The Freefall Trilogy (Complete Collection) (21 page)

'I should have known I'd find you here,' Josh grinned wrapping his arm around her waist as she stared at the array of pretty shoes.  'See anything you like?'

He glanced down over her shoulder at the price tags and winced.  Lucy shook her head.  He felt her body tense.

'Actually,' she murmured, 'I think I'd like to go back.'

They sat in the back of the cab together.  He watched her stare out of the window as they bounced down the Parisian side streets.  Josh grabbed her hand and squeezed it.  She glanced back at him nervously.

'You know, sometimes I...'

Lucy's voice trailed off.  She stared at him.  Her crystal blue eyes were big and wary; lips full and red. 

'I think I'm going mad,' she said quietly.

She smiled bitterly, looking down into her lap, letting go of his hand to scrape a straight blonde flick behind her ear.  Joshua swallowed, face falling.  He grabbed her hand again.  A sharp tug and he pulled her into his arms.

'Well if you are,' he told her, 'take me with you.' 

He closed his eyes, breathing in the patchouli scent of her hair. 

'I don't want you going anywhere without me.'

Josh lay on the sofa, absent-mindedly flicking through the channels.  The TV blared back incomprehensibly.  He chewed his lip, running his hand through his hair.  She hadn't said a word since they got out of the taxi. 

He heard her bare feet patter off down the hallway; the door shut, the toilet flush, the running tap.  The door creaked open, followed by another opening and closing. 

Silence. 

Josh frowned, muting the sound.

Has she gone to bed?

The door swung open quickly, banging against the wall.  The footsteps were louder now; faster, angry.  He turned the sound back on, peering up as she strode back into the room.  She headed straight to the kitchen without so much as a glance.

'Leave those, I'll do them,' he told her, nervously stepping into the kitchen.  Her blazing red hand emerged from the suds, slamming the cup down on the stainless steel draining board.

'It's fine,' Lucy told him, with the fakest smile he'd ever seen.  She still wouldn't look at him. 

She went on scrubbing away, slamming another cup down.  Josh glanced down, feeling his phone buzzing against his thigh.

'I expect that'll be
Froggy,' she said quirking an eyebrow, staring into the sink.  Joshua pulled out his phone, frowning down at it.  He raised his head.  She glowered at him. 

'Lucy!'

He watched the plate sail from her fingers in slow motion.  It bounced up from the linoleum floor in a hundred white shards.  Josh slammed the phone down on the side.  Her gaze followed it, her victorious smile fading as it continued to glow and buzz.  She pulled another plate from the water, fixing his stare.

You dare...

He flinched as it smashed at his feet.

He clenched his hair in his fists, squeezing his eyes shut.

10, 9, 8, 7...

Smash.

'What the fuck are you doing?' Joshua screamed, eyes bursting open; a blaze of livid green.  He couldn't hold on any longer.  In a blink, he'd leapt across the mess, grabbing her by the wrists, spinning her around; pinning her against the counter.

'What's wrong with you?' he shouted, nose-to-nose with her, so angry he found himself shaking.  She blinked up at him, the mutinous smile fading away.  He could feel it now.  She was shaking too.

The jig was up.  She'd knelt on the bare boards in the bedroom, chewing her lip guiltily, wincing as the zipper of his suitcase groaned back loudly.  She knew it wasn't right, she shouldn't be snooping.  She had to check though.  She had to make sure. 

Lucy's eyes flared.  She brought the canvass lid down with a loud clap, scooting back across the cold, unforgiving boards.  She squeezed her eyes shut, bowing her head, arms folded tightly across her stomach.  The wave of dread made her feel sick.

He'd brought his parachute rig.  She wasn't going mad.  It was Froggy outside the restaurant; it was him on the phone.  The padlock, the kissing, the dancing, the
I love yous
.  All of it - just subterfuge. 

Joshua and
Froggy had come for a reason.  To do what all BASE jumpers come to Paris to do.  She hadn't just fallen for ruse - she'd grabbed the baton and run.  However angry she was with him, she was angrier still with herself.  The dream she dared to dream had turned into a nightmare.

'Well?' he barked.  The stare was ferocious.  The vein on his neck was up.  Joshua was scary when he lost it - the first time he'd shouted, he'd made Lucy cry.  Not this time though.  She stared back unblinkingly.  This time, she was furious too.

'I don't know, Josh,' she
snarked, cheeks blazing, throat closing up. 

She closed her eyes briefly, taking a steadying breath.

'What do you think the matter could be?'

She watched his brow crumple, eyes scanning the room as she stood her ground, staring up at him; staring him down. 

She felt his grip slacken; she pulled her arms free.  He blinked down at her wet, red, sud-covered hands as she rubbed her wrists.  She looked up at him.  They stared at each one another.  In a split second, her hands were up in his hair.

'Don't,' Joshua growled, his body tensing against her. 

Her fists clenched in the soft caramel curls, pulling his head back. 

'Lucy,' he warned.  'Lucy, I mean it.'

She heard the words catch in his throat; felt his Adam's apple rise and dip against her lips.  She pulled harder, going up on tiptoe; working her way up his neck in a string of breathless kisses.

'I'm so angry with you right now,' he whispered.

Her lips worked their way southwards, parting around the fleshly mound where his neck met his shoulder, baring her white teeth.

'
Argh!'

She let go, glancing at the red welt on his neck, running her tongue along it; tasting his salty skin, listening in satisfaction as his breath grew ragged.

'I'm angry with you too,' she told him quietly, catching him in a scorching blue blaze.  'What do you want to do about it?'

He froze, staring down at the cherry red lips.  She slipped her fingers into his jeans, grasping him by the belt buckle, pulling him hard against her.  He stared back warily.  Lucy closed her eyes.  She felt his hands grip her behind, lifting her up, slamming her down on the kitchen counter. 

Her legs wrapped around him.  She peeked down at his hands; the clenched fists.  He was panting; hanging on by a thread.  Lucy caught his gaze, smiling up sweetly.  She reached forward, gripping his shirt.  A sharp tug and she ripped it wide open. 

She heard the buttons of her dress ping around the kitchen after his; the sound of tearing fabric; felt the cool air on her chest.  His touch, hungry and rough; she cried out.  Joshua's hand stilled.  Her eyes burst open.

'Don't stop,' she panted through her teeth.  'Don't you dare.'

Josh slumped over her, fingers splaying for purchase on the slippery countertop.  He stood there, gasping for air.  Her arms tightened around his neck.  The two of them were drenched in sweat. 

They'd never done that before.  He'd never done that with anyone.  It was over so quickly; there was too much sensation.  He pulled away, yanking his jeans up, quickly doing up his zip and belt, noticing the black stockings had slid down her shiny white legs. 

She sat on the countertop, blinking back at him, mouth open, still gasping.  He smoothed down the hem of her dress, pulling her into his arms.  He pressed a kiss to her hot damp, forehead.  The anger was long gone now.  She buried her face in his shoulder, arms tightening around his waist.

'Don't ever leave me,' she breathed.  'I think I'd die if you did.'

Joshua's eyes blinked open.

He held her back by the shoulders.  She swayed giddily on the worktop, thick black lashes drawn shut.  Cheeks flushed, lipstick long disappeared; thick blonde hair all over the place.  He searched her face, fingertips running down her soft cheeks, resting on her chin; gently tilting it upward.

'Did I hurt you?  Are you OK?'

He glanced down at her ripped dress then at the floor, stepping back and running his hands through his hair. 

'No, I liked that,' he heard her say. 

Josh glanced up at her; met with her wicked blue eyes.  To his astonishment, she was laughing.

'Oh, you did, did you?'

'Uh-huh!' she nodded, bursting into a grin, wrapping her pale, slender arms around him again, planting a kiss on his lips.

'Promise me you'll be careful
though,' she said quietly; seriously.  'I worry about you so much.'

She reached forward and stroked his tanned face, running her fingers through his damp, curly hair; smiling sadly.

'I really do love you, you know.'

Joshua stared back at her, eyes glinting like emeralds in the afternoon sun. 

'I'm always careful,' he smirked.  'Careful is my middle name.'

'No it isn't.  It's Archibald—'

'Right, that's it!'

Before she had chance to say anymore, one arm gripped her back, the other the crook of her knees.  He swung her up in the air. 

Lucy threw her head back and laughed as the ceiling changed from the kitchen to the living room; from the hallway to the boudoir.  Joshua grinned down at her.  Lucy giggled.  She squealed as he threw her down on the bed.

Just popped to the shops - we're out of coffee.

See you in a bit baby X

Lucy held the crumpled piece of paper in her fingertips, frowning at the black swirly writing, glancing at the dent in the pillow where his head had been. 

She felt her gut clench.

Oh God, not again...

She only just made it to the bathroom, for the umpteenth time.

The frog's legs were heavenly the first time around: not so much the second.  She spat out the last traces, flushing the toilet, heaving herself from the black and white tiles to her wobbly legs.  She brushed her teeth voraciously.  Lucy stood under the shower, shrinking back from the ice cold blast with a whimper, before surrendering herself to the soothing stream of warm water.

She'd seen a green cross on the main street as they arrived back in the taxi, just outside the little courtyard.  Lucy blasted her hair with the scalding drier, scrunching it in her fingers.  She wasn't straightening it again anytime soon. 

She dressed quickly, yanking on her faded blue jeans and a white camisole, pulling on her dusky rose merino cardigan.  She thrust her bare feet into her trainers.  She'd seen a key hanging from a hook in the kitchen.  She tried it in the front door; it fit.

'Bonjour,' said the old man behind the counter, looking up at her over his spectacles.