Page 53 of From the Darkness

“So, did she make up the story about the Sterlings—to get us back together?” she asked. “Remember, she could come up with such complicated schemes. She told me about the time she spent all summer vacation writing complaint letters to companies, pretending she was you. Then she watched you get all that mail. Some of the companies threatened to sue you. And some of them sent you cases of products to make up for the deficiencies that you’d claimed you’d found. Only it wasn’t you. When you discovered it was Helen who’d caused all the uproar, you were so mad.”

He gave a harsh laugh. “Yeah, I remember that summer. She was twelve, and I was fifteen.”

“So, couldn’t this be one of her elaborate schemes?” she asked, hoping against hope that he’d agree.

“If she wanted to get us back together, she certainly took a roundabout route. All she had to do was give me your address and phone number.”

“Yes. She and I never lost touch.” Bree let the implications sink in. “So—we’re back to—are you saying she made the whole thing up—about the Sterlings?” she asked slowly. “Why would she do that?”

She saw him considering the questions.

He ignored the motivation part. “She didn’t make up the whole thing,” he said after long moments. “I think they did something . .bad.”

“What?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Hit you over the head? Gave you partial amnesia? Like in that scene you showed me. Only now your memory is coming back.”

“Yes,” he murmured, but it was obvious his thoughts had turned inward. “Maybe it wasn’t them,” he said slowly.

“Tell me everything you remember!” she pleaded.

“Bree, I’ve told you what I remember. And we’ve already wasted so much time. I don’t want to waste any more talking about the Sterlings. Not when I’ve longed for you to come back to me,” he said thickly, smothering her attempt at a protest by covering her lips with his.

The kiss was long and thorough, and it took her breath away. She was feeling light-headed as he slid his lips away from hers to the sensitive line of her jaw and then the tender place at the top of her neck.

The part of her mind that still functioned told her to pull away again. They weren’t finished with the conversation. And the conversation was important. If she kept asking questions, maybe he would remember more.

But coherence was rapidly deserting her. He had said he didn’t want to waste any more time, and she understood that so well. Time had become precious. Time with him.

Later. They could talk later.

She made a small whimpering sound in her throat, her hands finding the hem of his shirt and slipping underneath. As her palms slid against his skin, she heard him gasp.

“Yes,” she whispered.

The feelings were so elemental. The intimacy staggering.

She had been here such a short time. But the passion between them had been building from the first night in her bed.

He had teased her. Tantalized her.

“I want you naked,” he whispered. “The way you were in the shower.”

“Oh yes.”

His hands went to the front of her shirt. At first, he fumbled as he slid the buttons open, but his touch became surer as he continued the task, slipping the garment off her shoulders.

She helped him then, reaching around to snap the catch on her bra. Lifting it away and sending it to join the shirt.

He bent to kiss her shoulders, the tops of her breasts; and she arched against him, silently begging for more.

His hands were busy again, pulling off her slacks and panties, skimming them down her legs. She stepped out of the unwanted clothing and kicked it away, so that she stood naked in his arms—aroused but just a little uncertain.

She was totally exposed. He was still fully dressed. She wanted him naked too, but when she tried to speak, her voice caught in her throat as his hands stroked up and down her flanks, cupped her bottom, pulling her against his taut length, his body swaying with hers in an erotic rhythm that swamped her senses.

“You are so lovely,” he whispered. “And so generous. You were always so generous. That was one of the things that attracted me to you. That was how I lost you. Your mother got sick, and you put her welfare before anything you wanted.”

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