Losing Control (20 page)

“How does that feel?”

“Heavenly,” she muttered. “It’s like
stepping out of a sauna and diving into a calm mountain lake!”

He massaged the cool dampness into
her skin, refreshing her. He was stirring her up, too. It’d been so long since
he’d even touched her there. She’d told him about the crazy dream she had; the
way she had bared herself to him, the crazy screams and the breaking window
glass and the wild, animal tension of it. Thinking of it made her hungry for
release.

Taury, sensing her needs, ran his
hand along the creases of her inner thighs then lowered his head towards them
but she stopped him.

“I’m still spotting,” she whispered.

“That’s okay.”

He took the cool washrag, slid it
down until it was almost inside her. Then he slowly manipulated her into an
insanely sweet arousal. She glanced at the tall windows that flanked either
side of the bedroom, wondered if her rising screams could break them.

“Go for it!” he yelled.

She laughed, and screamed again.

She could see the rock hard outline
in his jeans, grabbed the zipper and let him escape straight into her mouth.
She rolled her tongue around it then licked it up and down like a syrupy
lollipop. He moaned, started some screaming of his own.

He came loudly then kept massaging
her until she thought she’d never stop. One orgasm after another split her into
waves of chills and fire; the sweat still seeping from her pores but now she
welcomed it. Taury used it as a lotion, kneading it into her nipples, smoothing
it down into her – sending endless ripples of pleasure throughout her body.

Afterwards they took a long shower
together, soaping each other up and rinsing each other off. No sex involved, or
so they thought but once the lathering started they couldn’t help but renew the
passion. He was careful not to enter her; she was still sore and prone to
infections. Instead he used his soapy hand, rubbing her slick pink skin until
she wailed with excitement. She reciprocated, stroking him until he came all
over her legs.

“Darn, now I’ll have to wash up
again!” she teased.

“I’ll do it for you,” he said, “but
this time no hanky panky! I’m worn out!”

She laughed.

“And I thought I was the weak one.”

“No, babe, you’re the strong one. I’m
amazed at how strong you’ve become since I first met you.”

“All thanks to you, Taury. You’re my
Rock of
Gibraltar
. I can face anything as long as I know I have you!”

He wrapped her in wet, soapy arms,
gave her a long sweet kiss. Her Candyman.

The few days they lingered at the
factory passed quickly. Taury spent several hours in the mornings teaching
Libby the basics of running the company. In the afternoons he and Fawn would
walk around the property, inside and out – the doctor told her walking would
help her get well faster – then they’d have lunch in the diner.

Nighttime found them trying, still
without success, to break the windows in the penthouse bedroom. But they had an
enormous amount of fun in the process.

Out of a sense of obligation to the
family name, and nothing else, Taury attended
Elizabeth
’s small, private funeral. Libby went
as well, though it seemed to tear her heart into little pieces to do so. She
and Fawn had grown close during their time together. They talked about their
childhoods and shared the pain of having unloving mothers, though June’s
failures paled to white in comparison to Elizabeth’s dark machinations. Libby
also spoke of her loveless marriage to the duke, a cold, controlling bastard
who made Richard Hamilton seem almost nice. They became fast friends and more –
true sisters, in spirit, and soon to be, in name.

Kent and June flew down to San Diego,
to let the bank take their house and to sell or give away most of their
possessions. The beach house was fully furnished and once they arrived there
June was thrilled with the way Fawn and Taury had decorated it.

“I wouldn’t change a thing!” she
announced over the phone. Fawn was sitting by herself in the penthouse bedroom,
awaiting Taury’s return from the funeral. “The antiques are lovely! Oh, and
we’ve met the Finches, they’ve asked us to tea! And the De Paolos. Wonderful people!
I think I’m going to love living here! I might take up painting, or volunteer
at some local shelter.
Kent
says I don’t need to go back to work
in real estate. I didn’t really want to, anyway. You’re so quiet, darling, am I
talking too much?”

“No, Mom, I love hearing you this
excited about something. I guess I feel a bit down, knowing Taury and Libby are
going through the paces at the funeral. I’ll be glad when it’s over.”

“So will I! I want you two to hurry
up and come home so we can get this wedding started! I’ve been talking to Jimmy
De Paolo; we have some great ideas for dishes and the cake. He’s taking care of
all that since he’s a caterer.”

“I know. But don’t let it get out of
hand, okay? We want it simple, small and elegant.”

“I think you’ll be happy with his
plans. Well, we’re off to tea! Tell Taury we said hello!”

“I will. Bye.”

Fawn was relieved to be off the
phone. Her abdomen muscles had been giving her hell all morning, and all she
wanted to do was take a nap.

She curled up on the beige sofa in
Taury’s office, pulled a cozy, fringed throw over her and snuggled down to go
to sleep. It was Sunday afternoon; the factory was closed down. No one there
but a couple of security guards and they seemed to spend most of their time
playing music in the diner. Fawn thought she could hear a snappy dance tune
floating through the vent work, wondered if it was her imagination.

She drifted in and out, had strange
spasms, jolting her awake then she’d drift off again. Her skin crawled; she
felt as if she wasn’t alone. She forced her eyes open, saw a shapely figure
dressed in black hovering over her, its arm raised. A spark of silver caught
her glance – it was the gleam of a knife!

TWENTY

Fawn screamed, leaped to her feet.
The figure lunged at her, the knife aimed for her chest. She reached for it,
grabbed the figure’s wrist and twisted it, turning the knife away. She gripped
the wrist tightly, until the attacker screeched in pain, dropped the knife,
pushed her off and fled towards the door.

“Stop!” Fawn cried. “Who are you?”

The figure continued onward; Fawn
clasped a shock of red hair that had fallen loose from a wound-up scarf, yanked
at it till the attacker – obviously a woman – screeched once more. The scarf
came away from her face, revealing Harper Trigg.

“Harper!” Fawn shrieked as she let go
of the hair.

“Yes, it’s me!” the woman snarled,
throwing a punch at Fawn’s jaw. “You little bitch! You ruined everything!”

Fawn swerved back, just missing the
fist. Harper ran for the knife, almost had it but Fawn threw a foot at it,
kicking it under the sofa.

The woman flung herself at Fawn,
clutching at her with red-painted claws, leaving bloody stripes down her arms.
Fawn fought back but she was smaller and weaker than the five foot seven inch Amazon.
She struggled to keep from being overwhelmed. Her abdomen stung; she feared she
had injured her incision. Harper took hold of her arms, threw her on the sofa,
began to strangle her.

Fawn reached out, tried to scratch
the woman’s face but she moved too quickly. Fawn was losing her breath, her
heart pounding hard in her chest. If this continued she knew she wouldn’t make
it. She couldn’t die, not now, when her happiness was so near.

She seized a handful of red hair
again, yanked at it with all the force she could muster. Harper squeezed at her
throat, refused to let go. Fawn was fading, her strength depleting. She
released the hair, smacked at the hands around her neck.

“Taury, you think I’m so strong but
look at me now,” she thought as tears smothered her cheeks. “I can’t break
free. I’m lost … I’m lost!”

Her hand was on the floor near the
edge of the sofa. Her fingers brushed something metallic and cold – the knife!
If she could only grasp it – but she’d never harmed a living thing in her life.
How could she find the strength to use it?

“What the hell is going on?” someone
shouted.

It was Taury. He came running through
the door and grabbed Harper with a violent force, snapping her hands off of
Fawn’s throat. Then he swung her around and slugged her hard. She fell on the
floor, blinking in horror and disbelief.

Fawn tried to breathe as Taury picked
her up and sat her on a chair. She couldn’t relax, was wound too tight. All she
could do was cough and cry and stutter.

“Hey, it’s okay now! Sit here, while
I take care of her!”

Harper was about to slip out the door
but Taury flung his body towards her, knocked her over like a bowling pin.

“Let me go, God Damn you!” she
screamed. “I hate you!”

“Like I care? You’re not going
anywhere till the cops get here!”

He took her arms, twisted them behind
her back, wrenched off his tie and tied her wrists together.

“Baby’s getting kinky, hum?” Harper
laughed.

“Yeah, you wish! Your engine must be
short a few spark plugs to pull a stunt like this!” He flipped out his cell
phone. “Hello? Do not put me on hold! There’s been a break-in at the Trahern
Candy Company and an attempted murder! Send someone over here – NOW!”

Harper tried to kick him. He caught
her foot, twirled it round and threw her to the floor. Then he removed his belt
and laced her arms to a wooden chair.

“You okay, Fawn? God, I’m sorry you
were hurt again! I can’t understand how I attract these lunatics! What’s wrong
with me?”

She took a deep breath, was thrilled
to feel it course through her lungs.

“There’s nothing wrong with you,
Taury. Look, I know
Northern California
is a great place and all but … I
don’t ever want to come back up here again!”

He smiled ruefully. “You won’t have
to, I promise!”

A siren screeched below. He peered
out the window.

“They’re here.” He picked up a desk
phone. “Yeah, Frank, the cops are downstairs. Show them up to my office. And
ah, Frank, later I need to talk to you and Sims about this. Sure, but you
should have figured something was up!”

He slammed the receiver down.

“You won’t fire them. They couldn’t
have known something like this would happen.”

“They weren’t doing their job. Frank
said she didn’t break in. She walked straight up to him and said she’d left
some stuff in her office that was important to her. The fool let her stride
right in!”

“You can’t hold me, Taury. My lawyer
will get me out in no time.”

“You are delusional! Don’t you
realize you almost strangled Fawn?”

“I was defending myself. I came in
here, looking for some of my files, and she went all nut-case on me. I had to
do something!”

“Lying bitch!” Fawn yelled. “You came
in here decked out like a ninja, wielding a God Damned knife!”

Two policemen entered with a solemn,
heavyset man – apparently the aforementioned Frank.

“Where is this knife?” an officer
asked.

“Under the sofa. I kicked it out of
her hand.”

“Now, really, Officers, do I look
like someone who’d threaten a girl with a knife?”

“Looks can be deceiving, Ma’am,” the
other cop said. “I once had to arrest a sweet little old grandmother who’d
butchered her neighbors and packed them in her freezer for a winter’s supply of
meat!”

Harper cringed as the cop reached a
handkerchief along the floor, and brought out the knife.

“Here’s the weapon, Sarge.”

“Good. Book her, Jeff!”

The cop unfastened Taury’s handiwork,
led Harper out the door, reciting her rights to her as they disappeared.

“A bit of information, if you please.
What’s your name, son?”

“Trahern. Taury Trahern.”

“Well, weren’t you involved in
another attempted murder case, out of
Bodega
Bay
?”

“Yes, sir.
When it rains, it pours, I guess.”