Rock Her (Crimson Romance) (21 page)

His jaw clenched. She could see how difficult this was for him. Her heart expanded.

“Look at you.” His gaze burned into hers. “Young, innocent. God. So innocent.”

“Not so much,” she mumbled.

His eyebrows arched but he didn’t rise to her bait.

“Young,” he insisted and gave a humorless laugh. “Something I have never, ever had an issue with before.”

He continued, doggedly, “You’re so beautiful, it makes my insides ache, and that’s not even why I’m so crazy about you — you risked your life for a complete stranger — ”

Kate snorted. “So did you.”

He gave her that sexy half-grin she loved so much. “Maybe I was just angling to meet you.”

Sobering, he continued, “You took care of your dying mother, raised your sister, even your freaking profession is helping people.
”

She shook her head and let out an incredulous laugh. “It’s funny how you see me, Alec. I’m nothing but a big chicken. Once we helped that surfer, I realized that at some point after I lost my mom — and finding out the truth about my dad — I stopped taking risks, emotional risks. I backed out of relationships that were getting serious.” She took a deep breath. “I’ve been operating from a place of fear for so long.” She gulped. “But … I’m not afraid to take a chance with you.” Her eyes filled again.

He leaned forward to embrace her. “Kate, I’m not going to hurt you. Together, we can figure all of this out.” He kissed her gently and it ended on her sob. Long shudders wracked his tall body. Lifting his head up with fingers threaded through his thick hair, she brought his mouth to hers, fiercely, deepening the kiss.

What started as loving comfort raged into an inferno as their mouths met, lips, teeth and tongues tangling. Closer, more, harder. His body, taut with tension, pressed against her. His large warm hands swept down, yanking her hips to his. He laid back, until they were reclined, side by side.

Her hands drifted down to the hard muscles in his shoulders, chest, the ridges of his abdomen, relishing the satiny feel of his hot, bare skin. Her trembling fingers unsnapped the button on his cargo shorts. The sound of the zipper the only sound in the room. He raised his hips and she shoved off shorts and black cotton boxer-briefs, pushing as far as she could, then bringing up a foot to shove them the rest of the way down. He flinched away from her knee, with a choked laugh.

Flipping her on her back, he made short work of the t-shirt. He leaned back, his eyes worshipping her body.

“Alec. Please.”

With a wicked grin, he moved forward, until his mouth was on her breast. His warm, slick tongue tortured first one nipple, then the other. Her hands, tangled through his hair, held him to her for a moment then, insistently, moved his head up to hers. He groaned into her mouth as their naked, hot, flesh met from chest to thigh.
Finally
. How she had missed the feel of his body.

“God, how I love you, Kate,” he muttered, staring down at her, blue eyes heavy-lidded with desire. His lips brushed her cheeks, her forehead. She groaned with impatience, bucking against him.

“I love you too, now show me.” Unbearably aroused, she ached for him. Wrapping her legs around his hips, she pulled him down, bringing his hot, thick arousal against her slick, wet entrance. He shuddered, slowly working his way into her. She gasped, tensing as the pressure built, as his hot thick, flesh pushed still further, almost uncomfortably full of him.

Opening her eyes, she met his intense blue gaze. He waited, fully seated, giving her time to accustom herself to his girth. Her hips moved restlessly as her tongue licked into his mouth.

“Don’t be gentle,” she murmured, huskily. “Be quick.”

He gave a short, pained laugh. Groaning her name, arms on either side of her he kept a slow, tortuous pace. Withdrawing, then fitting himself back inside her. She grabbed his iron hips, desperate, mindless, gasping.

“Please, Alec,” she cried.

He increased the tempo, his warm damp body now held up by shaking arms. With a strangled sound, he thrust into her one final time, sending both of them sailing over the edge to fulfillment, into oblivion. He rolled off, tucking her against his still trembling body, he reached an arm down to pull the covers up. She burrowed into his warmth, and slept dreamlessly.

• • •

He must’ve dozed too, holding her in his arms. Alec slowly rose to consciousness, a niggling thought at the back of his mind. What had she said earlier? That she was operating from a place of fear? Why did that sound so familiar? Maybe because she had described what he had been doing with his emotional and professional life for the past few years. He tilted his head, staring at her.

“What?” she asked, sleepily stirring.

“You awake?”

“Barely.” She yawned and stretched, drawing back so she could see his expression. “What’s that look for?”

“What you said about taking risks … my music … ”

“Yeah. So
do
you think playing professionally will lead you back into drugs and alcohol?”

He stared into her knowing green eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Well, Alec, you could just keep playing for yourself, the way you have been.”

“Wait. What?” he interrupted, frowning.

She pulled up his left hand in answer. He made a fist reflexively which she gently unfurled, kissing each fingertip.

He stared at her, motionless. “You know.”

“Since that day we kissed in the alley.”

He jerked back to look more closely at her. “And you never said anything?”

She shook her head. “I figured you didn’t want anyone to know. You sure denied it enough.”

“You noticed calluses?” He couldn’t believe it. Even the musicians he represented hadn’t noticed.

She shrugged. “Nurses are observant about stuff like that, plus your fingertips are rough on that hand when you,” she paused and her smile turned wicked, “touch me.”

“But you never said anything.”

“I didn’t want you to have to lie.”

“I wouldn’t … ”

“How long have you been at it?”

“I never stopped,” he admitted.

Her eyes widened. “You must have written quite a lot.”

He nodded.

“Years of material?”

“Almost ten years.”

“Alec,” she gasped.

“Songs no one has heard.” He laughed. “Probably crap.”

She sat up and bounced in the bed.

He laughed and sat up, guiding her into his arms. “And for the last few weeks every damn one of them a love song,” he whispered.

Her arms went around his neck and held tight. She kissed him, a long, deep kiss. His hands slid up her naked back and she shuddered. It was a long while before they made it out of the bed.

• • •

Kate stared sadly into her lover’s refrigerator. A wrinkled lemon, a jar of pickles and a bottle of ketchup were the only items. With a sigh, she closed the door and opened the pantry. A few canned goods. Nothing appetizing. Alec had next to nothing to eat in his house and she was ravenous. The doorbell rang. Kate frowned. Should she put on clothes? This t-shirt was hardly decent. Moments later, Alec returned to the kitchen with a bag of food.

“I ordered Thai while you were showering.”

She grinned. “Ah, excellent.”

He dropped off the bag in the kitchen where Kate was getting out plates.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, disappearing down the hallway.

He returned a few minutes later holding a long, slim, blue box in one hand. Tiffany blue.

She cocked her head and frowned. “Alec — ”

“I bought this in New York.”

Taking it from him, she gave it a cautious shake.

“I’ve been meaning to give it to you. I wanted to give it to you in Los Angeles, but it was shipped here.”

She took the lid off and peered inside. The tears came without warning. One moment she was smiling, the next sobbing. He picked her up from the chair and carried her and the box into the living room and sat with her on the sectional.

“I’m sorry, Kate. Is it bad timing? With everything that is going on with Emma — ”

“No.” She kissed him, her tears giving the kiss a salty flavor.

She pulled it out slowly by its chain, staring at the small gold, heart shaped locket in awe.

“I got the sturdiest chain, with a reinforced clasp, but all the same, I don’t want you making water rescues in it. Agreed?”

Kate smiled and opened the locket. On one side there was a picture of her mother, laughing. It had been taken before her mother was diagnosed, laughing at Diana, no doubt. The other held a tiny black and white picture of Emma. Emma at five, a precocious five. Alec helped her put it on.

“Emma gave me the pictures. She mailed them a while ago. She didn’t want a baby picture in there so — ”

“What’s this engraved on the back?” She examined the tiny script. “
Numquam perit amor
.” She looked up at him. “Am I saying that right?”

He shifted beneath her, holding her gaze. “I don’t know. It’s Latin. It means ‘love never dies.’”

She buried her face in his neck. Trying so desperately to hold back tears, her body convulsed.

“It’s okay, Kate. Let it go.”

When she was finally able to speak, she whispered, “Thank you, love.”

• • •

A few hours later, Alec watched Kate eat re-heated Thai food at the kitchen table.

“So tell me more about your music plans,” she insisted, forking in a mouthful of shrimp Panang.

He smiled and shrugged. “Dunno. A lot has changed in ten years. I’ve got people I’d like to work with. I’ll see if they’re available. It’ll take some time.”

He had to force himself to say the words. He had seen too many relationships wrecked on the rocky shores of a demanding musical career. Far too many. “There are a lot of hardships in a relationship with a working musician, Kate.”

Her eyes sparkled with excitement. “The travel?”

He pressed his lips together. “Lots and lots of travel, once you’re promoting something.” She laughed. “Think of something else, Alec, because to someone who has never been anywhere, getting to travel is not a drawback.”

“The odd hours,” he said slowly. “Nights?”

This time they both laughed.

“Expensive hotels?” she asked.

“Take out or room service every day.”

“Watching my boyfriend play live?” She grinned and shoveled in a mouthful of shrimp, vegetables and rice.

He frowned. “Watching women stuff their phone numbers in my pocket?”

Could she handle that aspect of the life? He had never fully experienced jealousy until that horrible day in Los Angeles. He wouldn’t want to put her through that on a regular basis.

He watched her swallow and take a sip of her lemonade.

“Can you be faithful to me, Alec?” she asked, her serious green eyes searching.

“Yes.” Of that he had no doubt.

Her smile was radiant. “Then I’ll trust you.”

• • •

The morning light was coming through his bedroom windows. Kate could hear the unceasing crash of the surf, surprisingly loud, strangely comforting. She turned her head on the pillow and looked directly into Alec’s hot blue eyes. She stretched, caught his lascivious gaze and chuckled. “So now my problems don’t seem as overwhelming as they did on the beach, but there is one other thing I need to tell you about.”

She told him everything that happened with Billingsly; the weird date, his calls and texts, seeing his car on her street, the incident in the storage closet, her complaint, meetings with human resources; and finally about being written up and likely fired.

He went ballistic. She stared, open-mouthed as he leaped from the bed and prowled the room, naked and ranting. The overwhelming emotion of the previous day took its toll. She tried to suppress her snicker, but it slipped out. He paused mid-tirade, glowering at her.

“What’s funny?” he snapped.

“You.” She pointed at him. “Ranting and raving, stark naked I might add, about sexual harassment, stalking, and assault. Making threats to feed him his own balls.” Giggles overcame her.

Eyes narrowed to slits, lips compressed into a thin line, he stared at her.

“I don’t find it remotely funny.”

That sent her off into fresh gales. When her laughter trailed off, he said darkly, “That son-of-a-bitch has messed with the wrong woman. Your
reputation
?
Your
reputation? I could … ” He made a throttling motion with his hands, apoplectic.

“Yes, but what can we do?” she said, spreading her hands.

“You will recall that I’m a fucking lawyer,” he half-shouted at her, expression incredulous.

“Well, yes, but entertainment law?” She had to press her lips together to stifle more laughter at his affronted expression.

He rubbed his hands together “Oh, I think I can handle both a stalking case and a sexual harassment case. The laws have toughened up around stalking, and I am very, very familiar with them.” His tone was silky. “I’m willing to bet people will come out of the woodwork once we get the ball rolling.”

“Slow down, counselor. I’d like to keep my job and not have to deal with him. It might be harder than you think. He’s their golden boy, you know.”

“Yeah. I’ve seen the billboard. What’s he doing in Cielito anyway?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, what is a surgeon with his qualifications doing in a little town like Cielito at a community hospital?”

She cocked her head. “That’s an excellent question. We’re a good hospital, but his qualifications and experience are well beyond us.”

“I wonder if he got into trouble somewhere.”

Her mouth fell open. “He’s done this before?”

“Likely, yes.”

She shot straight up in the bed. “And been fired?”

He tilted his head. “Possibly, or he resigned, knowing what was coming. Stalkers are often serial offenders. He shouldn’t be too hard to nail.” He rubbed his hands together, clearly relishing the coming fight.

She got to her knees. “Can you find out?”

He gave her a hard kiss. It turned into a slow, sliding merging of lips and tongue. Breakfast could wait.