The Penance of Black Betty (6 page)

              “What if it’s all I remember?”

              He took her hand and threaded his fingers between hers. “It won’t be.”

              She hoped she wouldn’t disappoint him. He was so wonderful, so thoughtful and kind. She wanted to give him something in return. Not as payment. She’d learned that lesson on the plane, but just for them…something solid and real to pin their hopes on that she could be the woman he knew again, even if she didn’t have any idea who that person was.

              Slowly, she rolled to her side and waited for him to turn his head and look at her. He did and his adoring expression made her breath rush out of her. Placing a hand on his cheek, she eased toward him and touched his lips with her own, testing. He barely moved. She pressed her lips to his more firmly and closed her eyes. His hand came up, fingers tangling in her hair as he kissed her back.

              Heat flared low in her belly. She knew him. On the most basic, primal level, she knew Alistair Ingram. With their lips and bodies pressed together here on the sand in Cozumel, there was no doubt that she’d been with him like this before.

              The more the kiss deepened, the more familiar he felt. Somehow, this was the answer to everything. “Take me inside,” she whispered, short of breath and dizzy with lust.

              “Inside?” He was so uncertain, like he was afraid he’d scare her.

              “This—this closeness between us—is making me remember. Well, not exactly remember, but--”

              He slammed his lips back into hers and lifted her up as he stood, the possibility of memories a strong incentive to carry her across the sand and into the cabana. “Tell me if you want me to stop. I don’t want you to think you have to do this. Any time, if it gets to be too much--”

              It was her turn to shut him up with her mouth pressed firmly against his, her hands on the back of his head, holding him against her, her tongue delving between his warm, wet lips. She couldn’t get over how this man—a virtual stranger to her—felt like a live-wire link to her present life. Part of her.

             
If she could only remember!

              He laid her in the center of the bed and held himself over her, looking down into her eyes, both of them soaking wet. “You feel this? This is the connection we have? It was instant, and we’ll always have this, Bethany.”

              “I believe you. I feel it.” She ran her hands up his sides and over his strong back. “I want to feel more.”

              Alistair slid his hands under her and untied her bikini top. When his fingertips brushed her nipples, she couldn’t help her sharp intake of breath. His touch hummed through her body. Her own hands ran up over his smooth, warm back.

              She wasn’t sure how to proceed without him giving her orders. She’d never been free to just explore a man at her leisure.

              As if reading her mind, Alistair rolled over, pulling her on top of him, her bikini top falling to the side. Bethany hesitated only a moment before kissing his neck, his collarbone, his shoulders. She circled the darker skin around his nipple with her fingertip.

              Her breasts skimmed across his abs, making her shiver. She’d never known want like this before. Never so deeply, so all-consuming. Not that she could mentally remember, but her body had. It remembered this want. This need. The throbbing pulse between her legs that screamed for his attention.

              “What do I like?” she whispered against his chest. “Show me.”

              He plucked the ties on either side of her bottoms, untying them. Then he pulled her up while he scooted down underneath her until her knees rested above his shoulders on either side of his head. “You like this,” he said, his breath tickling her thighs. He grabbed her butt and pulled her down against his mouth. With a flick of his tongue and a suck of his lips, she knew he wasn’t kidding. She’d loved this.

              Mentally self-conscious of being the one on top, she held still and closed her eyes while pleasure overwhelmed her. Alistair gripped her tighter  and rocked her against him as he lapped and teased with his tongue. She grasped the top of the headboard and held on tight. Her hips moved on their own accord, urged on by Alistair. Soon she was riding his face with abandon, moaning and crying out while he rolled her nipples between his thumb and fingers.

              Nothing had ever felt this good. All she could see was a blinding orgasm coming for her and she didn’t care what happened after. She could die for all she cared—she had to have it. It possessed her. She felt its spark—a quick flame of bright heat—and chased it, faster, faster, pulling herself forward and pushing back using the headboard for leverage. Alistair sucked and licked harder, his fingers delving between her ass cheeks to hold her against him. The flicker of heat caught, an ember smoldered, glowing brighter until a flame ignited and set her on fire. She cried out, loud. Her thighs quaked against Alistair’s head.  He held her down against his mouth working every bit of release from her body.  She shuddered and collapsed forward, bracing her hands against the wall. Still, he stroked her sensitive, swollen flesh with his tongue, slowly, gently, while her breathing slowed and her heart pounded.

              Finally, he guided her back so she was sitting on his chest. His face was slick, his eyes glazed and hungry. “Are you okay?” he asked.

              She let out a throaty chuckle. “Are you kidding? You couldn’t tell?” She’d never been better in her life. She didn’t care if she remembered one single thing. This was a life she belonged in.

              Alistair laughed and rolled her over, kissing her. She tasted her salty-sweetness on his tongue and lips, smelled herself on his face. She reached down and untied his swim trunks. Her hand pressed against his hard erection. She loved the feel of it aching to be inside her. He helped her shove his trunks down then kicked them off. Bethany took him in hand and stroked his length. His skin was hot and soft, his head wide and eager. She didn’t want to wait any longer.

              “Do we need…?” She couldn’t remember if she was on the pill. She hadn’t taken one in the past week though.

              “I’ve got it.” Quickly, he reached inside a travel case on the nightstand and pulled out a condom. It took him only seconds to roll it on.

              “What’s my favorite position?” Bethany asked, avoiding looking him in the eye.

              He rolled on top of her, spreading her legs with his knees and brushed her hair back from her face. “Look at me.”

              She did. As soon as her eyes met his, he pushed inside her. She arched up, her breasts pressed against his chest. He leaned his forehead against hers, his eyes never wavering from hers. His thrusts were fast and deep. She heard the little whimpers escaping her throat, but couldn’t believe they were coming from her. Her hands clenched his ass, urging him on. Who was this woman inside her? This woman obsessed with Alistair Ingram?

              She felt herself clench deep inside. He ground his hips against hers and groaned. They were both so close, about to fall over the edge. “Don’t hold back,” he said, and thrust in fast bursts that made her see stars.

              The incredibly fast friction was more than she could stand. “God! It’s—I—oh!” She came hard, contracting around him. He kept thrusting, deeper, purposeful, panting until he let out a deep groan of release.

              Alistair lowered himself beside her and pulled her into him, both of them wet with sea water, sweat and sex. “Well?” he asked. “Did anything come back to you?”

              She looked up into his eyes and a flash of a memory hit her. “You in the shower. Wet. Naked. I’m with you.”

              He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over her lips. “Several times.” He kissed her softly.

              “How about now?” She couldn’t believe how bold she was being. Maybe she had been a dominatrix once she got away from Trent.

              “Sounds like a bloody good idea to me, Sweet Girl.”

              “Sweet Girl? Is that what you call me?”

              He shook his head, a melancholy smile touched his lips. “It is now.”

             
TWELVE

              She was a sweet girl—now. Alistair’s Bethany—Black Betty—wasn’t sweet. She could be, when she was spent and lying open beneath him, but it was fleeting. This girl—this Bethany—was sweet. She did something to his soul, to his heart and he felt like he was cheating.

              It was ridiculous. She was her—one and the same—Bethany Stavars. Still, her personality was so changed, it was hard not to think he was with someone entirely different.

              He loved her still. What made her the woman he couldn’t leave Vegas without was still here in her core, just buried a bit deeper. He glimpsed it when she let herself go on top of him, against his mouth. She took without apology.
That
was his woman.

              This Bethany’s shy femininity spoke to him, made him want to take control. Protect. No wonder she had been a submissive ten years earlier. He wondered what she’d think of the collar she’d given him with his initials engraved in it to use on her—the one found around her neck by the police when she lay unconscious in his foyer.

              He shook off the thought. This was a good evening. A bloody damn good evening and nothing was going to ruin it for them.

              “Ready,” she called from the bathroom where she’d been preparing for their shower.

              Alistair strode across the room and opened the door to a cloud of steam with a naked goddess standing in its center. He couldn’t imagine losing his memory. If this image ever slipped his mind…he shuddered to think.

              She held her arms out to him and he walked into them, wrapping his own around her. So soft, so warm and fragile. In the light of the bathroom, he got a full view of her bruises. Her ribs and back were covered with black and blue welts. He knew she had a set of staples in her scalp under her hair. The red circle around her neck where her ex had choked her had almost faded completely, but Alistair would never forget what it looked like. He lifted a finger and traced it along the front of her neck.

              He wanted to kill Trent. He’d find him and he’d kill him with his own hands.

              “Hey,” she said, touching his face. “I’m okay.”

              He took a deep breath. “Thank God.”

              He quickly reminded himself that nothing was going to ruin this evening, took her hand, opened the shower door and led her inside. He held her against him under the hot spray of water, wanting to feel her heart beat, her chest expand as she breathed. She lightly ran her fingernails up and down his back. They were back in Cozumel and even if she never remembered one single thing from their past together, it was perfect. They had a future to look forward to.

              “I’m so glad we’re here,” she said.

              “I was just thinking the same thing.”

              She looked up, got a spray of water in her face and they both laughed. He took a step forward, backing her out of the water as she wiped her eyes. “I want to forget anything happened,” she said, running a finger down his chest. “I know it’s not going to be completely possible, but I want to try. It doesn’t feel like I don’t know you even if I don’t remember being with you. You feel familiar to me—you feel…right. So, let’s have a good time, okay? A normal time. I want to get back to living my life—present day—however we usually do that.”

              Normal and usual were going to be difficult considering she was one hundred percent a different person, but he wanted nothing more than to live their lives like they had been, to not let this derail them. “We can do that. I know we can. And even if it’s different than what it was, it’s a new normal for us.”

              “But, I won’t know it’s different, so it’s all new to me.” She sucked in her bottom lip before putting on a brave smile.

              “Every day with you has been something new.” He laughed. “So, I can take this all in stride. No problem.”

              She smiled, then concern crossed her features. “What about your job? Shouldn’t you be getting back?”

              What had she heard? “Don’t you worry about my job or anything else. I agreed that this trip is about us having fun and finding our normal—old or new normal. That’s all I care about.”

              “But, won’t they need to have you on set to film?”

              Alistair turned her back to the wall and leaned in against her. “I’ll be on set when I get there. Not another word about it.” He nipped her plump bottom lip with his teeth before kissing her, getting a shocked gasp and a giggle that buzzed between their lips.

              He took her hands and pressed them against the tile over her head before letting his mouth taste her jaw, her neck, her chest. She was succulent, ripe. He could devour her.