Enjoy
Sins of the Father
Chapter 36
All I know
Christian's POV
Ana's hand is covered by mine. I'm holding it in place at the center of my chest. The thin layer of my T-shirt is enough to keep the fear of burning flesh at bay. Her other hand is at my bicep, inching up to the back of my neck. She tugs at the hairs her fingers are now tangled in. A moan escapes my lips when she pulls me in closer to her, deepening our kiss.
Fuck, she feels so good.
Its been too long since I've kissed her, too long since she's been this close to being mine. I have no chance of stopping my body from responding to her, from controlling my impulses from taking what they want from her.
My arm snakes around her waist, pressing her into me. She moves willingly, molding herself to me. Her body still fits so perfectly to mine. Her warmth is still so all consuming. Her scent still so intoxicating.
Her mouth tastes of tea and mint, with a hint of sweetness that has always been there. Its always been the taste of Ana. My mouth comes alive at the taste of her. My body is all nerve endings at the feel of her.
Jesus, we're like electricity. Her body touching mine is creating a brilliant crackle of a spark that is close to setting us both on fire.
Our lips part with her name on my breath.
The need for air separates our mouths, but our bodies remain together. Neither one of us steps away from the other. We are melded together in place.
Ana's eyes are still closed.
I smirk as she runs the tip of her tongue along her lips tasting me on them. Slowly her eyes open. A hint of pink shades her skin when she catches me staring at her. I raise an eyebrow when she rolls her eyes at my expression.
"You haven't stepped away," I whisper to her.
"It's not like I can," she says of my arm holding her.
"Do you want to?"
"No," she says, moving even closer to me. "I don't."
She tugs at the nape of my neck again as her lips touch mine.
The tip of her tongue licks my lips apart and I moan in satisfaction when she slips it in my mouth. Her mouth is devouring mine and driving me crazy.
I'm pawing at her, frantically trying to remove clothing to feel her skin. Her arms leave me long enough to fall at her sides so I can slip off her coat. My hands are at the edge of her blouse, feeling her warm, smooth skin. I grab hold of the hem to lift it up over her head. Her arms are raised in the air until the sound of my phone quickly brings them back down again.
"Fuck," I grunt out under my breath. If it was anyone else calling, I would toss the damn phone to the far side of the room, but the ring tone is reserved for only one person and there is no way in hell I could ever ignore it. Reluctantly, I let Ana go to retrieve my phone from the coffee table. "Hey, Teddy Bear."
My eyes never leave Ana as I answer my son's call.
She smiles at the mention of his name. I'm sure the upbeat song from the Despicable Me soundtrack had her wondering. Its not something I would have ever been caught dead having as a ring tone but Teddy has been mangling the words of the damn song nonstop since he saw the movie and of course he picked it as his ring tone.
"Are you almost home," he groans. I can hear the pout in his voice.
"It'll be just a little while longer," I tell him. "Are you not having a good time? I heard Sophie came over to play."
"Yeah," he exclaims, cheering up. "We went to the pier. Uncle El, won me a dinosaur, but he broke Auntie Mia's nail and he had to give her fifty bucks to fix it. Auntie Katie got sick on the Ferris wheel right at the top. It got everywhere and it was gross. It's cuz she had too much fudge. And a hot dog stuffed with cheese. And two scoops of ice cream."
I grimace as the mention of that concoction is making my own stomach turn. I swear my siblings are more like kids than Teddy is.
My mind drifts to the three other siblings I know nothing about. I had a few dealings with the Barrington Fucker over the years. I always pegged him as a cocky asshole that was born with a silver spoon in his mouth trying to do his daddies bidding. They drain natural resources without giving a shit. The fucker has always been one of the few I've never been able to rattle. I suppose now I know why.
"Sounds like you had an adventure," I tell Teddy.
I glance over at Ana to see her reading a massage on her phone. The frown on her face tells me she isn't happy about it as she adjusts her blouse.
Mom calls for Teddy and he tells me his movie is about to start.
"The Minions," I ask him, but I already know that's what it is.
"Grandma never seen it," he says, like it's a shock to him that she's somehow missed the best movie ever.
I let him go with the promise that I will be home soon.
"Kay," he says before hanging up.
"Whats wrong," I ask Ana. Her face is flustered as she puts on her coat
"Teddy," she asks, ignoring my question, gesturing to my phone with her head. "He's missing you?"
"He is," I tell her, feeling guilty about it.
"He loves you."
"He doesn't know any better."
"Christian, don't say that."
"Whats wrong," I ask her again.
"Um...Hunter just texted," she says, looking down at her phone. "The test results should be coming in soon. His dad…your dad, he's stable. He's looking good- I mean, Hunter says he's looking… better-"
"Ana," I call, reaching for her, but she steps out of my reach.
"Christian, don't."
"Don't what? Don't kiss you again? Don't hold you again?"
"Yes. Don't any of it."
"Are we going to ignore what just happened between us? Are we just going to go back to hiding our feelings again, or are you going to make excuses for them?"
"Nothing between us. You've been drinking and I haven't slept."
"So that's a yes on making excuses."
"I'm not making excuses. It was just a moment. We just got caught up in a moment. That's all."
"That's all? What would have happened if my phone didn't ring? You had no intentions of pushing me away. You had no intentions of pulling away. You would be underneath me in my bed right now and you know it."
"I know no such thing."
"We were connected. I know you felt it too."
"I'm connected with Hunter. Remember Hunter? Your brother."
"Don't fucking pull that brother shit. You're making it sound like I just kissed Kate. Elliot is my brother."
"So is Hunter."
"I have no fucking ties to Hunter."
"Christian-"
"What the fuck am I supposed to do? Roll over because we have the same asshole of a father? I'm supposed to just give you up? He's had you for what, two years now. That's fucking long enough. And you sure as hell wasn't thinking of Hunter when you came over here. Why the hell did you come here anyway? Big brother isn't doing enough to keep you at home?"
"I came over to…you know what, I don't even know why I came over. You're right, I wasn't thinking, so, I should go."
I grab her arm to keep her from leaving.
"I am so sick of this shit. Aren't' you sick of it, Ana?"
"Sick of what," she asks, yanking free of me.
"This shit that we do. We get close, you get scared, we say shit to piss each other off, and then you're out the fucking door. I'm sick of you coming here just to run away."
"Well, don't worry. I won't be coming back."
"No, you don't, baby. Not this time. This time you are going to stay here and deal with me."
"I've been dealing with you for a long time and I refuse to do it when you're obviously drunk. It didn't go so well that last time remember? You came stumbling in after your little night out with Elena."
"I was out with Elliot and she just happened to be there and I'm not drunk. Thanks to your interruption, I'm still quite sober."
"Well, I'm too tired for this. I meant what I said. I haven't had any sleep. I don't even know what I'm doing right now."
"Then sleep," I tell her pointing to the bedroom.
"I'm not sleeping here."
"You. Are. Not. Leaving. Here. So you may as well sleep. We'll talk when you wake up."
"You cannot be serious," she says crossing her arms over her chest. I stare her down before taking her keys out of her hand to let her know just how fucking serious I am.
"Fine," she says, storming off to the bedroom. "But don't even think about following me in here."
"I wouldn't dream of it," I call to her back.
Its a lie, but I sure as hell am not going to admit it to her right now.
I smirk, strangely satisfied when she slams the door in my face.
I check my phone for the time.
Ana has been quiet for almost an hour and I have no idea what to do with myself anymore. I can't stand not being in there with her.
Fuck it.
I stalk up to my bedroom door about to tear it open but think better of it.
Slowly, I open it.
My eyes land on the bed where the light I just let in illuminates her frame. She's curled up on her side on top of the covers. Her shoes are placed on the floor at the foot of the bed and her coat is draped across her.
Drink in hand, I take a seat on the chair next to the bed. I love watching her sleep, I always have. I find peace in it. She is unguarded and at her most vulnerable when she's asleep. She's also the most beautiful.
I long to curl up behind her and hold her in my arms. To allow her to keep the dreams away I know will come if I try to sleep, the way she always has. But, like the first time we were in the Heathman hotel, holding her then while she slept would have been grossly inappropriate. And it would be now. Because now, like back then, she isn't mine to hold. I just laid beside her that night, but I know better than to even do that now. I down the rest of my drink and place it on the table before covering her up with a throw. I smooth her hair out of her face before dragging myself away from her and out the door.
…
Carrick's POV
"Are you going home to your wife sometime tonight," Natalie asks, making a production of smoothing down her skirt and twisting it back into place. She's always been a beautiful girl. I feel like a dirty old man for admiring her, but I'm not dead. "The poor woman has got to be missing you."
We've been held up together in my office for the past three hours and I'm sure I have exhausted her, but I can't bring myself to care.
"She's not home," I tell her, moving over to the bar to pour another brandy. Absentmindedly, I pour her one too, even though she doesn't care for them. She leaves it abandoned where I place it on my desk. "Grace is babysitting our grandson."
"How is he doing," she says, taking the picture of him Christian gave me on his first day of school from its place on my desk. He is nothing but adorable, you know. He's going to be a heart breaker, just like his daddy."
"He's doing remarkably well," I tell her, taking his picture from her and placing it back where it belongs. "And you keep your eyes and your hands off of him. Not to mention, off of my son."
"Are you implying that I'm after Christian? He's not at all my type. You know I like older men. I like lawmen."
"Speaking of lawmen, that father of yours better figure out a way to get us out of this hole he's created."
"He's created. I thought this was all your doing. Aren't you the one that got us into this?"
"Your father and his senility got you into this. I'm trying to get us out of it and fast. My wife is now getting suspicious."
"It's about time," she jokes. "I swear, I don't know how you managed to keep it from her. Is she that high up in the clouds she doesn't notice you never being home. Who does she think you're with? If it was me, I'd have your dick encased in glass and only my little red hammer could break it."
"Your father?"
"What else can he do? The cat is out of the bag now, so to speak. It's only a matter of time before Grace finds out. We should cut our losses and catch the first flight out to Mexico. You can steal a new family there."
"This isn't a joke, Natalie," I say, turning from the window I was just facing. "My wife thinks I'm cheating on her, which is far better than her knowing the truth. The lives of my entire family hangs in the balance and I refuse to let us all be controlled by that bastard lying in a New York hospital bed."
"Its out of Dad's hands now, Carrick. He has stretched this to the limit for you. What else can he do?"
"Make sure Teddy adoption is untouchable."
"Do you really think the Barringtons will want to take Teddy from Christian?"
"I don't doubt it. If Christian doesn't play their game, which I'm sure he won't, they may use Teddy as leverage. I need HB transferred to a hospital here. Get a warrant for his arrest if you have to."
"The statute of limitations has long run out. And you realize you've had him band from the states for the last twenty years. Do you really think his wife is going to let him come here and risk running into you again? He's already in danger of going to jail."
"I'm not giving her a goddamn choice."
"Why do you need him here? All these years you were adamant about keeping him and his wife out of Seattle. You barely let their son come to a fundraiser for crying out loud."
"Things have changed. Leila Williams created one hell of an incentive for the Barringtons when she had Teddy and I will be damned if my family loses him. He and Christian must remain Greys."
"Carrick, how long are you two going to go at it? Ella is long gone. Guess what? Neither of you won. Why not let it be over?"
"Its not over. It won't be over until that sick son of a bitch is dead. I want him here so I can pull the plug on him myself."
"Like it or not, he is your son's father."
"I AM MY SON'S FATHER."
….
Ana's POV
I wake feeling completely relaxed. Still dazed from sleep, I stretch out in bed with a smile on my face from the most amazing dream. Its only when I hear piano playing that my eyes spring open. I look around at the room I'm in and I realize it wasn't a dream at all.
I fling off the comforter, breathing a sigh of relief that I'm still fully clothed. At least that part was a dream.
I get out of bed a follow the sound of the music.
The melody is one I'm not familiar with. Its different than the classic pieces he used to play. The room is dim but for the lights of the windows. I keep my distance so I can listen without him knowing.
His back is to me as he plays and my mouth falls open in a silent gasp as he starts to sing. I dare not make a sound or even breathe so he won't hear me and stop.
I bruise you
You bruise me
We both bruise too easily
Too easily to let it show
I love you and that's all I know
All my plans
Have fallen through
All my plans depend on you
Depend on you to help them grow
I love you and that's all I know
When the singer's gone
Let the song go on
It's a fine line between the darkness and the dawn
They say in the darkest night, there's a light beyond
But the ending always comes at last
Endings always come too fast
They come too fast
But they pass too slow
I love you and that's all I know
"I know you're there," he says, making me jump a little at being busted watching him. "I heard you open the door."
He turns around on the piano stool to face me.
"Its a beautiful song. I've never heard it before," I say approaching him. "I never heard you sing before, either. You sound…amazing."
"I'm full of surprises, Miss Steele," he smirks at me. "Did you sleep well?"
"Um, yes, thank you. I should really get going though. I uh…" I stop talking when I notice him just staring at me. I bite my lip to keep from rambling on. Why the hell am I explaining anyway? I should just go. If I was half way honest with myself I would admit that I really don't want to go.
"Why did you leave, Ana?"
"What?"
"Why did you leave? We were getting back on track. We were working things out. Or, so I thought."
"You're right," I admit. "We were."
"Then why did you leave me and move here? I got the call from Elliot that night. You didn't even want him to tell me. You didn't even tell me. You just took off without a damn word. Why?"
"Because."
"Because? Because why? Because you stopped loving me?"
I shake my head no.
"Christian, you know I love you."
"Love? As in present tense?"
"I didn't mean-"
"Goddamn it Ana. Just tell me why? Why did you leave?"
"Elena. Okay? I left because of Elena."
"Elena made you leave? What the hell did she do?"
Woo finally an update.
real Life has been pretty busy and pretty FREAKING amazing.
Foremost, I cannot thank you all enough for the support you've given me in publishing my first novel. My book launch has been sooooo far above what I expected.
Oh, do not forget to check out the reader appreciation page on my website and send in those selfies to lanieloveu at g mail . com. I would love to see all of you.
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