Fade To Midnight (25 page)

He cursed, in that weird language that she couldn't quite place, but he couldn't resist her. He teased her folds apart, and delved, boldly. Stretching her, opening her. Spreading her lube all around.

Yes.
He was going to do it. Salvation was at hand.

The second his mind was made up, he took charge. Everything went faster. He shifted her as if she were a doll, and wrenched his pants open. Her skirts billowed around them, voluminous puffs, like sea foam. Like a bridal gown, pale and fragile in the dark.

The stray thought startled her, but she gave into it. Who cared if this was makeshift, unplanned sex in the front seat of a car. It was also a sacred wedding night between true lovers.

The heart decided, not the circumstances.

Tears ran down her face again, at the exquisite blessing of it. The tender way he handled her, the way her body yielded to him. Eager, trusting. He deftly guided the head of his cock against her, caressing her with it until they found the perfect angle. And then, the shuddering delight as she tried to relax, to let his big, stiff cock slide into her.

It hurt, but it was also…oh. So. Deliciously…
good.

No latex. She didn't care. She didn't feel irresponsible. The normal rules were irrelevant. Every gesture, every caress, achingly poignant and tender. Charged with significance. Magnificance.

She arched as he held her hips, thrusting deeper. Gathering her closer. He placed her hands on the back of the car seat, and started to move, surging up inside. She sobbed with each marvelous stroke. It was a constant discovery, how much pleasure her body could bear, how much emotional voltage she could carry. Every slick, driving thrust jolted her deeper into a happiness so intense, it was frightening. She was thrilling with the wonder of the violin's high note, but the intensity never subsided. It only swelled, deepened. The orchestra joined in. Jungle drums, organs, crashing percussion, sea waves breaking.

The climax ripped through her, lighting up every dark corner with the blazing light of total awareness.

As she drifted back, it was with an odd sense of relief. It was all good. There was nothing bad hiding in there. No terrible darkness that did not yield to the light. No matter what her family said, no matter their fears. She wasn't broken, or crazy.

She no longer had to bear that burden of stomach-clenching doubt. And without it, she could finally relax. The relief was exquisite.

She draped over him, panting. Almost drowsing, until it became evident that he was still hard, throbbing inside her with unabated urgency. His heartbeat pulsed deep inside, against her womb. He was rigid with the effort of staying still. He stroked her back, reverently.

She lifted her head. “You didn't come.”

“No,” he said.

“Why not?” she asked. “Are you trying to prove something to me? Something about your macho manly self-control?”

“You give me too much credit.” He pressed a finger against her mouth. “I just figured we should save kids for when we're more settled. Let's sort things out before we make babies.”

She stared at the shadowy gleam of his eyes.
Ulp.
“Ah, maybe you're right,” she whispered.

“Which is not to say that I'm not into it,” he said.

“Into what?”

He lifted her so that he withdrew halfway, and settled her down again, a slow, liquid stroke. He swiveled, stirring her around until she writhed and whimpered. “Into babies. With you. I'm all for it.”

“I, ah…we just met today,” she whispered.

He kissed her throat. She felt the gentle nip of his teeth, the rough swipe of his tongue. “That doesn't count,” he said. “Not for us.”

That could not be argued, but she still felt shy. “Most guys don't talk about babies on a first date,” she babbled. “It's one of the big no-nos for girls. Quickest way to make a guy run screaming.”

“I'm not running. You couldn't chase me off if you tried.”

She clutched him tighter, biting her lip. “No.”

“Are you running?” he asked, his voice a low rumble.

“No,” she replied.

“Well, then.” He lifted her up, with no effort, and slid deep inside her once again, with a groan of pleasure.

She cleared her throat, tried to organize her thoughts. “Well, I think you deserve to…that is to say, I think you should finish.”

“Ah.” His voice was velvety. “So you want my baby now, then?”

She giggled. “What I want is to watch you explode. There are ways to make that happen that don't make babies.”

He was silent for a long moment. “You keep playing me.”

She kissed his cheekbone, trailed kisses down his jaw, his throat. “I'm not playing you,” she said, and she forced her rubbery limbs to function. She clambered off, dragging herself off that thick, throbbing prong. Then she sank to her knees in front of the seat, between his legs, in a billowing poof of pale chiffon, and grabbed his cock.

“Now
I'm playing you,” she said, and took him in her mouth.

Oh, boy. So big, so hard. He smelled so sexy. Hot and earthy, sticky with her juices. She didn't have flawless technique to boast of when it came to oral sex, but she'd never been so inspired. She was so excited, she came again herself when he exploded in her mouth.

The orgasm originated in her chest, bursting through her arms. Her fingers tingled, glowed. Flowers burst into bloom in her head, pulses of violet light. She wiped her mouth, pushed away the hair stuck to her face. Tongue-tied and sticky and shy.

Kev dragged her up onto his lap and hugged her. Tears ran down her face, and she was completely unembarrassed. It was good, it was fine. It was wonderful. Then she kissed his face, and found it wet.

Her heart opened so wide, she thought it would break, become something she never knew a heart could be. Vast and pure and fearless.

Some endless time later, she forced herself to pull away from the sweet, lazy nuzzling. “I should go,” she said. “To the hospital.”

He stiffened. “Why?”

She braced herself. “We should start from a position of strength. We show up at the hospital, like any concerned daughter and her boyfriend. That's not the behavior of a crazy girl and her kidnapper.”

“We're not dealing with reasonable people here,” he said. “Fuck them all. Let's just leave. Disappear.”

She considered that seductive idea. Loving it, even though it was unthinkable, with her little sister in the equation. “To where?”

“I don't care. Anywhere. It doesn't matter. Let's tan reindeer hides in Lapland. Run an emu farm in South Australia. Herd goats in Crete. Spear fish in the tidepools of a South Sea island. I'll find a way to support us. I've got lots of skills. I'm quick with languages.”

She pondered that. “It sounds great. But even if I didn't have Ronnie, it would mean giving up all hope of finding out about the first part of your life. And you'd have to give up the second part, too, that you worked so hard to build. You'd have to start out from zero. Again.”

“I'd be with you. It would be worth it to me. Just say the word.”

She pressed her hand to her shaking mouth. “Oh, wow. Kev. You are so sweet. I don't know what to do with you.”

“What you're doing so far really works for me,” he assured her.

She stifled her giggles, and refused to let herself fall into the vortex of another kiss. “Let's go to the hospital, and brazen it out.”

He radiated disapproval as he drove, but when they parked in the hospital garage, he draped his coat around her shoulders, and took her hand. Everything felt different with his energy sustaining her.

They made their way down the mazes of corridors, various reception desks, wending their way towards the ICU. People kept staring. She caught a glimpse of herself in a window, and realized why.

Her hair was mussed into a voluminous mass, her eyes smudgy and huge with that after-midnight slut look. Her cheeks were a feverish pink, her lips red and puffy. Frothy frills exploded below the hem of Kev's coat. She looked like a girl who had just been nailed by a big, gorgeous guy in the front seat of his car. And Kev looked like a god. So tall, so perfect. His face was somber, his green eyes watchful. Women's eyes stuck on him and stayed, helpless to detach. Heads turned, bodies swiveled to follow. People stopped walking to watch where he was going.

And he was clutching her hand. Hers, Edie's. Pledging himself to her, offering to run away with her. Her chest felt like it would burst.

A weird counterpart to the knot of terror in her belly as they turned the corner and were confronted with her whole family.

H
aving spent most of his life, or what he knew of it, in what amounted to emotional outer space had its advantages, Kev reflected. He knew who he was, insofar as a bashed up, brain-damaged amnesiac could, and he was at peace with himself. Disapproval felt like the yipping of a faraway dog to him. About as significant. People could think whatever the fuck they wanted. It didn't change reality one bit.

But that blast of icy disapproval hurt Edie. Fucking bastards never gave her a break. Or so he thought, until a slim young girl in a lavender dress detached herself from the group and ran headlong at Edie, knocking her almost off her feet in a furiously tight hug.

“Veronica!” snapped a skinny older woman with a vinegary mouth. “Come back here this instant!”

To her credit, Veronica ignored the old hag, and just buried her face against Edie's shoulder. Yay. He wanted to applaud the kid.

“Sorry,” Edie whispered, over her sister's shoulder. She jerked her chin towards the others. “About them, I mean. If looks could kill.”

“Not your fault.” He gave her a quick, wry smile. “And I don't care.” He cataloged the rest of the group. The skinny, dried-up older woman who had scolded Veronica, one chubby younger one, both in evening gowns. An older guy, with glasses. Two bodyguards. One was a big, muscular black man, the other was the ass-faced gorilla with no forehead who had driven Edie this afternoon. The one who'd spit on the ground in her presence. The one who needed to lose a handful of teeth.

The stringy older broad stepped forward. “I cannot believe this,” she said. “Your father is at death's door, and you bring this person to his bedside? Have you lost your mind?”

Edie let out a sharp breath. “Aunt Evelyn, this is my boyfriend, Kev Larsen,” she said. “Kev, my aunt Evelyn Morris.”

Her resolute dignity made him proud. He nodded politely at the woman's empurpled face. “How do you do?” he asked, stopping short of offering his hand to shake. That would be over the top.

“I'm not enjoying this masquerade.” The woman's voice was shrill.

Edie's voice remained even. “And this is Tanya Morris, her daughter, my cousin. And Marta is…is Marta here?”

“She's in with Uncle Charles,” Tanya said. “They'll only let in one family member at a time. They don't want him agitated.”

Edie forged on. “Dr. Katz, our family physician,” she said, pointing at the older, bespectacled guy. She nodded toward the big black man. “Robert Fraser, from our security department.” She gestured toward the Neanderthal buttface. “And you met Paul Ditillo earlier, of course.”

“Ms. Parrish, are you aware that your father's security staff were attacked this afternoon by this man?” Ditillo asked. “Almost fatally?”

Kev rolled his eyes. “Fatally, my ass.”

Edie blinked. “I beg your pardon?”

“One of them is undergoing emergency surgery on his knee,” Paul said. “The other has a broken nose, a dislocated jaw and a concussion.”

Shit.
Busted. Edie looked up at him, confused. “What's this?”

He shrugged. “They jumped me. One grabbed me from behind. I didn't know they were your father's people.” He shot Paul a glance. “They should be more polite if they value their kneecaps and noses.”

Paul's face reddened. “This man is dangerous. It's our job to protect you, Ms. Parrish, and you are making it very difficult for us.”

Edie caught her luscious lower lip between her teeth. “I doubt Kev went off deliberately looking for Parrish security staff to assault this afternoon, Paul. You told me yourself that you sent them to follow me.”

Paul's nostrils flared. “That's what I expected you to say. Mr. Parrish said you were probably brainwashed.”

Edie ignored that dig. “Can I go in and see him?”

“Marta's with him now,” Evelyn said. “He goes in and out. I assume it was brought on by the stress. Of your little escapade.”

Kev laid his hand on Edie's shoulder. No wonder she was stressed. These people were nuts. Edie's sanity was in such stark contrast, it seemed like craziness to them.

The door to Parrish's room opened. A statuesque Barbie doll in shimmering gray satin and lots of bling came out, dabbing her perfect mask of makeup with a Kleenex. She saw Edie. True to theme, her mouth tightened like a prune. It aged her fifteen years in an instant.

Then she saw Kev. Her face went blank. Not the snobbish disapproval of the aunt and the cousin. This was recognition. And fear.

Her gaze skittered away. “Have we met?” he asked her.

She shook her head. “No, no. I'm sure we haven't.” She sounded breathless. “Please excuse me. It's just that you looked a little like…”

“Like who?” He couldn't control the hard note of command.

Her gaze darted from him to Edie. “Um, nothing. Excuse me.” She scurried, heels clicking, down the hall, toward the bathroom.

Edie gazed after her, mystified. “What was that about?”

“Not a clue,” he murmured. But he and Blondie were going to be having a talk, sometime soon.

Edie kissed Ronnie on the top of the head, and murmured something in her ear as she pried the girl's arms off. She put her hand on the door, and gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry to leave you alone with that.” She jerked her chin at the clot of hostility down the hall.

He smiled at her. “I'll live.”

She grabbed a handful of his shirt. “Don't disappear on me,” she blurted. “Don't walk back into the pages of my novel, or into the fifth dimension, and leave me stranded here alone. That would suck. Got it?”

“Fuck, no,” he assured her. “You couldn't pay me to leave. I'm loving this dimension.”

Her quick smile clutched his heart. “Me, too.”

She went on in. Evelyn Morris strode over, grabbed Ronnie and frog-marched her out of harm's way. The girl stumbled along, sniffling.

He contemplated the scowls and poisonous glares coming his way with stoic calm, but it made him uneasy to be here at all. It felt counterintuitive, bringing Edie to a place where she clearly was not valued or respected. But probably only the big dude himself was authorized to commit his daughter to a mental hospital, and he wasn't going to be signing any paperwork tonight. Kev was almost grateful to whoever had treated the arrogant bastard's wineglass. His timing couldn't have been better.

He'd get Edie the fuck out of here and get her home, where he could proceed to convince her of the wisdom of blowing off these brainless pinheads definitively. They could be three states away by tomorrow.

Of course, she'd never leave the sister, but whatever. The effort to convince her could be a whole lot of fun. Even if it was in vain.

He found himself entertaining vivid images of various heated methods of persuasion, and remembered that he'd given his conceal-all coat to Edie. Damn. No more sex fantasies, or these people would have cause to add “sex maniac” to his list of dangerous attributes.

Edie stumbled out the door some minutes later, eyes bleak. That sadistic son of a bitch. In a hospital bed with tubes up every orifice, and still he found the energy to make her feel like shit. He hugged her. “So?”

She leaned in toward him. “He's strong enough to be pissed off at me,” she said wearily. “Which is a good sign, I guess. We have to wait for the toxicology report to have any idea about drugs, or poisons.”

The sphincter-mouthed aunt and cousin were still glaring.

“Babe,” he murmured into her ear. “Let's get the hell out of here. There is nothing to be gained from talking to these people.”

“Robert and I will escort you and Ronnie home now, Ms. Parrish,” Ditillo said loudly. “And Dr. Katz will accompany—”

“She's not going anywhere with you,” Kev said.

There was an uncertain pause.

“She needs care,” Evelyn announced to the room at large. “She's mentally unstable. Paul, Robert, please take care of it.”

The two men started moving toward him. Kev shoved Edie behind him, and gave them a thin smile. “Keep your distance,” he said. “Or you'll have reason to be glad that you're in an ICU already.”

The two men had enough experience to read the energy. Other people in the area felt it, too, and stopped to look. Kev just held the head bodyguard asshole's gaze, pushing back with his will. He was ready to follow through, if he had to. And hoping like hell that he wouldn't. They wouldn't want violence here. It would be undecorous, embarrassing, public. Kev didn't want it either, it would fuck them up, and make their situation worse. But these guys wanted it still less. He was banking on that. He could not let them take Edie. Not an option.

Paul's eyelids fluttered. “You will be hearing from us.”

“I'll be looking forward to that,” Kev said, meaning it. He turned to the cousin, and the aunt. “Ladies. With all due respect, you can go fuck yourselves.” He turned to Ronnie. “Except for you, of course.”

He swept Edie down the hall, as fast as she could totter.

He shouldn't have said it. It was childish, undisciplined, and it weakened his overall position, but it had been irresistible. And the shocked giggles coming from Edie made it more than worth it.

He scooped her into the elevator, silently exulting in the hysterical shaking in her slim shoulders. It would help her unload some of this tension. She took her hand from her trembling mouth.

“I cannot believe you just said that to them,” she choked out.

“Me, neither,” he admitted. The elevator opened, and he yanked her out. “Hurry. I want to put some distance between us and those people, before they lock both of us up.”

She struggled to keep pace with his long strides. It was all he could do not to scoop her up and toss her over his shoulder. Like they needed to draw more attention to themselves right now. “Do those people have a financial reason to mess with you?” he asked.

She looked perplexed. “Ah…well…”

“What I mean is, do they get zillions if you get put away?”

“To be honest, I don't know,” she said, sounding lost. “There are so many strings attached to Parrish money, I just automatically assumed I'll never see a penny of it, so I haven't bothered to inform myself.”

“You need to stay away from them,” he said. “Far away.”

“See what I meant, about this being dangerous for you?” she said dolefully. “Just being near me is dangerous. Before you know it, you'll find yourself charged with some crime, just because you were unlucky enough to find me in a bookstore this afternoon. I can't do this to you, Kev. It's irresponsible of me, and—”

“No!” He rounded on her, making her totter backward. “This is not your fault,” he said. “You did not put me anywhere. I put myself here. There's nowhere else I want to be. And I'm not leaving. That's final. So that train of thought stops right here. Everybody off that train. It is permanently derailed. Do I make myself perfectly clear?”

She stared up at him, breathed quick, and licked her lips, eyes wide. Those soft lips shone, pink and tempting. “Ah…OK?”

He stepped back, somewhat abashed. “Just so we're clear on that.”

Edie was still owl-eyed. “Wow,” she said. “That was, ah, pretty damn masterful. You're scary when you do that.”

He shrugged. “So shoot me. Your freaky family stressed me out.”

She looked imediately contrite. “I am so sorry about that. I told you they would attack you, and it's the last thing I wanted to—”

“Do. Not. Start.” He bit the words out.

Edie cleared her throat. “Ah. Yes. So what now?”

“Home,” he informed her, trying to sound masterful. “My home.”

“Edie? Thank God you're still here. I was afraid I'd missed you.”

They jerked around. A tall, handsome guy in a tux was loping down the corridor towards them. “Your aunt told me you just left.”

He grabbed Edie, and hugged her. And kept on hugging her. And on, and on. Edie looked startled, and a little smothered. Kev counted the seconds. One. Two. Three. Four. Fuck this shit. He tapped the guy's shoulder, not gently. “Hey. That'll do. Back off.”

Blue eyes looked up, from where the guy's face was nuzzled voluptuously in Edie's hair. “Excuse me,” the guy said, all innocence, as he detached himself. Too slowly. “I didn't know you were, ah…” He glanced at Edie, waggling his eyebrows. “That he was, er—”

“I am,” Kev said. “And we are. Keep your hands to yourself.”

The guy lifted his hands with a chuckle that annoyed the shit out of Kev. “Whew! I didn't mean to, ah…whoa. No offense.”

“None taken,” Kev lied, after a meaningful pause. “Yet.”

The man turned to Edie, reaching out to her. Jerking his hand back when he intercepted Kev's gaze. “I'm sorry, Edie,” he said to her. “It's been a hell of an evening, and I was so grateful when I heard that Charles's condition was stabilizing. You must be so relieved.”

“I am,” Edie said quietly. “I look forward to finding out what actually happened to him. They still need to run a lot of tests.”

“I hope you'll keep me in the loop.” The guy stared at Kev, his eyes lingering on the scars. “This is the friend that you spoke to me about?”

Kev was startled. She'd spoken about him to this plastic putz?

“Yes, it is,” Edie said. “Kev, this is Desmond Marr, the vice president of Helix. Des, this is Kev Larsen.”

Marr held out his hand. Kev stuck out his own. He didn't want to shake that slobbering wanker's paw, but he didn't want any scenes, either. Not worth upsetting Edie. The guy's smile was perfect for a male underwear catalog. He couldn't bring himself to smile back. Not tonight.

“I asked Des if he might put you in touch with someone who could help you search Dr. O's old research archives,” Edie told him. “I'm sorry, I meant to tell you before, but we got, um, sidetracked.”