True Bliss

by Cameron, Stella

  "If I had the money, I know."

  "And, if I remember the way it went, I said I'd fill it for you and you lost your wool over that."

  "Right. All absolutely right. I'm sorry. Yes, that's the way it went. Forget it, okay?"

  "I'm trying. Marry me, Bliss."

  "You're pressuring me." She crossed her arms over her middle. "Crushing in on me from all sides."

  "Marry me."

  "No," she told him. "I've already told you, no. This has happened too fast and there's too much going on for me to trust any decisions I make now."

  "True. Particularly a decision not to marry the man you love." Her long stare unnerved him. He said, "What? What are you thinking?"

  "Look at you. Rumpled. Who remembers how many hours' growth of beard that is. Your hair . . . Wind and too many trips through it with the fingers would make some men a mess. Not you, Sebastian. You're a picture no woman would look away from. You're gorgeous."

  When he could finally speak again he said, "I'm angry. That's

  what I am. Simmering with it. It's so close to the surface, I'm shivering. Just under my skin, Bliss."

  Her eyes never left his face.

  "Bliss." He strolled toward her with a nonchalance he didn't feel—and that couldn't fool her. She held her middle tighter. "You couldn't wait to marry me once."

  She stood her ground. "True. But you found you could wait, Sebastian. You found you could wait a very long time. Then, for some weird reason, you had to show up here and demand another chance. Why?"

  "Because nothing's changed about the way I felt about you back then. Except it's even more intense, more desperate. Remember how we tried not to talk about the end of the school year? How it was getting close?"

  "Of course."

  "Remember how we didn't talk about it, but we knew the end of school could mean the end of us?"

  "We'd only known each other three months and you sold your truck." Her short laugh hurt him as much as it must hurt her. "You sold it to buy me a ring. We both knew we were crazy but we—I wasn't afraid of having nothing as long as I had nothing with you."

  "Bliss, you don't get to love like that more than once in a lifetime. Not exactly like that."

  "I haven't," she said quietly.

  She was the most beautiful woman in the world. Who she was, what she was, showed in every glance. Honest and true— and his love.

  "Neither have I," he told her. "I don't want to."

  "But you did something that made you leave me. And you never even sent me a note, Sebastian. Why?"

  "It's a long story. You'll hear it all eventually—or as much of it as you need to hear. But I've told you I never stopped loving you—wanting you. I sure as hell want you now."

  The echo of his meaning glittered in her eyes. He tasted triumph.

  His body answered the desire he saw in her. Heat and a deep ache only sharpened his need. "There's something physical between us. We can't deny that. But there's so much more."

  "I'm not interested in sex for the sake of sex."

  "That didn't stop you at the Wilmans' last night. You were all over me then. You couldn't get enough."

  Her face turned scarlet. "What a cheap shot."

  "I'm only human. Tell me about Lennox Rood."

  Bliss faltered. "I thought I heard a click on the line when Lennox called last night. You heard it all, didn't you? So there's nothing else to tell."

  "Don't lie to me."

  "What is this? Jealousy?"

  "Hah! Hardly. Curiosity maybe."

  "I believe honesty's the best course. You listened to his call last night."

  He shrugged. "I tried to get to the phone before you. I wanted you to sleep."

  "At least you're straightforward about listening in."

  "I'm straightforward about everything."

  "Are you?" Their eyes met and Bliss told him, "Lennox is part of my past. A very small part. You know? Like you have parts of your past, big and little. The end. There's nothing more."

  "Good enough. Why don't you trust me?"

  "You know why."

  "Things happen. We went through hell. We, Bliss. Not just you. But it's over. We can start again."

  "Oh, sure, start again with threats on all sides. I've been warned to stay away from you—with special effects to back up the warnings."

  "I'll deal with the warnings, sweetheart."

  "Sebastian, Sebastian. The term 'torn' is taking on a whole new meaning. I think there's too much for us to overcome. Maybe we should just forget anything ever happened between us."

  Sebastian caught her arm and pulled her so close she had to raise her face to see him. Fury mounted again and he felt himself pale. "Forget, huh? Why? Because you don't mind making love to white trash, but you're sure as hell too wise to marry it now?"

  Bliss slapped his face. He grasped her wrist and stared into her eyes. A sob choked from her throat.

  "I've never hit anyone in my life," she told him.

  "Until now. But you're dealing with trash. The rules change then, don't they?"

  "Stop it!"

  His tension didn't ebb. "You don't want to make love with me again? Isn't that what you're telling me?"

  "I didn't say that." Her mouth trembled. "This is too much. Too hot, too powerful. Too dark. It frightens me."

  "But you are saying you don't love me."

  "I should never have let this begin again. I let you know I loved you once before and you turned away."

  "This is different."

  "Yeah. Different."

  "You think I want to marry you for money."

  "I don't know."

  "No, you don't. That's asinine. If you knew more about me— about—hell, it doesn't matter. I don't need your money. I want to possess you."

  She averted her face. "I'm not available to be possessed."

  Bliss yanked her arm from his hand and spun away. She stumbled into a shaft of sunlight through thin drapes over a door.

  "I can't live without you anymore, Bliss. I've done it for too long, now I have to have you."

  She held the back of a chair and said, "And I want you," very low. "The girl I was would take you in her arms and convince herself that this time there won't be any heartaches. The woman I am knows better. There aren't any fairy tales."

  "Bliss?" He stood behind her, so close he all but touched her. "Tell me you want me again."

  She hung her head forward.

  "Tell me."

  "I don't know about anything anymore."

  The touch of his fingertips at her bare waist made her jump. He rubbed her sides, her back under the short T-shirt, undid the fastening on her bra.

  "No!" Bliss said. "Sebastian!"

  "You want me to stop?"

  Each breath she took was a pant. "We shouldn't do this. Not like this!"

  "Why not now? How should we do it? When?" Around her ribs and beneath her bra he stroked, trailing fleeting caresses on the undersides of her breasts. He layered himself against her and kissed the back of her neck. "I can't help myself with you. I don't want to."

  "The police might come back. They might want to ask more questions."

  "Forget the police." He pinched her nipples gently, pulled. "Forget everything but this."

  Bliss covered his hands. The need blossomed. His hips met hers. She was hot, so hot.

  "Bliss," he whispered against her neck, "Just go with it. Go with me. Grab the chance. Don't let us be the losers again."

  She didn't answer.

  The sound of his zipper must be as clear to her as it was to him.

  He pulled her skirt up to her waist.

  "Sebastian!"

  In one motion, he tipped her forward over the chair and shifted behind her until he nudged past her panties.

  "Oh, God, Sebastian!"

  He was inside her, holding her breasts, coming into her with a relentless rhythm he knew neither of them could have stopped if they'd tried.

  "Oh, my . . . Here? Oh, Sebastian."<
br />
  "Yes." He laughed, and gasped and his speed increased. "Yes, yes, yes, love. Now!"

  Spasms broke over him, the spasms of her climax, and his own—the product of his climax, and hers. She shuddered, and whimpered. Sebastian cried out, and fell over her, still cradling her breasts, his penis still deep within her, his hard thighs parting hers.

  "This isn't me," she murmured.

  "But it is you," he gasped. "Oh, it is now, my love. And it's just the start of knowing who you are."

  "No one should love in anger," she told him. "Like animals."

  The humiliation he heard in her words turned his stomach. "You didn't like it?"

  "I don't like myself for liking it."

  He nuzzled her nape with his rough chin and laughed softly. "I love you. I love you. Got that. It's real simple. I love you and any way we choose to make love—as long as you love me, too—is okay."

  "I love you," she said, and covered her face.

  "I know you do," Sebastian told her. "We're going to sort out whatever's going on around us and then the education continues."

  "Education."

  "Learning just how many ways there are to say I love you, without the words."

  Twenty

  Bliss sidled into the bathroom, filled a glass with cold water and climbed onto the toilet seat. Standing on tiptoe, she could see into the shower, see Sebastian's plastered black hair, his upturned face, his spiky eyelashes squeezed together.

  Very carefully, she rested the glass atop the sliding doors and leaned a little closer until she had a better view—of all of him.

  Oh, my.

  Soap streamed from his face and over the bunched muscles in his shoulders and chest. His braced thighs echoed the power in his torso. And in between ... In between, his skin was paler. Bliss leaned to her left. Bullets would bounce off those buns. She leaned to her right. Tensed belly. And there ought to be a fantastic name for a penis that even when wet and soapy, didn't manage to look vulnerable. Bliss studied . . . Mr. Happy. She'd heard that term somewhere. Yup, she'd think of it as Mr. Happy, one who was always alert and ready to go at a moment's notice.

  Steam tickled her nose and she sneezed.

  Enough peeking for now.

  "Bliss?"

  "What?" She started, looked into his green eyes, and gripped the glass.

  Sebastian slicked back his hair and swiped at his face. "I'm shocked," he said, looking anything but shocked. Dangerously smug was closer. "Can't get enough of me, huh? Gotta creep up on me in the shower."

  She clutched the glass. "There's nothing wrong with getting off on a good male body."

  "Getting off?" He rested a shoulder against the tile. Moisture beaded on his skin. "This can't be my little Bliss, my little puritan. Not that you were a little puritan last night."

  Last night would always be unforgettable. "Don't be condescending." She gave Mr. Happy a long look and held her tongue between her teeth. "Men have always enjoyed looking at women. It's a myth that women don't enjoy looking at men just as much."

  He shifted a little.

  "Am I embarrassing you, Sebastian?"

  "Of course not."

  Yes, she was. "I do believe I am. And look, Mr. Happy's coming to attention."

  "Mr."—Sebastian glanced down, then back at Bliss— "You've gone to the dogs. I've created a monster." He'd reddened.

  "I love it when you blush." She smiled at him and lifted the glass.

  His eyes left hers slowly. "What's that? Oh, Bliss. Oh, no. Don't do it."

  "It's good for you. Good for the heart. In Scandinavia they get out of saunas and roll in the snow."

  "This isn't Scandinavia." He made a grab.

  Bliss raised the glass out of his reach.

  "I'm not telling you when," he said. "And I'm not telling you where. But if you dump that water on me, I'll get you."

  She began to tip.

  He wagged a finger. "It's warm water, isn't it? You're torturing me with . . . Aaah!"

  Bliss hit the bathroom floor at the same moment as the shower door shot open.

  "Help!" She made a dash across the bedroom, shrieking and giggling as she went. "Don't run with wet feet. It's dangerous."

  "What did I do to deserve that abuse?"

  "Nothing! I just feel wicked. I've become an abandoned woman. Your fault."

  "My fault? That's it, Bliss. You're dead meat."

  Choking on laughter, she wrenched open the bedroom door and rushed along the balcony to the stairs. Sebastian's feet pounded behind her—and his hand descended on her shoulder.

  "I'm gonna get you."

  "I just felt like playing." She tried to squirm away. "We never had a chance to play when we were kids."

  "I know. And now it's my turn to catch up. I'm going to teach you all about torture."

  "No," she shouted. "I'll scream!"

  On the stairs she managed to slip his grasp—in time to leap down and collide with Polly and Fab.

  "You're evil," Sebastian said. "Twisted."

  He took the back of her neck in a large hand, and grew still.

  Fab said, "Wow," in a reverent tone.

  Polly said, "Oh, my."

  Sebastian said, "Shit," and moved behind Bliss.

  Bliss scrunched up her face, held in the laughter, and didn't say a word.

  "Good morning." Fab's eyes were round. "I guess you're all right then, Bliss?"

  "I'm fine."

  "You don't need any help?" Polly said.

  "No help at all."

  "Nice day," Polly said, smiling, and breaking into a snappy, hummed version of "Hello Dolly."

  "We heard you scream." Fab definitely wasn't looking at Bliss. "So we thought you might be having another Lennox— another thing."

  Bliss gave Fab a wolfish grin. "Don't let us keep you from what you were doing."

  The twins hesitated several seconds longer before turning away. In a full, husky, alto Polly sang, "You're looking swell, Dolly," before she disappeared into the kitchens behind Fab.

  "Cute," Sebastian remarked. "Great voice."

  "I'm sorry," Bliss muttered, feeling penitent. "I forgot they might be in."

  "I'm not telling you exactly when or where," Sebastian responded. "Probably not here because this is a crazy place. I'm taking you away from here. Yes, siree. You are coming to live with me."

  "I'm staying right here and running my business."

  "You'll marry me, move into my house. Run this disaster from there if it'll make you happy—and we're going to make love in peace. Think of that. And run around naked if we feel like it."

  "You're having a fantasy."

  "Yes, ma'am. A fantasy about to come true. I saw the way you looked at Mr. Happy."

  Bliss made sure the kitchen door was closed. "Don't say things like that out loud."

  "Tough to say them any other way." He tweaked a nipple through her white cotton blouse and grinned when she slapped him away. "You'll want to stay close to Mr. Happy, and he's with me."

  He made it so hard to be either serious, or logical. "We've got a lot to deal with, Sebastian. But this discussion will have to wait."

  "Bliss! Bliss, where are you?" Venus Crow's fruited voice bellowed through the lower floor of the lodge.

  Sebastian sprinted upstairs and Bliss followed, calling, "Down in a minute, Venus," as she went.

  She didn't close the bedroom door behind her, but watched Sebastian from a distance instead. "You're a forgiving man."

  "No, I'm not. I never forgive. I bear grudges deeply and forever."

  When he'd said he couldn't face putting on his rumpled suit pants and dress shirt again, Bliss had found him a pair of tan shorts from the Lost and Found Box. He pulled them on, working them over thighs that needed much more room, and barely

  managing to close the zipper. One of Bliss's oversized white T-shirts stretched across his shoulders until the seams strained. He stuck a finger into a hole over his navel and curled his lip.

  "It's early," Bliss to
ld him. "You'll have plenty of time to eat breakfast and get to the office."

  "I'm going to make a few calls now, if that's okay. Then I think I might want to change before I show up at the office. Think that's a good idea?"

  She spread her hands. "Well, I didn't mean you should go to the office like that."

  Sebastian lifted the phone and dialed.

  Bliss turned to leave, and turned back. She went to the bedside table where the phone rested and picked up the crystal bell.

  Sebastian said, "William. Good morning. Sebastian here. If you need me, you can reach me at that number I gave you. If I'm not here, try my home. I'll be in later." He sat on the edge of the bed and rested an ankle on the opposite knee. "I have nothing to say to them. Have Zoya field those calls. And let my lawyers know I want them to stand by." He hesitated, then said, "Maryan isn't herself. Would you please talk with Zoya? Tell her to keep Maryan busy till I get there," and he hung up.

  "What's wrong?"

  "Your WOT friends need a reality check. And my sister's flipping out. Crises on every side."

  "I'm sorry about Maryan. The WOT people aren't my friends."

  "Prue O'Leary isn't your friend?"

  Bliss rang the bell softly. "She used to be. She may be again if we can get past this."

  "I'd better think about leaving," Sebastian said, getting up.

  "The bell's gone."

  He looked at her. "What d'you mean?"

  "This isn't the bell. It's a different one."

  For an instant his brow furrowed. "Are you sure?"

  "Sure, I'm sure. I know the bell I keep beside the bed. My

  aunt's favorite bell. This isn't it. The night before last when the others came to get me, they'd heard a bell ringing."

  "So?"

  "I heard a bell that night when I nearly killed you with my brush."

  "Don't exaggerate."

  "When the others talked about a bell I ran to make sure it was here and I thought it was. I think someone had already taken the Steuben to use in whatever twisted little stunt they're pulling to frighten me. I just didn't notice until now."

  Sebastian rubbed the space between his brows. "If they think they're doing some ghostly number they've got it all wrong. It would have to be very solid fingers that pulled the switch. If the bells have been switched."