Eve

CHAPTER 4

SANDRA WASN’T GOING TO BE able to climb the four flights of stairs at the development, Eve realized, after her mother almost fell twice on the first few steps. She moved to stand on the step beside her and put Sandra’s arm around her shoulders. “Hold on to the banister and lean on me. We can make it.”

“Sure we can,” Sandra said. “I just feel a little wobbly…”

“I’ll do it.” John was suddenly beside them, pushing Eve aside. “It will take you half the night to get up those stairs. What floor?”

“Four.”

“Go on upstairs and unlock the door.” He was picking Sandra up in his arms and starting up the stairs. “Come on, Ms. Duncan. This will be much easier for you.”

“Call me Sandra.” Sandra smiled. “Like I said, nice and polite, Eve. A real Sir Galahad, like I saw in that movie.”

“Wrong.” John smiled down at her. “But I make a good packhorse.” He was moving quickly up the stairs. “We’ll get you into your place in no time.”

Eve had the door unlocked and thrown wide by the time he reached the fourth floor. “Take her to her bedroom. It’s the door on the right.”

She went to the bathroom and got a damp washcloth and some salve.

John was looking down at Sandra lying on the bed. “I think she’s fading fast. Do you want me to help you undress her?”

“No, it won’t be the first time she’s slept in her clothes.” She turned on the lamp by the bed. “When I was younger, there was no way I could manage to help her.” She carefully bathed the cuts and bruises on Sandra’s face. “Bastard. Why would he want to hurt her like this? All he’d have to do is treat her nice, and she’d do anything he wanted.”

“He’ll think twice about doing it again.”

Yes, the beating John had given him had been brutal and merciless. She had been a little shocked at how merciless at first. She wasn’t shocked after getting a closer look at Sandra’s face. “Do you think he’ll call the police?”

“No chance. Not if he had heroin in his pocket. He’ll just cut his losses and get out of Dodge.”

“Good.” She was gently rubbing salve on Sandra’s cut lip. “I just hope he doesn’t try to look up Sandra again.”

“I’ll be around for a while. Let me know if there’s a problem.”

“I’ll handle it. She’s my mother.”

“Hurts, Eve…” Sandra was opening her eyes. “What are you doing, honey?”

“Just putting some salve on your lip. Go to sleep, Sandra.”

“I was bleeding… and there were bruises.”

“Yes, but they’ll go away.”

“I’ll be just as pretty as ever?”

Eve nodded. “In a week or so.”

“That’s good.” She was gazing drowsily up at Eve. “You have a bruise, too.” She reached up and touched the purple mark on Eve’s cheek. “Did Jimmy do that to you?”

“No, someone else. A couple days ago. I’m okay.”

“Poor Eve.” She gently patted Eve’s face. “Poor little girl. Like mother, like daughter.” Her eyes closed. “Like mother, like daughter…”

Eve stiffened as if Sandra had struck her.

She threw the salve on the nightstand and got to her feet. Her voice was shaking when she said, “She’ll be okay for the night.” She turned and strode out of the room. “Turn out her lamp.”

An instant later, the light went out, and John came out of the bedroom.

“Thank you for helping with her.” She was standing at the window with her back to him, looking down at the street. “Though I didn’t give you much choice, did I?”

“I had a choice.” He paused. “And you’re not like your mother, Eve. She’s not a bad woman, but she’s weak. There’s nothing about you that’s weak.”

“I know that,” she said. “But when I see her like that, I have to keep reminding myself. And how can I be sure that she wasn’t stronger when she was my age? Was she like me? Can life beat me down and turn me into what she’s become?”

“Not if you don’t let it.”

She drew a deep breath. “That’s right. I’m not thinking straight right now.” She turned around to face him. “Sometimes I get scared, but it doesn’t last long. Do you ever get scared, John?”

“Now and then. Usually it’s about being trapped somewhere and not able to get out.”

“And that’s why you’re going to join the Army and see the world. You’re going to avoid all the traps,” she said. “I don’t have to see the world. I’m going to make my own world.”

He smiled. “And what a world it will be. I’d like to stay around and see it.”

And she would like him to be there to see what she could accomplish, she realized. He would give life an edge, an excitement.

What was she thinking? That edge and excitement were what was most dangerous to her. She needed steadiness and focus to reach her goals.

He was looking around the room. “Very clean, very neat. It looks like you.”

“It’s the only way I can stand it. I taught myself to keep house, but I’m still a lousy cook. Strictly TV dinners.”

“I like to cook. It relaxes me.”

“Another thing your uncle taught you?”

He nodded. “He never got married. He had to do for himself. I’d like you to meet him someday.” His gaze was on the wall beside the window. “That’s a nice sketch on the wall. It’s Manuel, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I did it when I sat with him while Rosa went to the store. I’m going to give it to her when she starts her GED study. It’s sort of a bribe.”

“It’s good. Is that what you’re going to study?”

“Art? No way. I’ve heard too much about starving artists. And people who starve end up in places like this. I’m going to study engineering. That’s solid.”

“You have something there.” His gaze was still wandering. “One bedroom. Where do you sleep?”

“On the couch. It’s pretty comfortable.”

His gaze went to the paisley-covered couch across the room. “Cushy. Yeah, I can see you lying on it.” His eyes shifted back to her. “I’m glad I’ll be able to picture you there.”

Heat again. Out of nowhere. Just a few words, and that tingling tension was back.

“You’d better leave.”

“I’m going. I knew I said the wrong thing. I was making headway. We’ve gotten to know more about each other. You’re not thinking of me as a threat to you any longer. I should have let it go at that, but I couldn’t do it.” He added, “But I didn’t want to let you forget what’s going to be important to us.” He turned toward the door. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow night.”

“Don’t you ever give up?”

“If I’d taken you at your word tonight and left you when you handed me my walking papers, then it would have been a hell of a lot more difficult for you.” He opened the door. “You can never tell when I might come in handy.”

“One-in-a-thousand chance.”

“When it comes, I’ll be there.” He looked back over his shoulder. “Do you know how I’m going to be thinking of you lying on that couch?” he said softly. “Naked, Eve. Naked and moving.”

He shut the door.

Damn him.

A wild kind of chemistry.

Searing hunger, mindless need. She was feeling all of those emotions that very moment.

Her hands were clenched as she stared at the door. The hell he was no longer a threat. Yes, they had gotten to know more about each other. Though he had become more knowledgeable about her than she was of him. He had caught her at a susceptible time, and she had revealed a vulnerability that she had shown no one before.

All she had learned about him was that he could be even more brutal and dangerous than he had shown her with that encounter with Larazo. That he had effortlessly made himself a necessity to Sandra and her during this hellish night. That he had read her mind and emotions with a cleverness and sensitivity that made her uneasy. That he had a patience that was almost intimidating. That his worst fear was of being trapped.

And that he was able, with one look or sentence, to make her body respond.

Naked and moving.

She knew as she lay on the couch trying to sleep tonight that she would be thinking, feeling, imagining John Gallo’s vision of her… and of him.

Damn him.

SHE TOOK AN HOUR OFF FROM work the next day so that she’d be gone when he reached the restaurant.

The next night he showed up at the restaurant three hours early.

“I was worried that you weren’t here,” he said as he sat down on the chair. “Until Teresa told me that you’d left early. Is Sandra okay?”

“I guess so. She only stayed at home one day. When I got home from school today, she was gone.”

“Then it wasn’t trouble at home. You were running away from me.” He added quietly, “You shouldn’t do that, Eve. I know you can’t afford to miss any hours.”

“I wasn’t running from you. I had homework.”

He looked at her skeptically.

“What’s wrong? Didn’t Teresa entertain you?”

He shook his head. “You keep pushing her at me. If I wanted a substitute, I’d choose my own.” He studied her. “And you’re changing the subject. You must have had a reason to panic.”

“I didn’t panic.”

“Too strong a word? Maybe just a couple of really bad nights?”

She didn’t answer.

“I had them, too.” He got up from the stool, and said curtly, “And it’s time you brought this to an end. I’ll be waiting outside every night until you decide to either call the cops on me or give me my shot at convincing you that I’m not going to do anything to hurt you.”

He walked out the door.

And he would do exactly what he said, she realized. She had already gotten a taste of that patience. He was right. She would have to settle this in some other way because he wouldn’t be avoided.

And she wouldn’t run away from him again.

“LET’S GO.” SHE OPENED THE passenger door and got into John’s Chevy. “I’m tired of the people I’m working with thinking I’m being stalked.”

“I guess you could say they’re right. Except stalking implies violence, and there’s no way I’d be violent with you.” As he started the car, he said, “Unless you wanted it. You don’t have the experience, and I’d shy away from it. But we could try it if you-”

“Shut up.” That heat was rising within her again. She only had to be near him, and it started. “I don’t want to try it. I don’t want to try anything.” She moistened her lips. “You said we had to put an end to this. That’s why I’m here. You helped me twice in some really bad situations, and I’m grateful. But now I want you to go away. You make me feel… I don’t like to feel like this.”

“Yes, you do. Or you would, if you’d let yourself. It’s the sport that makes the world go round. You’re feeling what I’m feeling, and there’s nothing more exciting. You’re just scared of the consequences. There wouldn’t be consequences, Eve. I’d take care of you.”

“And you think I’d trust you?”

“I think we’re going to have to trust each other. We need it too much to do anything else.”

“I don’t… need it.”

“The hell you don’t.” He drew a deep breath. “And I can’t talk right now, or I’ll end up wrecking this car. Give me a few minutes to get you home.”

He didn’t speak again until they were parked across the street from the housing development. His hands were clenched on the steering wheel, and he was looking straight ahead. “You may not need me, but you want me.” He turned and slid across the seat until he was touching her thigh-to-thigh. “Do you think I can’t feel it? I know damn well you can feel me. We’re both sending out signals that are basic as hell.”

She couldn’t breathe. Her hand reached out for the door handle.

“No, stay.” His hand was suddenly covering hers. “Let me show you just a little of what we’d have. I’ll stop whenever you say.” His hand moved slowly up her wrist to her upper arm. “You feel so good… Silky, and yet every muscle tense and ready.” His hand moved up to cup her throat. “And your heartbeat…”

Her heart was jumping out of her chest. The instant he’d touched her, she’d felt as if every nerve in her body had been electrified. She could feel the crispness of his shirt against her body and breathed in the scent of him. Spice or something else that was making her dizzy.

No, it was Gallo who was making her dizzy. His mouth was on hers, his tongue probing, playing.

She made a sound deep in her throat and moved closer.

“Yes.” His hands had slid down to undo the buttons of her shirt. “That’s right. Give me your tongue. I want the taste of you…”

She arched with a cry as his hands cupped her breasts. They were swelling, the nipples hardening, peaking.

Then they were free; he’d unfastened her bra, and his fingers were pressing, pinching, squeezing.

His mouth was on her breast, his tongue… his teeth…

Heat. Tingling between her thighs as his hand reached down to cup, rub. She shuddered as the tingling became a burning hunger.

“Not here. Let me take you someplace,” he said hoarsely. “I’ll make it good…”

She didn’t want to go anywhere. She didn’t care. She wanted to stay there and let him do whatever he wanted to her. Fill her, stop the burning, the hunger…

Hunger. The world was full of hunger that could have only one satiation. His face, sensual, lips full, his breath hot, his hands…

“Eve, I don’t want to make it with you in the back of this car.” His breath was hot on her breasts as he spoke. “If you don’t want to go up to your place, I know a motel near the airport. But we have to hurry.”

She looked up at him dazedly. What was he talking about?

“Eve?”

A motel. The backseat of the car.

What was she doing? A quick hump in the back of the car? She was behaving like an animal in heat. Oh, she was in heat. She was mindless and wanting only one thing, one act.

But she didn’t have to act like that animal.

She sat up straight and pushed him away. She was panting, her voice uneven. “No.”

His arms tightened for a moment. “What?”

“No.” She had to get out of this car. Or she wouldn’t go at all. “I said no. You proved your point. But it’s not much of a triumph for you, is it? I don’t know enough about this to fight it.”

“Triumph? What the hell are you talking about? I’m not trying to-” He drew a deep, ragged breath. “I just wanted to show you what we’d be missing. But then I couldn’t stop. I don’t think I’d ever be the one who can stop.”

“You showed me.” She was trying to button her shirt. Damn, her hands were shaking. “Are you satisfied?”

“Hell, no, and neither are you.”

“I’ll get over it.” She was opening the car door. “I’d never set eyes on you until a few days ago. Now I’m supposed to jump in bed with you?”

“If that’s what we both want.” He leaned forward, his face lean, hard, intense in the dashboard lights. “Why not, Eve? What difference does it make? We need it, we want it. Let’s take it. We can have a hell of a good time for the next few weeks. Then you’ll be rid of me. No strings.”

She got out of the car. “Good-bye.”

“No way. I’m not giving up. Why should I? You’re on my side.” He said softly, “Think about it. Think about how it felt. How it could feel. It’s going to happen sometime. Why not with me? I’ll protect you. No responsibilities. All you’ll know is the pleasure. I’ll show you a real good time. Okay?”

She didn’t answer. She was hurrying across the street to the development. Almost running.

Because she wanted to turn around and get back into that car.

She glanced back over her shoulder as she reached the front entrance. He was still sitting there, watching her.

She slammed the door and ran up the stairs to the apartment.

She leaned back against the door staring into the darkness. Her heart was beating hard, her breath coming in harsh gasps. She felt hot and weak and aching. All because he had touched her with his hands, with his mouth.

It’s going to happen sometime. Why not with me?

And she wanted it with him. She had never felt like this with anyone else before.

But she had never felt so weak and powerless before, either. The whole world around her was chaos, and she could only survive if she felt strong and able to handle that chaos. At that moment, she felt she couldn’t handle anything.

A kind of wild chemistry.

Why had it happened? Maybe she could have resisted an ordinary attraction, but not one that was shaking her to her core.

She dropped down on the couch and huddled there. She could feel the soft material of the couch against her body.

Naked and moving.

How would it feel to be naked with him above her, in her?

Her stomach clenched, and she bit her lower lip as her whole body tensed.

Crazy. Intense. Feverish.

But it wasn’t going to go away. She knew that now.

She had to have it. She had to have him.

SHE LAY THERE FOR HOURS UNTIL the intense storm of feeling passed.

No, not really passed. Just faded into the background. She knew it would come back. As soon as the thought of him returned.

But at least she could think. She wasn’t as mindless as she had been when John had been touching her.

She got up and went to the window. It was going to happen. She was going to have sex with John Gallo. Accept it. No big deal. Most of the girls in her class at school had been screwing around for the last couple of years. Chastity had little value on the streets or in the projects.

It was a big deal to her. She would not be like her mother. This was her life, her body. She didn’t want to have to trust anyone with either.

Only herself. She had to be in control.

And she had almost lost that control tonight. Whenever she was near John, that control shattered. So she had to be prepared.

She had to be safe.

She slowly turned away from the window and went to the bathroom. She opened the cabinet under the sink and took out her mother’s pretty pink patent box. There were four discs still in the box. Her mother usually got a six-month prescription for birth-control pills.

Eve stared down at the discs with the circle of tiny pills. She had never thought of birth control because she had been sure that she would not need it for a long time. When her life was on track, when it was convenient. But she knew that Sandra’s pills worked for her mother and let her be in control of the situation. Control. Nothing was more important than being able to be in control of this insanely volatile emotional roller-coaster ride. Yet it felt strange and a little frightening to realize what she was going to do.

But she had to be safe.

She took one of the discs and put the rest back into Sandra’s box.

Now she was in control. She didn’t have to rely on anyone but herself. She could take what she wanted.

And the excitement was already starting to build within her.

JOHN GALLO’S CHEVY HAD JUST pulled up across the street from the restaurant.

Her heart was pounding. He was there, soon she’d be with him.

Eve drew a deep breath and threw her towel on the counter. “I’m out of here, Teresa. Mr. Kimble said I could leave early.”

Teresa nodded as she saw the tan Chevy. “Maybe you’re not as serious as I thought. If anyone could jar you out of it, it would be him. Have a good time.” She slid a second glance at the car across the street. “And I think you will.”

Eve was barely hearing her as she headed for the door. John Gallo was getting out of the car. He stopped as he saw her crossing the street toward him.

His eyes narrowed. “This is… different. You didn’t call the cops on me for harassment. I think that might be a good sign.”

“Stop thinking.” She got in the passenger seat. “Just get me out of here.”

He smiled. “Right away.” He got back in the car and started the engine. “Home?”

“No.” Her hands were clenched tightly together on her lap. “I don’t want it to happen in the apartment. I don’t want to think of you there.”

“Happen?” His gaze was on her face, and he pursed his lips in a silent whistle. “Oh, yes, this is going to be very unusual. Why?”

“What difference does it make? Why are you surprised? You’ve been telling me all the reasons that I should let you screw me. Maybe you convinced me.”

“It makes a difference.”

“You’re right, I want it. I want you. I don’t know why I do or why it has to be you, but that’s the way it is.” She looked straight ahead. “Last night I… hurt when I thought about you. Why should I feel this way when I can do something about it?”

“No reason at all.” His hand reached out and rested on her thigh.

She could feel her muscles tense beneath his touch. His hand felt heavy, warm, through the thin denim of her jeans.

“You like this?” His hand was rubbing sensuously back and forth. “Yes, I can feel that you do.”

She couldn’t breathe. She reached out and put her hand above his knee.

His muscles became rock hard beneath her hand.

“No, you can’t play the same game.” He took her hand off him. “Not while I’m driving.”

“Then stop driving.”

“As soon as I can. Where?”

“Anywhere. I don’t care.”

“I do.” His hand was moving between her legs. “I’ve been thinking about it. No motel. There’s a reservoir off the highway. We can find a place.”

“You must have been sure that I’d end up giving in.”

“I’ve been hoping.” His fingers were closing, pulling, gently pinching. “And I thought my chances were good. Chemistry.”

Chemistry.

Her breasts were swelling, her body was tensing, burning, opening. She was leaning back, her head moving back and forth as his hand…

“Get there,” she said through her teeth. “Find that place.”

“We’re almost there.” He was going down a bumpy country road. “It won’t be long.” He muttered, “It had better not be. I’m going crazy.” He pulled down a side road, then they were suddenly off the road and completely surrounded by trees and brush. He jammed on the brakes. “Come on.” He grabbed a red plaid blanket from the backseat and opened the driver’s door. Then he was around the car and opening her door. “Quick.”

She was already out of the car. “Where?”

He was spreading the plaid blanket on the grass at the side of the road. “Is it okay? It’s clean and private. No one comes here…” He was pulling off his shirt, his movements frantic. “If you don’t like it, I’ll find another place later. I can’t-”

“It’s fine.” She was unbuttoning her shirt. “I don’t care.” She just wanted him to touch her again. In the way he had only minutes before, as he had last night. She unfastened her bra and threw it aside.

He was naked. She could see the gleam of his flesh in the moonlight. How had he been so quick?

“I’ll help, Eve. Lie down.”

She was on the soft wool blanket. He was pulling at her jeans. Then they were off, and he was with her on the blanket. She gasped as she felt the hardness of him against her.

“Shh, you’ll like it.” His hand was moving in and out.

She cried out, her back arching off the blanket.

“See, nothing but pleasure.” His mouth was on her breast, nibbling, sucking. “Sweet…”

Not sweet. Maddening. Insane…

His mouth on her breasts, his hand between her legs, probing.

He lifted his head, his breath coming in gasps. “I can’t take much more. I’ll take more time later. But could I-” He was over her, moving between her legs. “Don’t say no, Eve. Please, don’t-” He stopped, closing his eyes. “Wait. I knew I’d go crazy. It will be just a second. I’ve got to protect you.”

“No.” She was pulling herself up to meet him. “Do it!”

“The hell I will. I promised you that-”

“It’s okay. I’m safe. I took care of it.” She was glaring up at him. “Now do it!”

He plunged deep!

Pain. Only for a moment.

Fullness. Friction. Movement.

Yes.

She was moaning, meeting him thrust for thrust.

Deep. Deeper.

His hands were cupping her buttocks, lifting her to every thrust.

“That’s right,” his voice was ragged. “Give it to me. Burn me…”

She was the one who was burning. Every tactile surface of her body seemed hot and sensitized. Her nipples, the flesh of her stomach brushing against his, the soles of her feet that were pressed into the blanket.

Then he was moving harder, deeper. “Eve, I can’t hold off any…”

She couldn’t, either. Her lips bit into her lower lip as she felt the rising.

Madness. It was all madness…

It was only seconds later that her back arched off the blanket, her arms sliding around him to pull her to him.

He cried out and collapsed on top of her.

“You screamed.” He was gasping for breath as he lifted his head. “Did I hurt you?”

She’d screamed? She didn’t remember making a sound. But then she hadn’t been thinking, only feeling. “You didn’t hurt me.”

“You’re sure? I’ve never had a virgin. You were… tight.”

“Yes, I was.” She was gasping, too. “But it was okay. Did it bother you?”

“Hell, no.” He flexed within her at the memory. “It was fantastic.” Then he was getting off her and lying beside her. “But I should have been more careful. I thought about doing it, then it was gone, swept away.”

Everything had been swept away but the act itself, Eve thought.

And it was still here. The urgency was gone, but her body was still tingling, warm, vibrantly alive. No one had told her that the aftereffect would be like this.

John was pulling her close again, cuddling her in his arms. “Thank you,” he said softly. “It was good, the best, Eve.”

“Yes, it was.” She rubbed her cheek in the hollow of his shoulder. “I don’t see how it could be better. Do you?”

He was silent. “Don’t be hasty. There’s always a way to make anything better. Let me think about it.”

She nodded. “I’m willing to listen. You know best… for now.”

He chuckled. “But you think that may be temporary?” He smoothed her hair. “You may be right.” He was silent. “You’re sure that you’re protected?”

“I’m sure. I wasn’t going to go into this unless I knew I was safe.”

“And you didn’t trust me to do it. I meant it, Eve. I wasn’t going to let you run any risk.”

“It’s my body. I take care of it.” She lifted herself on one elbow and looked down at him. “This way I don’t have to trust you. Isn’t that what you really wanted? No strings. That’s what you said.”

“Yes, that’s what I said.” His finger traced the curve of her upper lip. “But I’ve been known to be unreasonable now and then. Maybe I’m hurt that you didn’t trust me.”

“I don’t think so.” She frowned. “But it’s too dark to see your face. I can’t tell if you’re- Where are you going?” she asked, startled, as he jumped to his feet and was heading back to the car. “What are you doing?”

“You don’t like it dark? Let there be light.” He flipped on the headlights.

She inhaled sharply as she was illuminated in the intensity of the headlights. She scrambled to her knees, staring at his dark shadow near the car. “I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Sometimes the unexpected is exciting.”

“I feel… naked. Somehow, I didn’t before.” She had only been aware of textures, scents, sensation.

“I like you naked.”

“I’m too thin.”

“You’re perfect.”

“Liar. Why did you turn on the lights?”

“I felt your burn. I wanted to see it.” He was coming toward her out of the shadow. Lord, he was beautiful. Olive skin that looked darker in contrast to the clear light. Muscular stomach and thighs. And the expression on his face… Full lips, white teeth, and glittering dark eyes that were sensuality itself. “ While I was feeling it.” He fell to his knees in front of her. His fingers tangled in her red-brown hair, and he tilted her head back. “The light is turning your skin golden as if it was sunlight.” He bent his head, and his lips enveloped her nipple. “Do you feel the heat, Eve?”

“Yes.” It was happening again. This time the sensation was so erotic that the intensity was almost painful. Her nails dug into his shoulders. “What are you going to do?”

He was kneeling there, ready, tense. Both of them caught in the brilliant spotlight. She had a sudden hazy memory of the moment in the hospital the first night she’d met him.

Ready to perform…

“It’s what you’re going to do.” He lifted his head and moved her legs on either side of his hips. Then he was raising her, bringing her to him. He whispered. “Let me feel the heat. Come burn me, Eve…”