The orgasms kept coming, each one stronger than the last before Luke increased his pace again—this man was a machine—grunting as he pushed into me once more before swelling. I dropped my legs off his shoulders wrapping them around his waist instead, and he brought me upright. He kept me close, my fingers exploring around his neck, feeling that the top of his back was slick with sweat, feeling the pounding of his heartbeat against my own chest.
His breath was harsh in my ear as he came and I felt deliciously warm and sated at the same time. This was totally different than the first time, not just a frenzied coupling between two desperate people, but more like, well, making love… with a hint of fury and a bucketful of passion thrown in.
We eased ourselves down to the carpet and Luke leaned up and ran his thumb over my tender jaw, his eyes darkening for an altogether different reason. “I wish I could kill the bastard who did this to you.”
I swallowed, reaching up to cup his cheek. “You know it’s time for us to talk.”
“We will.”
27
Luke
I sighed and rolled myself off of her, reaching for her hand to pull her up as well. I knew this time was coming and I had been able to distract her for a few moments at least. But she was right. It was time to tell her the story.
I looked over at the clock, seeing that it was approaching midnight. “Can we do this somewhere more comfortable?”
Cara nodded and led me to her bedroom, giving me an opportunity to shuck the used condom and tidy myself up in the bathroom before climbing into her bed, where Cara was already situated, still naked. As I slipped under the covers I immediately reached for her, pressing her body against mine with her head on my chest, comforted by the fact that we had both survived virtually unscathed. I really didn’t know where to start to help her understand, so I just started from the beginning.
“I was a senior in high school,” I began, drawing in a deep breath. “Baseball was my life. I’d been playing since I was old enough to walk and for the last year I’d been scouted and was getting a load of phone calls once people started to hear about my speed. Ninety-three-mile-per-hour fastballs and a nasty curveball in the mid eighties, combined with consistent strikes, get people’s attention. Colleges wanted me and the offers were starting to roll in.”
“So you did play baseball,” she murmured, her fingers stroking my chest.
“Yeah,” I sighed. “I did. Played it is a bit of a understatement. I loved the game.” Baseball had been everything to me. “So I was preparing for our championship game when my dad told me we had to move immediately. I didn’t know what he was talking about, but he was adamant that I pack my shit up and I refused. I left the house thinking he was insane. But a United States Marshall came after me the next day.”
“The one you were talking to on the phone?”
“Yeah,” I replied, a hint of a grin on my lips. “I gave Parsons hell that day. We drove through two states overnight, pretty much nonstop. Parsons is a man of little words so it was the longest damn car ride of my life, especially when I had no clue what the hell was going on.”
“What happened then?” she asked. I trailed my fingers down her back idly, thinking of that afternoon when I arrived in the ass-end of nowhere, a town that didn’t even have a baseball program. I was devastated.
“Don’t you go blasting your old man,” Parsons said as we pulled into a long dirt driveway flanked by trees on either side. “If you had just done what he had said in the first place, this trip could have been a lot more pleasant.”
“I hate you,” I spat out as a wood-frame house came into view, looking more like a creepy house that belonged in a horror movie than my new home away from home.
“Hate me all you want,” Parsons chuckled as he stopped his car and threw it into park. “But I saved your ass.”
“Yeah? Saved me from what? I wasn’t in any danger, man.”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
I rolled my eyes and climbed out of the backseat, finally glad to be out of the car. Besides the limited pit stops for bathroom breaks and food, Parsons hadn’t let me out and I was so damn happy to have it over with. Now all I had to do was figure out how to get back to my real home, the one where my entire life awaited.
The door opened and my dad stepped out, dressed in his Saturday clothes instead of the customary suit I saw him in during the week. His expression was drawn, the lines on his face more pronounced as if he hadn’t gotten any sleep. “You found him.”
“Right where you said he would be,” Parsons replied, slapping me on the back before walking past. “Excuse me while I go crash for a few hours.”
He brushed past my dad and walked inside, leaving the two of us in the yard. I wanted to kill him.
Around us the birds chirped merrily, the wind through the trees the only other sound around. It was depressing to not hear the steady hum of the cars as they passed or the wail of the train that would speed by close to our old house. This was Deadsville. “Why are you doing this to me?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
My dad walked down the rest of the stairs and came to stand before me. “I’m doing this to protect you son. I-I thought the men I was working for were upstanding businessmen, but they weren’t. They were beyond shady, Mark. I had no other choice than to go to the cops.”
I frowned then. My dad was an accountant by trade and over a year ago he had gotten some job with some high-profile and powerful men in town. “What the hell does that have to do with why I am here?”
He sighed and ran a hand over his face. “You’re a smart boy. You know exactly what that means. Stop acting dumb. The FBI has been investigating. I am the only witness they have and in order to keep us from being killed, we have been pulled into witness protection. There wasn’t time to tell you, they were on to me. They threatened our family, Mark.”
Witness protection? That wasn’t real. That was something that only happened in movies. “You should’ve just told me! For how long?” I asked, clearing my throat.
He shrugged. “I honestly don’t know. For as long as it takes. I am doing this for you and your mom. I did what was right. I won’t apologize for it.”
“What you did,” I interrupted, “was ruin my life!”
“Believe what you must,” he sighed, pointing to the house. “Go on. All of your stuff we could grab is upstairs. Get some sleep. We will talk about it later.”
I stormed inside the house, pissed off that everything I’d worked my whole life for was gone and all because of my dad’s job.
“I was so angry. I couldn’t see past my teen-age rage. Sometimes I still can’t. I tried to go back home the first few months,” I continued, shaking off the memory. “Parsons hauled my ass back each time and told me to quit being an asshole.”
“So how did you get here?” Cara asked.
I shifted my body, keeping her against me. After that night, I had no intention of letting her go. “Once I was twenty-one, they couldn’t keep me there anymore. I was able to opt out of the program but had to jump through some hoops. The marshals finally relented and let me go. I’m sure they know everything about me despite my attempt to be alone. Parsons gave me his card when I left, telling me to call him if I got into any trouble I couldn’t get my ass out of.” Never had I thought I would use it but I was glad I had it with me. It had saved my ass, literally.
“What happened with the trial?” Cara asked again, curiosity in her voice. “Did your dad testify?”
“Not yet,” I sighed, thinking of his visit the other night. “After we disappeared, there was a great deal of stalling with the guys who my dad ratted out. He just told me that the trial will happen in the next few weeks.”
“Was that why you weren’t at practice then?”
“One of them,” I answered. “I need the extra funds to get up there. To see my parents.” I wasn’t going to tell her about my mom just yet. “I planned to leave tomorrow. I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you… I wanted to but I knew you’
d be full of questions and I didn’t want to have to lie to you any more than I already had.”
She leaned up and looked at me, resting her chin on my shoulder. “You still have to go and see them. They will want to make sure that you are all right after everything that happened. I’m sure they are worried sick about you.”
I sighed, thinking that she was right. All of this time I had blamed my dad for ruining my life, but when I had risked life and limb to protect Cara, I finally knew what my dad was trying to do that night he’d made the decision for the family to be put into WITSEC. All he wanted to do was protect his family, which was no different than what I had tried to do with Cara. I understood now and I owed him a big apology. “Yeah, I’m going to have to make that trip.”
She drew circles on my chest, a pensive look on her face. “I’ll miss you, of course.”
I smiled, something tugging my heart as I realized what she was telling me. “You’ll miss me?”
She nodded, not meeting my gaze. “You’ve kind of grown on me.”
“Really?” I said and kissed the corners of her mouth, making her smile.
“Yeah… like a fungus—”
“Hey!” I said attempting to tickle her as revenge.
“Or mold. I’m not too sure yet,” she said laughing. After her fits of laughter died down she snuggled back into my arms. “I think it was partly your super secretive life you had going on.”
“And now that you know all about me?” I asked hesitantly. I was going to miss the hell out of her while I was gone and it was on the tip of my tongue to ask her to come with me. My mom would love her.
She gave a small smile, her eyes drifting up to meet mine. “I think I’ll keep you.”
I rolled over until she was under me, pushing her hair out of her face tenderly. “How the hell did I get lucky enough to find you?”
“Well you suck at speed-dating,” she grinned.
“Totally not true—”
“…And you are so gullible.”
I chuckled, giving her a swift kiss on her lips before nibbling on her lower lip. “You fucking love it.”
She giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me close until our noses touched. “You know, I think I do.”
I growled and drew her into a long kiss. It was a while before either of us came up for air.
28
Cara
I woke up to an empty bed. Not that I expected him to be there. After two more long sex sessions I finally fell asleep, knowing that there was a good chance Luke would not be there in the morning. I had been right. He must have escaped while I slept hard, where I didn’t know. There was no note on his pillow, though the indention of his head was still outlined there and I could still smell him on my skin, and the bite marks on some tender areas were not an illusion. Nor was the soreness between my thighs.
With a sigh, I threw back the covers and grabbed a loose top and some leggings from my drawers, throwing them on while stretching my jaw. It was still pretty tender from the night before, the only reminder that I had been kidnapped and nearly killed over something I hadn’t even known about until a few hours ago. In the bathroom I winced at the sight of my face, the dark-purple bruise clearly evident on my jaw. Well, I couldn’t go to work like that… no amount of concealer would cover that bad boy. Hell, I looked like I was an underground fighter! With a grumble, I went back into the bedroom and grabbed my cell phone, dialing the main number to the office.
Someone picked up on the first ring. “Jupiter Therapy Solutions, this is Marie. Can I help you?”
“Marie,” I answered, glad that it was our office assistant and not Lucia who’d picked up. “This is Cara. I hate to do this, but I won’t be in today. Can you rearrange all of my appointments?”
“Of course,” Marie replied, a hint of worry in her voice. “Are you okay? Is everything all right?”
I sighed, knowing this was the probably the first time ever that I didn’t make it to work in over a year. I was not the type to call in sick, mainly cause I never really got sick. “I, um yeah, I think I have food poisoning.”
“Oh my,” Marie said. “You poor dear! Is there anything I can bring you?
“No, I’m good. Just move my appointments please and pass on my apologies to the clients.”
“Will do. I’ll let Lucia know.” I clicked off, knowing that Lucia would be stopping by later on, demanding to know what was going on. Maybe by then I would be able to explain it.
Moving into the kitchen, I grabbed a water bottle out of the fridge and took a sip, reflecting on the past twenty-four hours. I didn’t even know if I believed what had happened with both the incident or with Luke. It was crazy to think that Luke was in the witness protection program, that he was some kind of star baseball player who had been screwed over. No wonder he looked like a different person when he was coaching Little League and had done so well during the charity match.
Still, despite his past, I felt like I was truly beginning to know the real Luke. Thankfully there was no other family, no wife waiting to run me over with her car for sleeping with her husband or anything. It was just Luke and his unfortunate circumstances. I felt strangely satisfied that it was just that, even though I had nearly been killed.
With a glance over at the counter I spied James’ letters still sitting there, the other part of my life that had changed rapidly in the last few weeks or so. After Luke’s story last night, his troubles and frustrations with his parents, I felt an overwhelming need to clear the air with James’ adoptive parents as well. I wanted them to know that I was not there to take him away from them—not that I even could—but I did want to be in his life now that he knew about me, and clearly wanted to know me too.
I picked up the letter and saw that the envelope lay underneath it, the address, though smudged, printed in child’s handwriting in the corner. I could visit when James wasn’t there… could see if his adoptive mom would give me a chance, and see if we couldn’t reach some sort of agreement that suited everyone, but most importantly was the best for James.
Placing the letter back on the counter, I walked to the bathroom for a shower. The least I could do was try.
The house was gorgeous, a three-story brick monstrosity with a large front yard and fenced-in back yard. It was everything I had dreamed about for him. Taking a deep breath, I walked up to the front door and knocked, tamping down my nervousness. I was fully expecting to be cursed out, or the door to be slammed in my face.
The door opened and the woman from the ballfield stood in the doorway, surprise on her face.
“What the hell happened to you?” Her hand immediately clapped over her mouth, her eyes widening. “Oh, I am sorry. Sometimes things just fly out of my mouth.”
I touched my jaw gingerly, knowing that the bruise was still visible even after the layers of makeup I used to conceal it. I’d been right, it was an impossible task even for my expensive concealer. “It’s a long story, but it’s not important. I know you probably are surprised I’m here.”
“Not really,” she said with a shrug. “I figured we would meet again sooner or later. Would you like to come in?”
Concealing my utter surprise, I nodded and she stepped aside, inviting me into the cool interior that smelled faintly of cinnamon and sugar cookies. The interior was warm and inviting, the living room clearly a room that was lived in, with a comfortable light brown couch with large cream cushions scattered on the seats. Tasteful armchairs with more structure than the couch were also seated around a large TV mounted on the wall above a fireplace.
“Have a seat,” she gestured. “Can I get something for you?”
I shook my head no and eased down on the couch as she perched on one of the chairs, folding her arms in her lap. “I’m Jessica, by the way.”
“Cara,” I answered, clearing my throat.
She nodded, blushing. “I know. After that day at the ballfield I googled you. You’re a therapist right?”
“Yeah,” I answered
, not surprised. I would have done the same. “I recently moved back here.”
“I don’t know what made James reach out to you,” Jessica sighed, picking at the imaginary lint on her soft, linen pants. “We hadn’t told him yet and honestly we just couldn’t find the right time to do so. You have to understand, that day they laid him in my arms, I loved him immediately. I felt an incredible bond with him. After four attempts at in-vitro, adoption was our only attempt to have a family.”
I nodded, wondering how to respond to another woman’s love for my son. “I was only seventeen,” I blurted out, feeling as if she should know why I did it. “His father, well, he was a typical teenager and he didn’t want anything to do with me after I found out. And my mother told me she wasn’t going to raise another child, so I had no choice.”
“Oh, I’m not blaming you,” Jessica said hastily, giving me a small smile. “Because you gave us James. You’ve given us the best gift in our entire lives.”
I was surprised by her words, my heart warming at the thought of what my actions during probably the darkest day of my life had given this family. It had given them hope, a dream come true. It was an angle I was aware of but hadn’t really thought about too closely… my own pain too much to bear.
“I,” I started, unable to find the words to respond.
“Don’t worry,” she said gently. “I’m not going to ban him from seeing you. I know you have been meeting at his Little League practices… And after that initial shock, I’ve gotten over the fact that he is going to want to know more about you. He should know his birth mother—as long as you aren’t planning to fight for custody, that is.”
I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t do that.” As much as I would have liked to have James around fulltime, it wasn’t right. He already had a loving home, parents who loved him. I just wanted to have a small corner of his life, that was all. Besides, I had given up my rights long ago. It would be cruel to put James and them through that.
The Curve Ball Page 17