For One Night Only (9 page)

She crawled into bed feeling a little better than she had in a long while. She was too wired to sleep though, thoughts of Ruben floating in and out of her head. Seeing him had brought a lot of feelings flooding back…feelings she didn’t want when she was alone.

* * * *

There had been no further sightings of the mystery brunette by the time The Fan checked into her hotel in
Corpus Christi some two weeks later. Dogging his every move from the time she’d caught up with him again in San Diego—the next step on his tour after LA—she knew he had traveled alone, save for the usual companions. She didn’t want to spend more money booking into yet another expensive hotel at the last minute. His schedule allowed for an extra couple of nights in the city, giving Ruben—or rather, both of them—a much-needed break.

As far as she knew, none of the other fans she was ‘friendly’ with were in town. None of them had turned up at any of his scheduled appointments. A couple of interviews at a local radio station and an evening with the press must have seemed like a pretty easy day for him compared to his usual routine.

She hadn’t had the energy to follow him all day, and returned to her hotel, resigned to an early night.

Sleep didn’t come easily; she felt unsettled but didn’t know why. He was alone, she was sure of it. Still, the night he had spent with the brunette had shaken her to the core. The thought Ruben might find someone else hadn’t really occurred to her before—not seriously. She knew his sexual appetite well enough to be sure he couldn’t go long without release but there had been very few women in the six months she had been traveling with him—and none of those had spent the night.

Her own experience had been a perfect example. He’d invited her back to his room after seducing her effortlessly.
Her virginal naivety had been no match for his easy charm.
She’d known before she agreed to go with him that he believed her to be more experienced than she actually was, but she wasn’t afraid—in fact, she had barely been able to control her excitement at the prospect.

Keen and eager to please, she hoped her enthusiasm would hide a lack of experience. She’d acted in the same way that the women did in the dirty videos she had found in her daddy’s bedroom once. Ruben had seemed to like it so she’d gotten wilder, mimicking the sounds she had heard in the movies and groaning as if in ecstasy when she had taken his penis into her mouth.

Oral sex had been a surprise. She’d had no idea that she would be so good at it or enjoy it so much. Soon, she was no longer faking her reactions. The power she got from seeing how turned on he was, made her wet and totally ready for him.

Her initial nervousness had soon been replaced by an insatiable need and she’d begun to take over—telling him what she wanted. He’d been happy to oblige, grinning in surprise as she had ordered him down between her legs. Her first orgasm had been mind-blowing, coming almost as soon as she’d felt the first touch of his tongue. Her second had been just as powerful although less intense, but deeper, somehow. He’d been inside her by then; riding her with such force that she had known he was as moved as she was. His orgasm had been brutal, robbing them both of breath.

Nobody since had made the same impression or gotten the same reaction from her. Older and wiser, she’d come to realize that what had happened that night had been much more than just sex. That kind of connection came from something deeper and could only be found with a soul mate. She remembered laying in the safety of his arms afterwards, feeling like she had finally found the place she belonged.

Suddenly something had changed, and to this day, she didn’t know what. Jumping briskly from the bed, he’d thrown on a robe, his eyes not meeting hers as he explained he needed to speak to someone. He’d barely been gone more than a couple of minutes before the door opened again and the man mountain she now knew to be Albert, walked in.

It turned out Ruben liked his privacy and Albert ensured he got it. Barely suppressed fury rose in her as she remembered the way he had dragged her naked from Ruben’s bed, throwing her clothes in her face and telling her to get out. He had not listened to her protestations that Ruben had simply left to speak to someone and would be expecting to find her waiting for him. Albert had laughed—if you could call the menacing, grunting sound he had made ‘laughing’—and told her that she had thirty seconds to get her clothes on, or he would throw her out as she was.

The heartbreak had almost killed her in the days and weeks immediately after that night. She’d tried in vain to get in touch with Ruben for a while, sure that he must have been as hurt and upset as she that their time together had ended so suddenly. She often wondered whether he knew the truth about that night.
Had Albert ever confessed to throwing her out like a common whore? Or had he simply allowed Ruben to believe that she had snuck out on him while his back was turned?

Finally, the futility of her efforts and the demands of an invalid father had forced her to abandon her destiny until recently. Sobs racked her body as she relived the anguish of those first days after she had met Ruben. She wouldn’t be whole again until they were re-united. Being with Ruben again was all that mattered now. The death of her father, and subsequent sale of the house she had inherited, had finally given her the money and the freedom to get what she wanted.

Desperately in need of comfort and a connection to him, she reached into her bag, pulling out the stolen pillowcase. Inhaling deeply, she could still make out the faintest trace of his scent on it. Sliding further down onto the bed, she opened her dress, rubbing the smell of him over her breasts and abdomen, before slowly pushing the fabric down between her legs.

He didn’t remember her yet, but she knew once she had broken through the veneer that he used to protect himself from the outside world, once he was buried deep inside her again, he would remember.

Chapter 8

Ruben rang the doorbell nervously. He had traveled all day to get to
Bethany’s house by early Saturday evening.
Why hadn’t it occurred to him beforehand to check whether she would be home…and what kind of reception he could expect?

The awards show party had been a total washout. There had been hot women everywhere he turned, but none of them had held his interest. They all looked brash and cheap and were no substitute for the memory of the woman that had driven him out in search of a warm body in the first place.

After being pinned into a corner by a very predatory female with too much make-up and not enough clothing, he’d had enough. Leaving the party, he had resolved to ring
Bethany as soon as he got back to the hotel, but he’d changed his mind by the time he reached his suite. Knowing instinctively that she would try to talk him out of seeing her again, he made the decision for both of them.

He had to have her again, if only so he could forget about her. It had been a very long time since anyone had occupied his thoughts in such a way. Now, standing outside her door, he wondered at his rashness.
Would she be happy to see him?

The door opened to an empty hallway. Peering around the frame he saw her walking briskly back to the living room, shouting over her shoulder that he should come in and that she would be ready in a minute. The realization that she was expecting someone else hit him.

Stepping into the hall and closing the door, he watched her silently. From what he could see, she wore a long black sheath dress that fit like a second skin, molding to the arch of her spine and the long, lean line of her legs. It had a split up to the mid-thigh area that exposed a lot more as she reached over the sofa to get her bag. Turning, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw who occupied her hallway.

Ruben decided there was no way she was going anywhere with another guy in that dress. At the front it clung to every curve, from her full breasts right down to her shapely knees. The keyhole neckline showed only a tiny amount of cleavage, but it was enough. He wouldn’t have made it through dinner without having her if she’d been wearing that dress during their date.

Realizing that she was expecting some kind of explanation for his presence and that he couldn’t just stand there staring at her, he was about to speak when the doorbell sounded.

‘Expecting someone, Bethany?’

Starting toward the door, she stopped as he turned and opened it wide. There, behind a bunch of flowers that was almost bigger than the man holding them, Ruben assumed, was her date.

Peering over the top of them, the guy looked quite alarmed to find a large man filling the doorway. Ruben sized him up, taking in the ill-fitting suit he wore in a dreary shade of gray that washed out his already pale skin. The guy wasn’t bad looking—he just didn’t know how to make the best of himself. Ruben decided quickly he was no competition. Raising an imperious eyebrow, he waited for him to speak.

‘Is…is
Bethany home?’ the man stuttered.

‘Are those for her?’ Ruben ignored his question. The guy nodded, looking nervous. Reaching down, Ruben took them from him. ‘I’ll make sure she gets them,’ he said, and shut the door firmly in his face.

Bethany
gasped as she rushed passed him to open it again. He could see the guy still standing where he’d left him, uncertain of what to do next. She spoke to her visitor in hushed tones that Ruben strained to hear. ‘I’m sorry, Roger. I have an unexpected guest from out of town. Can we reschedule?’

Roger started to complain. ‘You could have phoned and saved me the drive out,
Bethany,’ he whined. Ruben stepped into the doorway behind her to stare silently at the man, effectively ending the conversation.

‘I’ll call you next week,’ Roger said over his shoulder as he moved rapidly down the path.

Leading her back through the open doorway, Ruben suppressed a triumphant grin.
Bethany smiled back at him, although he could tell she felt sorry for Roger.

‘That was mean, Ruben,’ she admonished.

‘Don’t tell me you were serious about that guy?’

‘Not in the least, but it was nice to have a chance to dress up for a change. He really is very sweet. I think it would have been fun.’

‘You do look stunning in that dress by the way. I think it would be wasted on him, though. He couldn’t handle you, Bethany.’

‘Oh! And you can, I suppose?’

‘You know I can,’ he stated carefully, leaving the words to hang between them. He could handle her any time she would let him.

Realizing that he still held the flowers, he offered them to her with a lopsided grin. Putting her bag on the hall table, she moved to take them. Dropping the flowers to the floor, he tried to pull her into his arms. A hand braced against his chest stopped him.

‘What are you doing here, Ruben?’

‘I missed you, Dr Shaw,’ he said into her hair.

Kissing her then, he almost lost his resolve to sort a few things out first. If only for his own sanity, he needed to be sure how she would react to his coming on to her again. He couldn’t take another fortnight of raging hard-ons and pointless masturbation that didn’t ease his need for her.

‘
Bethany, we need to talk,’ he said, holding her at arms length.

‘We can talk later,’ she said as she wrapped herself sinuously around him. This was going better than he hoped, but he couldn’t celebrate. Not yet.

‘Please,
Bethany. Don’t tempt me. I really want to talk to you.’ Her arms slid from his neck and he almost wished he hadn’t stopped her. ‘Why did you leave like that?’

The flush on her cheeks told him she knew what he was talking about. Taking a step back, she leaned against the wall, arms folded protectively across her chest. ‘I didn’t know what to do Ruben.’

‘Were you so keen to get away from me?’

She looked upset at his comment. ‘No. I did have to get back to Vegas—I wasn’t lying about that. But I lay next to you for hours, unable to sleep and I sort of convinced myself it was best if I simply wasn’t there when you woke up.’

He couldn’t blame her for that. Plenty of women had been on the receiving end of a frosty attitude and monosyllabic conversation the morning after. How was she to know he would be any different? If he was brutally honest with himself, he had no idea how he would have treated her.

‘If it helps at all, I’ve regretted it ever since.’ She didn’t look at him and he sensed there was more to her behavior than simple nerves. When he wasn’t so distracted, he would have to get to the bottom of what she was running away from. He decided to let it go. They were together for now and she looked amazing.
Where in hell did he get the idea that she wasn’t feminine?

Walking over to her, he placed a hand either side of her head, bracing his weight against the wall. He allowed himself the luxury of a long, long look down her body before leaning in and whispering against her mouth. ‘That dress is driving me crazy.’

‘Ah, yes. My dress. It’s new,’ she sighed, looking down at it. ‘I bought it for this evening.’