Essence of Desire (25 page)

“You won’t and can’t do anything. Steven’s dead.” There was a sharp edge in Elvia Gardner’s voice. There was also a tinge of uncertainty and wariness there, too.

“Yes, but I doubt his blood type matched your husband’s. Modern technology can prove or disprove anything. I’ll do just about anything to keep my son away from you. I’ll never let him live here and be raised in this type of environment where money is everything and integrity means nothing.”

Felicia took a step closer to the older woman, who had suddenly gone speechless. “If I have to, I’ll expose information about your short but productive affair with one of Mr. Gardner’s business associates some years ago. How Steven got hold of the information or how he intended to use it one day is no concern of mine. All I know is I won’t hesitate to use it.”

Felicia tightened her purse straps on her shoulder. “If you try to take my son away, I’ll make sure everyone knows that Austin is truly not a Gardner heir. If I were you, I’d think of some way to halt this custody suit. Think about it.”

Without having anything else to say, Felicia walked past the woman and out of the door.

***

Felicia’s plane arrived back in Houston close to nine o’clock that night. She had had every intention of returning before dark, but due to bad weather conditions in Los Angeles, her plane had been delayed. She had called her mother before leaving California and asked if Austin could spend the night since she would be arriving back in town after his bedtime.

Felicia turned into her driveway and came to an abrupt halt. Trask’s Lexus was parked there, and the lights were on inside her house. Since she had never given him a key to her home, she could only assume he had gotten the spare one from her mother.

Felicia hesitated a moment before opening the door. She was not sure exactly what she would say to Trask. She had not called him when she received the petition of custody as she had promised him she would. Taking in a deep breath, she closed the door behind her.

“I was wondering when you’d be getting home.”

The deep tone of Trask’s voice made Felicia jump. She glanced across the room and saw him leaning against the doorway that separated the living room from the foyer. Their gazes locked for a long moment before she answered, “Have you been waiting long?”

“Long enough.”

Anxiety jittered through Felicia’s stomach. She had argued with Trask countless times. Why did the thought of doing so again bother her so much? Her next question was tentative. It was meant to sound casual, but somehow it didn’t come out the way. “My mother gave you the key?”

“Yes. I guess she trusts me.”

A stab of guilt caught Felicia up short when she saw the look of something in his eyes. “I trust you, too, Trask. Going to California had nothing to do with me trusting you. It has everything to do with me standing up for myself.”

A part of Trask understood where she was coming from. Syneda had made darn sure of that when she had explained things to him earlier that day. Felicia had been spoiled and pampered so much by the men in the Madaris family that now she needed to believe she could fight this one all by herself. He had wanted to do what her uncles had done for her over the years: protect her by fighting her battles for her.

He straightened up and walked slowly over to her. When he stood before her, he reached out and ran his fingertips across her cheek and looked deep into the depths of her dark eyes. “And did you?”

For a moment, Felicia was so captivated by the look he was giving her, as well as by the feel of his hand on her skin, she completely forgot what their earlier conversation had been about. She took a deep breath and held it for a moment, then slowly expelled it before asking, “Did I what?”

“Stand up for yourself.”

Felicia noted the caring, the tenderness, and the concern in his voice. she also saw the love he had for her shining deep within his gaze. “Yes.”

A bit of a smile touched Trask’s lips. “Good.” He reached out for her hand and brought it to his mouth and let his lips brush lightly across her skin. “And now where does that leave me?”

Felicia frowned at first, not understanding Trask’s question. His touch was preventing her from thinking clearly. But a part of her felt his need to know his place in her life. He wanted reassurance. She reached up and slipped her arms around his neck.

“It leaves you just where you’ve always been, Trask: a very intricate part of my life and of me. To be more specific, it leaves you right dab in the middle of my heart. I love you.”

She felt the tremor ripple through his body with her words. She then brought his mouth down to hers to kiss away any more doubts he might have. The kiss was everything Felicia meant it to be. She kissed him with all the love she felt within her.

She pulled back and her hands rested against his tautly muscled chest. “Make love to me, Trask.” Her voice quavered with her request and with her plea. “I need you to love me.”

“And I will, forever,” he said, sweeping her into his arms and carrying her into the bedroom. He wanted to make love to her all night. He didn’t want to hear the details of her visit to California just yet. They would discuss that later. All he wanted was to make love to her, to get deep inside her and be as one with her, mind, body, and soul.

When his naked body joined her in bed, he pulled her into his arms. Her skin felt soft and her scent arousing. “I want to try things a little different tonight,” Trask suggested in a deep, husky voice before capturing her mouth with an intensity that left nothing to one’s imagination.

He wanted to try things a little different tonight?
Felicia didn’t think either her mind or her body could handle the idea of that happening. She thought of all the things he had done to her on Christmas night and all the ways she had responded to those things. They had made love all through the night. She hadn’t thought her body could handle that much lovemaking. Just when she thought that she couldn’t possibly take any more of him, and that he had satisfied her to the limit, he would touch her again, letting his hands and his mouth do their magic. The mere brush of his fingers and lips on her skin would have her wanting him again.

And now, from the feel of his hand moving down her back his fingers caressing the sensitive skin of her arms, and his mouth locked tight with hers, tasting her with his tongue, she had a feeling they were about to pull another all-nighter.

And she was looking forward to every delicious minute of it.

Trask broke off the kiss. He’d never before in his life wanted a woman the way he wanted Felicia. And as he looked down at her naked limbs entwined with his, he thought the picture was perfect, erotic, and seductive. His gaze traveled from her breasts to her stomach, then down to a very enticing part of her anatomy. It lingered there for a moment before finally moving lower to her thighs and legs. He wanted her. All of her. Every delectable inch of her.

“Felicia,” he murmured, reaching down and lifting her into his arms. Shifting his body, he stretched her out on top of him. Firmly holding her hips in place, he smoothly joined their bodies to a perfect fit. “Tonight, I ride,” she repeated before closing her mouth over his.

And just as if she knew what he wanted, she rode him hard.

The sound of Trask’s heavy sighs and quickened breathing echoed in the room. The feel of his hands touching her everywhere and the feel of his muscled body beneath her made Felicia’s body hum with desire. Her pulse raced with an urgency of fulfillment. And when she thought she couldn’t possibly give or take any more, she heard Trask growl out his release at the same moment her body shuddered into hers.

Afterward, when she lay over him, too exhausted to move, to think, or to breathe, she felt the fullness of him inside her getting hard again. She snapped her head up off his chest and looked into his eyes, once again amazed. She was caught by the intensity of his gaze. The man had the stamina of a stallion and the sex drive of a bull. Passionate heat seemed to be a part of him and his desire for her was absolute. They would have a long and wonderful life together if they didn’t kill themselves from overindulging in lovemaking first. The thought of being stretched out over his muscled body while he was planted deep within her renewed a want and need within her.

“Ride again,” he suggested sensuously in a hoarse whisper before lifting his hand to her nape to bring her mouth closer to his for another long and deep kiss.

And she did just that.

“You have two more days before New Year’s. None of us will think unkindly of you, Trask, if you wanted to call the whole thing off.”

Trask couldn’t help but grin at the serious expression of the six men who had invited him to lunch. “Call off the wedding, you mean?”

“Yes,” Milton Madaris answered. Being the oldest of the brothers, he had appointed himself their spokesman.

Trask shook his head. “You’re suggesting that I skip out two days before the wedding? May I remind you that the woman I’m marrying happens to be your niece.”

“And that’s why we’re letting you call it off. We love the girl dearly, but all of us recognize that Felicia is kind of headstrong, willful, and outspoken. With her past two marriages, she’s proven that she may be too much for most men to handle.”

Trask couldn’t help laughing. Felicia being too much to handle was an understatement. He couldn’t help but remember how a couple of nights ago, she had given him the ride of his life. A very enjoyable ride at that. “I’ll take my chances.”

“But we’re here to let you know that you don’t have to,” Lucas Madaris piped in to say. “We know that the reason you asked Felicia to marry you was because of the chance she might lose Austin. But now since the Gardners have suddenly decided to drop their custody suit, you won’t have to marry her.”

Trask took a sip of his drink and looked at all six men. The only one who seemed slightly bored with the entire proceeding was the youngest of the brothers, Jake Madaris. Like him, Jake seemed slightly amused.

“The reason I asked Felicia to marry me is because I’m in love with her. I would have gotten around to asking her anyway. That petition really had nothing to do with it.”

“Let me get this straight, son,” Jonathan Madaris was saying. “You mean to tell us that you and Felicia actually love each other?” he asked in amazement. “But what about all those years the two of you spent fussing and fighting?”

Trask shrugged. “I wish I could explain it but I can’t. I think it was meant for us to go through all of that and get it out of our systems. Now we can have a marriage of peace and harmony.”

All six uncles looked very doubtful about that.

“Are you sure marrying Felicia is what you want?” Lee Madaris asked for clarification.

“I’m positive. Now do I have your blessings?”

Nolan Madaris snorted. “Yeah, you have our blessing. But more than that, you also have our prayers. And believe us, son, with Felicia, you’re going to need them.”

***

Syneda sat back against the sofa smiling. “I think what Trask wants to do is a wonderful idea and I’ll be glad to handle that for him.”

Felicia nodded. “It means so much to me that he wants to legally adopt Austin. Steven was never a father to him and the Gardners were never grandparents. Trask wants to be what Steven never was, and knowing Trask’s family, his mom and Alex will be eager to give Austin all the love the Gardners never gave to him. Trask, Austin, and I will be a family. A real family.”

She sighed. “I just hope the Gardners don’t try causing any more trouble.”

Syneda smiled. “I doubt that they will. Mrs. Gardner did the right thing in convincing her husband to drop that custody suit. Things for them would have gotten ugly. I assume Trask mentioned the report Alex gave to him on Andrew Gardner.”

“Yes.” Felicia shuddered at the information that had been contained in the report. She never knew just how ruthless her father-in-law was until she had read the report. He had been involved in a number of underhanded business deals, even some payoffs to a well-known politician from California. And the thought that he’d had the nerve to question her morals made her furious.

“Trask wouldn’t hesitate to use the information Alex uncovered if the Gardners start causing problems again,” Syneda pointed out.

“Yes, I know. Wealth isn’t everything,” Felicia said. “I had to find that out the hard way. I just hope one day the Gardners realize that, too.”

Syneda’s smile widened. “So how are the wedding plans coming along?”

“Fine. It won’t be anything extravagant, just a private ceremony with family.”

“And Austin still doesn’t know?”

A slow smile crossed Felicia’s face. “No. But I’m going to talk to Trask tonight. We may have to go ahead and tell him. As it gets closer to New Year’s Day, he’s trying to prepare himself for Trask’s departure. I think we should go ahead and take him out of his misery.”

Syneda chuckled. “I agree. Will you and Trask be going to Trevor and Corinthians’ New Years Eve party tomorrow night?”

“Yes, but we’re leaving before the strike of twelve. We want to be together somewhere private so we can bring the New Year in right. Then on New Year’s morning, everyone is to meet at Mom’s for the wedding at noon.”