Into the Flames (Out of the Ashes #2) (19 page)

“No.” Her replies are becoming curt and I can tell she is growing tired of answering my questions.

“Okay
never mind.  Please call for Parker and have him come up immediately.”

“Yes, Ms. Carmichael I will send him straight up.”

While I wait for Parker, I examine the contents of the box once more.  Tucked in the folders of the tissue paper, I notice a small envelope.   Panic holds me to the spot but I have to know who sent them and why.  Slowly I pull the card out of the envelope, sure that I will be in trouble with Parker for touching it.

I’m glad to see you are finally
getting some of what you deserve.  A whore like you deserves to die not be with him.  I’m not the only one watching you am I?  Horrible accidents happen to people like you.  Like the remaining rose in this box, you will also wither and die and become like all the others who have tried to get in the way.  Leave now.  Stay away from Ian and stay out of our lives.

Parker appears just a few moments later; the note still in my hand.  “Ms. Carmichael?”  He looks into the box on the table and sees the flowers while I slowly hand him the note that came along with them.

“Miss, I must alert Mr. Jacobs immediately.”  His statement sounds more like a question like he is waiting for me to argue it with him.  Waiting for me to tell him not to involve Ian but I haven’t the strength and I’ve let secrets eat at my soul for far too long.  I simply nod as he pulls his phone from his pocket.

He moves to the conference room but I can still hear his voice through the doorway.

“Connor, Parker here.  She received another letter today and a package.  No, the same florist that Mr. Jacobs used this morning delivered the package so we assumed Mr. Jacobs was sending her something else.  I understand sir.  No, no packages regardless of whom they are from will be delivered without being inspected first.  Yes, sir.  Thank you, sir.  No, we will not let her out of our sight until he returns.  Yes, sir.  I will call you when we leave the office and notify you immediately when we arrive at the apartment.  No, I will not leave the building.  Yes, sir; I have everything I need.  Ms. Carmichael is perfectly safe with me.  Thank you, Connor.  I’ll notify you immediately if there are any other developments.”  His one sided conversation offers me little hope that Ian is on his way home to me but I know that I am well taken care of by Parker and Gavin will be home tonight as I have promised him dinner.

I try not to dwell on the loneliness that settles into my chest at the thought of still not seeing Ian for almost two more days.
  As soon as I can I let Parker know that I want to go home; I just can’t stay in the office any longer.  There are very few places anymore that don’t feel violated by either Rebecca or Dean.  I wonder if Ian and I will ever find solace from them.

As I begin to wake, I feel hot breath on my neck.  I continue to hope that it’s just remnants of the nightmare that plagued me all night.  Only as I stir I know that this isn’t part of any dream.  A hard body presses against my back and the breathing grows louder.  I try to remember if Gavin stayed with me last night but I’m almost positive that I went to bed alone.  Still disoriented from just having wakened, I try to get my bearings.  If he is in the room with me, there is nothing that can be done for me anymore.  I stir slowly so that the person next to me knows I’m waking.  I fear what will happen when he knows I’m fully awake but am prepared for anything.  His hands run along my side and grip my waist, trying to hold me in place.  His lips hot and wet touch my neck and I try not to cringe away.  There is nowhere to escape to anyway and any noise I make now will only draw Gavin and then he could be hurt because of me as well.

I want to turn and face him but he holds me in place.  When his hands venture further down my side and begin to work at the edge of my panties, I am unable to stop the scream that escapes my throat.  He presses into me and he’s starting to speak when Gavin bursts into the room.

“Lauren, what the…  Ah, hell you two, if you’re going to do this shit get a fuckin’ hotel room.  Or the very least you could do is warn me that you are playing some game.  God, I could have shot you or with my aim, her.”  His words take a moment to sink in.  It takes a minute for me to realize that he isn’t concerned for my safety because it isn’t Dean with me, as I feared but Ian instead.

I turn and wrap my arms around him but I see all to
o well in his eyes that he knows exactly what I thought was happening.  He knows I feared he was Dean and I know there will be questions to answer when Gavin leaves the room.

“Don’t you think you owe me
an apology?  Jesus, you two.  I have every mind to kick both your asses out onto the street.  Lauren, you’re fucking lucky that I love you.  God, I just can’t believe you.”  With that he walks back out the door slamming it behind him.  I’m going to have to sit down with him later and explain everything to him as well.  What a mess I’ve made of everything.  Again.

My eyes turn up and meet Ian’s, still filled with shock and fear from my earlier reaction.  If I
had been more awake, I would have known it was him by his smell, by his touch but waking up that way clouded my senses. 

“Lauren, I’m so sorry.  I should have woken you…  I should have realized that after everything…  God, I’m such a fool.  Please
, sweetheart, forgive me? I’ll have to apologize to Gavin and hope that I can make this up to him.  Talk to me, love.”

“No, Ian it’s my fault
.  I shouldn’t have overreacted like that.  I should have known that there would be no way for him to get in here.  I feel like such a fool right now.”

“Lauren
stop.  I’m the one to blame in this.  I should have made sure you were awake.  You weren’t expecting me until tomorrow but after everything I couldn’t stay away.  I missed you so much after our phone call yesterday.  And I was so afraid for you, which now I see that I have good reason to be.”

I gen
tly brush my lips against his.  “Ian, I have something else that I have to tell you.  The other night before you called Dean called me.  I was waiting for your call and answered before checking the caller id.  He was standing outside the apartment watching the building, waiting for a slip up in security or me to do something foolish so he could get to me.  He said he left something for me with the doorman but I haven’t bothered checking yet.  Then this morning when I felt someone here with me I was sure that he had broken in and this was it for me.  Probably just some left over fear from the nightmares I’ve been having.”  The look on his face makes his anger clear.  “Please, Ian.  I know I should have told you that night but with everything.  I just didn’t want to upset and worry you.”

His face softens a bit.  “Lauren, you cannot do this.  You cannot keep these kinds of things from me.  Not with everything going on.  There is too much risk; you risk our whole future when you don’t allow me to keep you safe.  You must see that.”  Exasperated hands grab at his hair.

“Ian, I understand.  I do and I know I should have told you immediately but there was so much going on at the time.  And I didn’t want to worry you.  Please forgive me.”

“Sweetheart
, I could never stay angry with you but please don’t let this happen again.  I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know what is going on.  I mean, god, he now has your phone number; knows where you live.  Don’t you think these are things that security and I need to know about?”  I hate being scolded like a naughty child but in this case he is nothing but right and I must concede to him.

“Honestly, I didn’
t think about it.  But yes, when you put it like that; it’s definitely something that you all needed to know.  Please you must understand how truly sorry I am. “

“
I do.  I just want to make sure that you understand the seriousness of all this.  And until we leave for England you will have a constant security detail when you aren’t with Connor and I.  Is that understood?  No, I want no arguments.”

“Ian, you’
ll get no arguments from me.  Not this time. And I am sorry.”

“I know, love.  God, I can’t bear the thought of anything happening to you.
”  His kiss is soft and sweet, like he is cherishing me with his lips.

I am in complete agreement with him though.  I can’t wait until we are in England and have that distance between us and them.  Ian must read my thoughts.

“When is your next appointment with Dr. Somers?”

“The end of next week.  He said I should be all clear to travel after that.”

“Do you mind if I go along with you to the appointment?”

“If you are going to behave as you did the last time you two were in the same room together
, I will have to say no. But if you can behave, then yes I would love to have you with me.”

“I’
ll do my best but if he starts flirting with you again, I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”  Flirting with me really, the man is my doctor and did nothing but talk to me about what needed to be done.  There is no point in arguing this with Ian though because apparently if a man talks to me then he must be in love with me.  Ugh!!  “And if he says you are able to travel, I want to book our flight as soon as we leave the office.  Everyone else will meet us there just before the holidays.”

~

Dr. Somers gives me the all clear and our trip is booked for the following Monday.  That leaves me three days to put everything in order and pack.  Ian assures me not worry too much about the packing as we can just buy more clothes and whatever else we need there.  I’m mostly worried about getting everything he needs from the office though I can just have them ship me anything I happen to forget. 

T
hree days later, I sit on board the private jet Ian booked for our trip.  I can’t help but think of our last flight to England and smile at the memories.  Though we are going for a much different reason this time, the trip is no less exciting.  I’m excited to see the estate now that the majority of the work has been completed and the even better part is that I’m with Ian this trip.  There’s no confusion as to what our relationship is, as to where we are going together.

As the car rounds the curve in the drive up to the
house… It feels wrong calling this a house.  It rises magnificently before me.  The exterior has been meticulous sandblasted, washed and repaired and I imagine this is pretty close to what it looked like when it was first built, maybe even better.  The grounds are well tended and it’s not difficult to see how beautiful they will be come spring when everything is green and blooming.  If they have done this much to the outside of the house, I cannot wait to see the interior.

Our suites are in the southeast corner so the car goes through the archway to the back of th
e house.  Not too far from our door is where the outdoor pool will be when it is completed.  Inside we are greeted by plush carpets over hardwood, ornate wall sconces and lovely decorations throughout.  A bit of modern mixed in with the classic.  I love all the little touches here and there as we make our way down the hall to our suites.  Ian had planned to keep this wing of the estate on the main floor as a small apartment for himself when he came to London.  So the rooms are fully appointed.  We have a small kitchen, full dining room so he can entertain properly, living area, master bedroom with en suite and three other bedrooms and two bathrooms.  The term small apartment may be relative here, relative to Ian’s idea of small.

“Ian, I can’t believe they have done all this in such a short time.  It’s gorgeous.  I don’t think I will ever want to leave.
”  The walls of the entry are a pale cream with a hint of peach which is accented by the flowers and vase that sit in the center on a small dark cherry table.   The hallway to the bedrooms is the same color and lined with paintings that one would expect to see in an art museum.  Entering the master bedroom, I am greeted by a towering four poster bed, ornately carved as if the tree it came from grew straight out the floor and the bed was carved right there.  Sheets of pale cream silk with matching coverlet and pillows look so soft and inviting I want to dive into them.  Soft carpets line the floors to keep the cold at bay.  If I was in awe of the rest of the apartment, this room is completely making love to all my senses. 

He follows behind me into the room but must sense my reverence as he doesn’t speak but just comes up and takes me in his arms.
  “I’m glad you like it but I think our families would miss us if we never went back.”  He kisses my hair and inhales deeply.  “I’m so glad we’re finally here.  I feel like I can breathe again and this will give me just the time I need to get everything in order for the house in New York.  We’ve had a long day though.  So how about I run you a bath and get us something to eat?”

His words sound like heaven. “I
would love nothing more than a long hot bath and some food.  But I think I would enjoy the bath much more if you would join me.”

“Anything for you, sweetheart.  Why don’t you unpack a little and I’ll run get some food from the kitchen then start the water?”

I kiss him deeply.  “What did I ever do to deserve you?”  I smile and wink at his smirk in answer to my question.  At some point I have to stop feeding his ego, he won’t fit through the door soon if his head gets any bigger.

I’m finishing putting my things in the closet when I hear the water
start to run in the other room.  Upon entering the bathroom I am greeted by the soft glow of candlelight and the fragrance of rose petals and oils overwhelms my senses.  The room is truly a romantics dream.  A marble sunken tub filled with bubbles and petals surrounded by candles.  Off to one side there’s a small tray with a couple glasses of wine along with some cheese, crackers and fruit.  On the other fluffy white Egyptian cotton towels wait to wrap us in their warmth when we finish our bath.

“
You’ve really gone all out here.”

“I wanted our first night here to be special.”  He hands me a glass of wine and I take a small sip
relishing the crispness as it runs down my throat.  “Sorry the kitchen wasn’t fully stocked yet and this is all I could come up with in such a short time.  But I have a feast ordered for breakfast so maybe this is better for tonight.”

“This is fine.  No, this is perfect.  You spoil me.”

“That is my mission in life, to spoil you and take care of you in every way even in ways you didn’t know you wanted to be taken care of.”  He holds his hand out to me and helps me down into the water.  When I sit it comes just over the swell of my breasts.  The hot water feels delicious next to my skin and I languish in the tub; my whole body relaxing with each second that passes.

“
You have no idea how incredibly sexy you look right now.”  I watch through heavy lids as he removes first his fitted t-shirt, his button down having long ago been discarded.  His dark jeans follow next revealing first his toned thighs and then his runner’s calves.  His boxer briefs cling to his muscular backside and in front, the growing bulge tells me I will not be disappointed.  When he has rid himself of his last piece of clothing he slowly slides down into the water next to me.

“Here you need to eat something.”  He brings a strawberry to my lips and I am reminded of the last time he fed me strawberries.  The memory makes my whole body shudder with anticipation.  Following the strawberry he holds a small piece of brie to my mouth and the soft cheese melts away on my tongue.  I love the sensations I get when he feeds
me; erotic and sensual yet the ultimate act of caretaking and love as well.

“Sweetheart, I love you.  I don’t think I’ve told you enough today.”

“Ian, I love you too.  This place, this,” I look around the room and motion with arm to everything he has set up for tonight, “this is heavenly.  Thank you for doing all this and for keeping me safe.  I know I don’t always make that easy but you do it anyway. “

“You deserve every bit of this, my love.  Every bit of h
appiness I can give you and I’ll never stop trying to make you happy. Forever, Lauren; that’s what we are.”  He pulls me so I’m sitting in his lap.  His hands are soft from the water and gently caress my body and curves.  Skin against slippery skin we slide on and over each other.  The sounds of our love making fill the marble room and Ian shows me with his body just how much he loves me.