She found a private bathroom that was almost as large as the bedroom with a tub type Sauna large enough to fit three people Paul's size and a separate shower stall.
Making use of the shower, she quickly washed up and returned back to the bedroom. Her hair had come down during the night and she found a ponytail holder in her purse and pulled her hair up in a ponytail. Shane dashed her lips with some gloss and put on some more eyeliner. Paul had laid her things in a small chair at the end of the bed and she checked her purse. It was nine in the morning, so she hooked her phone to her PDA and then checked her emails online.
Rachel had sent her instruction on downloading her daily schedule onto her PDA. Shane did this and finished with her other emails quickly.
There was nothing from Aldridge and she was tempted to call the office disguising her voice to ask for his New York contact number.
"You're up. I thought I heard water running," Paul said pleasantly from the doorway.
She smiled elated to see him, especially since he was carrying a tray of food that smelled delicious.
Paul gave her a peck on the lips and set the tray on her lap. He smelled like Calvin Klein with a note of bacon grease. She couldn't take her eyes off at how good he looked even in the morning.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked.
"One of the best sleeps in my lifetime," she admitted. "Since my mother's death, I feel as if I have to keep one eye open in my sleep."
"I take it you don't trust your relatives that much," he said.
"No and lately they've been acting strange enough to scare me." She changed the subject. "I'm not keeping you from work, am I?"
"Oh no." He assured her with a smile. "I'm glad you're here." Stealing a greasy kiss from her, he asked, "When do you have to leave?"
"In about three hours. I need time to get home and get a change of clothes and then get to work."
"What if I provided you with clothes?" he offered.
Shane shook her head adamantly. "You've done more than enough, Paul."
He went over to a large white wardrobe closet chest and opened it up. "My mother had these rooms filled with her clothes and I've never had time to clear them out. Most of the stuff is brand new, because she was a shop-a-holic. I think you'd like them."
She went over to the chest and looked at the clothes. Amazingly they were her size and very nice. Shane picked out a nice Elizabeth Arden black and white business dress. There were even matching heels underneath on the floor of the chest.
Laying the items in the chair with her other clothes, she joined him back on the bed and kissed him in thanks. They ate together talking like old friends. It seemed odd that he had not asked to be pleased, but Shane knew if he did ask she would oblige him. He was a man dedicated to giving a woman full gratification before his own and she was endeared to Paul.
She knew she could really care about him given the chance and that he could be a great guy in her life if she allowed her heart to open up to him. In any case, she wanted to keep Paul close in her life and she hadn't wanted to do that with anyone in a long time.
Once they were finished eating, Paul became strangely serious. He took her on a partial tour of the upstairs living quarters. There were curtained covered doubled window doors to the balcony off the bedroom, which had a staircase that led to the private roof. Up in this area sat the largest Jacuzzi she had ever seen enclosed in a Japanese styled room with a beautiful garden off on the side. Carefully placed plants, stones, flowing waters and areas of serene and quiet beauty emerged like a tea garden.
On the inside of the Jacuzzi room there was a stereo system. Paul turned it on to play Babyface's first album, which was one of her favorite recordings by Babyface.
They began to slowly dance in the middle of the roof. She rested her head on his chest enjoying his closeness and comfort. Closing her eyes, she imagined she and Paul being happily married, living here and having not a care in the world. She would be away from the Meadows and Paul would make her happy everyday.
"Shane, could you love me?" he asked quietly.
Smiling, she said, "Yes."
"Don't," Paul stated emphatically
Looking up with confusion, she asked, "Why Paul?"
"I'm dying Shane."
Chapter 12
It suddenly felt like she was eight years old again and she had just heard her mother tell her those same words. Shaking her head not believing his words, she backed away, "No. No! NO!"
He pulled her in his arms and tried to console her. "There's nothing anyone can do. No doctor in the world can make it better, Shane. They're all surprised I've lived this long."
By now she was crying silent tears. Why did everyone she care about die? And people who were supposed to care about her try to hurt her? Was this a sick joke God was playing on her? Or was this her eternal fate to be forever miserable with no one to trust or love?
Paul guided her to the white wooden benches near the garden, still holding her close and soothing her as they sat together.
"What is it?" she asked between sobs.
He spoke as if he had accepted the fact of his pending death a long time ago. "A brain tumor. It's attached itself to my cerebellum. In a year, I won't be able to move anything from the waist down and by six months after that, I'll be confined to a bed on life support." He took her hand in his hearing her trying to hold in her crying. Gently he kissed the inside of her palm and then kissed her tear-streaked cheek. "I'll be dead in two years."
"You don't look like you're about to die," she wept.
He chuckled lightly. "Trust me, Shane if I could stop it, I would." Paul cupped her cheeks in both hands. "I wish I had met you a long time ago. You deserve so much more and I wish I could be the man to give it to you."
Shane wished for that too. "We can make due with the time we do have," she said remembering her own mother's words.
"I need to ask a favor of you, Shane," he said with a very solemn look in his dark blue eyes.
"Anything, Paul," she said without hesitation.
His hand moved down to open her robe and push it off her shoulders leaving the top of her bare. The look of pleasure and passion jumped in his dark blue eyes. Shane's heart raced as he gently cupped both her breast massaging the tips to erection.
'This was it,' she told herself. He would make love to her right here and she would make sure it was the best he could ever have.
"You are so beautiful," Paul whispered letting his tongue now arouse her dark nipples.
She watched in fascination as he suckled the areole past his dark pink lips, then his oral muscle titillated the sensitive skin igniting an inferno all over her body. His hand moved between her open legs and two fingers filled her moist womanhood. Shane threw her head back, grinding her hips against the fingers as he set off the orgasmic intense pleasure.
Reaching up, she started to unbutton his shirt, but he caught her hands and moved away standing in front of her. She stood up and again tried to remove his clothes, but he stopped her again. With her robe opened, Shane grinded her naked body against him. "Paul, please let me."
With disappointment, he said, "I can't, Shane."
Emotional alarm bells sounded in her head. She looked down at his left hand to see if there was a wedding band. There wasn't, but something was wrong. Something was preventing him from taking pleasure in her body.
"Is it my color, Paul?" she asked.
He looked at her stunned she had said that. "No, Shane." Pulling her to him, he turned her around holding her close with her back against his chest and swayed to the music that was still playing. "When I said, I can't, I meant that I haven't - ever."
Shane didn't understand, and the look on her face told him she didn't understand what he had meant.
"When I was twelve," Paul explained, "My brother became ill with scarlet fever. So sick, pneumonia also got a hold of him and he was near death. The doctors said he wouldn't make it until the morning, while my father and I sat vigil by his bedside. I
lay in his bed, after my father went to sleep and prayed. I told the Lord to give me his sickness. I would take his place and go to heaven and then I kissed my brother on the lips. Next thing I knew, I was lying in that hospital bed for seven days battling death. I think I died and returned several times before coming out of the episode alive. I became well with the prayers, strength, and love of my brother at my side for the entire time, but I did lose something." He paused for a moment and then said, "I can't achieve sexual erection."
"It was because of the fever?" she asked.
"And the many tumors I've had all my life, but that episode was the worse. Despite that everyone said I would die then, except my brother, but I lived and I continue to live. I'm grateful, Shane and like I said before I'm very blessed to have made it this long."
She faced him still continuing to sway to the music. "Don't you ever wonder what it feels like?"
"Of course, but I won't go to any doctor and have him insert some contraption in my dick just to get it. I'm satisfied knowing I've given you pleasure. That's enough for me."
Even as he spoke, he stole caresses down her spine, her firm backside, neck, and shoulders. His attention to her body's needs was subconscious. Unlike other men, Paul didn't have to think about the physical needs of a woman in order to arouse her. He automatically did the gestures in which he knew would bring the most pleasure out of her. He could satisfy a woman without thinking twice about it, but it was his own physical deficiency that made him incomplete which would explain why he was not married.
"What favor do you ask of me Paul?" she inquired highly curious as he brought her out of a long dip.
"Would you marry me?"
Chapter 13
Shane wasn't sure how many minutes passed before she blinked several time and said, "We haven't known each other long enough, Paul, for you to know I would be a good wife or even if I'm ready to be a wife."
He rolled her away, but turned her back so she was back in his arms not missing a beat in the music. "Time for me is of the importance, Shane."
"I understand this Paul, but..."
He kissed her to silence. A long kiss that left her breathless so he could talk. "My father's estate, which I've inherited comes to about fifteen million. We aren't including the business's assets, but if I die tomorrow without an heir or wife, it all goes to the state. My brother would lose everything, Shane."
"Why didn't your father leave him part of the business?" she questioned suspiciously.
Paul sighed as if he had explained this a million times. "His mother and my father hated each other. She stole a child practically from my father who was drunk during conception and my brother's lived as a wall between the two, but even on my father's deathbed, as much as he did love his son, he told my brother he would never get a dime because of his mother. My brother is an important asset to the business. My company wouldn't be the success it is today without the contributions he has made in it, so I want him to have it after I die."
Shane puckered her brown brow perplexed. "How can I help by marrying you, Paul?"
"His mother died a month ago. She was an alcoholic and had an accident with a radio and a tub full of water. I knew this was the chance we had to take. I knew the fates were telling me we had to act fast. My plan is to marry and have a child. Once I die, my brother will marry my wife. The lawyer's can't refuse if my wife gives the estate and guardianship over to her new husband, right?"
She stopped dancing and stared up at him. “So we’ll artificially inseminate me.”
He shook his head in dread. “No, Shane. Not only can’t I have children, but the sperm I have I was told would never be strong enough to produce children, even if I tried laboratory methods. Trust me, we asked almost every expert in the world. The last person was also a preacher and he said we needed a lot of prayer if we wanted to get children. And I did pray Shane. I prayed for a woman willing to accept what I had to offer. I prayed for you.”
She was touched by his words, but his other statement still confused her. “So you can't have children at all, yet you’re saying your wife… I am supposed to turn over guardianship of what? You can’t get me pregnant, Paul.”
"No one knows this. That secret died with my father. It is going to be between you, me, and my brother." He stole a kiss with a triumphant grin.
"But how can I become pregnant by you when you've just told me you can't have an erection. Do I go to a doctor?" she asked.
He shook his head and gave her a strangely familiar look as if he was trying to read her mind. "That would not work at all. The lawyers would find out about that, plus because I contracted the fever at such a young age my body cannot make enough sperm to impregnate anyone. Even now, I take steroids just to maintain my strength."
"So how would I become pregnant, Paul?" she questioned once again.
"With my brother's seed - naturally." It was good he held her close because Shane felt the strength in her legs deteriorating. Paul continued, "No one can know and it will all be done in the privacy of our homes. Once you're pregnant, I know I won't have to worry about the estate being in good hands. Everyone will think it's mine, especially if you marry me soon. They'll assume it's because of the pregnancy." He pulled her into a dip and then slowly brought her up. “All of this has to take place in a hurry, Shane. My body's strength is weakening and I'm getting more and more tired day by day."
"Why me?" she had to ask.
"I know I can trust you to carry on my business, Shane. I've known since the first day we met. I also could feel the impact you would make on my brother's life. I knew you possessed the spirit and vitality to change him."
"So you've picked me out for your brother?" she asked feeling very offended. "After everything you've made me feel, you've only been with me to feel me out for your brother?"
"Shane, you have to understand, I'll be dead in two years."
"Stop saying that!" she exploded and shoved away from him and then ran down to the lower balcony into the bedroom. Slumping on the bed, she buried her face in her hands and cried. Why was this happening to her? How could he ask her to do something like that?
Warm large hands massaged her shoulders and Paul's body moved beside her. He kissed her forehead and whispered apologies in her ear. "I know I'm asking a lot, Shane. I shouldn't have asked this of you so soon," he admitted. “But time, our time is limited.”
She shook her head. "It's not that, Paul. The first time I saw you I knew there was something different. You made me feel things I haven't felt in so long. You've awakened feelings in me that I never knew could exist inside of me. I'll never feel this way when you're gone."
"You will," he promised. "I'll make sure of that, Shane. I knew your body was just an untouched violin, yearning to vibrate and sing. It only took the right touch. My brother is being taught to cater to your needs. I'll be there to help you two."
"You'll be there?" she questioned baffled.
"I can't very well expect him to just go on verbal instructions, Shane." He looked deep in her eyes. "Do you understand what I'm talking about?"
Shane did and she didn't know if she could be apart of this. Going over to the chair, she picked up her clothes and purse before going into the bathroom to get dressed.
As she put her clothes on, she was deep in thought about what Paul had presented her with. Being married afforded her the security of not dealing with the Meadows anymore. Paul would make sure she was protected from them and she knew his brother would most likely follow all of Paul's wishes. Paul seemed as if he wanted to do the best for her.
Yet, Paul was asking her to be the wife of a man she had never met and that she knew she probably wouldn't like the way felt about Paul. Still, if he was willing to sacrifice his life like this for his brother, she could be willing to sacrifice her own life for the security and comfort it would give her.
Plus, Paul's estate would afford her enough money to pay for the Meadows to get out the house and when it was all said and done she could divorc
e the brother, share custody of the child with him and go from there.
People married for so many reasons these days, and no one questioned divorce. Why couldn't she afford herself the benefit of marriage like others?
It wasn't about love, but at least Paul had promised her some happiness and he must have thought his brother and Shane had something in common if he said her qualities would be a benefit to his brother's life.
Shane noted that the dress fit almost too perfectly, but she did look great in it too. Pulling her hair in a bun and retouching her makeup she took a deep breath and knew what she would do.
Coming out of the bathroom, she was disappointed to see the bedroom empty, but the doors to the bedroom were opened and she heard Paul's voice coming from downstairs. She followed the voice going past several closed doors until she got to a division in the stairs at the second platform. Shane continued to go in the direction of the voice to the right and descended the stairwell carefully ending up in a very large kitchen that was very technically advanced and strangely reminded her of Andrew's kitchen.
Paul was on the phone, but immediately disconnected once he noticed her standing there.
Slowly walking up to him, she cleared her throat. "Are you busy?" she asked.
"Never for you, Shane," he said, looking intently into her face.
Fudging about, she handed him his identification he had given to her. "I forgot to give this back to you on the first night we met."
He looked very disappointed as if she were rejecting him. "What does this mean, Shane?" he asked almost scared to know the answer.
Looking straight into his eyes, she said determinedly, "I'll do it."
Paul's look of elation was instantaneous. "You will?" he asked again in disbelief.
When she nodded, he cupped her face and kissed her passionately.
***
On her way to work, she briefly listened to the news radio station. The reporter was updating the public about how the Senate Hearings of the Tyrex dumping scandal had been put on hold because the supposed evidence had disappeared.
Drawing The Line (Mistaken Identity Series) Page 12