Summer Fire
Page 99
How long had she been running from the hell that must have been her childhood?
*
Silhouetted against the night sky and sitting on the stone wall, she’d been easy to see. An easy target to pick off with a rifle and a scope. Cutting a hole in the fence and hiking through the woods had been worth it. But a gunshot would be messy. The lake might be a better idea. Finish her off in the water the way she was supposed to have died in the first “accident.”
But first, the husband had to be taken care of.
The watcher stayed long after the house went dark, perfecting the plan to take care of her.
Permanently this time.
Chapter Seven
Consciousness came slowly to Tessa the next morning. She turned onto her side and winced. She felt as if she’d run a triathlon during the night. She ached everywhere. She stretched and her hands brushed against warm skin. That brought her awake immediately.
She brushed David’s dark hair from his forehead. “What are you doing here?”
He opened his eyes, yawned, stretched, then pulled her closer. “I was sleeping until you woke me.”
“But.” She shook her head, bewildered. “I’m pretty sure I went to bed alone last night.”
“You were having a nightmare. I came in to wake you. It was pretty intense.”
“Oh. Sorry about that.” She gave a bitter laugh. “I keep hoping they’ll fade away. Maybe if I could remember they would.”
Tessa pulled away and rose. “I need to go to the bathroom. Sorry about disturbing you. You can go back to your own bed now.” She glanced one last time at him then went to take care of her needs. When she returned he still lay stretched out on the bed. She smiled uncertainly at him, not sure what to say after the revelations of last night.
David sighed and rose. “I’ll go turn the coffeemaker on. I think we both need some.”
After he’d gone, she collapsed weakly onto the bed. She’d like to stay there all day with the covers pulled over her head. She’d almost dozed off when David came walking in, carrying two cups of coffee.
“What?” Tessa could only frown. “David, what are you doing?”
“I brought coffee. I think we need to talk. To clear the air.”
“I believe we did that last night.” Tessa turned on her side and closed her eyes. Maybe he’d just go away. She smelled coffee and felt heat close to her face. She opened her eyes to see David holding the cup inches from her.
“Come on. You know you want your morning cup. I added the milk and sugar.”
Tessa sighed heavily, sat up, and took the cup from him. She thought he was going to sit at the foot of the bed, but he climbed back into bed next to her. Just being close to him, knowing what he thought about her, made her heart ache. “Look. I got the message. You don’t trust me. You don’t even like me.”
David took a sip of his coffee. “Just drink your coffee.”
She flashed an angry look at him, took a gulp of her coffee then set it on the nightstand.
Now that the matter was at hand, he didn’t know how to begin. He wasn’t going to tell her what she’d said during the nightmare. A part of him hoped she never recalled those memories, but he suspected her nightmares were her brain’s way of forcing memory on her.
“I think you should leave,” Tessa said.
David set his coffee aside and pulled her into his arms.
She was stiff. “I don’t want this.”
But he saw the pulse flutter in her throat. “Liar. I know your body too well. I know if I slip my fingers inside you right now, you’ll be wet for me. I know if I slip tongue into your mouth, you’ll moan and sigh, not say ridiculous things.”
“Why would you want me? You hate me,” she cried.
“Even if that were true, and it’s not, I’d still want you.” His lips met hers, and his kiss was tender. His lips coaxed her to respond rather than ruthlessly demand her surrender.
Tessa wanted to defy him, but it felt so right to be in his arms. Why refuse what she wanted. Her hands reached for the hem of her shirt and tugged. He broke the kiss and helped her remove her shirt, then the boxers. He shucked his own clothes. “You get to be on top,” he said, his voice husky with need.
He watched her face as he toyed with her nipples. He loved the way her eyes slid closed when he captured the tight bud in his mouth. When she took him inside her, it was the best feeling in the world.
He let her set the pace, and he watched, noticing what made her pleasure escalate. Watching how it pushed her over the edge when he was all the way inside her and touched her clit. He gritted his teeth when she convulsed around him, crying out, her muscles tightening until he didn’t think he could stand it.
In minutes, he had her climbing that peak again. This time, he took control, thrusting up inside her, lifting her to have her slide down. Over and over he did it until they were both shaking.
Her crystalline blue eyes were wet with tears as she raised up then sank down. She leaned over to kiss him. In a harsh whisper, she said, “Come with me, David. Come with me now.”
He couldn’t have stopped his orgasm if his life had depended on it. He didn’t just come. He erupted as she climaxed. It went on and on until she slumped over him. David held her close. If he told her he loved her, after all he’d said, would she believe him?
Later, she rolled off him and lay curled next to him, he hand on his chest. He kissed the thin scar on her forehead. “When we met, it was like insanity. It was as if I’d known you in some past life. I couldn’t think of anything but you. Every kiss was like the best kiss I’d ever had. Every touch inflamed my senses. We couldn’t get enough of each other. I proposed, but you turned me down. You wouldn’t tell me why. I thought I was losing you. I proposed again. I romanced you in and out of bed. I wore you down.”
“I can’t believe I could have resisted you,” Tessa whispered. “All I have to do is look at you, and I burn for you. One touch and I want you inside me.”
We flew to Vegas immediately. I was afraid if I couldn’t get my ring on your finger asap, that I’d lose you. Everyone told me I was crazy. We spent three days in a hotel room there then came home. The next day I went to work. You had arranged for vacation time. That night when I got home, it was as if you’d had a personality transplant. You wouldn’t look at me or talk to me. That night, in bed, you froze when I touched you. You said you had a headache. After two weeks of excuses and so-called headaches, we finally made love gain. It was … awful.”
“Awful?” Tessa frowned. “You mean it wasn’t like dynamite exploding?”
“It was worse than you could imagine. You had several drinks, but I didn’t know that. When we got in bed, you lay there with your arms at your sides and your eyes screwed shut like some kind of virgin sacrifice. You shook like a leaf in a whirlwind.”
“I don’t know what was wrong. I tried to talk to you. You said in this dead voice to just do it and get it over with.”
Tessa closed her eyes, mortified. “Am I bipolar or something?”
“No. I tried my best to arouse you. If I hadn’t been so confused and horny, angry too,” he admitted, “I wouldn’t even have tried. You were tight and so dry that I knew it had to be hurting. Later, when I got up and went to the bathroom, you vomited on the bed.”
“Oh, dear Lord.” She shuddered. “So what happened after that?”
David sighed. “After that, it was like watching our love implode. About once a month, you tried to do what they used to call your wifely duty, I suppose. I’d come home and see the vodka bottle out and know what was to come.” He shook his head. “I tried to get you to tell me what was wrong. I tried to get you to see the doctor, go for counseling, but everything I suggested was met with cold refusal. It just got worse every day. I couldn’t blast you out of the house. It was like you were hiding. Then one day I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to do something about it. We had a big fight, and I left on a business trip. When I got home, you were gone.”
“No wonder you hate me.”
His index finger pressed against her lips. “I think we just settled it right here in this bed that I don’t hate you.”
Maybe not, she thought, but he didn’t love her either. How could a normal man love someone so screwed up? “I guess you really didn’t know what to think of me after your private investigator’s report. Going from hot bride to frigid psycho overnight and now to full-blown slut where you’re concerned?” She knew she sounded as bitter as she felt.
He grinned. “Sweetheart, if what we just did means you’re a slut, then I’m a slut too. Just crook your little finger at me, and I’ll drop my pants anywhere, anytime.”
When a smile flickered across her face, he grinned. “I think you’re going to have to help me up. I may need your assistance in walking to the shower after you’ve had your wicked way with me.”
Tessa let the laughter inside her win and stood then gave him her hand, as if she could pull him up. He gave a mock groan and grabbed his cell phone off the nightstand.
In the bathroom, she turned on the water while he glanced at the cell phone. “Sorry, I need to do a quick email check.” To his surprise, there weren’t any so he joined her in the shower. He soaped her, paying particular attention to the parts of her body he loved the best. She rewarded him by soaping up the part of his body that fascinated her. He was hard and growing harder as she slid both of her soapy hands over his shaft. “How do you do that?” she marveled.
“Me? I don’t do anything. It’s all you, babe.”
Tessa giggled. “Then how do I do that with my penis?”
“I guess we’ll just have to conduct experiments to find out.” His fingers slipped between her legs.
The sound of his cell phone ringing startled her. “Just ignore it,” he said, positioning her under the shower spray and rinsing away the water.
The phone rang again as he leaned down to take a nipple in his mouth. She sighed her pleasure. The phone silenced. Then as his fingertips started teasing her clit, the phone rang again. He ignored it, but Tessa’s eyes opened. “Damn phone,” she muttered. “Don’t bring it onto the playground again.”
“Agreed,” David said just as the phone fell silent and almost immediately rang again. “Maybe it’s possessed,” she said.
Grumbling, David stepped out of the shower. “Give me a second while I throw it out the window.”
Tessa laughed and watched him swipe the cell phone screen to answer the call.
He was on the phone only a minute before he punched the end call button then turned the ringer off. In the next moment, he was back with her, caressing her wet breasts and torturing he nipples with his mouth while he did amazing things between her legs. She clung to him as he caught her cries in his mouth when she climaxed.
“Umm. That was wonderful,” she murmured. “I’m so tired now.”
He kissed her softly. “Poor baby.”
“But not too tired,” she said, kissing her way down his chest and stomach to generously return the pleasure to him.”
Later, her legs were trembling. This time from exhaustion rather than sexual need. “I think I need a nap before I experiment any further,” Tessa said, leaning against David while he toweled her dry.
Shadows under her eyes told of her sleepless night. “Do you have those dreams every night?” David asked.
She shrugged. “Not every night. The first night we slept together here I didn’t.”
“That settles it. We sleep together from now on. You take a nap in my bed while I’m gone.”
“Gone where?”
“To see a friend at a nearby ranch. It’s only an hour’s drive. The office is going nuts because I haven’t answered some critical emails. Last night when I was working on the laptop, the internet suddenly went off. That’s what all the calls from the office were about. I’ll call the satellite company that provides the WiFi, but I doubt they can come out today. So I called my friend. He’s got a mobile hot spot device he’ll loan me until the WiFi gets fixed.”
“Okay. That’s fine,” she said, yawning. “Maybe I’ll be awake when you return.”
“When you wake up later, we can go to Abilene if you want. Get you some shoes and clothes. We can have dinner at this Mexican restaurant I know that makes tamales and chile gravy that will make you cry with pleasure.”
“I’d rather cry with pleasure in your arms.”
His gaze heated. “Definitely get a nap. I have plans for you tonight.”
“Promise?”
“You bet your sweet, shapely behind.” He slapped her lightly on the rear. Tessa laughed and scampered to her room where she slipped on the sleep tee and boxers. She really needed some more clothes.
David caressed her through the soft cotton of the tee shirt as he kissed her goodbye. “I don’t really want to go,” he said, watching her nipples pucker beneath the fabric.
“Sooner you’re gone; the sooner you’ll return,” she said kissing him lightly on the lips.
“I’ll set the security alarm since you’ll be here by yourself.” He told her the code to disarm it as well as the password in case she set it off accidentally.
Tessa gave him a sunny smile and waved from his bedroom window. Then she did exactly what she’d said she would do. She went straight to bed. After all, she needed her rest. Tonight promised to be memorable.
*
From the shade of dense cedars on the hillside, sunlight glinted off binocular lenses. That plan had worked unbelievably easy. People were so wired in they couldn’t live without their internet. Breaking the wires attached to the terminal at the satellite dish on the hill had been easy and reliable.
Galloway closed the security gate in the deer fence and sped away. Perfect. She’d be alone in the house while her husband drove to town and back. That meant almost three hours to get rid of her.
Permanently this time.
Chapter Eight
Despite being tired, Tessa couldn’t fall asleep. Her brain felt too full of thoughts, trying to figure out the future when she didn’t remember the past. At least the present was coming together. No pun intended, she thought, smiling.
Your mind is spinning like a hamster on a wheel.
Tessa sat straight up in bed. The words hung in the air as if she’d heard a man speak in the room. She could picture him. Khaki pants and a flannel shirt. A crumpled straw western hat and muddied boots. A cigarette pack in his shirt pocket. His face was as grizzled as his voice. The southern drawl as familiar to her as the sound of her own voice. Her heart pounded, waiting for the name to pop into her mind. But it didn’t.
That did it for sleep. She went to get dressed. She had a pair of jean shorts, but she didn’t have any more clean shirts. She slipped on her canvas shoes and went back to David’s bedroom. He wouldn’t care if she borrowed one of his tee shirts.
David’s room was above the porch. The windows looked out on the lake, giving a breathtaking view of the water and the ridge on the left. She’d ask him tomorrow if they could go see the caves on Outlaw Ridge. She opened dresser drawers until she found a stack of tee shirts. Since she wasn’t wearing a bra, she chose a gray tee, with a Houston Texans logo. Beneath the stack, she saw the edge of a blue-backed document.
David had been reading that on the plane. Curious, she pulled it out and lifted the cover sheet. Pain roared through her. Her legs wouldn’t support her. She sank to the floor. Her hands shook as she spread the two documents on the floor in front of her.
In the Matter of the Marriage of Tessa Galloway and David Galloway.
Agreement Incident to Divorce.
Everything went black. Pain cut through her. She gripped her head. Just as quickly as it had come, it faded.
Tessa remembered. Everything. The heartbreak when David had presented her with these documents that August morning. The call to Nate who told her the file was safe. Nate of the gravelly voice. Her father’s Vietnam buddy who had stolen her medical file. He’d made her disappearance
after college possible. He’d taught her to shoot. He’d helped her fake her death and her new identity. Helped her start a new life far from Arkansas. It just hadn’t been far enough. Xavier Kyle, her stepfather, had found her. She’d made the mistake of falling in love with and marrying a high-profile man. After their marriage, their picture had been published in the Houston newspaper and in other newspapers where David’s family was known. Kyle had seen it somewhere.
She didn’t have to worry about him raping her again. He only got off on little girls. Even the pain he liked to inflict didn’t concern her. It was the other things he could do that would destroy her. Like tell David how damaged she was. She never wanted David to know what had happened. It was just too awful. He’d demanded the blackmail file she’d used to make her mother agree to let her live on campus. She’d got her education, all the time planning and preparing to disappear.
Kyle showed up the day after they were home from Vegas. He threatened to tell David how she had seduced him. How she’d gotten pregnant with his child. Revulsion filled her. She’d been too scared, too insecure, afraid David would believe the lies. All the old ugliness rushed into her head, negating the therapy and counseling she’d had. She’d shut down emotionally, unable to be touched without thinking of her past. She’d destroyed their marriage, and in the end, that had destroyed her.
The divorce papers had sealed her doom. She wasn’t going to fight it. David deserved someone … normal. Someone not damaged. She’d retrieved her handgun from the safety deposit box and set out for Arkansas, prepared to confront Kyle and her mother who had pimped her out in exchange for the mansion in town and the money in the bank accounts.