Kitabı oku: «In Hugs of Dream», sayfa 2

She came to the sink and, throwing her fair curls back, washed her face, made new wings, colored her eyelashes and slightly touched her lips with the lipstick. She fluffed her humid hair putting it to the side to make pomper those icicles. She glanced at the mirror and was satisfied. In spite of the feverish shine in her eyes and pinky cheeks and… God, the end of her nose too, she looked hot enough. Powdering her face a bit, she held her head up, straighten her shoulders and left her chic sanctuary. She still felt sick and swayed from the illness but it wasn’t the time for her to give up, she had to lead all this till the end.

From the opposite side of the office Alex came out buttoning his shirt. Humid, dark hair waved a little over his forehead. Angie made a gasp, when she saw his flat, tough belly with vivid cubes and light hair path going down. Such a perfect press she saw only in magazines. She had a mad wish to come closer and checked the hard relieves with a touch. Making couple of steps, he lifted his head and stopped. His hands froze on the second button, blue eyes rounded in astonishment, when he saw a beautiful girl, who was watching him with her dark, cyan eyes and a foxy smile over her lips. Breath-taking, just unbelievably beautiful eyes. Combination of aristocratic accurate nose, lifted cheek-bones and plump natural lips blew up the imagination. His gaze lowered to her voluptuous breasts, thin waist and well-rounded hips. Her legs were hidden under the dress but he somehow was pretty sure they were slender and nice. Though, why it shouldn’t be checked. At least he had to prove his reputation of a Latin lover, which was created for him by the reporters.

He smiled and said pointing to Angie’s bag:

“Why don’t you put your suitcase?”

“Yes… No.”

“So is it yes or no?” he sneered slyly. “Feel yourself at home, Carrie. Would you like to drink something?”

“Don’t you need to come back to the party?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“I don’t think anything unusual can happen there without me. Moreover, my hair is still wet.”

He came to the ambry and pushed the button. The door slowly opened and Angie saw a mini bar. Alex plashed a little whiskey for him and turned to Angie raising his brow questioningly.

“I wouldn’t refuse form mineral water,” Angie answered. There was a desert in her throat and the room was going circles in front of her eyes. She quickly sat on the sofa.

He came back with two glasses, the one with mineral water he put ahead of her and sat on the opposite sofa. She saw penetratingly handsome, noble man who knew well what kind of effect he had on women. Everything was talking about that from his penetrating gaze of his blue, velvet eyes, strong hand brining the glass of whiskey to his lips to the loose pose he was sitting in. He, in his turn, saw a beauty girl with silk, milky skin, light natural blush on the cheek-bones and bush of fair hair tumbling down over her bare well-turned shoulders. The room was filled with invisible threads of sexual tension, which was sparkling in the air penetrating deeply under the skin of two strangers, who appeared in that room according to the will of the certain circumstances.

“Are you afraid of me, Carrie?” the husky voice sounded.

“Why do you think so?”

“Do you always answer questions?” she kept silence. He continued. “You are just pressing you glass with such strength that it seems to me it is asking for help”

Laughing, blue eyes pointed to the glass in her hands. She unhurriedly lowered her gaze and immediately understood what he meant. Her fingers convulsively clenched the glass so tightly that the fingertips became pale. She squirmed under his staring and quietly said:

“You are looking at me, as if I’ve got horns on my head.”

“Rather wing on your back,” Alex answered with a little smile. “You look like a little angel with innocent eyes, who had knocked me down in real and figurative sense.”

She blushed and made a sip of mineral water tormentingly thinking up an answer. It couln’t be said that she had never heard a word of a compliment in her life but that was the tone he used. Intense, silky baritone went under her skin making every inch of her body froze in long waiting. Sexual tension hadn’t let her from the moment she appeared in his hands.

“I didn’t plan this happened, just somebody pushed me and I couldn’t steady. I’m sorry,” she said quietly still trying to get out of the spider web of his charisma, which was sucking her in more and more with every second she spent with that man.

“If I find that person I will cash him a bonus.”

“For messing up you suit?”

“For making my evening from boring to intriguingly fascinating.”

His probing gaze went over her bare leg, which was opened for the observation. Angie was melting from his husky voice and sexual eyes but it was not the time and the place for the entertainment. She understood it with her brain but her body seemed to live its own life and needs. She drank more water and ordered herself to calm down and think clearly. No matter how appealing was that etalon of a male beauty, she came here not for becoming the next one-night amusement for that rich replete man. Her power wasn’t the beauty but her brain and she put a stake on it in this game. But the thing was that her brain being under the effect of pills refused to think clearly and sharply. Her thoughts were confused; her head was going around but all she needed was to get to his table. Really needed. What she could do to get him out of the room. A sudden idea came into her mind and she said:

“Do you fell some strange smell?”

Alex ran an eye over her and sniffed.

“When I was in the shower room it seemed that the strange smell was coming out from the ventilation system like somebody was smoking or something was burning somewhere but it was very strong. And I think I feel it, too, right now.”

“It’s weird,” Alex frowned, “smoking is allowed only in special rooms and if the fire is somewhere the safety system works immediately.” Nevertheless, he stood up and went to the shower room. It was exactly what Angie was wishing for, she opened her bag quickly and took a pack with white powder from a little pocket. The doctor prescribed such one to her father when he had bouts of insomnia. Angie dumped out it with trembling hands into his glass of whiskey, shook it a little and put it back on its place.

“No smell,” Alex’s voice sounded. “Or it seemed or somebody has already smoked and aired.”

He returned to his place and took his glass. Angie saw small parts of the powder in it and prayed to the God that he didn’t notice anything. He had to be taken away. Now.

“You’ve got a very nice office.” she nervously swallowed and came to the window. “And the panorama is amazing.” she turned to Alex. “Did you kill somebody to get it?”

“My soul. It seems that I had it before building this skyscraper.”

“Did you build it?” Angie’s eyes became round.

“I had projected it and hurried the contractors. They sincerely believed that I was the real resemblance of the Devil and secretly made crosses, when I turned my back.

“I wouldn’t say that. You’re too handsome for the Devil,” the girl softly mentioned and became horrified with her popped out hasty words.

Alex finished his whiskey with one shot and approached to Angie.

“You are beautiful, Carrie.”

He carefully got her hair off her face running his fingertips over her cheek. Her skin was silky by feel and very warm. He put her chin up slowly drawing a line with his thumb finger over her soft lower lip.

“I want to taste you.”

H slowly bended to her and devoted himself to the kiss. No matter what but kissing was his shot. He slightly touched her lips then tenderly sucked her upper one, after that the lower forcing them to open and captured them in an insatiable, burning liplock. His tongue mildly examined her mouth, penetrating deeper and deeper. Angie was drowning in that greedy, demanding kiss. Her deceitful body became light and submissive. All her feelings were tensed like bare wires, which the sexual sparks were running through. Alex continued unbearable, delicate seduction making Angie shiver from passion. His tongue teased, penetrated in the depth of her mouth and slowly went out and then rushed into it again, until Angie didn’t give up to the mercy of the winner and hogged clinging to his body continuing wild, incomparable to anything enjoyment. Their tongues merged together in a mad dance of desire and lust till their kiss was finally out of control. She was furiously kissing him burying her hands into his hair, while his hands greedily went over her breasts hips penetrating into the dress’s slit. Their figures united in one body were lighted up with the bright lights of New York. Continuing learning each other bodies with their hands, lips, tongues, they slowly approached right to the sofa. In a moment they lied on it being captured with a crazy desire. Angie appeared to be on the top and, sitting on him, she leaned back giving the free will to his hands, what he successfully used. He pulled down the upper part of her dress setting her breasts free and nestled with his mouth up to her sharp-edged nipples. He slowly and teasingly licked with his tongue over one nipple, until Angie didn’t arched towards his insatiable mouth. Being captured with that wild primal passion they were sinking in each other’s cuddles. Suddenly his hands stopped forcing her to his hips; his tongue didn’t torture her breasts with delightful kisses anymore. Angie lowered her head and saw that Alex leaned back to the pillow and… was sleeping. For some moment she became numb then the whole reality fell upon her. She had just been wriggling in a hugs of a stranger man being ready to give herself to him right here in his office. Her body was in a flame of lust and her bare breasts were watching straight at Alex. Angie shut her eye tightly from the horror and quickly slipped down from the coach pulling her dress up. It wasn’t her, it was all about the flu pills and champagne, which she had drunk at the party. They drove her crazy, darken all rational thought in her head and almost made her one-used girl for a night. She looked back at Alex. He was lying in a relaxing pose, one hand was hanging from the coach while the another one was on his belly, his eyes were closed. She was afraid, wasn’t the doze she had given him too strong? What would happen if he died? Oh God, could it be possible that she had killed the subject of desire of every woman in New York? She shook him on his shoulder in panic but he didn’t react. She bended over him to listen to his breath and with a relief heard his light snorting. He was simply sleeping.

Without losing the time Angie with unbending legs rushed to his table. Everything was swimming in front of her eyes; her head was splitting and the light nausea came to her throat. Organizing all her strength, she started to seek through his table. There had to be the envelope from Monte-South; the most important thing was that he hadn’t made it to read. But if all her reckonings were right, he had been supposed to get it yesterday. She prayed that the envelope was there still packed. She watched through all his mail and didn’t find anything. Where could he put it? She was ruminating on frantically, putting her fingers to her temples and slightly massaging them trying to reduce the pain. The desperation was invading her. She leaned back on the back of his president chair and closed her eyes; for a moment it seemed that the dream was wrapping her. She quickly threw open them and suddenly her look fell over the little table near the door. She didn’t believe her luck, there was a sheaf of the letters on it. Possibly, this table was especially for the new correspondence not to swamp the working table. She ran to it and picked the sheaf over with shaky hands. Huston, Jacksonville, Seattle, Kansas-City. Not that! There was such a feeling that this man was corresponding with all the States. Finally! She even screamed with delight. Monte-South². That was it. That was the right letter. She put out a cuticle scissors from her bag and softly cut open big thick envelope. There was a report with full estimate and detailed description of the land that was in five kilometers from her town, where Covert Steel Production, one of Dimond-Westwood Enterprises companies, was planning to build the factory of the converts production which was necessary for steel manufacturing. These converts would be made as for the inner usage of Dimond-Westwood Enterprises factories so for the selling all over the world as a separate product. It offered a mega profit for Dimond-Westwood Enterprises. Angie knew it all and understood that where the big money was involved, nobody was going to think what kind of loss the building of such factory could bring to the area, where the places of leisure and camps were situated. Including the camp of her father. The place that became her own home since the moment her father had quit going all over the States and bought out a little camp near the lake. His whole life Darren Northon had been travelling from one state to another one, painting pictures and playing the guitar in different bars. After meeting with merry widow Marry Catwall, he understood that he was too old for such riotous life and decided to settle down. Almost all money was spent for the reconstruction of the camp, building new cottages, making a small football field, basketball court and the berth for boats. Darren and Marry didn’t simply lived with that place, they breathed with it. Her father painted his best pictures there inspired with an amazing nature and an unusual atmosphere of that place. Situated in the depth of the woods, surrounded with the mountains from one side and with a big lake Belnesh³ from the other one, the camp was a real resort for everybody desirous to get the best leisure in the world. In winter people came there to skiing and in summer to swim in the lake, catch fish and have long walks in the woods. Extraordinary warm aura being created by them became a home not only for her but for a huge amount of people coming to them every year. She quickly found the common ground with new father’s wife, who appeared to be a brisk, cheerful woman with big heart with no children of her own, that’s why she accepted Angie as her own one. For Angie she became a second mother after her aunt who had fostered her. The real mother she never knew. She was gone soon after Angie’s birth. Hard form of pneumonia. And now when she found her family, the building of that factory in several kilometers from the camp could lead to the catastrophe. Who would rest in the camp if the air wasn’t so much filled with an oxygen? Who would gather mushrooms from the ground polluted with factory’s emissions? Who would swim in the lake and catch fish in the water, which was affected as carcinoma with toxic industrial wastes? It would be death for the camp. And what would happen to her parents who dedicated themselves for creation of such magical place? It was too scary even to just think about it. That was the reason why she was sitting in the office of that man, who could destroy everything that had been created by her family during years, and trying to put the situation in which they had appeared because of DWE’s ambitions and greed right, at least in some way.

She glanced at sleeping Alex Dimond. His face relaxed in the sleep the rough expression was changed with the boyish one. He was undisputedly the most handsome man who she had ever met in her life given her the real whirlpool of passion. Remembering what had been going on in this room a few minutes earlier, her skin was covered with goosebumps. He didn’t do anything bad to her actually but his company aimed at the most important thing in her life, at the calm of her parents. She didn’t have any other way out. She accurately cut the thread which was the report sewn with and got out the inner content of it, then she took the same report from her bag, put the title and the last pages of Alex’s report to it, stuck the attaching with number of pages at the last list. Then she put the new report into the envelope and carefully glued it again, then put it back on the table to the other correspondence. The previous report she placed into her bag. The data in the new report were corrupted so much that the building of such factory was not only unprofitable but in fact impossible. Now she had to get out of there. When Alex woke up she would be far away from him and he would hardly understand what had happened in real. Overdid, drank and fell asleep. Pleasing herself with those thoughts Angie softly got up from her knees and felt the headrush again. Clenching her teeth, she made couple of steps, opened the door and froze. The pair of two black eyes were watching her cautiously.

“Who are you?” Maximillian Westwood asked.

Angie opened her mouth to answer him and everything went dark. Max only could hold out his hands and catch the falling girl. He stared at her in dismay. That was the same girl, who had fallen on Alex today. Evidently she had a day of fallings today. Or she was the another huntress for super rich husband and had casted out the lines for Alex who possibly slipped away from the set trap in some magically way and a real lady had nothing to do but try her charms of temptation on him. By the way where was Alex himself? Max peeped into the office and surprisingly saw his best friend and partner sprawling on the couch and slightly snorting.

“What the hell?” Max blew up.

CHAPTER 4

Max was measuring with his steps the hospital hall expecting for the doctor. He had a chaos in his head and he really needed to know what the hell had happened. He remembered the events of this evening with horror. Falling on his hands girl, his friend in a complete blackout, an ambulance and now it was the hospital. Concerning to the fact that he couldn’t stand the hospitals since the moment he had got into it after the car accident and all in blood a fourteen-year-old girl had appeared to be near him in an oxygen mask. And he was lying right beside her and watching, and as from the side he saw himself as a person who had taken the wheel being in alcohol and drug intoxication and was the one and only guilty in that accident. The accident, that caused them both being in one ambulance. Then the months of rehabilitation and alcohol and drug treatment followed. That accident had completely changed him and now he was the another person. But the memory of that horrible evening kept the disgust to the hospitals for the whole life. And now he was stuck here for the full hour in an expectation and complete ignorance, when finally, at least somebody would explain him what was going on. What happened in that office? Who was that girl? What happened to her? And at last, what happened to Alex?

Suddenly the door of Alex’s ward opened and the doctor came out of it. Max got up from the sofa and rushed to her.

“What’s wrong with him?” he roared.

Doctor staggered back from his abruptness, her light blue eyes being covered behind the glassed slightly rounded. She quickly took herself in hand and answered:

“Don’t scream at me, Mr. We are doing everything possible but I can’t tell you exactly what the problem is without the results of analyses. Now he is sleeping.”

“What do you mean he is sleeping? He is in the blackout. I couldn’t wake him up no matter how hard I was shaking him and yelling.”

“It’s true,” the doctor confirmed calmly, “but all his vital activities are in norm. Do you know how much did he drink?”

“He’s the hollow leg, no matters how much you pour into him he will be fresher that any of us. He couldn’t be dead on feet like this only because of alcohol. How long should those damn analyses be waited for?” Max blew up. “I’m stuck here for the full hour. I can’t stand these dead-houses.”

Doctor gave him another strange look and said:

“They will be ready tomorrow morning. And now excuse me, I need to visit my other patients.”

“Wait Doc, and what’s wrong with the girl? And who is she?”

“The girl had a fever. And it is impossible to ask her any questions about the other symptoms because she is still unconscious. The only thing I can tell is that her temperature was subdued and her vital activities were in norm. Tomorrow after getting all the analyses I’ll be ready to answer all your questions. You don’t have to stay here till morning, anyway, nothing new will happen. Come tomorrow morning. Excuse me.”

She walked around him and went back to her study. Something clicked in Max’s head; something on the subconscious level but he couldn’t understand what it exactly was. A strange feeling that he had already met that woman somewhere. Though, who knew in his being of the young fast liver he had women in his life more than there was hair on his head. He spun for a while and decided that it was really nothing here for him to do. He needed to go home, had a bit of sleep, if possible and came back here in the morning.

Doctor Jordanna Ann Pierce approached to her study with fast steps, opened the door with a tug and bang it down behind her with force. Leaning to it she shut her eyes tightly and felt the tears of powerlessness and fury running over her face. The folder with hospital cards of her patients fell down from her shaking hands and she slowly slumped on the floor. Maximillian Westwood. The person she hated with fierce hatred. The person who deprived her the possibility to live normal human life. The person who put her into the wheel chair for long six years. The person who in his cool BMW buzzed into her parents’ car on the cross roads being in absolutely crazy insane. All that scary evening with its horrible details swept in front of her eyes. She was coming back home with her parents from the school evening where she had acted in the play. It was late and the strong rain was falling down. Suddenly there was a strong crash and everything got darken. Opened her eyes, she saw strange people who said something but she didn’t understand them. There was a noise in her ears. The rain poured with all its strength. She felt somebody’s hands carrying her somewhere. The darkness fell again. A little light penetrated through the closed eyelids; she opened them. There were people in white everywhere and something covered her face. She turned her head a bit and met the look of a young man lying beside her. He was looking at her but his gaze didn’t focus on anything. Like two dark, yawning holes stared at her. She closed and opened her eyes again understanding that she was sitting on the floor in her study and there were her folders throwing around everywhere. These nightmares followed her time to time but only in her dreams. Now she had a feeling that she survived this all one more time. She needed to calm down; she was at work in the hospital and her patients were waiting for her help. She didn’t expect in any way to meet him right here and right now. It was all so sudden. She planned their meeting to be different it was the thing that knocked her off. She had to make great efforts to answer his questions calmly. Though everything inside her was burning and roaring. She would have gladly stuck her pen into his black heart and no surprise if his blood had appeared to be of the same black color as his eyes. She violently shook her head, got up and came to the mirror. A pale face surrounded with dark red curls and big full of horror grey-blue eyes ware reflected in it. Obviously he didn’t recognize her. It was not surprisingly at all; ten years had passed since that tragic evening for her. Moreover, as she learnt later he had been in such toxic fever that he couldn’t even remember his name, not saying about the girl who he had crippled and sentenced to the six-year hell. She opened the tap with cold water and washed her face. She had to cool her nerves and just forget about it. For some time. Until she wasn’t ready.

Angie slowly opened her eyes and blinked several times. She was lying in a room. And it wasn’t Alex’s office. Despite the weak illumination, she saw the white walls, a small wardrobe, a small locker near the bed and a door. Where was she? What happened? She raised up on her elbows and looked around. The room wasn’t big and reminded the hospital ward. She shifted her eyes to her hand and saw a needle in it, which the colorless liquid was running into through the tube. Oh God, she was really in the hospital. And the kaleidoscope on yesterday events spun through her head. Alex’s fall, his office, breath-taking kisses on the coach, substitution of the report, the door, frozen in astonishment man and… darkness. She groaned and leaned back to the pillow. And how did she manage to get into such trouble? It was all the damn flu and the pills. And champagne. Right, she poured in two glasses of it for the courage at the party. And her whole perfect plan was down the drain. And now? She got stuck up to her ears in her own intrigue and she had no idea how to set herself free. The door handle ran low. Angie took her breath. What if it was the police? She pressed into the pillow. But a doctor in the white gown came to the ward and took a look at her patient with attentive silver-blue eyes.

“How do you feel?” she asked warmly. Angie glanced at her silently and point her hands to her ears and lips then made a helpless gesture.

“Are you deaf and mute?” the doctor asked. Angie nodded. “Can you read the lips?”

Angie nodded again. Pretending to be deaf and mute was the best way to avoid answering the inconvenient questions; she had learnt it from her aunt on her father’s side. Aunty Daisy always acted like deaf and mute when some annoying sellers of nobody needed goods or tax officers knocked her door.

“How do you feel?” the doctor repeated slowly articulating the words. Angie showed a thumb finger and smiled.

“You had a fever. We need to wait for your analyses to make a diagnosis and assign а therapy for you. I guess you’d like to know how your friend feels.”

Angie quizzically winked. What friend? But the doctor continued:

“He is fine; he is sleeping well in the next ward. His vital activities are in norm like yours. We’re waiting for the analyses but there is a little suspicion that he overdrunk a bit or… a lot.” she smiled. “Well for now, you will stay under our care. I’ll call our anesthesiologist, he has got a deaf and mute sister so he knows this language. He will ask you questions about the symptoms of your disease, your name and insurance.”

The doctor smiled cheerily one more time and left the ward. Angie closed her eyes. Really! Her friend. Alexander Dimond. Jesus Christ, so they got to the hospital together. Worse sequence of events she even couldn’t imagine. Only if he called the police force to arrest her for the stealing of the documents and the attempt of murder. It was good of course, that she was fine now but on the other hand, she needed to escape from the hospital and faster. She pulled out the needle from her hand and ran to the small wardrobe near the door. Opened it, she desperately moaned as there was her evening dress and her bag. She turned to the window. All she saw was the white sheet of snow which was falling down with big flakes from the sky. If she came outside in that dress, she would be taken to completely another hospital; where nobody would ask her any questions but would simply put on the straight jacket on her and… hello, everybody. Though, in that case she could probably play on insanity. Oh, how much she stuck in such trouble! What should she do now? She sat on the edge of the bed and thought of. So, here surely had to be the nurse room for changing. She determinately stood up, took her bag from the wardrobe, opened the door and peeled out the hall. There was nobody there. Yes, rather! The night was outside. It was very good that she regained consciousness now, not in the morning. She carefully slid to the hall.

Max had been hanging out in the hall since morning. He came to the nurse at the registration several times and asked, when the doctor was going to come. He simply charmed that severe madam with the body built from Rembrandt pictures, bright-red and definitely died hair and the vampire mouth. He really did his best in wringing as a water snake in front of that basket; smiled, blandished. Finally, she gave up and called for the doctor. After that he didn’t take another risk of coming to here again; it could happen that she would hurl him over her shoulder and carry to her hole. He shuddered, when he imagined such a picture. At that moment the lift door opened and yesterday doctor came out towards him. She was coming with a confident gait; her natural, dark red hair was fluttering while walking. Her medical gown emphasized the slim figure of the woman. She went directly to him but she stayed in a couple of steps distance.

“It’s good you are here. The analyses are ready,” she said in a husky voice.

Max couldn’t take his eyes off her for a moment. There was something about her that he couldn’t remember what exactly it was. Her beautiful, slightly slanting eyes of melted silver with blue shimmer were covered with glasses in a cat’s form with thin rim and diamond bits on the ends. Most of all his attention was attracted with her beautiful form mouth. The upper lip was a bit plumper than the lower one, what makes it catchy sexual. He shook his head. What was he thinking about in the hospital where possibly his best friend was dying?

“What’s wrong with him?” he asked.

“He is fine. As I have already told you he is just sleeping. However, his analyses showed Nitrazepam in his blood,” the doctor answered nonchalantly.

“What’s this?”

“Sedative medications.”

“Seductive?” Max exclaimed. “Are you out of your mind doctor? Alex doesn’t even take pills from a headache. What the seductive! You should check the analyses one more time, possibly your brilliant glasses obstruct you to differentiate one analyses from another one. It’s just can’t be Alex’s analyses.”