His Captive Lover (The Thorpe Brothers Series) (9 page)

Mia thought she might have just died and gone to heaven.  When Ash put a spoon in front of her face, she grabbed it, then twisted around, balancing herself on the counter while she grabbed the chocolate brownie ice cream.  She didn’t say a word but instead, dove into the ice cream, leaning against the counter behind her while she spooned the rich, creamy dessert into her mouth. 

“I think I might have to marry you,” she mumbled, then realized what she’d just said and looked up at him, startled and worried about his reaction.

He was reaching into the freezer himself and opened up the cherry vanilla ice cream, his own spoon already in his hand. “I accept.  When’s the wedding?”

Mia’s mind froze and she looked up at him, suddenly realizing what she’d just said.  When he only winked down at her as he dug into his own ice cream container, she sighed with relief.  He was only taking the comment as a joke, which was how it was meant.  Sort of.

Her mind froze again.  Okay, she asked herself mentally, where had that “sort of” come from?  Of course she’d been teasing!  She shifted on the counter, tucking her feet underneath her and taking another large spoonful of the chocolate dessert.  “Why couldn’t you sleep?” she asked

He took a large spoonful of the cherry vanilla, then put the top back on the container and pulled out the rocky road.  “I was sound asleep.  I heard you sneak out and it woke me up.”

She looked up at him sheepishly, feeling horrible for disturbing his slumber.  “I’m sorry,” she said and took another bite.  “Whenever I have trouble sleeping, ice cream always makes me fall asleep faster.  Probably the sugar and the milk, or something.”

They talked a little about the case, more about their favorite ice creams and some about the different things they did to relax when they were stressed about work or life.  By the time she was yawning, it was almost one o’clock in the morning. 

“I think I can go to sleep now,” she said with a sleepy smile and jumped off of the counter.  She put the cartons of mostly melted ice cream back into the freezer, feeling self-conscious now that he was watching her in her bare feet, looking bedraggled after a long, difficult day. 

She leaned against the counter slightly, smiling up at him.  “Well….” She felt awkward and that painful awareness came raging back.  “Good night,” she said softly.  “Again.”

He chuckled, but moved closer, inexorably drawn to her softness.  “Goodnight, Mia,” he replied. 

He wanted to touch her, to kiss her but it was late.  She’d been up for almost twenty-four hours and he refused to take advantage of her. 

Mia shifted on her feet, feeling a strange sort of power overtake her.  It might have just been exhaustion, but she didn’t care.  Not at this point anyway. 

She walked over to him and lifted up on her bare feet.  She’d meant to just give him a soft, gentle kiss and then skitter away. 

That was the plan anyway. 

She lifted up but she lost her balance slightly and reached out to steady herself by placing her hand in the middle of his chest.  She looked at her hand, felt his heartbeat underneath her fingers.  She just stared, barely moving, barely breathing.  For a long moment, they just stood there like that. 

She felt her eyes move upwards as if in slow motion.  She’d seen this in the movies so many times but it was surreal now.  When her eyes looked into his, there was a complete awareness of him as a man. 

Her hand moved higher, her fingers wrapping around his neck and she lifted her head to kiss him.  She held her breath, needing so desperately to feel his lips against hers, to know what it was like to be kissed by this man.  He hesitated for only a fraction of a second before lowering his head.  She couldn’t have kissed him without his help and she almost sobbed with relief when his lips finally touched hers. 

She gasped at the heat that erupted with that barely-there touch.  Mia pulled back, startled and looked into his eyes.  He was looking right back at her.  But his expression hardened, the heat flared to a roaring fire and his hands, which had been gripping the stone counter behind him, whipped around to hold her close, pulling her even more solidly against his hard body.  One hand dove into her hair, holding her head in place while his lips ravished hers and the other arm wrapped round her waist, lifting her higher against his hard frame and making her whimper with need. 

After that first touch, he wasn’t gentle.  But nor did Mia want gentleness.  She might have cried against any kind of tenderness from this man.  Right now, she desperately wanted only to be devoured.  She wanted everything this hard, kind, generous and intelligent man had to give and he delivered without further hesitation.  Over and over again he tilted his head, kissing her, his tongue diving into her mouth and demanding that hers mate with his. And when she complied, her whole body melted into his as he pulled her even closer. 

She didn’t feel him lift her up or spin her around.  All she knew was that his heat was spreading to every portion of her body.  Her mind was no longer in control.  Only desire had control.  Her hands were gripping his hair, holding him close so he couldn’t get away.  When he tore his mouth away from hers, she whimpered with need but the hand in her hair pulled her head backwards and she sighed with delight when his mouth nibbled on her neck and her earlobe, causing her to shudder with increased need.  And then suddenly his mouth was back, he was demanding more, kissing her as if he were feeling everything she was feeling. She thrilled to that need in him even as it scared her a little. 

And then it was over.  He pulled back, their breathing heavy as they looked at each other.  Realization slowly dawned on her and her mind started working once again.  She looked around, getting her bearings.  She was no longer standing on the floor but instead, she was sitting on his countertop, his hips between her legs and pressing against her core. 

He pulled back just as she realized their position. 

“I’m sorry, Mia.  That won’t happen again,” he said softly.  With strong, deft fingers, he lifted her off of the counter top.  But then he walked stiffly away, taking the stairs two or three at a time as he put as much space between them as he could.

Mia stood there for several more minutes, wondering how a simple kiss had gotten so out of control.  She’d never experienced anything like that before.  And to experience it now, with a man she didn’t even like?  And who…

“Oh no,” she sighed, the horrifying events of the day surging back to her mind. 

“No,” she told herself firmly.  Shaking her head, she pulled herself together.  With equal parts exhaustion and determination, she slowly made her way up the stairs and to the bedroom he’d loaned her.  Sliding between the sheets, her last thought was if she would ever be able to fall asleep after that kiss. 

Over the next three days, Ash worked like a demon.  He was everywhere, arguing with the district attorney, examining evidence, going through all the documents the police had picked up and doing just about everything he could to get the charges dropped. 

During the day, he kept Mia close by.  Sometimes she would be working with Mark or his team.  Other times, he might have her right next to him while his legal team went through the evidence. 

The nights were the hardest though.  He wouldn’t let her go home, coming up with one reason after another why she should stay in his brownstone.  He cooked dinner for her every night and talked with her about whatever came to mind while they drank wine or beer.  He loved the fact that she enjoyed both. 

And every night, he kissed her goodnight, enjoying the soft way she responded to his touch.  She never failed to drive him crazy with her touch, but he was also careful not to let things get too out of control.  It was hard because his body was aching to possess hers.  But there was a line he wouldn’t cross and making love to a client, especially one as vulnerable and kind as Mia, was something he simply wouldn’t do no matter how much his body hurt. 

Chapter 5

Ash gripped his cell phone in his hand, worry surpassing all other emotions right now.  “Mia, where are you?” he demanded, knowing she’d left his place and she wasn’t here in the office with him.  That meant she wasn’t where he could protect her and he didn’t like that feeling. 

He’d left his brownstone this morning after checking on her, watching her sleep for perhaps a bit longer than might be appropriate.  But after their kiss last night, he’d had trouble tearing his eyes away from her.  She’d looked so peaceful this morning – the exact opposite of how he felt right now. 

“I’m just heading over to my place.  I need some different clothes and I need to figure out what’s going on with my house.  I’m a little anxious after you mentioned the relatively fresh cement in my basement that was being torn up.  It was put into the basement to stop the recurring flooding so now there’s the added possibility that my house might flood with the next heavy rain.” 

Since Ash had just discussed the status of her little cottage with the police detective in charge of the investigation, his stomach clenched with worry over her reaction to what her house might look like.  “Mia, if you need something, have Autumn go over and get it.  If she’s unavailable, I’ll get someone else to do it or I’ll do it myself,” he said, quickly grabbing his coat off of the back of his chair and rushing out of the office.  He might have known Mia for a little only a few days, but he was already starting to get to know this stubborn little woman and he was pretty sure she would ignore his suggestion. 

She laughed and he gritted his teeth.  She was certainly in a wonderful mood this morning.  It was amazing what a good night’s sleep had done for her.  He wished he could say the same.  That kiss had driven all possibility of sleep out of his mind last night.  He’d lain awake, thinking of her soft, warm body in the bed just one room next to him and he’d ached to touch her again, hear her soft sighs when he touched her silky skin. 

“Ash, don’t worry about me.  I’m tired of relying on everyone else, especially when I’m perfectly able to do things for myself.” 

Ash pressed the call button for the elevator several times, frantic to get to her before she saw what the police had done to her house.  “Mia, just turn around and head back to my place,” he said with what he hoped was a gentle voice but he wasn’t sure.  He was gritting his teeth as he spoke, too worried about her seeing her yard.  “No one thinks you’re relying on them too much.  We’re more than happy to help.”

“I’m fine, Ash.  Thank you for your help, but I’m just going to run home, take a shower with my own stuff and get my own clothes.  I know the press might still be a problem so I’ll be careful.”

She wasn’t listening to him and everything she said made perfect sense, but he knew the details!  He had to stop her somehow!  “Mia, don’t you dare go back to your house,” he commanded, relying on old instincts. 

Mia pulled the cell phone back from her ear.  “What just happened here?” she asked, her voice definitely colder.  “You can’t order me about, Ash.”

He knew that was the truth but he didn’t like it.  Hell, he wished he had the right to simply tell her to turn around, or even better, he wished she trusted him enough to listen to him and trust him.  That didn’t make any difference now.  She would be so upset if she saw her house.  He just knew it! 

“Mia, after the past few nights, I can damn well tell you what to do and I want you to tell the cab driver to turn around and head back to my place or to my office right now.  If you don’t want anyone else in your place, fine.  I’ll get your stuff for you later.  Or even better, I’ll bring you there myself.”  Really, he just didn’t want her to see what had happened before he could fix everything.  “Just turn around now,” he said with as much authority as he could muster under the circumstances.  “I’m getting in the elevator now.  I’ll meet you back at my place.”

Mia was irritated with his tone and wasn’t going to take orders from him or any man.  Not after everything that had happened over the past week.  “Goodbye Ash,” she said and pressed the end button on her cell phone. 

She dumped it right back into her purse, then fished it out again and pressed the silent mode.  If she knew anything about Ash by now, it was that he didn’t give up.  He’d call her right back. 

Ash stared at his phone for half a second before his anger exploded.  He immediately hit redial even while he was rushing to his car.  When her voice mail picked up, he was furious and worried all at the same time.  “Damn it, Mia.  Pick up the phone and call me back.  Don’t you dare go over to your house!  I’m telling you now to just turn around.  I’ll take you over there myself tonight.” 

He dove into his car, tires screeching as he pulled out of the parking space.  He ran three red lights in an attempt to get to her place faster.  He didn’t want her seeing what the police had done.  After everything she’d gone through, this would be the final blow.  He didn’t know what she would do and he didn’t want to take the chance that this would be the straw that broke her. 

He pressed the call button on his steering wheel, cursing when he got her voice mail again.  “Mia, call me back right now!  I’m ordering you to stop doing this and call me!”

He drove three more miles and pressed the button again.  When he only got her voice mail one more time, he shook his head and pressed the accelerator.  “Mia, don’t do this.  I’m telling you,” he said, changing from anger to coaxing, determined to stop her somehow, “just turn around and come back to my place.” 

She didn’t even look at her cell phone again, feeling empowered now that she was finally heading home.  She felt like she’d been gone for months instead of just days and she was eager to be around her own things, to sort through her mind and figure out what was going on. 

Mia already had the money ready to pay the cab driver before they turned the corner on her street.  But when the cab driver pulled up in front of her house, she couldn’t believe her eyes.  With a horrible, stabbing pain shooting through her entire body, she handed the cab driver the money and stepped out of the vehicle.  Unfortunately, she couldn’t go any further.