Insatiable (19 page)

"It's alright, sweetheart. It's all right."

She squeezed her eyes tight before letting the tears come. "It's going to be all right baby, here, sit down."

Grim-faced, he eased her down on the sofa, frowning when he saw her body shake and shudder.

He sat down next to her and cradled her in his arms. "Just hold on to me Aurora, just hold on to me."

"Someone's trying to frame me Liam; someone hates me that much that they are willing to commit murder."

He was alarmed by the way her voice seemed to rupture on each word; he pressed his lips to her hair. "We're going to figure this out Aurora. I won't stop until we figure this all out."

That night as she lay asleep, Aurora had a nightmare. She'd been dreaming of blood, dead bodies hanging from the rafters and sharp knives. By the time that Liam had managed to wake her, a scream had locked itself in her throat, cold sweat had damped her body and her heart was pounding against her ribs. When Liam got up to get her a glass of water, she dropped her head between her drawn up knees and tried to calm herself. She began to sob instead.

Liam lifted her head and helped her drink. "You want to talk about it?" He asked.

When she didn’t move or speak he pulled her close. The worry was like lead on her shoulders, and he could feel it. It was emulating from her entire body. Seeing her this way had more than pissed him off. If the sick fuck who is trying to frame her thinks that he can continue, he had better think again. And that smug asshole of a sheriff better get his head out of his ass and find the bastard who's doing this because if he doesn’t, he's going to find himself out of a job.

He'd make sure to make a couple of phone calls to the governor. This was the first time he was glad to have a bit of clout. The governor was good friends with his father. "I'm sorry; I don’t mean to keep you up. I know you've got a flight to catch tomorrow," she said not bothering to move her head from his chest.

Shit! He'd forgotten about the trip to New York. "I'll cancel."

She looked up at him. "No you won't Liam, you'll do no such thing."

"You need me Aurora and I won't let you down."

"I appreciate that you'd be willing to cancel your trip Liam, but I'll be alright. You've already helped by getting me an amazing attorney. Please don’t cancel your trip, I'd feel horrible and guilty. You don’t want me to feel any worse than I already do, do you?"

She had a way of making the non-sensible seem sensible. "Of course not."

"Good, then promise me that you won't cancel your trip."

"Fine. I promise. But under one condition."

"And what's that?"

"You, Mari and Rosie take some time for yourselves and come and stay out at my place while I'm away."

She looked at him as if he was crazy.

"What? You yourself said that you and the girls could have a wonderful time there, and if you ask me, you could all use a mini vacation. So that’s it, either you take me up on my offer, or I cancel my trip. What's it gonna be?"

He drew her in closer. "You've got yourself a deal," she said and nuzzled him on his neck.

"But if I get a call and someone needs me I'll have to leave. I have to keep myself available." He scanned her face and decided to ask her a delicate question. "Couldn’t you get used to this? The two of us being together?"

"Maybe I could," she said and lightly kissed him on the lips. "Maybe I could."

His heart nearly broke when he listened as she was forced to talk about her painful past. After all she's been through it's no wonder why she won't open up, he thought to himself. When I get back from my trip I'm going to change all that.

In a rare moment of wanting to open up to him she said, "You know when my mom was alive, she always made it a point to tell me to love myself. She told me that before I could love another that I had to love myself. And I did. But it also helped that she tried her best to keep me away from all the media flimflam. You know,
the if you don’t look like the woman on television or in magazines, you're worthless
? That kind of flimflam.

Anyway, instead of flipping on the television to keep me occupied, my mom would take me to the library. So while my friends were watching music television and shows like the 90210, I had my nose in a book. At first I resented my mom for making me read so much, but looking back, it was the best decision she ever made and when I was pregnant, I vowed to do the same thing for my child. But even after the wonderful upbringing that I had, I still managed to fall for a man who became verbally abusive. But I knew that I was not to blame. It wasn’t me and it wasn’t anything that I did. Randy was that way because he didn’t love himself. He was afraid of what having a child would do to our relationship.  Maybe he thought that his temper would get the best of him and that he'd hurt the baby. Who knows? No one will ever know because he's dead," she cried. "My husband is dead and so is my child. There, now you know everything Liam. Are you satisfied?" She broke down and cried in his arms.

He cupped her face in his hands, she could feel the warmth coming from his bare chest and his body and it comforted her. When he saw the strained look in her eyes that he'd seen earlier, it took every ounce of strength not to make love to her. He wanted nothing more than to make her forget about everything that happened today. "Aurora, I am so sorry that you had to relive that. But I am so very happy that you chose to open up and talk to me about it. The sheriff forcing it out of you wasn’t right, but believe me, he'll pay for that. But baby, now is the chance for you to let some happiness into your life. Aurora, I want to be your haven, I won't let you down, I promise. I know how to take care of you."

She didn’t know what to say, the emotions swirled around in her head like a kite on a very windy day. No matter how hard she tried to push away her feelings for him, they'd always return with an arduous insistence.

Chapter Twelve 

"I think we both need some sleep," she said and lay down in the bed. Liam let out a heavy sigh. 
Was this woman ever going to give herself to him? And why the hell is she so afraid of me?
 

Just as he expected, the road that led to Aurora's house was deserted. Four in the morning was an ungodly time to be out and about, but he had to make sure that no one saw what he was about to do. He pulled the car up close to the mailbox and with a gloved hand slid the envelope in and closed the lid. 

The police had found Ronnie. An exquisite rush swept over his entire body. More so than the feeling he imagined if and when Aurora was accused of the murders. He had no idea that the discovery of the body and his handiwork would be so thrilling. They'd focus their attention on Aurora now. See her for the lying no good bitch that she was. She'd ruined his life. He'd take hers. 

By the time Liam woke up, Aurora was already showered and dressed. She'd even managed to pack a small overnight bag and had left a note on the pillow letting him know that she was at the house telling the girls the good news. He smiled as he got into the shower. At least the invite to stay at his place had been accepted. He was sure that the ladies would all have a wonderful time. Aurora had finally began to open up to him, and that was something he hadn't expected, not last night anyway, not after everything that had happened. But her grief and sorrow had made her open up, and he was grateful for that. He'd never wanted to cancel a business trip so much in his life, but it was a trip that he had to make. He and Gary were going to finalize the sale of an eight million dollar estate. Although the estate was located in Newport, the client's main address was in Manhattan. A big time music mogul wanted to buy the estate as a vacation home. And big time mogul meant big time schmoozing, and since the star was unavailable to come to Newport, he and Gary were going to have to go to New York to make sure that all the paperwork was in order. They were to meet at Masa at Columbus Circle, Time Warner Center. Liam had dined there only once before.

Not only was the restaurant one of the most expensive in New York, but it also had no menu. With only 26 seats in Masa, most diners found themselves spending about three hours having an unparalleled omakase experience. Omakase dining meant that patrons could expect the chef to be innovative and surprising in the selection of dishes, and the meal was most likened to a very artistic performance handled by the chef. He wished that he could share the experience with Aurora. 
Another time,
 he thought to himself.

Even if she had agreed to go with him, Sheriff Rafferty had demanded that she not leave the state of Rhode Island. While thinking about that, Liam knew what he was going to do. As soon as the paperwork was signed, whether Gary wanted to or not, he was going to head back home. Aurora needed him, he was making progress with her and he wasn’t about to let her down. 

Approximately a half hour after Aurora told them about Liam's offer, both Mari and Rosie were packed and ready to go. They were to follow Liam home and from there, he and Gary would leave for the airport. Aurora didn’t want to admit it, but she was excited as well. Even though it was November, she'd been dying to take a walk on the beach. It was the best time of year, as the solitude was something that she craved. She was sure that Mari and Rosie craved it too, especially Mari. She hadn't yet been able to grieve, and she needed to do that. It was an intricate part of the healing process and Aurora would make sure that however Mari wanted to grieve, she would accommodate her. So far, Mari seemed to be faring alright. She greeted Aurora with a warm smile when she'd come in from the apartment and by the time Aurora sat down at the kitchen table, Mari and Rosie were by her side. 

"Mari. How are you? Were you able to get any sleep?" 

Mari nodded her head. "It's funny, I slept like a baby. All that went on and I slept like a rock, guess I was just exhausted." 

"I spoke to Jean and she is more than happy to come out to Newport for a session but I told her that we'd let her know." 

"Good, going to Liam's place might be all the therapy I'll need," Mari chuckled nervously. She was anxious, she wasn’t sure what to feel. Her feelings had been controlled by her husband Ronnie and last night he was murdered. After they all left last night, and she found herself alone in her bedroom, she'd let it all out. All the years of abuse, beatings, tears, cuts, scraps, bruises and turmoil, she let it all out and then she let it all go. 
Perhaps that is why I am feeling so emotionless about Ronnie's death,
 she thought to herself. 
I forgave him
 
and then I let it all go,
 
and I did it before he was taken from this earth. Thank God,
 she silently prayed
. Thank God.
 

"How are you Aurora?" Last night was troubling for all of us, not just me," Mari said to her friend. 

"I'm okay. Liam and I talked a lot,  and I'm okay." She smiled warmly. Liam was on his way to the house,  and she poured him a cup of coffee. 

Before he even had a chance to close the door behind him, Mari and Rosie were thanking him for letting them stay at his place. 

"It's my pleasure ladies, I figured that after last night you could all use the break but we better get going because I've still got to pack." 

Once she made sure that the house was locked up tight, Aurora gave the keys to Mari and hopped in the car with Liam. She wanted to spend a little more time with him before he went away. She was going to miss him,  but she had no intentions of telling him that. As they drove down the driveway and out onto the main road, she glanced at the mailbox. 
The mail can wait a couple more days,
 she thought to herself before turning her attention towards Liam. 

Mari and Rosie immediately headed towards the beach. They wanted to give Aurora some alone time with him and knew that she'd be reluctant to give him a proper goodbye if her two friends were hanging around. Aurora sat relaxed on the big recliner in Liam's bedroom, she was watching him pack. "How much time do we have?" 

Liam could recognize that sexy smirk anywhere. And it didn’t help that she was sitting on the chair looking sexy and seductive. The sweater she was wearing fell lazily off one shoulder,  and her skin looked deliciously soft and succulent. "Not nearly enough time for me to do the things that I want to do to you," he said with a grin. 

"Well then," she said while getting up from the recliner. "I guess I'll have to be quick. Or shall I leave the quickness up to you?" She teased and pushed him onto the bed. The moment he sat on the edge she went to work. It didn’t take long to remove his pants and in an instant he was naked. Liam looked around nervously, not only were her friends around,  but he could no longer see them walking along the beach. For all he knew that we headed back inside. "Aurora what about…" the moment she flicked her tongue on the tip of his cock, he lost all of his restraint. He didn’t care whether or not they got caught. All he wanted to feel was her mouth on him, the sensations were unbelievable. "Aurora, you make me feel so…" 

His words were cut off as she glided her lips along his skin and drove his cock deeper into her mouth. Liam watched as this beautiful woman sent waves of torturous pleasure throughout his body. When her eyes locked with his, instantly he felt the familiar surge of orgasm building inside of him. He ran his fingers through her hair and then tugged as he grabbed a fistful and exploded into her mouth. When his body had relaxed some, he pulled her onto the bed and kissed her. "God I'm going to miss you," he said. 

"Don’t you mean you're going to miss my mouth?" 

"No Aurora, I am going to miss all of you. And for the record, I've never been so anxious to finish up a business deal." 

"When I get back, I am going to keep you here locked away. At least for a couple of days," he said with a grin. "How does that sound? Just me and you." 

Aurora turned away from him and stared out at the ocean view. "I don’t know Liam. I just don’t know."