Matchmakers Box Set: Matchmakers, Encore, Finding Hope (31 page)

He twisted, trying to break out of the closet. His face throbbed, his head pounded and his hands…oh, the pain in his hands.

“Sarah!” he called out, but his voice didn’t register. “Sarah!” Again and again, he cried out, but there was no sound.

He could hear her scream. He could hear his mother’s screams. He could vividly hear his father’s shouts, his slaps, his fists on skin, and then there was silence.

Hands were on him. He batted them away.

Carissa was out of breath. She’d run down the hall. She’d tried to force his locked door open. Then she’d gone through the bathroom and to his side. He was twisted in his sheets, pushing at her, flailing his arms about…protecting himself.

“Help her!”

“Thomas, help who? Wake up.” She tried to touch him again, but he batted her touch away. “Oh, baby, wake up.”

He sat straight up in bed. His eyes flew open. She watched as they settled from terror in his sleep to alertness.

“I’m here. I’m here.” She wanted to touch him again, but didn’t dare.

His hair was damp from sweat. He held his hands up and looked them over.

Carissa stood. “I’ll get you some water.” He grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

“No, please don’t go.”

His hand, damp and hot, trembled against her skin. She covered it with hers. “Are you all right? I heard you screaming from my room.”

“What time is it?”

“Three o’clock.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, catching his breath and moving back from her. “I have nightmares sometimes. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You were hurt. Someone was hurting you.” She reached for his face, and he jerked back before he let her hand settle on his cheek.

“Not me. Someone else.”

“Oh, Thomas.” She pulled him into her arms and held him there. All the anger she’d had for him when she’d thrown herself into her bed was gone. She just wanted to hold him and be there for him.

His breath began to settle as Carissa’s hand stroked the back of his neck. Her cheek pressed up against his, and it was soft. Her scent was filling his senses, and he lifted his hands to her arms and ran them softly from her shoulders to her hands until she pulled back slowly.

Their eyes locked. He raised his hand and cupped the back of her neck. Her chest rose in anticipation as he lowered his mouth to hers. He tried to be gentle, tried to take it slow, but he couldn’t resist. He parted her lips with his tongue and took. He pulled her closer and felt her respond as he felt his own passion rise.

He pulled her down on top of him. Her body molded to his. His hands slid up her back, gathering her tank top and pulling it over her head. She shook back her head. Her hair fell over her shoulders, over him, like satin on his skin. Thomas looked down between them. Her ripe breasts pressed against his chest. Her heart beat against his.

In a fluid movement, he rolled her onto her back and drank in the beauty that was beneath him. His hand skimmed over her satin skin, cupping her breasts in his hands. Carissa arched her back and closed her eyes. Her body welcomed him.

He lowered his mouth to her neck as she ran her hands over his back.

“Thomas.” Her voice was breathless. He pulled back and let himself sink into her eyes. “I want you to make love to me.”

There was now nothing more on his mind. He rose and shoved his pants from his legs. He ravaged her shoulders, her neck, and her mouth as he pulled the boxers she’d worn to bed from her body.

It seemed like there wasn’t time to explore. Her legs spread under his weight, and he plunged. She arched and rode with him as he rocked into her.

She nipped at his mouth as he whispered her name against her lips. Her heart pounded in her chest. She’d been touched, kissed, and taken over the edge enough to know no one had ever made her feel like he was making her feel. Every muscle in her body quivered as he moved his body over hers—in hers. The racing of her heart, which beat in perfect time with his, only fueled the moment. Never in her life had she wanted a man more than she wanted Thomas.

His eyes met hers as she climbed with him. Their bodies tensed. Every note she’d ever played drummed in her ears as they spilled over together in a crescendo.

He buried his face in her neck. His breath was heavy in her ear as she pulled his shuddering body against her.

When he became still, she held him tighter. She didn’t want the moment to end—ever. Greed had taken over. She wanted more of those moments.

Thomas lifted his face to look into hers. He touched her hair and shifted just enough to lessen his weight on her. Carissa watched him as his breath returned to normal. She reached for his hand and laced their fingers together.

“I never want to let go of you.” Her eyes were fixed on his and hazy. The words were breathless and sincere. She’d never wanted to hold someone so close to her, always afraid she’d be disappointed in the end. But suddenly it didn’t matter, except that his eyes changed and he rolled onto his back.

She turned on her elbow and looked down at him. “And that just scared the hell out of you.”

“Maybe this was a mistake.”

“We’ve been at each other since the minute you walked into this house.” She rolled up and found the boxers and tank top she’d had on. “The sexual tension was there.”

“So that’s all this was? Sexual tension?” Now he sounded annoyed, and that had her stewing in confusion.

She yanked the tank top over her head. “What the hell am I supposed to think? Did you or did you not want to sleep with me?”

He clamped his jaw and looked away.

Carissa rose and slid into her boxers. She turned to walk out, but he grabbed her wrist.

“Carissa, don’t leave. Stay with me.” He rose up as she turned to him. “Sleep in my arms. I was wrong. This wasn’t a mistake.” He reached his other hand up her arm and pulled her toward the bed. “I want to hold you. I want to wake with you.”

Carissa sat on the edge of the bed. She looked into his eyes in the moonlit room. They seemed lost. She put her hand on his cheek and held it there. “What scared you? That wasn’t the first time you’ve had that dream.”

He shook it away. “I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to be with you right now. I want you in my arms.” He ran his hands up her arms to her shoulders and pulled her back down to the bed with him.

“I want to know you, Thomas.” She leaned in to kiss him. “I want there to be more between us than just sexual tension.”

His lips had lost the softness she’d felt as they’d roamed over her. The sincerity in his eyes had gone dark, and she wondered if he’d ever open up and share his life with her.

The sun was peeking through the curtains. He breathed in her silence as she slept in his arms. He’d made sure they were around her all night long. He didn’t want her to escape him. Never had he wanted to hold so tightly to anyone.

She stirred and opened her eyes.

“Good morning.” Her lips curled into a sleepy, seductive smile.

“Good morning.” He brushed her mouth with a gentle kiss. “I didn’t think it was possible for you to be more beautiful than you usually are. I was wrong.”

“Thank you.” She shifted to get out of bed, but he held her in place.

“Not yet. I want to look at you some more.”

“We need to get to the school and clean up before the electrical contractor shows up tomorrow. I also have students, and so do you.”

He lifted his head and looked at her with a cocked brow. “I have students?”

“One.” She nipped at his lip. “Let’s take a shower.”

Carissa stood and walked toward the bathroom. He propped up on his elbow and watched her walk away. The very fine tone of her body was only more beautiful now that he had touched and tasted every inch of it. Her sleep-tangled hair swayed down her sculpted back, accentuating the perfect roundness of her bottom, which was barely covered by the boxers she wore. When she turned her head back to him, he smiled.

Her eyes became playful as she pulled the tank top over her head and arms and let it drop to the floor.

He sat up. When she crooked her finger to say come, he flew from the bed and gathered her in his arms. Her laughter filled his ears and his heart. Even as he swept her from her feet, reached into the shower to start the water, and felt her lips on his skin, he knew he’d have to give a little of himself to her to keep her. That’s what he wanted. He wanted to keep her. He just wasn’t sure he could.

As a man, he could hold his own against other men. As a musician, there wasn’t an instrument or piece of music he couldn’t master. As a lover, however, he lacked the knowledge of how to care for and love a woman the way he felt Carissa should be cared for and loved.

It amazed Thomas that Carissa could dress and have coffee brewed before he was dressed and ready. Her hair was still wet, and her clothing was casual. He assumed she’d change before her first student, once they returned from the school.

She was staring out the window into the backyard when he walked up behind her and laced his arms around her waist. He settled his hands on her stomach and felt her tighten. “There is something about the morning,” she said softly, leaning into him.

“Promise of a new day with new things to come.” The scent of her shampoo lingered in the air around her, a clean start to a new day, he thought.

She sighed in agreement. Slowly, she turned in his arms and lifted hers around his neck. “It’s been an eventful few days.”

“It has. I’m not sure what to think of it.”

“Let’s do ourselves a favor and not think about it. Let’s enjoy it. Let’s enjoy each other for as long as we can.”

The words, he realized, were spoken by someone who took her days one at a time. When the sun rose, she would start, and when it would set, she would finish. Because of it, there was pain in her eyes—he knew it. He was familiar with how it looked in his own eyes every morning.

“How about I make breakfast? Nothing fancy, but I can fry up an egg and make toast.”

“That sounds nice.” She touched his cheek and ran her fingers through his hair. “I’m going to go practice. Do you mind?”

“I think that would be a wonderful idea.”

Carissa turned to leave the room, and he caught her arm. “Carissa.” She turned back to him. “Sleep in my arms again tonight.” He lifted his hand to her hair. The damp strands slid beneath his fingers as he stroked his hand down its length. Those long, dark strands gave her a power, he thought. She seemed invincible, and he wished he knew how that felt. “Share my bed from now on.”

“Thomas, I need to tell you something.” She rubbed her hand across her lips. “I’ve never…”

“Never?” He raised his eyebrows at her.

She huffed out a laugh. “What I mean is I’ve never slept with someone mere days after meeting him. I know I told you I wasn’t going to take my time, but…”

“Carissa, what happened happened. I don’t think any less of you because we moved things along much faster than either of us would have normally.”

“So you’ve never done this? I mean, you’ve always taken more than four days to know the person you took to bed?” Her eyes opened wide, and he knew the answer she was fishing for. He’d have liked to have more time before he had the chance to even put a crack in her heart, much less before breaking it completely. But he wasn’t going to lie to her.

Thomas diverted his eyes and stood up taller.

Carissa stepped back from him. “I guess not.”

“Carissa, I won’t lie to you. That’s not the way I like to start a relationship either.” Her eyes opened even wider when he said relationship. “Pablo was—is—a very popular man. He’s sexy and talented and comes across as the perfect citizen of the world. Women and men want him.”

“That’s Pablo. Tell me what that has to do with Thomas.”

He took a moment then looked her in the eye. “There are…leftovers.” He hated how he said it the moment it came out.

“Leftovers?”

“What I mean is…”

“I know what you mean. You slept with those who couldn’t get to the top.”

“Carissa, I was young. I wasn’t looking—”

“Stop.” She held her hand up between them. “We’re not married. We’re not even together really.” He shifted uncomfortably. “If that’s who you are…”

“It’s not.” He reached for her. He felt her stiffen beneath his touch. “I don’t use people for sex or advancement. Maybe, in the past,” he admitted to her and himself, “I did indulge when a woman wanted to share the evening with me, but I didn’t actively seek out women to use.”

“But they were there.”

“Dammit, Carissa. I’m trying to open up to you.” He stepped away from her and walked around the kitchen. “I’m not that kind of person. Usually, well-to-do women came on to me, and I was young and impressionable. I did it. I’m being honest with you.”

Carissa nodded. There were tears in her eyes, and the silence between them was deafening. He hated that everything about him was bound to drive her away.

“I am telling you this now so you’ll understand.” He walked back to her and wrapped his hands around her arms. “I have never slept in the same bed with a lover before. I’ve never awoken to see someone there next to me. I have never held anyone else like I held you last night.”

He watched her process what he had told her.

“Go practice.” He kissed her on the forehead. “I’ll make breakfast for us.” He forced a smile toward her, and she returned one equally as forced.

Carissa shut the door to the study and leaned against it. She was in over her head now. She never should have gotten into bed with him.

She batted back the tears that wanted to fall. She believed him, even though she didn’t want to. At that moment, it would be easier to just walk away and pretend none of it meant anything. But that would be a lie.

Oh, who was she kidding? She had wanted to sleep with him since the moment their eyes locked that first time.

She took out her cello and arranged herself in the chair. She closed her eyes and began to play and drown the world and its truths away for a while.

When she emerged from the study, she could smell breakfast, but he hadn’t come to get her. She felt the anger brewing in her belly again.