Time for Change (8 page)

Neither of them spoke,
simply looking at each other.

Chris would take over every
part of her life. He would stop her working, keep her close to him.

“How can you take care of
me? You’re only putting in part time hours at the hospital.” The words blurted
out of her before she could stop them. She went back to nibbling on her
sandwich.

“Did your date not feed
you?” he asked, stepping closer.

“He ordered my food, but he
ordered everything I hated.”

Chris nodded, and she was
brought back to the fact he knew what to order her. She’d told him everything
about herself. He took her other sandwich, took a bite and wrinkled his nose.
Before she could stop him, he took the sandwich out of her hand and threw it in
the trash.

“Hey, I was eating that,”
she said.

“No, that was not fit for
animal consumption let alone human.” He nudged her out of the way, and started to
make her a fresh sandwich. His presence made it hard for her to focus on
anything else.

His hands, which had been
all over her, were expertly making her a sandwich. She snorted and made to
move. He reached out, placing an arm over her stomach. She looked down at the
hand then up at him. His dark gaze was focused on her. Chris stepped in front
of her.

“This is not funny,” he
said.

She couldn’t speak even as
he unknotted her blanket. Slowly, the blanket fell to the floor, leaving her
naked.

He tore some of the fresh
sandwich and pressed it to her lips. “Open.”

Rachel took the sandwich he
offered and chewed. His fingers lingered on her lips, stroking.

“Claire accepted part of me.
She quit work and decided to raise our baby. It took me time to make her
do
it. I’m not going to change who I am. I’m set in my
ways.”

“You’re only forty-two.”

“And you’re twenty-six. I
know what I want. I won’t budge.”

“What if I want to work?”

“There’s nothing to stop you
from going back to college, and I finally figured out why you quit college,” he
said.

She remained silent, not
believing him. He’d never once questioned her decision to quit.

“I did some digging. One of
your professors was a predator. He would bribe students with high grades so
long as they spent time in his bed,” Chris said.

Rachel felt tears spring to
her eyes. She recalled being summoned to his office. The shock at hearing his
proposal had disgusted her. He would give her the right grades so long as she
did everything he said. The professor had felt her up. Instead of fighting him,
she’d run and never returned to the college.

“How did you find out?” she
asked.

His grip tightened on her
hip. “I found out because I did some digging. One of the girls wasn’t so happy
about being blackmailed for sex. She took him on, the college and won.”

“What do you mean?”

Chris smirked. “The guy
tried to make out the girl was a predator. He thought the other professors
would have his back. He was surprised when the other
staff were
disgusted with him. I believe he did jail time and can no longer work in a
position of such responsibility.”

“Why are
you telling me this, if you knew?”
She kept her gaze on his even though it took every ounce of willpower
not to look away.

“I want to know why you
didn’t tell me. I know the answer ‘
cause
I know you,
but I need to hear it from your lips.”

She tucked some hair that
had fallen behind her ear.

“He said it would be my word
against his.”

“And?”
Chris asked.

“I didn’t think anyone would
believe me.”

“And why was that?”

Rachel hated herself at that
moment. “I didn’t think anyone would believe me because who’d try to blackmail
the fat girl into bed.” The words felt bitter rolling off her tongue.

“The professor wanted you,
Rachel. You’ve got to see what other men see.”

She shook her head. He
wrapped an arm around her waist, stopping her from moving away.

“You’re a sexy, desirable
woman. The professor sees what so many men see. You’re beautiful inside and
out. You’ve had so much loss, and yet you’re always happy.”

“Stop,” she said, pressing a
hand to his chest. She needed him to stop talking. His words were making it
hard for her to push him away.

“No, it’s time you saw what
everyone else does.” He lifted her onto the counter, opening her legs to step
inside.

She stared into his eyes.
Even on the counter, he was taller than she was. Wrapping her arms around his
neck, she pressed her face against his skin. “Please, I don’t know what to do.”

He stroked her back, going
up to sink into her hair.

“Say yes, Rachel. I’ll care
for you. I’ll be everything you need.”

“You’re going to struggle.
You’re working part-time.” It was the only excuse she could think of. Chris was
making it hard for her to want to say no. Everything he was saying was the
truth. She shouldn’t feel this.

In this day and age she
should want to be independent and make a life for herself. Men were not needed
to get by.

Closing her eyes, she shut
everything else out of her mind.

“I’ve got more money than I
can stand. Working is something I do for the hell of it.”

“How?”

Chris looked at her. “Do you
really want to know the answer?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Fine, I went to Vegas for
several weekends. Instead of going to conventions for doctors, I went to the
tables in high risk gambling.”

Okay, as an answer that surprised
her.

“I gambled on everything I
had.”

“You didn’t lose?”

“No, I didn’t lose. I won
the rest of my fucking life in peace. I’ve got more than enough to keep me for
several lifetimes,” he said.

“No one can win that much.”

“Yeah, how do you think I
afford so much?” He was telling the truth. “I work because I spent so much of
my life studying to be a doctor. It’s who I am.”

The towel he’d been wearing
dropped to the floor. “Now, are you
mine
, or are you
going to walk away from me?”

Walking away wasn’t an
option for her. If she could walk away then she would have done it when he’d
brought the first woman back to the apartment.

“Are you going to hurt me?”
she asked, looking up at him.

“What do you mean?”

“Will there be other women?
Will I have to slink off back to my own apartment when you’re fucking other
women?” She couldn’t look at him right now.

He placed a finger
underneath her chin, forcing her to look at him.

She opened her eyes and
looked deep into his.

“No, there will never be
another woman. I won’t look at another woman. You’ll be mine, and I’ll be
yours.”

“But you’ll wear the
trousers?” she asked.

“Yes.”

****

Chris waited for her to
respond. There would never be another woman. Rachel would be all of his, and
he’d show her right away what he wanted from her. A part of her was suited to
him. The other part, the one that acknowledged him as her dead sister’s husband,
was holding her back. Claire would want them to be together. He knew his wife
better than Rachel.

Standing at the counter, he waited
for her to give him her answer. Nothing was going to hold him back. Rachel was
his woman, and no one was going to take that away from him, least of all
Rachel. He’d fight her every step of the way.

They were doing this.

“I don’t know if I can do this,”
Rachel said.

Taking hold of her hands, he
kissed each palm before laying them on the edge of the counter. He reached
around her, gripping her ass and bringing her to the edge of the counter. In
one quick move he slid deep inside her. Rachel’s arms went around his neck
holding on to him. Her eyes were wide as she stared at him. “I think you can do
this. I know you can do this.”

Her wet cunt gripped him
tightly. He’d never been with someone who was so responsive to him. Rachel kept
her gaze on his at all times. Gripping her ass, he pulled out of her warmth,
watching her reaction only to slam back inside.

She flung her head back
letting out a moan. This was what he’d been missing. No other woman could
compare to Rachel. She alone made him feel alive, and for the last three years
whenever she wasn’t around, he felt like he was dying. Going to Vegas had been
a desperate point inside him that had actually worked for him to be better off
than he ever imagined. When he thought about the life he could have had if the
Vegas trip went sour, he felt fear all over.

Rachel didn’t deserve
someone unsteady. She needed to be grounded, and he’d finally become his old
self. Nothing was going to stop them from being together. This was their fresh
start together with nothing holding them back from each other.

“You’re mine, Rachel. We
both know this.”

“I’m scared,” she said,
dropping her head against his neck.

He held her tightly, closed
his eyes and fucked her hard but slow. Chris felt her walls tremble around his
shaft. She was so wet for him. Rachel was
a dream come
true. Her passions were the same as his. The other men she’d been with were
clearly fucking idiots. No one deserved to be with her. He’d cherish every
moment they’d spent together and would never take her for granted.

“It’s good to be scared. I’m
scared, too.” He held her tightly. When she leaned back, edging back onto the
counter, he dipped his head taking one of her large red-tipped nipples into his
mouth.

“Chris,” she said, moaning.
Her fingers sank into his hair, pulling on the strands.

“Tell me yes. You know
you’ve been mine for a long time now.” He pulled her hands away from his head
and stared into her eyes. Chris held her hands on top of the counter. His cock
was deep inside her but not moving.

She struggled underneath him
for a long time until finally she settled, looking at him.

“The answer is right in
front of you.”

“You’re making this harder
for me.”

“Because
you’re fighting me for the wrong reasons.”
He let out a sigh. If at any time he thought she was fighting him
because she didn’t want him, he’d have left it alone. As it was, he knew she
had feelings for him, possibly even loved him. She was fighting him because of
their past and how she thought she couldn’t be with him. “If you don’t love me,
tell me now. If you don’t want to spend the rest of your life with me, loving
and caring for you, then walk away, Rachel. But I’m telling you now, you walk
away, there’s no coming back.”

She gasped. “You’d cut me
off like that?”

“Yes. I’m not into playing
games or dealing with pathetic drama. This is my life as well as yours. Make
your decision.” He withdrew from her body, mourning the feel of her instantly.
“I’ll be waiting in my bedroom. You make that decision, and if it involves a
future with me, then come to me. If not, get out.”

He stormed away going to his
room. Chris pulled back the covers and seated himself against the pillows. He
picked up the crime book from his stand, flicking through the pages. The
minutes passed, and when he thought he couldn’t stand it any longer, Rachel
stood in the door way.

She looked nervous, and all
he wanted to do was wrap her in his arms and hold her.

“I don’t want to leave you.
You’re right. I do have feelings for you, and they might be love.” She stopped
to look at her feet. “I don’t know what they are, but I do know when I’m with
you, I feel alive. You make me feel alive, and I never want to lose what that
feels like.”

Rachel took another step
into the room.

“This is it, Rachel. You’ll
be mine.”

“I’ll learn to deal with
everything. I promise.”

“Good.” Pushing the blanket
off his lap, he tapped the bed. “Come here.” She walked by his side and made to
climb in beside him.

He shook his head. “Straddle me.”

She hesitated for a second. Chris waited, and then she settled over him,
straddling his hips. Gripping his shaft, he eased his way back inside her. His
cock hadn’t gone down from being inside her. Around Rachel, he was in a
constant state of arousal.

Their moans mingled on the air.

“What happens now?” she asked.

“You move in with me.”

Cupping her back, he went down to grip her ass, groaning as he did. She
was so snug, and he couldn’t wait to explore everything with her. Rachel
wouldn’t get just a part of him. She’d get everything he hid from Claire.