Silver Miracles

by Preston, Fayrene

  Feeling his hand move to the inside of her thigh, she pointed a warning finger at his face. "Don’t you start anything else, Chase Colfax. I’m starving. You’ve got to feed me!"

  Chase grinned complacently. "I’ve already taken care of that. I’ve put one of Mangus’s special casseroles in the oven, and it is heating even as we kiss."

  Giving her an especially tender kiss, he continued, smiling at the bemused expression on her face. "Mangus condescends to come into town periodically and cook up a number of properly exotic concoctions that I can just take out of the freezer and heat up whenever I get hungry. He never stays long, though, because he has fallen in love with east Texas and, once he’s done what he considers to be his duty by me, he can’t wait to get back."

  "Great. When will it be ready?"

  Chase kissed her again. "In a little while. It was frozen solid, and I didn’t want to use the microwave, because I didn’t know how long you would be asleep." He ran a finger across the soft lips he had just kissed. "How long can you stay? Is your sister taking care of Stephanie?"

  Trinity searched Chase’s face, wondering how he was going to take her answer. "Yes, she’s staying at Sissy and Larry’s. I can stay for a couple of days; then I need to get back."

  "Okay," Chase agreed easily. "I’ll arrange my work load so that I can go back with you."

  Trinity took a deep breath and looked away. "No."

  "Why? What’s wrong?"

  She looked back at him, noting the new softness in his eyes. Dear Lord, she prayed silently, please don’t let the ice come back. "Nothing’s wrong, Chase. But we’ll only be together when I come to Dallas, and then it can only be for two nights a week."

  Pausing, she waited for the explosion. It never came. Instead, Chase’s hand came out and combed its way through her hair, tenderly stroking the silky strands that had spread out across the pillow.

  "Why, Trinity?" he questioned gently.

  She prayed for strength. "I can’t forget my obligation to Stephanie, Chase. She’s got to be my first consideration. It would only confuse her if you slept at our house. She’d wake up one morning and you’d be there. Then, just as she would start to get used to the idea of your being at the farm, you would have to take one of your trips or go into Dallas and you wouldn’t be around for a while. When you returned, she’d have to start getting used to your being there all over again. And, of course, inevitably, the time would come when . . . when you wouldn’t come back." Trinity didn’t want to talk about it, much less think about it.

  Chase’s hand turned her face toward him. "I don’t want to interfere with your raising of Stephanie. I’ve told you before that you’re a good mother. And since I’m in the position of knowing that kids aren’t always lucky enough to get good, loving mothers, I’d never try to change that. It just seems to me that there must be some sort of a compromise that we could reach. I want to be with you more than two nights a week."

  "Those are part of my conditions, Chase," Trinity maintained bravely. "Besides not wanting to leave Stephanie for more than two days at a time, there’s the farm to think about."

  "Regardless of whether you agree to come to Dallas more than two days a week, I want to hire someone to do the farm work for you. I’ve wanted to for a long time now. I’d also like to buy you a new car, one that I wouldn’t be afraid will break down."

  "No. Absolutely not. I’ve managed this long by myself and I’ll continue to."

  "But there’s no reason to do that. You’ve got me now."

  "No, Chase," she contradicted very softly. "I don’t have you. Not really."

  "Yes, you do," Chase whispered huskily, resuming his stroking of her thigh.

  Trinity’s eyes roamed lovingly over Chase’s face. Could she, given enough time, make him understand what she meant? And would she even have the time she needed? How soon would it be before he tired of her, the way he had grown tired of the girl on the phone?

  Chase’s hands grew more insistent, and it was a long time before they remembered that Mangus’s casserole was still in the oven.

  #

  There were times in the following weeks when Trinity thought she was succeeding with Chase. Going on the assumption that you learn to love by the way you are loved, Trinity committed herself totally to him. She dared to risk the emotional lows as well as the highs of loving a man like Chase, who had never learned to give of himself.

  She devoted both her mind and her body to Chase, fully and intensely, and she allowed no shadows to fall over their time together.

  The shadows usually started to encroach around the perimeters of her mind as she drove home after having been with Chase for two days and two nights. It was then that she faced, with as much objectivity as she could summon, the enormity of the task that she had set for herself, and she tried not to think about what he did during the five nights when he wasn’t with her.

  It was true that Chase had become softer, warmer and even slightly more open with her. And in his own way, he devoted just as much of his mind and body to her as she did to him.

  Chase did everything fast—decision making, buying and selling, travel—but when it came to making love with Trinity, he did it slowly, with infinite care and patience, and it was like nothing she had ever imagined that she might experience.

  But Trinity knew that the concept of being able to enjoy sexual relations with someone for a period of time with the idea that you could simply break it off whenever you wished, left out the emotional element. And the knowledge that their relationship could very well be an impermanent one cast many a dark shadow over her heart when she was alone.

  She stuck by her conditions, and Chase didn’t press her to change them. He seemed to have accepted them. He called her every night and often dropped by to see her and Stephanie during the five days they were apart. A couple of times she even had Sissy, Larry and Chase over to dinner together. She so desperately wanted them to like one another, and they seemed to be slowly forming a friendship based on mutual respect and admiration.

  At last, however, Trinity began to notice a change in Chase. It was so subtle, at first, that she wondered if she was imagining things. She wasn’t, though. She finally had to admit to herself that it was definitely there—a certain coldness that she would pick up in his voice, or a sort of hardness that would appear in his eyes. And as the days passed, Chase became edgy and argumentative—to the degree that Trinity couldn’t help but wonder if he had already begun to tire of her.

  One evening, late in March, Trinity lay on the bed in Chase’s apartment, watching him dress for their evening out. They had both had a shower earlier, but Trinity didn’t feel up to getting dressed yet. She much preferred to lie there, watching the way the muscles rippled under the smooth skin of Chase’s back as he moved about the room.

  Taking a white dress-shirt from a drawer, Chase turned and looked at Trinity. "I have to leave in the morning for Europe. I’d feel a lot better if you’d let Phillips fly you home and have someone else drive your car back."

  "How long are you going to be gone?"

  Chase shrugged into his shirt and frowned at her. It had not escaped his attention, evidently, that she had ignored his last statement. "Will you let Phillips fly you home or not?" There was a noticeable lack of patience in his voice this evening.

  "No, Chase, I won’t. I’ll drive home, as I usually do. I’ll be just fine."

  Chase didn’t respond, but his anger was apparent. Trinity watched while he rammed his shirt into the waist of the dark pants. There was something wrong. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but an ominous chill had begun to creep into her bones.

  Trinity repeated her question. "How long will you be gone?"

  "It’s a little hard to say," Chase grunted at her. "But I know that the trip will be an extended one."

  "Why didn’t you tell me before?"

  "When I’m around you, Trinity, I don’t always remember business matters." Chase gave her a sardonic smile as he stalked into the
dressing room.

  Trinity clenched her fist on top of the gray suede that covered the bed. Was this it? Was it the end? Perhaps the writing had been on the wall for a long time now, and she had just refused to read it.

  At the outset, she had made the condition that she would be the one to put a time limit on their relationship. But now that she knew the end was drawing near, would she be able to do it? Did she have the courage?

  Chase reappeared, tie and coat in hand. "I want to leave you some money, Trinity, just in case you need something before I get back."

  "No! How many times do I have to tell you. I won’t take money from you."

  "You’re just being stubborn, Trinity, and a little dense." He jerked the tie around his shirt collar and began to knot it. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with my giving you money. Don’t read things into the offer that aren’t there. It’s nothing more than a desire on my part to insure that you and Stephanie have everything you need while I’m gone."

  "I won’t—"

  Chase grimly held up one hand, silencing her. "At least think about it." He shoved his arms into the jacket and looked at her. "I’ll be downstairs. I’ve got some calls to make. You’d better get dressed. We don’t have much time."

  Lethargically, Trinity began to dress, pulling the jade pareu around her and knotting it. Inspecting her image in the mirror, she realized that she hadn’t worn it since the night that Chase had made his outlandish proposition. She grimaced at the mirror. If only they didn’t have to go to this party tonight! If they could stay home and talk things out before Chase had to leave in the morning, perhaps they would be able to resolve whatever it was that seemed to be bothering Chase lately.

  Trinity gave a sigh and picked up her hairbrush, staring sightlessly at it. Chase had told her that this was a very important party tonight and that they couldn’t possibly miss it. She supposed she would just have to paste on a smile and make the best of it. Maybe they would have a chance to talk after the party.

  After brushing her hair, she applied a light makeup, then she stepped into the high-heeled sandals that were held on her feet by two straps of gold.

  Walking out the bedroom door, she paused at the top of the stairs and looked down at Chase, devastatingly attractive in his black evening suit. He was on the phone, haranguing a no-doubt terrified employee. "Get it done by tomorrow or you’re fired!" Not bothering to say good-bye, Chase slammed the receiver down.

  It was then that he noticed her. His eyes lifted to Trinity and he became very still, a muscle jerking in his jaw.

  She took a deep breath and started down the stairs. The light was streaming out of the bedroom behind her, and Trinity suddenly realized that Chase would be able to see straight through the sheer fabric.

  He didn’t take his eyes off her and he didn’t move. Instead, he seemed to become mesmerized by the sway of her body under the dress and the manner in which the material parted in the front as she descended the stairway.

  When Trinity reached the bottom, she halted, watching Chase cautiously. At last he moved, walking across the short distance that separated them.

  "You know. Trinity," he began quite casually, "when you wear a cobweb for a dress, you should realize that there’ll be spiders that will be lured into it." His hand went to the knot that was tied between her breasts, and he tugged her to him. "Do you have any idea what you do to me?" His mouth lowered to a point right above the knot, which he still held in his hand, gently caressing the area with the moistness of his lips.

  "You’re a woman, Trinity Ann Warrenton." His lips were traveling down over the silk chiffon to where the hardened tip of her breast jutted out. "All the other ladies I know only play at the part. You’re the genuine article." His mouth closed onto the nipple through the material and began sucking.

  Trinity moaned with a spasm of longing. How could he do this to her so easily? Everything always seemed to come down to the physical between the two of them. "Chase . . . the party . . . we’ve got to go," she stammered weakly.

  He let go of her breast with his mouth and journeyed leisurely back up the smooth column of her throat. "You never hold back . . . anything I ask of you when we’re making love, you give . . . don’t you?" His mouth had found the hollow behind her ear. "Yet, you make all these damned conditions, and I have to abide by them or you’ll leave." His tongue traced into her ear. "You’re a wild and free spirit, as impossible to hold on to as a handful of smoke."

  The throbbing heat in her lower limbs had gradually transfused to every part of her body. "Chase," Trinity gasped, "you said that the party . . . was . . . important."

  His hand still held the knot, playing gently with it. "I think I’ve just found something more important." His lips glided across her cheek to her open mouth and captured it in a kiss so electrifying that Trinity was lost. Her arms slid around his neck just as the pareu slipped down to the floor around her feet.

  Chase lifted her in his arms and carried her up to the bedroom, laying her down on the soft, supple suede. His eyes ran hotly over her, stopping at the pair of bikini panties she still wore. "Get undressed," he ordered hoarsely, as he began to take his own clothes off.

  Trinity did as she was told and then waited for Chase to join her. The waiting seemed interminable. He took his time, stripping off each item with an unhurried nonchalance. He appeared to be enjoying the way her eyes fastened hungrily on each new naked inch of his body as it was uncovered. Finally, he came down beside her.

  "This will have to last us until I get back," he ground out huskily. His mouth found hers, and his hand located the entrance at the apex of her thighs, delving into its depths. "You’re ready for me, aren’t you, Trinity?" His tongue was darting in and out, even as his hands made the same motion between her legs. How could she possibly answer? He had made her almost sick with wanting. She felt she was incapable of uttering a single intelligent word.

  "Tell me," he insisted. ’Tell me just how ready for me you are."

  "Yes, damn you, Chase Colfax," she cried. "I’m ready! I want you! What more do you want from me?"

  He didn’t answer. He showed her. Entering her with a force that made her lose her breath at the intense shock of pleasure that shot through her, Chase took control. He moved in and out of her, deeply and so leisurely she thought she would go out of her mind. But every time she tried to move faster, he would only go slower.

  Realizing he was determined to set the pace, she gritted her teeth and tried to match her restless needs to his moderate stride. Beads of perspiration broke out on her face at the effort it took to hold back, but finally she was able to slow her responses down somewhat. Then, all at once, Chase started going faster and harder, and Trinity responded gladly. "Chase!" she moaned. Her body was ablaze from the desire for him that he was so expertly creating inside her.

  Suddenly, he stopped all motion. "Don’t move," he commanded thickly. "Don’t move, and I’ll start again."

  She stopped in utter surprise, and he began his movements once more—long, mind-blowing, body-destroying strokes, in and out of her. And every time she would involuntarily arch up into him, Chase would stop the stroking and wait until she was still.

  She was aching, she was throbbing, and just when she didn’t think she could take it anymore, he would start again—long, slow, thrusting motions. Her head tossed feverishly back and forth on the pillow, her hair wet with not only her sweat, but Chase’s as well. She could tell how much of an effort it was for him to hold back, but for some damnable reason he continued with his torture. And all Trinity could say was, "Please, please, please," over and over, like some long-forgotten incantation, while Chase grated, "Not yet, not yet."

  By making her lie absolutely still while he stroked voluptuously in and out of her, he was punishing her, he was pleasuring her and he was tearing her heart apart.

  Trinity’s restraint broke, snapping in two, and she started pushing against him, holding him tightly, not caring whether he stopped or not. But he didn’t this
time, for his control had broken, too.

  Chase’s fingers bit into her buttocks, pulling her up to him, and he drove into her, time after time, until the world exploded around them and they both lay spent and exhausted, their bodies gradually coming down from the heights to which their passion had carried them.

  Trinity silently cried herself to sleep that night, and awoke the next morning to find she was alone in an empty apartment. Dragging herself into the bathroom, she filled the tub and added a capful of fragrant bath oil that Chase had once bought for her, saying it was a gift for both of them. Then, immersing herself up to her neck in the soothing warmth of the water, she tried to wash away the pain that Chase had caused with his lovemaking.

  It wasn’t so much the bruises on her body that Trinity worried about. She knew they would fade in time. No, rather, it was the injury to her soul that she knew would never heal. It was a permanent hurt that Chase, with his cruel, humiliating game of domination, had inflicted so ruthlessly.

  Chapter Seven

  Trinity looked disgustedly at the quilt she had been trying to work on. For the first time that she could remember, the thought of the amount of time that it would take to finish one of her quilting projects staggered her, and the countless rows of stitches held no allure. She just couldn’t seem to get interested in it.

  Pushing back the chair and getting up. Trinity walked around the quilting frame to one of the living-room windows. What in the world was wrong with her? There didn’t seem to be any direction to her life anymore. Even the farm work seemed endless and too much for her to handle.

  She had been feeling slightly off color for days now. As a matter of fact, when Trinity stopped to think about it, she hadn’t really felt well for quite some time, but she had been so preoccupied with loving Chase that she had brushed off the fact that she might be getting ill.

  Mentally shrugging, she focused her gaze toward the meadow. Spring had come, and ordinarily, Trinity would have been excited about the prospect. The traces of new life appearing in every nook and cranny around the countryside should have lifted her spirits.