by Jp Grace
~
Massive amounts of money had been poured into Bass Lake Resort to make it attractive to retirees and businessmen alike, but she was still awed at the opulence on display. Mansions with spectacular coastline views of the lake sprawled on generous manicured lots, while luxurious cabins balanced precariously on the tree laden mountains framing the lake. Walking trails, horse trails, swimming pools, and a spa along with a golf course took up the remaining land around the lake.
The massive homes, while impressive, faded away when she caught sight of the lake. It took her breath away, sparkling like an emerald in the fading sun with waves lapping gently against the boat dock. The sight immediately filled her with a sense of peace.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Adam asked softly.
“Yes. Where to?” she asked briskly, keeping her eyes averted and refusing to acknowledge the shared special moment between them.
“Follow this road. It goes back quite a ways to more cabins at the back of the lake.”
Bree didn’t comment as she drove along the winding road lined with lush foliage and towering pine trees.
“Pull in here,” Adam directed her to a gravel driveway.
The road led to a small two story wooden cabin with a large deck situated off the side overlooking the water. Various trees surrounded the home, providing a shady sanctuary to the home nestled beneath. A large pontoon boat was also moored at the dock. It looked comfortable and homey and a lot different from the McMansions dotting the rest of the resort.
“What is this place?” Bree asked anxiously. It looked suspiciously like someone’s residence. She didn’t want to get caught snooping around.
“Just come inside and look around, please?” Adam didn’t give her time to reply, getting out of the car and walking towards the cabin before she could protest.
Bree turned off the car and dropped her keys into her purse before following him.
Her suspicions increased when Adam pulled a key out his pocket and opened the door, motioning her in.
She walked into a comfortably furnished cabin with a living room, dining room, and kitchen all visible from her position at the front door. Well-worn couches, a couple of cozy chairs, and a few battered tables were scattered around the fireplace in the living room. The huge glass doors that opened onto the deck allowed for a spectacular view of the lake beyond and were a magnet for her eyes.
Stairs led up to a second floor that she assumed housed the bedrooms. She didn’t ask to see them and Adam didn’t offer a tour.
“Why do you have a key?” she asked after a few minutes of awkward silence.
“It’s my compensation for designing the new Bass Lake Shopping and Business Center,” he said, the pride evident in his tone.
“You’re kidding! They’re giving you this place instead of paying you?” she asked, disbelief registering on her face.
“Well, they paid me, too, but the house was a bonus built into the contract. I accomplished what they asked of me in record time so I received this cabin. They were happy enough to give it to me.” He shrugged but it was a shrug full of pride at his accomplishment.
Bree was impressed. Adam had done very well for himself. The cabin was perfect. It was bigger inside than it looked from the outside but not so large the intimacy was lost. Not to mention the million dollar view of the lake. She was proud of Adam for reasons she couldn’t name.
“Care for a glass of wine?” Adam asked from the kitchen, holding out a bottle of wine.
“I shouldn’t, no. In fact, I should probably head back home.”
“Why? Steven isn’t going to miss you and I know your kids aren’t there to miss you either. Why not stay here and enjoy a glass of wine with me on the deck? We can watch the last of the sunset before heading back to town.”
Bree waivered for a moment, thinking of the possible ramifications of having a single glass of wine with Adam. He wasn’t pressuring her. But it was clear by the intense way he stared at her he hadn’t given up on them yet. She glanced outside and saw several boats gliding past in the emerald green water. It was a soothing scene and she relented, grabbing two wineglasses from the kitchen and following him out to the deck.
They sipped their wine and caught up on everything they had missed in the past two weeks. Bree had missed Adam more than she wanted to admit. She had missed their conversations, his cutting humor, and his silly playfulness. Settling into the worn deckchair, she relaxed for the first time in a very long time.
She was so relaxed, she didn’t even protest when Adam filled her glass for a second time. They sat and talked until the sun was long gone and the mosquitoes were out in full force.
Bree glanced down at her watch and frowned in dismay. Steven might not be expecting her but she was supposed to be home when the kids called at nine. She stood up and clutched the chair when the deck swirled in front of her, too much wine and not enough food.
“I need to go home, Adam. Are you ready to go?” she asked, her words sliding together. Frowning at her inability to speak clearly, she tried again, managing to sound halfway decent or so she thought.
“I don’t think you should be driving anywhere tonight, Bree,” Adam advised, moving towards her and placing an arm around her shoulders to steady her.
“I don’t think it’s your decision to make,” Bree tried to answer him with dignity. Instead, her words came out slurred and indecipherable.
“Bree, there’s something I have to tell you. It’s about Steven. Sit down.”
Adam’s hands on her shoulders guided her back into the chair with a softly muttered protest from her.
“I heard some disturbing things about your husband from mutual friends. I didn’t believe it until I checked it out myself. This is difficult to tell you, but I think he may have had something to do with Ben’s disappearance.”
Bree blinked. Her wine soaked brain was having trouble keeping up. How did he know about Ben? And Ben hadn’t disappeared for God’s sake, he had just left her.
“What are you saying? How do you know about Ben?” she asked slowly, uncomprehendingly.
“I’m saying Ben didn’t just leave town. He disappeared and he had help. I’m pretty sure Steven was behind it.”
Bree snorted.
“That’s impossible. Ben left because he didn’t want me and didn’t have the balls to say so.”
Adam pierced her with a look.
“If that was true, that would make Ben a total idiot. It’s just what Steven wanted you to think so he’d have all the control. And it’s worked for far too long.” Adam’s mouth twisted into a frown.
“But Ben’s gone,” Bree said. The logic of that was inescapable.
“Yes. Steven made sure Ben left and stayed gone,” Adam said darkly.
“I don’t understand. Are you implying Steven did something to Ben?”
“Yes. I have a friend on the police force assigned to Ben’s disappearance. One night after we had too much to drink, Tony told me what he suspected about Ben’s disappearance. He thinks Ben is dead and has been for some time. And all the clues Tony had amassed pointed in one direction, directly at Steven. Unfortunately, he couldn’t find enough concrete evidence to arrest him.”
The police believed Ben was dead?
Bree stared incredulously at Adam. The man she had shared her life with for over twenty-two years was a suspect in Ben’s disappearance and/or murder and she had never even known? She hadn’t even suspected anything was amiss. If the police thought Steven had something to do with it, then what was he really guilty of besides being a horrible spouse and human being?
“That’s impossible. Steven isn’t what you would call a good man, but what you’re talking about, you are talking about murder and kidnapping, I presume? No way.”
“I know it’s a lot to take in, but Tony thinks his hunch is right. And if that’s true, then Steven is into some pretty bad shit.”
Bree stayed silent. It was true Steven probably operated outside of the law at
times, but murder and kidnapping? It was more than she could take in her present state of mind.
Adam took pity on her fuddled state. “Come on, let’s go inside.”
She remained silent as Adam guided her into the cabin. Bree managed to take a few steps on her own before succumbing to Adam’s strength and leaning into his warmth. The new information about Ben combined with too much alcohol had left her reeling.
Gripping her elbow, he steered her to the larger of the two couches in the living room, forced her to sit, and then picked up her legs and swung them up on the cushions until she was stretched out on the soft cushions. He grabbed a blanket off the back and covered her. The alcohol combined with the emotional day had her eyes closing instantly.
CHAPTER FIVE
KICKING off the blankets trapping her legs, Bree sat up and looked around the dark room in confusion. It came back to her in hazy wine spurts. She was in Adam’s cabin at Bass Lake Resort. He must have put her to bed on the couch after their talk.
Bree ran her tongue over her teeth and felt the fuzzy aftermath of too much alcohol. She looked down to find herself clothed in only a t-shirt, underwear, and socks.
Scrambling off the couch, she scoured the floor and furniture for her clothes but couldn’t locate them in the dim interior. Damn, Adam, what had he done with her clothes?
Spying her purse on the kitchen table where she had left it hours ago, she stumbled forward. At least he hadn’t hidden that. She hoped her keys were still inside, she didn’t want to drive home wearing nothing but a t-shirt but it was better than staying here with Adam. Then she remembered the bags of clothes she had purchased yesterday. What had seemed like an overindulgent shopping spree was now a necessity if she wanted to arrive home clothed. Adam would just have to find his own way home. Spending the night in an isolated cabin with him was more temptation than she could bear.
She made a quick detour to the bathroom where she washed her face and swished her mouth out with water.
Tiptoeing back to the table, she grabbed her purse and headed for the front door.
“Leaving so soon?” Adam asked from the inky gloom.
Bree suppressed a scream only to groan at being caught. Adam was not going to make this easy and let her leave without answering to him.
“I need to go home,” came her lame reply, not having a ready excuse handy in her current state of mind.
“You’re not going anywhere, Bree.” Adam walked out of the shadows dressed only in a pair of boxers. His eyes glowed as he took in her disheveled appearance.
Even though it was dark in the cabin, she averted her gaze from his near nakedness. Seeing his partially bare body and not touching him was too difficult in her weakened state.
“I have to go home, Adam. Steven will wonder where I am.” Bree doubted Steven would even notice she was gone.
“Bullshit. Steven hasn’t cared about you or where you spend your nights for a long time. Why do you continue to lie to me, Bree?”
Adam kept walking until he was standing toe to toe with her, his eyes boring into hers while he waited for her answer.
She swallowed before attempting to say something he would find satisfactory. Usually if one of her lovers questioned her too harshly or expected more from her than she was comfortable with, she had no trouble lying to them to get out of the relationship. Adam saw right through all her deceptions. She felt naked standing in front of him with only a thin cotton t-shirt and her weak excuses separating them.
“I don’t feel comfortable staying the night with you, Adam. It’s the truth, whether you choose to accept it or not.” She raised her chin a couple of notches and met his gaze, daring him to call her a liar again.
Adam walked around her and leaned down to whisper into her ear.
“What are you afraid of, Bree? Are you afraid to be alone with me for too long? Afraid you might give in to the temptation of making love to me?” His voice slid along her ear and tickled her spine causing shivers of delight to race over her skin.
She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of a reply, choosing instead to step forward, clutching her purse to her chest in a subconscious defensive motion.
Adam laughed from behind her then went silent. She took his silence as agreement she should leave. She took a few halting steps toward the door. The handle was less than a foot away when Adam’s arm snaked around her waist and pulled her backwards.
Landing against his chest with a muffled oomph, she struggled to get free but he was too strong and she ended up dangling from his arm, the tips of her sock covered toes barely grazing the floor.
“Let me go,” she hissed.
“Not until you quit lying. I already told you how I felt about liars.”
She could hear the amusement in Adam’s voice and it spurned her anger. She kicked him in the shin and he loosened his grip in surprise.
Breaking free, she ran for the door. Unfortunately, her socks didn’t provide any traction and she more or less slid along for a couple of feet before he caught up with her. Instead of stopping, his momentum pushed her forward, he lost his balance and they both went down. Her, face first.
They landed with muffled oomph’s; Adam’s hard long body sprawled on hers, the thick bulge of him pressed intimately into the notch at the back of her thighs.
She squirmed uncomfortably under his weight but he didn’t budge.
Bree gasped for air for a good two minutes before rage took over. Adam was deadweight on her and she fought to escape his warm male body covering hers.
Adam only grunted in response to her efforts. He shifted his weight to his elbows but didn’t move off of her. It also had another unfortunate side effect; it allowed his manhood to press more fully against her.
She took a few deep breaths to fill her lungs before letting him have it.
“You have no right to keep me here, Adam. What I choose to do, whenever and whomever I choose to lie to is my decision and my decision alone. Do you understand? I am not in love with you and I want you to stop this nonsense right now!”
“Ahh, Bree, you don’t mean that. I’ve seen the way your eyes go all hungry when you look at me. If that’s a lie then you need to be in Hollywood. And it is my business when you lie to me repeatedly.”
Her reaction wasn’t long in coming.
“I have not lied to you repeatedly, Adam. I am not in love with you and I don’t want a relationship with emotional attachments, period. I don’t know how much clearer I can be.” Bree sighed in disgust; she was clearly wasting her breath. Adam was moving against her in an ancient seductive dance, reducing her resistance to ashes long past their smoldering point.
“I understand what you’re saying, I just don’t believe it.”
“You choose not to believe it out of some foolish romantic notion,” she retorted.
“If it’s foolish to follow your heart, if it’s foolish to fight for what you want in this life, then I guess I’m a fool,” Adam said softly into her ear.
Bree refused to let him see how his words affected her. She’d give him points for persistence, but it was draining to have to hide her reactions from him.
“Let me go, Adam, please,” she pleaded.
Long tense minutes of silence passed while she waited for his response. Bree resisted the urge to turn under him and feel his arms around her.
“No.”
The word was spoken so softly she almost didn’t hear it. Then she registered what he said.
“What do you mean no? Are you going to hold me here against my will?” Bree sneered at him from her place on the floor.
“Yes.”
Adam reached out and cupped the front of her neck in his hand, bringing her head up. Her body arched back, but he didn’t release his hold. His voice lowered as he delivered his message.
“I already told you I can’t abide liars. I reserve most of my contempt for the woman I love refusing to admit the truth. I won’t force anything on you, Bree. I will, however, keep you here until you adm
it the truth, until you learn I will always do what is right for you and I am the only man who can love you the way you need to be loved. You got that?”
Bree closed her eyes instead of answering, afraid the tears threatening to spill over would give her away. Somewhere deep in her soul, she was thrilled Adam wasn’t afraid to fight for her. Unfortunately, she also knew reality would always douse the eager fires of love. She couldn’t afford to forget how fleeting love could be and was. Adam’s passion for her would fade and she would end up being just another woman he had had an affair with.
“Yes,” she whispered bitterly. She got it all right. She was once again a pawn in a man’s game. A man who refused to let her go and would impose his will on her without a thought to the consequences, without a thought given to how she would feel about it.
Yes, she understood. Someone would always want something from her. There would always be people willing to do whatever it took to get what they wanted and heaven help the poor sap who got in their way. In this case, her.
With that thought, her energy drained away and she went limp under Adam’s body. She might be here against her will but she would not give him the satisfaction of winning no matter what it took to resist him. He could force her to stay. He couldn’t force her to reveal her feelings.
“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, there is still the matter of your punishment,” Adam said silkily at the base of her neck.
Her head snapped up. Directly into Adam’s face. He grunted from the impact, but didn’t release his hold on her neck.
“What punishment? I haven’t done anything wrong,” she spat through gritted teeth.
“I beg to differ. There’s the little matter of your deception. You also tried to leave without telling me, another transgression to be addressed. And you have deprived me of your lovely company for the past two weeks, two days, and seven hours.”
She turned to see the expression on Adam’s face to see if he was joking, but he kept his head averted.
“That’s cute how you think you’re in charge of whether I need punishment or not.”