Two Sides to Every Story (Love Spectrum Romance) (15 page)

“Open your eyes, Angel, you belong to me now.”

That was just what she was afraid of.

“Last warning.”

“And then?” she asked.

In the space of a breath Angela was pulled beneath the water. Her eyes popped open and she sputtered, choking a little in her surprise. Then just as suddenly she was pulled upward and she sputtered this time indignantly, hitting out. Her legs were pulled from beneath her and she screamed out, laughing, “Stop it. Have you gone crazy?”

“Yes,” he answered. “I’ve gone crazy. I’m crazy in love with you.” He pulled her close to his body. “And you love me. That, Angel, is my fantasy.”

“Hmm, I’ve never been a fantasy.”

“You are now. For the first time in a very long time, Angel, I’m happy.”

There was no need to tell his angel that he’d wrestled with his own demons, that he’d slain them and that it had been because of her, her love. The one thing he’d always thought he couldn’t have, the one thing he never believed he deserved. Every question he’d ever had about himself as a man had been answered here in this tub in his angel’s arms. He was a man and she was his woman. The past was the past; it would remain dead and buried. He had his angel.

He pulled her into a kiss, playing along when she attempted to push him beneath the water, only rising up to kiss her again. They were acting like children, splashing water over each other and the floor. He knew they were both relishing the freedom, letting the water wash away their fears.

He reached for the soap and bathed her as he’d promised and she bathed him in return, her eyes soft and brown, turning liquid with desire, with fire, with passion.

Raphael held still as she climbed on him, taking him into her body, riding him as if she had the right. She did. He’d given it to her. He loved her. He held her close, watching her face, her look of total abandon as she rode toward her orgasm, bringing him along. He forced himself not to control things, not to take over. This was her show and she wanted to be the emcee. He saw her face twist, felt her muscles tighten and he couldn’t resist pushing upward, stabbing away at the last restraint.

She came then, falling on him, all tightened muscles, and he caught her scream of surrender in his mouth and continued plunging into her until her scream became his own and his own orgasm shook him to his core. He was gripping her so tightly that her tiny moan of pain finally pierced through the fog his brain had become and he eased the pressure.

“I’m sorry, Angel,” he whispered. “We’ve made love so many times but it was never like this.”

“That’s because we never made love,” she answered back.

“I did,” he insisted.

“I said we, Rafe.”

“So this is how it is when you’re in love?”

“I guess. I’ve never been in love.”

“Never?” Rafe asked her, surprised at her answer.

“Never.”

“Neither have I. How are we going to know what’s normal and what’s not?” he grinned. “What if we’re going about this all wrong? I think we’re going to need lots of practice.”

He grinned again, feeling her heat, feeling himself harden again. He couldn’t believe it. Finally his famed Latin blood was proving useful.

He turned her back to him, then eased her over his shaft, groaning as she slid downward. He crushed her to him, laying his head on her back, cupping her breast with one hand, the other slipping between them to rub her mound. He felt tremors through his entire body, felt his own hard flesh pulsing and pounding, felt the slickness of the two of them as he attempted to touch her in places that he wasn’t already filling.
There was no room
, he thought proudly, and just continued with his trying. She seemed to liked it.

A roar burst loose from his throat and he thrust upwards again a moment after he’d felt her own orgasm happening. He wanted to join her, for them to experience it together, and they did.

They both lay panting for the longest time, unable to be cooled by the now tepid water. Rafe breathed in and out, his breathing rough, his throat raw with his passion.

“Never tell me you’re not an angel. You just took me to heaven,” Raphael whispered, licking the back of her neck. His gut was still twisting from the power of their combined orgasm.

“I saw heaven with you also, Rafe. But I could swear you were the angel that took me there.”

Raphael laughed at the thought. He’d never told his angel that his full name was Raphael not Rafe. He was named for an archangel. Before he’d always hated that. Now, well hell, it tickled him.

He eyed the bowls of fruit and chocolate. After that meal they’d had he didn’t think he’d be hungry again for a month, but he was starving; he needed more energy for the things he had planned. He was going to make love to his angel all night long and he couldn’t very well do that without some nourishment.

He pulled the drain from the tub. “It’s getting cool,” he said to the question in her eyes. “I like this tub. I think I’d like to stay for awhile if you don’t mind.”

“I don’t mind,” Angela answered, settling herself over him, lying against him. She smiled at the look in his eyes. This look she also knew.

“You want some of the food, don’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“When have we ever…when have we ever made love,” she said, admitting that it had been more than sex for her, “and you didn’t want to eat?” She grinned.

“I can’t help it, you deplete me.” He laughed, replugging the tub and refilling it with warm water.

“That’s supposed to be ‘complete
’
you.”

“It is, but it’s also true that you deplete me,” he mocked, reaching for a piece of fruit with one hand and the remote with the other.

It was then Angela knew the tub was never meant to be just a woman’s fantasy. This was definitely meant for a man: food, television and a willing woman. What more could any man ask? She smiled to herself and cuddled with Rafe as he nibbled her between bites of food. He’d stolen more than her heart.
He’s stolen my soul,
she thought as she fell asleep.

Chapter 17

Four nights of passion and now they were down to their last night. There was a subtle change in everything. There was a possessiveness in Rafe that Angela had not noticed before. Now whenever they were in the hotel, if she so much as spoke to another man she could hear him growling low in his throat. He kept her glued to his side. At first it had been romantic and amusing.

But when they woke in the morning, this fairy tale would be over and they would both be returning to reality. She had no plans to allow him to control her life. She needed to take back some measure of control before they left, and she knew just the way to do it.

“What’s taking the waitress so long with the check?” Rafe looked at Angela. “I’ve asked for it three times.”

“The check has been taken care of.”

He frowned and she saw the curiosity and anticipated his questions.

“You?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“Why?”

“I wanted to.”

“Angel, I think it’s a little more than that. I think you’re trying to send me a message.”

“Maybe I am.”

“Why are you trying to ruin a perfect trip?”

“It’s not the trip I’m trying to ruin. I’m just paying for dinner. I told you before we made plans that I would pay my own way.”

“And you knew that was never going to happen.”

“I know, but I can treat you to dinner.”

“Why didn’t you tell me at the beginning that you wanted to treat?”

“Because the last few days you’ve turned into the macho Latino, glaring at guys if they so much as look in my direction.”

“Latino?”

“Remember the conversation we had about stereotypes? We both agreed they were there for a reason, that at least some of the things prove to be true. You’re doing all the things my brother said that you would.

“And I wouldn’t do this if I were Black?”

Angela cringed. She really didn’t know. She’d never allowed any man to get so close. She thought about it for a moment. Yes, Black men did the same thing.

“Okay, I’m sorry about that. But I can’t deal with your thinking you have a right to control who looks at me.”

“And you think that’s because I’m Puerto Rican?”

“If it’s not, then why is it that you’ve changed?”

“Tell me something, Angel. When have we ever gone out together? You’re my woman now. I’m in love with you and you said that you love me. Do you think I want men looking at you as though you’re available?”

“You don’t have the right to make that decision for me.”

“I have every right.”

“How do you think that?”

“I love you.”

“Love doesn’t give you that right.”

“Then tell me what does?”

“Nothing, Rafe. You don’t have the right ever to tell me what to do.”

He dipped his head and glared at her before looking away. “And if a woman comes up to me and tries to hit on me right in your face, how are you going to react?”

“I’ll let you handle it.”

“Right.”

“You don’t believe me?”

“Hell no, I don’t believe you. When the waitress smiled at me you ran your foot up the side of my leg to let me know that I was yours.”

Angela stopped fuming. She hadn’t known that Rafe had even been aware that she’d seen the waitress flirting with him. The fact that he’d answered her in Spanish was something else that had pissed her off.

“I didn’t glare at her,” Angela insisted.

“You didn’t have to. I told her I wasn’t interested.”

“In Spanish?”

“In Spanish.”

“Why?”

“Because there was no need to embarrass her.”

“But you chose to embarrass me?”

Rafe cocked his head. “How did I embarrass you, Angel?”

“The waitress spoke English, she took our order in English, yet she purposefully spoke to you in Spanish and you answered her the same. I find it rude and disrespectful when a person that can speak English speaks another language in front of people that don’t understand it. I told you that before and you promised you wouldn’t do it.”

“Sometimes it’s necessary, Angel.”

“I disagree.”

“How did this get around to being my fault? I was talking about your paying the bill. You’re getting me off the track. I wanted to know why you’re trying so hard to push me away after we’ve had such a good time.”

“I don’t want you misunderstanding our relationship. I’m not yours to own or to possess and before we get home I need to clear that up.”

“You’ve cleared it up, Angel. Now let me clear this up for you. You will never do it again. You will not pay my way. I am a man. I don’t need a woman to pay for me. And I don’t need anyone to think they will have my favors for money.”

“What are you talking about?” Angela asked, curious that he’d said such a thing. She saw his eyes darken, saw a flash of pain, and stopped, deciding not to pry.

Rafe closed his eyes and counted silently to ten. He’d said too much. He understood what Angela had done, that she was afraid of their love and was trying hard to maintain herself separately from him. It was just that her paying for dinner had brought about memories that had no place in this hotel, no place in their relationship. Loving his angel had stirred more than his passion. It had stirred memories that were best left in the past.

* * *

They lay in the bed, each turned away. The argument from dinner lingered between them, filling the bed with ice. Raphael groaned to himself, wishing he’d not reacted so violently to Angela paying for a simple meal.

“
Te amo
, Rafe.”

He turned and wrapped his arms around her, the fear receding as he said a prayer of thanks that she loved him still.

“I’m sorry, baby, tonight wasn’t all about you.”

“I got that feeling. What was it, Rafe? What made you go off like that?”

“Not now, Angel. It has no place in our bed. It was just a memory, one that shouldn’t have interrupted us.”

“Can’t you tell me?”

He hugged her close. No, he couldn’t tell her that before loving her he’d doubted his very manhood. Yes, there were certain things Latin men prided themselves on and that was one of them. There was no need to tell her she’d dispelled all of his doubts without knowing it. He didn’t want to see the look of shame or pity in her brown eyes. And if she hated him because of it, that brown would turn again to that iced topaz that he hated. No, this was one memory that he would bear alone.

He made love to her as if his very life depended on it. He wanted to seal their love, for nothing to come between them. Raphael didn’t want it to end when they returned home. And he wanted her to feel the same.

He suckled her, nibbled her skin, felt her heat and rejoiced. Her nails clawed at his back, her legs gripped him around the waist, holding him firmly to her. Raphael looked in her eyes, saw the fire, and he shook with the knowing. The fire was for him. When they came together he refused to let her go. They were one. She belonged to him whether she wanted to acknowledge it or not, and he belonged to her.

* * *

“Cassie Williams, check again,” Angela said, frantic. “My name has always been on the list. You’ve frisked me enough times to know that something has to be wrong.” Panic began to creep in on her as she wondered if somehow it had been found out that all this time she’d been using a fake name and fake identification.

The surly guard looked again, then leered at her. “There’s nothing wrong. The prisoner had you removed from his list of visitors.”

She didn’t believe it. Adrian didn’t want to see her. A lump formed in her throat and she forced the tears back from her eyes. She would not cry, not here in this place. She caught one or two people staring at her, knowing more than likely they thought she was being shunned for a new girlfriend. She walked back toward the exit. She’d rather that be the case. It would be so much better than being shunned by her blood.

She walked out into the parking lot wondering why he’d gone to such lengths. She’d told him that she would be out of town. Simone had visited him for her. Angela knew without a doubt that her cousin had kept her promise.

This time the ride from the prison seemed to take forever. Angela couldn’t prevent the tears that slid beneath her lashes, wetting her face and leaving a trail of salt. She swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. She’d have to make it up to Adrian. She’d have to spend the next few days doubling her efforts. She ignored the tightening in her gut, the knowledge that her work had piled up and she had three deadlines waiting. It didn’t matter. Although she’d done her best to find something to help her brother, nothing had worked. She’d just have to work harder.

Adrian didn’t believe that she had done her best. She knew that was the reason he’d taken her name off the visitors list. He thought she’d traded him in for Rafe. She hadn’t. She’d have to find a way to make it work, to show her brother that being in love would not interfere with her helping him. At the same time she’d prove to the entire family that Rafe was not a dirty cop. He was one of the good guys. He had to be. She wouldn’t love him if he weren’t.

* * *

“Simone, what happened? I was gone only five days, but Adrian took my name off his visitors list. Did he say anything to you?”

“Yeah, he said he was going to. I didn’t believe him.”

“But why, and why didn’t you call me? You had my number for emergencies.”

“I didn’t think it was an emergency.”

“My brother not wanting to see me? You didn’t think it was an emergency?”

“No, I didn’t. You haven’t had anyone in your life in all this time. I thought you deserved to enjoy yourself. Look, I know he’s your brother and that you love him, but he’s a jerk and a big crybaby.”

“He’s in prison. What do you want him to do?”

“Stop acting like it’s everyone’s fault that he’s there and grow up.”

Angela looked at her cousin, glaring at her. “Did you say anything to him about who I was with?”

“Yes, I told him that you had a boyfriend.”

“Did you tell him that it was Rafe?”

“He already knew.”

“How do you know?” Angela asked, fear simmering just below the surface as she remembered Adrian’s warning.

“He asked me if it was that cop. I assumed you had told him, so I said yes. I mean, how else would he know about it? You okay?” Simone asked. “If it were me I wouldn’t worry about it. I’d make his ass beg me to come back. You’re letting Adrian blackmail you. You all are and it pisses me off. He walks around that prison like he thinks he’s a big deal. He’s got two more years; I’d let him do them. Maybe it’ll knock some sense into him.”

If Angela ever needed her cousin it was now. But she couldn’t tell her that she was afraid, that Adrian had threatened Rafe. If Simone had her way, her brother would spend the rest of his life behind bars and that Angela didn’t want. His being there was killing their parents and putting a strain on her relationship with her brother.

“Simone, I have to go. I have to keep looking. I think I’m getting close.”

“To what? You know Adrian was involved. I know you do.”

She couldn’t listen, not now. “I’ll see you,” Angela said, and headed out the door. She drove home and spent the next five hours combing the streets, hoping to find a tidbit that would be the next piece to the puzzle.

She worked every hour that she could, barely making her freelance deadlines, putting Rafe off, telling him she was swamped. Her heart ached. She wanted to see him, to hold him, to feel alive in his arms, but her fears kept him at arm’s length. She wanted him safe.

She should have known that wasn’t going to go over too big with Rafe. Within five days of returning home he was ignoring her pleas that she was busy. He was at her door and she had no choice but to let him in.

“Hey,” she said, avoiding his eyes.

“Hey yourself. I’ve missed you,” Rafe said.

“I’ve missed you too.”

“Is that why you haven’t picked up the phone and called me, or why you won’t return my calls? And better yet, is your missing me the reason you won’t let me come over?”

Damn.
He’d told himself that he wasn’t going to do that, that he was going to play it nonchalant, pretend that she hadn’t hurt him, that he wasn’t bothered by her refusal to see him. But something had happened the moment she opened the door. He was overcome with wanting her. His need for her to love him tightened painfully across his chest and he wanted her to throw her arms around him, remind them both that they had admitted they were in love.

He stood in the center of the room biting his lips, almost wishing that he’d stuck by his vow not to become involved emotionally with a woman. It never failed; they changed your life forever.

She grinned at him.

He changed his mind. Loving her was worth the pain.

“I had to make up for all the work I’ve missed and I had to go out and get some leads. I’m not having a lot of luck,” Angela confessed.

“Oh, I thought it was me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, I thought it was possibly the romance of the hotel, that you’d been in the moment, and said things that you now regret.”

Angela walked toward him. “Things like what? I don’t recall doing anything that I regret except maybe trying to buy you dinner.” She stopped an inch from his face. “
Te amo
. That’s not going to change.”

She pressed her body next to his, her lips so close that her breath warmed him, then sent chills he couldn’t explain. That had never happened.

Not wasting time thinking about it, he reached for her. “
Te amo
, Angel, and that will never ever change.” He kissed her, the loneliness of being without her the past five days receding, replaced by the memories of their five nights of passion at the Dells.

Her hands were suddenly on him, in his pants, and in the blink of an eye he was inside her. They came quickly, as though an urgent need pushed them. They’d not bothered to lie down; he’d merely entered her where they stood and taken his pleasure as she took her own.

“You did miss me, didn’t you?” Angela moaned as she sank against his chest.

“I see you missed me too.” Rafe laughed. And I’m glad to know it.”