Beautifully Forgotten (30 page)

Darcy shut off the lights and moved into her bedroom after Ember left. After she got ready for bed she climbed under her covers and tried for sleep, but her mind remained restless. She was angry with Lucien for his reaction to the news about their baby, but it was his intensity that she loved. How could she hold what she loved most about him against him? When she fell asleep, she dreamt of him.

Fourteen years earlier . . .

She didn’t hear him enter the common room until his hand wrapped around hers and he pulled her from it. He didn’t say a word, but led her up to the attic. The door had barely closed behind her before his mouth was on hers. There was a wildness about him that left Darcy breathless and unimaginably turned on. He lifted her shirt up over her head and flicked off her bra a second before his mouth closed over her breast. Her jeans followed her shirt and then he was dragging her onto the floor, spreading her legs, and taking her into his mouth. His tongue was almost brutal as he penetrated her, and then his fingers replaced his tongue while he moved to flick the sensitive nub, teasing her until he worked her up to an orgasm that bordered on violent. Her body was still coming down when he stood and walked to the far side of the attic.

She felt exposed and vulnerable and though she wouldn’t call it rape, there had been more to their lovemaking than love. Before she could say anything, his anguished voice filled the awkward silence.

“I’m sorry.”

“What was that all about?”

He linked his fingers behind his head and she watched as he struggled to lift his gaze to hers. “I was thinking about you and I don’t know. I’m constantly walking the line of insanity when it comes to you. It’s about more than sex and even love: I need you. It scares the shit out of me that I could lose you like I did Sister Anne. I didn’t mean to . . .” He turned from her. “I just needed you.”

She stood and moved to him, her hands coming to rest on his back. “I’m here.”

“Fuck. I practically raped you.”

She forced him to face her. “It could never be rape with you. It was just slightly out of control.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Never apologize for loving me.” Her fingers gripped his shirt and lifted it over his head. “Even when you’re slightly out of control, I love every second.” He was so tense and she knew of a way to relax him, but she had never done it before. Even so, she hoped that he couldn’t see how badly her hands were shaking when she unbuttoned his jeans and moved his pants and briefs down his legs. She kneeled in front of him and looked up to see his eyes burning hot, but she saw guilt there too: that she would offer something so intimate after he had been so out of control with her.

“I want to,” was all she said. Her eyes never left his as she took him into her mouth.

“Darcy, oh God . . .” His words ended on a groan as she sucked him deep into her throat. Her hands sought the hard curve of his ass as she worked him. He wasn’t the one out of control this time as was evident when he moved from her and lowered himself to kneel on the floor, pulling her down with him. Their eyes were locked when she straddled his hips and took him deep inside her. Her legs wrapped around his waist as his hands cradled her ass.

The words came from her heart. “You and me always.”

Her words hit their mark and he started to move her up and down his hard shaft. Their eyes never left each other and when she came, he was right there with her. He wrapped her in his arms and held her so close.

“Always. Remember that, Darcy.”

Trace stood in the doorway of the office and watched as Ember taped paint swatches to the wall. Rafe had helped him move the furniture to the storage unit in the basement earlier so that Ember could start working on the nursery. They had only announced the baby a week ago and Ember was already knee-deep in planning.

He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the doctor visit from earlier that day. They had had another positive ultrasound, but he felt conflicted. As incredible as it was to see the flutter that was their child’s heartbeat, the thought of something going wrong and Ember being put in harm’s way never left him. Ember’s voice took him from his troubled thoughts.

“Do you want to know the gender?” she asked as she looked at him from over her shoulder.

He leaned against the doorjamb with his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. “I don’t know. Do you?”

She turned to face him and a slight smile touched her lips as she said, “I think I do.”

“Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?”

“Either, but I would love to have a little you walking around,” she said.

He’d have thought he would be used to the stuff she said, but she always surprised him. He started toward her. “Is it too soon to find out?”

“We can ask Dr. Cole at the next ultrasound.”

She walked right into him, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest.

“You should probably take a nap. You look exhausted,” he said.

“I am.”

“I’m sorry, Ember.”

Confusion furrowed her brow when she asked, “For what?”

“Getting us pulled into this blackmailing shit with Heidi. You’ve been through enough and just when things settle down, we’re faced with something else.”

“It isn’t your fault.”

He held her close and pressed a kiss on her head. “Doesn’t matter.”

“We’ll get through it.”

The smile bloomed involuntarily as he looked down at her. “Looking for that silver lining, are you?”

“There always is one,” she muttered.

He lifted her into his arms and started for their bedroom. “You really need to rest.”

“Rest with me.”

“If I join you, we won’t be resting.”

Her fingers danced along his jaw. “I know.”

They reached the bed and he lowered her to her feet just as his mouth came down on hers. She sighed into his mouth and wrapped her arms around him to keep him close.

“Lift up your arms,” he whispered. And as soon as she did, he lifted her shirt up and over her head. Her hands lowered to rest on his shoulders before she slowly moved them down his arms, her delicate touch making him feel almost primal. He deftly undid the clasp of her bra and slid the lace down her arms.

“My turn,” she breathed against his mouth as her fingers found his tee and worked it up over his head. She pressed her lips over his heart, as she did every time she saw her name on his skin, and he felt the heat of her kiss clear down to his bones.

He rid them of the rest of their clothes before he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her onto the bed, settling himself between her thighs. She tilted her hips, rubbing herself against him, as his mouth crushed down on hers. She reached for his face, framing it with her hands as she pulled his tongue into her mouth, sucking on it before stroking it with her own. Her hands moved over him and everywhere she touched, it felt like fire was sizzling along his skin.

He shifted so he could look at her; her eyes were closed and desire had brought a blush to her cheeks. He didn’t have the words like she did to express how he felt.

“Look at me, Ember.”

Her eyes opened and there was that tenderness that he had come to crave seeing. She touched him, her fingers running a trail along his jaw to his chin. He moved, slowly sinking into her as he joined them, her legs spreading wider as her hips lifted, and then he held himself completely still. It was as close to heaven as he was ever going to get.

“My wife,” he whispered reverently, and then he started to move. Her legs wrapped around his waist as he slowly brought her to the brink, and he watched her eyes glaze over as her orgasm took her. His was soon to follow, her body still spasming around him as he came. He lowered himself onto the bed and wrapped Ember into his arms. Protectiveness swelled in him as his arms unconsciously tightened around her. She settled her head against his chest, her arm coming to rest at his waist.

“That was beautiful.” Her words were so softly spoken, as if she were feeling what he was: awe over what they just shared that was so much more than sex.

He pressed a kiss to her forehead since he had no words that would do justice to what he was feeling.

“Sleep, sweetheart.”

“Stay with me.”

“Forever.”

She pressed another kiss to his heart and he felt a wetness there before she whispered, “I love you.”

He fucking loved it when she said that to him. Before he could reply, she was sound asleep.

Trace woke four hours later with a start. He had never in his life taken a nap. It was dark out and a glance at the clock showed it was close to nine at night. Ember was still asleep, practically on top of him.

He gently rolled her off and slipped from the bed. In sleep, her hand reached for him and, when she came away empty, she curled into a ball on her side. He pulled the covers over her and kissed her head. He put on some jeans and ducked into the nursery. In under six months there would be a baby sleeping there. He grinned as he went to the kitchen for a beer, then settled in the living room with some files he wanted to read through.

The sound of the house phone startled him from his work. When he looked at the display he was surprised that it was after three in the morning. His surprise turned to annoyance when he saw Heidi’s number.

Why the hell was she calling his home number?

“What the fuck do you want?”

“You have to help me.” Her voice sounded odd.

“No, I don’t.”

He was about to hang up when she sobbed. “They’re going to kill me.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“I underestimated them. Help me, Trace.”

He was tempted to hang up on her, but the fear in her voice was genuine. And if she were in danger, then so was Seth. “Underestimated whom?”

“Not over the phone. Can you meet me at the twenty-four-hour diner near the apartment?”

“Now?”

“Please.”

“If you’re fucking around . . . I swear to God, Heidi.”

“I’m not.”

“I’ll meet you in thirty.” He hung up without waiting for a reply. He didn’t want to wake Ember, but he didn’t want her waking up and finding him gone, either. He walked into their room and settled on the edge of their bed.

“Ember, sweetheart.”

It took her a few minutes for her eyes to open. When he saw she was mostly awake, he said, “I need to go out.”

She looked past him to the clock and when she realized it was three in the morning, she was instantly wide awake. “Why?”

“Heidi called. She’s in trouble and she’s scared.”

He saw her face darken in response, so he added, “I know what you’re thinking, I’m with you on that, but she really sounded scared. If there is even the slightest chance that Seth could be in danger, I need to do what I can.”

She sat up before she asked, “Did she say what or who scared her?”

“She wouldn’t over the phone.”

“Okay.” Ember started climbing from the bed.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m coming with you.”

“The hell you are,” he snapped. “If there really is something to this, you’re going to be as far from it as possible.”