I crept out, careful not to close the door completely, and headed for the promise of a hot, steamy shower. I stripped quickly and let the water flood over me. My whole body was tender, aching in sweet ways I’d all but forgotten… I ran my hands down… feeling… remembering… and pushed my worries and doubts away. What I’d done was done, if there were consequences, I would cope. It wasn’t very likely, though…
And if I’d learned anything since I’d found out I was pregnant with Violet, it was that I could deal with whatever came my way. I told myself my chances were reasonably good… that the only consequence of the night would be a memory to relive again and again in the years to come. There’d never been room for a man in my life… not after Vi. All I’d ever had was a rare date here and there, only to find out that the guy didn’t have half my life experience, and that I always turned out to be the stronger one, the responsible one. And I was tired of it. Maybe that was why I’d finally been ready to go to the club… ready to hand over control…
I thought back to Jimmy and the way he’d responded, so long ago, when I’d told him I was pregnant. We’d only done it the one time, and I’d had way too much to drink. Both of us had, in celebration of my eighteenth birthday. I’d lost my virginity in a few uninspired minutes. And then a few weeks later, the night of the prom, I’d found him humping one of the cheerleaders. That moment had been the welcome end of it, as far as I’d been concerned. Especially when Will had asked me to dance with him…
But six weeks and three positive pregnancy tests later, I’d had to tell my mother. She’d been the one to tell Jimmy and hadn’t wasted a single second. He’d turned a sickly shade of yellow when she’d started in, bullying and threatening, with talk of an immediate wedding…
But before I’d even started to show, the wedding had both come and gone. I had stood by myself, in a white dress, waiting for that long walk down the aisle, and I could still see the look on my mother’s face. She was a woman used to always having her way in all things. And that the Seevers had dared to allow Jimmy to stand me up had created an ugly rift between all of us that had never healed.
But for me, it had been the gift of my freedom, the beginning of my whole life and a family of my own. I’d cut ties with all of them… Jimmy, the Seevers, my own angry, resentful mother. I’d left with Mattie, a thousand dollars between us, a scholarship… and a full belly. We’d made it, with Donna’s help and support. And when I’d brought Violet into the world, tiny and a few weeks too early, it had all been worth it. We were just fine, no matter what challenges we’d faced. No matter what we still faced… Violet was my whole heart, and I would do anything, give anything, to make sure she had the special care she needed.
I ran my hands over my wet, swollen breasts, down between my legs. The man in the mask had been so much like my memories… so much like my Will. But he’d been even more heavily muscled, more intense, more… everything… And he’d come along right when my whole life was about to change again.
But a girl like me could live for years on memories like the ones I’d made tonight. Nobody knew that better than I did. And no matter what I might want, or my body might demand,
I figured I’d probably have to do just that.
9
Will
I’d stayed in the city overnight and taken the first ferry out in the morning. I kept a private boat on Bainbridge, and from there it was another half hour to Lumen Island. The inky waters of Puget Sound reflected the first light of morning and a scattering of clouds. I tied the boat at the dock and climbed into the truck I’d left there the day before. No need to search for keys, they dangled from the ignition. All the construction workers had finally gone.
The house was finished… structurally, at least. And I was alone. On my island. Over a thousand acres of privacy, yet within an hour or so of the city of Seattle. Ten years developing one of the finest financial groups in the state and learning how to make wealthy people even wealthier had finally earned me the one thing I had really wanted. It wasn’t the money, or the privilege, although I could hardly deny enjoying them both. I spent my days telling people what to do with their capital, and in return had become wealthy myself. But it had allowed me to purchase my privacy, a piece of the world that belonged only to me. And I’d built the house of my dreams, throwing my own back into service along with the other laborers. I’d strained and swore, sweating and suffering along with them… though none of it had been enough to make me forget about my angel. When she’d disappeared, I’d thought my whole life was over. But the work had been exhausting enough to make me collapse into bed every night, and sleep without dreaming. Even so, her face was always the last thing in my mind before I dropped off. And the first thing that brought me back to life upon waking. She was all I’d ever wanted. My almost brother’s almost wife…
I strode up the curving sweep of stairs that led to a solid wooden door, thickly studded with iron. Heavy as it was, it swung easily, silently on its hinges, and opened to the lofty height of the foyer. I’d used stone and glass, marble and iron. Together these elements of nature overcame their individual limitations and became art. My footsteps echoed in the empty rooms. The height of the ceilings and the sweep of the second story landings made the space feel enormous. It was ready… I was ready. My house would soon become the home I’d dreamed of… now that I’d found the woman of my dreams again.
I climbed the stairs and looked out the expansive walls of glass that separated me from the water and the ocean breeze. The view was incredible at night. The lights of the city spread out on the horizon as if the stars themselves were settling down for the night. I could see the caretaker’s cottage from where I stood. It was nearer the beach, and had been the only building already present on the island. I’d renovated it myself, careful to make it as light and as lovely as I could. I’d enlarged the living space enough to make room for the piano, a baby grand in a deep bay window so that the views extended in three directions. I closed my eyes and remembered the sound of her playing. My stepfather had allowed Angelina to play in our music room, back when she had started to date Jimmy.
Even the sweetest of memories can have a bitterness, I thought, letting my eyes find the soft, grey edge of the horizon. I’d always been too old for her. Ten years too late…
But I’d gone home to see her graduate from high school anyway, knowing I’d been tempting fate. Even at eighteen, she’d seemed so young… so fragile… hers had been a lifetime of domination by her mother…
And I’d seen her face when she’d found Jimmy… He had some little brunette bent over a sofa in the library. Angelina had watched long enough for the scene to register. And I’d watched her walk slowly down the long marble hall. She hadn’t cried out, hadn’t made a scene. She’d walked away calmly, with a strength and a poise that had broken my heart. It was her prom night, for God’s sake.
I hadn’t stepped in to take advantage, I’d only wanted to try to salvage the evening for her, to give her a sweeter memory of the night than Jimmy had. I’d followed her out to the dance floor and swept her into my arms with barely a word. We’d danced the rest of the evening, I’d never let her go. I’d learned her every movement, every curve in her body… I’d plotted my course in the sparkle of her eyes. And when I’d moved her into the shadows with me, I hadn’t known what would happen next. I’d only known I couldn’t live another moment without kissing her…
And I had… Every delicious inch of her until finally we had…
And it had taken the better part of the last six years to find her again. Tens of thousands of dollars… one private investigator after another… Until the day I first saw her, in a park with her daughter… I knew her the instant I’d laid eyes on her. Even pregnancy hadn’t changed her… except to make her riper and even more luscious…
She could pretend a while longer… I had all the time in the world. But she already knew me in her heart. And one day, she would trust me with hers. One day she’d be ready…
&nbs
p; I had all the time in the world.
10
Angelina
“So we’re all set,” Jane said cheerfully.
I adjusted the phone against my ear. “I’ve made all the arrangements for you,” she said. “Your new place is totally stocked and ready. Sheets, towels, cookware… you name it. It’s all there and ready for you to move right in. Just have whatever personal things you want to bring packed up and ready, Friday morning by eight. I’ve got three men lined up for the loading and unpacking. All you have to do is bring yourselves.”
I sighed, unable to believe for maybe the hundredth time, just how lucky we were. “You’re a miracle worker, Jane. I don’t know how you’ve been able to make something so complicated seem so damned easy.” Her only reply was a gentle laugh.
Jane and I had become friends over the last month. She was my new boss’s assistant, kind and trustworthy, and so far, the only actual link I had to the man himself. It had taken a lot of trust and a little sleuthing of my own to be willing to put myself and my daughter in a stranger’s hands, even one Jane spoke of so highly. One huge motivator was that he’d agreed to let me bring Mattie along with us. He would be paying her a salary as well, since she’d be playing full-time nanny to Violet while I was working. And it sounded like I would be working a lot. Five thousand square feet of virgin real estate. And this mogul had hired me, a baby designer, fresh out of school…
Jane and I took turns making notes and answering each other’s last minute questions about the move. Truth be told, she was a huge part of the reason I’d been brave enough to take this job, boss unseen. My college advisor knew her personally, and Jane had provided me with more than enough proof that he was on the level. He just likes his anonymity, she’d assured me. A man in his position, you know… And so we had four days left. And then we’d be living on an island for as long as it took to please my wealthy, demanding mogul of a boss.
We had a cottage of our own and my family would stay together. The salary he offered was enough to find the very best of schools for Violet… when the time was right. Everything seemed too good to be true… except that I couldn’t seem to forget my night at the club, and the man who’d almost made me forget about Will for the first time in half a decade. The masked man had replaced Will in my dreams at night. And the thought of leaving him behind and never seeing him again was…
Violet had started to play again… and haunting strains of a Rachmaninoff concerto filled our little apartment and the empty places in my heart. It was as if she knew it was a time for melancholy. For we were leaving our old world behind, and setting out to find a new one.
And it was time… and it was the right decision for us. I went in to watch my silent, precocious daughter express herself in her own lovely way. I stroked her hair and she leaned her head into my hand. Her baby fingers moved over the keys, her talent leaving me as breathless as it always had. I’d played for her, of course, even before she was born… Every morning and every night. But I didn’t have a fraction of her ability. I’d discovered that when she’d awakened me one morning with her music. She’d barely turned three and I’d only played the piece for her once. Her timing had been off… but only because her hands had been so little. But the music had been pure and true. Just as it was now. I listened, letting my heart swell inside my chest. The feeling was sweet and beautiful… so familiar…
And suddenly I knew that the man in his dark mask had told me the truth. I had to go back… just one more time. I couldn’t leave without seeing him again. Because as exciting as that night had been, as impulsive and consuming and decadent as it had been, there had been something else too.... Something in his eyes, in the way he had touched me… and spoken to me… that had made me feel the very same way I did in this moment, with Violet’s back curving warmly into my belly. I couldn’t give it a name… I didn’t even understand how it could be true…
But if there was a chance I could find him again, and have that feeling one last time,
I was going to take it.
11
Will
I’d shown up again at the Underground every night since the first one. Same jacket, same mask…
And every night I’d gone home, hard, heavy, and aching with frustration.
When I saw her walk in tonight, I was beyond ready. And a powerful wave of pleasure ran through me, thick and sweet. I knew she’d come back. I’d been right all along…
“Angel.” In three strides, I was at her side. She’d only just made it beyond the door. I took off my jacket and draped it around her shoulders, covering the same sheer dress she’d worn the last time. Only tonight, her nipples were unbound and clearly visible. She’d tied the pink satin ribbon around her waist this time. The bow was soft in the back and the ends trailed down…
I was hard even before I scooped her into my arms. “You came for me….” It came out a statement, not a question. I was already halfway up the stairs and had no intention of stopping. The only privacy waited up there…
“Of course,” she answered, wrapping her arms around my neck, tangling her fingers in my hair. Her silver mask glittered around her eyes. “You knew it before I did…”
I exhaled heavily into her neck and breathed in the sweet, fresh scent of her skin. “I hoped… I imagined… I dared to dream…,” I answered, closing the heavy door behind us. “I only told myself I knew.”
“I’m leaving tomorrow,” she said, as I put her down and stripped my jacket off her. She shuddered, making her round, perfect breasts sway… and her nipples grow even stiffer. “But you were right… I had to see you again… once more.”
“Once isn’t enough,” I growled, kneeling in front of her so I could kiss the cleft between her breasts. “It could never be enough for us…”
“It’s all I have,” she answered. “It’s all I’ve got to offer.”
I kissed and licked, biting and teasing. I worked my way from the hard pink tip of each breast down the curve of her belly and buried my face in her sweet depths. She collapsed over my back and in minutes was crying out with release. Her pussy clenched, washing me with sweet, slippery wetness. “It isn’t all,” I argued, letting my hands roam her body. “I came inside you. I made you my own. You might have denied it was happening at the time, but you knew. You let me take you, and you’re here again for me now. You trust me more than you realize, Angel. Or you never would have come back tonight.” I picked her up and walked past the binding table and the instruments, the framed images of graphic sex on the walls…
I had only one need. And it started and ended with her. I carried her to the bed and put her down. Just the sight of her mouth, only inches from the head of my raging erection had me painfully close to the edge. I stood, displaying like an animal. I was huge and dripping. I ran my hand over my darkened head and moved the slick liquid down my shaft until the entire length glistened. I spread my legs and let her see the effect she had. I was rampant and pulsing hard…
But I never anticipated what happened next. She reached behind her back and untied the ribbon with a swift, smooth movement. Then she had my balls in her hands and was pulling me in. I felt slick, cool satin against my raging heat… she slipped the thin strip of satin around my balls… and the base of my cock… “Sweet, fucking Angel…,” I managed to gasp…
The next thing I knew, she’d drawn it tight, using it like a leash… and I was inside her mouth. Eleven long inches of thick, veined cock, and she was swallowing me like I belonged to her. I rocked on my feet, gripping with my toes, and gave myself over to the sensation. Warm… wet… muscles working me like rolling waves…
If I hadn’t known better, I’d have thought she’d been practicing. But I knew full well what drove her. It was the same pure need we’d ignited in each other on prom night. That inescapable bond between us. Pink satin ties and sweet, sweet promise… She licked with her tongue, working my length, and I nearly collapsed at her feet.
“Christ, Angel…” I drew out in spite of her p
rotests. She gripped my ass in her hands and licked her lips. She tightened the satin… and my cock bobbed heavily with every beat of my heart. “You like to play, baby…,” I whispered, sinfully, “but not fair…”
I captured her wrists in one of my hands and pulled her to her feet. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out a longer, wider piece of satin. For a fast moment, I wondered if she’d remember… that I’d tucked the sash from her prom gown into my pocket so many years ago. The delicacy, the texture had always reminded me of that night… of her skin… It was the only thing I’d had left of her… A second later, and I’d bound her wrists up tight, her hands in front of her sweet pussy… her upper arms pushing her breasts together in the way that we both loved…
I could see the excitement behind her mask, feel the heat of our chemistry beneath her skin. “No, Angel,” I said darkly, as she began to resist. “This is what you want… what we both want. And I’m the only man who will give you everything you need. I knew it the first time I laid eyes on you.” I slipped my fingers under the edge of her mask. “And you knew it, too.
This is what we were meant for…”
But she whipped her face to the side, trying to escape the truth. I gripped her delicate jaw and felt the tiny muscles working. “Look at me,” I demanded. I butted my cock between her legs and felt how wet she was. I turned her, forcing her to look in my eyes. “You’ve already trusted me with your body, sweetheart,” I reminded her,
The Baby Pact Page 4
