WindSwept Narrows: #16 Anna Carson & Catherine Jenkins

by Diroll-Nichols, Karen

  Carter started choking along with Aaron, both of them looking pained.

  “Maybe we should go shopping tomorrow…while I still have the flashing light,” Catherine said with a chuckle, nodding at the suddenly paled features on both confident males.

  “That would be great…I can always find something to buy at the mall. I’ll show you where to find some good buys,” Anna told her with a laugh, they launched into a conversation about the garden while the men drifted to the patio door.

  “You need to fix this,” Carter said through his teeth.

  “Me?” Aaron hissed. “It’s not my car.”

  “Have you ridden with her?”

  “Yes…she’s good,” he admitted grudgingly. “You think I like it any better? I see a ton of speeding tickets in my future,” he rubbed his palm over his neck and drained the ale.

  Catherine knew what they were talking about and laughed a little louder. “You know they’re terrified of my car,” she leaned over and chuckled with the nod from Anna.

  “I know…payback…ain’t it grand,” she chuckled richly, popping one of the small cakes into her mouth.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Anna was still smiling as she carried the armful of dresses into the house, Carter trailing behind, setting the alarms and locks.

  “You’re not serious about going shopping tomorrow, are you?” He asked, striding up stairs behind her and standing at the closet, hands deep in his pockets.

  “You worried about me speeding around the city with Catherine?”

  “Concerned…yes…”

  “Carter, if I wanted to speed around in a sports car, I’d just borrow yours,” she said with a sweet smile over her shoulder.

  “I…” he stopped and pulled his hands free, pale lashes narrowed behind the lenses as the light bulb went off inside his head. “You two are wicked.”

  “Absolutely.” But she backed up a little as he came forward, those amazing green eyes filled with what promised to be delicious retribution.

  Anna laughed as they wrestled with each other’s clothing, dropping pieces until they were naked and backing toward the large bed. Long, deep kisses had them both sinking into the passion that began with a dance in the kitchen. He grabbed a foil packet before they tumbled into bed, his hard body landing on top of hers. Swiftly parting her legs, he rubbed the head of his erection at her entrance. She was already wet for him and he moved teasingly against her, running the swollen tip over her slit until she was squirming.

  She whimpered helplessly, the sound urging him to bury himself deep inside her.

  He lowered his head to nibble at the corner of her mouth, heard the intake of her breath. Each time he moved, each time he filled her, everything felt right. Like the first time, she felt the warmth coil from deep within and she cried out, wanting release even as his name was pulled from his lips. She wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in deeper and giving herself over to the delicious sensations filling her body and inviting his along for the ride.

  Carter returned to the bed to find her lying on her side, propped on her elbow and watching him, waiting. She slept naked, he slept in sleep pants made out of soft cotton. He left his glasses on, lying on his side as she was, waiting, one hand up and marveling at the soft curls ticking over his palm.

  “I’m not sure I’m going to make this sound right,” Anna began after a quiet minute just enjoying being with him. “These things…tomorrow and Sunday…are you going to be alright, Carter?”

  He wasn’t sure there was much else she could have said that would have confused his brain at the moment.

  “Me? I’m worried about you going to see both of them,” he said bluntly.

  She shrugged. “They’re my relatives. I have to deal with them. I worry about you…”

  “My adorable sweet Anna…if you ask me not to punch anyone out, I’ll stick with that promise,” he winked at the crookedly stern expression she was trying for. “Do you know why Catherine wants to talk to them?”

  “The Austin’s?” Anna tried to look away, scowling when his hand moved to firmly turn her chin and force their eyes to one stream. “I suspected…I saw the pictures on her board. The man who was killed…I’d drawn all their portraits when I was little,” she laid her head down, snuggling against him with a sigh. “All of them involved in drugs somehow…and now they’re slowly being…erased…”

  “I won’t leave you alone at either event, Anna…” Carter brushed her head with his lips. Or anywhere else, he promised as they drifted off to sleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Aaron had things cleaned up when Catherine carried an armful of dresses from the back room. He moved to her side, carefully lifting the hangers and tapping the light switch as they climbed the stairs.

  “Interesting smile,” he commented as they maneuvered upstairs.

  “I told her you looked sexy…” Catherine chuckled. “She says…eeww…he’s a brother…”

  Aaron’s chuckle joined hers. “We’ve used the word attractive on each other, but I don’t guess we see each other in the role you or Carter might assign to us.”

  “Guess not…” she moved into the huge closet, taking the dresses one at a time and reverently hanging them. “These are beautiful…”

  “Anna’s good at the girl thing when she wants to be,” he leaned on the archway, hands in his pockets as he watched her. “She’s like you in that she prefers her khakis and tee shirts…Catherine…you alright?” He moved quickly when she spun too fast, the cane falling untended and her knee not twisting on her demand. She pitched forward, hands braced and ready for a fall that never happened. Aaron held her tightly at the waist, righting them both and lifting her from the floor.

  “No! No, damn it…stop…put me down!” Catherine kicked out, only to groan and throw her head back at the pain.

  Aaron set her on the bed and took a step back. “What’s wrong?” He’d begun to sense it as the evening went on.

  “What’s wrong? I can’t even make a stupid turn without falling on my face!”

  “Catherine…”

  “No…no…I want pain pills that take away the pain without making me dopey and asleep! What the hell good is it to be pain free when I’m asleep? I need to be pain free when I’m up and walking around! I need to run and work out! I want to…to…” She threw herself back on the bed and pulled a pillow over her face.

  “Catherine…it’s been one week since it happened,” Aaron met the angry eyes that surfaced and pushed herself to sit upright. “I’d be willing to bet – IF – you had followed orders and stayed off your feet, playing computer games and resting, it’d be a lot further along than it is now. I see the gauze. It’s still leaking and it’s not stitching together because you keep straining it and I’m packed with guilt because I’m part of that problem,” he ground out flatly.

  “The hell you are. I can damn well carry my own responsibility for…for what I choose to do, Aaron.” She pushed to the edge of the bed. “I was carrying the guilt for my actions long before I met you and will continue to…”

  “Long after I’m gone,” he said very quietly. “That was the next line, wasn’t it, Catherine?” He stared into those flashing violet eyes. “What’s wrong?” He repeated softly.

  “Nothing. I’m fine.”

  “You can tell lies to everyone and anyone else you chose, Catherine, but not me. What’s wrong?” He asked again.

  “I told you,” she pushed the words angrily through her teeth. “I am fine.”

  He turned and went into the closet, coming out with the cane and handing it to her when she looked like she was trying to rise. He watched it soar across the room.

  “I don’t want that thing.”

  He shoved his hands deep in the pockets of his jeans to keep himself from grabbing her and shaking her. He watched her for a long, tension packed minute.

  “This is about the house, isn’t it? It’s about what Anna said about the house,” he said carefully, watching the
instant evasion on her face. “Do you want to go to your apartment, Catherine? I won’t stop you.” He listened to the derisive snort she offered and took a step back. “I didn’t know you felt like a prisoner.”

  “I do not…” Her words shot out, lips pursed tightly as she watched him.

  “You’ve been here almost since we met. I guess I figured you wouldn’t be here unless you wanted to be. But what Anna said about the house spooked you,” he said, almost as if he were trying to reason it through to himself aloud. “I didn’t expect anything much would scare you.”

  “I am not…” She stopped again and drew in a long breath. She raised her arms, her palms pressing against the back of her head, bending it low over her lap. “I’m frustrated and angry that I can’t get a grip on keeping you from being beat up with a baseball bat and I’m terrified I’m going to do or say something that will…that will totally mess up the most amazing feeling I’ve ever known.”

  “You don’t think I think about that last one, too,” he dropped to his heels before her, one palm up and tilting her chin a little, violet eyes peering at him behind a shadowy ridge of thick, dark lashes. “Honey…I’m a guy…destined by faulty chromosomes to screw up at least once a month…” he felt a rush of relief when she offered a tiny giggle.

  “I…I don’t have the…the…I don’t know how you and Anna became so…so cultured…so…you fit in anywhere! Grace and manners and…and dignity and…”

  Aaron let her run out before speaking. “I don’t know how or where we became what we are…it was just always there. Maybe from exposure to the Ellison’s…the things they provided us with that sort of guided us in that direction. A lot of it was the books we lost ourselves in…we read classics and became part of it, I suppose. I’m pretty sure our manners came from Jane Austin,” he met the little grin she offered. “People see Anna as quiet and sometimes easily led, but they couldn’t be more wrong. When she decided we needed to dress each and every day, by god, we did. Somehow she knew we’d need refinement and certain behaviors and just led us there. Why does this worry you? You fit anywhere, Catherine, if you choose to. I bet you’ve done undercover work in the past. It’s nothing more complex than that. If this thing tomorrow or Sunday is bothering you, just dress like you want. I don’t care.”

  “I…that’s not the point! You should be proud of me…proud to escort me…”

  “I am. Just as you are. I’ve got the most beautiful, intelligent woman in the world looking at me like I’m her prince and that’s all I need,” he told her honestly, going on quickly as he watched a flood begin in those translucent eyes. “Is it about the house? You haven’t been at your apartment more than an hour over the last week.”

  “I don’t…I‘ve never known anyone like you. You make me laugh and think and feel and I don’t want to lose that…I need you…just you…and you come with all this…and…”

  “It’s just a house…have you looked out the back lately?” He asked gently.

  “I…the back?” Thrown, she shook her head, thinking. “Probably not. The drapes were drawn. I come in…stare at my board…read stuff on the computer…find dinner…”

  She waved her hands but he ignored her, sliding his hands beneath her and carrying her to the patio doors. “Open the doors and close your eyes…”

  “Aaron…”

  “Please…” he waited while she reached for the latch and push the doors outward, her lashes down with a patient sigh. He set her on the concrete. “The railing is right in front of you…” he reached out and tapped the flood lights. “Now you can look. Evidently you made a comment to Anna about wanting a garden.” His hands went out swiftly when she leaned over the railing, gripping her waist for fear she’d go over the side in her excitement.

  “Oh…Aaron…I…” Catherine stared at the large expanse of yard that had been transformed by six very large raised beds filled with soil. She ignored the tears falling over her cheeks, her eyes closing when she leaned back into the man holding her against him.

  “Anna left you a package on the desk downstairs. I’m guessing it’s a book and a big collection of seed packets,” he whispered against her throat. “Anna knew she wouldn’t be back here when she fell for Carter. It made her sad and she didn’t talk about it right away…then I found you…”

  “And you’re sure you know what you’re doing?” Catherine asked in a shaking whisper.

  “No…but I’m not afraid of it.”

  “We fight.”

  “No…no, we don’t…we work things through. Whether it’s talking or shouting…we work things through. As long as I see hope in your eyes, I feel confident we’ll always work things through,” Aaron stepped back when she turned in his arms, her hands on his face and mouth covering his when she pulled him lower. This time she didn’t protest when he carried her into the bedroom, closing the patio doors and sliding with her over the bed. “Catherine…god I want you and I feel like an idiot…hurting you…you should have talked to Anna about the pain. She has herbs she could give you…won’t make you loopy. And you can’t do your aerobic things you want, but use the weights downstairs.”

  “We have weights?” She was momentarily distracted, her fingers tripping the buttons down the front of his shirt, her purr soft and delighted when her hands found Aaron, warm and strong beneath the fabric.

  Aaron laughed and rolled to his back, taking her with him. “We have weights…I told you to explore, Catherine. The room on the right of the kitchen…left is Anna’s room, right we have an exercise room set up for bad weather. She’s got some yoga stuff and those balls…not sure what the hell she does with them…”

  “I’ll look tomorrow…” She drew in a long breath, letting her fingers caress either side of his face, along his jaw. “I suppose you could make arrangements and move my stuff for me…”

  “I could very easily do that,” he told her, groaning when she rotated her hips, taunting the arousal below her. “You are aware of what you’re doing, right?”

  “I’m removing the guilt…and your clothing…” she told him, sliding to her knees and following through with a lot of laughter, kisses and touching until both lay breathless in the dark room.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  It was barely past six-thirty and the world was still filled with dark, threatening clouds and the occasional rumble. Catherine burrowed down and sought the guy bursting with warmth only to come up empty. She reached up and pulled the band from her hair, letting the braid unwind around her face as she peered around the room. Sleepy eyes fell on the grey damp sweats that walked into the room.

  “Where’d you go?”

  “I’m not sure I want to tell you…you’ll hurt me,” Aaron sat on the edge of the bed and untied his running shoes.

  “You went running? You run?” She demanded with a scowl and a fist out to catch him in the side. “And you never told me?”

  “See? I told you you’d hurt me,” He grabbed the fist aimed at him a second time and took firm hold of both wrists, pulling her up as he stood up. His head shook at all the creamy Catherine betrayed for his pleasure. He tried to capture one nipple only to have her twist and wrap her legs around his waist, falling back onto the bed with him neatly trapped.

  “I don’t think that hurt nearly as much as you imagined,” Catherine whispered against his throat, her tongue out and tasting him with a low purr.

  Aaron wasn’t sure where his clothes went or where the energy came from as he wandered into the bathroom and a hot shower, still marveling at how great sex was beyond incredible with the right woman.

  ****

  He stared at the shoes she carried and felt himself growling.

  “I am not wearing sneakers,” she said before he could form the words, carrying the dress and shoes into Anna’s bedroom, closing the door firmly on the stunned silence. She checked her wrist when she stepped out of the shower, toweling her hair and moving without too much concern for her balance. As long as she kept it slow, she felt alright. Since
the watch didn’t quite fit with the floor length dress, she left it on the bureau, bracing her feet apart and bending forward, brushing through her hair and aiming the blow dryer like Anna had told her.

  They had decided on black when they were out shopping that morning. Catherine slipped the double layer of black chiffon over her head and felt it shimmer down her body. The corset in the center was beaded with sparkling things and hugged her snugly. Her arm bent easily to raise the zipper and she stared for a long minute into the mirror. Tiny, thin spaghetti straps made an effort to hold the fitted bodice in place and she had to admit, it wasn’t as low cut as Anna’s dress and she really did like the sexy girl feeling bubbling inside her.

  She stepped into the low heels and almost sighed. They were incredibly comfortable for being heels and she took a few careful steps before walking slowly to the door and out into the living area, the black wrap dangling from one hand. Her eyes were angled down, still a little uncertain on walking without the cane. She missed the blinking, shocked expression followed by pure hunger in the male watching her move.

  “Wow…” Aaron stepped from the final step, his tux jacket tossed over the chair as he continued forward. “That’s some package you’ve been hiding in those jeans and tee shirts, Catherine.”

  “You like?” She asked, only the smallest hitch in her confidence that vanished the instant their eyes met. “Aaron…you’ve seen everything I have for the last week,” she laughed, not protesting when his palm stroked gently down her cheek and his mouth barely touched hers. She never understood the sex appeal to fancy clothes…until right then. She watched him shrug into the tux jacket and felt a very warm sigh filling her up inside.

  “Didn’t Anna tell you to raid her jewelry box?” He took the wrap and draped it around her shoulders, his palms resting there, his face down and close to her ear, buried in the soft fragrant long hair. He’d never seen her hair this full or free before tonight. It was a deep, dark cloud around her face and fit the gorgeous package.