COUNTERPOINT
An original romantic serialFrom Alina Adams the author of "When a Man Loves a Woman" (DELL 4/00), "Annie's Wild Ride" (AVON 8/98), "Inside Figure Skating" (METROBOOKS 11/00 & 9/99), "Thieves at Heart" (AVON 12/95) and "The Fictitious Marquis" (AVON 6/95)
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CHAPTER 26
While Robin got on the phone to Douglas, Victoria dug her own road to humiliation as she attempted, futilely as it turned out, to beguile somebody in authority into letting her see Gabriel. It was the only time that Victoria wished for Robin's wife to materialize on the premises. Something told her Nicole Simonge was an expert at batting her lashes and getting men to do anything she wanted.
She gave up when she saw Douglas enter the squad room, and she hurried over to where father and son were standing, huddled deep in conversation. Their voices were low, and the only thing she heard as she approached was Douglas telling Robin, "It was good of you to call me. Especially under the circumstances."
Robin's face darkened, and he enunciated each word clearly, so that there could be no misunderstanding his motives. "I didn't do it for him. Or for you." He spotted Victoria coming, and reached out to take her hand. "I did it for her."
"As long as it was done, son...." Douglas gestured over his shoulder for a gentleman carrying a briefcase and the aspect of a lawyer who just wanted to finish this and get back to sleep. The pair approached Lieutenant Pekarek from both sides, making demands in voices made all the more menacing due to their lack of volume.
Victoria allowed herself to entertain a modicum of hope. She continued holding on to Robin's hand, letting him stand behind her and wrap both arms around her waist. Victoria said, "It was nice of your father to come. I mean, he barely knows Gabriel."
Robin grunted, noncommittal, just as Douglas returned from his chat with the lieutenant.
He told Victoria, "The only person they'll let talk to Gabriel at this hour is his attorney. But, at least it will get him out of his cell, which Robin tells me is our first priority."
Victoria didn't know which Cooper man to feel more grateful to first, and so she just looked from father to son, stammering, "Yes, I -- thank-you. That'll be a great help."
"Good." Douglas checked his watch. "We're working on setting up a bail hearing first thing in the morning. In the meantime, I'd recommend you going home and resting up for tomorrow, Miss Morgan. Your brother is in good hands. You have my word. We'll get this all straightened out."
"Listen to him, Victoria." Robin stroked her hair. "My father is rarely right as often as he thinks he is, but this just happens to be one of those occasions. Your being exhausted isn't going to do Gabriel any good tomorrow. Let me take you home."
It took ten more minutes for them to positively convince her, but, finally, Victoria acquiesced. At that point, if Douglas and Robin had insisted that Victoria's yodeling would help get Gabriel out of trouble, she would have done it without question.
She allowed Robin to lead her towards the door. Before they left though, Douglas asked, "Your foster father, the one who locked Gabriel in the closet?
Is he still alive?"
Victoria shrugged. "I don't know. Why?"
"I was thinking, if he is still alive, there is a man I'd like to see given a taste of his own medicine."
Robin drove Victoria home, escorting her inside her apartment. All the way over in the car, she had gone on and on about Gabriel, telling Robin stories about their childhood, and about how lucky it was that both got a chance to relocate to San Francisco at the same time, and how, if anything happened to him tonight, Victoria would never, ever be able to forgive herself.
"But, none of this is your fault, love," Robin insisted.
"Still, I should have done more to help him." She shook her head. "I'm sure your father is doing all he can, but, I still feel like I've abandoned Gabriel, like I've let him down."
"There was nothing you could do, tonight. And, besides," he strove for levity. "You are not your brother's keeper."
"But, I am. I am. See, we're all the other's got."
Softly, Robin reminded, "You've got me."
She shot him a grateful look. "I know."
And Robin realized that no two words, uttered by either a man or a woman, had ever meant more to him.
Once inside her apartment, he attempted to comfort Victoria by wrapping her in his arms and just holding her, until he believed at least a small fraction of her shaking had subsided. She took deep breaths, trying to pull herself together, clinging to Robin as if he were the last raft between her and complete immersion.
She tightened her grip around his waist, burrowing her face in his chest, and murmuring, "I feel like you're the only solid person left in the universe. Everything's spinning so fast, I'm afraid if I let go of you, I'll just float away."
"Then don't let go." Robin inhaled the sweet fragrance of her hair, felt the warmth of her breath on his skin, and the way every curve on her body seemed to have been made to melt into his.
"All right," she titled her head, looking up at him with eyes so trusting, Robin had to swallow hard to meet her gaze. "I won't."
"Victoria..."
She pressed her finger to his lips, shaking her head. "Shh." And, taking Robin by the hand, led him into the bedroom.
He tried to keep things light, despite the fact that his heart was beating so loudly, he could barely hear himself caution, "I've warned you before, love, I'm no saint."
She sat down on the bed, gently tugging him to settle next to her. "I don't need you to be one."
He touched her face like a blind pupil just beginning to learn his way around. Her skin felt so satiny beneath his fingertips, so delicate, like any wrong move on his part could collapse it. Robin didn't think he could bear it if he did anything to hurt her.
Their first kiss was exploring, gentle, neither one willing to hasten the exquisite perceptions of the moment. He tasted remnants of anxiety on her tongue, and attempted to chase them away, to lure the monster inside himself and keep it from plaguing Victoria. His arms slipped around her shoulders, and, before either was conscious of it, they sunk down onto the bed, Victoria beneath him, her arms around his neck. Unable to hold back any longer, Robin plunged his tongue into the warm, wet depths of her mouth, savoring the way it made her shudder and pull him even closer.
She wrapped one leg around his hip, her every sense alive and awake and wanting more, more, as much of him as Robin could give. Victoria reached for the buttons of his shirt, fumbling fleetingly, before slipping her hand in and caressing his chest. She searched for his nipple, stroking it with her thumb in much the same way he earlier had hers, gratified to feel his entire body first stiffen, then relax and enjoy her exploration. He groaned, breaking their kiss, leaving her lips feeling swollen and bruised, and she rolled on top of him, hair brushing both sides of his face, as she unbuttoned his shirt the rest of the way. Her mouth found his ear, his jaw, his cheek, his brow, her hands continuing to caress him.
Hunger flared throughout Victoria, hunger she'd not only never known, but never imagined she could possess. It drove her without conscience or modesty, compelling her to take her kisses lower and lower, her lips sucking briefly on the cleft in Robin's chin, then moving to his Adam's apple, to the hollow at the base of this neck, and to the granule of a nipple first discovered by her thumb. He moaned her name as her tongue encircled him, his voice husky with desire, and, she couldn't help thinking proudly, a hint of surprise that hesitant, timorous Victoria could spark such enjoyment in him. In all honesty though, she was surprising herself as much as him.
She slithered down his body till they were groin to groin, and she could feeling him swell and pulsate against her. Even with two layers of clothes separating them, Victoria's body answered Robin's need, and she rode him tentatively, knees pressed against his hips, while sweeping her mouth from his nipple, across his abdomen, and into his navel, her tongue flicking in, out, in, out, and tangling in the fine hairs there. She unbuckled his belt, loosened the fly of his slacks, and, inching her head below his waist, took him in her mouth, a new experience she'd never dreamed herself capable of, and yet one that felt thoroughly natural with Robin.
"Jesus Christ," his cry was part moan, part exultation, as his hips bucked reflexively beneath her.
She was maneuvering on instinct now, unsure of what was right, or what would bring him the most enjoyment, but resolved to try her best. Her lips suckled him, teeth grazing the sensitive flesh just hard enough to tantalize with a delicious, almost-pain.
The ridges of her tongue needled his tautly spread skin until Robin knew he wouldn't be able to control himself a moment longer. He raised his head, clearing his throat through supreme force of will, and managing to groan, "Please, love. Are you sure you know what you're doing?"
Victoria looked up, eyes brimming with honesty and eagerness. "Teach me, Robin," she implored. "Teach me how to please you."
He shook his head, judging that, after twenty-some years, now was a terribly inconvenient time to develop morals and/or delusions of decency, but also realizing that, at least for the night, he was stuck with them. He propped himself up on both elbows, struggling to explain, "That's not what I meant, love."
Robin sighed, and, utilizing more energy than he suspected the space shuttle expanded breaking out of orbit, dragged himself away from her unspeakably miraculous mouth, and swung his legs over the side of the bed, seeking to stand despite the obvious physiological difficulties. He tore off his jacket, and reaching into the inside pocket, withdrew, clutched between two fingers, a square of silver foil. He held it in front of Victoria's face, shaking it a little in the hope of making her comprehend that they were, very quickly, approaching a point of no return.
He didn't want to stop. God knew, Robin did not want to stop. Yet, he also knew that this was his last opportunity to do so. If all Victoria was interested in was a high-school cop-and-feel then, fine, he could deal with it. But, he had to know in advance.
After all, she was the one who'd set the ground-rules. No sex until after Robin's divorce. Right now, she was upset. She wasn't thinking straight. The last thing Robin wanted was for her to hate herself -- or him -- in the morning. And so he was giving her one last chance to back out. Before they ran out of chances.
She seemed to understand as much. Victoria's eyes clenched on the foil packet between them. She reached for it with a trembling hand, and balanced it briefly atop her palm. She rubbed her lips against each other, glancing up at Robin, then down again, before, with one decisive slit, she ripped open the package and, with painstaking care, helped him roll on the condom. Now, there would be no turning back. Not for him. Not for her.