She let her empty hand fall to her side. “I think you should go, Ethan,” she said flatly. All the fight had gone out of her and now she felt exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and forget this encounter ever happened.
“Allow me to take you to your apartment,” he implored and once again he sounded like a perfect gentleman. “You need your rest before the big performance tomorrow night. I would hate for there to be an accident where you hurt yourself.”
“I’ll be fine, Ethan,” she answered numbly. She wanted to insist that she could see herself home but she knew she would be wasting her breath. Ethan was always persistent and he continued to press until she relented. He reached for her and pulled her gently into his arms. She went willingly only because she didn’t want to make him angry.
This time when he took her lips it was a tender kiss. He teased and nipped with teeth and tongue until he slowly drew a response from her. She didn’t want to give in, but again he was relentless. He plied her mouth with his own until she melted against him. Her submission seemed to excite him and he deepened the kiss. His breath became hers. His tongue stroked hers as he tipped her chin for a better angle. Closer, still closer they merged into one through the kiss. She felt she was losing herself in the ongoing contact. None of it was hurtful or violating this time. It seemed passionate and breathtaking and she was okay with opening herself to him in this way, at least a little bit. She wished he would always be this tender. Maybe she should forgive him for his awkwardness and cruelty. He now held her carefully, as if she was a fragile gift. Slowly his fingers traced down her back until his hands rested at her waist. The bruises at her neck were forgotten. The swollen pain in her lips now begged for his tender ministrations. She knew he wanted more from her but he restrained himself from taking more than she would give.
Finally the kiss ended. She slowly opened her eyes. Her smile froze on her lips when she saw the triumphant look on his face. He was gloating. The blissful feeling evaporated as she realized the truth. The kiss had been a ploy to win her over again – to make her submit. He didn’t really care for her. He wanted to own her. She had seen little signs that worried her but he always covered his tracks and made her feel she was imagining things – that she shouldn’t be suspicious. So she gave him the benefit of the doubt. He was awkward and unused to wooing women. He didn’t know how to appropriately express his affection. He was in awe of her. She always made excuses for him - but now, now she couldn’t. There were no excuses for his being triumphant.
In that moment she loathed him and realized she wanted nothing to do with him. She would get a restraining order and never go anywhere alone. She would move in with her parents again. Anything to remove Ethan Moore from her life. He had way too much contact with her – like tonight. The only way he knew she was alone was if he’d followed her to the theater and then broken into the building. While there was a side to him that intrigued her, she also saw he was dangerous. He would hurt her if she crossed him. The blood on her lip didn’t lie.
Ethan’s expression was again a neutral mask. She eyed him suspiciously but he returned her look with a tender smile. “You need your rest, darling,” he murmured. Again he was gentle and attentive. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her toward the door. Her broken ballet shoes were forgotten on the table behind her. Olivia wanted to fight him and tell him to never touch her or speak to her again but she knew she couldn’t resist him. He wouldn’t allow her to.
“Come, little butterfly, let me take you home. Let me prove to you how good we are together. If I have my way, you and I will never part again. Not even death can separate us.”
Olivia’s eyes flew open and she sucked in a sharp breath. It was pitch black and she was in an unfamiliar room. “Ethan?” Her voice trembled with fear.
She felt someone stiffen and grow alert on the bed beside her. “No, Liv honey. He isn’t here. Did you have another dream?”
She sagged with relief at the sound of Paul’s groggy voice. They were in a hotel in Laramie, Wyoming. Ethan was only a nightmare – for now. Paul pulled her close and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. He was a large man and instead of feeling suffocated in his arms, she felt safe. She nuzzled in closer and felt the reaction in his body. His immediate response made her a little bolder and she wiggled closer.
“You sorely tempt a man,” Paul growled as his hands traced slowly and deliciously over her body. “When all this is over, I’m going to make you mine in every way possible.”
Olivia didn’t know exactly what he meant – if he was offering sex or even marriage – she didn’t dare fill in the blanks herself. “What if it never ends, Paul? We can’t continue like this and you know it. You have to go back to your normal life or Ethan will figure out that you’re helping me and he’ll use your family to get to me. You need to go back.”
“No way. He’s gonna get caught. And in the meantime we’ll head to North Dakota. We’ll rent a farm and I’ll plant a field of wheat. We’ll grow old and fat together.”
Olivia laughed at the absurdity of his plan. “Do you know anything about wheat farming?”
“Nope,” Paul retorted as he pressed a kiss to her neck. “But for you, I’ll learn anything. We could move to Cozumel and I’ll teach scuba diving. Or we’ll go to Spain and I’ll show people how to run with the bulls.”
“Oh yeah? You’ve done that before? How about studying polar bears in the Arctic?” she asked with a smile as she felt his tongue tease her neck. She wiggled against him, making him growl again.
“As long as we can snuggle in our own igloo. I’ll go anywhere with you. I’ll catch fish. You can make us clothes out of animal skins -”
“Sounds disgusting,” she muttered.
“Then we’ll go to the Alps. We’ll ski every day and do other things to keep warm at night.”
“Mmm, sounds better.” His kisses were too distracting to keep up with the conversation. As his hands and mouth explored her body at a leisurely pace she allowed herself to get lost in his touch. His kisses were so different than Ethan’s. She didn’t worry that Paul would hurt her. Instead he lit a fire within her that nothing could put out. She forced the nightmare of Ethan from her thoughts. He was far away in California. He couldn’t hurt her tonight. And tonight she could pretend she would be together with Paul forever. “Paul?”
“Mm hm?” He continued to press kisses to her collarbone then his tongue traced a line up to her chin. He pressed another kiss to her lips. Neither of them was satisfied with the light kiss and it immediately deepened into more.
When she could breathe again she asked, “Will you tell me you love me? I need to hear you say it once more.” No other man had said the words to her.
Paul leaned on his elbow. She couldn’t see him in th
e darkness but she could feel his breath on her cheek as she pictured his tender expression. She loved the way his gorgeous blue eyes crinkled with affection when he looked at her. She knew she could trust this man with not only her safety but with her heart. “I love you with all my being, Liv honey. This probably sounds sappy but I plan to keep on loving you for the rest of my life until I’m too old to take another breath. And even then your name will be the last word I utter.”
His promise brought tears to her eyes and she reached for him and pressed a desperate kiss to his lips. She wanted to hold him close and never let him go but she was afraid he was going to be ripped away from her. If only she could prolong this moment so it lasted forever. If only Ethan would leave her alone!
“Go back to sleep, love. It’s the middle of the night and you’re safe. I’ve got you.” Paul tucked her against his chest and nuzzled the back of her head. His hand splayed with comfortable heaviness over her stomach. With a sigh she settled in. She would worry about Ethan tomorrow.
***
“You’ve already checked the room twice, Liv honey. We need to go.” Paul swiped his hand through his hair in agitation. He felt edgy and it had nothing to do with waking up to a sexy warm woman and choosing to do none of the things that sprang immediately to mind. No, his edginess was something he experienced often in undercover work. His buddy, Dylan, liked to call it a sixth sense. Paul didn’t have a name for it, except that it always meant something bad was about to happen.
Normally Olivia was the one who was wound tight and ready to snap. For some reason today she was in no hurry. She was full of smiles and that did Paul’s heart good because he knew he was the reason for her happiness. But seeing her so relaxed only made his edginess increase. He had to watch out for her; he had to keep her safe. “You ready?”