, afraid to break the spell.
She ached with the pleasure of having been fulfilled, of the delicious swollen feeling between her legs.
She glanced at the clock on the night stand. The digital numbers flashed back: eleven-forty, eleven-forty-one, eleven-forty-two. She thought about Danny, so worried about him, and felt guilty she and Michael had taken time out of their search to come back here and make love.
She also needed to call Patti.
Carefully, she moved Michael’s hand from around her chest. It was heavy and warm and she missed it when it was gone. She moved to the edge of the bed. Michael snored softly. Wrapping herself in the sheet, she fished her cell out of her pants pocket and dialed Patti’s number.
Patti answered in two rings. “Kate, where in the world are you? I’ve been calling. Where’s Danny? Where are you?”
She’d seen Patti’s missed calls. “Slow down,” she whispered. “We didn’t find him. I take it he’s not shown up there?”
“No. I’ve been talking with Matt Branson at the city police station, and someone down at the sheriffs’ office, too. Both county and city law enforcement are looking.”
“Patti, I don’t know what to do.”
“Kate, where are you?”
She glanced at Michael out of the corner of her eye. “I’m with Michael, Patti, but don’t ask any questions, okay?”
“Ah ha! Now you’re talking. Let’s get down to the juicy details.” She could imagine Patti rubbing her hands together on the other end of the line.
“Um, sorry Patti, there are no juicy details.” She lied.
“Likely story. When will you be home?”
“Soon. Almost there.” She lied again. Her voice cracked a little as Michael eased up behind her, a hand snaking around her waist. His warm tongue nuzzled behind her ear.
“Kate, are you sure there’s nothing you want to tell me? No sordid account of how you’ve spent your last few hours?”
“Patti, really…” His fingers inched to her breasts and she stifled a moan.
