Falling For Nick (32 page)

Clea's hands found his hips. She pulled him back to her, urging him to continue with her hands. And he did. With each thrust his need to possess her completely increased. Nothing had ever felt this good: her skin against his, her hair, her taste. A roar filled his ears, a pulsing he couldn't control. Her nails dug into his back and he knew she was slipping over the edge again. This time he went with her.

Powerful waves of pleasure crashed through him, one on top of the other, until he couldn't think, only feel. When he finally opened his eyes, he found Clea watching him. She smoothed the hair from his eyes, a satisfied smile on her face.

"You okay?" he asked, knowing he'd taken her like a man possessed, and maybe he had been. He'd wanted to make her his, and he had. The thought pleased him.

"I'm better than okay." Her smile widened. "I don't remember sex being quite that intense the last time we were together. I didn't know I could feel so much."

Nick grinned. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this satisfied or optimistic. "The night is young, Princess." He kissed her. "And we have ten years to make up for."

*   *   *

Clea came awake slowly, and before she opened her eyes she smiled. Sometime during the night they'd moved to her bed. Without looking, she knew Nick slept beside her. His scent, a mix of clean soap and sex, filled her head. Heat radiated from his skin, warming her. She didn't want to move, didn't want to come back to reality. Last night, Nick had made her his, again and again. His passion had consumed her to the point where she could think of nothing but him. After so many years of missing him, thinking about him, she'd wanted to do all the things to him she'd dreamed about, and she'd managed to knock quite a few of those things off her list.

"Why are you smiling?"

Clea opened her eyes. "I thought you were asleep. How long have you been watching me?"

"For a while." He reached over and wound a curl around his finger. "Why are you smiling?"

"Why do you think?" She smiled again. Last night had been the stuff of dreams.

"How much time do we have before reality intrudes?" He gathered her close, until their bodies touched everywhere.

"Enough." She ran her fingers over Nick's cheek, then kissed him. "I don't want to think about being a parent yet, or about going to work. Right now I just want to feel like your lover."

Nick gave a low growl, rolling to his back, pulling her on top of him until she straddled his body. "What did you have in mind?" His hands found her waist, moving lower to cup her bottom.

"This." She leaned forward to lick his nipple. "And this." Her tongue found its way to Nick's other nipple. "You're not the only one with fantasies."

"I think you're a naughty girl." Nick grinned.

"That's what people say," Clea said, returning his grin. He was so handsome. His blue eyes blazed with desire. And his mouth, just looking at him, naked and in her bed, gave her a sexual meltdown. "And imagine what they'd say if they found out I did this." She took a condom from the bedside table, making quick work of getting the protection in place. There was no denying Nick wanted her, the evidence of his desire felt hard and smooth under her fingers.

Clea lifted herself up, then sank down on him, taking his length into her. She moved against him, and Nick closed his eyes, his face taut with pleasure. Clea moved, up, down, around, fueling her own desire, using Nick to bring her pleasure in a way she never dreamed possible. He felt so good, and if she moved just right, sparks of pleasure exploded within her.

A moan left Nick's lips. Clea leaned forward and kissed his mouth without breaking the rhythm between them.

She wanted to please him, to make him as crazy for her as she was for him. Clea rode him. His face told her everything. She could see his pleasure rising with the creasing of his brow, the arch of his neck against the pillow, the parting of his lips as he moved with her, his hands clutching her hips. Watching him was as powerful an aphrodisiac as being touched by him.

Suddenly, his eyes opened and she was startled by the sexual prowess she saw there. He sat up, their faces so close together she could feel his breath against her lips.

"I want to watch you," he whispered, the words husky with need. "Look at me."

Clea's hands found his shoulders and she held on as he moved her against him faster and faster, his gaze locked with hers. On the brink of climax, she closed her eyes.

"Look at me," he commanded.

She did. As she found her release, he found his, and she could see his pleasure in his eyes because it mirrored her own. Her soul melded to his and an incredible feeling of peace came over her, making her want to cry with happiness, the experience so powerful it left her breathless.

"Tell me about the night Danny was killed," Clea asked.

Nick propped himself up on one elbow. He'd just made love to her for the second time that morning. Soon, reality would crash in around them. He wanted to use the time they had left to savor Clea, enjoy her.

The last thing he wanted to do was talk about Danny Bloomfield.

He'd been dreading this conversation. After last night he knew he couldn't lie to her anymore. He owed her the truth, but at what cost to Billy?

Clea lay beside him on her back, her head turned to the side against the pillow to look up at him. Earlier, she'd brushed her hair, trying to restore order, but she'd failed. Soft golden curls spilled across the pillow and over her shoulders. Anyone who saw her now would guess what she'd been up to all night, and it pleased him to no end to know he was responsible for the serene smile on her face.

"I don't want to talk about that now," Nick said. "In fact, I don't want to talk at all." He smiled and reached over to brush the curls from her forehead.

"I need to talk about it, Nick." She captured his hand and intertwined her fingers with his. "I was shut out of the whole thing. One minute we were making love, the next you were arrested."

He glanced away from her. The truth would set him free, but the truth would harm his brother. A deep loyalty for both Clea and Billy warred inside him. No matter which path he took, someone would come out the loser.

"Tell me, Nick," she said again. "I want to understand."

"You know what happened." He brought her fingers to his lips and kissed them.

"Was there really a gun, like you said at the trial? Was it self-defense?"

"Yes," he confirmed, telling her the one thing he was certain of. Their relationship was new and fragile. He didn't want anything to crack their newfound closeness, and telling her the truth was sure to do just that. He wanted to tell her, but not now when everything felt right between them.

"But no gun was ever found. How do you explain that?" Her eyes held a thousand questions.

"I don't know. I can't. I've had a lot of time to think, and I can only come to one conclusion. Someone else was there that night, someone who wanted me to go to jail for murder. There's only one person I can think of who hated me that much."

"No, Nick." Clea shook her head, and he could see the understanding in her eyes. "Not Robert. That's what you're thinking, isn't it? Why would he do that? Danny was his brother. That would mean Robert took the gun, and then left Danny there alone. He wouldn't do that. No matter how much he hated you, he would never leave his brother alone to die. Besides, he had an alibi. His mother confirmed Robert had been home asleep."

"Robert wanted you," Nick said. "He saw a way to get me out of the picture. I can't prove it, but I know he took the gun."

"But that would mean his mother lied." Clea struggled to understand all he'd told her. "Why would she do that?"

"Maybe she believed he was home," Nick said. "Or maybe she knew Robert had something to do with Danny's death, but she couldn't bear the thought of losing him, too. Where do you suppose the gun came from? My guess is it belonged to the senator. He claimed no guns were missing, but I'm not convinced. I'm not sure about anything anymore."

"Oh, Nick." Her fingers grazed his jaw, her touch tender.

"If the gun had been found, my sentence would have been much lighter, or I may not have gone to prison at all. It
was
self-defense."

His gut tightened to an ache born of fear. He let go of her hand and rolled on his side, their faces just inches apart. He could no longer put off telling her. If he wanted to keep Clea, he had to come clean, tell her all of it, and pray she'd understand why he'd made the choices he had.

"Tell me what happened," Clea said. "Please."

Compassion filled her eyes, but would the emotion harden to hatred when she knew the truth? It was a chance Nick had to take if they were going to have a future together.

"I'm not sure exactly why things happened the way they did that night," he said. "After I took you home, I picked up Billy. He'd been over at that girl's house, you know, what was her name?"

"Mary," Clea supplied. "I remember. She lived near my house."

"Yeah, Mary." Nick had thought about that twist of fate many times. If he hadn't picked up Billy that night, would Danny be dead now? There were so many ifs - and no way of knowing how things would have turned out. "We hadn't gone far, when Danny's car came up behind us. He bumped the back of The Boss. Lookout Point was just ahead. I pulled over, and he followed. The confrontation between us was a long time coming."

"I know." Clea's fingers tightened around his. "They were brutal to you, to us. They taunted you about the lakeside robberies all summer, trying to blame you. It was as if they wanted the entire town to hate you as much as they did."

He'd never given a lot of thought to how Clea had seen things that summer. Had she been as harassed as he had?

"When I broke my engagement to Robert," Clea said, "he said something that bothered me. He said he'd seen us together at Lookout Point. Could that have had something to do with the irrational way Danny behaved?"

"Maybe," Nick said. Robert Bloomfield had an obsession with Clea she still didn't understand, even after all this time. "I've had a lot of time to think about the choices I made that night. Some of the choices I regret, others I don't."

A flicker of surprise crossed Clea's features. "What kind of choices?"

He frowned. "For the most part it happened like I said. Danny forced my car off the road. He got out of his car. I got out of mine. I didn't realize until it was too late that he had a gun. He held it on me, talking crazy, saying he'd had enough of me, that I didn't deserve to be born. I knew he was drunk, and that's what scared me. Danny Bloomfield was a mean drunk. I'd seen him that way more than once, and I know you have, too."

Clea nodded. "But where was Billy?"

Nick braced himself for Clea's reaction to the news he was about to give her. "Billy didn't get out of the car right away. I don't think Danny realized Billy was with me. I had a bat in the car."

Nick broke off, reliving the moment. Over the years he'd had so many nightmares about that night, about seeing Danny fall, seeing the blood. Images like that didn't erase, not even with time.

"Go on," Clea urged.

"Danny said he was going to kill me. I called him a coward and told him to go ahead and pull the trigger. But before he did, Billy hit him from behind with the bat. Danny lost his balance and fell, hitting his head on a rock."

"Wait," Clea said her brow wrinkling. "You said Billy hit Danny."

"Yes."

A storm of emotions passed over Clea's features, everything from disbelief to betrayal. Nick knew the exact moment when she realized that the last ten years had been built on lies.