The Doctor's Secret Bride(41)
A new anguish seared Erik’s heart as he thought of his and Cassie’s last moments together—the argument that began in Clayton’s kitchen and continued in the car. God, if he’d only known. No wonder she never argued with him. She didn’t want to waste precious time fighting over nonsense. Tears burned his eyes. “I could have been a better husband.”
“Better in what way? You were the best husband this side of heaven. You gave Cassie everything. You gave yourself, your love. You were committed and faithful. Tell me, what would you have done differently if you’d known?”
I would have trusted her. Erik pushed to his feet and peered out a window into the moonlit night as a host of unpleasant thoughts popped into his head.
Had Cassie told Clayton about the psychic? Was the conversation he thought to be about an affair, really about death? Had he hastened her death when he demanded the truth that night? If that were the case, he was just as guilty as that drunk driver who ran her down. It was his persistence that had driven her from the car. If he’d only left it alone, his wife might still be here with him now. To make matters worse, he’d insulted Clayton with his accusations, so much that his friend couldn’t bear to be around him. He’d lost his best friend and his wife in the same night. He should have known Cassie well enough to know she would never break her marriage vows. He should have known.
“Cassie was happy, Erik,” his mother said behind him. “She thanked me for giving life to you so that you could make her journey here on earth a joyful one. She also expressed her hope that you find someone else to love and marry again, someone who would love Precious as if she were her own child.”
Erik blocked out his mother’s voice as he fought the demons in his head. He didn’t want to hear any more, didn’t want to face the fact that he had found that someone. All he could think about was how unkind he’d been to Cassie in the last few moments of her life. Yet, as she’d bled to death, she’d told him how much she loved him. She’d pleaded with him to live for himself and for Precious.
Precious. He needed to go home—to hold his daughter in his arms.
She was all he had left of his beautiful, sweet Cassie.
***
Half an hour later, Erik climbed the staircase in his home and walked down the hall in the direction of Precious’ room. He opened the door and tiptoed toward her bed. But he stopped in his tracks when he saw Michelle, fast asleep in his daughter’s bed. She was on her back, one arm above her head on the pillow and the other wrapped about Precious whose head rested on her bosom, her long brown hair spread out across Michelle’s white nightshirt. The comforter lay in a pile at the foot of the bed.
As he stared at the moon-kissed faces, Erik fought to control the haze of feelings and desires swirling through him. He was reminded of the nights he’d come home late to find Cassie and Precious in this very position with the covers kicked to the foot of the bed. Sometimes he’d lie down next to them, throw his arms about them, and go right off to sleep. How he missed those intimate family moments.
His gaze wandered to the picture of Cassie on the nightstand, to Michelle, and back to Cassie again.
She also expressed her hope that you find someone else to love and marry again, someone who would love Precious as if she were her own child. His mother’s words rang in his ears.#p#分页标题#e#
“I’ve found her, and I hope you approve,” he whispered, as his gaze once again shifted to the live woman in the bed.
His heart thumped heavily against his chest as his eyes drank in the provocative sight of Michelle’s dark lashes fanning her honey-colored cheeks, her slightly parted lips, awesomely amplified from sleep, and her toned thighs and long legs tangled with his daughter’s shorter wiry limbs. The smell of Moonlight wafted up his nostrils, and images of Michelle chin-deep in a bubbly tub floated across his vision.
He swallowed the passion that rose to his throat as his gaze traveled along her slender form to where the shirt had ridden above her hips to expose her black panties beneath. How he longed to touch her in that most intimate part of her body, explore her moist heat, her soft delicacy.
He groaned inwardly with sweet longing as his gaze settled on Michelle’s face again. Reaching out, he stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. Heat sizzled in his fingertips as he trailed them lower to the soft skin of her throat. He drew back when she stirred and stretched, arching her back like a lazy cat rising from a deep sleep. Her pink tongue darted out to lick at her fleshy lips before disappearing back into the warm cavern of her mouth. She sighed softly and settled down again. It was the most sensual act Erik had ever witnessed. He was so hard, he felt he might cause some serious damage to his manhood if he didn’t immediately get out of his restrictive jeans.