It's Complicated (Bigelow Bay Book 2) Read online

  Helene gasped as her movement came to a sudden stop against Greg’s warm, muscular body, his arm looped around her waist holding her firmly against him. Raising her eyes to his Helene was surprised by the intense fire that met her. Breath caught in her chest as she froze, his lips so close to her own she could feel his breath on her skin and knew if she leant in just slightly he’d taste of BBQ and beer – a heady thought.

  “I…… I should go……” The heat of his body flush against hers and the hardness pressing into her stomach muddled her mind as she struggled to form a clear thought.

  Greg’s strong arms pulled her closer still, his hands moving over the curves that had tortured him over the past weeks.

  “NO!” his husky voice growled as his lips crushed hers, there was no tenderness or hesitation just a demand; she would not leave.

  Greg’s mind swam with the overwhelming feeling of her skin, soft and supple as his hands roved her body, exploring, teasing. Sneaking under her shirt here to tease her ribs and graze along the side of her breasts through her lacy bra. Then skating down the curve of her waist, grasping her jean-clad hips to rock her pelvis gently into the growing tightness of his own body. Finally giving in to temptation, Greg slid his hands between her back and the band of her jeans, easing them along her warm, soft round cheeks, massaging and grinding her harder into himself as his mouth nipped and sucked his way down the side of her neck and along her collar bone drawing a rough moan from Helene’s lips as she arched her back, revelling in the sensations.

  Helene’s body responded automatically, her mind full of the immense heat the Greg was igniting in her, pushing his shirt over his chest she leaned forward and licked the smooth granite abs that she’d been fantasizing about. Breathing in the strong, musky scent that was all Greg she whimpered, she needed more the incessant throbbing of her body demanded it. The growl that greeted her indicated Greg was demanding more from her too as she eased the button and zip of Greg’s jeans open, her hand brushed the velvet-covered steel beneath.

  Greg’s eyes rolled back as her hand lightly grazed him opening his jeans, the sounds she made without even realising were driving him crazy. His mind spun and all the strong control he prided himself on shattered. Grabbing the small exploring hands her wrenched them free, he placed her hands on the bedhead above his head.

  “You are not to let go!” he demanded. “If you let go I will cuff you there.” The gasp and dark heat in Helene’s eyes together with a slight nod stoked the fire running through him.

  His free hand tore open Helene’s jeans and yanked them down roughly, taking her panties along. Helene lost all sense of herself as she knelt on the bed, her hands turning white as she clung to the bedhead, naked from the waist down her jeans flung across the room. Her shirt was pushed over her head, freeing her chest while clinging to her shoulders. From beneath her, Greg had worked his own jeans to his knees. A single finger began teasing her, sliding back and forward through her moisture, barely touching and yet with every graze her need grew. The other hand dragged her bra down, pinching a bare nipple while Greg ran his tongue around the other, nipping and sucking, bolts of pure pleasure shot through her.

  Helene cried out, overwhelmed with the need for more as Greg’s teasing finger was replaced with something bigger, hotter, harder. His large hands grasped her hips holding her firm and unmoving as she attempted to rock against him and take for herself what she needed.

  “You will take what I give you” he growled holding her still, she could feel him against her wetness, tempting, teasing and yet unattainable. “You have teased me, tormented me, flaunting your curves for me, you’ve driven me to distraction for weeks now and I can’t take anymore.”

  Helene whimpered, lost in his voice and the need within her, every fibre of her craved him, her skin tingled wherever he touched. Without warning Greg reared up, catching her nipple between his teeth, the hands on her hips forced her down onto his hardness, stretching her wide as his pelvis rose to meet her. Helene screamed at the burning pain as he roughly forced his hardness within her tight walls. Not pausing for her to adjust he withdrew and drove in again and again, setting a rough frantic pace, abusing her breasts with his mouth while he hammered into her. Helene’s vision turned white as she clung to the bed; he was right, she took what he gave and she loved every moment.

  # # # # #

  Greg lay still, staring at the ceiling his mind spinning out of control as Helene slept, sprawled limply by his side. Easing his way upright his eyes fell on her soft curvy body, he could already see slight purple finger marks forming on the pale skin of her hips and waist just below a large black tattoo and he knew if he rolled her over, red marks would decorate her breasts and throat from his lips and teeth. She had taken everything he gave, his strength and demanding roughness had only increased her need, he seen and felt it in how she had reacted to him. The memories flying through his mind had him hardening again, he ran a gentle finger down her spine and between her legs, she was still warm and wet for him and she unconsciously moved to his touch with a slight moan in her sleep. So tempting, it would take nothing to play with her in her sleep until she woke, burning with need, ready to accept him again. He hardened at the thought.

  But that was against his rules. Shutting his need down he rose, pulling on his abandoned jeans as he limped from the room. Greg ran his hands through his hair as he entered the kitchen, it was 3 am and confusion churned within him forcing him to reach for a cloth and start cleaning the countertop. Again and again, he ran the damp cloth over the surface, losing himself in the simple, calming task. He didn’t have women in his home, in his bed, that was just asking for trouble. When the need arose he went to a bar, bought an eager woman a few drinks and then went to her house. He’d take what he needed while giving her what she begged for and then he’d leave, returning to his home when they were both satisfied. No muss, no fuss. No conversations, no relationships, no hint of more than what was and absolutely no ‘sleepovers’ – that just encouraged cuddling and perceived closeness and uncomfortable hinting of more time spent together.

  Frowning he rubbed harder at the counter, now what did he do. This woman was in his bed; she’d worked her way into his life, his home and made him break all the rules. Why did she do that? She tempted him and tortured him constantly over the past few weeks, with her sassy comebacks and her soft sexy body. Who the hell was she to be here in his home? Greg paused as he felt anger overwhelm the need to return to the warm body spread naked across his bed. Who the hell was this woman? And how dare she break the rules!

  Greg ran through the weeks he’d spent time with Helene, although he’d enjoyed her company and she’d helped him greatly a thought niggled him inside. He knew nothing about her. She lived in an RV and never spoke of her home, her family, her past. She worked for herself from a computer, travelling from place to place; hell even her name sounded fake. He didn’t even know how she spent the hours he was at physio. She drove him there and picked him up, but he’d never asked what she did in between. What sort of a woman was this who’d forced her way into his solo existence, he needed to find out?

  Booting up his computer Greg logged into the Births, Deaths & Marriages Registry website and entered her name……no record found. Opening another window he repeated the exercise on the State Drivers Licence Registry, up she popped, an unflattering photo of Helene and her birth date 23 March 1975. However as the records appeared he noticed the details only went back 15 years, there was no record of her obtaining a licence as a teenager, no learners permit, nothing. Just the licence issued a week before an RV was purchased her name. Returning to the Births Registry he inputted her date of birth and left the name blank……nothing, in the entire country there was not one woman with that birth date.

  Unease grew as Greg’s stomach churned, something wasn’t right. Using the skills he’d learned through computer courses over the years and a few not so aboveboard tips he’d picked up dealing with the criminal elements Greg delved in
to medical insurance sites, the Taxation Dept website, even doing phone listing search, and each returned the same result…..either no details prior to 15 years ago or No Record Found. He even stooped to doing a social media search, only finding her official author page on Facebook and Instagram with no personal pages or online presence listed.

  Pushing the computer away Greg began to pace, limping back and forwards his hands clenched in fists. Helene was a fake, she’d lied to him. She was obviously hiding who she was, she’d never offered anything about herself, and he had allowed her to worm her way into his life. She’d want to stay. She’d tempted him and fucked him and next, she’d want to stay. She’d start hinting at them being together, she’d want to meet his family, she’d want for him to meet hers. Soon she’d be talking happy family Christmas and marriage, kids, white picket fences. And all the time she’d be lying to him. NOT HAPPENING!

  Greg stormed back into the bedroom, banging the door against the wall as he entered. Helene woke with a start and smiled sleepily up at him from beneath that long hair he’d been pulling and holding her by not too long ago.

  “It’s time for you to go,” Greg informed her, picking up her clothes and dropping them on the bed.

  Helene’s eyes widened as she struggled to sit upright. Grasping her t-shirt to her chest Greg noticed he’d been right, red and purple bruises and bites covered her front. Even through his anger, the sight had him hardening again, she had loved every time he’d sunk his teeth into her.

  “You were right earlier, you should go. Now.” Greg stood tense across the room. “You don’t belong here, I don’t want you here. You’ve been lying to me all along, whatever it is that you’re hiding from I don’t want any part of it or of you. I don’t want your post-it’s on my table, I don’t want your boxes sitting around my house, I won’t meet your family, you won’t be meeting mine, there will be no happily ever after with 2 kids and a dog. I don’t want that in my life, I don’t want your deceit, I don’t want you. JUST GO!”

  Helene shrank back slightly as if struck but a heartbeat later anger flared in her eyes. Pulling on her clothes, not the least bit concerned with modesty, Helene turned on him.

  “I don’t know what’s happening here Greg but fuck you! I’ve never once lied to you; any question you’ve ever asked you got the truth. I’ve never asked you for anything, I don’t want or expect anything from you and you sure as shit won’t be meeting my family that’s for sure! Whatever it is you think I’ve done, you’re wrong. You certainly didn’t want me to go a few hours ago, in fact, you demanded I stay! If you regret what happened tonight then that’s all on you. If you don’t want me to stay there are other ways of letting me know. All this time I thought we were friends but now I find out what kind of an asshole you really are. Seems to me you were hiding that! ”

  And with her head held high Helene stormed past Greg and out into the night.

  CHAPTER 15

  Greg limped restlessly through the house, it was so quiet, too quiet. It was days since he’d seen Helene, she hadn’t returned the day after he’d asked her to leave, nor in the days after that. Not that he was surprised, she’d been upset when she left. He was surprised however at how empty the house felt without her there, the dining table seemed big and bare without her laptop and coloured post-its, the spot in the driveway where she’d parked her scooter each morning started to collect autumn leaves.

  Pausing in the lounge he considered running the lint roller over the couch cushions again, but since he’d done that twice today already even he knew it was overkill. His knee ached as he settled back into a chair and flicked on the TV. 50 First Dates was still queued up from Helene and his movie night last week, it had been his turn to choose and he’d gone with the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore Rom-Com – women liked those kinds of movies. Pressing play he picked up the movie where he’d previously left off, they’d not finished the movie. A short time in Helene had commented how awful it would be to never have a future, to not be able to make memories and always be stuck in the past….then she’d headed into the dining room to write leaving him to watch the movie alone. He’d turned it off not long after.

  Rubbing his knee to ease the ache he stared at the screen without interest. His leg ached constantly at the moment and had done since the bonfire night. The workout he’d given it with Helene had obviously been a little too much, causing the ache and his limp to be more pronounced, thankfully he could still drive but without Helene around he didn’t really have any interest in going anywhere.

  Rising, he limped through to the bedroom and paused staring at his unmade bed. All his life he’d made his bed as soon as he got up each morning. As a child, it had been required of him and then as an adult, it was just one more thing he did to keep things tidy and in order, along with lint rolling the covers before going to sleep every night. As long as things in his life were in order his life would move along just fine. He’d not made the bed since Helene had stormed out, each night he rolled over to where she had slept, the smell of her still on the sheets; though fading a little more each day. He hadn’t slept particularly well the past few nights, replaying their night in vivid dreams that woke him, exhausted and frustrated and wanting. Why did she have to be dishonest and secretive? Why did she have to tempt him so badly that he broke all his rules, she’d ruined everything. But then he thought, if he was really honest he’d played a big part in that too. He should have never given in to the temptation, her curves and her sassy smart mouth and sunny personality just proved too much for him. They’d have that effect on any man surely but there was something about her that had an effect on him that no-one else ever had.

  A loud banging on the front door together with incessant dinging of the doorbell startled Greg from his thoughts. Practically hopping up the hallway to the urgent demands for entry, Greg was almost knocked flat by Kasey when he opened the door. The redhead pushed her way past him into the hallway and whirled around, her hair fanning out around her with the abrupt change of direction.

  What the hell did you do to Helene?” She spat out, her eyes full of anger, her face tense. He’d never seen his best friends lady like this before, he’d seen her broken and afraid when they’d first met, confident and professional at work and even cheery if a little shy and uncomfortable socially….but never full of spark and anger.

  “What do you mean? What’s going on Kasey……is Frank with you?” Greg looked out the door with hope, his calm friend would soothe whatever was irritating Kasey and maybe stick around long enough for Greg to bounce his confused thoughts off.

  “No Frank’s not with me you ass! You’ll have to deal with me yourself….” The indignant sarcasm rang loud and clear. “What did you do to Helene? I saw her a little while ago and she’s leaving, packing up in the next few days and moving on. She won’t tell me why, just that she doesn’t feel like she belongs here anymore. Now I know that she’d planned on staying a little longer, she’s always said she loves the town and the spot she’s got for her camper. Now suddenly she says she needs to go because she’s not welcome. Whatever it was that you did; FIX IT! Helene is my friend and I know something has upset her and I think you’re the most likely culprit.”

  Greg gulped; this new pissed off version of Kasey was more than a little scary.

  “Look, Kasey, I don’t know what Helene told you but didn’t do anything. She wasn’t honest with me or you probably. She’s been hiding who she is and when I asked her questions all I got was vague avoidance. When I confronted her she denied it of course so I told her to go home. I haven’t seen her since obviously she’s embarrassed at being caught out and maybe that’s why she’s leaving. She was never supposed to be here in the first place. She just felt bad for tripping me over, and then we became friends, sort of, and then she wanted more and I don’t do more. Not relationships or happy families or stuff, so she was wasting her time with me anyway.”

  Greg didn’t know why he said it but Kasey needed to know that he wasn’t a bad guy
; he just didn’t want what Helene would want.

  Kasey sighed loudly with exasperation. “You’re a fucking moron Greg! Did it ever occur to you to talk to Helene about her life, your life and what either of you wanted from your friendship? Or did you just fire accusations at her and then disregard her responses. Helene’s a lot like me you know? Only she got on with her life when I couldn’t. As Anne Shirley would call it, we’re ‘kindred spirits’. You had better fix this Greg is all I can say, I thought you were a better man than this.”

  Kasey pushed past him out the door, pausing on the step she turned, tears in her eyes, the fight seemed to have left her for now.

  “And by the way, Helene said to tell you that the boxes of stuff you didn’t want to be left around your house are for you to deal with. She seems to think you’ll know where they need to go.”

  # # # # #

  Greg took a swig of coffee and grimaced, he’d been wiping the countertop clean for so long it had gone cold. His mind wrestled with itself. The anger and distrust from what he thought he knew from his online investigation now battled with how he felt when he pictured Helene; smiling as she ‘danced’ around the kitchen, the look of absolute concentration when she was writing, loaded down with cake the first time he’d seen her, under the waterfall playing a sexy bikini model, her head thrown back, face alight, gasping as she rode him the night he’d thrown her out. Then the look of hurt and disbelief and absolute dignity as he forced her to do the ultimate ‘walk of shame’. What last memory had feelings of guilt bubbling within him.

  He was starting to think that maybe he’d gone wrong somewhere, but where? According to Kasey’s rant, Helene had never lied or hid anything from him……but she’d hidden everything, never talking about her past or opening up to him. Kasey’s insistence that she and Helene were alike made him uncomfortable. Greg didn’t know Kasey’s story, he didn’t need to know. He could tell she’d been hurt badly in the past, he’d seen how she reacted to stressful situations (or rather not seen as she’d actually hidden in a bathroom), he knew she struggled with interacting with people in certain situations and although since she and Frank had gotten together she’d improved, Greg believed it was probably something she’d always struggle with. Helene, however, was the polar opposite to Kasey; she was strong and independent and sunny, cheery, friendly, approachable and just seemed to draw people to her despite her solo transient lifestyle. How were they alike?