by Francis Ray
“For you.”
With hands that trembled, Lilly took the single red rose he held out to her. “Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” he said. The back of his knuckled hand grazed her cheek.
Heat spiraled through her body at his touch, the husky timbre of his voice. She swallowed.
“Mother said you’d already toasted your freedom, but I hope you’ll have dinner with me and toast again.”
Lilly finally pulled her hungry eyes away from Adam’s compelling features long enough to see the table setting for two on the balcony. The white tablecloth and crystal glowed in the moonlight. “Oh, Adam. It’s beautiful.” She brought her gaze back to him. It was impossible not to. The candlelight illuminated his handsome face and made her spin foolish fantasies.
“I’m glad you think so.” He chuckled. “I had to threaten Kristen to leave me in here with the candles. She went out the back door when we heard Mother’s car.”
Lilly’s gaze went back to the groups of candles scattered around the room. They sat far enough back for Adam not to accidentally knock any over unless he fell, and he was too self-assured for that. “This was all planned, I take it.”
“I wanted to give you a beautiful memory by candlelight. Couldn’t very well do that in the daytime.” Taking her arm, Adam led her to the balcony and expertly poured each of them a glass of champagne. “To second chances.”
“Second chances,” Lilly repeated and drank, her eyes on Adam. The dinner might be a celebration, but the candles moved into the realm of romance. Her pulse raced.
He reached for her glass and set it on the table, then stepped closer until their body heat mingled. “Are you hungry?”
Her breath seemed to clog in her throat. “N–Not very.”
“Good. I’ve wanted to do this for so very long.” Pulling her into his arms, his mouth brushed gently over hers, once, twice.
Transfixed, Lilly stopped breathing and let herself feel the gossamer touch of warm, mobile lips shaping themselves to hers as hers heated and softened in return. A moan came from deep within.
“So sweet. Sweeter than I imagined.”
“Yes,” she murmured; her arms slipped around his neck. The flower dropped unheeded from her fingers to the floor. So this was what a kiss was like. A mating of tongues and spirits. Sweet. Tender. Powerful.
Adam’s hands explored the gentle slope of her back, the rounded curve of her hips, the proud thrust of her breasts, as he had wanted to do so many times and discovered each touch fueled the need for another, then another. She shivered in his arms and clung to him, fitting her softness to his hardness.
She held nothing back. There was no hesitation. She simply gave and in so doing received more pleasure than she had imagined. The kiss, the touch, the soft sighs, and the ragged moans seduced her. She sank deeper into the kiss, into passion, and Adam sank with her.
His head lifted, his breathing labored. “I want to carry you to bed, but I’m afraid I can’t remember exactly where it is.”
His words sent a shaft of heat pulsing through her. In this room he never hesitated, never faltered. To know that she made him forget even for a moment excited her in a way that she never thought possible.
“Why don’t we save it for the next time?” Boldly taking his hand, she led him to the bed and pulled him down beside her.
Without another word, she met his mouth again. They tumbled back onto the wide expanse of softness. His hands on the buttons of her suit jacket were quick and agile. Hers faltered on his shirt. She shivered as he slipped the jacket off her shoulder and trailed kisses to the valley of her throbbing breasts.
Shivers gave way to shudders as his lips took her nipple in his mouth, suckled gently. She felt the exquisite pull deep in the core of her womanhood. Her hand at the button of his slacks fisted.
“You’re getting behind.” Adam dragged her skirt over her feet, then followed with pulling her stockings down her legs with a trail of kisses to the instep of each foot.
Pleasurable sensations swept over Lilly in waves. Need trailed in its wake. To touch and be touched; to love and be loved. She hadn’t known that pleasure could be so sharp it bordered on pain, on insanity.
Her hands went to his shirt again. When the last button proved stubborn, she jerked.
Adam laughed. His rough laughter turned into a moan as her mouth dropped kisses over his chest. Then her teeth and tongue sought out the dark nipple on his chest and swirled her tongue around it. Soon she discovered that wasn’t enough. She wanted him as naked as she was.
Straddling him, she undid the button on his pants, then drew them and his black briefs off. Looking up, she saw the proof of his desire, hard and proud.
“I won’t hurt you, Lilly.”
She smiled in the semidarkness with a woman’s power. Her body had tightened, but not in fear. “I won’t hurt you, either.”
They each reached for the other at the same time and came together in the center of the bed, their knees touching, their arms around each other, their faces inches apart. “I was afraid you’d remember him.”
“Once. No more.” She glanced around the room. “Thank you for this.”
He kissed her forehead, her cheek, brushed his lips across her mouth. “You deserved so much. When my vision returns, I’ll show you the world.”
Misery lanced through her. She could be greedy or accept the remaining time they had together. “Love me.”
“Always.”
He fastened his mouth on hers. Lifting himself over her, he nudged her legs aside. With one stroke he joined the two of them. Her heat welcomed him, closing around him like a hot velvet glove. Adam sighed with the pleasure of it, with the rightness of it. Then he began to move.
Lilly locked her legs around his back and met the thrusts of his body. So this was what it felt like to be loved and loving. Lilly held nothing back, not sure if Adam would have let her.
Hearing her soft cries of pleasure soothed the jagged edge of his need…just barely. He had never wanted this way. She was so responsive, so demanding. He didn’t flinch when her nails dug into his back. He surged deeper, more powerfully into her, meeting her demands and reveling in the rightness of this woman.
He felt the little quakes inside her body and knew she’d go over soon. He planned to be there with her. Fastening his mouth to hers, he lifted her hips in his hands and thrust into her again and again until the world blurred and shattered.
Together they fell into the deep abyss of passion locked in each other’s embrace.
Lilly watched the dawning day take the shadows from the bedroom and from Adam’s face on the pillow beside hers. He was so utterly handsome and so hopelessly lost to her. She had lingered when she should have gone. Just one more touch and then she’d have the courage to slip away.
“Good morning.”
She started; her hand paused near his face. “You’re awake?”
He laughed at the obvious answer to her question. The sound caused her heart to skip a beat. How could just hearing his laughter make her want him?
His mouth brushed across hers; then he tugged. “Come here.”
She went willingly, greedy again for his mouth, his hands on her body. He brought them together in one smooth motion. Just as Lilly sighed in contentment, he reversed their position and she found herself on top.
Pleasure rippled through her. He filled her completely. Deliciously.
“You’re all that I desire.”
Lilly heard the words but, more important, felt them in her soul and the most intimate part of her body where he touched her. She couldn’t hold the words back any longer: “I love you, Adam.”
“Lilly.” Her name on his lips sounded like a reverent prayer.
Lilly locked her hands with his and began to move her hips. The pace was fast, and when completion came his name was on her lips. He took the word into his mouth and locked his arms around her and followed her over.
Her head on his shoulder, their bodies bead
ed with perspiration, their breathing labored, Lilly listening to the unsteady beat of his heart, storing another memory. Then she threw a glance at the clock and realized she had lingered too long. Seven-forty-seven.
“I better get up. Mrs. Howard will be here soon.” The housekeeper arrived promptly at eight Monday through Friday.
Adam pulled her closer. “It’s not unusual for a man and his fiancée to sleep together.”
She jerked upright. “What?”
Adam felt under the pillow, pulled out a little blue box, then opened it. Inside, a two-carat heart-shaped diamond gleamed. “Besides planning the dinner, I had to find this. I’d get down on my knees, but I suddenly have the feeling if I did, you’d run.”
Her heart breaking, she forced the words out. “I–I can’t marry you.”
“Why?” The quiet intensity of Adam’s voice told her how important her answer was to him, how badly she could hurt him.
“Several reasons,” she told him, dragging the sheet up to cover her breasts.
“I’m listening.”
He deserved the truth. “I didn’t want to fall in love with you, but I couldn’t help myself. I kept telling myself I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, pretty enough.”
“That’s idiotic.”
She kept talking as if she hadn’t heard him. “I know that I’m a worthwhile human being and I’m stronger than I thought I was. All my life I’ve depended on someone or something to make me happy. That’s changed. I have to depend on myself for my happiness, and I have to be able to stand on my own. I have to come to you because I want to, not because I have no choice.”
“Then you aren’t leaving me?”
“I’m not that big of a fool.” Smiling, she wrapped her arms around his neck. “There are plenty of colleges here, and I’m getting my degree and I’m going to get my business going again.”
“I don’t suppose arguing will do any good?”
She kissed him on the mouth. “Not this time. This is the way it has to be.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Taking her hand, he slipped on the engagement ring. “You have your conditions and I have mine. You’re wearing my ring, and the second that diploma is in your hand we’re heading to the church.”
“I could keep your medical ring instead.” she offered.
“Fine, but you’re wearing this one,” he told her flatly. “I want the entire world to know I love you.”
“Adam, you’re arrogant, dictatorial, obs—”
His mouth stopped her words. “And you’re hopelessly in love with me the same way I am with you.”
“Absolutely,” Lilly answered with a smile as big as his.
His hand moved possessively over her hips.
“Adam, the housekeeper,” Lilly reminded him, but she nipped his ear, already feeling her blood heat.
“I gave her the week off.” He eased into Lilly’s moist heat. She took him completely. He eased out, then back, stroking her inner walls as she stroked his. Rapture waited, but not yet. Not yet.
Lilly tried to speak, but the hard length of him inside her stole her thoughts. All but one as she matched his lazy rhythm: She’d found something else she was good at. Loving Adam.
Epilogue
He watched her come down the aisle toward him. Their family and friends were gathered to share in their happiness, but he had eyes only for her on this, their wedding day. He’d fretted about the flowers in the garden being just right, worried that it might rain.
She hadn’t worried. As always, she had been his rock, his salvation. He’d waited so long for her, and now his wait was over.
“If any person can show just cause why this couple should not be joined in holy matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace,” intoned the minister.
Adam shot the minister a hard glare. He could have left out that part. When Adam turned back to Lilly she was smiling as if she knew exactly what his thoughts were. He grinned. God, how he loved her more each time he saw her. He’d catch himself sometimes just staring at her, the same way he’d stared the first morning the gray haze cleared from his eyes.
He thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world then; in the ten months that had followed, he hadn’t changed his mind. It wasn’t just her beauty on the outside, although her almond-colored eyes, high cheekbones, and lush lips got his blood pressure up just by looking at her; it was her inner beauty that had captured his heart.
His heart had known even before his eyes saw her that he’d love her forever. He didn’t know what life held, but as long as Lilly was by his side, he could handle it.
Rafe released her hand and Adam stepped down to take it and lead her back to the minister. He’d waited a year for this day.
Life was good and he planned to enjoy each day to the fullest with the woman he loved, the woman who had been his turning point.
Letter to Readers
Dear Readers:
Trouble Don’t Last Always will always have a very special place in my heart. Several years ago, when my writing career was just beginning, I began to see blank spaces where letters should have been. Concerned, I had my eyes examined and was told I needed bifocals. I insisted on a second opinion. Two weeks later I sailed through a more intensive vision exam, or so I thought. Imagine my horror when I was informed that I had a macula hole in each eye and surgery was needed immediately.
The first retina specialist advised surgery the next day, but he was professional enough to tell me that his last patient lost her sight as a result of that surgery. Needless to say, I wanted to see another specialist. A week later I was in the office of Dr. Parks, who gave me hope, but eventually the macula hole repair was needed. Instead of six weeks face down for twenty-two hours out of twenty-four, I had eight weeks. I was never so frightened in my life when my vision didn’t clear on the exact day and hour that Dr. Parks thought it would.
I’m now blessed with 20/25 vision in my left eye. But what if the surgery had failed? What if the hole in the right eye had not resolved by itself? What if the complication of cataracts materialized? Those “what ifs” became the starting points for Trouble Don’t Last Always. As in all of my thirteen previous published titles, I wanted to show the miracle of faith, the healing power of love, and the special bond many families are blessed to share. I hope you feel I succeeded.
If you know of anyone who needs more information for the visually impaired, please call Lighthouse International at 1-800-829-0500. The National Domestic Violence hot line number is 1-800-799-7233. Before you go to bed tonight please hug someone you love and count your blessings.
Have a wonderful life,
Francis Ray
E-mail: [email protected]
Reading Group Guide
1. Did Lilly pay too high a price by staying with Myron? Do you agree with her reasons for staying? Why or why not?
2. What is the one thing that you feel you could never forgive your significant other for?
3. Should Adam share the blame with the carjackers for his blindness?
4. How did Lilly’s and Adam’s families influence their lives?
5. What part did faith play in the lives of Lilly and Adam?
6. What lesson about life and love did all the characters have to learn?
7. Has there been a turning point in your life, and if so, who or what influenced it and how has it changed your life?
8. With no definite plans and little resources, Lilly stepped out on faith to find a better life for herself. Do you think you would have the same courage and determination in her place? Why or why not?
9. When life gets tough, what helps you to remember that trouble doesn’t last always? What helped Lilly and Adam to remember?
10. Domestic violence is often viewed as a family crime and not reported. If you were aware of someone in an abusive relationship, how would you handle the situation?
11. When Lilly first met Myron he was cordial and caring. Adam was harsh and rude to her. Both men said they lov
ed her. Only one told the truth. Can a woman always tell if a man loves her? Explain your answer.
For more reading group suggestions visit www.stmartins.com
Here’s an excerpt from Francis Ray’s next book
LIKE THE FIRST TIME
Coming May 2004
There was no man in her life, and never had been. She’d always been shy and a loner. One of the reasons she had chosen to major in Computer Science was that she dealt with machines better than people. She had viewed working overtime and on holidays as a way of reaching her goal of being financially independent by the time she was fifty. Marriage and family would come, but she was too busy trying to rise in her profession to date. Now, at thirty-nine, she had done neither.
Standing to go to the kitchen, she caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror over the dresser in her bedroom. Everything about her was ordinary: her face, her eyes, her mouth, and her nose. She’d never stop traffic the way Brooke did and certainly didn’t have the air of confidence or poise that Lorraine possessed. She didn’t have that sparkle, that zip.
For some odd reason she thought of Brooke’s comment about her missed opportunity with Gray. It would be laughable if it weren’t so implausible. By the time he turned thirteen and was almost six feet tall, girls were always after him. He could have had his pick. The daughter of the cook and the chauffeur wasn’t even in the running…not that she wanted to be.
Annoyed with herself for letting her mind wander to something totally off base, she left her bedroom and headed for the beach. Perhaps a walk would clear her head.
Her hand clamped around the cell phone, Brooke paced the floor and waited for Randolph to pick up. It was barely ten minutes after four Saturday morning. This was her third time trying to reach him since she’d set her alarm clock for four. Last night she kept getting his machine. Every time she’d think he might be out with another woman, she’d glance at her gold bracelet on her wrist. He must have been too tired to check his messages last night and simply forgotten this morning.