Running From Love (4 page)

“Please, please Trevor, fuck me.” He reached into the drawer of his nightstand, grasped a foil wrapper, and opened it. Poppy took the condom from him. She placed it onto his hard erect maleness. Her nipples and pert breasts jiggled with her movements. Her skin glistened with a light sheen from his mouth between her legs. God, yes.

She lay back and looked at him. Her legs opened to him. He moved over her and the head of his cock pressed gently into her tight spot. She arched up to meet him, but he grasped her hips and held them still. Poppy was in control of many things—when she left, if she stayed, whether he ever heard from her again—but she wouldn’t be in control of this moment. He grasped both her wrists and lifted them over her heed.

Fire flashed in her eyes, fear following behind. She twisted her hands, trying to loosen his grasp on her wrists. He loved her. His hips thrust forward and his cock pressed deeper into her.

“Poppy,” he whispered. “Trust me.”

With his words, fear slid from her eyes and she relaxed. A tiny smile curved over her lips. This was trust. Poppy’s version of surrendering herself to him. With an explosion of warmth he stroked deeper into her. So deep and so tight. Molten heat ignited in his balls as he pushed into her. He held her hands still over her head. He looked down at his cock sliding in and out of Poppy. The rhythm of their separate bodies melding and fusing. Fire pulsed through him.

“God, yes,” he moaned. He leaned forward and pulled her lower lip into his mouth, teasing the flesh with his teeth. She clasped her legs around him and pushed him deeper. The searing heat in his balls cascaded through him. His body tightened with each throbbing plunge deeper and deeper into Poppy.

“You are mine.” With the release of the words, control slipped from his grasp, and he released her wrists. Skin slapped against skin as he rammed into her over and over again. She clung to him with her arms, her legs, her pussy riding him and pulling him deeper and closer and further. Her sex tightened. Heat shot from his cock and together they tumbled over the edge.

*

Poppy woke to the warmth of Trevor’s body beside her. She could stay here, perhaps for forever. His arms were a safe place filled with the love she craved—that was, if she really believed she could be part of a forever kind of love. Which she didn’t. At best, for her love’s existence was an ephemeral magic that ended in heartbreak.

She lifted the blanket. Her gaze swept over Trevor. He was beautiful and looked so peaceful. His lovely strong nose, his sharp jaw, the loose blond curls that fell around his face. His body that of a surfer and a runner. Trevor had been given the gift of beauty and brains. And words. Oh, the glorious words he’d written for her. She slipped from his bed. If she left now, before daybreak, she could catch the first flight to Hong Kong and avoid the messy scene that would take place if she waited until Trevor woke up.

She grabbed a pair of jeans and a light sweater, pulled a fresh pair of panties from her bag, and scurried toward the bathroom. Once she was ready she looked over her shoulder at Trevor. He still slept peacefully. He deserved more than this, didn’t he? Hadn’t he come close to stealing her heart, to convincing her that she could be part of a relationship for the rest of her life? If she stayed much longer with Trevor, she’d be completely fooled into believing that a lifetime love was possible.

She grabbed a pen and a pad of paper that lay on his desk and scribbled a note. Perhaps in another lifetime her soul would be better prepared to love. Then, maybe, she’d fall into Trevor’s arms and lay there for a thousand years, but not now, not here, not in this lifetime. In this lifetime she needed to leave.

Heat built behind her eyes and huge lump grew in her throat. Again her gaze drank in the gorgeous man who she’d nearly given her heart to. She bent forward, her lips just above his, and breathed in the scent of sunshine and salt water and a deep dark rich smell that was entirely masculine and uniquely Trevor’s. She took a long deep breath and with her gaze memorized a face that was already seared into her mind. Her lips brushed over the full tenderness of his mouth.

Trevor stirred and Poppy pulled back. Her fingertips rested against his mouth … please, no … don’t wake up. She couldn’t bear to say good-bye to Trevor. No, she was much too big of a coward, hiding behind her best friend, bravado. She needed to sneak away like a thief in the night, stealing both their hearts.

“Poppy, babe,” Trevor said without opening his eyes. A smile curved over his lips and he reached for her. He pulled her hand into his. She bent down closer so that his sleepy self might believe that she actually slept beside him, actually would still be there when he woke.

“Babe, I love you,” he mumbled as he pressed his lips to her cheek. Then he turned his head toward the other side of the bed. Even in his sleep, his love was absolute and complete.

What was she doing? How could she leave this man? He was everything she could ever hope to find. There wouldn’t be another man like Trevor. Beside him she felt safe and understood, and yet she couldn’t stay and surrender her heart. She couldn’t trust love, nor give him the love and commitment that he deserved.

“I love you too,” she whispered nearly silently. She grabbed her bags, opened the door, and left.

*

The sun hovered just above the horizon when Poppy arrived at Mesquale Airport. She hustled through the quiet terminal toward Hong Kong Air just as her phone rang.

“Mimi, a bit early for you, isn’t it? Or maybe it’s late?” Poppy’s older sister rarely went out any longer, not since she’d become a mom two times over. No, she spent most nights in with her family.

“You’ve finished your contract at Mesquale?”

“Just queuing up now for my boarding pass to Hong Kong.” Poppy fought the sadness over leaving Trevor that threatened around the edges of her belly and instead focused on the excitement she usually felt when leaving Mesquale for six months. There wasn’t much. Instead a thick sadness hovered around her.

“Mom’s been hospitalized.”

The words thwapped Poppy in the chest. Mom? What a word. She’d hardly call Therese “mom.” The word didn’t seem to fit the woman who’d abandoned her children when Poppy was only five. Mimi had managed to forgive Therese. Somewhere around the birth of Mimi’s first daughter, she’d decided she wanted Therese in her life.

“They don’t think it’ll …” Mimi’s words caught in her throat. Poppy heard soft crying over the phone. Mimi was the woman that Poppy should call Mom. She’d taken care of Poppy when Therese ran away. Poppy had been only five and Mimi twelve and Brian ten.

“Mimi—”

“Can you change your ticket?” The words shot out from Mimi with the force of tears behind them. Her voice softened. “Would you change your ticket? Poppy, I can’t do this on my own. I need you … I need you here.”

Only one person stood in front of Poppy in line at Hong Kong Air. Her flight would leave in an hour. Now Mimi wanted her to fly to California and deal with a woman who had abandoned them as children. Poppy wouldn’t go to California for Therese. No, if she changed her ticket, she’d be going for Mimi.

“Yes,” Poppy said hesitantly. “Yes, I can. I’ll change it now.” The man in front of her tucked his ticket into his blazer pocket and walked away. Poppy’s gaze locked with the airline clerk’s. She smiled brilliantly, asking Poppy what she could do for her. “I’ll text you the details,” Poppy said into the phone.

“Thank you, Pop, thank you.” Mimi’s sniffles assured Poppy that she was doing the right thing. Mimi had been there for Poppy a million times in a million different ways, she was simply returning the favor for her big sister. “See you soon. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Poppy pressed the off button and slipped her phone into her pocket.

“How can I help you?” The clerk repeated, her big smile unwavering.

“I need to exchange my ticket to Hong Kong. Looks like I’m going to Los Angeles instead.”

Trevor opened his eyes. His head throbbed. Thank God Poppy had agreed to wait two more days so that they could go to Hong Kong together. He rolled to his left and stretched out his arm.

Empty. Bed.

The sheets were cold. He sat up and looked about the room. Army green backpack? Gone. Red rolling carry-on? Gone.

His heart careened through his chest. She wouldn’t. She couldn’t. Trevor stood. He wrapped the sheet around his hips. How? After last night? How could she leave him? Finally after all these months, after never committing, after he chased her with words and love notes and coaxed her along as though she were a scared rabbit, she’d agreed to be his. To try. To let him go with her, if only for a while. He strode across the small space and opened the bathroom door. He had one final hope that the fear in his chest was unfounded.

No Poppy.

She’d run just like that scared rabbit he’d imagined her to be. He’d known if they traveled together, if she stayed with him, if only for a while and not at Mesquale, that she’d never be able to deny their love. She did love him and he loved her. Poppy’s fear prevented her from committing.

He picked up his phone. No message. No call. He sat at his desk chair and his head dropped into his hands. He closed his eyes. His heart might split in two. Shattered. She’d absolutely and unequivocally shredded him. He turned and looked at his desk.

There. Lying on top of his journal was an envelope with his name. He lifted the flap and pulled out the paper. How very dramatic. How very Poppy. Anger started to burn through him. Anger that masked his pain.

Trevor,

You knew it couldn’t last. That’s me. It’s been well … more than I could ever expect.

Your 6-month lover,

xPoppy

He crumpled the note in his hands. How droll. How charming. How nonchalant. He tossed the paper toward the trash can. It bounced against the rim and landed on the floor. She fooled him even less than she fooled herself. What did she think she would get by leaving him? An unscarred heart? An effortless existence? Freedom from the possibility of pain?

She would get none of those things. Those things didn’t exist in a world with the absence of love. Only when you embraced the scar, the effort, the pain could you feel the full experience of life. His writer’s heart crumpled under the weight of what he’d just lost. Of all that Poppy had just tossed aside due to fear. Of what they wouldn’t share together, simply because Poppy was afraid and she was running from love.

Trevor stood and tossed the sheet onto his bed. Well, he wouldn’t let her run away from him. He’d find her and bring her back, no matter the time or the effort it took. He had two more days on his contract at Mesquale, but he couldn’t give her that big a head start. He’d buy his way out of his contract if he had to. Find other staff to cover his shifts. Surely Ryan and even Charla would help him, wouldn’t they? He had to find out. He had to try, because Poppy made his world spin.

*

“Where the hell is she?”

Ryan stood just inside the door of his Mesquale penthouse and Charla, Poppy’s former roommate at Mesquale, sat on the couch on the far side of the living room.

“Good to see you too.” While a hint of sarcasm dripped through Ryan’s voice, his face showed only concern.

Trevor ran his fingers through his hair and then planted both hands on his hips. “Sorry.” If anyone could understand the sea of pain that Trevor was currently wading through, it would be Ryan. Hadn’t he just recovered the love of his life, Charla, after three long months of no communication?

Charla and Ryan exchanged a look. Trevor’s gaze slid away. So difficult to be in the presence of love. His heart ached. Damn, why had Poppy left?

“Trevor, come in. Have some coffee.” Charla lifted the carafe and poured a cup. Only then did Trevor notice that Charla wore a robe and Ryan had on some sort of shorts that he most likely slept in. Of course. They’d just reconnected after three months and here he was, busting in on their morning after.

“No, I’m sorry … I should have called … you guys—”

“Trevor,” Ryan said, his voice firm but soft. “Come in. We were just talking about Poppy.”

Her name on Ryan’s lips again caused Trevor’s heart to careen around his ribcage. He walked to the couch and took the cup of coffee that Charla held out to him. After a long drink, he sat beside Charla. “Have you heard from her? Is she on her way to Hong Kong?”

Charla’s eyebrow lifted, and again she sent a look toward Ryan. “She’d kill me if I told you. I definitely shouldn’t be telling you this.”

“You have to.” Ryan walked to a chair beside next to the couch where Charla sat and sat beside her. “You know what she’s doing, right? She admitted to you that she loves Trevor.”

“She did? She told you that?” Excitement thrummed through Trevor’s body. Of course he knew that Poppy loved him, and she’d occasionally tossed out her feelings when drunk or right after sex, but for her to actually tell Charla that she loved him? That sealed the deal.

“Not those exact words, but I know she does.” Charla leaned forward and picked up her phone. “So here’s the thing.” She took a deep breath. “She didn’t go to Hong Kong.”

Trevor’s lips curled into a smile. That meant she’d changed her mind. That she was here on Mesquale, that she was waiting for him and they were going together.

“She went to California.”

His eyebrows lifted. “California?”

Charla nodded. “Therese is in the hospital and Mimi needed her help.”

“Who is Therese and who is Mimi?”

Charla’s lips thinned. “Her mother and her older sister.”

Damn, Poppy had secret layered upon secret. How did he not know the names of anyone in her family? But he did know some of the details.

“She doesn’t speak to her mother. Hasn’t since, what—”

“She was five and Mimi was twelve. Mimi reconciled with Therese and it seems Mimi needed Poppy’s help.”

“So she went to California?”