Staking His Claim by Lynda Chance

Author:Lynda Chance
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: David_James, Mobilism.org
Publisher: Lynda Chance
Published: 2012-03-18T16:20:16+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHT

An hour later, Raul leaned against the living room wall next to Brian and vaguely listened to his friend talk while he concentrated on Elaina across the crowded room.

She stood with a group of women that included Janie and another young woman from town who was holding a baby cuddled to her chest. He watched as Elaina and Janie cooed softly to the baby and talked to the young mother.

Every so often, Elaina's eyes would fall on him and he would see a soft blush encompass her face.

He had a sudden vision of her holding a baby, cuddling it, nursing it. His baby.

Fierce possession ran through his blood.

The only thing calming him down and holding him in place was the memory of her shimmering in his arms as orgasm took over her body. It continued to play over and over in his head.

Brian's voice droned on beside him as he too, watched the women. "It's good to see Janie so happy again. She and Elaina went through hell, man. Janie losing her only sister like that--I can't even imagine. She was ten years older than Janie, and Janie relied on her pretty much completely in an emotional sense. And poor little Elaina. She took on the brunt of the care for her mother. Three and a half years of it. She went from picking up her high school diploma, to full-fledged caregiver."

Raul felt something splinter in his brain as he turned his head to look fully into Brian's face.

"Three and a half years?" It was all Raul could get out, and his flat voice was in no way indicative of the confusion tearing him up inside.

"Yeah, man. It was bad. Janie wanted to give Elaina a birthday party last year on her twenty-first, but there was just no way at the time."

Raul felt sucker-punched, but managed to ask another question, all the while reeling from the newly acquired information. "When did her mother die?"

"Late July."

"And then Elaina started college?" Raul knew his voice sounded empty, but it was the only way he could manage to hang onto the conversation at all without losing it completely. He felt his temper rise like volcanic pressure building inside of him, getting ready to blow.

"Yeah, but she hates it, man. She's not going back."

"And that's okay with you?"

"Well, I think she should get an education, but Janie seems to think it's fine, so what the hell do I know?"

"She can always go back when she decides what she wants to do," Raul tried for an even tone, feeling his fists clench the whole time.

"Yeah, but for now she needs some time to heal. We never gave her that. We rushed her off to school in an attempt to get her life back on track. I feel damn guilty for that."

"You couldn't have known. You did what you thought was best at the time," Raul responded in a gravelly voice.

"Yeah," Brian agreed.

"I thought she was still a teenager," Raul gritted out between his teeth, just as a loud ping ping ping of firecrackers went off outside.

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