Escaping the Past Read online

  “Close?”

  “Not even.”

  “Want some company?” Lou asked as she sat down in the rocker beside him.

  “Do I get a choice?”

  “Do you want one?”

  “Not really,” he admitted.

  “What are you drinking?”

  “Jack Daniels.” She looked at him blankly. “Whisky,” he explained.

  “Oh,” was her only reply. “Do you want me to leave you alone so you can go back to crying?”

  He sniffled twice and a tear fell from his left eye. “Looks like I can cry just fine with you, here.”

  “It’s perfectly natural, you know. Crying when your mother dies. I cried for weeks when my mother died.”

  “But you’re a girl.”

  “Pardon?” she tried to look offended.

  “Woman.” He waved one hand in air. “Whatever. Girls are supposed to cry.”

  “And that means you can’t show emotion when your mother dies?”

  Her question caused even more tears to fall.

  “Oh, Brody, I’m so sorry.” She stood up in front of him. “Would a hug help?”

  “Yeah.” He set his glass on the porch and reached one arm around her waist. He drew her down into his lap and turned her sideways so her back was pressed against the arm of the chair, her legs draped across his.

  She squirmed in his lap. “This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.”

  “Just be still and humor me, will you? Can I just hold you for a second?”

  Her movements stilled and she placed one arm around his neck and the other hand on his chest. She laid her head on his shoulder.

  He took a deep breath. So did she.

  They sat that way for a few minutes. Lou felt herself relax more and more, and then something changed. Brody’s thighs tensed under her own and his arms clutched her closer. He rubbed her cheek with the back of his hand. She sat up a little more.

  “You feeling better now?” Lou asked right before he touched her chin and lifted her lips toward his.

  His lips breathed against hers, “Much. Thank you.”

  Her heartbeat quickened. “Brody?” she gasped right before his lips touched hers. They were firm, yet soft and she could taste the whisky on his breath. His tongue flicked lightly against her lips, daring them to open. They did. His tongue slipped inside and met hers in a frantic tangle. His hand slid into her hair and he tugged gently, breaking contact.

  He looked her in the eye and said, “Unless you want me to make love to you, you had better go to bed now.” Her eyes narrowed as they stared into his. She scooted closer to him in his lap and put both arms around his neck, her lips finding his. He groaned loudly and stood up with her in his arms. He turned and strode toward her bedroom. She reached out and opened the door so he could carry her inside. He dropped her legs and let her slide down his front until her feet hit the floor. His mouth devoured hers and she responded just as passionately.

  “God, I want you, Lou. I need to know, though, do you want me?”

  She nodded against the pressure of his lips. “But hang on.” She walked through the bathroom and locked the door, just in case Sarah woke.

  Brody kicked off his loafers as she started to unbutton his shirt. Her fingers trembled as the buttons slid through their holes. He broke the kiss long enough to pull the shirt over his head. Her hands tentatively touched the hair on his chest and she ran her fingers through it. Her hands shook. He clasped them both in one of his.

  He asked quietly. “You can still tell me to go away if you want.”

  “I don’t want you to go away.” She looked him in the eye as she said it.

  “Good, because I don’t want to go.” He slid his hands beneath her bottom and lifted her feet off the floor. He turned toward the bed and they tumbled onto it. His weight rested on his elbows. His knee pushed her legs apart and he rested between them.

  “God, I’m scared,” Lou said, her hands in his hair, stroking him gently as he gazed into her face.

  “No need to be scared. I won’t hurt you.” His lips touched her shoulder softly. “This hurt?” he mumbled against her skin.

  She shook her head no.

  He kissed his way down her throat. “This hurt?”

  She shook her head again.

  One of his hands cupped her breast as his thumb slid slowly across her nipple. A breath hissed out between clenched teeth.

  “Now, I know that didn’t hurt.”

  “Maybe just a little,” she gasped.

  “Well, then I had better try it again.” His thumb slid across her nipple again and she arched her back, trying to get closer to his touch.

  “Much better,” she whispered.

  “I think I can do better.” He bent and placed his hands at her waist, tickling her lightly as he lifted her shirt. He went slowly as the fabric passed over her breasts and she heard him groan before he pulled the shirt over her head.

  He cupped one full breast in his hand and said, “You are so beautiful. Your body is perfect.” He began to stroke one breast with his tongue, lightly flicking against her hardened nipple. She gasped. His other hand still cupped her breast, so he began to rub across her nipple with his thumb.

  The sensations rocked through her and she moved her hips against his, startled to feel his hardness pressed against her belly. Her eyes grew wide. He moaned. She moved again. He moaned louder. “You had better stop that or this is not going to last nearly as long as I want it to.” She moved her hips against him again. He broke contact with her and stood up to remove his pants. He lifted her hips and slid his hand inside the waist of her pajama bottoms. He kissed her lightly beneath her belly button as he lowered her pants.

  Butterflies flittered in her belly as he took off her pajamas. He slid them ever-so-slowly over her thighs and over her feet. They landed in a heap at the foot of the bed.

  Realizing she was completely naked to his gaze, she covered her breasts with her hands.

  Brody settled himself to the right of Lou. “Don’t you dare cover yourself.” He licked around her fingers with the moist tip of his tongue. He lifted her fingers playfully to gain access to her nipple. The sensations were overwhelming.

  Brody drew small circles on her flat stomach with his hand. Lou’s stomach flipped as he ran his hand over her hip and cupped her bottom. His fingers returned to her stomach and then dipped into the auburn curls at the juncture of her thighs. She stiffened. His mouth caught hers and kept it occupied while one finger slid down through her curls and into her heat. He sighed against her lips. He slid one finger to the entrance of her core. She moved slightly against his hand. He moved from the center of her to the little nub that was her pleasure center and rubbed it slowly. She moved against his hand. He drew another circle. Her hips lifted from the bed.

  Brody raised himself up on his elbows and settled himself between her parted thighs. She tipped her hips up toward him and squirmed. She would surely explode from all the sensations that were shooting through her body.

  He insistently pressed against her center, gritting his teeth as he slid inside. His arms shook. She moved a little beneath him, urging him to go deeper. He did. He plunged into her.

  She tensed when he entered her, crying out softly at the pain of it. He stopped and looked into her face. Small tears fell from between her clenched eyelashes.

  “What the…”

  She reached up and pulled his head down to hers, capturing his mouth in a fiery kiss.

  He tore his mouth from hers and placed his forehead against hers, taking great gulps of air. He kissed the tears away from the corners of her eyes. He stayed still inside her, giving her time to adjust to the size of him. Then he started to move slowly. Her breath caught. He lifted her knee and whispered, “Put your legs around me.”

  She locked her feet around his back. The sensation suddenly changed. She met him, thrust for thrust. She felt the tension building and she reached for it until it finally found her. Great waves of pleasure p
ushed her over the cliff. Brody fell with her as she went over.

  Brody lay with his head on Lou’s chest, her legs still tangled with his, his breaths trying to catch up with his heartbeat. He lifted himself to his elbows and touched his lips to hers softly. Her gaze avoided his. He kissed her lips again. She did not respond.

  “Lou?”

  She sighed wearily. “Yeah?”

  “Please don’t tell me you hated every minute of that. “His uncertainty was her undoing.

  She touched his cheek, her eyes finally meeting his. “No…I didn’t hate any of it. Couldn’t you tell?”

  “I certainly thought so. But there was that one moment…”

  She pushed his shoulders, urging him to move from on top of her.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said as he slid from between her thighs. She sat up in bed and swung her feet to the floor. She walked across the darkened room, naked, to the bathroom, and tied her hair in a clumsy ponytail. She turned on the shower and waited a moment, then stepped in and pulled the shower curtain. Within seconds, a cool breeze blew across her skin as he stepped in with her and then his warm body enveloped hers.

  “Brody!”

  “Lou!” he mocked her tone.

  “Would you get out!” she whispered vehemently at him.

  “Nope. I need a shower, too.”

  “You do not. Get out.” She pushed his chest away from her. He pulled her closer to him, his arms locking behind her.

  “Do so. Do you want to see?” She felt his hardness against her belly. She shook her head. “Guess not.” He shrugged his shoulders. “If you were to take a look, you would see I am wearing the same blood that’s all over your thighs.” She gasped. “But, now when I think about it, that might be a little painful to look at. Know why?” He felt the tip of her nose brush against his chest as she shook her head no. “Because, if you acknowledged it and I acknowledged it, that would mean we have to discuss it.”

  “D-Discuss what?” she stammered.

  He pushed her back under the spray and lifted one leg so that her foot rested on the side of the tub. He picked up the soap and lathered a wash cloth, then gently started to wash her inner thighs. “That would mean we would have to discuss the fact you were a virgin.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t lie to me, Lou. It’s been a long time since I’ve been with a virgin, but I haven’t forgotten the way it feels. The proof is all over you…and me.” He rinsed the washcloth and started to clean himself. Lou stood completely still.

  “Does it matter to you?” she asked gently.

  “Of course it matters to me.” He kissed her gently and reached behind her to turn off the water. “It would have mattered to me a lot more if I had known ahead of time. I would have been gentler.”

  He opened the shower curtain and grabbed a towel off the rack. He wiped her face with it gently and then dried her arms and legs. He wrapped the towel around her and tucked it between her breasts. Then he grabbed one for himself and rubbed it across his hair and then tied it around his waist. He pushed her gently into the bedroom where he stripped the blood stained coverlet from her bed.

  He tugged gently on the edge of her towel where it was tucked between her breasts. It fell from her body. He removed his own and slid between the sheets on her bed.

  He tugged her fingertips until she joined him. They lay facing one another.

  “There’s just one more thing I need to know.” He fiddled with the hair that hung over her forehead.

  “What’s that?” Lou asked quietly.

  “Unless Sarah was some kind of Immaculate Conception, she’s not your daughter.” She tensed.

  “She is my daughter!” Lou attempted to sit up and move away from him, but he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back in bed. He pulled her back against his front, her bottom cradled by his thighs.

  “Lou,” he sighed and spoke close to her ear. “She’s your daughter now, but you didn’t give birth to her. That much is obvious.” He reached around her hips to the skin above her womanly curls. Her belly flipped. He searched her flat stomach with his fingertips. “No scar. No cesarean. Who’s her biological mother?”

  “Oh, Brody.” Tears welled up in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She took a deep breath. “Can we enjoy the rest of the night and discuss this tomorrow?”

  “You promise we’ll come back to this topic?”

  “Yeah, I promise.”

  He pulled her closer to him, one arm beneath her cheek as the other stroked her back. “Yeah. We can talk about it tomorrow. You care if I stay for a while?” He pulled the sheet up over them both.

  “You had better,” she responded as her eyes closed.

  ****

  Wes’s cell phone rang in his pocket. He put down his cue stick, reached for it and flipped it open, “Yeah, Boss?”

  “Did you get it yet?”

  “No. Not yet.” He heard a growl on the other end of the line and loud curses. “I told her she has seven days to produce what you want. I gave her a little scare because I sent the note by way of her daughter.” He laughed maliciously.

  “Good thinking. Hit her where it hurts.”

  “She’ll give you what you want. She would hate for something to happen to that pretty little girl.”

  “I want what’s mine. Get it.” The phone clicked off.

  ****

  Lou woke at dawn, as usual, and sat up quickly in bed. She clutched the sheet to her naked body. Naked! Oh, my God! The pillow beside her own was still warm and smelled like Brody. She buried her face in his pillow and sniffed deeply. She smiled broadly but the smile was quickly replaced by a frown.

  What had she done? She’d had sex with Brody. Wild and crazy sex. Fabulous, mind blowing sex. And now he knew. He knew her secret. She had kept it hidden for so many years. Jeb, Sadie, John, and Mrs. Wester were the only ones who knew her secret. Now there was one more person. He knew! He knew Sarah wasn’t truly her daughter. She wasn’t her biological daughter, at least.

  Lou swung her legs over the edge of the bed and winced. She was sore in places she didn’t know she had. She dressed quickly and put her hair into a ponytail. She put on her running shoes, even though she did not feel like running.

  This was the day of Mrs. Wester’s funeral with the service and internment at noon. She wasn’t required to make breakfast because most of the hands were off for the day, but she could still fry bacon and eggs for Jeb, Sadie, and John. And Brody. Don’t forget about Brody. How can I forget Brody? Just one thought of him made her pulse race as she remembered him from the night before. She flushed as she recalled the way his hands had moved across her body and the tender way he held her as she went to sleep. She shook the distraction from her mind like a dog shakes after a bath and walked downstairs.

  She walked into the kitchen, prepared to find Sadie and Jeb sitting at the kitchen table reading the paper and drinking a cup of coffee with John. But they weren’t there. Just Brody. Only Brody. Brody lowered the paper and peered over the top of it. She only saw his eyes but she saw them darken as his glance focused on hers. Light gray turned to steel as his eyes raked over her body from head to toe. He stripped her naked with just one glance.

  Lou took a deep breath and turned to pour herself a cup of coffee. Strong arms moved around her waist and he placed a light kiss on her neck. She jumped and then leaned back into him. The awkwardness was quickly forgotten. “Good morning,” he murmured as his lips traveled across her shoulder, his hands pressed firmly to her belly.

  “Morning,” she said quietly, her head thrown back on his shoulder. Her pulse began to quicken.

  “You sleep okay?” he asked against her throat.

  “Like a baby,” she responded.

  “No nightmares?”

  “Not a one.”

  He turned her around in his arms. Her hands automatically went around his neck. Her eyes smiled into his.

  “That�
��s amazing. That must be the first full night of sleep you’ve had in weeks.”

  “Amazing doesn’t begin to describe it. How did you sleep?” she asked.

  “I had this lovely lady with her bottom in my lap all night. Coupled with memories of devouring her just moments before, how do you think I slept?”

  “Poorly?”

  “Nope. I woke up a few times,” his lips touched tenderly to hers. “I wanted to ravish you again but I didn’t. I am such a gentleman.”

  “Why didn’t you?”