And she wanted more.

Pushing him back a bit, she managed to get his shirt up and over his head, and despite it not being the first time she'd seen the glory of his body, she still stopped to stare a bit. When her gaze reached his face again, he wore a smile, a knowing, male smile, and her own lips quirked up in response.

"You're hot." She shrugged. "What else can I do but stare a little?"

He laughed, startled. "Feel free to objectify me whenever you wish."

"Take your pants off and I'll do it some more."

He did, removing his shorts along with the jeans. He really was gorgeous. All barely leashed power just beneath the skin.

He drew in a shaky breath. "I want to take it slow and easy, but then you look at me like that and all I can think of is how good you feel wrapped around my c.o.c.k when I'm inside you."

She'd never imagined anyone ever saying such a thing to her. So raw and beautiful, honest and frankly s.e.xual. It was invigorating to have someone want her like that. Thrilling.

This man here before her was hers in a sense, in her bed, wanting her in his life both in his bed and out of it. That was a powerful lure. To be wanted that way soothed some jagged spot inside she hadn't known was rubbing her raw until his presence eased it.

She stepped in and licked up his side, over each rib, tasting him. The groan he made shot through her like a bloom of pleasure, knowing she made him feel that way. When he moved her hand to his c.o.c.k, she nearly swooned at the feel of him, so hard against her palm.

She kissed his chest and down his belly until she got to her knees. Then her mouth went to his c.o.c.k, tracing her tongue down the length of him and back up again. He cradled her skull in his hands as she continued to kiss and lick.

She took him back as deeply as she could and pulled away, over and over.

"d.a.m.n, you're so beautiful. I've never seen anything as beautiful," he murmured, his hands gentle in her hair, fingertips brushing against the nape of her neck.

She was like a b.u.t.terfly, a bird, something magical and small and so very beautiful. The room smelled so strongly of her. Not perfume, not really; just an essential sort of sweetness with a small amount of spice. He'd had more skilled mouths on his c.o.c.k, but this woman had something else, something ethereal that no one he'd ever touched had possessed.

Something surged through him from the b.a.l.l.s of his feet, lodging in his chest. "Up here, beautiful. I want to lay you out, I want to be over you, inside you, when I come." He swept her up, kissing her before he laid her down on the bed and followed.

"I need you," she said in that soft voice, and it broke at his control like waves. "You didn't let me finish."

He kissed a nipple and then the other one. "Oh I'm going to finish. I promise."

"Hurry."

Her belly was warm and strong against his lips as he kissed it. Her scent, sweet/spice salted with the musk of her body, with the way he he made her. "I have to taste you first. I think I'm addicted." made her. "I have to taste you first. I think I'm addicted."

Her laugh was taut with need, and it melted into a sigh when he took the first lick of her. Such an intimate thing, his mouth on the center of her. She was rich and deep, and he couldn't seem to get enough, so he rejoiced that she seemed to want him as much as he wanted her.

Her thigh muscles bunched and relaxed as she rolled her hips, arching up to get more from him. He loved that. Loved that he made her needy and shameless when it came to taking her pleasure. Almost as much as he loved giving it to her.

When she came, he tasted it to his bones, felt the fine tremor of her body as she tightened and then relaxed on a stuttered sigh.

"Now that I've taken the edge off, we can get to the next part of the program." He reached down to grab his pants to fish out a condom from his pocket.

Elise looked up as he lowered himself over her. The blunt head of his c.o.c.k pressed against her, pressing into her body as she made room, stretching slowly.

G.o.d, he felt good. He gave her just the right amount of weight, taking most of it on his forearms. She wrapped her legs around his waist, taking him in fully.

"f.u.c.king you is much more fun than just about anything else I can think of. In fact, it's more fun than anything I can think of." He laughed, leaning down to capture a kiss as he began to thrust, slow and deep.

They didn't say much, but the silence wasn't heavy, it was nice between them, not needing to fill the s.p.a.ce with words.

She felt every inch of him as she clutched his back, pulling him close, loving the way his muscles played against her palms. He held her gaze as he moved within her, held it as he changed his angle, bringing the line of his c.o.c.k brushing her c.l.i.t over and over, until she had to bite into his pec to m.u.f.fle the sound.

He hissed, but not in pain. His eyes blurred and she felt him come as her body tightened around his c.o.c.k.

Not wanting to crush her, he rolled to the side before getting up to deal with the condom quickly. When he returned, she'd lit a few candles and had stacked the pillows up at the head of her bed. The golden light from the candles licked at her skin, made shadows on the walls.

He kissed her because he could and he wanted to, as he settled in beside her.

"I enjoyed meeting your friends and family today," she said lazily, playing with his nipple ring. "This is beyond s.e.xy, by the way."

He grinned. It wasn't that he'd never felt s.e.xy or attractive. He did most of the time. He liked the way women responded to him. But when she said it, she said it with such artlessness, such genuine appreciation, it struck him deep.

"I'm glad you like it and I'm glad you had fun today. They all enjoyed meeting you as well, and I think Nina and Rennie hit it off. It's good for her to have connections in the neighborhood."

"It is. Girls her age can love their friends so much. I felt horrible moving out here, making her leave her friends behind. So I'm relieved she's making them here. Maggie is really nice. I like having connections here too."

He took her hand, raising it to his lips to kiss each fingertip.

"We're going to be down at the park next Sat.u.r.day. A little grudge-match football game we have the weekend before Halloween. If you want to cheer and have the time off, you should show up. There'll be kids there for Rennie. Arvin plays, so Maggie will bring Nina most likely."

She blinked, surprised. "Thank you. I have cla.s.ses each Sat.u.r.day until two. If you're still there when I'm done, Rennie and I will stop by."

"Starts at three, so you should be good. If we start earlier, it goes on and on. So we decided a few years ago to get out there no more than two hours before sunset."

Laughter shook her very delightful b.r.e.a.s.t.s. "That's very cute." He frowned and then bared his teeth. "Cute? I'm a bada.s.s, Elise. I ride a Harley and have tattoos."

She laughed even harder. "I-I'm sure you are if the situation calls for it. But you're a very sweet man beneath the tattoos." "Sweet." He snorted, amused by her.

Rolling into him, she pushed him back to the mattress and kissed his face several times. "There's not a d.a.m.ned thing wrong with sweet. Sweet is very underrated."

He laughed. "Ha! Chicks only want sweet for their platonic male friends."

She sobered up and he traced the curve of her bottom lip. "Did I hit a nerve?"

Shaking her head, she dropped a kiss on his shoulder. "Old wounds."

Old wounds. Yeah, something like that.

She thought of those words as she worked over the next week. Wondered about how and when it had gone so wrong for her. Wondered if she'd ever not have her time with Ken hanging around her neck like a millstone.

Rennie sat at the kitchen table doing her homework while Elise folded laundry. The phone rang and she smiled at the number.

"h.e.l.lo, Mama."

"Why didn't you tell us about this mess with Ken's parents?" her mother demanded.

"I'm gonna take these clothes up to your room and put them on your bed. You know which drawers they go in. I'll be back." She grabbed the basket and headed away from listening ears.

"What's going on? Have they been bothering you?" she asked once she'd gotten to Rennie's room.

"You answer my question first, Elise." Her mother's imperious tone made Elise smile. It was easy now, with a few thousand miles between them, to be amused.

"I didn't tell you because you two had enough to deal with. There's nothing you can do and it would have upset you. Now, what happened?"

"This is why you wanted us to stay in New York until Daddy had retired. I can't believe you didn't tell us! We're your parents. We have a right to know so we can support you. Didn't you know we would have helped in any way?"

"I did. I do. I swear to you. After Matthias . . . You just had so much to deal with, and then the murder. It's over anyway. Now, tell me." She sat on Rennie's bed, a froth of pink lace and stuffed animals lined up in an orderly fashion.

"She called today. That evil cow. Said you'd been refusing to let them have their monthly phone call with Irene. Said they'd sue us if we didn't help. Imagine my surprise to hear that they'd been threatening to ruin your new school and to take Irene out of the U.S. to raise her without her mother. Imagine her her surprise to my response when she threatened to harm Daddy's professorship. People like them make me crazy. However, you not sharing drives me crazy too. I don't care what she says. You're our child, Irene is our grandbaby; they won't harm you through us." surprise to my response when she threatened to harm Daddy's professorship. People like them make me crazy. However, you not sharing drives me crazy too. I don't care what she says. You're our child, Irene is our grandbaby; they won't harm you through us."

Elise couldn't help but laugh at the idea of her mother telling off Bettina Sorenson. "I'm sorry. I just . . . Mama, these people are dangerous. You don't need it."

She hated hated them. Hated the Sorensons. Hated her kid getting sick at having to speak to them. Hated them for hurting her parents. them. Hated the Sorensons. Hated her kid getting sick at having to speak to them. Hated them for hurting her parents.

"Their son was the problem. Their son! I don't need don't need it, it, pish pish. Elise, you don't get to decide what I need." This was followed by a twominute-long, profanity-laced rant, all in French, wherein Elise was schooled on what her job was and how they were her parents so therefore Elise needed to obey them and stop hiding things.

Her father took the phone. "She'll be that way for a while. We're coming out for a visit over Thanksgiving. I know we invited you back here to visit, but your mother and I decided it's best to keep you two out west. I don't want those vile Sorensons anywhere near you or Rennie. We'll plan to stay for a week, during which we will be looking for a house."

Her head began to pound and tears of frustration threatened. "Daddy, really, it's not necessary. They're not a threat. I have sole custody and I haven't refused anything. They call at random and I say no. They upset her every time they call, so I keep it to once a month. She gets cranky, cries for no reason, gets stomachaches. I wouldn't do it at all, but I want to comply with everything so they can never have anything to use against me. I feel like I'm not protecting her, but I don't know what else I can do without making things worse."

"We're coming. You'll pick us up from the airport. Your mother says you have her services all week long at the studio. We love you, Elise. We miss you and we miss that baby. Your mother can teach piano anywhere, and I'm an old man who can find young people to adore him anywhere too. You need us. We need you."

She smiled through tears. She needed them so much; even at her age, she needed them. But Ken had been part of what happened to Matthias, had been part of that long slide into oblivion, and even though she and Ken had been estranged and Ken had been doing a stint in county jail when Matthias overdosed, the guilt of it still colored her perceptions.

"Momma, can I come up now?" Rennie hollered from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm coming down," she told Rennie before turning back to her father. "Rennie knows you're on the phone, you want to talk to her?"

Her father laughed and her mother got on the other line. "I'm finished with the bad words now. We'll see you in a month and you well tell us the whole story when we arrive."

She handed the phone to her daughter and sighed deeply as she moved toward the rest of the laundry she needed to put away. It was a relief on so many levels to have that off her chest. To be able to share this with her parents. But on the other hand, she heard the anger in her mother's voice, had heard the barely disguised rage in her father's. She was done with all the violence and the threats, she simply didn't want her parents to be affected by the cancer the Sorensons were.

It was bad enough Rennie had to have a phone call from them once a month. It was more than generous, considering all the things they'd done, and in the end she continued to hope they loved Rennie enough to try. But she knew in her heart of hearts that it wouldn't last. They'd come after her again, so the longer she was established in Seattle, the more she grew roots in the community, the more Rennie thrived and the longer Elise adhered to the rules of the agreement, the better off she'd be when they finally decided to act again.

"Pops told me to tell you I deserve a Fudgeicle," Rennie announced as she came back down to hang up the phone.

"Fudgesicle and why am I not surprised? Your grandfather's love of Fudgesicles is known far and wide." Elise rolled her eyes but rewarded herself and Rennie with one each. and why am I not surprised? Your grandfather's love of Fudgesicles is known far and wide." Elise rolled her eyes but rewarded herself and Rennie with one each.

10.

"Oh, there you are!" Erin jumped up from the picnic table and headed toward Elise and Rennie.

Rennie, spotting Nina on the swings, gave Erin a hit-and-run hug and headed off toward her friend.

"Hi there!" Elise was surprised but pleased when Erin hugged her and dragged her toward the table.

"Sit and eat. Brody will be right back. He and his team have gone off to do whatever they do before the game. I suspect shots of liquor are involved. Probably p.o.r.no magazines and stories of conquest. Or whatever they do when we're not around."

"More like sitting around, eating wings and drinking beer. p.o.r.n may be involved though." Maggie sat and put a bottled water within Elise's reach.

Erin laughed. "Oh, they're all so bada.s.s. Big bad cops and tat artists and stuff and they're all whining about their knees."

Elise grinned and dug into the bag of cookies after realizing she hadn't eaten much all day. Rennie played on the swings just to the left, so it was easy to chat, munch and watch the kids.

All the chatter faded into background noise when Brody came into view with several other men. His gaze immediately sought her, locked in as he strode toward her.

"Hey, you made it." His voice, that low, darkly sweet rumble, brought everything to attention.

"I did. How were the wings and p.o.r.n?"

He looked straight to Erin and the women dissolved into laughter.

"All quite spicy, thanks."

Her phone started ringing. The cell she had just for dealing with the Sorensons. She sighed, digging it out, and sent a look to Rennie before getting up. "Excuse me, please."

She stepped a few feet away and answered.

"h.e.l.lo?" She barely resisted the urge to answer with Why the f.u.c.k are you calling again, you b.i.t.c.h? Why the f.u.c.k are you calling again, you b.i.t.c.h?

"It's Bettina Sorenson. You sound harried and scattered as usual. No discipline or drive. So middle-cla.s.s. Since you're making me call you, yet again, please tell me why hasn't my granddaughter returned any of our calls."

And then she regretted her restraint. As if she didn't know who the b.i.t.c.h was. "You know very well why. You have a scheduled phone visit once a month. I'll have her by the phone on the fifteenth at the right time."

"You're difficult. Always have been. I told Ken that, but he had to have you. As if there weren't a thousand girls more suited to him. You've always tried to keep her away. You don't deserve her."

"We're done now. Do not call my family again about this. If you have a problem, you know my attorney's number. Deal with him."

"Your precious parents! Look at what they raised."

"I'll be sure to pa.s.s that on to them, and we'll try not to roll our eyes so hard we sprain something." She reined in her anger. There was no point in letting this woman get to her. She also had no idea if they recorded her, so she remained careful with what she said.

"Dude, what's that all about?" Erin asked Brody, who shrugged but watched Elise's body language change, tighten up. "I don't like it, Brody. Look at her. Something is wrong."

"Let's get playing!" Ben called from their makeshift field.

"Wait a minute." Brody motioned at Elise, and concern crossed Ben's features as they took her in. She paced, her free hand flapping around. "You can start without me. I'll be there in a bit." He moved toward Elise.

"I'm going to say it again just so we can be very clear. You have no right to call my parents. You have no right to call me on any day but the fifteenth at six p.m. Pacific time."