Pendelton Manor (21 page)

As his lips ravaged hers and his hard hands wasted no time divesting her of her clothes, it was easy to let her wine fogged senses take over and simply lay back and enjoy whatever he dished out, saving worrying about the future for tomorrow. Spreading her legs, she invited him in without hesitation.

The sex was rough, hard and fast as Adrian simply released his cock and shoved into her as soon as she lay naked and open under him. The feel of her pussy welcoming his rough intrusion with moist heat eased his conscience but did little to slow him down. Except for their harsh breathing, they were silent as he plunged in and out of her with hard, deep strokes, taking her so hard she grunted and her small body scooted up in the bed with each deep stroke. Her pebbled nipples grazed his chest, her labored breathing wafted across his neck and the wet slurping sound of their groins slamming together worked in tandem to draw up his balls as his climax neared with volatile force.

Sophie’s hips met his, thrust for thrust as he kept her arms pinned above her head, denying her the pleasure of touching him. The room was only lit by a small night light making shadows of their gyrating bodies. The feel of his rough clothing against her bare skin and the harsh sound of his breathing only excited her further. When his cock swelled even bigger, harder within her and started to jerk out his semen, she wrapped her legs around his hips and convulsed beneath him, the explosion rocking her senses as much as the thought of him turning from her rocked her small world.

The house was quiet by the time she rolled out of bed the next morning, showered, dressed and left to run her errands in town. She knew Nora and Rachel had needed to get up early so they could get their shop opened on time and wondered if they had as much trouble as she did facing the bright sunlight this morning. Even after swallowing three extra strength aspirin, her head hadn’t ceased its incessant aching throb.

Two hours later, after stopping in at what had become her favorite little coffee shop and downing a large mocha espresso before spending some quiet time in the library, Sophie was feeling better and more like herself. If it wasn’t for the nagging worry that she had ruined whatever tenuous, budding friendship she had going with Adrian, she would have enjoyed the unseasonably warm day and the walk to Nora and Rachel’s shop much more. Since she wanted to keep both her job and Adrian’s interest, she decided to ask the girl’s their advice.

“Hey, girlfriend,” Rachel greeted her as she stepped into the small boutique. “You look a heck of a lot better than I feel.”

“It’s an illusion, trust me,” Sophie answered as she browsed slowly while making her way up to the counter. There were several other customers that Nora was waiting on and by the time both women got a minute she had found some lingerie that she was tempted to buy in the hopes seeing her in them would keep Adrian’s mind on sex and off her unwillingness to even contemplate anything else.

“Wow, good choices,” Nora said when Sophie laid a couple of thongs and one demi-cupped bra on the counter. “Maybe these’ll improve Adrian’s mood by tonight. What’d you do to ruin his rare, but oh so welcome pleasant nature last night?”

Sighing, she admitted with a touch of guilt, “I refused to stay the night in his room and I don’t know what to do to mend the rift that has caused.”

“Yeah, knowing Adrian, he would take that personally, especially after refusing any and all overtures from us ever since Nicole died. Hell, he’s practically been a monk this past year, that is until you came along.” Nora grinned at her, obviously pleased for the man who was a good friend and, on occasion, more than a friend.

“That’s the problem,” Sophie sighed regretfully. “I really like Adrian but have absolutely no wish to get any more involved than we already are. Got any suggestions on how I can get back in his good graces?”

“You say you have no wish to get involved, but we don’t always get what we wish for,” Rachel said, her tone and eyes reflecting that she was speaking about herself as well as Sophie. “The heart wants what it wants and the mind eventually has little say so in it. I suspect your heart is already halfway to over ruling what your mind keeps insisting on.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean,” Nora agreed morosely.

It was obvious both women were unhappy with their current relationships, which made her wonder not for the first time, about why they have sex with the other guys when they had such strong feelings for Adam and James.

Apparently, something of what she was feeling must have shown on her face because Rachel smiled teasingly, saying, “And you’re wondering how I could fuck Ash when we go out of town together if James is the one I want, right?”

Damn her constant blushing, Sophie thought as she felt herself redden guiltily. “It’s none of my business, I know. I’m sorry.”

“Nonsense. You’ve nothing to be sorry for,” Nora assured her. “Our lifestyle isn’t for everyone; in fact there are times we wonder why we do what we do. But the fact is, we all care deeply about each other, have ever since high school when the three of us girls fell madly in love with the four of them when they intervened at a party and saved us from being pawed by some guys in their class, who happened to be four years older. After that, we made pests of ourselves, which they indulgently allowed, until we ceased being jail bait. When we started having sex together, none of us were attached to one specific person more than another, so it just seemed natural to have fun exploring our sexuality with our best friends, who by then, had had plenty of experience to share with us.”

“There was always an unspoken agreement between us that, until we’re committed, everyone and everything is fair game,” Rachel added.

Nora’s blue eyes twinkled with fond memories making Sophie grin back at her, a tad envious of missing out on having such close relationships in either high school or college. “I had friends in both high school and college, but not much time for play with working full time. You’re very lucky, no matter what others think of your alternative lifestyle.”

“We thought so too, but now that my feelings for James have deepened, I admit I’d like more. He keeps hinting at making things permanent between us, but I haven’t seen any move in that direction yet,” Rachel said.

“Yeah, me either. Adam is still ‘dating’ Casey off and on, but swears it’s just casual, as if that helps. Gravy sucking pig.”

Rachel and Sophie laughed at the way she said that with a sigh of longing instead of disgust. “Well, thanks for explaining. I’ll take these,” Sophie said as she pushed the lingerie towards Nora across the counter, “and hope they appease Adrian’s bad mood. I’m sure I misconstrued his reaction last night and he really has no more interest in anything but sex than I do, especially after what he went through with Nicole.”

“I wouldn’t bet on it, girlfriend,” Rachel said seriously.

Sophie waved to James as he drove back down the drive late Monday afternoon, obviously done for the day as she was. He had spent a good portion of the afternoon on the grounds taking care of the gardens, lawn and shrubs as well as tending to all the plants in the solarium, the only one of his clients he said he saw to personally. Both Adam and Ash had returned from work early and were holed up in their office, but of Adrian she hadn’t seen anything since Friday night. She had joined the others for pizza Saturday night after returning from town, but she was so disappointed in Adrian’s conspicuous absence she had declined their offer to join them in the den, even after they promised no sexual pressure. Yesterday had been a dreary, drizzly day and she had spent most of it up in her room cleaning and reading, trying not to be upset about Adrian’s obvious avoidance of her and had ended with waking in the middle of the night from a dream of Emily crying out for her mommy, a mommy who was unable to help her.

By the time the sun had risen, chasing away the gloom of the previous day, she had been up for several hours, the dream having left her floundering in the familiar, agonizing maelstrom of grief. As she set off now on her walk, Sophie turned her face up to the sun to embrace its soothing warmth in the hopes it would chase away the cold that had been with her all day. Lost in thoughts of Emily and how she used to love being outdoors on warm days playing in the small sandbox she had built for her, of her sweet laughter and angelic face and the feel of her small, round arms hugging her, she walked and walked, continuing past the lighthouse in silent grief filled remembrance until she once again noticed the evening fast approaching.

Not wanting to get any more on Adrian’s bad side than she already was, she turned back to the manor, wishing for the first time in two years that she had someone to turn to in her grief, someone to hold her, someone to reassure her life was still worth living. The wind had picked up considerably and now that the sun was on its way down, there was a chill in the air that had her hugging her arms and picking up her pace.

As she once again came to the lighthouse, she noticed the door ajar about a foot making her wonder if Sammy had slipped inside and gotten stuck or lost in the old structure, unable to find her way out. There had still been no sign of her, and Sophie missed her more than she had ever thought possible, having grown quickly accustomed to her small presence.

Unable to turn away from the possibility, she trod carefully through the overgrown brush. The door was old, weathered thick wood but it opened on squeaky hinges and with Adrian’s warning of the structures unsafe state of disrepair, she entered the dark, musty interior with caution. The howling wind echoed in the rafters and gave the place a creepy feeling as did the cobwebs and the banging shutters from the upstairs windows.

“Sammy,” she called out softly, the meager light coming through small windows high up barely enough to help her make out a few chairs, a table and an old desk, but no sign of a cat. She had only gotten halfway into the room when the door slammed shut with a loud bang, making her jump and whirl around.

She ran back to the door, grasped the handle and shoved only to find it stuck. Over and over she shoved with all her might against the unyielding wood to no avail, it wasn’t budging. Turning, she leaned against it, her breathing labored as she tried to keep the panic from rioting through her. Keep calm, she told herself over and over. The wind must have blown it shut and it was just stuck, that’s all. Someone would eventually come to look for her, but how long she’d be trapped in here was what worried her.

As what little light there was slowly waned, the encroaching darkness made her sink to the floor while panic like she’d never known before welled in her throat. Since losing Emily, she didn’t fear death for herself, on the contrary, there had been times in those first months, when the grief had been so consuming she thought she would welcome it as a chance to see and hold her beloved daughter again. But she did fear the darkness of the unknown, feared all the things the noises could be that sent her imagination into overdrive, feared she wouldn’t get the chance to see Adrian again, feel his hard body giving her such intense pleasure it obliterated everything except for the addictive need for more.

After fifteen minutes of nerve racking self-pity, she rose on shaky legs and once again pushed against the door, pushed and pushed until her arms gave out and then she used her voice to call for help until she was hoarse and fell once more to the floor, this time to bury her face and sob in fear and despair.

“Have you seen Sophie?” Adrian asked his cousins when he stepped into their office. No matter what he did or how hard he tried, he couldn’t stop thinking of her and for some inexplicable reason the need to see her, connect with her had sent him home in search of her for the first time in over two days. After spending the weekend unsuccessfully striving to delegate Sophie back to the status of just his employee and occasional fuck buddy and focus on finding Nicole’s lover, he had finally admitted he wanted her any way he could get her. The report the vet gave him from the lab this morning confirmed that Sammy had been fed some tuna laced with rat poison, which only raised more questions and suspicions and made him want to get home to her all the more.

“She took off on her walk quite a while ago,” Ash answered as he looked up from his computer to the lowering sun out the window.

“Want us to go look for her?” Adam asked, his brown eyes worried as he too noticed the time she had been gone.

“No, I’ll go. I’ll probably meet her coming back. Thanks.”

Heading out back, Adrian tried to rein in his anger and worry. Surely after what happened the last time she was out past nightfall, she wouldn’t be so foolish as to test him again. Then again, after the cold way he had left her the other night and the way he had avoided her over the weekend, maybe she thought he wouldn’t care one way or the other what she did, where she went or how late she walked the treacherous cliffs around his home. If that was what she was thinking, he’d be only too happy to show her how wrong she was.

Chapter Eleven

By the time the sun was an amber fireball glowing on the horizon and Adrian had searched past the lighthouse and was now headed back, he felt the control over his emotions, namely his anger and worry, slipping. According to Adam and Ash, Sophie had left earlier than usual for her walk and had now been gone for three hours. As he added calling her name to his efforts, he found himself glancing down among the rocky shore, his gut tightening with each look, his relief at finding nothing but the usual tide splashed, jagged coastline palpable. As he neared the lighthouse, he once again called out her name, this time louder, angry emphasis in his voice as it echoed in the evening air.

The faint sound of Adrian’s angry tone roused Sophie from her terror induced stupor. Struggling to her feet, the interior of the lighthouse now almost completely dark, she turned and pounded on the door once again, calling his name over and over as hope and longing filled her, giving her the boost of adrenaline she needed to be heard.

Adrian had just moved past the lighthouse when the faint sound of her voice carried to him, followed by pounding coming from the long neglected structure. His first reaction was anger that she had once again defied his order and went where he specifically told her not to. While trying to control his rage, he raced toward the lighthouse, the fear in her voice evident the closer he got, which only worked to enrage him further.