by Lynn Patrick
“So you’ll forget that job offer?” he asked between kisses. “You’ll stay?”
“I never really wanted to take the job. I wanted you to tell me not to leave because our love is so important to you.”
“How could you doubt it?” he asked fiercely, tightening his hold as she slipped her arms about his neck. “Every little bit of you is important to me. This part…and this one here.” She giggled as he pinched her thigh, then cupped her buttocks with his warm hands. Holding her, he felt his heart beat erratically as his passion caught fire. Walking her slowly backward across the room, he lowered her gently onto the futon.
Melissa shivered as Rafe’s hand slid beneath her skirt and caressed her from knee to thigh. His fingers roamed possessively over her sensitive flesh, leaving burning trails wherever they touched her.
As she reveled in the delicious sensations, she was also aware of the emotions that had caused them to be amplified so greatly. Rafe had said he wanted her to stay in New York. He wanted them to be together and was willing to deal with any obstacles. With such love and determination, he’d surely be willing to recognize the problem with his children someday. Was he planning to ask her to marry him in the near future? She couldn’t help but be excited, although she hoped he’d wait until they’d cleared things up and she felt more comfortable.
Gazing lovingly up at him, she gently stroked his slightly beard-roughened cheek and brushed a lock of dark hair off his forehead. Rafe nibbled at her fingers when they glided over his mouth. Then she moved her hand lower and slid it up beneath his sweater, glorying in his firm muscles, in his smooth skin covered with springy chest hair.
Rafe moaned as her fingers brushed his nipples. “Watch out, little fairy. You’re flying too low. This big, bad elf’s going to get you.”
“You’re a prince,” she corrected him. “And the fairy’s after you.” Moving provocatively beneath him, she threw one leg over his hip and felt his arousal pressing hard against her inner thigh.
Quickly—it almost seemed magical—he’d divested them both of their clothing. But the magic didn’t stop there. Side by side, warm skin against skin, Rafe kissed her deeply, using his tongue and lips to coax forth exquisite fire. Melissa’s breasts seemed to swell beneath his erotic touch, her nipples tightening to hardened buds.
Drifting upward with her spiraling feelings, Melissa saw herself flying over a magical realm full of bright colors. When her lover wooed her flesh with his insistent mouth, seducing her with moist kisses scattered across her midriff and belly, she arched toward him, envisioning the curving rainbow on which her magical kingdom rested.
Rafe continued his loving homage, dipping his head ever nearer her feminine core. As his tongue and lips boldly caressed her there, Melissa’s vision began to whirl around them. Like a kaleidoscopic design, dazzling hues whirled and tossed. All of a sudden the rainbow shattered, its colors flaring in a brilliant flash of light.
When her breathing finally slowed, Melissa reached out for Rafe.
He had only begun. “I love you,” he whispered, moving over her. Enclosing her tenderly, he joined their bodies to thrust toward the inevitable union that was both earthly magic and yet vastly more than physical.
She watched the rainbow reform itself as he moved within her. Clasping him tightly, she wondered if they would scale the multicolored heights together.
But their erotic journey moved slowly, as if neither wanted it to end. Melissa clung to him, slipping her hands over and over along his damp skin, caressing him as she accepted his searching kisses. Time seemed to stop. Melissa was surprised when everything finally changed and the colors began to wheel and spin once more. Then they both cried out together.
Afterward they lay sated in each other’s arms. Holding her closely to him, Rafe growled, “I want a commitment from you.”
“Yes?” With a combination of thrill and dread, Melissa waited for the proposal she was sure would come. What would she say?
“From now on I want you to promise me you’ll discuss your doubts with me. You don’t have to use some out-of-state job offer to get me to tell you how I feel.”
Melissa hadn’t really intended to use the job in that way, but she was silent about it, happy that Rafe wanted to improve their communication.
“And when we have problems between us or with anyone else, we’ll discuss them openly and decide mutually on solutions.”
“That’s fine with me.” Perhaps now was the time to bring up the kids again, she thought.
But he continued, stating, “Then we both agree to making the commitment. In the meantime I promise to keep you warm. It’s getting cold in here.” Raising himself on his elbows, Rafe rearranged the bedclothes, tucking them around her.
Smiling at him outwardly, Melissa repressed a sigh that was a mixture of disappointment and relief. He hadn’t proposed after all. But she believed he would, just as he’d face the problems with his kids eventually. She was certain marriage was what Rafe intended for them. What else would a man want who admitted he liked to nest, loved kids, and had told Melissa he loved her and wanted them to be together? Would they have their own baby together someday? Simply thinking about it made Melissa feel happy. Unconsciously, she arched her hips against him.
“Again?” he asked. “I’m game.”
But the phone rang. “Damn!” cursed Rafe, looking around. “Why are we always being interrupted? Where’s your phone, anyway?”
“I’ll get it,” Melissa told him, scrambling up and stepping over his body. Bare feet chilled by the cold floor, she ran to the living room to pick up the receiver. “Hello?”
“I want to…to speak to my dad,” sobbed Hank.
“What’s wrong?” Melissa thought she could also hear Gretta crying in the background.
“Let me talk to Dad! It’s your fault, Melissa!”
When she motioned to him Rafe took only a few seconds to get to the phone. Feeling shaken by Hank’s tone and his accusation, Melissa listened, hearing something about mushrooms and food poisoning. As Rafe talked she threw on a pair of jeans and a blouse and got his clothes together.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Rafe promised, then hung up the receiver. Grabbing his pants and sweater from Melissa, he dressed quickly. “Come on. Hanks says they have botulism from eating the mushrooms. I’ll have to take them to the hospital.”
“Botulism? That’s caused only by canned foods. I’m sure those mushrooms were fresh,” she said, but Rafe was already racing out the front door. Hurrying out into the night, they jumped into his car to speed toward the Damon house.
“If it isn’t botulism it could be some other kind of food poisoning. Where the hell was Louise?” Rafe muttered, sweat beading on his brow. “Hank said she stepped out. She should have checked on them before she left.”
“How do you know she didn’t? And maybe she had a quick errand.”
“This late?” He checked his watch. “It’s almost midnight.”
As he swerved to miss a pedestrian Melissa held her breath. “Try not to worry. I’m sure we’ll get there on time.” She attempted to soothe him.
“I can’t help but be worried.”
Leaving the car in a no-parking zone, they ran into the town house and climbed the stairs to the second floor. Once there, they found the place in an uproar.
As soon as she saw them Louise approached, holding a bottle of antacid tablets in her hand. “Do you know what these kids have done, Rafe? I was in the entryway downstairs when Hank finished calling you. I overheard the end of the phone conversation. They aren’t sick!”
“What do you mean, they’re not sick?” Rafe asked.
“They were talking when I came upstairs. They wanted to pretend they had food poisoning so you’d come home. This is too much!”
Gretta appeared then, clutching a doll tightly against her pajama top and crying. “She took us to that place and made us eat mushrooms!” she said accusingly, pointing at Melissa.
“And it didn�
�t hurt you one bit, did it? Do you want to admit that?” Louise asked, showing Gretta the bottle she held. “Or shall I make you take more of this medicine?”
At the threat Gretta wailed louder and Rafe went to pick her up. “There, there,” he crooned. “Settle down. Everything’s okay.”
“Everything is not okay!” exclaimed Louise. “They should be punished.”
Melissa agreed. Looking at Rafe, however, she noticed his concern as he quieted the child. Wasn’t he angry? Hank and Gretta had accused her of causing them to get food poisoning!
“I’ll take care of the kids,” he told Louise. “You can get back to bed. Is Hank upstairs?” When his mother nodded yes, he headed up to the third floor, carrying his daughter against his shoulder.
“Really!” Louise looked at Melissa. “Those two children have been terrible. I know they’ve frightened you with their lies. I’m sorry I wasn’t upstairs to stop them from calling you.”
“You aren’t to blame,” Melissa said comfortingly, reaching out to touch Louise’s arm. “You can’t be around every second.”
“I thought Hank was intelligent and old enough to be more responsible.”
“He’s definitely intelligent,” Melissa agreed, thinking about all the brilliant schemes the boy had successfully implemented to keep his father and her apart. If Louise only knew!
“Hank needs guidance,” said Louise before going back downstairs.
When Rafe returned from his kids’ rooms Melissa was sitting at the kitchen table. He went directly to the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of juice. “Want some?” he asked her, pouring a glass.
“No thanks. How are the kids?”
“Fine. No fever, no spasms. Louise was right, they weren’t sick.” He smiled tiredly.
Melissa tried to smile too. “So what are you going to do? Did you reprimand them? They gave us a terrible scare.”
“I was so relieved they were all right, I didn’t have the heart to punish them. I’ll have to talk to them later.”
Feeling thoroughly aggrieved, she said, “But they’ve been terrible, Rafe. Do you realize they accused me of causing them to get sick?”
“I know. If they hadn’t been so lonely, left in the house by themselves—”
“That’s no excuse!” Melissa interrupted him sharply. “And they weren’t alone. Louise was downstairs all the time.”
“Well, what do you want me to do, spank them?” he asked defensively.
Incredulous, Melissa could say nothing for a moment. Once again Hank had ruined an evening they planned to spend together and had been positively vindictive about it. Didn’t Rafe care about her feelings?
Finally she found her voice. “I don’t care whether or not you physically punish them, but you certainly ought to tell them how badly they’ve behaved. They owe me an apology, Rafe.”
“I don’t think they meant it personally, Melissa. They wanted their dad home, that’s all. They don’t have their mother anymore.”
Melissa almost screamed. Was Rafe really so dense? “They did mean it personally! They wanted their dad to be home so he couldn’t be with me. How long are you going to use the divorce to excuse them?” She stood up to face him, drawing herself up to her full, if diminutive, height. “Hank’s used everything in his power to keep us apart. He’s spied and schemed. First, it was a tape recorder. The night before going to California, Hank put one under the couch so he could hear what we were talking about. I found it and turned it off.”
“A tape recorder?”
Not stopping to clarify the matter, Melissa went on, “There’s a lot more, Rafe. Your son is no angel. He’s managed to impose himself on several of our dates. Remember the art show he attended with us and the French movie? He even sabotaged your computer records so we couldn’t go out at all. Then he volunteered to aid you in putting them back together. And you rewarded him for it!”
“You’re being ridiculous. Hank wouldn’t do that,” Rafe said, scowling.
“How blind can you be?” She glared at him. “He didn’t give you my phone message and deliberately let me think you were out with another woman. How can you let him manipulate you this way?”
“You’re exaggerating.” His tone was adamant. “I’ve got two really great kids who also happen to be normal.”
“I’m not exaggerating, Rafe. And I don’t mean to say Hank isn’t a good kid underneath. But he desperately needs to be found out. You may think you’re helping your children by being indulgent, but they need discipline and guidance.”
Rafe’s angry dark eyes seemed to throw off sparks. “Now, wait a minute. You’re making serious accusations here. I’m the parent and I know my own kids. Don’t tell me how to raise them! Being a teacher for a few years doesn’t make you an expert. My kids just need time to adjust.”
“How much time?” Undeterred by his anger, she addressed him intently. “You and Nicole divorced more than a year ago. We’ve been having these problems for almost three months. Tonight you asked me to stay in New York, to commit myself. You said we should discuss problems. Well, Hank and Gretta are a problem if we’re ever to get—have a long-term relationship,” she stated, not daring to mention the word “marriage.”
“I told you there were problems in going out with a divorced man who has a family.”
“I expect there to be problems, but I also expect you to try to deal with them!”
“I deal with them as best I can. Children don’t disappear, you know. They aren’t portable or fleeting like the other things in your transient lifestyle.”
Feeling her face flame with indignation, Melissa tried to control her trembling voice. “I’m neither transient nor irresponsible. I’m not suggesting you put Hank and Gretta in an orphanage. I simply think you should discipline them so they’ll grow up to be mature and responsible adults—and we can be happier.”
“Happier? How can we be, the way you feel about my kids? Life isn’t like one of your fairy tales, Melissa. We’re the adults, not Hank and Gretta, and we have to work toward making our happy endings come about. We need to have maturity and insight to deal with children on a day-to-day basis. I don’t know if you’re ready for that. Isn’t it a little immature to be jealous of two kids?”
She couldn’t stand it one minute longer. Her anger spilled out in a torrent. “You blind, arrogant fool!” she shouted. “Who are you to accuse me of immaturity or irresponsibility? You refuse to see what’s going on right under your nose. Your children are spoiled rotten! What kind of parent does that make you?”
She raced for the door, but before she could descend the stairs he grabbed her by the arm. “Wait a minute,” he insisted, his eyes flashing. “We’re not through with this! You can’t leave in the middle—”
“Are you ready to admit you might be wrong about your precious kids?”
“No!”
Melissa jerked away from him. “Then I’m taking my irresponsible self right out of your life, Rafe. Goodbye!” Running blindly down the stairs, she almost ran into a startled Louise at the bottom of the flight.
Ignoring her humiliation, Melissa rushed past Louise out into the cold New York night, heading toward a busier street to hail a taxi. She brushed at the tears running down her cheeks. Already feeling guilty for her uncharacteristic outburst of rage, she couldn’t help but remember Rafe’s telling her to be open and to discuss her feelings and doubts. That obviously didn’t include his kids!
Chapter Ten
“I still haven’t found a place to live that I both like and can afford, even though the pay for this promotions job is really good,” Melissa complained while walking into Haldan-Northrop after a celebratory lunch. “I can’t stand the thought of sharing my living space with rodents.”
“Don’t give up hope, my girl. Sometimes there’s a rainbow at the end of the chase,” Clarence replied.
Not wanting to think about rainbows lest they remind her of that last evening with Rafe, Melissa ignored Clarence’s heartening comment and led th
e way past the makeup counter onto the escalator. The sights and sounds of the elegant store were comfortingly familiar, yet she was definitely unsettled as the feeling of loss she’d been trying to repress engulfed her.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do if I don’t find something I like soon,” Melissa said in a desperate attempt to get her mind off of the man she loved. “I’ve got only three weeks left.”
“You can always stay at my place until you can find one of your own,” Terry offered.
“I can stay with other friends,” Clarence added. “It’s no problem, I assure you.”
Knowing Clarence was down on his luck again and had been sleeping on Terry’s sofa for the last month, Melissa couldn’t accept, but neither could she hurt their feelings by refusing outright. “Thanks. I’ll think about it, but maybe I should go home to Pennsylvania and take that teaching job this fall. I have another few weeks to make the decision,” she said bravely, trying to keep her voice from breaking when she added, “Maybe I’m fated to leave New York…and Rafe.”
“Santa goofed again, the old reprobate. I always hate it when Christmas presents break,” Clarence grumbled. “Are you sure the damage is irreparable?”
“Even if Rafe realizes he’s wrong about me and the way he spoils his kids things wouldn’t work out. Hank and Gretta hate me.” Even so, Melissa felt an anticipatory quiver in her stomach as she almost tripped off the moving stairs because she was busy thinking about seeing Rafe shortly. “I’d never be happy causing a rift between the kids and their father. It’s bad enough I’m miserable. I don’t want to make them all miserable as well.”
“Personally, my girl, I think you’ll be sorry if you don’t persist. I doubt your relationship with the children would remain grim forever. Believe me, it’s no fun living your entire life alone because you made one foolish mistake and gave up too easily.” Before Melissa could ask Clarence if he was speaking from personal experience, his glance strayed over her shoulder and his eyes lit with a naughty twinkle. “Ahh, my favorite secretary.” Off he went.