Page 29 of Deranged
I snorted. “You think I haven’t offered or tried any of those options. She likes to be able to find me when she needs to flaunt me, but also be able to seal me back into my box when she no longer needs me. I’m nothing more than political decoration.” I put on a mock posh voice and waved my arm out. “Look, see, I was a single mother, my daughter is grown and still alive. Won’t I make a great candidate to improve your shit show too?”
He didn’t smile this time, and I didn’t like the lines which bloomed between his brows. “I’m so sorry.”
Heat hit my cheeks like a slap as I recalled how he said that very thing against every inch of my body last night. “Stop. We already went through that. Unless you’re going to say it again with your face between my legs, let’s just call it the past. It’s over with.”
He nodded and leaned forward to brace his elbows on his knees, his white button down pulling oh so tight across his broad shoulders. He said something.
I focused. “What?”
With a smile that said he knew exactly why I’d been distracted, he repeated himself. “Do you think your case is strengthened by having someone else on your side. I could go to your mother with you. We can sit down and talk about this all together.”
Ice water poured through me. “Are you crazy? No. I’m not putting you even more in her cross hairs than you already are. She will string you up by your degrees and then strip you of your dignity, self-respect, and then your money. There is no pause, there is no parlay, there is no please ma’am, give me another chance to do what you want. Her word is law, and if you go against it, you might as well be dead.”
I reached out and clutched his hands, forcing him to meet my eyes. “Tell me you understand what I just said to you. Tell me you understand and won’t go against my mother. Promise.”
He sighed and squeezed my fingers in return. “I promise I won’t go against your mother without your knowledge or consent.”
Not what I asked, but I’d take it. Since that night we’d had sex in the back of his car, he hadn’t lied to me. I trusted him.
He let me go and sat back. “Then I guess we need another plan. First thing I need to do is clear your medical history. If we do it slow and carefully, she won’t notice until it’s all be taken care of.”
It sounded like a great first step. Part of me couldn’t believe there was a first step, and soon to be a second, and a third. I feared believing maybe one day I might have a normal life. But the few hours we’d stolen together. The few precious moments we had of him believing me, and for once in my life, not being crazy to someone…I’d remember it forever.
No one had ever believed me. No one had ever believedinme.
Not until him.
And damn if I didn’t want to keep him a little while longer.
Chapter Twelve
Ash
She walked into my office the exact same way as she had the day before. It felt different now, so much more open. As if the world itself had cracked like and egg and gave me a glimpse of something I’d barely begun to understand. It said,Here try this. See if you like it.
Fuck me, I did.
She leaned on the doorframe for a moment before pushing into the room and closing the door behind her. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this, Doc.”
I couldn’t stop the smile that split my lips even if I wanted to. “Like what?”
She crossed the space and braced her palms flat on the meatiest part of my thighs. “Any way at all if you want me to keep my hands to myself.” She inched her hands upward until they met my pelvis.
I swallowed against the wave of lust swamping me while I stared into her eyes. “What if I don’t want you to keep your hands to yourself?”
“Why Doc, are you asking me to do something naughty?”
Before I could croak out an answer, she removed her hands and perched on my lap. I had to wrap my hands around her waist to keep her from toppling off. She trusted me to do that for her. To keep her from falling.
She let out and long sigh, cupped my cheek, and leaned in to take my lips with her own. Her lips spread across my own softly first and then teased away just far enough our heated exhales mingled. When she dropped her chin to kiss me again, I cupped the back of her neck and refused to let her tease me. I was ready to spread her across the hardwood of my desk and show her exactly how much she scrambled me in every way.
I claimed her lips until she submitted and then trailed my mouth down her chin and to the soft expanse of her long neck. She gripped the hair at the nape of my neck in a fist, and I caught her head as she arched to give me better access.
I couldn’t resist leaving a trail of bites down to the collar of her shirt. She shifted in my lap, her hip butting against my erection, giving me just enough friction to tease.
Nothing about her made me feel in control. She might cede to me in some areas, but I was beginning to understand there was no controlling this woman.
I lifted my head, and she let out a soft huff. “Don’t worry, Love. I’m not nearly finished with you.”
