Within Temptation

by Tanya Holmes

  “What?” She sounded breathless. “Look, I don’t know what you’re babbling about, but I’m at Temptation Memorial. Mead and Francine are on their way.”

  “Dear lord, what’s happened?” I asked, shoving myself up.

  My aunt hesitated long enough to scare the life out of me. “It’s Sears. They’re running tests now, but they think he’s had a heart attack.”

  My stomach spasmed. “I’ll be right there, okay?”

  I hung up with trembling hands, flipped the car into gear and sped down the interstate. My heart was skipping all over the place. Adrenaline burned. Without looking, I poked Darien’s speed-dial button.

  “Hello,” he barked, four rings later.

  I blinked. “Darien?”

  “Oh, sorry, love—I’ve got an annoying client on the line.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Waiting for my bags. Is something wrong?”

  “It’s Uncle Sears,” I said, trying to keep the panic from my voice. “They think it’s a heart attack.”

  “Sweet Jesus.”

  “He’s at Temptation Memorial.”

  “Go on,” he told me. “I’ll grab a cab and meet you there.”

  After we said our goodbyes, I was about to hang up, when I heard the audible click on his end, then…. “All right, I’m back,” he said in the same irritated tone I’d heard when he answered my call. “Look, Sears is in the hospital so don’t show up. Okay? You’ll only make this harder. We’re over.”

  My breath caught.

  “Kate? Are you there?”

  Something in me…died. “No,” I bit out. “Try again.”

  Ignoring Darien’s, “Oh, my God” and “Let me explain,” I pitched the headset and phone across the dashboard. The gadgets shattered on impact.

  TRACE

  ____________________________

  “Hi.” The soft voice reached out from the shadows.

  I was walking past the first bay in the garage when I jarred to a stop. Angling around, I found Bev in the driver’s seat of a Speedster. Its door lay ajar. She wore black pedal pushers and an oversized sweater. Her legs were crossed, with one foot planted on the concrete, the other doing a frantic wag.

  “What’re you doin’ here, Beverly?”

  “We’ve got some things to settle.” Her husky voice echoed. “Cholly said you’d come back for your bike.”

  I dragged my jacket off and tossed it aside, not caring where it landed. “You got two minutes.”

  She stood and approached me with caution. “Do you know what it’s like to be in love with the wrong person?”

  I stared into the darkness for a long while. “Yeah, I just might.”

  “Maybe you can give me some advice then.” Tears glistened in her eyes. “Patrick is like a drug to me. How do I turn it off? How do I make it stop?”

  Sadness welled. “Wish I knew.”

  “I had that abortion ‘cause I was scared. Mama said if I didn’t, I’d be stuck with a baby and no husband. Least not a fit one.” She wiped her nose on her sleeve. “If I had to do it all again, I’d have my baby, with or without Patrick.”

  I glanced off. “Beverly—”

  “No! Hear me out. We’ve had enough heartache to last us a lifetime. Daddy’s gone. Mama. Cole….” She stood before me, trembling. “I left Patrick yesterday, so you’re all I got now. Don’t let me lose you too. I’m sick with missing you, Tracemore. Please, forgive me!”

  She threw herself at me and buried her face in my shirt while I stood with my arms at my sides. Tears soaked the fabric, just like they had the day I was released, when she’d lifted the weight of the world off my soul.

  This was Bev, warts and all. She’d stuck by me. Visited me in prison every week. Wrote. Called. Gave me strength to carry on. I had to forgive her, even though I knew she’d be back with Icky in a few days—a week tops.

  That was a certainty.

  The ice around my heart melted as I gathered her in my arms. “It’s all right, Bevy.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yep.” I squeezed her and kissed the top of her head. “Blood’s thicker than bullshit.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  The Big Break

  TRACE

  ____________________________

  “How long ago did she ring the bell?”

  Amber tossed a toothbrush into her purse. “I dunno. Maybe five minutes.”

  “Shit!” I threw a towel around my waist. Water poured off me onto the bathroom floor. “Why didn’t you just let her in?”

  “I don’t like drama, shug.” She walked out and started toward my room. “Have you seen my ankle bracelet?”

  “Check the dresser.”

  I barreled into the hallway, raced down the stairs, and skidded to a stop at the landing. Winter stormed the house when I flipped on the outside light and tore the door open. The chill sliced into my shower-damp skin like a thousand blades. I swiped the wet hair from my eyes and the pitiable sight of Shannon came into focus.

  She stood hunched over on my porch bathed in yellow light; the street beyond her was nearly pitch black. Her coat lay open. Corpse-pale, she shivered and her eyes were huge in her face. She appeared lost, dazed, and vulnerable. A strange sensation pierced my chest.

  She was in pain and I felt it.

  I drew her inside with one hand, my other fisted in the towel, holding it firmly around my hips. After I kicked the door shut, I braced her shoulder to steady her, then stooped until we were eye level.

  “Hey. What happened?” She gave her head a violent shake, and buried her face in my chest. “Shannon?” I said in between her sniffles. “Aw, don’t cry. It’s gonna be all right.”

  I glanced beyond her, to Amber, who descended the stairs, knapsack slung over her shoulder, car keys in hand. Shannon frowned at the sound and stared up at me. A question floated in her eyes when she looked from me to the woman who stood frozen in the middle of the staircase.

  Shannon swallowed convulsively, her gaze darting from Amber to me. Red flamed her cheeks as her eyes canvassed my body, seeing it as if for the first time. Before I could explain, she’d slammed out of the house.

  SHANNON

  ____________________________

  I flew off the porch. Couldn’t get away fast enough. Couldn’t see for the blinding tears. Shoving my hair from my face, I stumbled down the sidewalk fighting delirium. Where the hell had I parked? East or west? North or south? Which block? Which side of the street? The synapses in my brain fired all over the place.

  I was completely disoriented.

  Turning a corner, I dug into my purse and snatched my keys from a side pocket. I stabbed the black remote in every direction and listened for my car’s answering chime, then searched the darkness for the familiar flash of gold and red lights. None came.

  Had I gone the wrong way? I stopped in my tracks. Cold keys dangled against my temple like icy fingers when I propped my wrists atop my head and scanned the block in a frantic haze.

  Car. Where was the car?

  Tears poured out of me as I trudged on blindly. I was so damn tired of crying! The image of Trace and that woman floated before my eyes. Dr. Rosen. Rainbows. Mrs. Campbell. Mother. Uncle, Auntie, and the sheriff plotting. Darien and Kate screwing each other.

  Trace shower damp. Trace darn near naked, wrapped in a towel—that beautiful woman with the stylish black hair, violet eyes, and sultry mouth.

  The same leggy woman I’d seen him with at Home Depot, but this time, she was in his house, descending the stairs, having just left his bedroom, no doubt—the bedroom where they’d obviously done God knows—

  “Shannon!”

  Trace’s voice jolted me as his hand gave my elbow a sharp tug. I crashed into what felt like a bus, but it was him—all six-feet-three-inches of hard-bodied man. His misty breath sawed in and out. Water beaded off his skin, his hair. He looked cold, breathless, and mad as hell.

  Mad at me.

  He was still dressed in a
towel, but he’d had the sense to throw his wool peacoat on. No shoes though. His bare chest pumped up and down while he struggled for words.

  “You…didn’t give me…a chance…to explain,” he breathed. “It’s not…what you think.”

  The blood was pounding so hard in my head, I could barely concentrate. “What am I thinking, Trace?”

  “That I was doin’ stuff.”

  “Well, weren’t you?”

  “No!” he roared over a sudden chorus of dog barks.

  “You badgered me about breaking up with Darien. Made me feel absolutely horrible. But you’re still seeing her even though you told me it was over! I have had it up to here—” I jerked my hand level with my chin. “—with everybody. Darien. My family. You. You’re all liars!”

  “Hey, shut that noise up!” someone screamed from a window.

  “What am I lying about?” he yelled. “She just came by to get her things.”

  “Things? What ‘things’?”

  He gestured. “Do we have to get into this out here? I’m freezing my ass off.”

  Bark. Bark. Bark.

  “Yes, we do. Remember when you said that if Darien wasn’t getting it from me, he was getting it from somewhere? Well, you were right. He was. This whole time! And it looks like the same holds true for you!”

  Veins bulged in his neck. “I am not fucking her!”

  Bark. Bark. Bark. Ruff. Ruff. Yip!

  I poked him in the chest. “Then what was she doing upstairs, and why are you….” I raked my eyes from his bare feet to his head. “Naked!”

  Trace scowled. “For the love of—she let herself in when I was taking a shower. I didn’t even know she was there ‘til—”

  “Wonderful. She has a key.” I rolled my eyes. “Why did it take you so long to answer the door?”

  “Are you hard of hearin’? I said, I—was—in—the—shower.”

  Ruff. Ruff. Bark. Bark. Bark. Bark! Yip!

  “So why didn’t she answer it?”

  “‘Cause she didn’t want a scene.”

  “Scene? What was she afraid of?”

  Bark! Ruff! Ruff! Grrrrrr! Ruff! Yip! Yip!

  “This! This right here!” He flung his arms out and his coat flew open. “You going batshit!” He dug a hand through his wet locks. “Damn it, she broke it off weeks ago!”

  “So what am I, the booby prize?” I spun away, fists clenched, keys jingling, only to have him yank me back. I slammed into his chest. “Let go!”

  Ruff! Bark! Ruff! Ruff! Ruff! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr! Ruff! Yip! Yip! Yip

  “Not until you hear me out.”

  “There’s nothing more to say.” Tears dangled from my chin. “All these years…all these years I worked my ass off to distance myself from my mother—to be blameless. To be perfect! All the weeks I denied my feelings for you, knowing how hard I was falling…knowing it was inevitable! But I still fought to stay true to a man I wasn’t in love with—a man who didn’t deserve me! And as usual it wasn’t enough. Not for my family. Not for Darien and not for you. I wasn’t enough and I never will be!”

  “What are you talking about? You’re more than enough for me. Can’t you see that?”

  “Just leave me alone.” I twisted to break free. “I mean it. Let go!”

  Trace wrestled me still. “Ask me why she ended it.”

  Bark! Bark! Yip! Bark! Bark! Ruff! Grrrrrrrrrr! Yip!

  “I don’t care!” I said, struggling.

  “Damn it, ask me why!”

  “Why!?”

  He grasped my face. “‘Cause she knew my heart was yours even before I did!”

  Over the maelstrom of anger, over the roar of blood in my ears, over all the madness and barking, relief hummed like a song in my heart, like a warm breeze in the dead of winter.

  Trace’s eyes burned into me, displacing the cold. He kissed my nose and said, “Do you hear me, Shannon? You’re all the woman I’ll ever need.”

  He crushed my mouth with his in a kiss so feral and possessive, it stole my breath. Our hearts slammed into each other as he leaned back, gripped my bottom, and lifted me as if I were penny-light. My feet hovered inches from the ground. I lay flush against his body, my arms tied around his neck, our mouths linked as intimately as our pelvises.

  “Y’all need to take that shit inside!” someone yelled.

  Trace set me down, squeezed me tight, and gazed up at the starlit sky. “Oh, baby,” he said. “I can’t breathe without you in my world. Don’t you get that yet?” He squeezed me once more. “You scared me to death. Please. Don’t ever run away from me again.”

  Bark! Bark! Bark! Yip!

  “I won’t.” I closed my eyes. “I swear it.”

  He kissed my forehead. “Good, ‘cause we’ve wasted too much time apart. Twelve years is long enough.”

  I buried my face in his chest and wrapped my arms within his jacket, around his naked waist. “My God. You’re so cold.”

  “Naw, try frozen,” he said, teeth chattering.

  “Then let’s get you home.”

  Yip! Ruff! Bark!

  He shivered. “Give me a minute, okay?”

  “For what?”

  Bark! Ruff! Ruff! Yip! Meow.

  “I can’t feel my feet no more,” he said. Then he leaned down and whispered, “And my towel just fell off.”

  SHANNON

  ____________________________

  I pressed a hand to my nervous stomach as I stood in the doorway. Trace slipped a CD into the player and sat at the edge of his bed. He wore white OBVIOUSLY boxer briefs and nothing else. I’d never seen underwear like them. The crotch had an anatomical pouch that was quite…large, giving his sex room to…er…hang.

  He looked up, dragging his smoldering gaze from my knees to my face in one sinuous slide. “It’s not Christmas yet, but I’m afraid I’m gonna have to unwrap you early.” His Adam’s apple climbed his neck, then shuddered down. “My robe never looked that good on me. C’mere.”

  My heart kicked into overdrive. I padded to the bed and stood between his legs. He hugged me as I cocked my head to listen to the amazing song he’d put on. “Who is this? The melody sounds so familiar.”

  “Richard Marx.”

  “Didn’t he do this song in English?”

  “Yeah, ‘Now and Forever.’ He wrote it for his wife.” Trace smiled. “But this is ‘Ahora y Siempre,’ his Spanish version.”

  I closed my eyes and smiled. “It’s so beautiful.”

  “No. You’re beautiful.” Trace stood and took me into his arms, leading me in a slow dance. “I still can’t believe you’re here. Like this. With me.”

  I cupped his jaw. “There’s no other place I’d rather be.”

  “I didn’t think you’d ever get out of the shower,” he said with a nervous laugh.

  “I just needed to clear my head.”

  He stared at me with concerned eyes. “You sure you want to do this?”

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

  We stayed like that for a while, just swaying to the music. He squeezed me in intermittent doses and told me how I completed him. I combed my fingers through his hair and told him how I’d wanted him since forever.

  Together, we acknowledged the import of what we were about to do…how it would change us. How it would take our relationship to another level.

  When we separated, he untied the robe with reverence. I sucked in a breath, feeling his gentle hands tour my body. He told me that I was beautiful and not to be afraid. He said he’d take his time, that we were in no hurry.

  Meanwhile, I berated myself for blushing, but when the belt fell to the floor, I knew that this night, this man was my destiny.

  And that I was loved.

  He parted the garment and his hungry gaze rested on my breasts. He’d kissed and sucked them, but that was in the heat of passion. We were both calm now, and would enter this loving clear-eyed. Since I barely filled a B-cup, I was insecure, especially when I thought about his busty brunette fr
iend.

  My silly insecurities vanished when I saw his arousal. What used to be a non-threatening bulge, now tented his boxers with such blatant violence I stifled a gasp.

  His eyes were fixed on the dark blonde tangle of silk between my legs. Up and down his chest pumped. I could hear the air rush from his flared nostrils. He was happy to see me—very happy. But self-consciousness returned, and a blush flamed my body. It compelled me to pull the robe around myself.

  Trace gave his head a slow shake. “Naw. Let me look my fill.”

  He brought my arms down to my sides, pushed the robe off one shoulder and moved in to capture a nipple. The ache between my legs was swift and powerful while he drew it into his mouth and sucked.

  He anchored one palm at the small of my back. The other hand, he pressed against my belly, and used two fingers to stroke the place he’d stared at. The pleasure was so exquisite I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

  His lips made a smacking sound when he released my nipple. It glistened beneath the light. Easing me on the bed, he fit our bodies together, side by side, and crushed his mouth to mine. As our lips did battle, he positioned me astride him. My damp hair framed his cheeks like twin curtains, while my necklace rested against his Adam’s apple. He broke the kiss, swept my hair to one side and gazed into my eyes. A muscle along his jaw trembled.

  I shot him an anxious smile. “What?”

  “Nothin’,” he said, husky and deep. “Just that I want to get inside you so bad my nuts ache.”

  Laughter exploded from my throat and giggles spilled out of me like bubbly. Just like that, my nervous tension evaporated. After the monstrous day I’d endured, this was just what the doctor ordered.

  I snuggled his neck. “Oh, my goodness,” I wheezed. “I needed that.”

  “But it’s the truth,” he said in an all too quiet voice.

  I raised my head, my body still shuddering with laughter. When I bent to kiss him in between giggles, he turned his face away. I blinked, stared down at him, and my laughter died. He wasn’t smiling.