Words of Seduction (11 page)

S
uzanne knew she’d offered Rick a challenge, but she didn’t expect his response. However, he remained unpredictable. When she expected him to be cool, he was hot; when she expected him to be fast, he was slow. As she lay there watching him, she’d expected a cool reply, a devilish smile or a slow seductive look. He liked to take his time, cherish his control over a situation or a woman. And he definitely had the upper hand. He could reject her as he had before. She had taken a gamble and was fully aware that she could lose again.

But she didn’t lose and Rick wasn’t slow or calculating. One moment he was standing in the doorway, and the next his hot, wet mouth covered hers like hot fudge over ice cream. The touch of his lips shattered her completely, filling her with an insatiable hunger for
him. She’d dared him to show her passion—but what he was delivering was much more. He expertly removed her teddy and caressed her breasts and then her thighs.

“You’re beautiful.”

She unbuttoned his shirt. “Let me see how beautiful you are.”

He removed his clothes and brought her to him—his flesh meeting hers, releasing a sense of untamed, primitive emotions. Soon he was between her thighs, sending tingles of ecstasy through her that escalated to a moment of explosive pleasure.

“Hold me closer,” he whispered.

“I am.”

“Tighter. Like you’ll never let me go.”

“You think I might?” she teased.

“Dammit it wasn’t supposed to be like this,” he grumbled.

“Like what?”

For a moment his smoldering glance met hers, then he kissed her again, erasing the question from her mind. She’d made love to him before but she didn’t remember it like this. As her hands cascaded over the muscles of his back she didn’t feel the soft, supple flesh of a boy barely out of his teens, but that of a man. And it was a man who held her—but not just any man: her husband.

She caressed the inside of his leg with her foot. “I’m already enjoying the benefits of being your wife.”

Rick briefly paused, feeling the impact of those words and what they symbolized.
Your wife.
She was his wife, they were now bound together by the laws of God and man. He’d been married before, but it hadn’t felt like this. This wasn’t how he’d planned it, but he
could no longer deny how much he’d wanted this moment. At last she wasn’t another man’s wife. She was his. Something that had started as a farce—a marriage of convenience—felt real.

He held her tightly in his arms, almost afraid that she would disappear.

“God forgive me,” he said in a hoarse whisper. “I won’t let her go.”

“Rick, is something wrong?”

Suddenly everything seemed wrong—his vengeance, his betrayal, his lies. “I didn’t think it would be like this.”

“Me, neither.”

But Rick knew Suzanne didn’t know what he meant. All those years ago they’d had sex and he’d expected it to be the same now, but somehow it meant more. Much more. They were more mature now and theirs wasn’t the hot, frenzied lovemaking of passionate youths. He wanted to possess every inch of her—her scent intoxicated him, her full breasts filled him with desire and the sacred place between her thighs was his haven. He wanted to please her and let her know that she belonged to him. But he didn’t expect to want to belong to her. He’d never cared about belonging to anyone. He’d prided himself on being his own man and never being tied down.

Rick squeezed his eyes shut, wanting to ask her why she’d thrown him aside all those years ago. But he wouldn’t let himself be that vulnerable. His memory of that young girl didn’t coincide with the woman beside him now. The woman who accepted his son without question.

“Something’s wrong,” she said.

He opened his eyes. “I just wish—”

She pressed her fingers against his mouth. “The past can’t be changed. We only have now.”

As he gathered her close, Rick knew that God may forgive him for all the wrong he’d done, but Suzanne never would once she knew the truth.

Suzanne soon fell asleep and Rick pulled the covers up to keep her warm, then he stared at the ceiling as the moon cast shadows on the wall.

He couldn’t let himself succumb to her charms again. He had to keep his distance or this marriage wouldn’t work. Only a weak man let himself be ruled by emotions and he was far from weak. He had to remember who Suzanne really was. What she was capable of. How could he let himself forget their last meeting when she’d met him outside the hardware store? For a second he’d let himself hope that she was going to say that she’d told her father to leave them alone and that she loved him. She hadn’t even tried to talk to him in order to give him a chance to banish her father’s words from his mind. That she was “using him just because she was frightened.” That “she didn’t know her own mind and would never run off with him.” Instead she’d offered excuses he didn’t want to hear. It was only days later when she started planning her wedding. He knew that Suzanne could blow hot and cold and he’d be ready for when the ice princess returned.

But she didn’t. Over the following weeks Rick watched Suzanne, waiting for her to change back to the Suzanne he thought he knew: the arrogant Rand who put manners and pride before everything else. Instead
she amazed him with her tenderness toward Luke, her patience with Mandy, who did the housekeeping while Suzanne looked after Luke as she contacted different nanny agencies. Rick was particularly interested. “They all sound good,” he said, looking at their bios.

“They’re meant to, but we can’t just hire anyone. I had a nanny who was a fussy woman and always made me climb the stairs on the tips of my toes.” Suzanne raised her voice to mimic that of her former nanny. “On the toes, dear, it helps your balance and is great for the calves.” Rick laughed and Suzanne returned her voice to normal. “I want someone firm but kind for Luke.”

And after six interviews she found Mrs. Perigene, a classy woman who’d been a professional nanny for many years. Rick was pleased with Suzanne’s choice and so was Luke. When Mandy gave notice that she wanted to pursue another career, Rick decided to rehire Neena, Suzanne’s old housekeeper. Upon hearing the news, Suzanne squealed with delight like a little girl.

“Neena!” she screamed when she saw the older woman at the door.

“I’m back, sugar.”

The two women hugged, then Suzanne turned to him and flew into his arms and kissed him as if he’d offered her a trunkful of treasure. She looked up at him and blinked back tears. “You don’t know how much this means to me. She was a very important person in my life. Like a mother. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Neena took her hand. “You can thank him a lot more later. Now come and tell me all you’ve been up to. Are
you working on a new book…?” she asked as they walked away.

Days later Suzanne surprised him when he came home and saw a strange man in his study. “Rick this is Mr. Matyn, your tailor.”

“My what?”

“Your tailor.”

“I don’t need a tailor. I have plenty of clothes.”

“You have two suits. I know, I’ve been in your closet and the rest of your clothes are too casual for a man in your position. I know you’ve been running your business your own way,” she quickly said before he could protest. “But this is Anadale and appearance matters. Tim will help you dress more appropriately. Trust me.”

Rick looked at the man with a measuring tape then Suzanne’s determined expression, and knew he was a lost man. She was right. Even his colleagues noticed and appreciated his more sophisticated look and he felt good. Things got better from there. Suzanne brought down her violin and played for them in the evenings and he promised to buy Luke a piano so that he could learn to play.

As Suzanne continued to make their house a home, the more Rick couldn’t keep his hands off her. He brushed her cheek as she worked on her book, rested against her as they watched TV, wrapped his arms around her waist in the kitchen, stole kisses on the porch, and in the bedroom nothing was off-limits.

Soon he was
almost
convinced that their marriage was real. That Suzanne truly was his. But he couldn’t believe that yet. And he knew what he needed to do to
remind himself that she wasn’t his. One night he slipped out of bed and went into the living room. He pulled
Beneath the Ashes
from the bookshelf and nodded. It was time to find out the truth.

Frieda was finishing her breakfast of fried eggs, hash browns and bacon when someone pounded on the front door.

“I’m coming,” she shouted. “No need to break the door down.” When she opened it, she frowned. “Rick, did you lose your key?”

He held up the book, rage in his eyes. “You lied to me.”

Frieda cast a nervous look at the novel in his hand and licked her lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I read it.”

“So?”

“There’s nothing shameful or bad or cruel about us in there.”

She lowered her gaze.

“What other lies have you told me?”

“Do you want a drink?” She turned toward the kitchen.

“Answer my question. What other lies are there?”

“I didn’t lie.”

He entered the house and slammed the door behind him. “Did Gerald Rand force himself on you?”

She spun around. “He might as well have. He told me he’d take care of me, and then when I gave him what he wanted, he treated me like a whore. The Rands deserve everything they got.”

“I destroyed an innocent man because of what you told me. I believed you.”

“Gerald Rand was far from innocent. He ruined my life and yours, too. He was a womanizer, a gambler and a liar.”

“At least you have the lying in common.” He sneered. “You let me believe—”

“Because you wanted to. Don’t put all of the blame on me. When you were demolishing his company you were thinking about how the Rands ruled this town and you can’t deny how Suzanne treated you. I was trying to protect you. I didn’t want you to be treated the way Gerald treated me. That’s exactly what she was doing. You hated her and him and that’s what made you do what you did. He put your brother in prison. Remember? His daughter treated you like dirt. You wanted revenge as much as I did. I stoked a fire that was already burning and now you’re falling for her crap again. Just because Suzanne’s making your kid happy and keeping your bed warm doesn’t mean she’s changed.”

Rick glanced away. “You don’t know her like I do.”

“I know her better than you do. I remember her mother and her aunt Bertha. Cool, calculating women who got their way through charm and manipulation.”

“Suzanne is not like that.”

“She’s a Rand.”

“She’s different.” He tapped the book. “She wrote about us, about me as though I mattered to her. As though she truly cared.”

“She cared about selling books. She’s devious. You should have seen how she tried to trick me when she came by looking for you.”

Rick stilled. “When?”

Frieda hesitated, realizing she’d said something she shouldn’t have. “It was a long time ago.”

“She came by the house?”

Frieda began to turn. “I need a smoke.”

Rick grabbed her shoulders and stopped her. “Did she come by the house?”

“Yes,” she reluctantly admitted. “A couple of times she said she wanted to see you.”

“And you never told me,” he said, hurt clear in his voice.

“I was protecting you. Her father had said enough. What could she say?”

Rick stepped away from her as if she were a stranger. “We’ll never know.”

Frieda reached for him but stopped. “You were better off without her. Do you think you would have become the success you are if she’d stayed in your life? I know I did the right thing for you.”

His shoulders drooped with despair. “All those years I wasted hating her. And now—”

“And now you have to be strong. It’s too late.”

“What is?”

She softened her tone. “It won’t work. You’ve built your marriage on a rotten foundation and its only option is to crumble. You can’t save it.”

A bitter smile touched his lips. “I didn’t make her sign a prenup.”

Frieda swore. “You fool! Do you know what that means? She’s already got money from her book and now she can leave and get more money?”

Rick met her gaze, glad that she didn’t know about Suzanne’s finances. “Yes. Whether she stays married to me or not she’ll be a rich woman.”

“And that’s what she’s counting on. If you think you
mean anything to her you’re wrong. All you have to do is ask Wallace how much she took him for. Once she’s done with you, we’ll have nothing left.”

“We?”

“I mean you,” she stammered.

“Is that what you’re afraid of? That she’ll take what you think is yours.”

“You’re my son. What’s yours is mine.”

“Yes, and I’ll always take care of you. There’s nothing to worry about. Suzanne will never know. I made sure that nothing traces directly back to me.”

Frieda opened her mouth then closed it.

Rick frowned. “You’re not telling me something.”

“I wanted you to be safe,” she said helplessly.

“What have you done?”

“I told Wallace.”

His gaze sharpened. “Everything?”

“Most of it. I wanted him to keep Suzanne away from you.”

Rick pressed his fists to his eyes. “Momma.”

“I was looking out for you.”

He glared at her. “By ruining everything?”

“Please see things from my point of view.”

“I have and that’s been my problem,” he snapped. He watched his mother’s eyes fill with tears and softened his tone. “Don’t cry. I’ll handle this,” he said, leaving.

Rick didn’t go straight home.
Lyon knew
. He could destroy his whole charade. That explained his smugness at the courthouse. So far he’d been silent, but Rick knew he wouldn’t be for long. He drove around for a while trying to figure out what his next move should be. He stopped at a bar not knowing what to do with himself.
He no longer smoked, or drank and other women were out of the question. He ordered a soda, ignoring the bartender’s strange look.

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Hannah said, sliding into the seat next to him. “Guess you haven’t changed as much as people think.”