Eternal Vows (Hideaway (Kimani)) (20 page)

She walked into the baggage claim area at the same time her mother neared the carousel. Smiling, she waved to get her attention. Lena Blackstone returned the wave. Peyton closed the distance between them, hugging and kissing her mother.

Lena looked the same as when she saw her earlier that summer. Her graying blond hair parted off-center was cut in layers, the back barely grazing the nape of her neck, the sides falling softly around her jawline. There were no new lines around her large expressive dark blue eyes, but her face appeared thinner, cheekbones more pronounced. Barely five-one, Lena was only five pounds heavier than she’d been in high school. Vain to a fault, Lena monitored everything she ate or drank, and Peyton suspected it was because her father was quick to comment on his wife’s weight if she put on a few pounds.

“How was the flight?”

Lena gazed lovingly at her daughter. “It was good. It was chilly and raining when I left New York, but the weather is beautiful here. It’s warm even at night.” She angled her head. “I don’t know what it is, but you look as if you’re glowing. Are you in love?”

Peyton couldn’t stop the blush suffusing her face. “No.” She wasn’t in love with Nicholas, but her feelings for him were growing deeper with each passing day. They hadn’t shared a bed again, and for that she was grateful because it gave her the chance to become objective about their relationship. Resting an arm over Lena’s shoulder, she led her over to the carousel. “I wanted to tell you you’re not going to stay at Sheldon’s farm.”

“Where are we staying?”

“I’m the resident vet at a neighboring horse farm.”

“When did this happen?”

“Monday was my first day. You’ll be staying in my cottage.”

Lena frowned. “Where will you live?”

“I’ll stay in the main house. It’s only temporary. Which bag is yours?” Peyton asked when the bags started coming out.

“I have two hard cases with zebra stripes.”

They quickly retrieved the bags, rolling them out of the terminal as Nicholas maneuvered up to the curbside. He popped the trunk, then got out of the Lincoln to pick up the luggage. Peyton waited until he’d stored the luggage to make the introductions.

“Mama, this is my boss, Nicholas Cole-Thomas. Nicholas, my mother, Lena Blackstone.”

Nicholas extended his hand, smiling. “It’s my pleasure, Mrs. Blackstone.”

Lena took his hand, smiling. “The pleasure is mine, Mr. Thomas.”

“It’s Nicholas.”

Lena’s bright smile was still in place. “It’s Lena. I’m so glad you hired my Peyton. She told me she wanted to make it on her own as a veterinarian.”

Cupping Lena’s elbow, Nicholas opened the passenger-side door. “I can assure you she’s quite knowledgeable.”

Peyton averted her head so her mother wouldn’t see her roll her eyes. Lena had always been her personal cheering section. She opened the rear door, got into the sedan and settled back to listen to her mother charm the pants off Nicholas. She’d always suspected her father’s need to dominate his wife was based on jealousy. Lena was attractive, friendly and an interesting conversationalist.

The smooth rolling motion of the car lulled her into a state of total relaxation as she stared out the side window. Lena hadn’t been able to get a morning, direct flight and it was late when, after two layovers, her plane landed at Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport at ten-forty. Peyton was sound asleep before Nicholas reached Mt. Sidney.

* * *

Nicholas parked under the carport at Peyton’s cottage. Both of his passengers had fallen asleep. He didn’t need a key because he’d memorized the programmed key code. He unloaded the trunk and carried the luggage inside. By the time he’d returned to the car, both Lena and Peyton were awake.

“I’ll wait out on the porch while you show your mother around.”

Peyton, nodded, covering her mouth to conceal a yawn. “I won’t take long.”

Nicholas flopped down to the love seat, stretching out his legs. Aside from shopping he and Peyton hadn’t spent much time together. He’d missed eating with her because he was spending so much time with Jesse. But all of that would end tonight. She would sleep under his roof for as long as Lena remained at the farm.

When Eugenia asked which bedroom she should prepare for Peyton he’d recommended the one at the opposite end of the hall from his. The woman gave him a long, penetrating stare, then walked away. The farm was like a small town wherein gossip was rampant, and he knew it was just a matter of time before everyone would know he and Peyton were living together—albeit temporarily.

The bell-like sound of the wind chimes punctuated the silence of the warm late-summer night. Lacing his fingers together at the back of his head, Nicholas felt a gentle peace sweep over him like a warm comforting blanket on a cold night. Schools were open and summer activities were winding down, while fall festivities were gearing up. Blackstone Farms would celebrate Sheldon’s sixtieth birthday this coming weekend, and Labor Day was the following weekend. He looked forward to the fall for pumpkin picking, hayrides and bonfires.

Nicholas came to his feet when the door opened and Peyton joined him on the porch. He took her hand. “Are you ready to go home, sleepyhead?”

She nodded. “Yes. Mama loves the cottage.”

He curved an arm around her waist. “I told you she would like it.”

Peyton yawned again. “I think I’m going to sleep in a little late tomorrow morning.”

Nicholas looked at his watch. “It’s already tomorrow morning.”

“Let’s go before I fall on my face.”

Bending slightly, he picked her up. “I can’t have that happen.”

Peyton rested her head on his shoulder when he carried her to the car. She didn’t remember Nicholas carrying her up the staircase or when he placed her on the bed in her bedroom. She did remember him undressing her and then getting into bed beside her. Then her whole world went dark.

Chapter 17

P
eyton felt as if something was holding her down, not permitting her to move. When she opened her eyes she realized it was Nicholas’s arm resting on her lower back. It was impossible for her to turn over. “Nicholas,” she whispered. She called his name again, this time louder.

“Go back to sleep.”

“I have to get up.”

Nicholas opened one eye. “I thought we were sleeping in.”

Muted light came through the lacy panels at the tall, narrow windows. It was raining. “We are but I still need to get up.”

He raised his arm and she sat up. Peyton stared at a nightgown she hadn’t worn in months. She smiled. Nicholas must have found it in her lingerie drawer. It was a lacy black garment, with narrow straps and a revealing décolletage, that ended midcalf. He’d left her a modicum of modesty when not removing her panties. She walked out of the bedroom feeling the heat of his gaze on her back and into the connecting bathroom.

Nicholas covered his face with his arm; it was the second time he’d slept with Peyton and hadn’t had sex with her. He’d never taken advantage of any woman but Peyton had ceased to be any woman when she’d become his sister’s maid of honor. It was then he recognized her inner strength as well as her outward beauty. When she’d challenged Celia with the threat of sleeping with Gavin it was enough to shake Celia from the paralyzing pre-marital jitters.

He’d counted every month she’d been away, hoping
and
praying she would return for the college holidays and recess. He’d delayed traveling to Florida for the weeklong family reunion between Christmas and New Year’s Eve because he’d expected her to celebrate the holiday season with her relatives. His moods vacillated from euphoria when seeing the newest members of his family spanning four generations to a blue funk when many of the adolescents invited their romantic interests, reminding him of how sterile his life had become.

Nicholas was more than aware he’d changed following his near-death experience. The most profound transformation was his stance toward women. During his sessions with the psychiatrist he’d admitted he feared loving and losing. That to become emotionally involved with a woman would make him vulnerable and that was something he never wanted to experience again.

As much as he attempted to deny it Nicholas was emotionally involved and invested with Peyton. He’d admitted to liking her but if he were honest with her
and
himself he would’ve said he was in love with her. If he’d acted on his feelings instead of exhibiting indifference, Peyton would not only be the farm’s resident vet but also his wife and possibly the mother of their children.

Lowering his arm, he sat up, supporting his back against the headboard. Nicholas didn’t need his shrink to tell him if he didn’t act on his feelings he would derail his life again. His mother had accused him of being in denial when he told her Arden needed time to adjust to the possibility that he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair. Nichola would probably tell him he was not only in denial but also a liar if he denied being in love with Peyton. Throwing off the sheet, he slipped out of bed and made his way down the hallway to his bedroom. It was time to stop lying to himself and begin planning his future.

* * *

Peyton returned to the bedroom, a large bath sheet wrapped around her body toga-style. Nicholas was gone. He probably had changed his mind about sleeping in. She walked over to the double dresser, opening the drawer with her underwear. She took out a bra and matching panties.

“It’s a waste of time to put them on because I’m just going to take them off.”

She spun around. Nicholas stood in the doorway, a towel wrapped around his slim hips. Peyton gave him a sexy moue. “What do you plan to do?”

Nicholas hadn’t moved. “That all depends on what you want me to do.”

“Let’s go back to bed and talk.”

He entered the bedroom, closing the door behind him. “What do you want to talk about?”

“The weather.”

Nicholas laughed. Just when he thought he figured her out, Peyton figuratively pulled the rug out from under him. “What about the weather, princess?” he asked, dropping the towel on the floor. “What’s the matter?” He saw the direction of her gaze then realized it was the first time she had seen him naked. He was semi-erect. Opening one hand, Nicholas showed her the condoms on his palm. “Only if you want to.”

Peyton approached him and dropped her towel. “I want to.”

He stared down at her under lowered lids. “You want what?”

Resting her palms on his smooth chest, she went on tiptoe, her mint-scented breath mingling with his. “I want you to make love to me.”

Placing the condoms on the table beside the bed, Nicholas picked her up as if she were a child, placing her in the middle of the bed. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, smiling. “You are so incredibly perfect,” he whispered reverently. “In and out of bed.”

He took possession of her mouth in a slow, drugging kiss that elicited a rush of moisture between Peyton’s thighs. She squeezed them together to stop the pulsing, but to no avail. Nicholas’s rapacious mouth moved lower to her breasts and back to her mouth, and she was lost, lost in a maelstrom of desire which set her aflame with a surge of desire so intense she feared passing out.

The heat from his mouth swept from her own mouth to her core. Waves of passion shook her until she could not stop her legs from shaking. He suckled her breasts, worshipping them, and the moans she sought to suppress escaped her parted lips.

His tongue circled her nipples, leaving them hard, erect and throbbing. His teeth tightened on the turgid tips, and Peyton felt a violent spasm grip her womb.

Her fingers were entwined in the cotton sheets, tightening and ripping them from their fastenings at the same time she arched off the mattress.

“Nicholas!” His name exploded from her as he inched down her body, holding her hips to still their thrashing. He buried his face between her legs and this time there wasn’t the barrier of silk to stop his sensual assault. His hot breath seared the tangled curls between her thighs and she went limp, unable to protest or think of anything except the pleasure her lover offered her.

She registered a series of breathless sighs, not realizing they were her own moans of physical satisfaction. Eyes closed, head thrown back, lips parted, back arched, Peyton reveled in the sensations that took her beyond herself. Then it began, rippling little tremors increasing and shaking her uncontrollably and becoming more volatile when it sought an escape route.

Nicholas heard Peyton’s breath coming in long, surrendering moans, and he moved quickly. He opened the packet and rolled the length of latex down his erection. He moved up her trembling limbs and eased his sex into her body. He was met with a resistance he hadn’t expected. Gritting his teeth, he feared spilling his passion inside the latex sheath without penetrating her. He drew back, and with a strong, sure thrust of his hips buried his hardness in the hot, moist, tight flesh pulsing around his own.

Peyton bit down on her lower lip, feeling as if she’d been impaled on a red-hot piece of steel when Nicholas penetrated her celibate flesh, but the burning subsided the moment he began moving in a slow, measured rhythm, quickly renewing her passion.

Her arms curved around his waist as rivulets of moisture bathed his back and dotted her hands. She could not think of anything or anyone except the hard body atop hers as their bodies found and set a rhythm where they were in perfect harmony with each other. Reaching down, Nicholas cupped her hips in his hands, lifting her higher and permitting deeper penetration; he quickened his movements.

Peyton assisted him, increasing her own pleasure as she wound her legs around his waist. Nicholas’s heat, hardness and carnal sensuality had awakened the dormant sexuality of her body, and she responded to the seduction of his passion as hers rose higher and higher until it exploded in an awesome, vibrating liquid fire that scorched her mind, leaving her convulsing in ecstasy.

She hadn’t returned from her own free-fall flight when she heard Nicholas’s groan of satisfaction in her ear as he quickened his movements and then collapsed heavily on her sated body. There was only the sound of their labored breathing in the stillness of the bedroom as they lay motionless, while savoring the aftermath of a shared, sweet fulfillment.

Nicholas reversed their positions, bringing her with him until she lay sprawled over his body, her hair flowing over his face and shoulders. “Did I hurt you, baby?”

“No,” she drawled, placing tiny kisses on his throat and shoulder. There had been a momentary discomfort but it was offset by the pleasure he had offered her.

“I hadn’t expected you to be so small,” Nicholas murmured through the curtain of heavy hair masking his face. “I—”

She stopped his words when she placed her fingertips over his lips. “I’m all right, Nicky.”

His right hand moved over her bare hip, caressing the silken flesh. She had no idea how sensuous her voice sounded. He drew in a deep breath, luxuriating in the intoxicating fragrance of her bath gel mingling with the lingering scent of their lovemaking.

He could not believe the passion she had aroused in him; if possible Nicholas had wanted to make love to her all day long. Inhaling her scent, tasting her flesh, caressing her silken body, had tested the limits of his control. And he’d discovered something he’d denied for far too long.

He was in love with Peyton.

* * *

“When are you going to return Daddy’s phone calls?” Peyton asked her mother.

Lena ran her thumb over the tips of the nails on her left hand. She spread out her fingers, studying her handiwork. She didn’t know why she hadn’t become a nail technician because she manicured her nails better than her regular manicurist. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

Peyton gritted her teeth. Whenever Lena didn’t want to answer a question she usually posed one of her own. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t you?” Lena looked directly at her daughter. She thought she may have been mistaken when she saw her in the airport terminal, but now she knew for certain there was something more than an employer and employee connection between Peyton and Nicholas.

“If you answer my question, Mama, then I’ll answer yours.”

“No, I haven’t returned his calls.”

“Why not, Mama? Because he keeps blowing up my phone claiming he’s worried sick about you.”

“Did you say anything to him about me?”

“No. I keep telling him I’ll give you the message.”

Lena crossed her feet at the ankles. “I’m going to let him stew a little bit more before I call him.” She exhaled an audible sigh. “I never knew what it meant to truly be my own woman until now. I went from my father’s house to my husband’s house, unlike most women my age who either went away to college or left home and set up their own apartments.” She closed her eyes. “My fire-and-brimstone-preaching daddy never let me go to or have a sleepover with my girlfriends. His way of thinking was so archaic that he didn’t even want me to go to college.”

“Why not, Mama?”

“Because he knew I would leave and never come back.” She opened her eyes, meeting Peyton’s shocked gaze. “I never told you this, but I hated the way he treated my mother as if she were his property. But anytime I mentioned it to her she quoted the bible about how a woman is supposed to submit to her husband. My father wouldn’t allow me to date, because he knew of the temptations of the flesh. Then I found out he’d picked out a husband for me. A widower with four little children. That’s when I snuck out of the house one night and slept with the first man that smiled at me. I know how dangerous that is nowadays, but I wanted to punish my father because he’d bragged to my prospective husband that I was a virgin.”

Peyton put her arm around Lena’s shoulders. “But you didn’t count on getting pregnant.”

The older woman nodded. “When I told my father he flew into a rage, damning my soul to hell. Your father was our nearest neighbor and he’d overheard my father’s tirade. He always liked me but I was too afraid to say anything to him. He approached my father with a request for my hand in marriage. Three weeks later I became Mrs. Alphonso Blackstone. I’d become my mother all over again when I thanked him every day for saving me.”

“He didn’t save you. He saved your father’s reputation. How was he going to preach about adultery and fornicating when his own daughter was doing the same. You’ve been a wonderful wife and a selfless mother. What you’ve done is surrender your will to a man who uses it to boost his own ego. Please don’t get me wrong, Mama. I love my father. What I don’t like is how he thinks of you. You’re not his chattel, but his partner and the mother of his child. You’re a queen and he should treat you like one. You’ve honored your marriage vows because you’ve been with him in the good and the not so good times. I’ve never interfered with you and Daddy when you had your squabbles, but if you plan to leave him, then I’ll help you any way I can.”

Lena shifted slightly on the love seat. She stared at her daughter, seeing things Peyton refused to see. She had enough strength for the both of them. “I noticed you said leave and not divorce.”

Peyton’s mouth twisted in a wry smile. “Divorces rarely go smoothly, so that’s something you really must be prepared for if you believe your marriage isn’t worth saving.”

“Like yours wasn’t, Peyton?”

A pregnant silence followed the query. “Yes, Mama. Like mine. There was no way I could stay with Reginald when he has a weakness for hookers.”

“You say has. Do you keep in touch with him?”

“No, but he keeps in touch with me.” Peyton told Lena about Reginald’s harassing phone calls and his recent contact with one of her high-school friends.

Lena’s hands were trembling. “Why didn’t you say something before?”

It was Peyton’s turn to panic. “What are you talking about?”

“I thought it was my imagination, but now that you tell me he was talking to Jaime, I thought I saw him a couple of weeks ago when I went into town to do my banking. Peyton, you have to be careful.”