Bayview Heights Trilogy (52 page)

Once again he held himself in check.

She took a gulp of air. “I chose him because
he gave up so much to raise me and Kevin, and I can never repay him
for that.”

“And now?” Seth asked, holding his breath,
his hands curling into fists inside his pockets.

“Cassie came to the paper after you left. She
helped me to see I don’t owe Philip the rest of my life. That he
raised us because that was
his
choice. She convinced me
I
have a choice in this.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I love my grandfather. But…”
She drew in a deep breath, and Seth held his. He needed to hear it
all, and she needed to say it.

“But I love you, too, Seth.”

He swallowed hard and wanted to fall to his
knees and thank God for this gift.

Lacey rattled on, picking up speed. “We have
to find a way to work this out with him. Because I won’t give you
up.” When Seth didn’t immediately respond, she bit her lip. “That
is--” She stuttered. “That is if
you
want to.” Again, he
was silent. After a long pause, she whispered raggedly, “Seth, say
something.”

Cocking his head, sure now that she wasn’t
going to steal back her declaration, he said, “I love you, too.”
She closed her eyes briefly. “And yes, I want to work this out.
We’ll find a way.” He looked her up and down. “Now come here.”

Lacey didn’t hesitate. She threw herself into
his arms. He caught her and held on so tight he knew he must be
hurting her but couldn’t stop himself. He whispered in her ear,
“Tell me again.”

“I love you.”

“I can’t believe this.” After one more
encompassing hug, he set her away from him, stooped down and slid
an arm under her knees and one around her back. When she was
securely against his chest, he started up the hill.

He barely felt her weight—she could have
weighed a ton and it wouldn’t have mattered. He felt as strong as
any superhero, and he never intended to let her go.

o0o

DIMLY, Lacey was aware of their climb up the
hill. She clung to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and
burying her face in the crook between his jaw and shoulder. He
carried her into the house. When they got inside the back hallway,
she slid down his body, never losing contact. She flung her arms
around him and brought his head down. And then she kissed him,
devoured him; he kissed her back hungrily.

He buried his face in her neck and took love
bites on the sensitive skin there. Each one jolted her closer to
him. Drawing back, she pulled at his scarf, then yanked open his
jacket, desperate to touch his skin. She swore when she found a
sweater and shirt to get through. He released a husky, incoherent
sound as she practically ripped off his clothing and tossed each
piece to the floor.

He did the same to her clothes. Lacey gasped
at the exquisite sensation of bare skin meeting bare skin and she
ran her hands over his chest. His body bucked.

He allowed her caresses for a minute then
scooped her up again. She protested with a moan and found his
mouth. “Lace, not here,” he said, grabbing a breath in between
kisses.

She nodded, saying, “Hurry,” and searched for
his lips again. Quickly he strode through the hallway, past the
kitchen to the living room.

She caught sight of the fire he must have
started earlier. He set her down in front of it, bent over, unlaced
her boots and yanked them off. He kicked off his own.

Lacey reached for his jeans. The snap stuck;
she swore again and his grip tightened in response to her urgency.
She ran her hands around to his back and inside his waistband, her
fingers digging into his buttocks, her breasts crushing against his
chest. He groaned long and loud and she managed to recapture his
lips in a bruising kiss.

Then she felt her own slacks loosen. He
dragged them down along with her panties. She jolted when his teeth
scraped her stomach. He came upright, shucked his jeans and grabbed
her. She’d never seen him so out of control.

Together they fell onto the plush rug. He
raised her arms over her head and covered her body with his. She
arched against him.

“Lace.”

“Seth.”

They could manage no more words. Seth let
himself sink into the sight and smell and feel of her; he devoured
her mouth. When he moved off her to touch her in more places, she
rose onto her side and pushed him to his back. She molded her body
to his.

He wanted to see her, to take her breasts
into his mouth, but there wasn’t time, there wasn’t the sanity, to
do it.

She looked down at him, her hair a tangle
around her face, her eyes glazed with passion, her breathing
erratic. Possessively she took his mouth, bit his shoulder, his
chest, then reached down and grasped his full, hard length in her
hand. He practically ricocheted off the floor. Somehow he was over
her again. His hands roughly explored her smooth belly, her rounded
hips, between her parted legs. He plunged his fingers into her and
groaned at how warm and wet she was. He wanted to see pleasure etch
itself on her face, but she gripped his wrist. “No,” she said, her
voice hoarse. “Together.”

“All right. Now.”

He thrust inside her. Deep, almost touching
her womb. Again. And again.

It took only three strokes and she splintered
around him. Her quick and violent response overwhelmed his control.
Holding on to her as tightly as she held on to him, he exploded
inside her with a stunning force that slammed through his entire
body.

Afterward, Lacey’s heart raced in her chest
as she sank back onto the rug. Now it felt scratchy and rough. “I
can hardly breathe.”

Seth also fell back to the floor. “Me,
neither.”

His hand rested lightly on her hip, his
fingers brushed her slick skin. She shivered.

He sat up and dragged pillows along with a
lush blanket from the couch. Soon they were settled back
comfortably on the floor, the downy cover tucked around them.
Though there were several, they shared a single pillow. Lacey’s
face rested near his cheek and the light rasp of his beard prickled
her sensitive skin.

Stroking her shoulder, he stared at the fire.
She ran her hand through the whorls of dark blond hair that covered
his chest. His heart still drummed wildly. “What are you thinking?”
he asked after a long silence.

She grinned into his chest. “That for such a
gentle man, you were pretty tempestuous.”

His chuckle reverberated through his rib
cage. “Well, lady, for such a gentle woman, you were just as out of
control.”

Again she grinned. “There are scratches on
your back. I’ve never behaved that way in my life.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” He hugged her closer
and brushed his lips across the top of her head. “You’ve got
bruises on your hip. A first for me, too, Lace.”

She’d needed to know that.

His arm tightened around her and one hand
came up to cup her head. “We didn’t use anything, sweetheart.”

For a minute, she didn’t follow him. Then she
said, “Oh, God. I’ve never done that either.”

“I’m sorry. It’s unforgivable to be so
careless.”

“I know. I’m sorry, too.”

After a moment, he said somberly, “We’ve got
to talk.”

She inched closer, entangling her legs with
his. “Only if we can do it like this.”

Holding her tightly, his fingers stroked her
bare arm, raising goose bumps. The gentleness was back. “Why didn’t
you tell me right away that Philip wrote the editorial?”

She kissed his breastbone, then raised onto
an elbow so she could look at him directly. The earlier sadness
shadowed his face. “I believed not telling you was the only way to
keep us apart. At that time, I was convinced there was no chance
for us.”

“Never withhold anything like that from me
again.” Reaching up, he locked his hand on her neck. “We’ll find a
way to work it out with your grandfather. Tonight, I’ll take you
home. We’ll talk to Philip together, right away. No more lies, no
more deceit. His heart’s strong enough, isn’t it?”

“I think so. Maybe we could suggest some
counseling. For all three of us together.”

“I’ll do anything to keep you.” Seth caressed
her. “I can’t believe you’re with me.” He felt his eyes mist but he
finished anyway, “Two hours ago I wanted to die I hurt so
much.”

“I’m sorry.” Her eyes glistened.

“You did, too. I could tell from your
face.”

“I wasn’t sure I’d get through the
night.”

“It’s all changed now, Lace. We can do
anything together.”

“I couldn’t believe you did that with Josh.
That you could be so unselfish after you thought I’d used you.”

“I wanted him to have you even if I
couldn’t.”

“Oh, Seth.”

He put his fingers on her mouth. “Shh, we’ll
talk about Josh later. Right now, I want you again.”

She smiled, then eased to her side. When Seth
started to rise to go get protection, she pushed him to his back
and took advantage of the position to trail her hand down his body
and grasp him again. He was already half aroused.

“Wait a second, sweetheart,” he said. “I’ll
go to the bathroom to get...oh, Lace...don’t...wait.” He sucked in
a breath. “Ohhhh.”

“You’re not going anywhere.”

“We need--”

“Not for this.” With excruciating slowness,
she kissed her way down his chest, past his waist, past his
abdomen. Her tongue made small circles on his skin and he felt her
hair brush his stomach. He remembered the night he picked leaves
out of that thick mane, fantasizing about having it spread across
his chest. “Lie back and let me love you,” she whispered.

Seth did, thinking briefly he’d never be able
to deny her anything now.

Then he didn’t think at all.

o0o

LACEY SNUGGLED CLOSE to Seth in the front
seat of his Blazer, still steeped in the sensations of their
lovemaking. She sighed contentedly.

“Feel good?” he asked, squeezing her knee and
tugging her leg closer. He hadn’t stopped touching her all
night.

“I feel great.”

His laugh was throaty. “Me, too.”

She knew they were both thinking the same
thing. How explosive they’d been together.

“I don’t feel forty-six,” he joked.

“Not used to three times?” she teased.

“Hardly.”

“Me, neither.”

Lacey shivered just remembering what it had
been like between them. The second time, she’d touched and caressed
him with her hands and mouth. Afterward, he’d sent her spiraling
the same way. Then, later, they’d found a need for those condoms.
Lacey’s skin still sizzled with the intense physical pleasure he’d
brought her. Along with it came an emotional satisfaction so great
she was flooded with her love for this man. She wanted to drown in
it.

Only thoughts of her grandfather diluted the
true joy she felt for the first time in her life. Not wanting to
spoil the night, she hadn’t told Seth some things he’d need to know
when they faced Philip. As they neared her street, she asked, “Can
you pull over a minute? I want to talk before we get home.”

Giving her a quick sideways glance, Seth
swerved the Blazer to the side of the road. Once he parked he
raised his arm, rested it on the seat back and threaded his fingers
through the hair at her nape. “What is it?”

Lacey’s heartbeat speeded up. It felt like
such a betrayal of Philip, but she had to protect Seth.

“Sweetheart, tell me,” he said. “Nothing can
change things between us now.”

“I hope so.” She stared at the intense blue
eyes and creased forehead that she’d come to love so much, so
quickly. “My grandfather had you investigated, Seth. A private
investigator gathered a whole file on you.”

“
What?
”

“I’m only telling you this because I want you
to understand the scope of what we’re up against. Philip will do
anything to hurt you.” She felt the tears behind her eyelids. “He’s
a wonderful man, but he’s got this bizarre vendetta against you
that clouds his thinking. He’ll try to keep me away from you. And
it scares me.”

Seth pulled her into his arms and rested his
chin on her head. “It’s okay. I’m just shocked at how far he’d go
to get back at me.” After a moment, she felt his body stiffen.
“What kinds of things did he find out?”

A tremor went through her, some foreboding
that made her grip his neck tighter. He seemed to sense it and held
her close. “Not one single bad thing.”

He relaxed.

“Seth. Is there—”

He interrupted her. “Lace, we’ll work this
out, I promise. Nothing he can do would make me give you up.”

Lacey believed Seth, and that scared her even
more. She couldn’t bear the thought that Philip would hurt him
because of her. Struggling to calm her fears, she recalled the
information on the disks. There was nothing in the private
investigator’s report that could be used against Seth, she told
herself. So it would be all right.

She hugged him back. “I won’t give you up,
either.”

Releasing her, Seth kissed the tip of her
nose. “I love you. If you love me, we’ll be able to weather this.”
He stared at her. “Believe me.”

“All right.”

Lacey clung to her optimism up until they
turned onto her street.

Until she saw two black-and-white police cars
and an ambulance in front of the sprawling two-story home where
she’d grown up.

“Oh no.”

Seth gripped her hand as he pulled to the
side of the road in front of her house. Flinging open the door once
the car had stopped, Lacey raced across the snow-covered grass. She
almost lost her footing on the icy driveway, but Seth was there to
keep her upright. She made it to the porch, with him behind her, in
seconds. The front door opened just as she reached for the handle.
Mitch Lansing stood in the doorway, grim-faced, sober.

“Mitch, what’s happened?”