by LR Potter
He stopped their movements and raised his hands to her face. She blinked uncomprehendingly down at him. “Hey, hey. Everything will be okay. Let’s slow down. There’s no hurry, we’ll get there. Just sit back and enjoy the ride. Okay?”
Her lips quivered and tears appeared in her eyes. “But I need you so much,” she whimpered.
He swallowed hard at her words. His chest expanded and his breathing became rapid. “Oh, baby. What have I done?” he murmured. He pressed his lips against hers softly as she shifted confused eyes to his, not understanding his words.
Grabbing her hips within his hands once more, he leaned his forehead against hers so he could stare into her eyes to keep her focused on him. With slow, even strokes he filled her over and over. He tilted his hips in such a way that it rubbed an area so sensitive within her, she shivered and was forced to grab his shoulders as her body convulsed around him. He sucked in a breath as her body squeezed and clenched around him. He increased his pace until once more she felt the now-familiar quickening within her. She grabbed his face and kissed him as tears slid unheedingly down her cheeks. Feelings, she was too scared to name, zipped through her body releasing all barriers, both emotionally and physically.
“Oh, baby. You feel so good. I want you so much,” he murmured against her lips. As she seemed to explode around him, he slammed his body into hers over and over until he finally found his own release. He pressed kisses over her face and rubbed soothing hands over her back.
She sat in his lap, lost in his embrace, until long after their breathing calmed, and their skin pruned. Even with her arms wrapped around his neck, her face buried against him, and her body touching him in every conceivable way, she felt his withdrawal from her. Her lips quivered at the loss of connection. Even as he mindlessly rubbed his hands over her bared skin, it no longer felt like comfort… it felt empty.
Without moving her face, she mumbled against his skin. “Are you angry for having to fly back because of me?”
His hand paused briefly before continuing to rub her back. “I’m not angry, Trinity. I’m just glad you weren’t hurt any worse than you were.”
“You seem a million miles away,” she murmured.
He pulled back, smiled down at her, and traced her eyebrow with his wet fingertip. “I’m sorry. There’s just a lot going on right now.”
“So you’re not angry for being coerced into the hot tub with me?” she teased.
“No. That’s been the highlight of my day,” he said with a grin. I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he asked.
“No, it was perfect. But I do need to go. My father will be worried… even more worried than usual. I’m sure by now, he’s found out what happened at the gallery.”
“You didn’t tell him?” he asked, startled.
She shook her head. “I made such an issue out of not wanting protection, I just didn’t want to hear him say I told you so.”
He brushed her hair behind her ears in a loving gesture; however, beneath her, his body tensed. He swallowed hard, and for reasons unclear to her, he seemed… nervous… unsure even. She struggled to understand him. He was saying all the right things, but his body language was off somehow, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“I don’t know about you, but I have to get out of his hot tub,” he smiled down at her.
He lifted her off his lap and hugged her against his body before helping her out. He handed her a towel and draped one around his hips.
She dressed slowly, the stress of everything catching back up with her. She had a headache and her body was sore. She walked wearily to the living room. She stopped at the entrance when she saw Rush staring out the window with his hands on his hips, a dejected slump in his shoulders. He looked… defeated. What worried him so? She cleared her throat and he turned quickly to her, assuming a whole new persona. He smiled, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“I… I think I’ll just call a taxi and go home, if that’s okay. I’m tired and my head aches. I really need to take a pain pill and go to bed,” she said.
He came to her quickly, concern in his eyes – the first true emotion she’d witnessed in the last thirty minutes. He ran his finger over her brow. “You really need to eat something… at least a sandwich. Come, you only have to stay a few minutes, then I’ll drive you home.”
Her eyes burned at his concern. She cleared her clogged throat. “I really just want to go home,” she said raggedly, trying to keep her emotions intact.
He pulled her up against his body and she rubbed her face against the soft fabric of his T-shirt. “Of course, let me grab my keys and we’ll go,” he murmured against her head. “My poor baby. It’s been quite the day, hasn’t it?”
She stared out the window silently as he drove. Her father was totally going to freak out. She sighed deeply and ignored the quick look Rush gave her. She didn’t understand him at all. He made her feel so… crazy! He was hot and tender one minute, then withdrawn and pensive the next. She wondered if bipolar disorder ran in his family. He’d flown all the way back here when he’d found out about the break-in to check on her, so he obviously cared about her. But he seemed to struggle with it. She tilted her face to stare at him as he drove. He could be strong and aggressive, and then so seemingly broken and defenseless. She wondered which one was the true Rush Drayton.
While she tried to dissuade him, he walked her to the door anyway. He stared down into her face for such a long moment before leaning to brush his lips against hers. “Get some rest,” he murmured.
She nodded.
“I’ll call you later in the week at the gallery.”
Again, she smiled briefly and nodded.
He ran his fingers over her jaw. “Everything will be okay. Try not to worry.”
“Goodnight,” she murmured.
With one last pat on her cheek, he was gone.
She waited until Rush pulled out of the drive before opening the door. She heard the crackle of the fireplace and was surprised. She turned toward the dining room and saw her father sitting at the table nursing a drink, probably scotch.
He took a swallow of his drink and indicated with a wave of his hand that she join him. She heaved a sigh and sat down at the far end of the table. He eyed her speculatively for a moment.
“Do you have any idea how terribly worried I’ve been? My God! You’re my daughter and I have to hear through the grapevine that you were nearly killed today? What have I done to cause you to hate me so much?” he asked.
“I don’t hate you, Dad,” she murmured.
“I hope now you will see the sense in having protection with you.”
She slowly shook her head. “No, I don’t. We don’t know that it wasn’t just a burglary. I don’t want my life invaded.”
He regarded her over the rim of his glass. “Where have you been?” he asked quietly.
“Out. Just out. Listen, I’m tired and have a headache. I’m going to bed.”
“You act like I don’t have the right to be concerned. But what you did today was entirely selfish. I love you, Trinity. You’re all I have, and I’m all you have. You can’t just cut me out.”
“I know, you’re right. I was selfish, I should have called. It won’t happen again.”
“Good,” he said with a small smile.
Chapter 6
Trinity woke groggy the next morning from the taken pain pills. She dressed slowly as muscles that bothered her little the day before groaned in protest today. While she was still angry at her father, she forced herself to act as she always had. He was sitting at the table eating breakfast when she entered the dining room.
“Good morning,” she murmured.
“How are you feeling this morning?” he asked.
“Fine. I wasn’t hurt. I only went to the hospital as a precaution,” she said, hedging the truth.
“Well that’s a relief! I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to you.”
“I know. When will the doctors release you to go b
ack to work?” she asked, as she buttered a piece of toast laid out on a silver tray on the table, compliments of Ms. Gibbons.
“Two weeks. I’ll be happy when things get back to normal!” he exclaimed.
“Tell me about the death threats.”
He sighed heavily. “I don’t want you worrying about that. That’s what Alex and his crew are for,” he said.
She contemplated him over her orange juice. “Any idea who it is?”
“There’s the usual suspects, of course. People that have been through my court, and the such. But we just don’t know. I’d feel so much more at ease if you’d let someone from Alex’s team go with you during the day. Please – I’m begging you,” he beseeched her.
She felt the noose tightening around her. As much as she rationally knew it probably was the best idea, she just couldn’t do it. He’d had way too much control over her.
She slowly shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”
He sighed heavily again. “Trinity, I love you. You have to know that. I only want to protect you… it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. Ever since your mother…”
She cringed at the blatant manipulation. “I know, and I love you, also. But the answer is still no.” Tired of the conversation, she rose. “I need to go to work. I’ll see you tonight.”
“At least let Ringo drive you to and from work.”
“Okay.” She acquiesced to this one request.
She was more nervous than she thought she would be walking into work. Gavin’s door was open when she passed, so she popped her head in.
“Good morning,” she said.
He bunched his eyebrows in surprise. “What are you doing here? I think you need to be home. You were just attacked yesterday.”
“I wanted to come and try to straighten out my office. What did the Newberrys say about their slashed painting?” she asked, referring to the restoration on the autumn leaves.
“What could they say? The insurance will try to settle with them.”
“Any idea who broke in? The police find anything?” she asked.
He shook his head. “No, there wasn’t even anything on the security footage. The guy must have known where our cameras were, because he avoided them. How are you feeling today?” he asked.
“I’m fine, just a little banged up. I just hate it about the paintings. What a waste.”
“I know. Let me know if you need anything.”
“I will. Thanks, Gavin.”
The nerves in her stomach nearly got the best of her as she walked towards her office door. She shuddered to think how long it would take her to clean up the mess. She began by putting the drawers back into place, slowly and methodically she shuffled papers together and sat at her desk and sorted them. The two paintings had been removed, of which she was thankful. It broke her heart to think of them torn, shredded, and destroyed.
She righted her bookcase and began replacing all her books back on the shelves. She tried to determine if they had actually taken anything, but she never could identify anything that was missing.
Her office phone rang numerous times and each time, her heart thumped hard at the thought it would be Rush, but he never called. While it took her all day, by the end of it, she had everything righted into its place. She tried not to think about the fact that Rush hadn’t called to check on her. The little girl in her wanted to stamp her foot. Logically, she knew he was busy and had just gotten back into town after being gone for a week. But what if he never called? Just because he’d been all hot and bothered while they were on vacation, didn’t mean he felt that way now. She remember how almost resistant he’d been about being with her yesterday. Maybe he never intended what they had to evolve past Vail. Her shoulders slumped at the thought.
For a brief second, she thought about calling him at his office, but immediately dismissed the idea. She’d not chase him. No, she’d let him set the pace. She imagined every woman he’d ever been with chased him. She didn’t want to be lumped in with those he ultimately avoided. Besides, it’d only been one day.
She was placing the last of her books back on the shelves when Elena stepped in with a huge bouquet of purple roses. Their scent permeated the entire room almost immediately.
“Someone’s a lucky girl,” Elena said in a sing-song voice with a smile.
Once Elena set them on the desk and returned to the showroom, Trinity rustled an oversized card out of their midst. With a smile on her face, she tore open the envelope and dropped the card to the floor in her haste. She bent to retrieve it and realized it wasn’t a card, but a photograph. She picked it up and turned it over and gasped. The photo was of a naked woman with what appeared to be a noose tied around her neck. As the picture had been cropped at the woman’s neck, she couldn’t tell who the woman was or what she’d been suspended from. Written in black marker were the words: This could be you!
She swallowed against the fear and bile in her throat. She sat down heavily in her chair. With shaky fingers she picked up the phone to dial… who did she call? If she called her father, he’d demand the added protection. If she called Alex, he’d tell her father. Was she supposed to call the police? She set the phone back down on its cradle. She thought for an instant about calling Rush, but vetoed that immediately. This wasn’t his battle.
Trinity sat back in her chair and shut her eyes, but was forced to open them as the image of the photograph seemed burned onto her eyelids. She wondered who would send a picture like this? Who was the woman? Had they killed her? What did they mean: This could be you! Maybe her father was right and she needed protection. Why would anyone do this?
As it was past closing time anyway, she lifted the phone and called Ringo’s number and told him to pick her up.
She was surprised to see Alex waiting at the curb instead of Ringo.
“Pulling double duty?” she asked him.
“Your father’s at a State dinner and Ringo’s with him.”
She was quiet for a long while before finally speaking. “Something happened today at work. I’d prefer it if you didn’t tell my father. You know how he is. But I’m sure it has to do with him.”
Alex glanced at her as he drove. “I can’t promise that. What happened?”
She cleared her throat. “I’m going to tell you, but no matter what my father thinks, I still do not want to be followed. Am I clear?”
Alex’s jaw tightened, but he nodded.
“Today, some flowers were delivered to me at the gallery. Inside the flowers was a photograph of a naked woman’s body hanging by a noose. The words: This could be you, were written across the picture.”
“Did you know the woman?” he asked.
“No, her head had been cropped out.”
“Do you have the picture?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’ll take a look when I get you home.”
When they entered the front doors of the house, she handed him the manila envelope the photo was in. He opened it and slowly pulled the picture out. He glanced at it briefly, and glanced back at her, before sliding the picture back into the envelope.
“This was delivered to your work, you say?”
Her brow bunched in confusion at his words. “Yes.”
“Today?” he reiterated.
“Yes,” she said emphatically.
He eyed her speculatively for a long moment. “Okay. I’ll look into it. Goodnight, Miss Grace.”
Trinity didn’t understand his weird reaction.
***
The next morning, Trinity was surprised to not find her father at the breakfast table. She went to his study and the door was closed. From inside, she could hear the raised voice of her father and Alex Masters. While she could hear their voices, the door was so thick, she couldn’t make out their words. She wondered if it had to do with the picture. She knocked softly and the loud voices stopped immediately. She opened the door slowly. Her father was standing on one side of the desk and Alex Masters on the other. Both men stood tensely with t
heir jaws clenched tightly.
“This isn’t a good time, Trinity,” her father said dismissively.
“Is this about the picture I got yesterday?” she asked the two men.
Her father cut his eyes to hers quickly. “We’ll discuss that later. Now if you’ll excuse us, we’re in the middle of something right now.”
Trinity hesitated before slowly nodding her head. “Okay, I’ll see you at breakfast.”
Her father eventually joined her, his jaw set tight.
He took a deep breath and poured himself a cup a coffee. “Trinity, when things like that horrible photograph appear, I would think, as your father, I’d be your first call. You know how dangerous things are right now. I hope you can finally see the sense in having a security detail with you. There are some seriously deranged people out there, Trinity. If anything were to happen to you, I… I just don’t know what I would do.”
“Did the picture mean anything to you?” she asked.
“No. I was horrified that you’d seen something so disgusting. I’m so sorry, honey. I’ve spent my whole life trying to protect you from the horrors of my job. But like with your mother, it looks like I’ve failed.”
Trinity studied her father carefully. There was something almost manipulative about his words, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.
“What were you and Alex Masters fighting about?” she asked.
He took his time buttering his toast before answering. “Alex and I don’t always see eye to eye on how things should be done. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”
“Regardless of the picture, as I’ve already pointed out to Alex, I do not want a detail.”
“Don’t be so foolhardy. You’re only cutting off your nose to spite your face. This is your life we’re talking about, Trinity. Don’t be so hardnosed just to defy me,” he said.