Jason moved his hands from her face and slid them down to her hips. He gripped her bottom, pulling her almost roughly against him, leaving little doubt as to how excited he was. Claire’s own hands locked around his neck, bringing her body into even closer contact with his hard contours, desperate to feel his heat everywhere. Jason’s hand slid back up her body and continued on until it was cupping her breast.

She arched her back as Jason lowered his head to suck her nipple through the fabric of her dress and bra. Heat exploded inside her; the cool feel of the wet fabric against her nipple was almost more erotic than being nude. Dimly in the background the voice in her head was screaming in protest; her body, however, was burning in need and the voice was easily overlooked. She couldn’t remember why she was angry with him; she could only focus on the need building inside her.

Claire’s hands lowered to the buckle of Jason’s belt, and soon had it open; the snap of his jeans was next. Jason slid his hands up her thighs bunching the material of the short dress around her waist. He gripped the flimsy material of her panties, and she felt them give on the side sliding down her legs. Quickly kicking them off her feet, Claire moaned as Jason’s hands slid between her legs and into the drenching heat within.

She was wet and ready, her need for him so obvious that it should have been embarrassing. The approving groan from Jason made her forget that thought. She basked instead in the answering excitement she felt rippling through him as his body shuddered with arousal. As if unable to hold back any longer, Jason quickly stepped out of his jeans and leaned back against the wall. He lifted her and lowered her onto him, filling her completely.

Claire wrapped her legs around his waist. Her head fell back, and Jason kissed his way up to her neck as he pumped into her. Her body almost immediately crested an orgasm. Claire screamed and convulsed around him, her orgasm seeming to be never ending as he continued to slide in and out of her. Jason grabbed her tightly walking over to a chair, careful to keep them connected. He sat down, arranging her legs on either side of his as he continued to pump into her. He took one nipple into his mouth, sucking while his other hand roamed her body.

She thought she might faint, so great was the pleasure rushing through her. The room was filled with the sounds of their labored breathing and moans of pleasure. Jason used this new position to his advantage, and his hands seemed to be everywhere at once. He stroked her clit and Claire felt what little strength she had leave her completely. Jason took her hips and moved her up and down on his length, driving them both towards completion.

Claire didn't think it was even possible to have an orgasm stronger than the last, she found that she was very wrong. The pressure in her body suddenly exploded white hot, pushing a scream from her that was quickly echoed and swallowed by Jason’s mouth. Claire felt him reach his own release, and she fell limply against him, all coherent thought completely gone.

Dimly, she was aware of him separating their bodies, and then she was lying on something soft as Jason curled around her back, his arm resting against her stomach. The last thought in Claire’s mind before she drifted away was that there was truly a thin line between love and hate.

~~

Claire awoke sometime later, disoriented as she looked around the unfamiliar room. The clock beside the bed glowed showing the hour of 7:00am. Stretching, Claire felt the aches and pains in her body and smiled at the memory of how she’d gotten them. Looking beside her, Claire could make out the indention on the pillow where Jason had lain. That side was now empty and cool to the touch. He had been up for some time.

Suddenly, a memory intruded on her happiness and the evening before came crashing back. Oh God, no! Jason was no better than her father; he had taken over her life. The packaging might be different; the rest was the same. Claire could hear her father’s mocking voice in her head as though it was yesterday.

Poor stupid Claire, do you honestly think that you, your mother or your sister would ever survive on your own? You’re barely fit to leave the house, everything you do is wrong. I’m left taking care of you bunch of fools. If I can ever even manage to get anyone to marry you, I truly pity them. Not only are you plain, you have a complete lack of intelligence. You and your sister got that from your mother, the only idiot I know bigger than you two. Sure you go on to college now and when you fail, as you will, don’t think you can crawl back to me to take care of you.

Claire pulled Jason’s pillow against her chest and wept. She cried for herself for probably the first time ever. She cried for the years of torment and abuse at the hands of a man who should have never been a husband or a father. She cried for the loss of her sister who never had a chance to spread her wings and for her mother who stayed as if she deserved no better. Lastly, she cried for the broken hopes and dreams she’d allowed herself to have about Jason.

He seemed so different. In the time she worked for him he praised her work and rarely questioned anything she’d done for him. He always treated everyone with respect, even when there was a problem. She was blindsided by the side of him she’d discovered yesterday. She almost felt like she’d imagined the whole thing; so great was her trust in him.

Maybe she could even find some way to deal with the loan he had engineered on her behalf, since she’d applied for it of her own free will. Contacting Pam and dangling a wealthy new client over her if she terminated Claire was something that she could find no way around. This reeked of something her father would have done. Had her second occupation so embarrassed him that he couldn’t imagine himself sleeping with someone who jumped out of a cake? Yet Claire had never found him to be arrogant nor snobbish; quite the opposite actually.

Chapter Twenty

She jerked as she felt a hand on her back. As she pulled herself up, she kept the pillow in front of her for coverage and attempted to wipe the tears from her face. Jason looked at her with concern in his blue eyes.

“Claire, baby, I’ve some news for you, and I need you to stay calm,” began Jason. Claire wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting him to say, but this was not it. Her eyes flew to his face, alarm starting to take over.

“What… What’s wrong?”

He took both of her hands in his as if to brace her, “Baby; it’s your mother; she’s been taken to the hospital.”

“Wha…What? No, that can’t be right, she’s at home with Louise.”

“I just talked to Suzy; Louise called her. When she couldn’t reach you on your cell phone she had Suzy’s number that you’d programmed in for her for emergencies and she called her.” As her hands started to shake, Jason gripped them tighter and said, “The car is being brought around now, if you can throw some clothes on, we will be out of here within five minutes, and I’ll get you to her.”

Still stunned, Claire looked at him almost in shock and asked, “What happened to her?”

“From what Suzy could gather, she passed out and Louise couldn’t get her to wake up. Suzy is on her way there now and will give us an update when she knows something. Baby, let me help you get dressed; you’re in shock.”

Claire let him lead her around like a child. For one time in her life she was grateful to have someone take care of her. Jason pulled a top and pants from her bag as well as undergarments and began putting the fresh clothes on her. By the time he was finished, a valet had arrived and the room was quickly packed up. Their suitcases were taken down and packed away in the car. Before Claire could even catch her breath, they were on the road leaving Charleston and headed for the hospital. Jason reached over and curled his fingers around hers, shooting her worried glances from time to time.

“Are you alright?” He asked with concern.

“I wish I knew what happened, she’s been good lately, better than usual. I would have never left if I’d believed anything could possibly happen to her. Louise must be so scared; I have to get to them Jason; I have to.”

“We’re going as fast as I dare; I promise we will be there soon." Jason pulled his cell phone from his pocket and passed it over to her. “Why don’t you try to call Suzy? Maybe she’s found out something by now? If she’s with Louise, you could speak to her as well.”

With an audible breath, Claire dialed Suzy and prayed she would answer. “Hello?”

“Suz, it’s me, are you at the hospital yet? Do you know what’s going on?” asked Claire urgently.

“I just had to threaten that old witch at the nurse’s station, but I finally got a few answers. They’re still doing tests but sweetie, they think she might have had a stroke. They’re also trying to rule out other things, but that seems to be the strong contender at this point. She’s awake but much sedated. That’s all I know.”

“A stroke… How could that happen? She just had a checkup, and they said everything was fine.”

“Sweetie sometimes they just happen; I don’t think they can predict them. Louise is here beside me now; I’m going to pass you to her. I’ll hold down the fort, be careful.”

The sound of Louise’s voice brought Claire to tears once again. “Honey I’m so sorry; I don’t know what happened to Evelyn. We were walking to the kitchen to have some breakfast, and she seemed just fine. Suddenly, she stopped and I looked back to see what was keeping her. She had a funny look on her face and when I reached out to take her arm, she just crumbled to the floor. I didn’t even have time to break her fall, it was so sudden. I tried to wake her up for a few minutes, and then I got my wits together and called 911. She never woke up Claire, why didn’t she wake up? I rode in the ambulance with her, and they said she still had a strong heartbeat, and that I should relax and let them do their job. I just want to see her to know she’s ok.”

Claire could hear the tears in her voice much as she could feel her own. She tried to compose herself, to be strong for Louise. “It’s going to be ok. I’m on my way and I’ll be there soon, and we will find out what’s going on. Please stay calm, I know you did everything you could. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

“Oh honey, you don’t worry about that, you can’t plan things; it would have happened just as easily with you at your apartment or at work so don’t be thinking that. I love you, and I’ll see you when you get here.”

She softly clicked to end the call and handed the phone back to Jason. As she felt his hand return to hers, all the reasons she was mad at him seemed to pale. She knew that she would have to end what was between them soon; she would think of that later, right now she needed to feel loved even if it was all a lie.

~~~~

Jason clasped Claire’s hand again, trying to infuse some of his strength into her. She looked so pale and fragile. He knew from Claire that her mother had many health problems and even though he would never admit it to her, he was very much afraid that this was something serious.

This crisis had delayed what he was sure would have been another big blow up this morning between them. He wasn’t naive enough to believe that just because they had sex, mind blowing sex actually, that it was over. When she confronted him last night with that damn folder, he had suddenly been deadly afraid of losing her and whatever they had between them. It wasn’t that he didn’t want a serious relationship, there had just never been anyone with whom he felt the need to pursue one with; until now.

Claire, to put it mildly, had knocked him on his ass. He wanted to be with her, missed her when she wasn’t around and desired her like he had never desired another woman. The need for her hadn’t lessened; if anything it had intensified each time they were together. She was a constant ache that he never seemed to be able to rid himself of. He only truly felt at peace when she was lying in his arms. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment when he knew he loved her, it was just there.

With that love also came certain fears; fear of losing her, fear of not being loved in return, fear of uncharted territory. Jason spent his life making problems go away; he solved them in business, he solved them for his parents and for Ella. He couldn’t understand how he had so offended Claire. She couldn’t honestly want to shoulder the burden when he could make it all go away. He wanted to take care of her, wanted her to have no worries.

He would see that her mother got the best treatment available, and if she wanted to remain in her home, he would have it repaired and hire someone to live with her. Possibly, he had overstepped the bounds a bit by talking with Pam, but surely she would see that it was all for her. The realization that he loved her made him never want to see another tear in her eyes.

Chapter Twenty One

Claire was relieved to see they were now close to home. Jason had broken every speed limit, and they arrived at the hospital faster than Claire could have dared hope. She’d used the drive to compose herself; she needed to be strong for her mother and for Louise.

Jason led her to the emergency section of the hospital where they found Louise and Suzy sitting side by side with hands clasped. Claire rushed forward, and Suzy stood to greet her. “Hey guys, have you heard anything new?” She asked anxiously.