by Nic Saint
“I wouldn’t say shocked exactly,” replied Frank. “Puzzled, perhaps.”
The old man closed his eyes and emitted a light chuckle. “I thought as much.” He then fixed his pale blue eyes on Frank. “What would you say if I tell you Miss Stoker befalls no blame in all of this?”
“You mean her marriage falling apart? I’m happy to believe that.”
Summers clucked his tongue in annoyance. “Not the marriage, you young fool.” He stretched out his hand in an all-encompassing gesture. “All of it. The death of that lawyer woman Jack was screwing, the car accident and, last but not least, the sad demise of the great Jack Rafter himself.”
Frank eyed the man in astonishment. “You mean to say she’s innocent?”
Summers shook his head slowly and deliberately, then, with a twinkle in his eye, leaned back in his chair. “Would you like to hear an interesting story, Mr Ruffalo? Pray tell if you’re not interested. I won’t occupy any more of your time. But if you do? Hold onto your britches, my lad, for it’s a fine yarn I’m about to dispense with.”
Chapter 24
Eileen was pushing through to the path that she knew led to the main road. She cursed her rashness when dressing to go out and shivered in her thin coat and simple sneakers. She should have known she couldn’t trust men in general and Ramon in particular.
“Eileen! Wait up!” he was yelling in her rear.
She paid him no mind. He could yell until he was blue in the face for all she cared. After the way he’d treated her there was no going back.
“Leave me alone!” she screamed when he finally caught up with her.
He’d all but called her a whore. From the others she’d come to expect as much, but not from the man who was supposedly in love with her.
He reached for her arm and pulled her back, flipping her so they were facing each other.
“Eileen, I’m-I’m sorry! I-I didn’t know—”
“This is the last time I’ll ever speak to you,” she bit back, “so if you have something to say to me you better make it good. After this it’s over between us.”
He looked properly horrified, she had to give him that. For a man only interested in her boobs he made quite an effort to convince her otherwise.
“I never tried to seduce your stupid friend, you hear? And if he says I did, he’s mistaken. I did hug him, yes, and perhaps a little bit too frivolously, but that was only my way of showing him my gratitude for coming to my defense.”
“He says you threw yourself at him, that you…” He grimaced. “… rubbed your tits in his face, practically inviting him to take you right there.”
She stood panting, horrified. It was her life story all over again, wasn’t it? Each time the same thing over and over. Suddenly a berserk inclination held her its grip, and before his surprised gaze, she ripped open her coat then her shirt, then yanked down on her bra and revealed her naked flesh to him, her large pear-shaped breasts tumbling out.
“Here. This is what you all want, isn’t it!” she screamed. “Take em. You can have em. This is all I am to you, right? A big pair of tits?” She shoved them at Ramon who involuntarily closed his fingers around her shivering boobs.
“I…” he began, then cupped her breasts in his hands, and stood gazing at her for the longest time. “Eileen… I’m sorry. It’s just that… Frank told me the story and I went crazy with jealousy. Just the thought of you with him… It was just too much.”
The feel of Ramon’s warm hands on her breasts stirred a deep and overpowering sensation of lust in Eileen, and when he gently started kneading them with his strong fingers, she emitted a soft moan.
“I-I did hug him, Ramon. I did press myself up against him, but never with the intention of sleeping with the man. I would never have done that. I merely wanted to express my gratitude the only way I knew how.” She stared down at his hands on her white flesh, and shivered, and not just from the cold. “I probably shouldn’t have done it. It was rash and stupid. I just figured that people say all those horrible things about me being a whore…”
“You might just as well prove them right?” he murmured softly.
She nodded, a tear stealing from her eye and trickling down her cheek.
“I understand,” he said simply, and he knew that he did.
“Oh, Ramon,” she whispered, throwing her arms around his neck. “You’re such a good man and I—”
“You’re a good woman, Eileen. Don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. You’re the perfect woman… for me.”
His lips hungrily sought hers, and she gave, again, as if nothing could stand between them, not even the incident with Frank, which was all her fault, she now realized.
“It’ll never happen again,” she muttered, and then his hands enveloped her and she found herself floating in his warm embrace, their tongues dancing the intoxicating dance she’d come to long for with all her heart. She quickly stripped off the rest of her blouse and now she was naked before him, uncovered in all her glory, her nipples, like the rest of her flesh, goose-pimply and cold but she didn’t care, and neither did he, for he warmed her bosom with the heat from his mouth, his breath misty wisps of fog, the fever of their passion enough to keep them warm.
“Take me, Ramon,” she urged. “Take me here.”
The memory of her dead husband a mere hundred yards away could only be dispelled by Ramon’s sweet caress, his hot kisses and his urgent pounding thrusts that drove every thought from her mind.
Leaning against a snow-covered three, she offered him her body, and when he gently stripped down her jeans and slip and entered her from behind, she cried out like a virgin experiencing physical love for the first time.
He came hard as he pounded her relentlessly in the heart of Brookridge forest, the wintry blanket muffling the sounds of their sex, Eileen’s loins soft and wet in spite of the icy cold. He slipped his burgeoning fury inside her as if he’d never done anything else, and as he melted inside her tender flesh, pummeling her sweet crevasse, he clasped his hands and held her twin mounds of joy, the ones that had caused her so much sorrow and pain in her young life, and made all the hurt go away simply by the soft touch of his warm hands and the deep urging of his flesh inside her belly.
Over and over again, he took her, the wet sounds of their connection providing a blanket of arousal that drove them to ever higher planes of pleasure.
And when finally he exploded inside her, directing a steady stream straight into the center of her sex, he was fulfilling her whispered desire, expressed over and over that he bless her fertile womb with the harvest of his love.
“I bless you, Eileen,” he grunted when finally the eruption sprang forth from his boiling girth. “I bless you with my life and soul and the seeds of my body.”
As the nectar of their love dribbled down her bare legs, he declared his love to her, and went down on one knee to offer her his heart and his everlasting devotion.
“I do,” she whispered, and they sealed the moment with a kiss before realizing they were both naked as newborn babes, and hurriedly got dressed before anyone would catch them in the act and cart them off to prison. Again.
Giggling and staggering like children, they finally reached Ramon’s car, and as they drove off, Ramon knew that this day had changed his life forever. Never again would he doubt Eileen or his love for her. She was a free woman now, the husband who never loved her a thing of the past.
Nothing could stand in the way of their love, and marriage was not a distant dream beyond the horizon anymore but a reality.
He was going to be married to Eileen Stoker, and nothing could have filled him with more joy.
Chapter 25
Frank hurried home. Some of the things the old man had said were simply too outrageous to be true and he needed time to reflect on them, think things through before he made his decision.
“Are you in or out?” the old man had croaked.
“I’m in. Definitely.”
But was he, really? If what S
ummers said was true, he would be tied up in litigation for a long time. On the other hand, the rewards were stupendous.
At the moment when Franklin Summers had made the offer he’d eagerly agreed with whatever the contract stipulated, but now? Cool reflection would lead to the right answer, he thought feverishly, his brain fried from an overload of information.
His phone chimed and he checked the display. Ramon. Of course. He hesitated, then decided not to speak to his old friend just yet. First things first. And in Frank Ruffalo’s mind Frank Ruffalo always came first.
“If you’ll work for me,” Summers had offered, “you’ll never have to defend any slimy skunks ever again, and neither will you have to concern yourself with the sordid details of another man’s private life. The only sordid details that will be of your concern will be mine, and you’ll be generously compensated.”
When the terms had been briefly discussed, Frank had had to keep a cool head, for he would have jumped at the chance. Now he didn’t want to seem too eager. Perhaps even drive a hard bargain. Wasn’t that what you did in these circumstances? The chance of a lifetime came along and you played hard to get and drove up the price to a number that ensured you never had to worry about money ever again?
He didn’t have much time, however. The old man’s timetable was set in stone. Tonight was the night and if he didn’t give him an answer, he was out. It was as simple as that. It wasn’t as if the billionaire needed Frank. He had an entire legal team already in place, with one available spot for a mercenary lawyer. If Frank wanted that spot, he had to decide fast.
“You think things over as much as you want, Frank,” the old man had said. “But if I don’t hear from you when the clock strikes midnight, know that the best offer you’ll ever get in your life will have expired. No second chances, son. That’s how the game is played.”
For a moment, he wavered. What would Ramon think? And Eileen for that matter? But then again, the only reason he’d been offered this position was because he was the young woman’s attorney. A real stroke of luck, that. He pounded his steering wheel excitedly. Yes! Finally Frank Ruffalo made good.
His phone chimed a second time, and this time his hand hovered over the connect button placed on his steering wheel, and then finally he decided to ignore Ramon altogether. Not tonight, old buddy, he thought. Tonight is all about Frank Ruffalo and no one else.
Ramon stared at his phone. Odd, he felt, that Frank would ignore him like this. Last thing he knew was that he went to visit Jack’s old business partner Franklin Summers. He shrugged. Perhaps he was still talking to the guy and couldn’t be disturbed. He was dying to know what had transpired between the two men and if it had brought them any closer to the truth.
Eileen sipped her hot cocoa and stared at him for a moment before posing the question that had been on her lips all this time.
“Are you sure about this, honey? I mean, what will the people—”
“—think?” He smiled. “The people will think that Ramon Cole is the luckiest guy on the planet for having won the hand of the loveliest girl in the world.”
She pouted her lips. “I doubt very much that that’s what they’ll think.”
“Their loss. It’s what they should think. It’s what I think.”
“Me too.” She reflected. “Well, perhaps not the part about the loveliest girl in the world. I’m sure there’s plenty of lovely girls who easily out-lovely me.”
They both laughed, and Ramon clasped her hand in his. They’d done it. They’d had their first serious fight and they’d overcome it and had even grown closer. It was proof that their relationship could stand the test of time, he knew.
Eileen regarded the man she loved with dewy eyes. He wasn’t merely easy on the eyes and the loveliest man on the planet, he was also the man who’d proven that he wasn’t merely interested in her physical form but her spirit as well. She still wondered whether he was making the right choice in marrying her, concerned as she was about his future as the parish priest with her by his side, but if he thought that over time they could conquer the hearts and minds of his parishioners, she believed him.
Hadn’t he conquered her heart and mind?
“Have you heard from Frank yet?” was her next question. She was dying to know what had happened. She knew Franklin Summers well, of course. Sometimes she’d even had the impression he was her only friend in the world when things had turned ugly between her and Jack.
That and he had finally encouraged her to seek a divorce. She doubted if without him she would have had the courage to go through with that. He’d even taken care of all the initial paperwork and contacted Jacqueline Doulard on her behalf.
She owed that man a great debt of gratitude and hoped he would find it in his heart to be a character witness for her at the trial. He could definitely attest to her claim that it was she who had filed for divorce and not Jack as her ex-husband had falsely claimed.
Ramon laid down his phone, a thoughtful frown on his face. “Odd. He’s not picking up and this time the call went straight to voicemail. Almost as if he’s avoiding me.”
“There’s probably a perfectly simple explanation, honey. Perhaps he’s too busy at the moment. You know what lawyers are like. It’s not as if mine is the only case he’s got.”
“I’m sure you’re right,” said Ramon with a sigh.
Eileen moved over to her future husband, and massaged the frown that had formed on his brow. She kissed the tip of his nose and feathered kissed on his temples and cheeks until she’d reached his lips.
“Everything will work out for the best,” she murmured, and was gratified to find him responsive to her treatment as their kiss grew more passionate and heated by the moment. Five seconds later they were both naked, and using the kitchen table to celebrate their newly found happiness with the abandon of young lovers in the throes of first love.
“I love you, Ramon,” muttered Eileen as she clasped her panting lover close to her heart. “God, I love you so much…”
Chapter 26
Eileen stared out the window of Ramon’s bedroom—their bedroom—and pondered the days that had passed since meeting the priest. She’d never been a religious woman, figuring Christ was for other people, not for the likes of her. A Jezebel. A Mary Magdalene. That’s what she was. Not the sweet Mother Mary who gazed at you beatifically from the walls of the church or her pedestal at the entrance.
And then there were the gossipmongers, all of whom seemed to be churchgoers. It had planted the notion in her head that the two were intrinsically connected: go to church and you’re granted a license to bully and torment others who do not tow the line the way they’re supposed to according to the tenets of your religion.
In spite of being a churchgoing woman herself, she’d always felt ambivalent about the practice for this reason, until she met Father Ramon. A truly good man, she now called him. Perhaps one of the last really good men out there as far as she was concerned.
And extremely sexual as well. She’d always figured religious people were pious and asexual. Well, they’d definitely broken the mold when they put Ramon on this earth, she thought. He was probably the most sexual and sensual man she’d ever met. Bar none.
“Speak of the devil,” she quipped when her husband-to-be walked up behind her and enveloped her in his strong arms.
“Penny for your thoughts?”
She sighed happily and kissed his hands. “I was just thinking how much has changed these last few days. I’d never have thought when Mom suggested I take choir practice that—”
“—you would find yourself engaged to the choirmaster?”
She grinned. “Mom would have been horrified if she’d known I’d end up seducing the parish priest.”
“I like to think I was the one doing the seducing,” he murmured as he nuzzled her ear.
“Oh, you did your part, Father Ramon. You most certainly did,” she agreed.
“I want to announce our marriage in the parish weekly.”
“Not only wise but an absolute necessity as far as I’m concerned. I want the whole world to know about the wonderful, beautiful woman I’m marrying.”
“I still think we should keep the wedding a small affair. Friends and family. Nothing fancy. I really don’t want the greatest day of my life ruined by a dozen harridans prone to judgment.”
“They won’t judge you. I promise.”
“And how are you going to prevent them from casting judgment on me? The habit is engrained, and when they see me walking down the aisle, they’ll have a field day.” She shook her head adamantly. “No, I won’t have that kind of negativity marring the most beautiful day of my life.”
“I’ll talk to them. I’ll—”
“There’s no talking to the likes of Mrs Cooper and Mrs Burke and all the others of their ilk, Ramon. They’ll politely nod and think their own thoughts.”
He cupped her chin in his hand and forced her to meet his eyes. The moment their gaze met, she found her mood lifting instantly. He had that effect on her. “Trust me, Eileen. I’ll take care of it.”
Trust was not an emotion that came naturally to her, but looking into his warm eyes, she found the hard crust of anger and resentment melting away. She nodded once. “I wish you luck, changing the minds of those people. Just… don’t expect too much, Ramon.”
“Trust me,” he simply repeated and captured her lips in a tender kiss. “I won’t let my bride be harassed anymore,” he whispered in her ear.
An involuntary smile formed on her lips, and she found herself relaxing, the stone weighing down her mood lifting for a moment—long enough to wrap her arms around him and allowing herself to be hugged by the man she loved.
Trust. Yes, she could give it a try. Just for his sake, she could allow that alien concept to becoming the guiding light of her life, just as it did with his.