Never Give You Up (20 page)

Mary moaned and feathered her fingers through his soft hair. She gripped him hard, holding him there as he teased and tweaked and bit her nipples. She’d been hurt in the past, but as she lay there beneath the solid weight of Terry’s body, she knew without a doubt he wouldn’t hurt her. He touched her as though she were the only sunshine in his dark life. As though she held the key to any shred of happiness he could grasp, and she wanted to make him happy. Wanted to make him love her.

Terry knew she was close. He pushed deeper, harder, and when he wrapped her legs around his shoulders and rolled her hips with him, Mary let go.

Wet heat trickled down her thighs as Terry continued pumping her.

Mary’s mind became a hot mess of satisfaction as she trembled and whimpered, numb to everything but their bodies clinging together.

She closed her eyes and moaned as Terry released a rough moan and found his own shuddering climax.

“Yes.”

Terry lay atop her, panting; she remained still, perfectly numb and content. She didn’t think she could move even if she tried. After a few minutes she managed to roll to his side and put and arm and leg over him. He kissed her forehead and held her close.

Neither said a word.

They didn’t need to talk. Not tonight. Right now she needed to feel him next to her, holding her, making her feel like she made the right choice. She fell asleep with her cheek to his chest, feeling more at home then she’d ever had before. Yet her dreams were plagued with visions of a masked killer, out to destroy everyone in his path.

Chapter 10

The cello resounded a beautiful solo through the Tail Wind Lounge, located off the lobby in the Sea Scape Hotel. Terry tapped his fingers on the table, in tune to the jazzy beat.

He loved the music almost as much as he loved his restaurant. The Tail Wind was decorated in a deep and luxurious navy blue with silver accents on everything. The hundred-plus mirrors adorning the walls reflected smiling faces, the glow from chandeliers, and shimmering crystal dancing off of each other. Everywhere you looked something glimmered and dazzled under the lights.

Terry sipped his drink while he waited for Mary and Wanda to join him for a quiet family dinner, remembering as a young boy how those many mirrors intrigued him. How could he look into one and see the side of his head in another? Or the back of his head from another one at the same time? The mystery and magic of those mirrors bedazzled him as a child. If his parents couldn’t find him, everyone knew he’d be hiding in the lounge.

He chuckled and sipped his drink again. As an adult those mirrors were a great benefit. Nobody would dare stand up and try to surprise him from behind. He watched everything. He saw everything. He knew everything. His table had the best view.

Wanda strolled in first wearing a beautiful red gown with her dark wavy hair hanging loose off her shoulders. No wonder his father loved her instantly. She was gorgeous, and smart. He watched her discreetly as she graced their floor, the trail of her gown billowing behind her.

His stepmother smiled and nodded to a few regulars, as well as the staff, then took her seat opposite Terry on one of the plush high back chairs. “Hello, darling.” She smiled wide, almost as if she had an excellent secret. “Wait until you see her.”

He eyeballed the doorway but Mary wasn’t there. “When is she coming?”

“Tsk, tsk, boy. Never question a woman’s arrival.”

Terry chuckled at his stepmother’s haughty remark and lifted his hand to beckon their waiter. “Champagne, please, Johnathan.”

A short moment later, Johnathan arrived with a cask of ice and set it on the table. “If I may, sir?” At Terry’s nod, the young man poured two glasses for each of them and gently set the bottle of Krug Clos du Mesnil, a Côte d’Or Chardonnay, on ice.

“Everything is going well tonight, Johnathan?”

The young man nodded and smiled. “Absolutely, sir.” He folded his hands in front of him, his stature stiff and sure. “I’ll return when your lady arrives.”

Not only was Johnathan the best waiter in this city—as far as Terry was concerned—he also took charge of the lounge. The Tail Wind ran smoothly at all times because of Johnathan’s quick wit and charm, and Terry respected the man.

“He’s such a good boy,” Wanda said, staring after him.

Terry watched, amused as Wanda’s eyes drifted to lower places as she watched him walk away. A hint of color touched her cheeks before she turned her attention back to her stepson and smiled.

“How is it that you treat your staff so well? You’re polite to them. How do they do their job with such efficiency when you’re soft on them?”

Terry pursed his lips to halt his laughter as Wanda stared at him with wide, incredulous eyes, as if treating people fairly seemed foreign. “I believe in treating
my
employees with respect, and paying good wages, they in return do their job well. In that circle, my guests are happy, and I’m happy.”

Wanda sighed deeply. “Your father wasn’t like that.”

His good mood dimmed slightly. He knew his father could be tough, but hearing her say it aloud made him shift in his seat. “Dad wasn’t always easy, especially on me.”

She leaned closer, elbows on table, hands clasped together. If her dark eyes could slice open an already festering wound, they looked at him like that right now. “I always wanted to do something. Something more for the business, but Colton never let me.” She leaned back, her chin lower, lips pouting, the expression on her face softened almost instantly. “He wasn’t always nice to me.”

Terry reached across the table and patted her forearm, hearing these words for the first time. He hadn’t realized until now that maybe his father had been hard on more people than just his son. But why would she tell him now? His father was dead, and he couldn’t turn back time. “I’m sorry.” He truly meant it. “But what would you want me to do? Everything is taken care of, as it always has been.”

“But I can do many things. I know people—”

Terry’s gaze drifted to the doorway, and his mind went blank.

He blinked, not quite believing who stood there looking like a flower rising in the desert, surrounded by cacti.

Terry didn’t even feel Wanda pull her arm away as he stared in complete shock and awe at the beauty walking toward their table.

Her hair was piled high with a few ringlets framing her face. Silver earrings shimmered under the lights. A frothy white gown, tied around her neck and tapered down, barely covered her pert breasts and flowed like water down to her heeled feet.

He pushed up from his chair and pulled out hers. “Wow,” was all he managed to say as Mary gracefully took her seat.
Holy flying fuck.

“Thank you.”

Johnathan arrived within seconds of Mary taking her seat. Terry had a hard time containing his disappointment that he couldn’t comment more on her beauty before the goddamned waiter arrived. He sat in pouting silence as the girls fussed over each other like a couple of hens.

“Champagne, Mrs. Billings?”

And that fucking name.

Mary glanced at Terry, an odd expression on her beautiful face, before she looked back up at Johnathan. “Please, call me Miss Lector.”

Terry shoved forward, suddenly interested to speak. “Lector? As in the serial killer from those movies?”

Wanda gasped in outrage and Mary chuckled. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m not one in the same. Lector is my maiden name. My new driver’s license, health card, and other documents arrived two days before I came here. Right in the nick of time. I’m officially a Lector again. It feels good.” Her smile was simply stunning.

Terry pushed his seat back. “Excuse me for a minute, ladies. I need to make a quick call.” He walked away from the table, heart pounding, as he pulled his cell out of his pocket and dialed her number.

He held his breath as the answering machine kicked in.

“Hi. You’ve reached Mary Lector. I’m out at the moment, but please leave a message and I’ll get back to you when I can. If this is a wildlife emergency please notify the ministry immediately. Thank you.”

Terry returned to the table, smiling like a man who just received the best blowjob ever. He took his seat and listened in as Wanda asked Mary a few personal questions.

“Tell me about your family, sweetheart.”

Mary fidgeted with her napkin, a sign he knew she must be nervous. “Well, let’s see. I’m an only child. My parents divorced when I was a teenager, and Mom moved to Florida for the weather.”

Wanda smiled in wonder. “Florida is beautiful. I especially love the beaches in Miami. And your father, did he stay in this…Sliver Point?”

The troubled expression on Mary’s face worried Terry, as well as her stiff body language. Her father must be a sore spot, as Terry’s was for him.

But like a trooper, Mary lifted her chin slightly. “Silver Creek, not Sliver Point. And yes, my father is there.”

“How is he? What is he like?” Wanda asked, totally unaware that her questions were quickly becoming too much for Mary. Terry was about to put a stop to it, but Mary reached under the table and put her hand on his knee.

“He lives deep in the bush away from any human contact. I haven’t seen him since I was a young girl.” She cleared her throat and took a healthy sip of champagne before she continued. “He lost his marbles after Nam.”

Terry stared hard at Mary. He had no idea about her family life. Why hadn’t he asked her these things before? He was so caught up in wanting to take her to bed, he never considered finding out about these important facts about her life. He felt like an asshole. A horny dog who couldn’t see beyond taking her clothes off.

Wanda seemed bent on getting to the bottom of the woman who’d captured Terry’s interest. “Ah, I see. Your mother left when he went crazy?”

“Wanda, that’s enough,” Terry warned. “This is supposed to be a nice family dinner, not an interrogation.”

“It’s okay.” Mary squeezed his knee, and turned back to Wanda. “No, she didn’t leave him then. The voices didn’t get really bad until the eighties, shortly after I was born. One random fall day he took his rifle and we never saw him again. My mother may as well have been a widow all those years. As much as I love my dad, I will never try to find him. His only peace is quiet, and I respect that.”

Terry took a deep breath and stared at Mary with new eyes. Even though she’d lived a rugged lifestyle, he thought her upbringing must have been relatively easy. Who would’ve guessed small town life wasn’t a stroll in the park? Now he knew better. Now he understood her more.

“My mother was granted a divorce several years after his abandonment. But enough about me.” Mary pulled her hand away from his knee. “Tell me about your family, Wanda.”

Terry’s lip twitched in amusement as Mary put her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her fist. The view from his seat was simply stunning, and cute all at once. He imagined she felt awkward as hell, sitting there in a five star restaurant, wearing a beautiful gown and high heels, in the company of powerful, and very rich people.

And she was a trapper.

A mountain woman.

His little minx who shot a beaver in the back of the head.

For the first time in a long time, Terry felt at ease. He settled back in his chair, content to simply watch her, not really listening to Wanda’s story. He casually sipped his champagne, enjoying the atmosphere and the company. Despite the depressing turn of events, he sorely needed a nice, quiet night with the people he loved.

“. . . difficult for young women . . . most of my brothers are gone . . . many poor people in my country.”

He frowned and sat straighter. “I thought you were from Los Angeles.”

“I am, darling.” She winked. “But I wasn’t always a rich girl.”

Terry settled back in his seat again, watching in silence until their dinner arrived. He never realized Wanda lived a poor life in her younger years. As far as he knew, she was a spoiled rich girl who knew his mother from back in the day. Now that he thought about it, he didn’t know much about Wanda at all, or that she once had brothers.

His stepmother had always treated him like her own son, and no matter what fell into her lap in this crazy family life of theirs, she always held her head high and made him feel loved. But hearing her speak of a past he knew nothing about alerted him to the fact that maybe Wanda wasn’t who she claimed to be.

Why bring these details out now?

He had always been overworked and overtired to pay much attention to his father’s second wife, or anything that had nothing to do with business.

As dinner was served, he quietly contemplated digging up her background, but shook off the notion. Wanda was a good woman and loved Colton very much. If not for her his father would’ve died of loneliness after his mother passed away.

Wanda was the string holding them all together.

As they finished dinner and Wanda took her leave to return home, Terry ushered Mary back upstairs and made urgent love to her on the couch, with that sexy dress shoved up around her neck.

* * * *