WindSwept Narrows: #18 Paige Andrews

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  He watched her peel back some Velcro beneath her arm, pulling three-quarter inch hollow tube from around each of her arms.

  “That’s…?”

  Paige shook it, the liquid inside sloshing. “It surely is…be right back…” She ran to Catherine, handing them to her and nodding when the police asked her a question. She backed up and ran lightly back to Sebastian.

  “Need a ride home?” He wasn’t sure how he managed to keep his hands at his side when she took the sweater and covered the simple crème colored lacy tank she was wearing beneath it.

  “You’re holding it in, Sebastian,” she said quietly, standing in front of him and taking his hands from his side and putting them on her waist. “You weren’t supposed to be worried like this, I’m sorry. We didn’t factor in Leo…”

  He didn’t trust his mouth or the words he could find at the moment, so he just pulled her against him and surrounded her with his arms, his cheek resting against her head.

  Paige felt him draw in a long breath before he gave her enough room to lean back, her palms sliding around his neck and pulling his mouth to hers. “Let’s go home.”

  “I think that would be good,” he said when he finally had enough of her kiss for the moment, his hands setting her back and pulling the spare jacket from inside the bag at his side. He handed it to her and mounted the bike, taking his helmet from the bars and pulling his gloves on.

  “I don’t suppose this counts toward the two hours bike time this weekend,” She asked as she held his hand and swung her leg over the seat.

  “Guess again,” he responded dryly.

  “Yeah…I kind of figured that would be the answer,” Paige settled against him, gripping his belt and laying her head down, eyes closed but not out of concern.

  “So how long am I going to have a blonde instead of a redhead?” Sebastian asked, a slip of humor in his voice.

  “Till I get home and into the shower. The stuff is sticky and I don’t like it…it’s spray on color…you’re stuck with a redhead,” she informed him firmly.

  “So no dinner out with a blonde, huh?”

  “I suppose there’s Marietta,” Paige returned sweetly.

  “That was low. I told you, I haven’t seen her in years. Not a clue why she’s here now.”

  “Sebastian…this project…has national interest. You’re about to become seriously upwardly mobile,” Paige said carefully. “I’ve handled the press releases. You don’t think that might catch the attention of an ex or two?”

  “Then you better keep me close and protect me,” he told her seriously.

  Paige just hugged him and relaxed, enjoying the ride and not seeing a thing.

  “Did you guys make a mess in the office after I left?” Paige asked as she dismounted, closing the case with a snap over the helmet before backing toward the double doors, watching him.

  “Not until we got the call from Chase’s driver about the altercation and kidnapping in front of the resort,” he nodded at the wince that had her nose wrinkling. “I hope it matters…but I don’t like the blonde thing on you.”

  “Oh, it definitely matters,” she laughed, taking off immediately for the bedroom. Clothes were stripped quickly, boots tossed into the closet and water set to hot before she stepped inside and began lathering. She peered through cascading water when the door slid slightly open. “Sebastian…you’re letting my steam escape.”

  “Just checking to make sure it’s my redhead in there,” he said simply, letting his gaze sweep over the ripe bruises and the return of the thick, slick red hair. “I’ll make some sandwiches…juice or water?”

  “Water, thanks, be a few minutes,” Paige told him with a sigh. Talking while naked…definitely a new experience, she mused. She only winced a little bit and it wasn’t much because of pain, more because of the multi colors dotting her skin. She never cared much when things like that happened before. There was no one to see them but her, she dropped the top to the tap set over her head and slid into the pants, padding on bare feet into the bedroom, surprise on her face. “Someone steal the dining room?”

  “Last of the romantics, I see,” Sitting against the headboard in his own sleep pants, Sebastian waved a palm over the large tray of sandwiches and drinks, even some cut up fruit. “Join me for dinner?”

  “It’s pretty and nice…” She went to his side first, leaning her hip against the bed and putting both her hands on his face. “I am sorry you were worried. Seriously sorry…I don’t know if it would have been easier on you…on us…if I had told you or not, Sebastian. I’m not…I’m not used to dragging someone else into things I do.”

  “Hopefully this isn’t something that’ll happen a lot,” he liked the soft feel of her hands on his face, the sweet smell of shampoo from the hair that was still wet and hanging free and the dapple of freckles betrayed by the thin straps of the top she wore. It was work to keep from ignoring the food and pulling her into his arms and losing himself in her for at least an hour.

  “No…it isn’t…” she promised, stepping back and taking the tray from the bed to set it on the small table in the sitting area.

  “Paige…”

  “I’m not hungry right now…” She pulled the top over her head and dropped it to the floor before wiggling and leaving the pants with it. She moved back next to him and speared her fingers into his hair. “Except for you…”

  “Babe…you’re all bruised…”

  “Close your eyes,” she whispered against his mouth, sighing when his hands began moving over her, light and teasing. “Yes…you are what I need, Sebastian…”

  “Paige…” Her name was dragged from deep inside, a vibrating , needy sound that sent the darkness of the last few hours far, far away.

  “I need to taste you…smell you…feel you, Sebastian…I’m alright,” she whispered hotly, dropping kisses along his throat and onto his chest, dragging her tongue over the pale coils and then back to his throat for another nip and bite until she took his mouth with a long, deep kiss.

  She could smell the familiar musk that clung to his skin, and it made her think of the few times she'd spent in his arms, where he pleasured her with his hands and mouth and tongue. She knew he felt it too, his response filled with the desires he’d buried because she was bruised.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Naked and shivering in his arms, he lifted her up. Breaking away from the kiss, he took one hardened nipple into his mouth and suckled, using his teeth to elicit a loud cry from Paige's lips. With one arm securely around her, he let the other roam lightly over her soft skin. He trailed it down her back slowly, as he paid tribute to her other breast, tasting, suckling and needing. Her cupped her bottom, knowingly traced his fingers between her parted thighs and dipped them into her wet, waiting warmth.

  How perfect she was, with her head thrown back in pleasure and moaning softly as he thrust his hand against her. He felt her hands cupping him and groaned aloud, felt himself brush against her inner thigh and grunted.

  “I’d wanted to give you some time, Paige…some romance…”

  Paige laughed softly, lying back and watching his hands fumbling. She raised one knee wantonly. “We’ve a long time for romance…unless you plan on tossing me aside, Sebastian,” she opened her arms and pulled him against her, wiggling when his hardness stroked along the outside of her body, pressing into that sweet spot that had her breath catching and heart skipping off wildly. “I think there are so many ways…so many speeds for us…oh yes…” His fingers skimmed over her, through and against, their eyes locked as she felt the tremors strike and splinter. Her lips parted but nothing was allowed in or out as her body froze in those exquisite seconds, then she felt him moving. She felt her muscles stretch over his length and wrapped her legs around him.

  He felt himself sink deeper. He whispered, pushing in until he was buried to the hilt. She felt so good wrapped around him. He bent his head to kiss her before trailing his lips down her breasts again.

  “You want me…�
�

  "Yes, always," she moaned.

  His lips curled at the corners and he began thrusting into her harder. "This feels much better…more necessary than the food right now."

  The humor in his voice was lost to Paige, for the way he stretched her and thrust so deeply inside of her had her panting and moaning. She could think of nothing but the feel of Sebastian inside of her. Her body adjusted, accepted and welcomed all the feelings he aroused.

  Paige felt her body attack his, squeezing and shattering her senses. She heard him call to her, felt him call to her deeply inside in a way she’d never known before and melted against the bed. Tremors faded, gripped and teased, hinted and promised as his body covered hers.

  “You…are a hundred times better than a sandwich,” she whispered, her arms around his neck and teeth biting the strong tendon. “However…”

  “I feel so used,” he chuckled, leaning to the side and taking her mouth hard. “However, I’m shallow enough to allow you to use me a few hundred more times…”

  “Deal,” she returned, stretching when he angled off and went into the bathroom. She found the clothing she dropped and was dressed and perched in the bottom corner of the bed, the tray back in the center and her sandwich in her hands. Her stomach was grateful for the lettuce, tomatoes and sprouts with cream cheese.

  “You were planning on telling me after the fact?” Sebastian asked when he returned, dressed in his sleep pants. He took up a space on the bed and lifted the plate with his sandwich on it.

  “That was the plan…I didn’t figure I had much choice at that point,” Paige shrugged. “Pepper would tell Chase and then he’d say something to you so I figured confessing was easier than apologizing,” she looked over at the slight cough. “It really was in your best interests, Sebastian,” she said with a lilt of aggravation.

  “Really?”

  “Yes. If you’d known ahead of time, you would have driven Catherine nuts with worry and questions and she might have shot you. I’ve noticed you inspire that in people,” she commented with a shrug.

  “You have the urge to shoot me?”

  “No…not really…but Catherine isn’t in love with you, and she’d feel guilty at shooting you then there would be the bullet hole thing and they do hurt,” Paige said thoughtfully, sliding off the bed and digging into her pack for her brush. She moved to the side of the bed and bent leaning against it as she brushed upside down. “It just seemed easier. We had it all carefully planned.”

  Sebastian barely tasted the sandwich, caught between her words and watching her limber body bent in half as she brushed through the long red hair.

  “Chase was…a mess…” Sebastian said after taking another bite of the sandwich.

  “I know…that’s one of the reasons why I was Pepper for this part. I don’t have any emotional baggage with her father like she does. She was more worried what he would do to Chase than herself,” Paige sighed. “All I had to do was keep him talking. Arrogant people like that like to talk about their big plans. And all about money. I can understand stealing money. But hell…he married her mother because he was arrogant enough to believe he could get money off her parents. Then that fell through…and he knew there would be an inheritance. But that was stupid, too. If he wanted the inheritance he should have pushed her toward the grandparents, let her build a relationship, made a show of being a good dad person. I wouldn’t have minded shooting him,” she announced, moving away and straightening up, slowly shifting the long hair back where it belonged and twisting it into a knot before securing it.

  “What happened to all the boxes?” Paige asked abruptly, taking the glass of water and drinking while he carried the tray to the kitchen.

  “Cleaned up, emptied and broke down for recycling.”

  “When’d you have time for that?” She asked, looking around the very large open area.

  “I didn’t. We have a housekeeper,” Sebastian shrugged, snagging her around the middle and pulling her onto the sofa with him.

  “We do? Seriously?” Paige pushed against his chest. “I thought you were neat. I mean…you are neat, but…tidy…that was worrying me…because I’m not always…at all…sometimes…but it eventually works out…and you have someone cleaning up after you?”

  “Lewis…he’s fifty? Maybe a little less…I met him in a hotel in Florida when I needed a driver and temporary house help,” Sebastian saw the small pucker of a frown begin when she realized he was pulling the clasp from her hair. But she let it happen and only sighed. “I left Florida and offered him the job. He drives for me sometimes, if I need to work on the way to meetings. Errands…keeps things in their place. His wife will be arriving with their belongings in a day or so…they have the apartment over the garage.”

  “I just bound that all up out of the way,” Paige said quietly, her palm up for the heavy silver clasp he dropped into it.

  “I like it this way…”

  “This attitude is what will get you shot,” she murmured against his mouth, purring when his hand found its way through the thick curtain of hair and against her scalp. “Alright…maybe not right away…but eventually…” She listened to his laughter as it vibrated over her throat.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “It is logged and noted that you are not keen on this project,” Paige said through her teeth as she dressed the next morning. She was twisting and twining the long hair into a taut braid down her head so she could still fit into the helmet. “Whining about it will not change my mind. Chase promised me immunity,” she added hastily, wincing at the explicit curse that came from the first level. She went down the stairs and dropped the pea coat over his leather jacket.

  She laid a pair of chamois gardening gloves on top and went for the glass of juice he’d poured for her, snagging one of his bagels and biting down. She opened the ledger sized book and sat reading through it while he stood staring out the patio doors into the eight o’clock morning. The water was shrouded in a light fog, but there was serious sunlight threatening its existence.

  “Sebastian…if you’re going to shout at me, do it, so I can offer a rational explanation,” she groaned when he turned to face her, one brow lifted, his jaw set and lips not moving. “Alright…in the spirit of…something…what is giving you a headache about this?”

  “It isn’t my head it’s chapping, Paige. The place is a condemned nightmare of falling down sheet metal, glass and concrete.”

  “What if I told you I found something worth over five million dollars,” she held her breath, waiting for the explosion.

  “When?” Came the first tense question after a very long silence.

  “The third day I went searching offices.”

  “Pepper knows about this,” he said quietly. “The long lunch you took.”

  “I went to a friend to have things appraised…and cleaned and he’s trying to see if he can pinpoint where they came from. They belong to you,” she said with a shrug.

  “That’s why you asked what I’d do if I found something on the site,” Sebastian drained the coffee and set the cup next to her. “What?”

  “Jewelry. Tucked away in a hiding space in the ceiling tiles of one of the offices,” Paige closed her eyes when he took the journal from her hands and set it on the counter. The silence was killing her. She opened one eye to find him just standing there, hands at her waist.

  “And you think there might be more.”

  “I like being thorough. The floors are solid and I’m careful. I have six offices on the far southwest side and then it’s done. With the exception of the woman who whacked me with the board,” Paige said gingerly, her fingers going over the remnants of the bruise at the side of her head.

  “Are you wanting to keep them?”

  “Them being…the rocks? Me?” Her voice rose in distaste. “I look like a bling kind of girl to you? They’re not mine. They’re yours. You own the property.”

  Somehow Sebastian wasn’t surprised by her answer. “What else have you found, Paige
?” He stepped closer, taking both her hands in his and placing them around his neck. And it made him smile when she immediately slid closer until there was little space between them.

  “That journal…nothing much in it but…nothing tangible. Just that stuff was going on, initials on who was carrying in and taking out. Some junk jewelry left in drawers,” Paige liked tugging on his hair and pulling his mouth to hers. “So the faster we knock it out…the more bike time you get,” she watched interest flair in his eyes.

  “Whatever time we don’t use, goes to the bike?”

  “Deal.” She laughed when he stepped back, took her palm and tugged her to the door, handing her the pea coat. “Gee…motivation…” She stuffed the gloves into her pocket and went outside, waiting with her helmet in her hands while he locked up and set the alarms.

  “I found a place to get you a few things when we finish with this.” But he shook his head as he parked the bike near the main locked gate. Several groups of people were working on cleaning up things that could easily be categorized and recycled. He flashed his ID when he was approached and spent several minutes talking with the man running the clean-up crews.

  Paige was still considering what all was involved in a few things as she went off toward the far south west office cluster. It was the one closest to the water and seemed to have the most holes in the roof, she noticed as she stepped inside. Corrugated steel made up the roof of the low building comprised of six separate offices, the main one being the largest at the end of the building. One door on each end.

  She took the bosses office first, habit having her leave doors open and throw windows that still had glass up and wide. When they wouldn’t cooperate, she threw a chair through it. She shrugged out of the jacket and laid it over the remains of a chair, tugged the desk over and began with the ceiling tiles. She heard Sebastian crunching over the gravel as she climbed onto a desk she’d pulled over, eyes closed as she reached above her and shoved. She hated this part. Dust and god knows what else drifted around her, her breath held until it felt like it had stopped.