“I wasn’t sure if it would bruise but I wanted to make sure the fact he’d slapped her hard was recorded.” The red of Marcel’s hand print to her cheek had almost faded away. He needed to pay for that. The shithead.
Arianne hadn’t said much other than to replay the craziness that had gone down with Marcel, to Mark. We only had a few minutes before the cavalry arrived for me to pull her into a hug, and pass a few words to make sure she was okay.
I swore I could have held her for hours. “Well anyway, it’s exactly what we needed. Now I’m going to head off. I’ll call you tomorrow when I’ve got the paperwork prepared.”
I reluctantly stood and shook his hand. “Thanks mate. I appreciate everything you’re doing to get this sorted.”
Mark shook his head and disappointment lined his face. “Nah, man. Just my job. Sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”
I shrugged. Arianne and Isaac were both safe. That was the main thing. “Can’t be in two places at once.”
He nodded resignedly and headed for the door. The catch on the door caught but the lock was toast.
I turned and took Arianne’s hand. “Come on baby. We’re getting out of here. You don’t need to be here tonight.”
Arianne looked up at me, and shook her head no. “He doesn’t get to drive me out of my home.”
There was a steeliness and certainty in her voice. Right then relief flooded through me. I hadn’t been sure, but now I knew. My beautiful girl with the exotic name wasn’t going to crumble. She was going to put it behind her and move forward.
“The front door doesn’t lock and I’m not going to be able to fix that until the morning when I can get to a hardware store. Unless you want me to call a 24hr locksmith?”
She nodded her understanding and her eyes locked solid to mine. “You planning on going anywhere?”
“No. Not planning on being anywhere but where you need me.”
“Then I’ll be just fine, here with you and a door that doesn’t lock.”
I wanted to be there for her in any way she needed but I really had no idea what she wanted from me. “You’re going to have to clue me in Miss on what you want. I’m flying blind here.”
She said nothing just looked at me, some more.
Then it came to me! Tea. Mum always made tea when bad shit happened.
“I’ll make some tea.” I was about to turn and head off when she tugged on my hand.
“I don’t want tea.”
Okay she didn’t want tea. Then what the hell did she want? I was about to ask her just that, when she used the weight of my body as leverage and pulled herself up.
Arianne pushed her body solidly up against mine, to the point I could feel every dip and curve of her lush frame.
“You. I want you.”
Those words simultaneously triggered cheering and uncertainty in my head, because I wasn’t exactly sure just what they meant.
All I knew, was it sounded like something positive and I was all for that after what we’d been through.
“You’ve got me. I’m here, beautiful.” My arms closed around her and I stroked one hand up and down her back. The other locked around her waist and kept her wedged tight to me. I needed to know just how much she wanted but I wasn’t going to push.
Arianne had to lead now that she’d made a statement like that.
Then she moved back and took my hand, pulling me down the hallway. She paused at the door to her bedroom.
“I need to go back in there, Dane. I need to wipe him from my mind, the best I can. If I don’t do this now, it will be so much tougher later on. Will you help me?”
Her eyes held that glassy look of unshed tears and her rosy lips trembled a little with what I guessed were memories and emotion.
“Sure Ari, whatever you need…but you have to clue me in. I’m not sure exactly what you’re asking for?”
She nodded and pulled me with her into the room and came to a stop at the end of the bed. Someone had thoughtfully straightened the quilt on the bed. In fact, if I hadn’t witnessed what I had, there was no way I would have any idea as to what went down here earlier.
Once again she moved into me. “Hold me.”
That was easy—holding Arianne felt totally right, natural.
No hardship at all.
My arms came around her and the difference in our heights meant that her head snuggled in under my chin. She breathed deeply against me and squeezed her arms tight around my waist. It felt as if she was trying to absorb my body into hers.
A moment later her hands pulled the tail of my shirt from my jeans, then slid up and over the muscles in my back. Her fingers weren’t as soft and gentle as I would have anticipated. Rather, they were firm and her fingers dug and kneaded my muscles. It wasn’t what I expected at all, but she seemed to be relaxing and releasing whatever she needed into my back.
At last she spoke, it was little more than a raspy whisper. “I felt helpless and scared…No terrified. I hate feeling like that Dane. I don’t like feeling so out of control of a situation. That was how I used to feel all the time.”
What did I say to that?
“Ari, I’m so sorry I wasn’t here.” And I was. “If I hadn’t gone…”
“He would have waited until next time. He told me so. Marcel’s been watching, Dane.”
“Well he’s been arrested now.”
She nodded. “He’s evil.”
I had no doubt she was correct. When I saw him there at the end of this bed with his hands on his belt buckle…I thought he was about to rape her.
“He likes to hurt me.” Her voice was flat. “I don’t understand why? I don’t know what I ever did for him to feel that way?”
“Ari, I don’t think it matters. He’s obviously sick. No sane man wants to hurt a woman like he obviously wanted to hurt you.” I certainly didn’t get it. Her skin was a perfect porcelain and silky smooth to touch. What the appeal was to ruin perfect; was beyond my comprehension.
I craved her smiles, not her fears.
“I know.”
“I’m just so very thankful I got here in time.”
Her nodded against my chest. “All I could think about…hope for, was you coming back in time. And you did.”
She hadn’t mentioned anything about the violence of what had happened. I most certainly had expected that to have been part of our conversation. Maybe I could soften the landing.
“Me, too. I’m sorry you had to see me take him down,” I added cautiously.
“I’m not.”
That shocked me and I stiffened.
She snuggled tighter and rubbed her face against my chest, then winced. “Take it off. The buttons hurt.”
I moved slightly away from her and undid the top couple of buttons then pulled the shirt over my head without undoing the rest. If she wanted my bare skin she could have it.
Without a moment of hesitation, she moved back into me. This time placing her cheek on my chest. “Much better.”
I thought so, too.
Then she lifted her head and sat down on the edge of the bed and urged me to do as well.
“This is going to sound weird.” Her eyes dropped.
“Try me,” I offered softly and stroked my thumb over the last of the redness of his palm print on her cheek.
She pulled her mouth from side to side as if trying to decide what to say before she finally began.
“For the last few years I’ve had these fragments of dreams; I’ve never really understood them or remembered them, I just know for certain I’ve dreamed them.” She paused and I could tell she was trying to rationalise it in her own mind. “Tonight it was as if all the pieces of those dreams merged and the fog lifted. I saw what I’d been looking at through foggy glasses or whatever it is. It was you coming through the door and doing what you did and Marcel ending up on the floor. I’ve dreamed it before—I’ve just never consciously remembered it.”
That intrigued me as much as it sounded a little “out there.”
/> “This Deja Vu thing…has it happened to you before?”
She tipped her head from side to side as if considering just how much to tell me. “A few times before. Something will happen and I’ll suddenly get this overwhelming feeling of Deja Vu. Then I’ll realise that I’ve never been to the place or whatever before. But I have in my dreams. Does that make sense?”
Her eyes stared up into mine and I could see how exposed telling me this made her feel.
“I can understand it. However, if you’re wanting to know if I’ve experienced it—no. I’m not naive or close-minded when it comes to stuff like this. I think there’s heaps of things that happen every day that we can’t quite fathom, understand or explain. If you say that’s what happened I believe you.”
She nodded. “I feel as if all the pieces in my head suddenly make sense now and it’s not so confusing or scary anymore. Almost as if the fear and uncertainty of the individual images have been explained. I’m sure I must sound like a whack job.”
I pressed my lips to her forehead. “You don’t. We all fight strange and crazy fears and uncertainties, deep down inside. Hell, I have little conversations with myself in my head. Does that make my crazy? I don’t feel crazy. I think it’s just our individual brain’s way of processing stuff. Isaac is a perfect example. He’s not crazy or stupid. He just sees things a different way…doesn’t make it right or wrong. Just different.”
She gave me a weak smile and nodded her head resignedly.
“I think I’ve been really stupid, Dane. I didn’t see it. I didn’t want to see it, because I was scared and it was clouding my vision. I was beyond scared tonight—terrified. But I had something clarified for me as well.”
“What’s that sweetheart?” I asked, my curiosity piqued.
“Tonight I understood. I finally understood the difference between violence and meanness, or however you categorise Marcel’s intent. I could see it in his eyes. He enjoyed hurting me. It wasn’t about the act of violence, it was about the outcome, about how I’d feel and react. It was about hurting me and the pleasure he derived from it. He really does enjoy that.”
A huge sense of relief swept through me.
“I can’t say I’m happy about the way you’ve come to realise it, Ari. I can say I’m relieved. There is a difference. A real difference.”
“I know now. I’m sorry I’ve made it so tough on you.”
I chuckled. “Nah, it’s fine Ari. I knew we’d get past it eventually.”
And it was.
Arianne
I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. If Dane had walked out on me, I wouldn’t have been the least bit surprised or blamed him. Right from the start I’d been so adamant about my feelings and thoughts on violence. I hadn’t been prepared to give him any room or credit.
Tonight, Dane had acted to remove a threat to me.
There hadn’t been any enjoyment or pleasure from fighting with Marcel. He’d been far more concerned about me. The look on his face as he stormed into the room and then later when I flew into his arms told me everything I needed to know.
The war I’d been waging with myself over violence was done. And I was the loser. I regretted the time I’d lost.
“I’m so stupid for having put us through that.”
“Hussssshhhh, Ari.” It came off his lips as a low sexy whisper and every nerve in my body went on alert.
The light woodsy fragrance of his cologne filled my nostrils. I didn’t know what it was, but I was going to find out. It smelt divine on him. His thumb stroked my cheek again tenderly and his lips met mine.
It was a slow and tender caress. He teased at my lips with his, before his tongue began to trace along my bottom lip.
His big hand slipped farther around the back of my head and his fingers caught in the thickness of my hair. It felt like more than a simple hold—it was an anchor to him and everything he represented. Strength, caring, gentleness and, now what I fast realised was smouldering passion.
God, why had I waited so long?
Slowly he pulled back with a long slow lip caress and his thumb went back to stroking my cheek. His hazel eyes seemed to be sparking little fragments of gold under their heavy lids.
“You okay, Miss? I hope that wasn’t too much?”
Too much? Was he nuts?
“Not enough.” I let it slide out before I took too much time to think about it. Dane was somebody that I knew I could be impulsive with. My hands couldn’t seem to stop tracing over the hard lines of his shoulders and biceps.
Those heavy lids raised up and he stared at me. “You sure? It’s been a tough night.”
“And that’s exactly why I need to forget about it.”
He stiffened and sat up straighter, not looking at all pleased. “I need to warn you, Ari, if you’re looking for a quick tumble to forget tonight—It’s not going to happen. If we do this, then it needs to mean as much to you as it will to me. It means we’re starting something serious.” I felt his eyes bore into my soul. There was nowhere to run when Dane looked at me like that. It felt as if he was stripping back my soul, layer by layer.
“Are you with me Ari?”
“Yes,” I whispered, this time without hesitation. The time for that had passed. Now it was time to start living life again.
He pulled back from me a little more and looked around. “Are you okay in here?”
I didn’t need to think about it anymore. “You’re here, I’m fine.”
That earned me a little lopsided grin. “I get the feeling that when you give in you really throw the white towel. Well, let me just say that, in this case, I thoroughly support you surrendering, Miss and at the risk of getting myself in the shit—it’s not before time!”
I gave a little resigned giggle.
He was so right.
“I’ve wasted time and prevented what we both knew should have been there between us because of my stupid fears and noble pride.”
He leant forward and dropped a kiss on the tip of my nose. “No fears are stupid, Ari. They’re rooted somewhere deep inside us all. We all have oni—demons. We just have to keep hacking back at them to let the light in, otherwise they’ll strangle everything else until all that’s left is darkness. Throw enough light on them and eventually they’ll shrivel up and die.”
Who knew…He was a little profound as well.
A fighter that had a philosophical tender side.
And seeing him here right now, sans his shirt there was no question of just how much an athlete he was. No wonder my heart raced and my panties were wet through.
I couldn’t get enough of tracking my eyes over his sculptured body. Tonight was the first time I was really looking—he was stunning and for some crazy reason he seemed to be taken with me.
“So I’m sitting here, minus my shirt, Ari. Are you up to returning the favour?” he said with a sexy little lift of his eyebrows. It was as much a challenge as a question.
“I’m not as toned as you…”
“Really?” he said in playful mock surprise. “I find that surprising considering in the time I’ve known you, I’ve yet to hear you reference exercise or recall you actually do it. Fancy that!”
We both laughed. Once again he was correct. Exercise and I weren’t the best of friends.
“It’s a good thing I have a preference for soft and lush, plus I don’t mind a little ‘cushion for the pushin’.”
I dropped my hands from the hem of my shirt and shrieked, “What did you say?” as I planted my palms on the twin muscles of his chest and gave him a hard push which landed him smack bang in the middle of my bed.
He was laughing like a loon. “You heard me, otherwise you wouldn’t be pretending to be so outraged.”
“I can’t believe you said that!” Without thought I crawled up over him and planted my curvy butt fair and square across his angular hips.
“Well, I did. You’re the one taking offence.” He was still laughing and bucking under me. “For the record, I did say I li
ke it. I can’t help it if you twisted into something it wasn’t.”
“What am I supposed to say to that?”
“Not a damned thing. Why don’t you get back to the plan? Lose the shirt, Ari. Then put those delicious lips of yours to good use by kissing me.” His hands tightened on my hips and then I stopped focusing on our verbal sparring and more on the physical.
I was sitting on his hips! And there was NO mistaking what I was sitting on. I might not have been with a man in a long time, but I was no stranger to sex. From the feel of what was under me, Dane had all the right equipment to make it seriously good.
Unable to resist, I ground my hips down into his, and a shiver ran up my spine when I hit the right spot.
“Thank God. A woman that isn’t shy.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Miss, a shy woman would be blushing and figuring out how to back out of this. The look in your eyes says…plus the way your hips are working mine tells me a whole different story. Lose the shirt, Ari.”
I couldn’t help the grin that caused my cheeks to bubble up. “You haven’t said the magic word.”
He shook his head and grinned. “Please, Miss will you remove your shirt for my viewing pleasure.”
“Well, seeing Sir asked so nicely…”
Once again I hooked my fingers into the hem of my T-shirt but this time I actually lifted it over my head and I heard Dane suck in a breath beneath me and hold it. His eyes moved to my breasts and locked there.
“What? Changed your mind? You want me to put it back on?”
“Don’t you dare.” He growled low in the back of his throat, then let out a breath. “Fuck, Miss I knew you had the sort of body I liked. But hell! I didn’t expect your breasts to be this good.”
His hands left my hips and found their way to my breasts and his thumbs brushed over my nipples. I could have drawn this out a whole lot longer, but the feeling of his hands on me was just too exquisite to wait any longer. I grabbed his hands and held them to my breasts.
“I’m liking the way you think in the bedroom, Ari.” He murmured as his hands explored my breasts, learning their size and shape
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