Pier Lights (15 page)

“Oh she’s awake and spunky today. Our food
is bad. We disturb her too much. She talks the ear off anyone who
walks in. Yes, she’s doing well. Did you want me to put you through
to her room?”

Dio hesitated. Spunky. Talking ears off. He
didn’t want her to talk his off right now. “No, you’re sure she’s
doing well, then?”

“Yes, very well. She’s a tough ole bird. She
should be able to leave by tomorrow if all stays as it is.”

Home tomorrow. Dio grabbed a deep breath.
“Thank you. I’ll call her directly in just a bit.” After he took
care of more pressing business. She’d told him to go find Caroline.
He was obeying orders.

He stalled only long enough to grab the
small thermos he always carried when he worked and filled it with
ice water. He didn’t know how long she’d been on the beach but he
was thirsty. She might be, also.

On the front porch, he looked over at her
and stopped. She’d stripped. Completely naked. And she sat with her
hands behind her propped up to watch him approach. With a grin, he
forced himself to walk slow, to tease her as though he might change
his mind. She had one leg, her left leg, propped up, her right
extended. Her hair was now out of the elastic that held it up at
the beach. It flowed just over her shoulders.

“Thirsty?”

“Come here. You’re wasting time.”

He moved closer. “You didn’t answer me.”

“Come here, Dio.”

He got to within a couple of inches of her
outstretched leg and opened the spout to take a large swallow.
“Want some?”

“Yes.”

He moved to her side but refused to let her
take it. “Huh uh. Open your mouth.” She obeyed. He tilted it slowly
to let the water dribble onto her tongue. She closed her eyes and
swallowed. And he moved it down. She jumped slightly when it hit
her shoulder but kept her eyes closed and her head back. Her body
pulled in lightly when it trickled over her breast, over her
nipple. She groaned softly and kept her eyes closed. He watered the
other nipple and moved it down her stomach, down to the hair she
kept trim and neat. Her body clenched again. He moved it back up
her stomach, then took another swallow himself.

Dio lowered beside her and helped her take
another swallow, then put it aside and took her in his arms, kissed
her hard and deep, and lay her back, her bare back, against the
grass. She said nothing. She surrendered to him, allowed him to
touch as he pleased, with his fingers and his tongue, where he
pleased, as long as he pleased. He was still fully dressed other
than the open buckle, and the pain of his erection pressed into his
jeans was excruciating, but he wanted it to last, to take advantage
of her surrender as long as he could keep himself from
surrendering.

Moving down to kneel between her legs, he
told her to keep her eyes closed until he said otherwise. With her
promise, he kissed her stomach, and her thighs. And he pulled the
mask half way up, out of his way as he spread her legs farther and
kissed her softness, her warmth, her most tender spot. Her hips
bucked and she reached down to hold his head, to encourage him or
to tell him not to stop. She was silent. He risked a glance up. Her
eyes were still closed.

Dio had to know. One way or another. He took
the mask off, threw it aside, and teased, kissed, caressed her
until her body shook. Quickly he pulled his jeans off, and his
shirt, and gave her only the slightest warning before he entered
her. Deeply.

Her eyes remained closed as she pressed up
into him, her fingers now gripping his hips, again pulling him
close. She obeyed well. At least when she agreed to obey.

He pulled out, despite her groaned protest,
took her nipples in his mouth, one, then the other, watched her
shoulders pull back, her eyes clench harder, and he slid up to
enter her again. She whispered his name and gripped his arms. Her
fingernails dug into his skin.

He couldn’t control it any longer, but he
wanted to know first. “Caroline.” He whispered beside her ear, his
face turned from hers.

“Yes. Dio, yes.”

“I want you to see me for all that I
am.”

“Yes.”

He started by rubbing his face against hers
and it nearly made him finish far too soon. He’d never felt a
woman’s face touch his face, or her fingers. He should let her see
him first, he supposed, in case she didn’t want it, but just once,
he had to feel a woman’s face against his.

“Oh my Lina. Be tough for me. Please. Be
tough for me.”

“Dio.” She raised a hand behind his head. “I
don’t care. I told you, I don’t care.”

“Open your eyes, then. Before I come into
you, I want you to see me.” He’d never let himself go all the way
inside a woman. He’d always pulled out. But he didn’t want to pull
out. And he couldn’t control it any longer. “Caroline.”

“My eyes are open, Dio. Raise your face,
baby. Let me see your eyes...” Her breath quickened. Her body
tightened. She was there again. At that point.

He raised his head, gritted his jaw,
prepared himself for her to push him away.

Her eyes watered. The hand behind his head
caressed his hair. “Oh Dio. Yes, baby. Let yourself go with
me.”

He found only passion in her eyes, and she
slid the hand around to touch his face. She touched every part of
his face.

He let himself go, and felt her let herself
go. Dio pulled her as close as possible until he was nearly afraid
he would break her, but she pulled just as tight. He felt moisture
in his eyes. “Caroline.”

“Yes.”

“Now tell me. Would you walk down a sidewalk
with me, like I am now?”

“Naked? Well, I might but...”

He caught her eyes. He still saw no fear, no
disgust.

“Yes, Dio.” She touched his face again.
“Absolutely. Or at least I’d hobble down the sidewalk with you.
What a pair we’ll make, right?”

He rubbed a hand over the top of her head.
“So tell me. Is Mom right? Am I being too vain?”

Her eyes wandered his face. “Well, no,
people will...”

“Veer around me like I’m infectious or
something.”

“Probably. But so what?”

“You don’t care? You won’t be
embarrassed?”

“Dio, I’ll only care if you let it hurt you.
I don’t want you hurt. If you want to lock yourself away in this
house and behind that mask forever, I can live with that, but if
you want to ... just be you and not let the idiots bother you, I’ll
be at your side. Just don’t be surprised if I say something to them
to let them know they’re idiots. I might. I do it for myself. I’ll
damn sure do it for you.”

He grinned and kissed her. “Interested in
seeing the inside of the house now?”

“Hm. Thought you were in a hurry.”

“She’s doing well today. I may bring her
home tomorrow. Figured you might want to shower and maybe dress
again before we go see her.”

“Dio?”

“Yes.”

“Are you keeping me? Did I pass well
enough?”

“Oh Lina, I am absolutely keeping you. And
as lame as you are, you’d have a hard time getting away from me.
I’m faster than this build looks like I would be.”

“So I’m your prisoner now?”

“At least until that foot heals and you can
dance away from me.”

She dropped her gaze. “It might not.”

He set his hand aside her face. Her face was
so small in his hand, her expression one of ... giving up. She
looked like she was giving up. “We’ll see.”

“If it doesn’t?”

“I guess you’re stuck with me.”

“Hm.” She wrapped into him. “Guess that
would be the good to go with the bad, then.” She kissed him softly.
“I do need a shower. Want to hand me the crutches?”

“No.” Dio scooped her into his arms and
stood.

“Um, forgetting something? Our clothes?”

“I’ll get them later.” He admired her body
as he carried her to the front porch and into the house. In turn
she studied his face, stroked it with her fingers, ran the tip of
her pointer finger along the ridge that started on one cheek, ran
across his nose, and to the other cheek where it widened.

“How did you manage to do this?”

“I’ll tell you later. Right now I want to
let it sink in that you didn’t jump away from me.”

“You’re beautiful.”

He snickered. “You say that because I have
you naked and in my arms, away from your crutches.”

“No.” She pulled his face down for a kiss.
“I say it because you are. And you are as unique as your name. And
I don’t want any other woman to ever touch you the way I do.
Promise me.” It was nearly a whisper, a panicked insistent
emotional whisper.

“I promise you.” He started up the stairs.
She hadn’t even looked at the downstairs. She was fully focused on
him. He took her to his room and stopped in the middle of it.

Finally, she looked around. “Wow. This is
one room? I’ve had apartments smaller than this.”

“Dad built the house. Everything is big
except the kitchen at Mom’s insistence. She didn’t want that much
to take care of. She wanted small and easy care. He liked big and
space. He was a big man...”

“Like you?”

“More.”

“Wow.”

“Thinking you got jipped now?”

“Not at all.” She ran a hand over his
shoulder. “I think even bigger than you would be scary to me. Is
your mom a big woman?”

“No. She’s smaller than you. But damn is she
feisty. That’s a warning.”

She smiled. “I’ll think I can deal with it.
Because, you know, if she rattles me I’m going to find you and make
you unrattle me.”

“Careful, Lina. I’ll have her rattle you on
purpose.”

She gave him another kiss. “Tired of
carrying me around yet?”

“I could carry you around all day long and
feel like I was on vacation. But on to the shower, so I can take
you to see if you can put up with my mother well enough to live
here.”

Caroline marveled that he had his own
private bath, and not just a bath but a spa compared to those she’d
always had and had to share. It wasn’t extravagant looking. The
fixtures and countertops were all normal Formica and silver plate.
The tile was just vinyl bathroom tile in a green and blue swirl.
But it was big. The shower was bathtub size, large bathtub size
with just enough lip on it to be able to bathe instead of
shower.

He set her down carefully and reached in to
lower a fold-out bench. “How’s that?”

“I think I’ve died and gone to heaven.”

He ran a hand through her hair. “I like this
place about a million times better right now, even knowing I’ll
have to work longer hours farming it for a few days to catch up
with what I’ve missed recently.”

“Dio, hire someone. Can’t you?”

“I’m bad with people. I’ve tried. Between
the mask and my ineptitude, I can’t keep them or I find fast that I
don’t want to keep them. Mom used to be good at it but she’s ...
well, until recently, it was just easier to do it myself and keep
away from people.”

“Yeah, I understand that one. But if I’m
staying here, I’ll find ways to help you. You better know
that.”

He grinned and ran his hands down her naked
body. “Knowing I’ll come in to this at night...”

Caroline moved in against him, hopping
slightly to be close enough, and slid her arms around his
shoulders. “Maybe at lunch time, too?”

“Mm, depending on the day.”

“Good enough. But I do mean more than that.
And I’ll watch over your mom for you. I can do that. If she’ll let
me.”

“Damn I wish we didn’t have to leave the
house today.” He backed away enough to let his eyes roam her body.
“But you better shower. I’ll go gather our clothes. Will you be
okay in here by yourself?”

Lina laughed. “Are you kidding? Alone is
what I know.”

“I understand that one. But not anymore,
Caroline. Not anymore.”

Dio was nervous as hell.

Caroline was fine about meeting his mom, but
he was nervous as hell. Not that it would change anything. The
house belonged to him. He had the right to move anyone in he
wanted. Still, he paused outside her room and took a deep
breath.

“It’ll be fine.” Caroline rubbed a hand over
his back. “I’m actually good with people when I decide to be. I’ll
make this work for you.”

Unable to resist, he set his mouth over
hers. He wanted to take her back home, to let this wait another
day, to hide her away from the world with him only for twenty-four
hours.

“This must be Caroline.”

Releasing her, Dio turned to his mom. At her
door, in her robe, holding the rolling metal thing that held her
IV. A nurse at her side turned to hide a grin.

Dio couldn’t answer.

“Yes. I’m Caroline Corinth.” Lina offered
her hand. “You have to be Mrs. Troy. It’s a pleasure to meet
you.”

“Corinth? What kind of name is that?” The
old woman studied her.

“To tell you the truth, I have no idea. I
know when I was in school, kids saw it funny to call me CiCi, no
matter how I hated that.”

“Yes, most will do whatever they can to
annoy you if they see they can get away with it. And how did you
handle it, if I can ask?”

“Mom, you should sit, shouldn’t you?”

“Diomedes, I’m talking to the young lady.
Mind your manners. Besides, I’m on my way to take a walk.” She
looked at Caroline again.

“Mostly I ignored them. I’m good at
that.”

“Mostly?”

“Sometimes they wouldn’t let it go and got
too much in my face.”

“And then you ... whined for a teacher?”

“No, then I knocked them down and reminded
them of my name.”

“That’s what I woulda done the first time.
Guess you have better sense than I did. So, you were out here
enjoying my son, it looked like.”

Dio groaned. Lina laughed. “Yes, I was
enjoying him. I enjoy him a lot, really.” She rubbed Dio’s arm.

“So I heard.”

“Mom...”

Lina laughed again. “Well good, then we both
know where this stands, right? So to speak, since it looks like
right now neither of us are terribly good at standing. Can I walk
with you?”