WindSwept Narrows: #15 Rose Maddock

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  “They leave on Wednesday morning,” Rose said idly, letting the soap and water slide over the plates as she cleaned them. “You and he seem to get along.”

  “He told me you’re very like your mother,” Ryan leaned against the counter, studying her. “No racquetball tomorrow.”

  “I have some pictures of them,” her lips tilted at the photos in her mind. “I don’t remember her. Grannie said she loved swimming…and dancing. I used to wonder about her…but it only made me sad.” She stood watching the water drain and dried her hands, her breath catching in her throat when he took one of her hands and carried it to his lips. A gesture he knew would make her look up at him.

  “Are we finished fighting for today?” He asked softly, his other hand up to brush over her cheek.

  “I was fighting by myself, so I’m not sure it counts as a fight…and I’m not sure it’s finished because I don’t think you understand,” she told him honestly, her head shaking to herself as she left the kitchen and climbed the stairs to the bedroom.

  She quickly stripped off the gym clothes, tossed them into the bin and set the shower, stepping inside with a long, contented sigh. Hands felt the gradually heating tiles beneath spread fingers, her head down and water cascading richly over her. Steam filled the large stall until the door was slid open just enough for Ryan to fit inside. She stood up, sweeping the hair from her face as she turned to face him.

  Ryan felt a ragged shudder of relief flood through him when she wrapped her arms around his neck, her face tilted as she went to her toes and kissed him, long and thoroughly.

  His mouth came down on hers, hot and possessive even as his hands slid over the water and soap slickened skin.

  “I don’t know how to explain the need inside me, Rose. To keep you safe. To keep you mine,” Ryan met the slowly opening eyes.

  “I don’t want to argue with you,” she whispered, licking a stream of warm water from his throat. “I want you…”

  “I always want you.” The need reared so fast, so ripe, it burned. Her body was an amazing treasure to him, the long, clean lines of it. The sleekness of muscle and the surprising delicacy of her skin constantly fascinated and aroused him.

  Rose saw him set the foil packet on the shelf and smiled at him. No, he didn’t understand how important her independence was to her, but she was important to him. That she understood clearly for the first time since they came together. She lifted the bottle of soap and filled her palm, pushing until he was against the closed door, her hands stroking and caressing from his throat to his knees.

  With a very sensuous stop along the way to lick and suckle his cock.

  It pleased her when she rose to stand that his head was back and breathing ragged as she allowed her palms to cup him, fingers stroking over the hard surface from top to the tightened base.

  Laughing, Rose palmed the foil packet and made sure they were both clear of soap before quickly turning the water off and making a wild dash from the shower, a towel pulled off the shelf and wrapped around her. She heard the soft curse behind her and laughed louder, bare feet gripping on the stones as she raced through the house. She heard him come through the doors at the same time she tossed the towel down and dove head first into the much cooler waters of the large private pool.

  Ryan was positive he was losing his sanity. One minute his mind was promising his body hot, steamy sex. The next, he was standing alone in a dry shower stall with cold air and empty arms. Her laughter echoed in his brain as he snatched up another towel, holding it in place as he followed the almost naked nymph through the house. His curse was loud and swallowed up by the cold water when it struck his body full force as he dove in after her.

  Rose swam underwater to the far corner, surfacing, sweeping back her hair and setting the confiscated foil packet on the side. She hitched her arms onto the tiles and watched his long, lean and sexy body slice through the water toward her. Arms and hands cut through the surface expertly, coming up short of just where she floated, tawny, teasing eyes meeting the bright blue circles filled with a promise of retribution.

  Narrowed dark lashes dripped with water, his eyes sweeping the side and falling on the packet she’d laid on the tiles next to her. He felt his body give a lurch of anticipation, almost forgiving him for the last few minutes. He watched the flash of fire in her eyes as he moved closer, her long legs wrapping around his waist and arms settled along his shoulders.

  “What took you so long?” Rose whispered over his mouth, her tongue offering a teasing lick of the drops of water on his jaw. She nibbled her way to his ear, biting down just on the edge of pain before she felt one hand glide between them and cup her breast possessively. A low moan broke from her lips when his thumb and finger taunted her nipple to a hard peak.

  There were times for teasing and times when it had to be now. Ryan saw the answer, the need deep in her eyes when he lifted his head, guiding her to the shallow end and onto the wide, low stairs. He sat back and held the packet between his fingers, her eyes sparkling as she took care of the detail before straddling him, sinking herself with a maddeningly slow pace that had them both groaning with desire.

  Rose was lying face down in the water a while later, listening to Ryan slip back into the water from the bathroom. Bubbles broke the surface when his palm stroked over the cooling, slick body.

  “This is almost as bad as smothering in bed, Rose,” he took a firm grip on her waist and lifted her, guiding them both into deeper water. He moved slowly, her feet drifting to stand, her arms around his neck. “Explain to me, Rose. Help me understand what’s between us.”

  Rose closed her eyes and laid her cheek against his. “I’m not sure I can yet…I need time…I need to think. You think…one problem at a time…and your brain can solve it, fix it…make it right…”

  “And you don’t think sharing that with a partner could halve the problem?”

  “I believe…Mr. Flannary,” she opened her eyes and stared into his with a little smile. “Were I to present you with a problem, you would do your very best to solve it…but the problem with that…is you would also slightly skew the results in your favor.”

  “I’m not positive, but I believe you just called me a cheat,” Ryan arched an eyebrow, his eyes teeming with humor.

  “I had a problem with living in the hotel…” Rose said quietly, watching his expression. “You bought a house.”

  “Hmmm…”

  “In the interests of peace, it might be best if we talked about your day,” she suggested easily, gliding through the water with a long sigh. She liked listening to him talk, liked the complexities of all he went through in a day and wondered once again, why her. How did she get so lucky?

  Ryan met her in the shallow, taking her hand and leading her to where both towels had been dropped. He held hers out to her before tucking his around his waist and sliding the door open. Neither of them minded the smell of chlorine as they dressed in their pajamas and wandered to the office, talking, laughing and involved in different things. It was nice, he mused, comfortable. Tranquil.

  He was wishing for some of that tranquility in the morning when the radio sounded at six a.m.. Rose had pulled him from the bed, practically dressed him and pushed him out the door for a run.

  “I told you I’m not running until this…”

  “You are running. We are not changing our life because of some external influence like Tony,” Rose gave him another push. “I am going to shower and get dressed and I’ll be waiting for you. Be careful, Ryan,” she kissed him and went back to their bedroom. She only felt a little bit of guilt when she made the coffee, toasted a bagel and fixed some fruit to take to lunch for herself. She slipped out the side door, opened the gates and headed to work.

  “And you let her go?” Ryan growled, glaring at his phone when the text came in. “I’m sorry…”

  “She isn’t easy to corral, Ryan,” Matt chuckled and shook his head. “She promised me her doors were locked and she’d message you the instant
she was inside. Which she has obviously done.”

  “I should have known she was up to something,” Ryan just shook his head and finished knotting his tie.

  “I’ll have dinner ready for five-thirty, Ryan,” Susan said through her laughter. “I let Rose know through her phone.”

  “Thank you, Susan,” Ryan checked his briefcase, finished the bagel and headed for the door.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Rose made it into the house a few minutes after four.

  “You left him swearing at himself,” Susan commented with a smile.

  “I’m not going to be put into a cage. Yes, Tony did a stupid thing…yes, it scared me. Yes, it hurt…but I don’t think he’s dangerous that way. Not now. He’s made a lot of changes,” Rose met the genuine disbelief on her friend’s face. “I’m not nuts…honest.” She’d spent a lot of time talking to people, finding out what the year had been like since he had attacked her.

  “Rose…there is no way on this planet you’re going to convince Ryan that he’s harmless,” Susan assured her firmly.

  “That’s why I’m going to deal with him on my own,” Rose said with a nod, helping carrying the dinner ware to the large dining table. “The flowers are beautiful,” she looked around the spacious room. “You’ve done this a lot, haven’t you? I’m not good at it…”

  “I’ve done it a lot,” Susan agreed. “I enjoy it. You manage the table part, I’ll manage the preparations and managing.” She paused. “Are you going to change?”

  “Why?” Rose suddenly looked panicked. “I should change? It’s just my father…I suppose…” She pulled her lower lip between her teeth with a little whimper. “Ryan will look…immaculate…like always…” She sighed and headed for the stairs. “And my father and Cecily always look like they’re ready to greet the queen…I’ll be upstairs glaring at my closet.”

  Ryan and Matt entered the house at four-thirty, his briefcase on the table outside the living area. He glanced around and went into the dining area, meeting up with Susan arranging things on the table.

  “Rose?”

  “Upstairs glaring at her closet,” Susan confided with a chuckle.

  “Oh, I bet that brought some curses down upon my head,” Ryan mentioned with a chuckle. “I’d better make sure she’s alright.”

  He saw a small pair of black heels resting outside the closet, his gaze going from the floor over the long expanse of leg as a sheath of deep lavender dropped over her head and fell to just past her knees. Darkly smudged eyes met his when she surfaced, her hair shining with a trace of damp still clinging to it as it seemed to halo around her face.

  “Perfect choice,” he commented, stepping forward and raising the zipper she was reaching for.

  “I’m sure you’re very familiar with all the new dinner things lining this side of the closet,” Rose met the non-repentant shrug with a sigh.

  “Ms. Alister was only too happy to help me outfit you. She thinks you’re the perfect wife…with the exception of your clothing. She has a large boutique in downtown Seattle,” Ryan leaned against the archway, his hands in his pockets to keep from reaching for her and alternately shaking and kissing her. “She had all your sizes and coloring matches in her files and what she didn’t have there, she knew exactly where to get for you.”

  “I don’t like clothes shopping,” Rose accepted the hand he held out to her when she righted her shoes and stepped into them. It amazed her how very comfortable they were. “Grannie used to do the shopping because I gave her a migraine when she’d make me go.”

  “You’re not against shopping, Rose. I’ve seen your workout clothes. And your racquets,” Ryan walked with her down the stairs. “You’re merely selective about what type of shopping you enjoy.”

  “And you aren’t?”

  “I know what I’d like to see you in…and out of,” he teased softly, finally kissing her at the same time the intercom sounded, announcing their guests.

  “You are slick,” Rose murmured, ignoring his laughter behind her when she went to greet them.

  Ryan leaned against the mountain of pillows Rose liked sleeping buried in the center of on the over-sized bed. She was undressing, carefully, almost reverently hanging up the dress she’d been wearing. He had to admit, the satin sleep sets he bought her were an exceptional purchase. She wore the red one tonight, sliding over the bed and tumbling against him to look up and smile.

  “You didn’t have to promise a trip in the fall…”

  “I did if we ever wanted the evening to end,” Ryan said ruefully, drawing his finger over the bare expanse of her shoulder. “You were teary…your father and Cecily were trying to visualize their schedules to make another trip west. I’ve things I can do in Boston, so it’s not an inconvenience. And I bet you have tons of vacation time by then.”

  “So it was basic self preservation on your part,” she teased, her arm dangled over his shoulder and toying with the silky midnight strands. “What city don’t you have interests in, Ryan?”

  “Hmm…I think Topeka is safe from my clutches,” he returned, taking her hands in his and pulling her against him. “I’ll have to work on that…but first…”

  ****

  Ryan had turned around the next morning to retrieve his watch, arriving at the side of the house in time to see Rose wrestling with a large suitcase. She pushed and shoved until it was inside her trunk, the lid slammed down before she slid behind the wheel and drove off. Somehow the desire for a long run vanished.

  He believed they were settled. He believed they were more than a couple.

  He never asked and Rose didn’t think to mention it. Every time his phone sounded, he wanted to see something from Rose.

  She had to bow out of their game in the afternoon because of an errand. An errand that she promised would have her home no later than six. Ryan arrived home after six, determined to find out about the case she had loaded into her car when her voice reached him in the quiet hall outside the pool room.

  A one sided conversation that ripped through him.

  “I know…I know…” Rose listened patiently.

  “He always acts like he owns me, Rose…”

  “It’s no fun in a cage…”

  “What would you do?” Came the soft, quiet plea for help.

  “Pack. Everything I can stuff into my little car and disappear.”

  “You could do that…I’m not strong like you…”

  “You don’t believe that. They always make you believe you’re weak, but you aren’t. Not inside. And yes, it’ll hurt…”

  “It hurts just thinking about it.”

  “It goes away in time,” Rose said softly. “I don’t want to be treated like a child. Do you? I am not a victim.”

  “Of course not.”

  “It’ll be okay…” Rose promised, not noticing the man turn and leave the house without looking back. “I’ll help you, Tess…I will…you can’t let him hit you and stay. One time, he won’t stop…and I’m worried about you. I brought you the suitcase, just pack your things and put it in your car. When you go to work in the morning, we’ll find another place for you to go after.”

  It was another ten minutes before Rose closed her phone and blew a long puff of air between her lips. She frowned as she wandered back into the main house, searching rooms and finding silence.

  Soup was simmering on the stove and Susan had gone home at five. She checked messages and then checked her phone. Not a word from Ryan so she served up a small bowl of the yummy smelling soup and ate at her computer, playing a game and half listening to music.

  Chapter Twenty

  It was almost two when she heard the beeps announcing the gates opening. She was out of the bed and running down the stairs without thinking. Rose pulled the door wide anxiously. She’d been worried about him for hours. She’d paced the floor and sent messages to his phone. Nothing.

  She gaped at the very disheveled Irishman leaning against the doorjamb with one arm, the other draped around Matt’s
shoulders.

  “What in the world…” Wide eyes gaped in disbelief.

  “Good morning, my beautiful, sweet Rose…” came the very thick Irish words, dark eyes half open, thick, sexy lashes framing circles of midnight.

  “Matt? What’s he done? I’ve been trying to reach him all night!” Wide eyes swept from one man to the other.

  “In the last few hours? Got himself drunk, got into a bar fight and came to the conclusion he’s a bloody fool,” Matt growled tiredly and moved forward, helping him through the large foyer and into the living area. “You want him upstairs, Rose?”

  “I…please…but…what in the world…Ryan is too controlled to behave like this….” Rose followed him up the stairs, blowing a long puff of breath between her lips when he dropped him on the bed.

  “It’s your fault.”

  “I…me?” Came the high pitched question. “I haven’t done anything!”

  “He said you were leaving him,” Matt said flatly. “Said there was no point in going to an empty house, or an empty life.”

  “I…leaving him? I’m not…I’m here!” Rose wasn’t sure which lunatic to look at, her head swiveling from one to the other.

  “He said he overheard you on the phone…” Matt said cautiously, his foot on the first step down.

  “I…the phone? I was talking to a friend…she’s living with someone who…she asked me how I would handle it…oh, good grief…” Rose speared her hair with both hands and grabbed it tightly. She heard all her words replaying themselves and imagined what it would sound like to someone listening to only part of the conversation.

  “You would pack up and leave and he’d never be able to find you,” Matt repeated the words Ryan had used. He sighed, shook his head and went downstairs. “I’ll set the alarms, Rose…good night.”