Woman On the Run (18 page)

“Fine,” she answered tightly. She opened her mouth in a big false smile, knowing he would be able to see only the whiteness of her teeth in the darkness, not the unnatural expression. “Just fine.”

His clasp tightened and his jaw muscles jumped again. He knew she was lying.

Cooper opened his mouth, then closed it again. What he wanted to say was clearly something he couldn’t say. “I have to go,” he repeated.

Julia nodded carefully, moving her head slowly as if underwater, holding on to her emotions by only the thinnest of threads. She clamped her jaws shut. If she opened her mouth she’d start crying and begging Cooper to stay.

He couldn’t.

Nobody could stay with her. She was completely alone.

Cooper watched her for long moments. Julia was naked and freezing cold. The only warm spot on her body, in her life, was her hand in Cooper’s clasp. When he let go, she managed to stop from shuddering only by an almost violent act of self-control. She was chilled to the bone.

He stood, looming tall and broad above her, standing about a foot from the bed. It was hard to think that a short time ago he’d been naked, and in her. For the entire time they’d had sex, Julia had thought of nothing but his body in hers and the almost frighteningly explosive pleasure he was giving her. While they’d been having sex, she’d felt as connected to him as she’d ever felt to another human being. She hadn’t felt lost or lonely at all.

Now he was separate, apart from her. Leaving her alone in the cold darkness of the night.

The small luminous display on her alarm clock showed 4 a.m. If he was to make it back to his ranch in time, he’d have to leave now.

Cooper took one step back and stopped. Julia could hear him breathing hard, could almost feel the vibrations of frustration coming off him. He shifted his weight from one booted foot to another, clearly unwilling to leave her.

“Go,” she said softly.

Cooper exhaled and nodded. After a moment, without another word, he was gone. She heard the front door open and close and, a moment later, an engine starting up.

The silence pressed in on her, as dark and cold as the night. Julia dropped her forehead to her knees and let the tears come.

Chapter Eight

The room was still reverberating with Luciano’s high C when the e-mail sign blinked.

TWENTY THOUSAND US DOLLARS DEPOSITED IN SWISS ACCOUNT. CAR ACCIDENT OKAY?

The professional checked the Geneva account, one of ten in Switzerland, blessing the Swiss banking authorities for allowing 24-hour depositing privileges. The $20,000 was there.

Mimi was putting on her muff, telling Rodolfo that it would warm her hands. She was dying. The professional’s fingers strayed from the keyboard to savor the achingly glorious moment. This part was so moving, so tragic. The professional hummed softly along as Rodolfo gathered Mimi’s lifeless form in his arms, singing his sorrow. When the music ended, it took a moment for composure to return, and then the professional posted the message to the Norwegian.

RICHARD M. ABT: RELOCATED TO ROCKVILLE, IDAHO, ADDRESS 102 CRESCENT DRIVE, UNDER ASSUMED NAME OF ROBERT LITTLEWOOD. CAR ACCIDENT FINE. GOOD LUCK.

Spurred by idle curiosity, the professional poked around a little into the purloined file, searching for Richard Abt’s middle name. It was a little like rummaging around in an old room. The process was fast. There it was. Marion. Richard Abt’s middle name was Marion. What kind of a name was that for a man? No wonder he went by an initial.

No matter, the man was history.

The professional smiled. Richard Marion Abt. Destroyed by word of mouse.

* * * * *

“Whoa, there!”

Monday evening, Julia smiled and wiped soap out of her eyes. It was so good to have another human being in the house. Sunday she’d rattled around alone in the house, feeling hemmed in by the four walls, lost and lonely, talking to Fred who could only woof back. Thank God for Mondays, and a classroom full of kids.

Rafael had come over after school and they had gone over his homework, but Fred clearly trumped the Civil War and phrasal verbs as a little boy’s focus of interest.

Rafael had raced through the written work, mumbled the phrasal verbs by heart, then scampered off to tackle the fascinating task of grooming Fred.

Grooming Fred required the bathtub, half a bottle of rose-scented bubble bath and almost every towel in the house. A couple of days of food, rest and affection and Fred was already filling out. He barely had a limp now and was deep in the process of falling in love with Rafael. It was clearly mutual. Fred and Rafael had identical dopey grins on their faces.

Julia watched as Rafael dripped more bubble bath on Fred and started shampooing him.

“You still smell, buddy.” Julia told Fred as she capped her bottle of bubble bath. “But at least there’s this overlay of roses over the eau de dog.” He yipped in response.

A heavy knock sounded at the door. She stood, heart racing. “Cooper.” His voice was muffled by the door, but was unmistakably his. She hadn’t heard from him since he’d left in the early morning darkness Sunday morning.

Wiping her hands on the last clean towel and trying to still her racing heart, Julia went to the door. There he was, tall and broad, dressed in black, holding a package wrapped in brown paper. She’d thought about him constantly yesterday and all day today. Even if she hadn’t thought of him, her body would be reminded of him, in her sore muscles, in the ache between her thighs, as if he were still inside her.

He took off his big black cowboy hat as soon as he saw her.

“Sally.”

Oh, God
. That voice. He’d murmured things in her ear as he was making love to her, in that deep, deep voice. Hearing it now gave her an instant flashback to the dark bedroom and Cooper deeply inside her, moving hard and fast. Her knees trembled.

“Cooper.” Her voice sounded breathless. She clung to the edge of the door. He stepped forward, so close she could smell him. Leather, rain, man.

From behind her in the bathroom, Rafael squealed with pleasure and Fred woofed. Cooper’s head lifted a moment and when he looked back down at her she could almost read his thoughts. Rafael was busy in the bathroom with Fred. They were, for the moment, alone.

Julia had rehearsed so many different attitudes to take when she saw him again. She’d be friendly but distant. No, cool but amused. No, affectionate without being clingy. No, friendly but ironic…

There was no chance to be anything because Cooper took another step forward and kissed her. Deeply, passionately. The kiss was the equivalent of the sex they’d had, when his penis had possessed her completely.

Holding her close to him, he lifted her up and moved them, fast, into her bedroom. He closed the door and locked it, still kissing her. One big hand reached under her skirt to caress her hip. Oh, God, it felt so good to have his hands on her again. Eyes closed, on tiptoe, Julia opened her mouth more to him and caressed his tongue with hers.

Cooper shuddered. He moved his body back a moment, lifting her up against the wall, holding her with one arm, stripping her of pantyhose and panties and shoes. He pulled her legs up around his hips. His big hand brushed her sex as he unzipped himself and he shuddered again. He could feel how wet she was.

Amazing. Julia had always been so slow to warm up sexually. She liked long, languid foreplay, tender words, soft caresses. She’d had none of that and yet now she was primed for sex. Just seeing Cooper had done that, like a hamster associating pressing the bar with food pellets. Cooper equaled rough, exciting sex.

He opened his briefs and his penis sprang free. His hand guided him to her. He spread her with two fingers, worked the head in and thrust hard.

Julia was completely possessed by him. His mouth was eating at hers, his heavy weight kept her pinned against the wall, his hands held her thighs up and wide apart. The rough material of his jeans abraded her legs.

He leaned heavily into her, mouth lifting from hers. He looked down at her through half-lidded eyes. His face was so stark, so unyielding. “Been thinking about this for a day and a half,” he muttered, eyes dark glittering pools.

Just like that, Julia started climaxing, sharp pulls which made his eyes widen and nostrils flare. He sucked in a deep breath and pulled halfway out to start thrusting.

“Miss Anderson? Miss Anderson? Where are you? Fred needs a hairdryer. Miss Anderson?”

“Fuck,” Cooper whispered.

They both froze, Julia staring into Cooper’s dark eyes. She was still climaxing, her body continuing its processes even though her mind screamed—
stop!

She was shaking with the intensity of the climax, her body completely out of her control. Cooper’s harsh breaths sounded loud in the room. He held himself stiff and still inside her.

“Miss Anderson?” Rafael’s voice faded. He was going into the kitchen to look for her, where of course he wouldn’t find her. There was only one other room in the house left. Sure enough, his footsteps were crossing the little living room.

The contractions were starting to fade, thank God.
Sha
kily, Julia pushed at Cooper’s shoulders. His eyes closed as if in pain, Cooper pulled out of her. She dropped her legs, hoping they would hold her up. She was trembling.

“Miss Anderson? Hey, where’d you go?” The doorknob rattled.

“Just—” her voice was so weak it didn’t carry. Julia cleared her throat. “Just a minute. Don’t come in, Rafael. I’ll be out in a second.”

“Okay. We need a hairdryer.” Rafael whistled cheerfully as he went back to the bathroom and Fred.

Julia couldn’t help but look down. Cooper’s penis was dark, hugely swollen and slick with her juices. He was trying to fit that massive erection back into his jeans. The zipper caught. She winced as she met his gaze. “That’s got to hurt.”

“You have no idea,” he rumbled.

“And you didn’t, um—”

“Nope.” His dark eyes pinned her. “I intend to, though. After I drive Rafael home, I intend to come back and stay inside you all night and then I will. A lot.”

There was no air in her lungs, just heat. From what she’d seen—and felt—Cooper was capable of doing just that. “Oh,” she said weakly. “Oh, um, okay.”

He cupped a big hand around her neck and dropped a kiss on her lips. His thumb continued to caress her neck when he lifted his head. “Better get to Rafael. I’ll come out in a minute.”

Julia nodded and walked weakly to the door.

“Honey?” She turned back and looked at him quizzically. “Might want to put on some shoes and underwear before going out?”

“Right,” Julia said, still dazed. His words barely penetrated. She was still feeling the aftereffects of her climax, the wet swollen tissues of her sex rubbing against each other as she moved. “Underwear.”

Underwear, underwear. Where—oh. Her panties, pantyhose and shoes were in the corner. By the time she was decent, Cooper looked less wild, too, though she noticed he kept his jacket on. It reached to his thighs and covered his erection.

Julia pulled her hand dryer from the drawer and was walking to the door when she felt him right behind her, felt his body heat and the large presence that was Cooper.

“Miss Anderson?” Rafael’s voice sounded faint from the bathroom.

“Coming!” Julia shouted and nearly jumped when she felt Cooper’s large rough hand on her neck. He bent and kissed her on the nape, a light kiss over almost before it began.

“Coming?” he repeated in a low rumble right next to her ear, so that she heard him more by vibration than sound waves. “That’s what I hope you’ll be doing all night.”

She stopped with her hand on the knob, a wave of heat nearly bringing her to her knees. Cooper shouldn’t say things like that. Not when she was about to face a little boy. She was sure her face was flushed. Her thoughts were scrambled and her pulse raced. It took her two tries to turn the doorknob. She couldn’t turn around. If she did, if she saw Cooper, she’d simply lock that door, turn around and throw her arms around his neck. So she kept her eyes resolutely turned forward as she opened the door and made her shaky way to the bathroom.

The bathroom was an incredible mess, the bathtub filled to the rim with soapy water sloshing onto the floor each time Fred moved.

She handed the dryer to Rafael, who barely looked up. “Oh, great, thanks Miss Anderson. Gotta get Fred dry, otherwise he might catch a cold. Come on, Fred, out.” Rafael snapped his fingers and Fred leapt out of the bathtub taking half the water with him.

“Wait!” It was too late. Fred shook all over, sending sprays of soapy water flying. Julia held up her hands to ward off the worst of it, but Rafael was drenched. The bathroom was so wet, using a hairdryer would be dangerous. With a sigh, Julia took the hairdryer away from Rafael and plucked an old sheet from the closet and put it on the floor in the little pantry room. She plugged the dryer in. “In here, Rafael.”

Dripping water, Rafael and Fred moved amiably into the pantry. She left when Rafael fired up the dryer.

Cooper was waiting for her in the living room, the big box he’d arrived with in his hands. He held it out. “For you,” he said simply.

A present. Julia blinked. The box was wrapped in brown paper and twine. Brown paper and twine packaging was considered very chic back in Boston. Except the paper had to be handmade, undyed and rough-cut, the twine had to be hemp and it usually wrapped up something very expensive.