by Layle Black
Remy watched Jac pull Selene from the room and the urge to follow them had been almost irresistible but he forced himself to wait. He could feel eyes on him and the good folk of Sparks were no doubt the same malicious gossips they’d always been. Rumors were rife about Clay and its denizens. Seeing the prodigal daughter disappear out the door with two boys from the infamous town would set cutting tongues to wagging.
Normally he wouldn’t have given a fuck but for Selene’s sake he was willing to attempt to curtail the urge. She probably didn’t want to see him anyway. He’d just come off like a complete asshole and he had little excuse to why. The shock of seeing her again had thrown him more than he could have imagined. The feelings of anger and despair he’d felt when she’d left for college resurged with a ferocity that nearly took his breath away. He’d taken it out on her and he shouldn’t have.
Remy took one more lackluster pass at the refreshment table and slid unobtrusively toward the door because he just couldn’t damn well help himself. Stepping out into the semi darkness he didn’t know what he expected to see. The two of them in a steamy sexual clinch would have been ridiculous but seeing them standing so close together seemed somehow more intimate…exclusive. The sharp edge of jealousy pricked him but he shook off the feeling. He and Jac had shared lovers many times over the years and jealousy had never played a part in their relationship but somehow seeing him so close to the object of many of Remy’s sleepless nights gave him pause.
“Am I interrupting?” Jac and Selene turned to face him at the same time. They both seemed a little dazed as if coming out of trance. Yep…totally interrupted. Remy approached them, forcing his body to relax but that was the last thing he was feeling. Tension rode him with every step he took and he knew his limp would be pronounced. He silently cursed his obvious infirmity but did what he did best…pretend it just wasn’t there. All three of them in the same place was incendiary, as hot as that first time at the lake so many years ago. Hotter even.
“Hello, Remy.” Selene’s voice was a sensual mixture of softness and sex that slid over him like silk wrapped around his cock. He imagined what that voice would sound like speaking erotic words in the midst of an incredible love making session. Demanding, pleading and finally begging before she exploded in his mouth. His gaze traveled over the delightfully full feminine curves of her body. He had nothing against thin women but something about a full figure made him want to sit up and howl at the moon with his libido standing to full attention. She ran right along his and Jac’s taste in women to perfection. All soft rounded femininity complete with a sensual voluptuousness that made his knees weak with lust and his cock hard as granite.
“How have you been…?” Remy wanted to laugh at the banality of her question. How had he been? To hell and back. He sure as shit had the scars to prove it. Jac shifted where his stood, his gaze shooting one of those warning “don’t be an asshole” looks his way. Remy shot back a smirk. He was a long way from the wreck he’d been four years ago but that didn’t seem to make much difference to Jac. The man could be a real fucking nursemaid.
“I am doing well, petite oiseau.” Remy felt a warm buzz of pleasure when he said the pet name he’d dubbed her with so many years ago. He’d initially given her the name when she was a young girl because she’d been quiet and in the need of protecting. When she got older all he’d wanted to do was be the one to protect, keep her close and safe forever.
Selene used to bristle up at the nickname when she was a girl but now the deep intonation of the endearment sent a shiver up her spine. Just that quickly desire edged back into her mind, if only to briefly to push aside the grief and guilt that still weighed on her.
“Jac tells me you two have been looking in on my aunt all this time. Thank you for doing that. I was…I was…just not here.” Her words sounded as inadequate as she felt but she needed to say something…anything.
Remy shrugged his broad shoulders in a nonchalant way. Looking for the entire world that such an important thing was just as ordinary as checking the mail.
“Really…thank you both for doing that. It was more than I ever did and …I…” Words stuck in her throat, making her want to choke as tears filled her eyes. Suddenly she was pulled into a strong warm embrace. This time the subtle scent of woodsy cologne and Remy’s distinct scent enveloped her. She felt another pair of hands rubbing comfortingly along her back in such a gentle way it made her cry all the harder.
“It’s all right, baby girl. We’ve got you.” Jac’s voice was added balm to the warmth of Remy’s embrace. Remy’s powerful frame dwarfed her own and made her feel delicate and cared for. It had been so long since she’d ever felt so safe. With a stunning thought she realized the last time she’d felt so protected had been one summer day next to a lake and with the very same men. So there they stood together, silent and swaying slightly in the semi darkness. For a moment Selene let her eyes close and let her senses take over. The humidity of the day had eased to a comfortable cool that rode the night air.
“I knew it! A whore just like your mother!” A harsh and slurred voice thick with spite spat out from the darkness.
Selene jerked away from Remy’s embrace, her head turning to search where the disturbingly familiar voice came from. Shuffling steps heralded a swaying figure moving out of the darkness toward them. Remy and Jac immediately closed ranks around her, prepared to take on any threat to protect her.
“Your mother was a real piece of work and you turned out just like her. I told her you would turn out no better.”
Finally the owner of that voice stepped fully into the light and Selene felt her stomach clench. Denny! His tall gaunt frame was clothed in an ill-fitting black suit that hadn’t seen a dry cleaner in years. The past ten years had not been kind to him and Selene actually felt an ounce of pity for the man until he opened his mouth again.
“I figured you come back here to get what you could get from that old bitch Felicity.” A drunken sneer marred his mouth in a cruel rictus. He stumbled with every shuffle of his feet the closer he came to the steps of the building. Remy positioned himself to move further in front of Selene, his body tensing and preparing for action. His words were softly spoken but even Selene got chills from the menace the lay beneath them.
“Denny, why don’t you take yourself back home before you get yourself in trouble you can’t handle. You know as well as I do that you have no business here. Felicity had no great love for you and it’s a known fact you cursed her every chance you got.” Remy spoke casually but the intent in his voice was no nonsense and direct as a knife’s edge. For a moment true fear shown in Denny’s bloodshot eyes at the threat. He seemed to wither where he stood, his liquid enhanced bravado visibly losing some of its edge. In that moment he appeared to Selene like he truly was, a drunken lonely old man. All pity dissolved when stupidity filled the gap that his buzz had vacated.
“To hell with you, Remy St Clair! You think I am stupid? You and your friend there have been sniffing around her tail since she was old enough to bleed. You think that I don’t know what you got going on over in Clay? Fuck you both!” The rest of his words were lost in a slurred ramble as he stumbled closer, his hands raised threateningly.
Remy growled low in his chest, already moving forward to meet Denny at the steps. Selene gasped denial aloud as she reached out but Jac was already ahead of her. He grabbed Remy’s arm tightly and barred him from moving closer while addressing Denny in a cool tone that brooked no argument.
“Denny, you get the hell out of here or I’ll be forced to put you under arrest. This may not be my jurisdiction but the Sparks Parish sheriff and I have an understanding. Now take your ass somewhere and cool off.” Two things struck Selene at once. The first was the authoritative tone of Jac’s voice. He had always seemed the easy going one, always full of jokes but now that person disappeared and a completely different man stood in his place. Secondly Jac was a cop and he seemed to have forgotten to mention that. First she finds out Remy had been in t
he Marine Corp and now Jac is a cop? Just one more shock, she thought in surprise, her eyes traveling over Jac. Her gaze took in his broad shouldered bearing, the squared perfection of his jaw and the authoritative tone of his voice. Another thing that I have missed, she thought somberly.
Selene turn her gaze from Jac to watch warily as Denny came to a weaving stop right where he was, his eyes squinting as if sizing up Jac. He turned his bloodshot gaze in her direction, a serpentine smile on his face.
“I ain’t done with you, girl.” He spit on the ground as if in disgust as he staggered away, swallowed back up from the darkness he’d appeared from. A quick shuffle of feet and whispers drew Selene’s attention to the entrance of the reception hall where people had come out to bottle neck at the door. No doubt Denny’s loud voice had carried and drew them out to watch the latest calamity unfold.
“Shit! That’s just great. First few days back in town and I am already Sparks’ front page news.” Selene said softy aloud. She was more disturbed by seeing Denny again than what the good people of Sparks thought of her but she didn’t need this right now.
“Fuck them, Selene. It’s not like they don’t know Denny crawled from under a rock somewhere.” Remy seemed to shrug off the near violent altercation as if it didn’t happen. Selene knew he was right but having others front and center to witness Denny’s onslaught brought back feelings of inadequacy that had plagued her as a girl. She had been poor as a church mouse and had survived on second hand clothes and charity. The whole town knew that her mother was married to the town drunk but not one of them had interceded save her aunt . Even after her mother died she’d been left in Denny’s custody and again…they did nothing.
Selene stepped away from Remy and Jac, suddenly needing space desperately.
“I need to go back inside and get this over with,” she whispered, her voice carried no further than the men standing next to her. Jac took a step closer to her, a look of concern on his handsome face.
“Why don’t you let us hang around and give you a ride to where you’re staying? Denny didn’t seem like he was going to let this go. Looks like he’s still as mean as a snake and wearing his issues like a bad coat.” Selene shook her head, knowing Denny well enough to know he did as much damage as he was going to do tonight. He was the definition of a bully, running for cover at the first sign of meeting his match.
“I am sure I’ll be fine. Thank you for…everything.” She turned and walked back to the main doors, feeling the weight of both men’s stares following her the whole way. Refusing to turn around she just kept walking. Taking a deep breath, she forged her way through the crowd, pasting a fake smile back on her lips the entire time. Luckily none of the curious onlookers questioned her about what happened outside but she sensed that was what on everyone’s minds. Even as she continued listening to strangers express platitudes and ask questions she had no interest in answering, Denny’s threatening words echoed through her mind. She felt the shadow of foreboding hang over her like a shroud and she shivered.
* * * *
Jac and Remy spoke little as they followed Selene’s car back to her hotel. Their eyes scanned the street to make sure Denny had not decided to follow her and finish what he started earlier that evening at the reception hall.
“Is there anything you can do, Jac?” Remy was all for taking Denny out to the woodshed for what he said to Selene but he knew Jac’s dedication to the law wouldn’t allow that.
“Unfortunately until he does something overtly dangerous the authorities can’t take him into custody.” Remy hated when Jac spoke in cop.
“You heard the man as well as I did, Jac. If you think he’s not going to make an ass of himself you’re dead wrong. The man is a parasite and a bully. He always has been.” Remy shifted in his seat, anger still coursing through him. He’d wanted to pound Denny in the ground for calling Selene those names. He gave a fuck about what was said about him but Selene was another story all together.
Suddenly Jac laughed, casting Remy a knowing glance.
“For a man who was not terribly thrilled about seeing Selene again in the first place you seem pretty protective.” Remy refused to look back at Jac but a wry smile curved his lips. Jac was right, of course. Remy had not been thrilled at the thought of seeing Selene again but not because the desire wasn’t there. Selene had been the star of many a feverish lonely night with only his hands to give him any relief. Seeing her left an effect on him that still had him a little shell shocked. When he’s been in rehab for his leg the memories of the feisty girl he’d known by that lake had given him a purpose, a reason. He remembered the late night hours when he lay in the darkness of his hospital room surrounded by fear and pain, her face became a shining beacon in his clouded mind. Remy had gone to such a depth of despair, even now he shuddered to think where such a black abyss could have taken him. At time like that all he’d had to do was close his eyes and there she would be , his feisty little bird. His beautiful shield that muffled the sounds of war that played in his mind like a death knell. Yeah, he thought, he gave a fuck what people said about him.
“It’s not about being glad to see her, Jac, but you know as well do that it won’t take much for either of us to try and get her into bed. Is she ready for that? Hell…are we ready for that?” Jac sighed, all humor forgotten. He knew Remy was right but the attraction to Selene was absolute. The what if’s of their relationship had plagued Jac for years. At times he would see the happy relationships in Clay and wonder, even hope for something like that for himself.
“All right, Remy, we’ll just drive home and never see her again. She’ll finish her business and leave.” For a moment silence reigned in the car until both men voiced what they both thought simultaneously.
“Not a chance.”
Chapter 7
Selene completed taping one of the many boxes that filled her Aunt Felicity’s living room. She’d been separating and packing all of her things for the last four days and she was completely exhausted. She knew she was supposed to be preparing a great deal of it for a donation to the local Sparks charity but she found much of it she just couldn’t bear to let go of. Every item she touched brought back some poignant memory of happier times of her childhood. More than once she’d found herself breaking down in tears of grief.
With a sigh Selene stood and headed toward the kitchen for yet another cup of coffee. She was glad she had made the decision to check out of her hotel and move in temporarily into her aunt’s house. She’s been expecting cobwebs and furniture covered in dusty white sheets but surprisingly everything was in perfect order. The rooms even smelled of furniture polish and fresh air instead of the musty scent of being closed up and abandoned. It was as if her aunt had only stepped out for a moment and was due back any moment. Finding the house in such great condition was more of a comfort than Selene could have imagined.
Standing in the kitchen she took small sips of the aromatic chicory blend coffee thinking of the strange meeting with her aunt’s lawyer. According to him everything in the house now belonged to her. To her complete shock Selene discovered her aunt had squirreled away quite a bit of money. More than enough to pay off the facility she’d stayed at before she died as well as all the funeral expenses, leaving Selene the house, land and quite a bit of cash. . When Selene and the lawyer were close to concluding their meeting he slid a small metal box across his desk toward her.
“Your aunt was explicit that you were to receive this box upon her passing and it was only to be opened by you.” Nonplussed, she’d taken the box, her curiosity almost getting the best of her right there in the office. Walking from the lawyer’s office Selene had been so wrapped up in the mystery of what was in the box that she didn’t see the tall figure standing right in front of her. Before she knew it she walked right into him and dropped the box with a resounding clang that echoed in the quiet peacefulness of the hallway. Immediately she began to apologize as she leaned down to pick up the box but the man already picked it up for her.
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“I hope I didn’t give you a fright, young lady.” The deep voice with a heavy dose of southern charm was all solicitude. Selene looked up into a pair of dark moss green eyes and an open friendly ruddy face. Her first instinct was to smile in return because he just seemed that friendly but something stopped her. There was something so familiar about him but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. It was on the tip of her tongue to inquire but he simply handed her back the box and nodded a farewell before turning and continuing down the hall. Where had she seen the man before? It seemed he would be impossible to miss. He stood well over six feet and had the body of a wrestler. Shaking her head she turned to go her own way, already brushing the encounter aside.
Once back at her aunt’s house she’d sat for the longest time just looking at the nondescript metal box. Finally she flipped the lock and opened the lid to reveal stacks of letters. All of them had various post marks and were written long before Selene was born. Some letters were adorned with flowery script that denoted an unmistakable feminine hand and others were written in bolder strokes that must have been male. She’d picked up the very first one and began to read.
My Dearest Emory,
How can I bear this time away from you for much longer? At night I long to feel your touch. What your lips do to me! Each day grows longer and each night a torture that leaves me longing and empty. Come home to me soon.
Your devoted Mignon.
Mignon! Her mother Mignon? The letter dropped from her hand and she sat back in the chair in complete awe. They were letters written by her mother. To her father? Selene’s heart skipped a beat with excitement. Her father whom she’d longed to know but had been such a mystery. Now she knew his name was Emory. She repeated the name in her mind, familiarizing herself with it.
