Wild Ride: Lance and Tammy (19 page)

She felt him then.  His hands moved over her bottom as he slid into her. It was slow, deliberate, and she gasped. He was deep, deeper than before, and she was still sensitive.  He took it slow seeming to know she was tender, but never taking it to the point to make that tenderness hurt.  Then her body began to respond, and he recognized it immediately.  She didn’t know what it was that indicated to it, but she wanted more and he gave in.  His hands gripped her hips and he moved hard.  She arched her back and did her best not to let her knees give out.  She heard herself shout, while he released a deep throaty groan of satisfaction.  Then he pulled out, gripped her sides to lift her and turn her to face him so he could kiss her again.  His arms moved around her and held her tight to his hard body.  She never wanted this to end.  She could have stood there forever with his wet warm flesh pressed against hers.

Finally he released her and turned off the shower.  Then he took his time drying her off, inch by inch while she stood there trying to do her best not to cover herself.

“You’ll get used to your nakedness in front of me, Tammy,” he murmured as he moved the towel over her legs.  “You have nothing to be ashamed about.”

“You don’t, you mean.”

He looked up at her. “Neither do you, trust me,” he said with conviction. 

She felt heat rise to her cheeks at the compliment.  She really should.  He should know what he was talking about. She just felt insecure about being compared his other lovers.  She’d seen some of them. They were beautiful.

Finally he handed her his robe and went to his dressing room. He came back wearing a pair of dark grey cotton pajama bottoms leaving his top bare. Her eyes went down his body. They hung off his sculptured hips purposely tantalizing her.  The soreness between her legs pulsed.  It felt strangely good, yet painful at the same time.  What did he do to her?

He gave her a slotted look. “I’m seriously spent Tammy.  You shouldn’t be looking at a man like that.”

Her eyes went to his and she blushed.  “Maybe you shouldn’t dress so seductively around me then.”

“Seductive?” He laughed and looked down at his pants like he’d thrown on some old thing.

Yeah right, he looked like a complete hobo.

He smiled and held out his hand. “Come, I should feed you.  I think you’re hungry after that.”

“I think I am.”

They sat on the same two stools that had started it all several hours earlier eating a hardy dinner.  He’d actually cooked her some pasta with marinara sauce while she watched.  Well, she couldn’t really take her eyes off of him. Nothing could have been sexier to her, than a barefoot, bare chested man, working in the kitchen.  It was like her bucket list just got filled in less than an hour.

He poured them both a glass of wine and sat beside her while they ate.  She was famished and finished her plate.  He did the same.

“So, tell me Tammy.  Did I fulfill your curiosity?”  He took a sip from his wine glass.

She wanted to laugh out loud. 
Fulfill?
He exceeded it, jumped over it in a single bound. She couldn’t meet his eyes, but instead stared at his beautiful thick chest. “Yes.” She knew if she did look at him that he’d see the love in her eyes.  She would have to tell him about it sooner or later, but she just couldn’t at that moment.

“Any regrets about giving yourself to me?”

Her eyes met his. She saw concern and shook her head, “No. Never.”
Oh my God, is he kidding?
  That was possibly the most incredible thing she ever experienced.  She’d been fantasizing about this man since she first spotted him five years ago.  Nothing could have prepared her for the tangled mess of passion they just endured.  It was no wonder women fell all over him.  He was a sexual God.

He watched her for a moment to see if she was telling the truth.  After a moment he nodded, believing her. “Good.  Now I think this is the best time to bring it up. I want you to tell me about Richard.”

She did meet his eyes this time.  She felt heat rise to her cheeks. “No.”

He set his glass down and stared at her with determination.  “I think I have a right to know what has made you so wary of a man’s touch. I need to make sure I don’t exacerbate that issue.”

“I don’t think that’s even remotely possible Lance.” She felt her face heat up in a blush.

“Only because I gave you control to do with what you wished.  Only until you trusted me enough to take over.  You know me as a man of integrity, that I would never hurt you, yet you were still frightened.  You did wonder what it was like but your fear kept you from going the limit.  After this, I will be more aggressive when it comes to sex.  If you haven’t figured it out by now, I like being control.  I don’t want to take it too far in a moment of passion and hurt you.  I could never forgive myself if that happened.”

He was right.  If he was the aggressor from the beginning until she felt that trust, she probably wouldn’t have spent the afternoon making love.  “I don’t think I like how much you seem to read my mind.”

“I’d like to know.”

“If I leave it buried Lance, I’ll be fine.”

“It was traumatic, and you of all people, in your profession, know what that can do to someone.  You know what it did to Elaina. If you don’t admit that, you are a hypocrite.”

She ground her teeth together and looked away. Again, he was right. Before she hesitated and changed her mind, she opened her mouth and the words started to pour out. “I was seventeen.  Richard was twenty and home from college.  He ended up getting me alone in my room.” Her eyes went back to him.  “I don’t know what got into him. He was angry.  He threw me down on the bed and tore most of my clothes off.  He was drinking too.  I could taste the whiskey on his breath when he kissed me.  It was repulsive.”

“Jesus Tammy.”

“He kept saying I belonged to him and he was going to make sure I knew it.  I told him no, but he didn’t seem to hear.  I never thought he had that in him Lance.”

He reached over, took her hand and brought it to his mouth planting a kiss on the palm. “Well, honey, if you accepted what you looked like to the opposite sex, fueled by alcohol, I think I can see what got into him.”

She blushed again.

“However, that doesn’t make it right.”

“I know.”

“How did your parents handle him?”

She hesitated knowing that this would make him angry. He tilted his head in warning and she sighed.  He wasn’t going to leave her be until she told him everything.  “My mother told me to basically not embarrass the family and let people know what happened.  That Richard was going to be my husband and I was just naïve.” His lips parted in a silent gasp but he never said anything.  “My father and brother never knew.”  Surprisingly he just nodded, but to his credit he kept his distaste and anger over that information to himself. Still, she knew Lance wouldn’t forget what she’d told him.  When he finally spoke, his voice was calm and her respect for him grew.  He was not adding to her stress over the past by giving his opinion over her mother’s reaction. She knew though, things would be a little different next time he met her mother or Richard.  Hopefully that wouldn’t happen again.

“Seeing as though I was the first man you knew intimately, he didn’t get too far.”

She shook her head.  “He didn’t. My mother came home unexpectedly and called for me.  It seemed to pull him out of it.  All in all, it was a horrible experience for a naïve teenager.  I mean, my mother never told me anything.  I wasn’t allowed close friends, so I really had no one to talk to. I honestly thought that intimacy was hurtful and ugly.”

He cocked a brow and she chuckled. “Is that so?”

She blushed.  What they just experienced was far from that. “I meant until I got older, and saw how in love my friends were with their husbands.  I also learned a lot nursing, but I still couldn’t get beyond that fear that it was going to be horrible.  Some things stay with you when you’re young and vulnerable.”

“I won’t let him near you again.”

Her heart swelled with the promise. “I can handle him.  I’m not seventeen anymore.”

“You did well, I admit, but sometimes that’s not enough.  I’ve seen some horrible things in my line of work.  I’ve prosecuted men who’ve been warned off their wives, or girlfriends, just to have them go back and really hurt, or kill them.” He swallowed hard and took another drink from his glass.

She watched him carefully. Something else was bothering him. “I confessed.  It’s your turn.”

He stared at her for a moment.  Then to her surprise, nodded. “I guess it’s better to hear from me than public knowledge, which is usually riddled with gossip.  It’s morbid Tammy.  I know you’ve heard some horrific things too, but I think this is about as bad as it gets.”

“I can handle it.”  She’d seen some pretty horrible things come through the emergency room doors.  Things she would never talk about.  Things that happened to small children and the vulnerable.

“I know you can or I wouldn’t tell you,” he said honestly.  He took another drink from his glass before he continued. “I prosecuted a man for raping and murdering women in his neighborhood.  He was a sick bastard, but for some stupid reason the judge let him out on bail before the trial.  He looked innocent I suppose and had a good lawyer.  He was a family man, ties to the community—shit like that.  He owned a dry cleaning business.  His lawyer argued that he needed to provide for his family during the trial, so he let him go with a quarter of a million in bail.”

“What happened?”

“I was the lead ADA, but I had a good friend who also worked out of the office with me.  He was my co-chair.  We were close actually, probably about as close as Colt, Jacob and I.  He had a family with two kids; a boy and a girl.”

Her hand covered her mouth seeing where this was heading.  She never said another word and he continued with his story after a brief pause so she could collect herself.

“Security is tight in this building.  He couldn’t get to me.  Riley lived with his family in a modest brownstone.  The bastard picked the lock, broke in, murdered Riley, his son, and raped and killed his wife.”

“Oh God, Lance I’m so sorry.”  She wanted to hold him, but she could see he wasn’t done yet.  The pain in his eyes was undeniable. She knew this was a very rare glimpse into Lance’s soul.

“The girl managed to get away, but she’s got some issues over seeing her family murdered.  She’s got a good therapist though.  She’s about twelve now and is living with her aunt in Newark. I usually visit her when I come here.”

“Did they catch him?”

He nodded.  “I stayed on as the prosecutor despite the DA trying to get me to recuse myself.  He was concerned about my mental well-being.  However, I wanted to make sure they threw the book at him. We only had circumstantial evidence, but my passionate closing arguments are what sealed it.  At least that’s what the Jury said when we polled them after. He got life in prison without the possibility of parole. I wouldn’t let Riley’s daughter take the stand.  She was barely six and had enough trauma.”

“That’s why you came home.”

“It is.”

“That’s really horrific Lance.”

He nodded. “It was.  Time makes things easier.  Seeing how Alexis has been coping has been my therapy.  She’s doing well.  She’s smart and does well in school.”

“She sounds wonderful.”

“She’s beautiful like her mother.  Riley’s wife Leanne, was a wonderful woman.”

She squeezed his hand. “Something like that really scars someone.”

“That goes both ways Tammy.” He tilted his head acknowledging her intimacy problem.

“It does, but like you, I’ve think I’ve found my therapy.”

He chuckled, wrapped his fingers through hers and pulled her off her stool toward him between his thighs. “Is that right?”

She nodded letting her eyes drop to his mouth.

He undid the belt of the robe and pulled the ends apart, moving his hands around the bare skin of her waist and over her back. “Your skin is incredibly soft, like warm velvet.”

Well, since they were confessing. “I like the feel of your hands on me.”

The corner of his mouth pulled up in a sexy lopsided smile. “Is that right?”

She nodded.

“Well, I can certainly oblige you.” He pulled her against him and kissed her.

***

The next morning she awoke to a tangle of limbs.  The sheet was also involved in the Malay. She was half across Lance’s torso with her thigh over his legs and her head on his chest. His arm was wrapped around her, with the span of his hand on her backside. She lifted her head and looked at him. His face was turned away toward the edge of the bed and she could see the beautiful lines of his perfectly proportioned stubble laden jaw.  Everything about this man was perfectly proportioned. Even his chest, that rose and fell with the deep breathing of a relaxed sleep, was perfectly muscularly symmetrical.  He was just so darn beautiful to her.  She thought she was in love with him before.  She was getting in too deep now. What was she going to do when things returned to normal back home?  She somehow knew he wouldn’t want to continue a relationship after this brief affair.  It wasn’t like him to. He admitted that he’d never been in a serious relationship.