Chapter 25

Briefcase nestled soundly under his armpit, Adonis scowled when he found not a trace of his girlfriend.

Why couldn’t she listen to him just once? Would it be that much of an insult to her feminist ancestors?

He dialed her number.

The bag vibrated under his arm.

“Seriously Tess?” he growled, punching the end key.

“Everything ok?”

He turned and found himself face-to-face with his faux drug dealer. “Yeah. Just peachy, no thanks to you,” he said, unable to look at her. She’d caught him at his weakest and it wasn’t something he would soon forgot. After tonight he hoped never to lay eyes on her again.

She had the grace to look shamefaced. “Look, I just wanted to apologize again for earlier. I owed Cam a favor for taking care of something for me.”

“And in return, make me look like a fucking idiot.”

She winced. “Yeah, that too. How’d you now it was a setup?”

He slanted her a cynical look. “For one, it was too much of a coincidence. Only two people here know I used and one of them is out for blood. Secondly, smack addicts aren’t looking for friends and sure as hell don’t go around offering it to strangers.”

“Makes sense.” Lindsay glanced around. “Where’s your girlfriend?”

“That’s a good fucking question. Have you seen a girl in a pinstripe suit around here?”

She shook her long, sable hair, her features sympathetic. “But if I do you’ll be the first to know.”

“Adonis!” His heart picked up and then plummeted when he saw Lance and Jade descending the staircase.

“Who was that?” Jade asked, not bothering to hide her suspicion at Lindsey’s retreating back.

He did not have time for this shit. “Long story. You seen Tess?”

“I was just about to ask you the same question. When’d you last see her?”

“Here. We’d just had a run in with Cam.” He grimaced. That’s probably where she’d gone off.

Lance looked around. “Yo, Joey! You seen Cam?”

The bleary-eyed guy in a tattered Pink Floyd shirt dragged his head from his bag of salt and vinegar chips. “You just missed him. Saw him in the yard with some banging ass chick running after him. All tits and legs. You tell him he’s done Joey proud.”

Dread clamped his organs in a vice.

Adonis flew out of the front door. A thin layer of snow dusted the ground. It covered the spindly, barren branches, the patchwork of brown grass, and a pair of red bottom high heels.

Heart jamming his throat, he retrieved them. Fresh snow had filled in most of the footprints pocking the lawn. But only two sets wound to the parking lot.

Fucking dumbasses. Both of them.

He vaguely heard his name being called, but their voices were drowned by the buzz in his head.

He scanned the cars. The Audi was missing.

No.

Throwing her things to the floor, he jammed the key into the ignition. Seconds later the Rover tore out of the lot. They could be anywhere.

And then he heard them in the distance.

The plaintive wail of sirens.

Fear noosed his neck, severing the air to his lungs, bleeding sensation from his body.

Over the next hill, the lurid splash of red and blue painted the night.

He slowed as his car crested the hill’s rise. Below, chemical flares blockaded the road.

No.

Having enough presence of mind to put the Rover in park, he left it running as he got out. The world swam in and out of focus.

A fire engine, a handful of state troopers, and several ambulances were on the scene.

Déjà vu slammed into him.

He was eight years old again, face plastered to the window, waiting for his mom and brother to get out of the policeman’s car. Even as his father told him they were never coming home.

No.

Tire treads blackened the slush, hewing a devastating arc of destruction that ended over the bluff. The twisted metal of what remained of the guardrail bent outward, arms that hadn’t been able to hold fast to the ones they were made to protect.

His knees buckled as paramedics helped carry a black body bag up from the ravine.

It couldn’t be her.

Fate wouldn’t be so cruel to do this to him a second time. Not so soon after stealing his mother.

His chest caved when Cameron came into view. He spoke with an officer, his head down.

No.

“Excuse me, son. You can’t go any further.”

He channeled rage, allowed it to asphyxiate the agony running hot through his blood.

It became a visceral thing.

Adonis pushed past the cop and ran toward him. He fisted his shirt and jacked him up. “What’d you do you son of a bitch!” Dormant as a statue, Cameron’s vacant gaze stared through him. He shook him again. “Is this how you hurt me? Is this how you get me back?” His voice cracked as pressure built behind his eyeballs.

He felt hands tugging at him. He fought them off. Someone threatened to lock him up.

Been there.

Done fucking that.

“Adonis?”

He could still her voice. Was he losing it already?

His head swiveled around to locate the source.

Swaddled in a blanket barefoot and clothes askew, she sat on the back of the ambulance, her face colorless but intact. Save for minor abrasions, everything seemed to be in working order.

His sanity wobbled on fractured stilts.

He was afraid to touch her, scared that if his hand went through her body, he would lose it and then he would really have to live out the rest of his days in a psych ward.

“You’re alive,” his voice was weak, broken.

He didn’t care.

He would sacrifice every last drop of pride for her.

Trembling, she reached for him.

He made it to her in less than three seconds. Adonis bound her tight against him. “Didn’t I tell you to stay to put?” he whispered into her hair.

She gave a watery laugh. “You know me. Always have to do things the hard way.”

Tess explained what happened as the paramedic finished disinfecting her cuts. They had pulled off on the shoulder when the eighteen-wheeler at the top of the hill lost traction.

Already out of the car, Cameron yanked her free from the car and they’d ran, narrowly missing the careening, 40-ton trailer as it crashed into the Audi and swept both vehicles over the edge.

Tragically, the driver hadn’t made it.

The paramedics told them if he’d been wearing a seatbelt he would’ve stood a chance.

After giving their statements to the police and declining a trip to the ER, they were allowed to leave.

Nobody spoke on the way back to campus. Adonis dropped off Cameron at the frat house before driving home.

“I need a shower,” Tess said absently.

Adonis piloted her to the bathroom.

She shivered as he helped her strip. Her skin was cold, clammy, the mark of death’s brush.

A hellish bruise the size of his palm was forming near the upper quadrant of her shoulder, likely where she’d thrown herself to the ground.

He shed his own clothes and twisted the knob until scalding water sheeted from the showerhead. She clutched him as he assisted her under the fall of water. One by one, he freed her slumped bun from pins until her hair fell loose.

Below them the water swirled pink.

Tess lifted her foot. Jagged gravel and debris clung to cuts scoring her feet.

Throat tight, Adonis picked up the soap. He worked the bar until the rich lather foamed over his hands and started with the soles of her feet.

His hands quaked.

“Hey.” She lifted his chin and peered up at him. “I’m ok.”

“I almost lost you.” His voice shook.

“But you didn’t. I’m still here.”

Wooded, forest green eyes sought to soothe, assure. He could have laughed. She narrowly evaded death and she was comforting him.

“I love you.” He choked on the words he almost never got the chance to iterate.

Her throat bobbed. “I love you too.”

They crashed together, their mouths fusing in a maniacal melee. Needing her so badly it hurt, Adonis hitched her up against the tiles and in one smooth motion, thrust into her slippery wetness. Her pulsing walls clamped around him so tight he had to fight for every inch.

He wanted to be tender, loving, show her how much she meant to him.

Something primitive overtook his body. Made him plunge into her with savage, mindless abandon.

Her body answered in kind.

Her legs clenched harder around his hips. Her nails gouged his back. She cried for him. Wanting faster. Wanting harder.

It tore his heart.

He’d almost lost this.

Suddenly he couldn’t get close enough. He lifted her higher, changed his angle, and set a relentless pace. He coated his body in her scent, her taste, her smell.

The stinging spray of water at his back had turned to ice, but they generated more than enough heat to compensate for the loss.

Tess met him thrust for rabid thrust, her mouth voracious for everything she could reach. His throat, his chin, his cheeks.

Adonis reached between them.

She came with a backbreaking arch, her cry reverberating off the tiles.

The intensity of her orgasm sent him off the edge.

Pain and pleasure lanced through his, whipping the cells from the base of his tailbone to the apex of his brain stem into frenzy.

Despite his softening arousal, he maintained the connection. Adonis pushed wet strands of hair away from her face and kissed her. “Don’t do that to me again.”

She clutched him tighter, her smile quivering. “Ok.”

____________________

They slept until well past noon the next day.

Everything hurt.

Her head, her muscles, the cuts on her face.

If she had her way, Tess wouldn’t have moved for days. Adonis forced an omelet and aspirin on her. Apparently while she slept, he shopped. In addition to groceries, he bought a bigger, flatter television than Cameron’s to outfit the den’s unoccupied wall, another for his room for her to watch as she recouped, and a heating pad for her aches and pains.

She loved this man who bitched and complained about doing something as prosaic as grocery shopping just so that she could have creature comforts. Who yelled at her when she tried to get out of bed. Who tenderly applied ointment to her feet with the same care and precision he treated his artwork.

It’d been enough to make her cry.

And so she did.

Adonis had jolted upright, a panicked What did I do? scrawled across his features making her bawl harder.

Shaking her head, she grabbed onto him and buried her face in his chest.

In the last twenty-four hours, Adonis had proven that he would do anything for her. This gruff, temperamental, arrogant, manic depressive, beautiful man had completely redefined everything she thought she knew about love.

It seemed as though everyone in the world had heard about their near death experience. Riley checked in on her first since he did live under the same roof, then Lance and Jade, and finally classmates and acquaintances.

All wanted to hear the harrowing tale.

Tess just wanted to forget. Thinking of how close she came to dying gave her both crushing relief and an overwhelming sense of guilt. Not everyone had survived. And though Cameron’s drinking and driving hadn’t impacted the events that followed, somehow Tess felt they didn’t deserve to walk away unscathed.

Despite her anxiety, she put on a strong front for their visitors, retelling the story while glossing over the salient, moderately incriminating points.

It wasn’t until late in the afternoon when their flux of visitors tapered. Just as Tess was beginning to think she could actually rest, the doorbell chimed again.

Groaning, Tess stiffly pushed off the blanket. “Adonis?”

He didn’t answer.

With a wince, Tess clambered off the couch and shuffled to the door.

Cameron stood on the other side. “Hey.”

“Hi.” Dark circles bagged his eyes. A sickly, blue-black bruise blossomed at the corner of his jaw where Adonis’s fist had struck. Forgetting herself, Tess moved aside. “Sorry. Come in.”

“I’m not staying long.” His eyes were somber, tired. “How are you?”

“Could be better, could be worse.” Could be dead.

He dropped his gaze. “Tess-”

“Don’t, Cameron. It wasn’t your fault.”

“Not directly, no. But you wouldn’t have been in that situation if it wasn’t for me.”

There was no contesting that. Out of her periphery, she saw Adonis appear from the living room. Instead of announcing his presence, he folded his arms and leaned against the other side of the door, jaw set in disgruntled vigil.

Cameron took a shaky breath. “I just came by to apologize and let you know I’m pulling out of classes this semester.”

“What? Why? Because of us?” she said, awkward.

“Somewhat,” he answered truthfully. “But it’s more than that. I need some time to myself. Clear my head. Figure out what I want.”

He raked a hand through his disheveled hair. “Look, when you see Adonis, tell him I’m sorry. I never meant any of this shit to go down like it did.”

“Why don’t you tell him yourself?” Across from her, she felt Adonis scowl.

Cameron laughed. “I doubt he wants to hear from me. Not after everything.

“Let him know…he’s done good. I’m proud of him.”

Adonis gave a soft snort. “I will,” Tess said, struggling to maintain a straight face. “Good luck, Cam. Stay in touch.”

He smiled. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Heart heavy, Tess closed the door.

“Good riddance,” Adonis grumbled.

“You can still catch him.”

“No. Not now.”

She nodded, understanding. Everything was still too fresh, wounds too raw. Tess knew it would take time, but she hoped they would eventually grow to trust one another again.

He helped her hobble back to the couch. She’d just sat down when the doorbell chimed again.

“Why won’t these people leave us the fuck alone!” Adonis snarled and stormed to answer the door.

Whoever darkened their doorstep must not have been that bad because his voice lowered. He almost sounded friendly.

Just as she began edging off the sofa to sneak a peak, Adonis reentered the den. A woman of indeterminate age brought up the rear. Her face was unlined, her features gentle.

“This is Melanie. She is—was my mother’s best friend. And her health care power of attorney. “

“Nice to meet you,” she said and shook the older woman’s hand.

“Likewise.” Her gray eyes twinkled. “He certainly has exceptional taste.”

She blushed. “Thank you.”

Her gaze returned to Adonis. “Mr. Barrow, your mother’s attorney, has been trying to get in touch with you for weeks. So I decided to drive down.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Considering you’ve been avoiding the man like the plague, I felt it imperative.” Her smile waned. “Also, I felt I owed you an explanation. For taking your mother off life support.”

Tension braided the muscles of his forearms. “You don’t have to. It was time to let her rest. She was never coming back to us.”

Her eyes glassed over. “I held out hope. All of these years. I loved her like a sister. She would’ve been proud to see what you’ve made of yourself, Adonis.”

He looked away. “Not really.”

“We all make mistakes. It’s up to you to decide what you’ll make of yourself after the fact.” Melanie dabbed her eyes with a linen kerchief. “Before I forget. I’m supposed to give you this.” She pulled out a brown envelope from her bag.

Adonis stared at the package as if it would leap up and bite him. “What is it?”

“Your mother’s will. Lionel has already received his copy.” When he made no move to take the envelope, she took his hand and physically put it in his grasp. “I know the finality of this is difficult to take in. But perhaps it will give you the closure you seek.”

He swallowed. “Ok. Thanks.”

“I would stay, but I’m due in the city for an auction tonight.” Melanie reached up and kissed his cheek. “Don’t be a stranger. Tess, it was a pleasure.”

“You too.”

Melanie gave Adonis one last, watery-eyed once over. “I’ll see myself out. Take care. Both of you.”

He settled on the couch beside her, his form rigid. Lips pressed tight, he unsealed the envelope, pulled out the document, and began to read. The blood drained from his face. “Holy shit.”

“Is that a good holy shit or a bad holy shit?”

Adonis swallowed. “She left me everything. Her assets. Paintings. Estates.” He sucked in a breath. “And I’m now the majority shareholder of the shipping company.”

She looked at him carefully. “Is it not what you expected? I mean, I thought you’d be more excited.”

“I used to think that.” He studied the documents pensively and returned the papers into the folder. “But even if didn’t inherit all of this, I wouldn’t care.”

“Why?”

His eyes swung up to hers. “Because last night I found something more important.”

Although he’d pronounced his love for the night before, it was different hearing in the stark light of day. More real.

“Careful Adonis, your vagina is showing,” she teased.

He grabbed her ankle. She yelped and giggled as his fingers tickled her sides. Breathless, Tess allowed him to pull her into his lap. She threaded her arms around his neck as he kissed her hard.

“I wonder who I have to thank for that,” Adonis said into her mouth.

Laughing, she reversed their positions so she sat on him astride. Beneath sooty, curling lashes, his gaze was hooded.

Not for the first time, the fierceness of his beauty mesmerized her. The molten gold of his irises, ringing the iron core of his pupils smoldered.

For her.

A part of her feared he would consume her, wholly, unequivocally and without remorse. Another part of her ached for it. To take on his fears and strengths and weaknesses; to make them her own.

And to think she’d been willing to settle for something less. She deserved more. Never in a million years did she think Adonis would be the person to fulfill that role. She knew that they had their work cut out for them. But somehow the future didn’t seem as bleak.

Overwhelmed and humbled, she bent down and touched her forehead to his. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for him.

His hands landed on her waist, bracing her weight. “What?”

“I think I’m happy.”

“You think?” he growled, flipping her onto her back. “I guess I’ll have to work harder.”

“You can try,” she smiled.

Smirking, Adonis settled between her legs, the heavy, comforting weight of him making her ache. “Watch me.”

Дата добавления: 2015-10-16