“What do you mean?” I ask. “They stopped paying me the day I went missing.”
“Sure they did. But you gotta realize, these contracts they’re like six thousand pages long, Blake. Just sayin’. Be careful who you piss off or talk about when you make your re-entry into this world... alright?"
I nod like he can see me, knowing he’s right. Hell, he’s always right. It’s why I hired him in the first place.
Looking over to Lois, I feel lighter after I hang up, even though the handset makes a terrible buzzing sound again straight away.
“Good news?” I ask her, and her eyes shine. “What you said about delegating, you meant it?” she asks.
I narrow my eyes and lean over, ignoring the phone for a second.
“Whatever you want, Lois and however you want it. As long as I’ve got you, I don’t mind how you handle it”.
Her kiss is so soft, so wet and so damned hot I want to toss all phones and computers out the window and take her right here on the dining table.
But… I also know what I’ve started, for us both.
I just hope she’ll stick with me until we’re both clear of it.
I know she will no matter what happens.
I take my call and she opens her laptop, busy with her own phone at the same time.
I pause to look at how sexy she looks, her eyes all focused, and her hands busy with things as her mind slots into gear. She still takes a second to look up at me, silently mouthing the words ‘thank you.’
But she’s got nothing to thank me for.
I only exist now for her, because of her.
Remembering how lawyers live in their own world, I’m reminded of the fact by my next caller.
The team I used to play for, their ‘legal representative.’ The one who does things out of hours.
The one they have on hand to handle shit fights.
Before I even finish saying hello, he’s spelling out a lengthy recitation of parts of my original contract.
I hear the handset creaking in my hand, under the weight of my clenched fist.
“I thought we just got an injunction… to stop all this-”
“You did.” The voice says, assuring me in that smarmy, legal tone. “None of what we say tonight is in the papers now, is it, Mr. Barnes…?”
I hang up quickly and fight the urge to pull the ancient-looking cord from the wall, choosing to look at Lois instead.
She looks brighter than ever, happy, and even holds a hand up when I try to say something, making my heart melt.
Oh, you go girl. I’ll try and show you the same control later.
“Sorry, Blake,” she says, finally moving her gaze from laptop to her phone, back to the laptop again before resting her baby blues on me.
“It’s done, I think,” she announces.
I smile.
Waiting for her to tell me, I don’t need to know or demand. I just know she’s done what needs doing.
Because I just know she’ll be the best at what she does.
“I’ve got… wait a second,” she says, half holding that hand up again, before swearing under her breath, looking at the laptop.
“I’ve got several interested parties,” she murmurs, then rubs her eyes.
Atta girl.
“One agency. They’re offering… oh my god! They’re offering a hundred thousand dollars for the rights to the story.”
I frown, searching the table for a menu, then buzzing for the porter.
I don’t mean to ignore Lois, I look up at her straight away, watching her eyes scroll in time with the emails she’s no doubt looking through.
The news agencies.
Their scouts.
Their money.
I feel her hand jerk wildly as I put mine over it, creasing a smile, reminding myself of something.
“Lois? We can have dinner first. It’ll all still be there in an hour,” I tell her.
“But, Blake!?” she pleads. “A European agency is offering…”
And it’s my turn to put my hand up.
“Lois, I trust you but a word of advice. Wait. Even until morning, let ‘em sweat it out. Let’s have some dinner and… dessert,” I tell her, squeezing her hand and narrowing my eyes, feeling her tremble with all kinds of excitement I vow to extract from her as soon as we’ve eaten.
“Hungry?” she quizzes me, browsing the thick menu she discovers.
“Ravenous,” I promise her.
The carriage heaves gently, and we both order what I hope will be enough to sustain us for the night I have planned for her.
Chapter Nineteen
Lois
I’m trying to explain to Blake what I’m seeing, the offers I’m getting once I put the feelers out.
It hurts a bit when he puts his hand up like he doesn’t even want to hear about a hundred thousand dollar offer for his story.
But I remind myself and the people I’ve entrusted to help me, that Blake Barnes is a man who not only knows what he wants… he’s a man that has it all.
Even though he’s had it and lost it all… Or has he? I haven’t even asked him that yet.
He’s a man in charge of his own destiny, and I have to admit, the carriage, the menu, and the prospect of the dessert he has on offer is enough to tempt me into tucking my laptop away.
For now.
Even switching off my phone so we can enjoy dinner, and then each other.
Once I feel his hand on mine, I remember what matters most.
What I hope will always matter most between us.
We have what Blake calls a ‘second dinner,’ but by the time we have it, it’s well and truly due.
My mind is swimming with possibilities and Blake is so calm about everything, leading me back to the one thing we both want, which he doesn’t waste time on getting to once we’re done eating.
He excuses the stewards and we retire to what I can only describe as a luxury in a miniature compartment, but not so small that Blake suffers any.
It’s more like a five star hotel suite, scaled-down into the size of a slightly smaller than the standard bedroom.
We both fit on the bed and the gentle, rocking motion of the carriage on the tracks is enough to join the dots between our bodies.
In no time the door is locked and the blinds are drawn.
It’s like a new, unspoken ritual between us. We’re alone, we strip and we know what the other wants.
Blake wants me all to himself with no chance of interruption and I only want one thing right now too.
I’m not sure if it’s the woodwork, the decoration of the carriage, but we could very well be home. The chugging of the ancient steam train, the shudder, and rattle of the car… the faint but definite regular sound of the whistle somewhere and the rush of air between the train’s cars as it trundles along.
Home…
That haunted house from just a single day ago, what a lifetime it seems since then.
Blake has that look again like he wants to say something, but he thinks better of it.
“What is it?” I ask him, holding the heavy, embroidered covers back so he can see what he’s about to get.
His low groan drowns out my question, and even the whistle of the train as it enters a long tunnel.
In moments, Blake’s mouth is on mine, his hands everywhere else I want them to be, my own reaching for his hardness in the soft light of the carriage.
“Did you really mean it?” he asks softly, drawing me close as I feel his heat pressing against my own.
“About having kids… our kids?” he adds, his voice breaking with an emotion I instantly feel in my chest.
I nod without thinking about it. “Of course. I always wanted a family… I thought that’s what you-”
But he kisses me so quickly, so deeply that I hardly have time to breathe.
His hardness is inside me as quickly as we can both manage and our bodies work in time with each other yet again, feeling like we never stopped. Like this feeling is forever
and everything else is just something that happens in the meantime.
I feel myself rocking against Blake inside me, in time with the motion of the carriage and in time with his own body, when I have the sudden urge to shift positions.
“What is it?” he asks, sounding concerned, but I turn over and moving up onto all fours while reaching behind for him, educate him in my desires.
“Like this…” I gasp, feeling like I need him inside me from behind like nothing else on earth right now.
His strong hands on my hips grip me as he slides back inside me, his own growls of satisfaction, and the intense hardness this position provokes is enough to send me thrusting backward onto his shaft like the pistons on the engine upfront.
“Lois,” he groans, sounding like he’s reached his limit too, but I won’t stop. It’s the most intense feeling yet and I don’t care how long my man lasts. I want to feel him inside me in every position.
Gritting my teeth and swearing again, I can feel a new kind of climax brewing, and I suddenly share Blake’s urgency. That pleasing itch his cock inside me creates, moving so hard and fast gives us both a new level of experiencing each other that I have to smile about.
His growls get deeper and stronger, and his hands knead my ass from behind now, making me call out his name until I’m almost shouting it with each thrust of his magnificent cock inside me.
I can feel my own essence running down my thighs, this position is the hottest one yet and it feels like we’re both coming already… even though I also feel like this party has just gotten started.
“Ugh! Jesus, Lois! I’m gonna… I’m gonna…” Blake moans.
But he doesn’t. He just gets harder and moves faster. Like the train snaking its way through these tunnels.
In and out, in and out, making me gasp harder with each thrust until I think I can’t take it anymore, only to find that I want him in me like this forever…
Once I know neither of us can hold back, it happens.
I know that we’ve just made a new life inside me.
I don’t exactly know how but I just know. And Blake’s heavy hands on my hips and back as he kisses me all over from behind as he fills me tell me that he knows something magical has just happened too.
Chapter Twenty
Blake
I thought the romance of the rail journey would be nice. It’s a bit touristy but with Halloween and all, the train’s practically empty.
But I never thought, not in my wildest dreams it would come to mean so much.
How much we’d both feel more connected to each other than ever from now on.
Lawyers and news stories be damned.
I suddenly want it to be just about us now.
The three of us.
I must’ve fallen asleep clutching Lois, waking up tangled with her warmth amongst the sheets and heavy brocade covers.
The steady click-clack of the tracks underneath us and the gentle rocking make me want to keep my eyes closed just a little longer.
Holding her closer to me as I hear her breath in her sleep.
I’ll get us through this Lois, I promise.
There’s the sound of rain against the windows, along with the rushing of the train. A slippery sounding, steel on steel beneath us now as the gray light of dawn peeks through the heavy curtains.
I wonder if any other souls made it through the night… All Hallows eve…
My own soul feeling replenished.
Resurrected.
My woman in my arms and nothing but our future ahead of us.
But what sort of future?
Almost as soon as I have the thought, there’s an apologetic knock at our door.
Insistent.
I sigh softly, and disentangling myself from Lois, slipping on a robe hanging by the bed, I open the door.
“Sorry. Mr. Barnes… but we’ve had nothing but phone calls and faxes, emails all night. Lots of people trying to reach you, the police,” The steward adds, looking sideways at me suddenly.
“It’s alright,” I murmur, half-yawning. “I kinda expected that. We’ll deal with it over breakfast,” I tell him, noting his look of concern.
“How soon until we-?” and then I notice the train starting to slow down, miles, hours before I know we’re due to stop.
“I’m very sorry Mr. Barnes,” the steward says, a few more employees appearing behind him.
“And I’m guessing you’re not all here to make up our bed…?”
I feel my body tense when Lois’ arm hooks around my waist. She’s pulling one of my shirts up higher to cover herself. “Blake. What is it? Why are we stopping?”
The largest of the steward’s steps forward, and I feel my hands balling into fists.
But it’s useless.
“We’ll have to ask you both to step this way,” he says in a somber, don’t make this more difficult than it already is tone.
And I thought first class bought something more these days.
What little luggage we have is waiting for us, along with Lois’s phone and laptop at the exit. The train’s stopped, but there’s no platform.
From what I can see in the murky dawn, we’re on a country stretch of line still, with no stop or town anywhere in sight.
A large, dark car pulls up on the road nearest the track, and the driver, another huge guy in a dark suit and wrap around shades gets out. He waits by the passenger side of the car, with windows so dark I can’t see inside.
“I don’t like this Blake,” Lois murmurs, clutching my hand.
I don’t either, but it looks like maybe this whole thing went to the feds after all… who knows?
We’re not so politely helped off the train and the train starts to build up steam again, ready to leave without us.
I pull Lois close and walk us towards the waiting car.
“I’m afraid you’ll both have to come with us,” the driver says as we get closer, not sounding or looking any more polite than the men on the train.
He opens the car door, and as the light inside floods out, I breathe a sigh of relief which turns into a soft laugh.
“Well don’t just stand there, get in! I’m freezing my ass off here,” croaks a familiar, cranky voice.
“Lois… this is Mrs. Barnes, she looks out for me when I get myself in trouble,” I hear myself saying, bundling her into the warmth of the car before taking my own seat next to Mrs. B.
As soon as we’re inside, the car takes off at speed, and I introduce Lois to Mrs. Barnes.
“Blake has told me so much about you,” Lois says slowly, raising her voice a little. The way most people talk to really old folks.
Mrs. B. grunts and then orders Lois point blank not to shout.
“I’m old, not deaf!” she exclaims, leaning on her cane a little as she flexes both her gloved hands over the top of it, turning to face me.
“Your lawyer friend, Hal told me you were on your way, so I decided to get to you before the law did,” she murmurs, that serious look in her faded gray eyes, still bright with life but narrowed with a serious tone I haven’t seen since I was a kid.
“You should’ve faced facts after that plane crashed, Blake… but never mind. You always did take the blame for other people, didn’t you?” she says coldly, then rests one of her frail hands on mine with a gentle squeeze.
“A nice boy, never a very bright boy,” she says, finally smiling enough for Lois to relax.
“Did Blake tell you my family built this whole railway?” she says sharply, waving one hand in no particular direction.
“That we owned the railway from East to West for over nine generations?” she asks hoarsely, not even looking at Lois.
“Uh… no. No, he didn’t,” Lois says slowly, quietly.
And quite frankly neither did I. I only knew her family came from old money, but not that sort of money.
“Then he didn’t tell you anything about me,” she clips and turns to look out the window.
I’ll put up with a lot from
Mrs. B, but when it comes to Lois, I get defensive.
I lean in and whisper something to Mrs. B. Something only she can hear.
Her eyes grow wide and she looks at Lois with fresh eyes, scanning her from her seat, her eyes resting on Lois’ middle before she looks over the rest of her.
“Well! It’s about time, boy! Let’s hope she makes an honest man out of you.”
I feel myself blushing. It’s about as close to a compliment as anyone could ever get from Mrs. Barnes.
Her hand still on mine, she squeezes it again and I can see a line of silver at the corner of her eye.
“Lois is going to be in charge of telling my side of the story… to the media,” I tell Mrs. B. “She’s a reporter.”
Mrs. B. grunts again.
“Good idea,” she finally adds, smiling at Lois again, relaxing her stern face for just a moment.
“So why have you…?” I start to say, and Mrs. B’s finger shoots up vertically to hush me.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lois
I liked the train better. It was just Blake and me. I was having some good leads with my story idea.
A hundred thousand dollars!
I can’t even imagine what that much money looks like.
But being practically kidnapped by Blake’s crazy… whatever she is… and the way she looks at me…
I don’t like it.
Not one bit.
I’m scared that Blake is in more trouble than he either knows or worse… more than he’s telling me.
The old woman seems pretty clever though, and I register Blake’s surprise at her railway family story. Like he might know only as much as she’s let him, even after all these years.
Creasing the corner of my mouth, I have to admit it.
I really like the old woman.
She’s got guts.
She’s like how I imagine myself in the future.
If my life could just…
But I have a story to tell…. Blake’s story. I need to clear his name as a drunk driver and set the record straight why he felt, he couldn’t come back to civilization after that stupid plane crash.
Haunted By Her Curves: An Instalove Possessive Age Gap Romance (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 206) Page 7