WindSwept Narrows: #17 Pepper Ambrose

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “Want to see the perspective changes?” He almost laughed aloud when her eyes lit up and she shuffled the chair closer, head bent and peering down onto the screen as he called up the artist’s rendition of the change and growth.

  Pepper held her palm beneath her mouth as she continued to nibble on the calamari, nodding and listening to him explain and point. She lifted the palm computer from his hand and faced the window full on, standing up and glancing from the screen to the reality as it was now.

  Chase could see people staring at her, wondering. Like her travels through the resort, she wasn’t aware of anything but him and the designs. She sat down long enough for their meal to be placed before them, her questions continuing as they ate.

  He quietly looked at the screen when she asked her questions, taking out his notepad and making notes of some comments and suggestions. Something in her eyes caught aesthetic and practical needs that neither he nor his team gave a thought to.

  It also occurred to him that she was especially expressive with each additional sip of the wine. He barely missed the palm that waved out when she was explaining her opinion of the importance of employees having decent places to live without spending their lives away from their families.

  “I agree,” Chase said, relaxing and leaning back, letting the waiter clear the table. He wasn’t sure where the last hour went. His head shook slightly when she excused herself. Even without the ear pods, her body seemed to dance when she moved. He held the wine goblet in one hand, his gaze on the thousands of lights filling the bay below. “Pepper…do you want any dessert?”

  “No, thank you,” she smiled brightly at the waiter. “The dinner was amazing, thank you very much.”

  “Our pleasure, ma’am,” the waiter took the check and promised to return for Chase’s signature.

  “You can’t see the stars from in here…” She leaned next to the window, hands up and cupped to try and block out the light. She sunk into her chair with a contented sigh.

  “How about a long ride around the point before I take you home?” He asked as they walked from the restaurant, his palm possessively on her waist.

  “Can we open the roof?” She asked, sounding hopeful and smiling at his laugh. “You don’t laugh enough, Chase. Sometimes you smile, but it doesn’t make it to your eyes,” she spun around, wobbling slightly and smiling at the couple she missed in some quick steps, her head tilted back to stare into the sky.

  Chase moved quickly, catching her around the middle and stabilizing her, trying to remember how many glasses of wine she’d drank. Next time he’d keep a better eye on that, although she didn’t seem to be impaired. He caught her against him, their faces inches apart as the limo pulled into the lot.

  Without much thought, his mouth was down on hers, tasting, caressing and losing himself for a brief few seconds in the full softness. He raised his head to find her peering wide eyed at him, that same puzzled expression on her face that he’d seen there several times before.

  Pepper slid into the car, staying leaned against the corner and watching him enter from the other side. She curled her knees on the seat and laid her head on the back.

  “Did you ever make wishes on stars?” She asked after a shuddering deep breath, her gaze strong and level.

  Chapter Four

  Chase pulled his tie free, his fingers working the top two buttons open. He laughed lightly. “I suppose…when I was a kid…”

  “Birthday candles…stars…clovers…I used to climb around in fields all the time looking for clovers,” she said softly.

  “What was your wish, Pepper?” Something in her was wistful, dreamy. Forlorn was the word that struck hardest.

  “I suppose since it was so very long ago, it’s okay to share that information. Otherwise, if it’s…a now wish…you really shouldn’t tell,” she told him solemnly. “I think I was five…laying outside on a hill and wishing…only it’s like praying. There’s not really anyone out there to listen…no one hears you…no one gives you help or answers. But you still make wishes…you still pray…and you still look at the stars. Just in case…” She went up on her knees and opened the panel on the roof, barely aware of the firm hands that were up and holding her in place. She stabbed at the button and watched the thick tinted glass roll back. Pepper inhaled a long, long breath of the fresh night air. “Do you think we’ll get in trouble if I put my head out there?”

  “I’m not sure it’s the best idea you’ve ever had,” he said with a little grimace.

  Pepper sighed and pressed the button to close it again. “I suppose not. I wouldn’t want to cause you any trouble,” she dropped to sit on her knees, her head bent back and eyes drinking in the midnight blue sky filled with lights. “It’s beautiful…all those places…I used to think they were little islands where…everyone could have one. And you can go there and be safe. Just you. No one could find you. No one could hurt you…and you wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else, either.”

  “Was that one of your wishes, Pepper?” Chase let his hands fall to his lap, the one closest to her out to take one of her hands.

  “Wishes and prayers…no, not really,” dry eyes met his with a little smile. “I had three when I was little…then you grow up and think more…logic it out more, they go away. I used to wish I could go to sleep and never wake up.”

  “Suicide?” He said when he was sure his voice would work.

  “No…no…I never had the courage for something like that. Just…I went to so many funerals when I was little…so many…people always said they were at peace now. They weren’t sad or lonely…just peaceful. So each night I’d get ready for bed and put on my nightgown and brush my hair…and I’d lay down just like they were in the coffins. I’d find a star first…and make my wish. Just peace…just…nothing…and I’d close my eyes and pray. I still believed then…but when you wake in the morning and you’re still there…you know no one is really listening,” she said, one shoulder up and down with a little sigh. “But you keep trying…because what if…”

  “That’s a pretty grown up wish for a child,” Chase said softly, his gaze on the two palms that surrounded hers on her knees.

  “Not so grown up….sometimes I felt so old…so tired…like there were a dozen lives behind me through hundreds of years and all of them were finally crashing inside me. I just wanted peace,” she said wistfully, meeting his gaze almost regretfully. “I’ve never told anyone that before,” she admitted after a minute, her eyes following the lines and strength in his face. “A counselor told me once…” she let his hand fall to her knee, cupping them into the shape of a ball. “A secret is like a stone. And it can hurt you because it’s so heavy and just wears you down. But if you share it…if you tell someone…then they get a tiny piece of it and it becomes less powerful. And it kind of made sense…but then I realized that if everyone gave away little pieces of their secrets, they might not have their own to carry, but then they had yours. And that seemed…” she shook her head, putting her hands around his once more. “It just felt wrong to do that to a friend.”

  “Maybe the friend should be asked if it’s okay…”

  “A friend would lie to you…just to help,” she smiled at him. “Then another wish was…important doesn’t feel like the right word now…when I think about it…maybe just to matter…really matter to someone…” She giggled and patted him on the thigh. “Nothing personal…but six year old boys are not interested in six year old girls. But…” she held up one finger. “They could be bribed…” She said in a low, dramatic whisper.

  “What did you bribe them to do, Pepper?” Chase was amazed there weren’t tears. There was emotion, though.

  “There was a hill between where we lived and the school. There were stairs…concrete stairs…or paths through the woods. Not really steep and I didn’t have a problem climbing it, I was very good at climbing,” a wistful note entered her voice. “But something inside me…something made me wonder about how nice it would be if I was important enough fo
r someone to care and offer to help me. I tried it one day…asked a boy to help me up the hill…he wasn’t keen on the idea…so I bribed him with a toy,” she sighed, eyes rolling. “Not quite the considerate, solicitous assistance that had been in my imagination, mind you…but still…for a tiny space…it felt like I was important to someone.”

  “I like to think we get smarter as we age, us boys,” he teased softly. “You never spoke to your mother about your feelings?”

  “Ahh…well…now we have the final wish,” she said quietly, raising his palm and fitting hers against it. “You’ve very nice hands…my mother died when I was born. My father didn’t believe in medicine or doctors. God made those choices, not men. It might have been prevented, I don’t know. No one would talk about it…people are afraid of him…I could see it in their eyes. I used to wish…just for a day…that I could be pretty. That no one would…would tell me I carried the ugly sin because of her death…just one day to know what it would feel like inside…then you grow up.”

  “So you’ve never told anyone…”

  “No…maybe…bits here and there…sometimes you’d come across a teacher who tried to get you to talk. But if he found out…he would find ways to hurt them. So I couldn’t let that happen.”

  “You said you left the area. When?”

  “The day I graduated from high school. I was seventeen,” she tilted her head back to peer through the glass into the stars. “He said…there were several men in the congregation who were willing to pay for a properly brought up bride. And when I turned eighteen, I was a woman and he’d make all the arrangements. I’d never been so scared in my life,” she whispered. “I packed as much as I could carry in my pack, I saved my money from the babysitting and waitress job and as soon as I had the diploma, I caught a bus and didn’t get off until it hit Las Vegas. I was lucky…there were lots of jobs there and I was very good with numbers.”

  “Lots of people in Vegas making wishes and prayers,” Chase finally managed to say, the tension in his neck and jaw visible. She laughed with a brightness that he hadn’t expected after the things she shared.

  “Very many. Hopeful…whoa…I think my leg fell asleep…” She shifted, winced and tried to stretch.

  “Here…how about this…” Chase put his hands on her waist, lifted her and told her to stretch her legs out over the seat, her hip rested against his thigh as they faced one another. “Better?”

  “Much, thank you…” She wiggled her feet and looked into his eyes. “Why did you pick me?”

  “I don’t know,” he responded honestly after a long pause. “I have to confess, that I felt a little like a stalker, just watching you. I thought you were about twenty years old at first and maybe I was having some kind of midlife crisis. I watched you in the arcade…you have an incredible…” He stopped when her eyes got wider than humanly possible. “Pepper…”

  “You saw me?” She whispered in disbelief.

  “It’s karaoke…people are meant to watch.”

  “I go there at night so no one would know,” she continued to whisper, leaning a little closer, her head shaking. “Don’t do that anymore.” Pepper drew in a long breath and for the first time, Chase saw hesitation in her eyes. “I have to ask a favor of you…so please focus…”

  “And what makes you believe I’m not focused?” He asked casually, biting his lip to avoid laughing.

  Pepper raised a pale eye brow at him. “I’d say your hand on my butt means you’re not focused, Chase,” she told him with a shake of her head when he only offered a very charming grin. “I’ve had a very nice day. But when we return to the resort, I’d like you to let me out and you go. And don’t call me again.” She knew she had his attention because his palm suddenly went still. “I can’t put you on an island and protect you. The only way I can do that…”

  “Protect me? I don’t need protection, Pepper,” he informed her flatly. “Explain to me how I had a really nice day fits in with never call me again?”

  Pepper moved back to her knees, about to turn the other way when the car hit a bump that sent her falling forward. Her head bounced against his chest at the same time his arms closed around her. She knew she had important words to say but right now they were getting lost in all the other sensations crowding for the top.

  “Some things are for the best,” She whispered against his lips.

  “I don’t like that answer. I want you. I want time with you. I want to laugh and talk with you.”

  Chase listened to the intercom, acknowledged that they were heading back to the resort when he felt her press her face into his neck. Wild strands of gold tickled his face at the same time he felt her raise herself up a little.

  “You smell really, really nice…” She pressed her face into his throat and inhaled, her lips brushing over the tanned column. “Like spice…and…cedar…and you…” she whispered, giving into the urge to kiss him again, her lips touching the side of his jaw and then onto his chin. “You’re a distraction…I’ve never…” her breathing increased considerably when she met the intense gleam in eyes that darkened when his mouth touched hers.

  Not touched, she corrected, falling into a pattern from hard and crushing to delicate and enticing. Urging her to play. Her tongue met his and tasted and teased. He nipped at her lips and then soothed them, stroking and caressing until she felt her insides twisted into a taut, hot coil.

  Her palms slid down the sides of his face and caught the open ends of his tie. She wrapped each hand around one end and pulled herself onto his lap, dropped the tie and wound her arms around his neck.

  Breathless, she wanted closer. She wanted to feel all of him at once. His hands roamed over her, seeking, pressing over the curves, across her back and onto his hips. She could feel his arousal, soft plaintive sounds coming from her throat when his hand pressed heavily over her side and cupped one breast. His fingers drew slow, teasing circles around a nipple pressing against the fabric, flicking at it and swallowing the gasp that broke from her lips.

  “Should I drive to the employee entrance housing, Chase?”

  His hands moved quickly to her face, setting her away and staring into the deep blue of her eyes. She nodded slowly, swallowing the trepidation that fluttered inside her.

  Chapter Five

  “Yes, Greg, thank you,” Chase wasn’t sure where the hell he pulled a steady voice from. He set her on the seat and worked to adjust his slacks before lifting the small pack she carried with her from the floor.

  Chase met the gaze of the man opening the door for them a few minutes later.

  “Thank you,” Pepper said with a smile at the driver.

  “You can go. I’ll walk to the hotel,” Chase said, his palm slipping down her arm and gripping her hand in his.

  Pepper didn’t look around her. She knew the way. Her hand tightened on his and her pace increased until she was breaking into a little run, laughing and pulling him after her.

  “Pepper!” Chase kept close behind her until they reached the coded gate. He came to an abrupt stop when she did, her arms up to tightly circle his neck and pull his face to hers.

  “Shh…you’ll wake the neighbors…” she told him before taking his mouth in a long hotly invasive kiss. She slid her right hand down and pressed her thumb to the plate, her hip giving the gate a shove when she heard the click. She quickly grabbed his hand again and pulled him through to the large on-site apartment complex.

  Chase tried to keep track of the turns, both of them laughing like kids when she stopped at the bottom floor by an end door. Again, she used her thumb and opened the door, tugging him behind her into the dark apartment. He felt the solid line of the door behind him when she made an abrupt spin, pushing against him until he felt his back strike the wood.

  His mouth was down hard and furious over hers while her hands fumbled with the buttons of his shirt, the faint sound of tearing ignored by them both. Pepper put her hands on his shoulders, pressing along the strong line until the jacket slid down his arms
and was shrugged to the floor. She took a step back and untied the belt at her waist, letting it drop while she stepped out of her shoes.

  Chase toed his shoes off, using his feet to pull free of the socks and groaning loudly when her hands went to the belt at his waist. Slender fingers stroked and caressed against his flesh, pressing hotly over his chest at the same time she leaned closer, her tongue tracing a soft line around and up to his throat. He put his hands on her shoulders, setting her back and dropping to a crouch, his palms on her ankles.

  Chase stared into her eyes as he slowly, teasingly rose to stand up, his hands caressing along the backs of her legs. He felt her shiver as he reached the globes of her ass, squeezing and pulling her hard against his cock.

  “Hold on to me, Pepper,” he ordered huskily, lifting her as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Both of them groaned when she speared all ten fingers into the hair on his head and crushed her mouth against his. “Pepper…you’re gonna make me drop you…” his laughter was deep, rough with the need building inside him, consuming him.

  “It’s just down the hall,” she whispered against his mouth, enjoying the control as she kissed over his face, taking both their glasses off, folding them closed and holding them until she felt the floor beneath her feet in the bedroom. She set the glasses on the nightstand at the same time his hands went to the hem of her dress and peeled it up and off, dropping it near the door behind them.

  “Beautiful…” he whispered, his palms going to cup her breasts and dip inside the skimpy lace half covering them. One palm slid behind her, popping the snap and helping the lace to the floor. She pressed herself against him, scraping the pert, alert nipples against his chest at the same time her hands returned to his belt, fumbling with it and falling back laughing.