Rush of Innocence (Rush Series #1) (14 page)

“Why
are you leaving?” he asked.

“I… I
just need to go.”

“Trinity…
I only want you to be safe,” he said in exasperation.

“I
know,” she replied, her back stiffening as she slipped his shirt off her
shoulders. Those were the same words her father used to gain control over her.
She was drowning in those words.

He
stepped up behind her and placed his hands on her bared shoulders. “Don’t go,”
he murmured.

She
tensed underneath his hands. “I won’t be controlled, Rush.”

He
leaned in and brushed his lips against her ear. “I’m not controlling you.
Haven’t you ever had something so precious that you wanted to protect it at
whatever cost?”

She
shivered at the touch of his lips against her skin and at his words. “That’s
basically what my father says,” she whispered.

He
slipped his arms around her middle and interlocked his fingers against her
bared stomach. He pressed his lips against the curve of her neck. Fire zipped
through her at his touch.

“In
this one thing, we are in agreement then,” he whispered against her neck.

“You
make me crazy,” she said with a shudder. “You’re this way,
then
you’re that way…”

“I
know, I know,” he murmured, as he ran the tip of his tongue across the
sensitive skin of neck.

“I
can’t take it anymore,” she said wearily.

He
turned her quickly in his arms and grabbed her face in his hands. “Don’t say
that,” he said against her lips. With his innate skill, he coaxed her lips open
to allow him access, she whimpered in frustration, because even now she
couldn’t force herself to deny him… or herself. Without breaking the kiss, he
lowered them onto the bed and removed their only remaining clothing.

Without
any more preamble than slipping on protection, he plunged his body into hers.
She groaned at his reckless abandonment. He buried his face in the crook of her
neck.

Raggedly,
he said, “I know you don’t understand, but just trust me… I need you to trust
me.”

“I
don’t know
what
to trust,” she
whimpered as she arched her back to meet his pounding thrusts.

He
lifted his head to stare into her eyes. “Me. Trust me,” he begged. “I’ll make
this work… somehow.”

Chapter 7

His hard, slick body was pressed
tightly against her from behind, and his big, powerful arms were wrapped firmly
around her. He nuzzled the back of her neck as he buried his face in her hair.
“Stay with me,” he panted as he struggled to catch his breath.

Trinity
kissed the hand that was closest to her mouth, needing to touch and be touched.
Her body still sizzled from the expert tutelage of Rush Drayton.

“I
don’t even have a toothbrush,” she muttered.

“I’ll
buy you a thousand toothbrushes. Just stay,” he begged with a grin.

“I
don’t have any clean panties, either,” she quipped.

He
growled against her ear causing her to shudder. “Not a problem. You won’t need
any.”

She
giggled and felt his corresponding smile against her neck.

“Stay,”
he begged again.
“Just until tomorrow.
I have to go
meet with my
Boppa
tomorrow afternoon. Stay with me
until then.”

“
Boppa
?” she asked.

Lightly
he ran his wicked tongue against the outer shell of her ear and she shivered.
He smiled at his obvious power over her body.
“My
grandfather.
I’d get out of it if I could, but it’s a necessity.”

“If I
stay,” she gasped as he sunk his teeth lightly into her earlobe, “I have to go
home in the morning. I also have a command performance. My godparents are
coming for brunch and I’m required to be there.”

“Godparents?”
His question was nearly lost in her ear as she inhaled sharply
when his fingertips brushed lightly against the already sensitized tips of her
breasts.

“James
and
Marlena
Franklin,” she replied.

She
felt him tense behind her. “Retired Judge Franklin?”

“Yes,”
she responded, puzzled at his sudden withdrawal. “Do you know him?”

With
a last kiss against her head, he untangled himself from her. “I know
of
him, but don’t personally know him.
He was a sitting judge when my father was in the DA’s office.”

She
shivered at the loss of not only his body heat, but his emotional connection.
She slid to the edge of the bed and grabbed his shirt once again. With her back
to him, she slipped it on and began buttoning it. “My father and Uncle Jim have
been good friends for as long as I can remember. He and his wife really helped
my father when my mother was killed. I don’t know how he’d have made it without
them.”

“That’s
what friends are for, right?” he said in a tone she didn’t understand.

“What
do you mean?” she asked.

He
slipped on the cotton pants he’d worn earlier. He moved to her and planted a
hard kiss against her head. “Nothing,” he said dismissively. Grabbing her
hands, he pulled her to her feet. With his good humor put firmly back in place,
he said, “Have you ever been skinny-dipping?” When she shook her head, confused
at the change in conversation, he continued, “I happen to have a heated
swimming pool. I think this would be a perfect opportunity to expand your
education,” he said with a devilish grin.

***

She made it home on Sunday with barely
enough time to shower and change. As the hot water pounded down on her, she
closed her eyes as visions of her last shower flooded her mind. Flashes of
Rush’s long, tapered, tanned fingers sliding silkily over her skin with the aid
of
bodywash
. The feel of his hard, chiseled body
pressed up against hers as the water pounded around them. The way the steam had
surrounded them, encompassed them, made them seem even more isolated from the
world – another layer of protection from anything which would pull them apart.

She
panted against the intense longing she felt building in her body just at the
thought of him. It frightened her how fast and hard she’d fallen for him. She
wasn’t sure what his feelings were about her – or really about anything. While
she knew he wanted her, beyond that, she just didn’t know. There were times
when she felt so connected to him, and then just as quickly, the connection
would be severed.

Her
heart squeezed painfully in her chest. Rush Drayton was an extremely handsome
man, as well as an extremely wealthy and powerful man. The fact he knew how to
make a woman’s body sing, only intensified his desirability to woman. What
chance did she have in keeping a man like that? He could have any woman he
wanted, so why would he settle for her in the long run?

She
lifted trembling hands to her face. She knew the time would come when he would
lose interest in her and move on to the next willing and probably more
experienced woman. She didn’t want to think about that time, but its distinct
inevitability pressed down upon her. Quickly, she finished her shower and
dressed for brunch.

Her
father steadfastly ignored her. She could feel his irk waft off him in waves.
He pasted a smile on his face, however, when the doorbell rang, alerting them
to the presence of their guests. Appearance above all else, was her father’s
motto.

While
in his late sixties, James Franklin was still an attractive man. His Italian
heritage on his mother’s side ensured his hair remained the same dark color
it’d always been, with the exception of a little graying at his temples. He was
a big wall of a man who smiled easily. He’d wrapped his mammoth arms around
Trinity and swung her around as easy as he would a ragdoll.

“There’s
my girl,” he said with a grin, as he placed her back on her feet.
“And as pretty as ever.”

Trinity
gave a mock curtsey. “Why thank you, kind sir,” she said in an exaggerated
southern drawl.

As
big and boisterous as Jim Franklin was, his wife
Marlena
,
on the other hand, was his exact opposite. She was petite and soft-spoken.
Trinity had always thought they were the perfect match for each other.

Ms.
Gibbons had laid out a small feast on the side table and they all filled their
plates and returned to the table. Trinity sat quietly and listened to the
others as they caught up on current events in their lives.

She
was placing a strawberry in her mouth when
Marlena
asked her, “So, Trinity, are you seeing anyone special?”

Trinity
hazarded a quick glance at her father before responding. “Well, I have been
seeing one man. Rush Drayton.”

The
quick turn of James’s head caught her attention. He glanced quickly between her
and her father.

“What?”
she asked him.

“I’m
just surprised. That’s all,” James Franklin replied.

“Is
there something wrong with my dating him?”

“Wrong…
no, not wrong. But he’s kind of known as a womanizer, isn’t he?” James asked.

“I’ve
already tried to warn her about how ruthless he can be. But, of course, what do
I know? I’m only her father,” Arthur Grace said from the other end of the
table.

“I
think you could do so much better than Rush Drayton,” James said in
disapproving tones.

Anger
simmered through her body and she hated having to defend herself yet again.
“Well, according to the information you’ve just given me, it won’t be a problem
for much longer, will it?” she said snidely. “So you all can just relax. Thank
you for a lovely brunch. It was good seeing you, but I have some things to take
care of.
If you’ll excuse me.”

Without
another word, she rose quickly from her seat and headed upstairs.

***

The next day, she returned from lunch
to find a huge bouquet of a variety of flowers in a riotous array of colors on
her desk. Her stomach fell at the revolting sight. She moved to them cautiously
and with hands that shook, she removed the card.

The
flowers you received last week
should
have come from me. Please forgive
my thoughtlessness. I’ll try to do better in the future. Thanks for an amazing
weekend!
 
Rush

The
receipt of the flowers and his words at a time when she was beginning to doubt
him, made her eyes mist and her lips tremble. She sank with weak knees into her
chair.
I’ll try to do better in the
future.
Was it possible they might actually have a future someday? Her
chest tightened in fear of hoping for that very thing.

At
mid-afternoon, her office phone rang as she mixed pigments and dyes. “Trinity
Grace,” she answered.

“I’ve
missed you today,” Rush murmured in his sinfully roguish voice.

“I’ve
missed you, too. I received your flowers. They’re beautiful. Thank you.” Her
face hurt from smiling so big.

“Have
dinner with me tonight.”

“Let
me check my schedule,” she teased, then laughed when he growled and swore. “I
get off work at five-thirty.”

“Spend
the night with me,” he commanded.

“Is
that the only way I get dinner?”

“Spend
the night with me,” he commanded again.

“I
don’t…”

“Just
say yes. You know you want to,” he said.

Fear
had her hesitating. It was all too fast, too good. It couldn’t possibly last.
Eventually, he would burn out on her and move on. Then she’d be left with
trying to scrape back together the pieces of her life.

“Can
we start with dinner?” she asked haltingly.

He
sighed. “We can start with dinner as long as it ends with you in my bed.”

“I
like ending up in your bed,” she said breathlessly.

He
laughed, “I know you do. From your screams of ecstasy, I think my neighbors
know it also.”

“I
don’t care if they know,” she replied boldly.

“I’ll
tell you a secret… I don’t either.”

“I’ll
see you tonight then?” she asked.

“I’ll
have Radcliff pick you up at five-thirty. We’ll have a nice dinner at home.”

“Okay.
I’ll be ready.”

A
little before five o’clock, Elena called her from the front gallery to let her
know a package had been delivered for her. Trinity was surprised the package
hadn’t been delivered to the
back bay
where they were
normally processed. With a quick glance at her watch, ever mindful of the time
and wanting to be ready to leave at five-thirty, she moved swiftly to the front
of the gallery. Setting on top of a display counter was a lime-green gift box wrapped
with a bright red bow. The gift tag, simply read:
To: Trinity
. She gave a small smile to Elena and scrunched her
eyebrows in confusion as who would send her a gift.

Scoping
up the box, she carried it quickly back to her office. She set the box on the center
of her desk and grabbed the ends of the bow and pulled. Lifting the lid from
the box, she peered down and laughter bubbled up and spilled from her lips. The
hilarity of the box’s contents had her nearly doubled-over and her eyes
watering. Nestled inside the box was an enormous assortment of toothbrushes in
every shape, size, and color.
I’ll buy
you a thousand
toothbrushes,
he’d said when he’d
begged her to stay over the previous weekend. There probably weren’t a thousand
but there were several dozen. Her heart filled to overflowing at knowing he’d
been thinking about her all day.

While
riding in the town car driven by Radcliff, Trinity called and left a message
for her father, letting him know she wouldn’t be home. She knew leaving a
message was the chicken’s way out, but she didn’t want her father’s irk to ruin
what had been a wonderful day.

When
Rush opened the front door for her, she smiled and slipped her hands up and
around his neck.

Wrapping
her in his strong embrace, he returned the smile and placed a gentle kiss
against her lips. “How was your day, dear?” he asked with a grin.

Sliding
her hands down, she withdrew a packaged toothbrush and placed it in the front
pocket of his shirt.

With
a pat of her hand against it, she smiled. “It was great… and getting better,”
she said as she reached for his hand and led him towards the bedroom. “I know
you said we’d have dinner first, but…”

He
growled as he swung her up and carried
her the
rest of
the way to the room.

They
sat close together while eating the dinner left by his housekeeper.

“I
have a business dinner tomorrow night. I’d like you to come with me,” he said.

“I’d
love to.”

He
brushed a knuckle down her cheek. She loved the intimate feel of his tender
caress. Dinners… gifts… gentle touches… this all felt normal… felt real. Her
heart thudded in her chest, love obvious in her eyes.

“Keep
looking at me like that and we’ll not get through dinner,” he murmured.

“I
don’t care,” she said softly.

“Woman,
you’re trying to kill me, aren’t you?” he growled.