Temptation (A Temptation Novel) (32 page)

I managed to avoid her by playing volleyball with the other guys until the sun disappeared, to be replaced by the semidarkness of a clouded-over sky. Occasionally, a sliver of the moon slipped through. The air was heavy with dampness, and the smell of rain was quickly surrounding me.

When it was too dark to play ball any longer, the older boys started a bonfire behind the house, and everyone gathered around it to roast marshmallows. Without looking in the direction where Ella sat with her sisters beside the flames, I made my way to Father and bent down to whisper in his ear.

“Father, I’m not feeling well. May I leave for home now?”

He scrutinized me with sharp eyes, trying to detect any rebellion. I must have acted my part well, because I breathed a little easier when he answered, “You may go, son. But I am trusting that you really are sick and don’t have any mischief in your heart.”

I could only nod in agreement, feeling slightly guilty, but not enough to deter me. I quickly went to the barn and led Rumor out of the tie stall. In little time I had the horse harnessed and hooked up to the buggy. I was just about to step up to the seat when the crackle of pebbles underfoot sounded behind me, causing me to jump slightly before I whirled around to see Ella watching me.

“Why are you leaving before everyone else, Noah?” she asked suspiciously. I remembered instantly why I’d never liked her before.

Without missing a beat, I told her, “I’m not feeling well. We ate at the diner for lunch today. I think I have food poisoning,” I lied.

“Will I see you tomorrow?” Her tone was slightly demanding and her face was set in a tight grimace.

Climbing into the buggy, I said distractedly, “We’ll see how my stomach is doing.” The disbelief was evident in her eyes, and I quickly added, “Let’s not rush into anything, Ella—okay?”

Snapping the reins, I rolled away and left her standing in the driveway. I thought things were bad before. Now I was truly going to hell. Forgetting Ella, I pushed Rumor to cover the distance between the Weavers’ farm and ours quickly.

When I turned into the driveway, probably ten minutes had passed, but it felt like ten hours. Poor Rumor was lathered with sweat from the hard trotting I had asked of him. Normally, I would have taken him straight to the barn, removing his harness and rubbing him down before I did anything else. But tonight I had other ideas. With my heart pounding in my chest, I parked the horse and buggy by the shed, setting the brake. Jumping down, I moved around the front of Rumor, pausing to pat him on the neck and promise him that I’d be taking care of him soon.

Then I did what was probably the stupidest thing in my life by walking rapidly to the phone. Without hesitation, I picked the handle up, dialing the number that I had memorized weeks ago. Settling myself on the bale of hay, I covered my face with my hands and waited for her to answer.

23

Rose

Seeing the Light

HIDING IN THE
corner, I peered across the misty, smoke-filled room. The crowd of teenagers was so thick that I could barely see between the dancing bodies, especially with many of the bodies mashed together in passionate embraces. Feeling the color flooding my cheeks, I looked away, trying to avoid the R-rated show by listening to the booming music instead. Feeling the rhythm vibrating through me, I swayed to a song I really liked. The beat made my blood feel warm, pumping more surely than it had since I last saw Noah. Closing my eyes, I let the sensation wash over me.

I wasn’t at all worried about being bothered by any of the guys at the party, even though every male in the room had checked out pretty much every female that arrived. It appeared that Hunter had placed an invisible force field around my body when he decided to shadow my every move in the house.

Sam, of course, had immediately abandoned me, bounding upstairs with his Barbie doll, leaving me to face the roomful of strangers alone. I wasn’t in a social mood, thoroughly disgruntled that I had been tricked into coming to the party. I must have been giving off the “
leave me alone and don’t talk to me”
vibes, because all the other kids did just that, steering clear of me. Except for Hunter, who would occasionally bring me a fresh soda and say a few words. After he’d run a drink errand, he’d retreat to a safe distance of about ten feet away, spending his time broodingly drinking beer and staring at me.

Ignoring his hot eyes, I continued to move to the music. It was weird to be surrounded by all these people yet still feel absolutely alone. Sadness squeezed my insides. I struggled to hold the tears back, when I suddenly felt large hands on my waist and a deep voice in my ear.

“Do you want to get some fresh air, Rose?” Hunter said loudly enough to be heard over the blaring noise.

I could smell the beer on his breath. I thought about saying no, but the cold loneliness that I was experiencing compelled me to answer weakly, “Sure.”

Taking the hand he offered me, I let him pull me through the press of bodies in the center of the room, coming uncomfortably close to several couples tongue tied together. That really grossed me out.
Yuck.
I actually began pushing on Hunter’s back to get off the makeshift dance floor quicker.

Finally, we broke through all the writhing bodies and moved down a narrow hall to the back door. Leaving the stuffy warmth of the house behind, I breathed the fresh, cooler air in deeply. Letting it fill my lungs to capacity in an attempt to cleanse the disgusting cigarette smoke from the tissues.

If Hunter didn’t have a firm grip on my hand as he pulled me across the dark, unfamiliar yard, I probably would have stumbled onto my face. I glanced up at the heavy clouds that were hiding any glimpse of the moon. The atmosphere tingled with the prospect of rain.

I could see his target now. A pretty little gazebo with an intricate railing of swirls and curlicues nestled between a few large pine trees. The white paint made the structure leap out of the blackness. Although I was glad to be able to see something, nervousness suddenly slammed into me, constricting my stomach, the breath catching in my throat.

Hunter’s big feet thudded onto the wooden floor, stabbing the night air. Guiding me to the bench, he sat beside me with his legs stretched out, leaning his back against the spindles leisurely. His overly relaxed posture, arms spread out along the railing, his legs crossed over, reminded me of a stuck-up house cat. Even though his face was well hidden in the shadows, I imagined it held the same arrogant confidence his body was exhibiting. The whole picture really bugged the crap out of me.

My irritation wasn’t enough to erase the nervousness. I sat rigidly on the edge of the seat, not really wanting to kiss him, but knowing that it was probably inevitable at this point. I couldn’t keep from wondering at the same time if his kiss would be similar to Noah’s. My heart began to race, more from terror than anticipation while I waited for something to happen.

He wasted no time when a few seconds later his hands closed over my shoulders. Surprising me, instead of kissing, he began pushing his thumbs firmly into my shoulder blades. I definitely wasn’t expecting a massage. Wow. It felt pretty good. Although his touch made me want to bolt back to the house at first, his fingers were expertly working to rub the anxiety out of my sore muscles. Even though my mind was screaming in protest, my back relaxed, slumping a little when the tension was released. This wasn’t so bad, I decided, losing myself to the pleasurable sensations for a minute. It certainly wasn’t the same as when Noah touched me. I wasn’t experiencing all the crazy palpitations in my gut or the blood surging below my skin. But it was okay.

“Your muscles are so tight, Rose,” he said slowly, speaking in rhythm with his hand movements.

“Yeah, I’ve been pretty stressed-out lately,” I commented almost to myself, letting him continue. Only now his strong fingers had moved up onto my neck and I wondered how he had learned to work his fingers like that. I was about to ask him when he interrupted my musings.

“Were you and that guy pretty serious?” he asked softly, his hands pausing while he waited for my answer.

Not only could I hear the curiosity in his voice, but also the deep sound of physical attraction. I wasn’t just an inexperienced girl anymore. Noah had made sure of that. Thoughts of him popping into my head pricked me into awareness and suddenly Hunter’s touch, as good as it felt a moment ago, bristled my skin now and queasiness bubbled in my belly.

What the heck was I doing out here in the dark with this pumped-up jock anyway?
I wanted Noah touching me, not Hunter. The knowledge flooded my brain, leaving me with the realization that I wouldn’t ever want another guy to touch me the way Noah had. I’d probably end up running away to a convent to become a nun.

Sighing, I mumbled, “Yeah, we were close.”

I had been feeling fairly certain that he would behave himself, especially since my big brother, his newest and best buddy, wasn’t far away in the house. And even though Sam was preoccupied, he still was here somewhere.

So I wasn’t prepared when everything went to hell. He said in a raspy voice, “I’m going to help you forget him, Rose.”

In a fluid motion that took less time than my eye blinking, he pounced, swiveling me around and crushing his mouth onto mine. I was so startled at first I didn’t react at all. I just numbly allowed him to kiss me. But the shock wore off quickly, followed by fury that he assumed he could do whatever he wanted with me. I started pushing on his chest with all the force I could get out of my little body. Hey, I was only five foot four. What could I do to the football star? I did manage to tightly seal my mouth shut, proud to say.

Either he wasn’t getting the picture, or he didn’t care. Ignoring me, he continued his rampage of my mouth, not giving me a centimeter of space to even attempt a scream. I had ignorantly believed that if I made it clear to him that I didn’t want him kissing me, he’d back off. Now, with his hands roaming around on me, and hearing the muddled groan from his lips as they smashed onto mine, real fear started to take hold of my senses. I didn’t have the fraction of his strength, and realizing how helpless I really was sent a spasm of near hysteria coursing through my veins.

Crap.
He managed to get my mouth open a bit, and then his tongue started probing around. Once the panicked feeling took hold of me, all rational thought left my brain. It was replaced by a primal instinct that I didn’t even know I possessed until I bit down hard, immediately tasting the salty-iron taste of his blood in my mouth.

He jerked back, still holding on to my shoulder, and I could hear him sucking at the corner of his mouth in the shadowed darkness. Expecting his wrath, I was preparing to scream my heart out, punch his stuck-up face and sprint to the house.

Again he surprised me when he spoke in a calm voice with what sounded like amusement peppering his words. “Gosh, Rose, you are really wild.”

He must’ve been the masochistic type. Instantly, I came to the horrid conclusion that my little bite job had only caused him to be more turned on to me.

Now that my mouth was free of his, I growled, “I did not invite you to molest me.”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry about that—I just couldn’t resist you.”

“Well, you better back off, or I’ll tell Sam about this,” I threatened in a low snarl.

“Hey, calm down. I thought you were used to being kissed,” he said coyly.

“Oh, I am, but not by you,” I snapped back between clenched teeth.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you, Rose, really I didn’t. I won’t try to kiss you again unless you invite me to. I promise.” Without seeing his face clearly, I imagined he was smiling, all sure of himself.

“I won’t be doing any such thing. You can count on that,” I hissed, wrenching free from him and marching toward the house. I instantly felt better now that I was free from his hold. I figured I was getting the upper hand in the situation, but he kept up with me, staying so close on my heel that if I stopped he would have bowled me over.

“Where are you going?” he demanded.

A few more feet and I’d be in the house, safe again.

I retorted without turning back, “To the bathroom—or do you have a problem with that?”

Flinging the door open, I swerved to the left, into the little room. I attempted to slam the door, but his body blocked the way and impatiently, I glared up at him.

“Do you want a soda?” he asked me, a frustrated expression pinching his face.

He must be totally clueless, I decided, shouting back, “No, I don’t want a soda!”

My yell caused the side of his mouth he wasn’t still sucking on to twitch slightly. I decided at that moment, as I ran my gaze over his tall, athletic frame, that it was probably a good thing that he had a sense of humor. After all, with most of the inhabitants of the house drunk or doing the wild thing, he could easily have forced me to do whatever he wanted and no one would have even noticed. Maybe in another lifetime I would have even fallen for him—maybe.

He was definitely one of those type-A people who didn’t like to lose anything he’d set as a goal for his ambitions, so I wasn’t shocked when he amicably replied, “I’ll get you a Mountain Dew, then.” He sauntered away, and for a brief instant, I thought, he
is
persistent, then I slammed and locked the door securely.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief, I leaned back for a moment to clear my head. Then I swung into action.

I mumbled an “Eww” as I stepped over someone’s puke that had pooled up on the sea-blue tiled floor. I didn’t even know who owned the house, but I bet there was going to be a pair of very upset parents arriving home from vacation in a day or two.

Reaching the sink, I pumped a big gob of liquid soap onto my hand, and running the water as hot as it would get, I vigorously rubbed the suds all over my face and neck to erase any trace of Hunter from my skin. I even dabbed the foam onto my tongue, zapping any evidence that his tongue had been in there.

The chalky taste of the soap made me gag, and along with the smell of the puke, I started to feel sick. Somehow I managed to rinse my face without upchucking. The towel on the floor was just too disgusting to use, so I decided to drip-dry and hopped over the mess. Opening the door a crack to let some of the choking smoke in, which ironically was an improvement from the smell in the bathroom, I peeked out.

The music was still blasting, and I sighed in relief seeing only a couple of girls sitting on the floor in the hallway, looking as if they were about to pass out. The coast was clear for the moment, luckily without any sign of Hunter.

I knew I’d have to move quickly to get away from the house before he came back. Nimbly, I slipped out of the bathroom of horrors. In two long strides I grabbed the door handle, turned it and was back out in the fresh air in a matter of seconds.

Putting my brain back into action, I figured my house was about three miles away. I could walk that easily, I rationalized. Besides, Sam deserved a real good scare when he discovered his little sister was missing. That’s what he got for leaving me alone with his jerky friend anyway.