Rose of Betrayal (7 page)

“I'd say it's more like
a nightmare, friend, and you're the star.”

“Christ, Bernie!”

“Don't worry, she's
in my room.
 
I'll cover for you.
 
Get dressed and get out there.”

           
Neither one was concentrating on
their direction, in their frenzy they collided heads. “Way to go, shit head,”
Ted uttered sarcastically.

“Asshole,” Brad
reiterated.

           
Tripping over the threshold of his
bedroom brought Brad face to face with Bernie standing naked hands on hips,
eyes shooting daggers.
 
“You'd better
have a damn good explanation, or so help me . . . “

           
Clamping his hand over her mouth,
Brad whispered, “Listen, sweetheart, if you value your life, you'll go along
for the ride.
 
We have an unexpected
guest.
 
You spent the evening with
me.
 
You hear.
 
You are my girlfriend.
  
Now get your beautiful body dressed.”

           
Brad's strong muscled arm curling
around her turned Bernie to mush.
 
At
last, he touched her.
 
Not particularly
caring what the circumstances were, she was determined to take advantage.
 
“Hey, baby, do we have to get dressed so
quickly?
 
I mean, if I supposedly spent
the evening with you, why not make the situation believable?
 
I missed you last night.” Preferring Brad to
Ted any day, but never managing to get this far before, Bernie slipped her hand
through the slit of Brad's robe to fondle him.

Angrily grabbing her
wrist to pull it away, Brad exclaimed, “Give me a break, baby.
 
Now's not the time or the place.
 
Be a good girl.
 
Do what I told you.”

           
Leaning forward, pressing her lips
to his, her tongue slipped between the moist barriers.
 
A nude body rubbing against him quickly
returned Brads' penis to attention,
 
any
other time he would have pinned her against the wall and made quick work of
giving her what she wanted, but not now.

           
Shockingly instead, he began to
wonder what it would feel like to hold Sam the same way, to trace her tiny body
with his hands.
  
Surely once would never
be enough.
 
She was the kind of woman, he
had been avoiding, who seeped into your blood and became a habit worse than
crack.
 
Sex with her meant a house, kids,
animals, a van, and a white picket fence.
 
To light the fuse to that kind of dynamite was pure insanity.

           
Brad never wanted a woman cluttering
his life the reason he never allowed them to get too close.
 
His goals came first.
 
Coming close to the flame, burned once was
enough.
 
There was no room for permanency
now or ever.
 
One-night stands kept him
content.
 
Then why was he feeling like
the victim in this melodrama?
   

           
Brad now understood what was wrong
with Ted.
 
The desire filling him with
self-disgust was not for Bernie, but for the pixy doll in the other room.
 
Shoving Bernie aside, he hissed, “Get
dressed, now.”

           
Brads' voice was unusually harsh and
filled with a rage Bernie never witnessed before.
 
His scathing glance further wounded her
feelings.
 
Despite the hurt and
rejection, she fulfilled his request.

CHAPTER
7

“SEPTEMBER 2010”

           
Though
Ted bragged about his success, the lavishness of the penthouses' decor was
beyond Sam's expectations.
 
As she advanced
toward the sofa, her ankles were unsteady due to the luxuriant gray
carpeting.
 
Positioned opposite the large
white leather sofa, twin black leather chairs accented with gray and white
stripped pillows. Adorning the off-white walls were several chrome picture
frames depicting black and white modern art.
 
Penetrating the barrier of windows, the sunset pinking the eastern sky
reflected off tables of diverse dimensions made of sparkling chrome and glass
tastefully circumscribing the room.
 
A
stark scheme revived by colorful contemporary floral arrangements protruding
from massive red vases.
 
A mirrored wall
framed a bar large enough for several white leather chrome stools resting on a
black and white ceramic floor.
 

           
Everything
was impeccable except for the scattered red pillows on the sofa and the
disarray on the coffee table.
  
Remembering
Brad’s mad scramble for the bra brought a renewed smile to Sam’s face.
 
He obviously assumed she had not seen the
item.
 
A pitiful act of desperation
readily detected when she handed him the panties.
 
Her bubble of laughter burst the
silence.
 

           
Apparently,
Brad never lacked female companionship, his exceptional handsome face reason
enough.
 
He was definitely better looking
than Ted, taller, more muscular, with phenomenal piercing black eyes made more
startling by his devilish smile.
 
Before
she had met Brad, she decided Ted's tales depicting him as a womanizer were
true.
 
He certainly possessed the
qualities necessary to make any women swoon, and yet it was peculiar that when
they met she found Ted's stories difficult to believe.
 

           
Despite
the intense heat from Brad's eyes that made her feel uncomfortable on the
outside, inside she felt warm like a melting ice cream cone on a hot summer
day.
 
There was something so aware in his
inspection, as if he knew and understood her.
 
Beware she warned her heart, he was not her type, especially if Ted's
stories were true.
   

           
Ceaseless
thoughts of Brad induced a restlessness that moved Sam toward the windows.
 
Spread before her, like a private spectacle,
the city seemed to rise and smile at her in welcome.
 
Savoring the view, her practical and
adventurous sides began to clash.
 

           
“What
in the world have you gotten yourself into young lady?
 
You are out of your league.
 
Nothing but trouble awaits you here.
 
You are playing with fire.
 
Go home while you can.”

           
“This
is your chance.
 
The cards are in your
favor.
 
Ted obviously wants you.
 
You can have it all.
 
Make him want you bad enough to give you
everything your heart desires.
 
This is
what you always wanted, dreamed of, a career, a life of luxury, adventure.
 
Camelot will never be closer.
 
Play it cool baby and someday you'll be the
queen.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………......................................................................................………………………………………………

           
 
Quickly tugging on beige, corduroy pants, Ted
slipped into a cable knit, white sweater.
 
Stuffing feet into polished loafers, he dashed a brush through straight,
precision cut blonde hair all the while stewing about Sam's impetuosity.
 
Her independence both surprised and annoyed
him.
 
Damn it all, she had robbed him
from the opportunity to impress her by rolling out the red carpet.
 

           
 
Accustomed to a position of dominance, feeling
out of control in her presence alarmed Ted.
 
The sight of her alone aroused him like no other woman.
 
Since she entered his life, his numerous
escapades with other women filled him with reflections of her making obtaining
complete carnal satisfaction difficult if not impossible.
 

           
Ted
was not accustomed to a woman playing hard to get.
 
Normally, they practically bowed at his feet
and willingly did whatever was necessary to get into his bed, or any place else
he preferred.
 
Sam’s virginity infatuated
him.
 
He had never experienced a virgin a
fantasy and thrill he longed to play out, and Ted thrived on thrills.

           
With
azure blue eyes, a boyish face and an intoxicating smile from the moment of
birth Ted got everything he desired.
 
He was
Clara and Bart Peterson only child, proprietors of the largest, wealthiest
thoroughbred horse ranch in Wyoming.
 
Ted
grew accustomed to everyone hovering and arguing over who would tend to his
needs.
 
Possessing a charm that broke
through all barriers made discipline useless.
 
Manipulating people became a game he mastered, an ability that later
enabled him to build an enterprise into the most affluent investment
corporation in New York.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….………………….......................................................………………………………………………
           

           
Entering
the living room, Ted stood captivated by the woman standing by the windows
appearing even more enchanting than remembered.
 
Quietly coming behind Sam, his voice husky and seductive startled
her.
 
She quickly turned to face
him.
 

“Hello, beautiful.”

           
A
lilting welcome that made Sam's heart race and knees click together.
 
One glimpse rekindled the furnace of desire
he had expertly stoked weeks ago, his closeness like a shovel scooping up and
tossing aside all thoughts of Brad. Desperately struggling to steady her voice,
she managed a raspy, “Hi.”
 

           
Grasping
her hips, Ted hauled her to him, her arms willfully enveloping his neck as he
kissed her deeply.
 
A kiss intensified by
one hand eliminating the space between them the other slipping beneath her
sweater.
 
Possessively his mouth devoured
hers tongues touching his delving deeper coaxing what he knew was rippling
inside her to the surface.
 
A gratify1ing
response that proved she had missed him, and wanted him. Claiming her hand, he
lowered it to the bulge stretching his pants, holding it there, he directed the
strokes that brought a rush of passion and made her head whirl.

           
Sam
wanted Ted all right, but not so soon.
 
Her game was just beginning.
 
Easing her hand away, she reached up to caress his cologne freshened
face, then allowed her slender fingers to wander through his tresses to deepen
their kiss.
 

           
Both
inhaled quickly replacing stale oxygen.
 
Struggling to keep from climaxing, groaning from painful desire Ted’s
thumb and finger worked the nipple of Sam's breast, expertise that melted her
into a sheet of desire that he intended to stoke until she begged him to end
her suffering.
 
Of course, she would he
smugly said while becoming lost in their own private hurricane.
 
The pair never heard Brad or Bernie enter the
room.

           
The
embracing couple instantly summoned Brad's scrutiny.
 
Dark eyes zeroed in on Ted's hand moving
beneath blue fluff, a scene that surprisingly twisted his stomach muscles.
 
Like wind over water, rumbling emotions
chased each other across his features nudging them into an expression of
anger.
 

           
He
should be happy for them but was not.
  
Was he jealous?
 
How could he be
when he had just met Sam?
 
Why was, Sam
any different from the many others he had seen Ted devour?
 
Maybe Ted was in love with her, and if so,
who was he to interfere,
 
then again,
maybe not.
 
Nevertheless, deep within a
flashing alarm signaled the change of tides.