Liberty (13 page)

“Oh.” She hadn’t mentioned that to him. But maybe she had. Maybe he was just getting his wires crossed.

“She doesn’t usually work today,” she said absently. “I wish she did but the county will only pay for a part-time assistant.”

“Thank you.” He walked out of the building and drove straight to the Calloway. Lexy had told him she was working every Friday, since he had come home. Every Friday he had asked her about her day and every Friday she told him something about the library. Jemma must be wrong. Lexy wouldn’t lie to him. Or would she? He remembered back to the night he’d brought home dinner. She had lied to him then, but he wasn’t sure about what.

Lexy’s car wasn’t in the parking lot when he pulled in. He got out of the vehicle anyway, just to check. When he went inside they told him what he already knew. Lexy wasn’t there. She hadn’t worked a lunch shift since before he came home.

He was angry. He was more than angry. He felt betrayed. Why was she lying to him? The only reason he could think of was that she was cheating on him. He knew he hadn’t been a good husband before. He knew that she probably needed somebody to turn to, but he never expected this. She should have left him. She should have never made him think they had a chance.

He went home to wait for her. He was going to end this today. Their sham of a marriage had gone on long enough.

She came home two and a half hours later. He stood up ready to confront her, but when he saw her he was unable to say a word. She looked miserable, and when she clapped eyes on him tears started to stream down her face.

“How did you know I needed you today?” She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms and legs around him. He held on to her tightly, bewildered by her actions. She didn’t smell like sex or men’s cologne. The scent coming from her hair reminded him of his days in the hospital. Whatever she had been doing today didn’t involve making love to another man.

“Lexy... What happened?”

“I’m glad you’re not sick anymore,” she sobbed. “I don’t think I could have taken it. I couldn’t have watched you die. I don’t want to think about you dying.”

“Honey—” he sat them down on the couch and cupped her face in his hands “—I’m not going to die.”

“Promise me.”

She kissed him. It surprised him and took his breath away at the same time. Her kisses were different than before. They were hungry. They were needy. He felt her every emotion through them. “Promise me.” She ripped her lips away from his. “I need to hear you say it.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I promise.” He wasn’t sure what brought this on but he knew it wasn’t his time to go yet.

She nodded, the tears falling faster than he could catch them. “Take me to your bedroom.”

He blinked at her. Had she really said the words he always dreamed would come from her lips? “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

It was all he needed to hear. He picked her up and carried her to his bedroom and as soon as she landed on his bed she started to peel off her clothes. He wanted to do it. He wanted to undress her little by little and kiss every inch of her beautiful body. But it seemed Lexy wasn’t in the mood for slow lovemaking.

“Please, Ryan. I need you now.”

He got distracted by her chest. Her nipples were hard little points that begged for attention. He palmed her breasts in his hands, testing the weight of them. Kissing the fleshy tops. She knelt on the bed before him, offering herself to him, letting out little hisses of pleasure when his thumbs brushed her nipples.

“Do you like the way that feels?”

She nodded, pulling her lower lips between her teeth. He stroked them for a few moments until she started to writhe beneath his attention.

“Stop,” she whispered.

He obeyed her command and watched her as she rose from the bed and slid her jeans down her hips.

“Take off your clothes. I want to feel you on top of me.”

He moved immediately to do her bidding, but apparently he didn’t move fast enough. She took matters into her own hands, tugging his jeans down as he tried to remove his shirt. “Slow down, baby. We’ve got all day.”

“We don’t.” She wrapped her arms around him, squishing her breasts against him. He was hard before but feeling her naked chest against his made him rise to epic proportions. Even though his body was screaming at him to bury himself inside her and pump them both into oblivion, he had to stay in control. This was the first time for them. For him in his new life. He wanted it to be special.

He gently pushed her down on the bed, allowing himself just a moment of space from her. When she touched him he couldn’t think. And thinking about making love to her was all he had done since he’d laid eyes on her. He finished pulling off his clothes as he took her body in. So pretty. So curvy. All his. She was worth the wait. Worth the pain.

He lay down beside her and smoothed his hand over her belly then across her hips. But that wasn’t enough for her. She pulled him on top of her, wrapping her legs around him. His cock brushed against her opening. She was so wet. He had barely touched her and she was ready for him. It made him ache.

“Please,” she begged. “Make me feel better. Make me feel something else.” She pulled him into a kiss, but her frantic plea caused him to break away.

“What happened to you, Lexy?”

“I need you.” She kissed down his throat. “Please.”

She began to move her body against him. His cock rubbed the outside of her wet lips. It felt too good. He had to slow down or this was going to be over before it started. He pulled himself away from her and spread her legs apart, her sweet aroused smell filling the room. He opened her with his fingers and stroked her clit once, twice, until her back arched and she rose off the bed. He had never been with anybody so sensitive to his touch. It made him feel primal, like he wanted to own her. But he knew it was the other way around. He knew he was a slave to her.

“More,” she moaned. “Kiss me.”

He set his lips on her and sucked her tongue into his mouth. Her kisses were drugging and he forgot all about his control and lost himself in her mouth. She wrapped her arms around him, throwing one leg over his hip. They lay on their sides, facing each other. She was open to him again—his cock was nudging his way into her entrance, but he caught himself just in time and placed his fingers there instead. She pushed against them and he started to move his hand in and out of her slickness. He wanted to go slow but she wouldn’t allow it. She wanted release as quick and as hard as she could get it. He was going to give her what she wanted and then he was going to spend the rest of the afternoon making slow love to her.

When she wrapped her fingers around him and started stroking, he was powerless to stop her. This is not the way he wanted it, but it had gone too far now. He couldn’t think straight anymore. He could only feel. He buried his tongue in her mouth, kissing her so hard he bruised his lips. But she didn’t seem like she wanted sweet and gentle.

She moved furiously against his hand as she fisted his cock. The sounds she was making, the way she smelled, and felt... It was too much for him. His balls drew up tightly and he begged his release to hold off but then she broke, her body lifting off the bed, a little scream tearing from her throat.

He exploded just after that in one of the most intense orgasms that he had ever experienced.

They lay together sweating and panting for what seemed like hours. Neither one of them had the energy to move, and Ryan felt himself drifting off into a deep sleep. Lexy kissed his throat and slid her hand down his chest.

“Can I stay here for a little while,” she asked shyly.

“As long as you want.” He lifted her off the bed and deposited them beneath the covers. She buried her nose in his neck just before she drifted off to sleep.

He lay awake for a little while longer. She was keeping secrets from him. Something happened to Lexy today and, although the need to know nearly killed him, he promised himself he wouldn’t say a word. She had turned to him when she was in need and that’s all he ever wanted.

* * *

The towns of Liberty and Terran played softball against each other every year for bragging rights in early June. Nobody could remember how or why the games started but every year the towns would bring out their fittest men to play the seven innings. Neither team was very good. Their fittest players had beer bellies and ran as fast as some children walked but everybody from both towns came out to celebrate. It was an excuse to drink beer and socialize. Afterward the people would split off and have cookouts and drink more beer.

Lexy sat in the stands alone because Di was with her little girl, who had fallen down and cut her leg. It was the end of sixth inning and Liberty had two outs and the bases loaded. The game could go either way. Ryan was up to bat again and Lexy smiled unwillingly. The more time she spent with this new man the more time she wanted to spend with him. He had done something amazing for her yesterday. He let her be wild and out of control. He let her take from him everything she needed and he didn’t ask a single question. Even though she felt terribly guilty for keeping Kyle a secret from him she was grateful to him for that.

The old Ryan would have never done that for her. He never would have made her feel safe.

He looked for her in the stands, like he always did when he was up at bat, and grinned at her. She waved at him and he winked, causing a surge of foolish schoolgirl pleasure to flow through her. He looked good in his uniform, which was gray to match his eyes, with pants tight enough to show off his powerful thighs and firm behind. Beneath his shirt lay his muscled arms and chest, which made her remember how good she felt when he held her close yesterday.

“He looks good, don’t he?”

“Huh?” Lexy was too busy gazing at her husband to realize who was sitting near her. Gloria Rodgers had come to sit on her left.

The woman who Ryan cheated on her with.

“
My
husband does look very good. Thank you.”

She heard the crack of a ball against the bat. She watched as the ball flew gracefully over the fence, scoring four runs for the team. She stood up and screamed like a crazy person.

His eyes found her in the stands and mouthed, “That was for you.”

She blushed. He was trying so hard to win her over. She was feeling herself unwillingly slipping, falling...

It was terrifying.

“He doesn’t remember a thing, does he?” Glory asked, obviously not knowing that Lexy didn’t want to hear her voice.

Lexy remained silent and watched Lance strike out, ending the inning.

“He’s not the same man, is he? Aren’t you worried about him?”

Her temper sparked. Glory was crossing the line. “Why are you talking to me? You screwed my husband for years and I didn’t say a word. I didn’t slash your tires or set fire to your house or scratch your eyes out. You had my husband. Wasn’t that enough?”

Glory nodded as tears streamed down her face.

“He doesn’t want me anymore,” she said as if her heart was shattering.

“Nobody likes a whore.”

“Damn it, Lexy. You don’t have to be such a bitch.”

“I’m a bitch?” Something inside her snapped. “You were fucking my husband,” she said in a fierce whisper, “for years, and laughing at me while you were doing it. I hated him for hurting me and part of me will always hate him. But you—you are a woman. We grew up together. You saw me every day and looked me in my face, knowing what you were doing was killing me. And you didn’t even care. How could you live with yourself?”

“I love him,” she said quietly. “I used to love him. But he never loved me like he loved you. I tried to get him to leave you, but he wouldn’t even think about it. He used to talk to me about you. He would be in bed with me and talk about how good you were. How do you think that made me feel? I knew him before you. I dated him before you, but he never even cared about me. He used me for my body but he wanted your heart. He wanted you to fight for him.”

“He wasn’t worth fighting for. I was praying he would leave me for you. Maybe he could have knocked the shit out of you sometimes.”

“He hit you?” Glory’s big blue eyes filled with shock.

“Don’t act like you didn’t know. You had to know. He left me bleeding to warm your bed.”

Glory was as close to Ryan as Georgie was. She had to know.

“I didn’t know. I swear! He never hit me. But then again, I never had a smart mouth like you did.”

“Not an excuse. There was never an excuse to hit me.” She cradled her head in her hands as it started to throb.

“He’s really stopped drinking? The man I knew would never give up his whiskey.”

“Well, that shows you that you don’t know my husband at all.”

“Lex,” Ryan called, concern in his eyes. “Are you all right, baby?” He stood at the fence, giving Glory a glare that would melt ice.

“I’m fine.” She wasn’t really, but she wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of knowing she felt awful.

“Are you sure?” He looked ready to climb over the fence and take her away.

“Yes. We’re just chatting. Go play. I’ll see you after the game.” He nodded and tossed one more hard look at Glory before he left.

“He won’t even look at me anymore. Don’t you ever think he’s not the same man?”

* * *

The game ended shortly after that. Liberty had claimed the victory largely due to Ryan’s homerun. There was raucous celebrating on the field for a few minutes before the crowds began to disperse.

Lexy spotted Ryan alone near the picnic tables. This was hard for him, being in a place he had lived all his life and yet not really fitting in. He wasn’t shy or a loner. People liked him. He had even made friends, but she knew he didn’t feel comfortable.

One of his teammates called out to him. He looked up and grinned as a can of beer was tossed his way. He looked at it for a moment and then tossed it to Richie Thomas, the nineteen-year-old busboy at the Calloway. She knew Ryan didn’t know she was watching. He could have had the beer, but he was keeping his promise. He quit drinking. He was taking care of her. He was being the husband she always needed.