He positioned himself at her entrance, and for a brief moment he hesitated. And then he saw his ring on her hand and everything they were, everything they would be, slid into place for him.
“Look at me,” he told her.
Her lashes fluttered open. Their gazes locked as he eased into her. When he hit deep, she made that sound that drove him mad, and he nearly lost it. He had to take several breaths to hold on to some kind of control. And then he pulled back and slid into her again. Stroking in and out, he kept the pace where he wanted it, but not quite where she needed it. He watched her expression change as she drew close to coming.
“I want you to look at me. I’m the one inside you.” He drove into her harder, watching as her lips parted and she drew nearer to orgasm. “I’m your husband.” He pumped faster into her, and she bit her lip, digging her nails into his back. “And I love you.”
She sucked in a breath and came, still biting her lip. He thrust into her once more, jerking as he too found release and collapsed on top of her. This time he faced her, waiting for her to turn her head and look at him.
She finally did, her gaze roaming over his face as if seeing him for the first time.
“I love you too,” she whispered.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Cal proudly escorted his wife into the Dallas Young Professionals Ball. The ballroom had been decorated in an under-the-sea theme. Blue-green lighting made it feel as if they were underwater. They weaved around seaweed that sprang up from the floor along with anemones and other sea life. Decorative fish hung from the ceiling, and the fabric on the walls seemed to wave as if affected by a current.
Lucy had chosen a royal-blue floor-length dress that tucked in at the waist and showed a reasonable amount of cleavage. It was his favorite of all the dresses Felicia had dropped off for Lucy to choose from. Lucy’s hair was piled up on her head, exposing her creamy white skin and the necklace and earrings he’d given her. She was by far the most beautiful woman in the room. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. A lot of other men couldn’t either, he noticed.
Lucas had arranged for them to have bodyguards disguised as guests. One male and one female, so that when Lucy went anywhere—even to the ladies’ room—she was never alone. Cal wasn’t about to take another chance that her bastard ex could get to her. Poppy was at home, well protected by Sam and the security team that regularly patrolled the grounds of their estate as well as in-house staff whose sole purpose was to protect one tiny redheaded little girl.
Cal scanned the room and nearly groaned out loud when he spotted Joel and Anne Gleason headed their way.
He leaned down to whisper in Lucy’s ear. “If either of them offers you a drink, don’t take it. I wouldn’t put it past them to roofie us.”
Lucy glanced sharply up at him. “They wouldn’t.”
“You want to take that chance, darlin’? The only thing we drink tonight we get from the bar ourselves.”
“Cal, Lucy, how wonderful to see you,” Anne said.
She air-kissed Lucy and tried to go for Cal’s lips, but he successfully dodged her and planted a kiss on her cheek instead. He shook hands with Joel and watched very closely how he greeted Lucy. Joel gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek, but his gaze was glued to her chest.
Lucy tried to hide her revulsion for the Gleasons, especially after Anne had attempted to kiss Cal on the mouth. Again. She didn’t consider herself a violent person, but she’d have no problem pulling her gun from her purse, hoping Anne would get the point that Cal was hers.
“I never did hear back from you about dinner,” Anne was saying. “We’d love to have the two of you over. What about the weekend after next? Do you have plans?”
“A friend of mine owns Sur La Mer downtown. I could get us a table,” Cal offered.
Anne waved away his suggestion. “No restaurants. I insist on returning the hospitality.”
“I’ve just acquired a case of Château d’Yquem,” Joel said. “We haven’t had an occasion to open it yet. Don’t disappoint my wife. She loves to play hostess.”
Joel couldn’t have laid down the ultimatum any stronger. This was a hurdle she and Cal would have to jump in order to make the deal Cal needed so badly.
“We’d love to,” Lucy agreed, despite her feelings for the Gleasons. She knew Cal still hadn’t persuaded Joel to sell him his company. “Thank you so much for the invitation.”
“It’s settled then,” Anne said. “Dinner at our place a week from Friday at six o’clock.”
Joel rubbed his hands together, his gaze firmly fastened on Lucy’s cleavage. “I’ve been looking forward to showing you my collection of taxidermy from all over the world, Cal. We’ve got a lot to discuss you and I.”
Lucy wanted to ask why anyone would want to collect dead animals, but she could see that Cal was nearly at his limit for politeness.
“Oh, look. Mimi Vanderclark is waving us over,” Lucy said. “I’m so sorry to have to leave you,” she told the Gleasons. “But Mimi is an old family friend, and if I don’t say hello, I’ll never hear the end of it. Won’t you excuse us?”
They said their goodbyes to the Gleasons, and Cal led them across the room where Lucy had pointed.
“Who’s Mimi Vanderclark?” Cal asked.
“I made her up. I’m awful, aren’t I?”
“No, you’re brilliant.”
They were waylaid by some business associates of Cal’s, a couple of whom recognized Lucy from her days as the cohost of
Pleasure at Home
. Everyone seemed interested in speaking with her. There were a lot of questions about them and the rumors running through the media. Cal extricated them from those situations and maneuvered them around the ballroom so that by the time they found their table, Lucy was pretty sure she’d met everyone in the room.
Cal pulled a chair out for her and waited for her to be seated before he took his seat next to her.
“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?”
“Only about eighty times.”
“All I can think about is getting that dress off you.”
“I don’t know why. It’s not like I’m wearing anything underneath it.”
He groaned, leaned in to nip her earlobe, and proceeded to tell her exactly what he wanted to do to her once he got her dress off. By the time he finished, she was sure she’d flushed from her neckline to her forehead. She had to take several gulps of water before she felt like she had herself under control.
The MC began the program with a handful of corny jokes about businessmen, which earned him pity laughs. The awards ceremony was filled with names of people Lucy had only ever heard of or read about on TV or online. Every time one was announced, Cal would lean over and tell her something unrepeatable about them. A few times she had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing out loud and embarrassing Cal.
After that, dinner was served. It was surprisingly good for a banquet dinner. And then Cal told her how much it had cost per plate, and she knew why. Lucy was surprised to be having such a good time in a room full of people she had absolutely nothing in common with. The dinner conversation wasn’t nearly as boring as she’d expected.
Cal nudged her arm to get her attention away from the woman next to her. “How do I look?”
She examined him, which wasn’t a hardship. “You look great. Very handsome.”
“Good. I’m on next, and they’re about to announce me.”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, his name was called and he stood to a round of applause that kept going until he quieted the crowd from the podium. The audience seemed to enjoy Cal’s speech, laughing at his jokes and nodding along with his observations. Lucy was so proud of her husband she could burst.
A siren pealed, interrupting Cal midsentence. A mechanical voice came over the loudspeakers, warning that this was a fire alarm and telling everyone to exit the building.
“I guess my speech was too hot,” Cal joked, then motioned for Lucy to stay where she was, standing next to their table.
All of a sudden there was a lot of shouting and people rushing toward the doors. Smoke billowed from the overhead vents. Someone pushed Lucy, knocking her forward and into the swelling crowd that grew more frantic to get through the only open exit at the back of the room. She struggled to stay on her feet, but as the air got thicker, hits came from every side. She glanced back at the podium, hoping to catch sight of Cal, but he was gone.
A lick of fear slithered up her spine. Where was he? She’d worked her way out of the funnel of the crowd and out into the fringes of the room. Alone. She looked around for the two bodyguards Cal had hired, but they were nowhere in sight.
A hand grabbed her arm, yanking her back against a hard form. “Remember…” Kevin’s harsh murmur in her ear sent her heart skidding, “…I can get to you anywhere. Any time.” He released her, shoving her back into the mass of people, hurdling her closer to the exit.
She pushed blindly into the swell, knocking into people to get away. By the time she reached the double doors that led to the hallway, panic crawled all over her like biting ants. She had to get to Poppy. She had to make sure her daughter was safe.
Cal caught up to her just as she reached the street door. He wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. She grasped fistfuls of his jacket, hanging on to him for more than the steadying effect he was having on her senses. He was safety. He was everything she’d come to rely on, everything she needed in this world.
“I’ve got you, darlin’. You’re all right.”
“Kevin’s here. He’s here.”
“I saw. I can’t believe the balls of that son of a bitch.”
He ushered her past the fire trucks and police to their waiting limo and practically shoved her inside. As soon as he shut the door, enclosing them in the protective cocoon of the car, she grabbed for him again, climbing him to get closer.
“Hey.” He held her tight, his face buried in her shoulder. “You’re okay. I’ve got you now. It’ll all be okay.” The subtle tremor in his voice made a liar out of him. “He can’t get you. He’s not going to get you.”
“He did. He does. Over and over he gets to me.” She was sobbing now, beating her fists against Cal’s chest. He let her. “And he’ll get to Poppy too. You can’t stop him. No one can stop him. He gets arrested then set free. You hire guards. He gets around them. He keeps coming.” She collapsed, shaking, her voice as weak as she felt. “He just keeps coming.”
Cal let Lucy have her rage. When he’d witnessed her bastard ex grab her, he’d leapt over a table to get to her, but by the time he got there, the asshole was gone and Lucy had been in a running panic for the door. He’d caught up to her too late. Every goddamned time he was too late. She was right. Walker kept coming and would probably keep coming after Lucy and Poppy until someone stopped him. Or put a bullet in him.
He didn’t know what to say to soothe her, could hardly wrap his head around the terror of seeing that bastard’s hands on her and the utter helplessness of watching her break down in his lap. It was his fault. All of his damn money couldn’t give Lucy the one thing she needed more than the mansion she lived in and the jewels that lay against her skin—safety. He could hire a thousand bodyguards, arm her until she buckled under the weight of the guns, and use his connections until he burned through every favor owed to him, and it still wouldn’t be enough.
“I’m sorry,” he offered, knowing it was no kind of consolation for what she’d been through.
“I need to see Poppy.”
“We’re on our way home. I’m sure she’s fine. Probably sleeping.”
“I need to see her. Right now.”
“I’ll call Sam and check in.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and hit Sam’s speed-dial number. Sam picked up on the first ring. Cal put the call on speakerphone. “Hey, Sam. How’s Poppy?”
“She went down like a champ.”
Lucy took the phone. “I want to see her.”
“Hang on,” Sam said. “Let me call you right back.”
Lucy stared at the phone without speaking. Cal couldn’t quite get a read on her. Her emotions seemed to be all over the place. Was it any wonder with the hell her ex was putting her through?
His phone rang again. Lucy grabbed for it and answered. Sam held a finger to his lips, then turned the phone so they could see the outline of Poppy sleeping peacefully in her bed, lit by only the nightlight in her room, her breathing deep and even. Lucy let out a tense breath and ran a finger over the image of their daughter.
Then the camera was back on Sam as he made his way out into the hall. “What happened?” Sam’s voice had a different tone now, all business. He must have suspected they’d run into trouble at the ball.
“I’ll tell you about it when we get home. Thanks, Sam. Really,” Cal said. “I mean it. Thanks.”
“I’d say I was just doing my job, but making sure that little girl is safe feels more like a mission than a job. See you when you get here.” Sam ended the call.
“See, darlin’. She’s just fine.”
“She’s not fine. None of us are fine. He started that fire to get to me. What if someone was injured or killed?”
He pried the phone from her hand and threw it on the seat next to them. He cupped her face, wanting her complete attention. “Let me get something straight for you right now. Nothing that asshole does or did is your fault. Got it?”
“
All
of it is my fault. I brought him into my life. I stayed too long with him. I put our daughter in danger—”
“Damn it! Stop it!”
She stiffened, and her eyes went wide.
“Shit!”
He released her, and she crawled off his lap and as far away as she could. It took every ounce of self-control he had to stay where he was and not follow her and grab her. The way she stared at him…like he was that bastard who’d beaten and raped her. Fuck it all! He struck the window with the side of his fist, and she flinched.
“I told you I would never hurt you.” He couldn’t keep the anger out of his voice. The whole thing was just so fucked up.
“I know.”
He watched the way she hugged herself, rubbing her arm where Walker’s hand had been, huddling in the farthest corner of the car from him. If he thought he was angry before, it was nothing compared to this new rage. The sharpness of it sliced at his control.
“When you cower from me... I can’t fucking take it.”
She continued to stare at him as though he would leap on top of her at any moment. The last thing she needed was to be trapped in the back of a car with an angry, out-of-control man. He grasped for some calm to smother the rage that clawed at him.