Release (Iris Series)

by Lynn, Rebecca

  “Who is this please?”

  “Umm,” the woman said, clearing her throat, “this is Tiffany Daniels Hewitt? You saw me last night at the gala, and I think there may have been a misunderstanding. I got your address from my brother, Luke…He’s on the board at the Institute….Well, he had been an alternate, but… well, I can explain when I come up. Can we please talk? Can I come up?”

  Ryann’s stomach clenched. Luke Daniels’ sister? Luke, who was Jeremy’s closest and oldest friend? The woman she saw Jeremy with last night was Luke’s sister?

  Ryann rested her head on the wall next to the intercom unit, and closed her eyes. Then she hit the button and buzzed Tiffany in.

  …..

  Ryann opened the door to the beautiful tall woman with long black hair. Ryann was really wishing she had taken a shower that morning, so she could’ve at least armed herself with some makeup. She was still sporting what was left of the makeup on her face from the night before, had been crying off and on for hours, and had just woken up.

  She was betting she looked spectacular right about now.

  And here was this woman who she’d hated for the last 18 hours, looking expensive and fresh as a daisy in her designer dress and heels.

  The only thing that calmed Ryann was the nervous wringing of the woman’s hands, and the look of worry pinching her features.

  “Hi,” she said cautiously. “May I come in?”

  Ryann didn’t answer, but stepped back and opened the door letting her in.

  Tiffany walked into the living room, and looked around. “You have a beautiful place,” she said, her voice low.

  “Thank you.”

  Tiffany looked at her and smiled. Then her speech began. Haltingly.

  “I wanted to…explain…what you saw last night. It…” she stopped and shook her head, then looked at Ryann. “Do you mind if we sit?” The woman looked terrified.

  Ryann directed her to the sofa, and Ryann sat in the armchair.

  The woman looked at her, and bit her lip. “First of all, Jem has no idea I’m here. He’d probably kill me. God knows, he wanted to kill somebody last night. I’ve never seen him so frantic. Have you seen him yet today? I know it’s none of my business, but I’m sure he’s even more crazy today, what with the stolen painting and everything,” she said in a rush.

  It was obvious Tiffany didn’t know about the detectives’ visit, or that Jeremy had found her.

  “Tiffany, please just say what you came here to say.”

  Tiffany sighed, and said quickly, “Jem is my brother’s best friend. Luke is my twin, and Jem, Luke and I all grew up together, went to the same schools. Jem is like another brother to me...That’s all, Ryann...I swear it. Well,” she hesitated, and looked off to the side, “we had a brief blip of a thing when we were 18, but both of us were drunk and neither of us even remembers it. It was one of those stupid impulsive kid things, but I swear neither of us thinks of each other that way,” she said, nervously babbling, and waving her hand, as if wiping the memory from history.

  “We had a 30 minute lunch together when he was in Boston a couple of weeks back, because…well…I’m going through a divorce, because my asshole of a cheating husband is fucking a younger and firmer version of me…pardon my French… and I was really going through a hard time…and then Jem was telling me about you. And how wonderful you are…and I was so happy for him, because, I’ve never seen him this happy over any woman. Ever. And I just want you to know that I could never be the other woman. I know what that’s like to be on the receiving end of that kind of pain, and I would never do that to a fellow sister...and I’m probably saying too much already, but Jem so wants this to work between you two. I’m sure there hasn’t been enough time for him to tell you this, and Luke’s already angry with me for finagling your address from him, but I think you should know, that Jem has resigned as the VC at the Institute. That’s why we were outside the Dean’s office last night. I saw him walk into the gala, and I followed him, and he was sliding his resignation under the door. So, Luke is no longer an alternate, but is now on the board to take Jem’s spot…Jem just doesn’t want there to be anything standing in the way of your happiness. He just thinks the world of you, Ryann...I swear it.”

  Ryann was feeling woozy. First and foremost, it was due to everything coming out of Tiffany’s mouth, and the implications that came with it. But secondly, it may have been because Tiffany was using up all of the oxygen in the room during her explanation.

  Just then, she heard the rattle of keys in the door, and Jeremy stepped in, his arms filled with paper bags from the Chinese place down the block.

  He stopped, and when he saw Tiffany, he growled, “Tiffany…fuck. What the hell are you doing here?”

  Tiffany quickly got up, and put up her hands to calm him. “It’s ok, Jem! I just wanted to explain to her what she saw. Don’t be mad!” she pleaded. “Luke got me her address, and he’s still not sure it was a good idea, but I begged him to help. Don’t be mad at us…I just wanted to help,” she babbled.

  “Tiff,” he said exasperated. He put the bags down on the dining table and turned to them, running his fingers through his hair, then pinching the bridge of his nose. He sighed, and looked up warily at Ryann, and she could feel the prick of joyful emotion in her eyes.

  She smiled hesitantly at him, and his stunned look was followed by one of relief and hope... and holy cow, hunger. The expression on his face made her want to laugh out loud.

  “I think it’s time for you to leave, Tiff,” Jeremy said, not taking his eyes off of Ryann.

  Tiffany clapped her hands in glee, and squealed, “Good. This is good, right? Oooh, I’m so happy! Ok. I’m outta here.” She laughed lightly and skipped to the door. “I love you, Jem. Call later.” Then she stopped and looked at Jem, then Ryann with a worried look on her face. “When I said I loved him just now, I meant loved him as a friend. I swear,” she said crossing her heart, babbling again.

  A giggle escaped from Ryann’s throat. “Thanks for the clarification…and…thank you,” she said, looking at this charming and sweet woman.

  Tiffany’s face nearly crumbled. “You’re so welcome. I’m so happy,” she clapped her hands under her chin again. She turned to Jeremy. “I did good, right Jem? Please don’t be mad for me interfering. I just couldn’t leave it alone.”

  Jeremy looked at her affectionately. “Yes, Tiff, you did good. Now will you get the hell out of here, please?”

  Tiffany squealed out a giggle, and sang out, “Have fun!” then skipped out the door.

  A moment passed when they both looked at each other in the silence of the apartment.

  Then Ryann really looked at him, and Jeremy’s eyes were filled with a lust, and a tenderness, the likes she had never seen before on his face.

  She let go of a sob-like laugh, and covered her mouth with her hand. She whispered, “Jeremy?”

  Chapter 25

  He practically ran to her, colliding into her, kissing her voraciously, his hands everywhere, pleading his case with his body first...the words would come later. He was kissing her whole face, her forehead, her eyelids, her nose, her mouth.

  God, his mouth. She had missed his mouth.

  “Ryann,” he murmured frantically in between kisses. “I’m so sorry…did Tiffany explain? Did she tell you it wasn’t what you thought?” He didn’t allow her to answer because he wouldn’t stop kissing her.

  She moaned, breathing heavily. She ran her fingers through his hair, and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly. Their height difference made her have to stand on her tippy toes to reach him, so he bent his knees to lift her against him. She threw her legs around his waist, holding him to her.

  “God, baby,” he breathed in between devouring her mouth, her neck. “I need you, Ryann. I need you.”

  “Then take me,” she groaned, and moved her pelvis against his.

  He groaned in reply, and the next few moments became even more frenetic, him dropping to his knees with he
r still wrapped around him, then leaning forward to place her on the floor. He tore at her shirt, peeling it quickly over her head, then deftly unsnapping her bra, freeing her breasts.

  He captured a nipple in his mouth, and sucked...hard.

  She gasped at the mixture of pleasure and pain, and reveled in their desperation for each other...their desperation to be close again.

  His fingers found her other nipple and rolled it. His mouth let go of her nipple with a popping sound, then found her neck. “God,” he exhaled. “I missed you,” then he continued his onslaught of passion, tearing at his own shirt and pants, while she tried to disentangle her limbs from his to take off her yoga pants.

  He leaned up and helped her quickly peel off her pants and panties, and then trapped her to the floor.

  He looked her in the eyes, and the intimate smile they shared in that short passing moment, hitched her breath. He dropped his forehead to hers, and moved his hips forward, between her legs, to slowly fill her, all the way until she moaned. They took a moment to savor the feeling, then Jeremy lifted his head, and captured her face between his hands.

  “Don’t you ever do that to me again, Ryann. I swear to you, I’ll tie you to my bed if I have to, but you will never leave me like that again.” Then he pulled out and thrust into her, once, twice, three times, circling his hips and grinding into her.

  She pulled his head back down to her, and sucked on his lower lip with her mouth and teeth, saying, “Harder. I need to feel you, Jeremy. Harder.”

  He groaned, delighted with her command. He happily obliged her, slamming into her, propelling her slightly forward on the floor. He lifted her upper body slightly and hooked his arms underneath her, anchoring his hands on her shoulders. “Fuck, Ryann. You destroyed me when you left,” he growled, slamming quickly into her, over and over again.

  Her keening gasps and whimpers, quickly turned to a building scream. “I’m sorry…. I won’t leave again…” she moaned each time he thrust into her.

  His rhythm picked up, until his pistoning hips and his grip on her shoulders forced her to take the maelstrom of his desire.

  He had never taken her like this, and she gloried in it. She had thought that perhaps she’d seen him lose control before, but it had never been like this.

  She swore every rug burn she bore would be worn as a badge of honor for his absolute craving for her.

  With his face close to hers, puffs of his accelerated breathing mingling with her own, he growled as his need for her became even more intense. “You’re fucking mine, Ryann...say it...tell me you’re mine. Please. I need to hear it.”

  By this time, she was practically screaming each time he pummeled into her, feeling as if she was being split in two, but yet never feeling more connected to him than that moment. She couldn’t form words, the intensity of his love making stealing her breath.

  But when the orgasm tore through her, she did form those words, screaming them until he swallowed them with his mouth, and crashed into her, giving her every ounce of himself in return.

  …..

  They lay there, entwined in each other’s arms, without an inch separating them. They both gulped the air, and she pushed back the tears of joy, happiness, and absolute relief that threatened to overwhelm her.

  She held his face cupped in her hand, and rubbed her face on the side of his cheek. “I haven’t cried in years, and in the past two weeks, I’ve cried enough for a lifetime.”

  Still inside her, he kissed her, fighting back his own emotion.

  He took a few more moments to catch his breath, then nuzzled her neck. “I don’t ever want to cause you pain, and I know last night was just as hard for you as it was for me.” He looked at her. “I don’t ever want either of us to go through that again…Ryann, not knowing where you were…whether you were ok…knowing that you were feeling pain...knowing I was the cause of it,” he whispered, swallowing audibly. “Don’t ever leave me like that again, Ryann. I mean it.”

  She touched his cheek softly with her finger, and looked in his eyes. “I was so hurt...and angry. I know I misunderstood, but I kept replaying things that Jennifer and Armand had said about you. You were so distant last week before you left. My own insecurities got in the way, and when I saw you with Tiffany, alone in the dark, and I heard that you saw her in Boston. I didn’t know what to think, but I thought….I thought you were with her.” She let go of a sob, but squelched it quickly. “That you were going to end it with me, and go to her…”

  “Baby,” he said in a forceful whisper, “there is only you. Ever since the moment I saw you standing in the rain…there has only been you.”

  “I believe you. I’m so sorry I didn’t trust you. I shouldn’t have listened to them...you were just so distant...”

  “Ry…I know my past scares you, but you need to hear me when I say this. I…” He took a deep breath and looked away for a moment, then met her gaze again. “I have never in my life felt for a woman the way that I feel about you….ever.”

  She gave him a trembling smile.

  “I know we were distant last week, but...” he continued, “we have a lot of catching up to do, so...” he took a cleansing breath, “pack a bag, because I’m taking you to my place. I think we’ve entertained your neighbors enough for one day.”

  She sighed out a light laugh. “I can just see Jonathan having to tell me that at the next association meeting, all of the neighbors’ complaints about the sounds coming from 5B,” she groaned, embarrassed.

  He chuckled.

  “Am I allowed to stay with you? Do we need to call your cousin to tell him where I am? I don’t know how it all works...”

  He face split into a grin. “He called when I was out getting the food. You’re mother and your stepfather verified your alibi. You’re clear. He knew you had nothing to do with it...he just needed to make sure. You should probably call your mom, though. You can do that in the car.”

  Relief engulfed her. “Thank God...I was surprised the FBI didn’t talk to me,” she murmured, deep in thought. Then she looked up, “And I want to know what he meant when he said...”

  “No more questions...” He leaned down and smacked his lips to hers, then pulled out of her, and helped her up. “We’ll have plenty of time at my place to talk.”

  She was nearly dizzy with excitement, knowing she could spend the next day and a half with Jeremy all to herself, with nothing hanging over them.

  She grabbed his face, and smiled fondly at him. “Thank you for believing in me…for not leaving me alone today. Given my own lack of trust in you, I didn’t deserve it.”

  He cupped her face, “I understand where your mistrust came from, baby. We’re going to talk it all out at my place. I’m not letting you out of my sight…for days…so be prepared, woman,” he said with one corner of his mouth tipped up, and his eyes heavy lidded.

  She giggled. “I’ll need to go to work on Monday.”

  “No you won’t. The Institute is currently a crime scene. Classes will be canceled until they can get a handle on what happened…You’re all mine, baby...to do with as I please,” he said, a promising gleam in his eye.

  She shivered, and smiled in anticipation. Then, more seriously, “Won’t you need to be available to them at the Institute?”

  “Between my mom, our attorneys, the security firm we hired, the NYPD, and the FBI’s Art Crime Team, I think we’re covered. They know how to find me if they need me. But knowing my mom, she’ll try to give us as much alone time as possible. She’s the first point of contact in the family. So,” he grinned, “go pack.” He lightly slapped her bare ass, as she pranced to her room in excitement.

  …..

  The car ride to Jeremy’s brownstone started with a huge hug from Manny, who looked at Jeremy with a relieved look, all while Jeremy watched with an expression of reflection on his face. When Manny released her, he cleared his throat, then tipped his hat and went to the driver’s seat.

  “Manny was worried about you last night,
too,” Jeremy had murmured.

  Ryann looked up guiltily. “I’ll be sure to thank him, and apologize, when we get to your place.”

  The rest of the car ride consisted of Jeremy holding her, while she snuggled into him and made a phone call to her mom, a phone call to Ayanna, and a phone call to Emily. The last phone call was in thanks to Jeremy securing Emily’s card before Emily left her that afternoon.

  When they arrived to Jeremy’s, they went right up to his room, and ate their Chinese food naked in bed. After a few moments of eating, Ryann was ready to have some questions answered.

  She put her spring roll down and said, “I’m ready to ask some questions, if you don’t mind.”

  “I’m surprised you waited this long,” he teased.

  She threw a pillow at him, which he dodged easily, but not without sputtering, “Hey! A container of Won-Ton soup here!”

  Ryann rolled her eyes, and began.

  “Why didn’t the FBI question me? They’ve gotta be involved in this. I thought once they were involved, they trumped the NYPD.”

  “You’re assuming they were involved at that particular moment,” he hedged.

  Ryann raised her eyebrows. “Explain.”

  Jeremy sighed and said, “Jennifer’s accusation went to the NYPD first. The guard inside the parlor was tased…that’s how the thief or thieves got in. Once he came to and was able to call to the other guard stationed in the lobby, which apparently took a while for him to do, they called in the theft to the police, and Armand was one of the first people notified by the precinct. Apparently,” he said with a dramatic pause, “Jennifer was with him.”

  Ryann shook her head. “Boy, it just keeps getting better and better, doesn’t it?”

  “It was my cousin who called him. Because Mike was at the gala last night, and because of his family connection to the Institute, he did the follow up on the case. While talking to Armand, Jenn mentioned your name, and her suspicions, and when she mentioned you might know how to get in due to your relationship with me, he called me right after. Michael had come to the gala shortly after you left, and my family was talking about what had happened between us, and how you’d left, so he was aware we were seeing each other.”