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| IMPOSTER BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 66 |
Toddy's Tea!! Flashbulb pops of light continued to go off with blinding effect -- their stinging brightness invading his brain. Shock wave after shock wave rippled through him eliciting violent vibrations reverberating throughout his body. The appearance of this woman was as if he had just seen a mortal enemy so deadly that it was tantamount to coming face to face with his own personal specter of death.
No…No…not now…this can't be…Sherry!
Her name channeling through the insanity of his thoughts was like an anchor that he reached for and held onto for dear life.
The hard surface of the floor beneath her dissolved into nothingness and her legs gave way as the last vision of his shocked hazel eyes swam before her. A feeling of strong arms lifting her up like she was a feather, and a hazy blur of a well-furnished interior melted into her background thoughts. Todd… was it you? Something told me to come here…it must be you!
Warm, damp hands clamped around her and eased her down onto a soft, cushiony surface, and she struggled with everything she had to get back to reality.
This is it then…the reckoning has finally come… but why is she here?
Opening her eyes, Tea eyelids blinked rapidly, and for a few seconds, her dazed eyes stared out into space -- taking in the slow materialization of the objects around her. What happened? Wait…I saw him…he was here!
A few minutes passed, and the fuzzy shapes began to sharpen, and another larger, moving shape leaned down closer. As this dim image also began to clear, she seemed to see each detail of the face come into focus a little at a time. First…the full, parted lips…then…the long, Nordic, aquiline nose…the high cheekbones…finally…the deep, moody, golden flecked, hazel…eyes….
"Todd…" her sultry, breathy voice spoke his name, and her face seemed to glow from within -- her fingers groping their way up to the face of the man who had never once left her mind.
Nick almost recoiled at her touch, but his survival instincts told him that this would be a mistake with her. She must not know…I've got to play this out for now…
Her eyes watered with a surge of tears as she tentatively traced a line along his jaw and followed it down to his still damp, clinging strands of hair.
"I found you…I found you.." she repeated and her heart swelled with the aching love that had dominated her being since his departure.
You've got to do it…you've got to! She'll ruin everything, and her presence here will get Toddy all stirred up again. Not this time, Toddy…I have Sherry…
Slider sat in the meeting of university department heads and tried to keep his mind on what was being said. Words floated back and forth in his consciousness, but he drifted back to his other meeting -- the one with Tea. Almost immediately he had been impressed by her determination and obvious mastery at getting to what she wanted to know. I can tell she's suspicious of me, but that's won't be a problem anymore…not after tomorrow.
Voices continued to drone on as he once more took his mental pulse about what he was doing. He knew that bringing Tea to Nick could be disastrous, but he'd already made up his mind. A week ago he would have never entertained such an idea. Protecting his friend was his only requirement. Now he felt differently…now he wanted to lay open everything about Nick and undermine any power hold that he had on Todd - regardless of the consequences. You'll just have to be strong enough, Z…
"…and the University hired James Rollins for the associate professor position…"
The wounding picture of seeing Nick and Sherry interlocked in a tempestuous embrace had not left him, and he had replayed it over and over in his head. He wanted to be angry with her, but instead all that anger had drained out and was now fixated on this one man -- this alter. Some needling thought was intertwined with the anger, but he hadn't identified it yet…or at least…he didn't want to. It all seemed to be lost in the massive confusion that he was sinking further and further into. I need to see her…
"Now you're talking, Viki!" Sam said into the phone. "Where do you suggest we look?"
"I don't really know, but I'm going to get someone to snoop around over there at the police department…I think Sykes and his cronies may knowsomething."
Sam chuckled. "That sounds an awful lot like something your brother would have done."
"Yes…it does, doesn't it?" Viki said and a quick flash of Todd chastising her about her pristine, conservative ways caused her to smile. We were alike…m uch more than I ever admitted…the Lord blood coursed through both of us…
"You're okay," the velvety voice she remembered so well spoke. Her brimming eyes sparkled through her tears as the sound of his voice again soothed her tremulous emotions.
"Todd…you're…real," she said as her fingers strayed down his neck. As if still not quite believing that he was there, her eyes greedily took in the contour of his shoulders and chest. The shirt he was wearing seemed to have been haphazardly thrown on his body --- large, dark, wet splotches gluing the material to him.
"Take it easy…Tea," Nick said…hesitating on saying the name -- the name of a woman who could be instrumental in sending him back to where he came from.
"It's just…Todd…I didn't know if…oh querido…"
"I'll…I'll get you some water," Nick backed away as he saw the unbridled love reflected in her eyes -- a look reserved for a man that wasn't him. Before she could speak again, he had disappeared into another room.
She didn't care that he had left her for a moment…nothing mattered anymore except that she had found him and he was alive. I knew it…I went on that instinct to find you…and I was right!
Nick's long arms gripped the kitchen counter savagely as he tried to master the tumultuous feelings inside him. His safe haven from the world was no longer intact, and now he had to call on every bit of weaponry in his mental arsenal to ward off the threatening tide. First things first…how did she find me? Who tipped her off?
No one else but…
Eyes that had shut tightly in pain opened with renewed clarity as his mind began to snap up the information already made available to him.
…Slider! Pawn to King's Bishop Four…is that it, Slider ole' pal? You thought you would just throw in a little detail like Toddy's wife to upset my apple cart, didn't you? Gotta hand it to you…the element of surprise was a worthy tactic. Still makes me wonder why you went to all this trouble though…and why now? Unless…unless you want me gone quicker than I thought…
A glass of water was handed to her, and Tea eagerly accepted it. As the cool water flowed down her throat, she watched him over the rim of the glass -- still in utter amazement that he was physically there with her. It had only been weeks, but to her, it had seemed like an eternity.
Once again her eyes traveled lovingly over him, but this time she noticed more. A pair of khaki shorts he was wearing revealed more than she had bargained for. Up and down his legs were various wounds, and her sharp eye caught something else. He was walking with a cane.
"Todd…what happened to you…oh my God!"
Nick paused to think about what he could say to this woman who had done so much to change Toddy.
"I had a fall…when I was trying to get away," he began, but braced himself for a barrage of questions.
"Todd…I want to know it all…every bit of it, but…why are you here? Why didn't you try to reach me?" Tea asked pointedly -- the last question a painful reminder of what she had been going through not knowing where he was.
"Well…I didn't really know who I was for awhile…that's an understatement…and I was recuperating…where they couldn't find me."
Tea looked around the apartment and then back to Nick. "At least you had someone to go to. I know you had to get out of Llanview. This Slider…he seems like a very good friend."
Confirmed…thanks Tea…for that bit of information…
"He's an old school friend…but I guess he told you that already." Nick said as she handed the glass back to him.
Sighing a long, open sigh, Tea's eyes followed his every move as she righted herself on the sofa. You're here…that's all that matters now, and I want to touch you again…I've waited so long…
"Todd…" she said softly with an urgency in her tone, "I've missed you so, querido…please…come here."
Nick stood paralyzed as if caught in the crossfire of some attack. She wants you, Toddy…and wouldn't you just love it, too…
Slowly Nick advanced toward her trying to imagine some other way out of the predicament he was in. Excuses would be futile in this case because he knew what Tea knew -- that Todd loved her and would have come to her immediately. As much as he wanted to unmask himself in front of her and tell her to go away, she had too much power to ruin him if he did. There's nothing I can say…nothing I can do to put her off…
As he approached her and looked down into her soft, appealing eyes, he saw another pair of eyes in his mind…dark, electric eyes set against porcelain skin, and instantly a sensuality was revived in him to override his doubts and help him in his charade. Then…I'll pretend…I'm good at that…I'll pretend you're her…
A heavy thud sounded as Nick's cane dropped to the floor and he sank down next to her -- his eyes beginning to smoulder with remembered passion. In his mind he was seeing someone else, and his lips moistened in response to the stimulus of his vision. Cradling her head in his long, slender fingers, he leaned her head back -- each finger gliding through the silky strands of hair and finally curling under to clutch the tendrils -- his eyes glittering obsessively on the full, beckoning lips of Tea Delgado Manning.
For you…Sherry…
