The Word of a Liar (31 page)

“What are you doing out here with only that nightgown on?  Don’t you know how cold it is?” he scolded her.

“I couldn’t sleep.  I came down to watch a movie and was going to go get my robe and slippers, but then I saw—’’ Ellen stopped short.

Mason grinned.

“I talk too fast when I get nervous, you know,” she said and then flashed a feeble smile.

Mason nodded.

“I know,” he replied and then scooped her up in his arms. He carried her into the house, kicked the door closed, and then set her down in the foyer. He whipped off his coat and flung it on a nearby chair never taking his eyes off her.

Ellen reached out and took his hand. She began to pull him up the stairs as if leading him to an extraordinary surprise.  At the top landing, he tugged on her arm to stop her.

She faced him with eyes that questioned his sudden hesitation.

“Ellen,” Mason said in a ruptured voice. “Promise me you’ll never walk out on me again. I don’t think I could bear it if you do.”

Ellen bit her bottom lip as she squeezed his hand. “I promise. And I promise I’ll try not to ever misjudge you again.” She tugged his arm. “Come on… it’s late…. Let’s go to bed now.”

He followed her into the bedroom. A brilliant winter moon shone through the beveled glass windows and draped its white light over the room’s vintage interior. Mason locked the door and then faced Ellen, who sat at the edge of the bed. A rush of deep sensual longing washed over him.

“Take off your nightgown,” he whispered.

Ellen slipped the garment over her head, exposing her nakedness to his scrutiny. He went to her. His hand roved along the curve of her neck.  He lifted her chin. He outlined her parted lips with his fingertips. Ellen licked each one with the tip of her tongue, amplifying Mason’s need.

Mason whisked off his shirt.

Ellen stood.

Like a blind woman wanting to see, she ran her palms along the hard curves of Mason’s shoulders and then traced the outline of the angel wings tattooed to his chest as if to confirm he was real. She read the braille of fine dark hair that ran down the smooth plane of his stomach with her fingertips until she reached his belt buckle.

Ellen slipped the leather strap from the metal enclosure and then undid the tab of his jeans to unzip his fly. Sliding her fingers beneath the waistband of his undershorts, she rubbed her palm along the length of his hard, throbbing sex and then stooped to strip him naked. Straightening, Ellen brought her face to his and they kissed. The bottomless depths of her hunger roared to life.

“Love me,” she commanded in a hoarse whisper.

Mason spun her around. He pressed into the soft curve of her lower back. Reaching around, he clasped a breast in each hand. The warmth of his body against her chilled skin electrified his embrace. Mason’s lips fell upon the side of her neck. She rolled her head to the opposite shoulder, reveling in the sensuality of his mouth tenderly pulling… aggressively biting. Ellen pushed her hips against him.

Bending her over the foot of the bed, Mason’s fingertips traveled over her shoulders, down both sides of her spine and rounded the curves of her hips. Hands splayed-out over her buttocks as he massaged its lush softness. When he traced its vale with his finger, Ellen moaned.  He kissed her there over and over until her knees weakened.

Mason’s hand roamed between her thighs, parting her legs. He played her body with an expertise she no longer could live without.  The new notes of passion he’d created had set her soul free, and now his love-making had become her glorious addiction. He delved into her soft folds with an urgency Ellen could recognize. She drew in a sharp breath as his hard sex stroked her silky wetness. She lost herself in the sensuousness of his touch and moved restlessly in anticipation of the wondrous release he promised.

Mason stopped.

Tense with anticipation and every nerve ending prickling with a sensual sensitivity, Ellen pushed against him, but he left her.

“Turn around,” he called out to her in a gentle voice. “I want to look at you.”

Ellen straightened and then faced him. The moonlight caught in Mason’s hair and his blue hypnotic eyes sparkled with desire. At that moment, Ellen wondered if she could ever love him more than she already did.

Mason captured her face in his hands and kissed her swollen lips. He took a step back and then moved to the side of the bed. Whipping back the blankets, he motioned for Ellen to get in. He waited for her to settle herself before he crawled in beside her. Pulling her into his arms, he held her like a thirsty flower holding on to the rain.

Mason inhaled her scent, tasted the salt on her skin, and stroked the silky softness of her hair. Ellen completed him. He knew that now. True happiness was being in her arms. He couldn’t lose her. Cradling her body, he entered her again as that pulse of undefinable emotion beat so loud and fast in his chest it nearly suffocated him.

Ellen held on to Mason with her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs hugging his hips. Forging their bodies in the fire of their passion, they linked themselves together and then raced to the pinnacle of their desire. There, at the zenith of their hunger and need, they fell into a free fall of exquisite surrender. Their moans of gratification were as beautiful and complex as any symphony crafted by a master musician.

Mason rolled on his side and stretched his arm around Ellen’s waist. Submerged in the drowsy aftermath of their love making, she listened to the subtle change in his breathing as his body cooled. His hand moved to her belly and rubbed in a circular motion. Mason kissed her temple. “Ellen,” he whispered, “what were you going to tell me this afternoon?”

Ellen closed her eyes. She didn’t want to shatter the lovely peace settling around them. Mason tenderly stroked her chin. Turning to look at him, she swept his hair off his face. She studied the perfect symmetry of his features. The nagging sense of familiarity once again surfaced.

“Where do I know you from, Mason?” she asked.

“The road.” He smiled. “Somewhere in time, we met each other on the road.”

“Was I riding a motorcycle?”

“Yes.” His eyes widened. “And you were topless.”

He laughed softly.

The familiar timbre of his deep male laughter brought tears to Ellen’s eyes.  She’d missed the sound of it, and now, once again, she feared the loss of it. “This afternoon I was--”

She stopped and looked up at the pink prisms on the chandelier that hung over them.

Mason raised himself up on his elbow as if sensing her discomfort.

She glanced at him.  The concern in his eyes was unbearable. She looked back up at the chandelier and forced herself to tell him the truth.

“I’m pregnant, Mason. I’m pregnant with your child.”

CHAPTER twenty-nine

Feeling like a musket ball had slammed into his chest, Mason rolled over unto his back.
Pregnant! Now what the hell am I going to do?  I might be dead in couple of days.
Mason’s frantic thoughts made him incapable of speech. He watched the moonlight tangle itself in the crystal prisms overhead as he tried to absorb the shock of Ellen’s startling revelation.

“I thought...,” Mason began then had to stop and take a deep breath.  “I thought you were on the pill?”

“I was,” Ellen replied.

The room filled with a heavy silence. Mason’s heartbeat throbbed in his ears. Nausea twisted in his belly. He felt cold and desperately weary.

Ellen sat up and rested her head against the headboard. She twisted the hem of the sheet into a rope as tears dripped down her cheeks.

“I’m not going to make excuses for my carelessness, Mason. I have no one to blame but myself.  It was irresponsible! Stupid!”  Ellen’s voice hissed with bitter self-loathing.

She looked down at him.

“In three days, I have an appointment for an abortion.” She took a shaky breath and then continued in a voice so small Mason could barely hear.  “I thought maybe you could come with me. But if I need to, I can do it alone.”

Mason sat up and wrapped his arm around her shoulders which shook with each of her sobs. He wanted to reassure her that she wouldn’t have to face it all alone but knew it would be an empty promise. Fighting back his own tears of frustration, Mason kissed the top of Ellen’s head.

“We’ll figure this out, Ellen.  I just need time to think. That’s all,” he said as his inner voice pleaded,
Please, God, give me some more time!

They snuggled back down beneath the blankets, and Mason held Ellen until she stopped crying and fell asleep. Restless, Mason got up and went downstairs to find some whiskey.  He rummaged through cabinets in the kitchen to find the bottle he’d left there.

“So it’s you.”

The voice from behind him made Mason jump. He spun around. JD stood in the doorway dressed in his pajamas and brandishing his wooden sword.

“Shit, JD! You scared me.” Mason exhaled.

“I heard a noise. I thought you were a stranger,” JD said, not dropping his weapon. “You said a swear.”

The boy’s bravery and mild scolding made Mason smile. He’d missed the little tyke and all of his idiosyncrasies.  Uncertain of how JD would react, Mason refrained from hugging the boy.

“You can put your sword down now,” Mason said.

JD lowered the weapon.

“Are you and Mommy having a sleepover?” JD asked.

Mason walked over to the boy and squatted to eye level. “Yeah.”

“Are you and Mommy better now?”

Mason nodded.

“You aren’t going to go away again, are you?” JD asked with eyes full of worry.

Mason bit his bottom lip. His chest constricted. “I hope not, bud,” he replied, rubbing his face to conceal the tears blurring his vision.

“Is your autism too big, Mason?” JD asked as he put his hand on Mason’s shoulder.

“No.” Mason shook his head. “I’m just a little sad.”

“I think we need Mommy.”

Mason sighed. “I think you’re right.  Let’s go back to bed.” 

Mason turned off the light and then the two of them walked up the stairs.

“JD,” Mason asked when they got to the top landing, “do you think you’d like having me for a dad?”

“Yeah,” JD answered in his flat, emotionless voice.

At the door of Ellen’s bedroom, Mason cautioned JD to be quiet so he wouldn’t wake her. JD went in, walked over to Ellen’s side of the bed, dropped his sword, and then climbed in.

“Mason’s sad, Mommy,” he said, dismissing Mason’s warning.

“Is he?” Ellen muttered, taking JD in her arms.

Mason crawled in on the other side and put his arm around them both.

“I thought you’d left me,” she whispered.

“No,” he said, pulling her close. “God willing, I’m here to stay.”

***

A finger traced the tattoos on Mad Dog’s back. He blinked, trying to place where he was. Sunlight flooded the room even though green gingham curtains covered a long, narrow window that ran the length of the bed.

“Mad Dog, are you awake?” a female voice whispered from behind.

Mad Dog remembered. He’d gone to the Ritz and had found the little blonde angel, Linda. She’d driven him home. Only they hadn’t gone to his house, she’d taken him to her place.  He remembered getting up the stairs had been quite a feat. She’d helped him into the bedroom and then... after that… he had no recollection. He didn’t know if they had had sex or if he had passed out. He rolled on his back.

Resting her head on a folded arm, Linda’s long blonde hair spilled over her shoulders and breasts like silky fringe. Lush brown eyelashes adorned radiant blue eyes. Her petite mouth curved into a sultry grin as she watched.

“What time is it?” Mad Dog groaned as a hammer beat inside his brain. He closed his eyes to lessen the pain.

“It’s around noon. Why? You have to be some place?”

“No. Just wondering. Do you have any whiskey?”

“Don’t you think you’ve had quite enough of that?”

“A fucking jack hammer is knocking my brain loose right now. I need something to put me out of my misery.” He lay back on the pillow, rubbing his forehead.

“I’ll get you water and some aspirin. You’re dehydrated from the alcohol. I’ll be right back.”

Linda rose and then bent down to kiss his lips. She turned. Her hair swished across the small of her naked back. Mad Dog rose up on his elbow, admiring the seductive sway of her nicely rounded ass as she left the room until the pounding in his head sent him back down onto the pillow. He tried to remember what had happened after they’d gotten into bed, but it hurt too much to think. All he remembered was a black spinning cave swallowing him alive.

The little angel returned. Mad Dog took his medicine eagerly as she crawled back into bed.

Mad Dog sighed. “I’m a little foggy on what took place between us last night. I don’t suppose you’d like to clue me in.”

Mad Dog grimaced.

Linda laughed. “Do you remember anything about last night?”

“I remember being happy to have run into you again. And you telling me you were a biologist—no, sociologist. That’s what it was. You’re researching bikers to write some damn thing.”

“My doctorate.”

“Yeah.” Mad Dog grinned. “I have no idea what a sociologist does. And I can’t imagine why anyone would want to write about the sons-of-bitches I ride with.”

He turned sideways, looking into her face. “Does that mean when you get your doctorate I can come to you for a physical?”

“No. It’s not a doctorate in medicine, but I’m impressed you remember some of last night.”

“I remember everything right up to when I landed in your bed.” Mad Dog covered his face to ward off any blows. “Don’t hit me, okay? I’m older than you and I bruise easily.”

“I’m not going to hit you.” Linda moved his hands away. “You know why you don’t remember anything after that?  You passed out. I barely got your clothes off you before you did. I was pissed. I thought bikers were made of heartier stuff.”

“You mean we didn’t--”

“No. We haven’t had sex yet, but I’m hoping to get around to that sometime today.” She stroked his dark beard. “You know, Mad Dog, I chose you out of all the other bikers at that bar to research. I hope you’re not going to disappoint me.”

“What exactly did you want to research?”

“For starters, I thought we could do a little exercise in the exploration of each other’s bodies. If that proves satisfactory, we could move on to more difficult issues such as… how long it takes a forty-one year old biker to tire when being ridden by a twenty-eight year old angel.”

Linda smiled seductively. It set a match to Mad Dog’s stifled passion. He reached behind her neck, twisting a tress of golden hair around his fingers. He pulled her close and kissed her. Lust roared like a mighty lion. Mad Dog’s hungry kiss devoured her soft, wet mouth. His tongue delved, teased, and probed until his lungs begged for air.

Linda gasped. Her blue eyes blazing, she smiled. “I suspect you’re going to do nicely as my lab rat.”

Mad Dog pinned her to the bed. His breath came in heavy gasps. “So… what would you like your little lab rat to do?”

“Show me everything you know.”

“Everything?” Mad Dog cocked his head to one side.

Linda’s eyebrows lifted. “Everything!”

***

After putting JD to bed, Ellen went downstairs to talk to Mason.  As the day had worn on, Mason’s good mood had turned sullen and dark. She decided it must be the pregnancy. Ellen heard him talking to someone as she neared the entrance to the TV room. Mason sat on the sofa. The room was dark. He held his cell phone to his ear. 

“Everything is arranged. Meet me at the Hardwood Warehouse on Twelfth
and Vulcan at six o’clock tomorrow morning,” Mason said to the person on the other end. “I’ve got the money. Two hundred and fifty grand and that much more when the job’s done.”

Mason turned toward the doorway. He looked surprised to see Ellen standing there.

“Gotta go,” he said, in a nonchalant tone. “I’ll be in touch.”

Mason set the cell on the arm of the sofa and turned to face Ellen.

“JD finally asleep?”

“Yes,” she said as she sat down next to him. “JD’s so excited you’re back. I think that’s why it took him so long to fall asleep.” Ellen smiled. “Who were you talking to?”

Mason sighed. “Jack. I have to pick up a car tomorrow, so it looks like I’ll have to be gone early in the morning.”

“I heard you say something about two hundred and fifty grand.”

“Yeah. The car costs $500,000. I told you Jack sells expensive imports.”

Mason put his arm around Ellen’s shoulders and hugged her into his chest. “Someday I’ll be able to buy you a car like that,” he said.

“I’d be afraid to drive a car like that,” Ellen replied as she pulled away and looked at him. A stark plane of moonlight shone across Mason’s face. His knitted brow and the tight lines pulling at the corners of his eyes made Ellen anxious. His dark mood had worsened. She wondered if the phone call was to blame. Doubt nagged her, but she tried to ignore it.

“What’s wrong, Mason? I know you told me this morning you didn’t want to talk about the pregnancy today—that you needed time to think. But maybe we should talk about it now.”

Ellen leaned her head against his shoulder and then took his hand in hers. It was cold and clammy.

Resting his head on the back of the sofa, Mason sighed. “Do you ever think about dying?” he asked.

His question took Ellen by surprise. “Sometimes. Why?”

Mason shrugged his shoulders. “I was thinking about JD not having a father and Mad Dog’s kids without a mother. Do you think Paul and Gina are somewhere else? That somehow they know what’s going on in this world?”

Mason looked at Ellen.

“I’d like to think so,” Ellen said.

“What do you suppose it’s like to be dead?” Mason asked. “You never talk about the accident that killed Paul. Is it too painful?”

Ellen shook her head. “Not anymore. I guess I thought it might be uncomfortable for you. Talking about my late husband.”

Ellen took a deep breath and then exhaled.

“Paul was a contractor. He had a business called Castles of Your Own. After ten years, it started making a good profit, and we decided to buy a cabin in Door County. We planned to spend Father’s Day weekend there before we signed on the dotted line. The day we were supposed to leave, Paul came home late.  I wanted to wait and go the next morning, but he insisted we leave that night.”

Ellen glanced over at the dead TV and then back to Mason.

“Reluctantly, I agreed but insisted on driving. On Highway 57, it started raining. Paul woke up. He put his hand on my thigh and smiled that crooked smile I loved and asked if I wanted him to take over.” 

Ellen let go of Mason’s hand and began to knot the ties of her robe into a long braid.

“I hadn’t gone far when an oncoming car flashed its lights. I thought my high beams were on, so I glanced at the dashboard. In that split second, a deer leaped into the road. It struck the van and then came crashing through the windshield. I lost control. I remember the headlights bobbing up and down when the van left the pavement and then this terrible crushing force. We’d struck a tree.”

Ellen looked at the knotted belt and then began to untie it.

“The next thing I remember was a young state trooper tapping on the window, asking me if I was okay. He looked scared. Rain poured down his poncho.  Steam rose off the crushed hood of the van, and I started to panic, thinking it was going to catch fire. In the backseat, JD was screaming.”