Chapter 23

MARIAH

Mariah felt fine, but she wasn’t about to go against the doctor’s orders and go back to work just yet. She did as she was told and stayed in bed most of the day and watched television. The hired nurse stayed in the living room and came in to check on her throughout the day. It was extremely useless to have the nurse there, but Mariah wasn’t about to send her away either.

Her whole life Mariah had followed the rules. It didn’t matter if it was in school, at home, or at work. She felt comfortable with the rules of the world, and she didn’t find a need to go against the grain much at all. Typically, she enjoyed the rules, but on that day as she lay in bed and felt totally stir crazy, Mariah wasn’t a big fan of the rules any longer.

Somehow, as she was flipping through channels, Mariah landed on a news story about Governor Emerald and his bid for the White House. Her stomach churned with nervousness as she sat up and paid close attention to what was being said. She waited with anticipation for the part of the story that dealt with River. Certainly, they would have a nice look at that part of the governor’s life.

For the first part of the story, it seemed like River wasn’t going to be mentioned at all. They talked about the governor’s history in politics, even his upbringing. But then it happened. The front page of the Seattle PI flashed across the screen with the story about River, then they cut to a scene where River was punching the governor. Mariah hid her eyes and then peeked out as she watched the coverage. Every time she saw River punching the governor, it made her cringe.

The television station played the scene over and over as they talked about the governor and his family. It was like they had the punch scene on a loop and had even added a special effect sound when River made contact with the governor's face.

“My son and my wife are what make me a great man. Jackson is by far the best part of me, and he’s had to endure so much. I’m so grateful for both my son and my wife for being here with me every step of the way,” the governor said in a video clip.

Mariah was taken aback by the governor’s words. It was Mariah’s gut feeling that the governor knew his wife had had an affair with River. The governor was probably extremely hurt by that affair, and instead of dealing with it, he was placing the blame on River. But it was pretty blatant to come out and talk about Jackson being his son. Maybe he really didn’t know that Jackson was River’s child.

The thing that Mariah couldn’t understand was why Kimberly didn’t just tell her husband to back off of River. Certainly, Kimberly had the power to tell her husband that what he was saying wasn’t the truth. But again and again, Kimberly chose to stay silent.

Perhaps Kimberly was afraid of losing her husband or maybe just scared to bring up that part of her life. But after River had punched the governor, it really seemed like things had escalated to a level that Kimberly should have told her husband the truth.

Mariah found herself getting more and more disgusted as she watched the governor use his wife and Jackson as a selling point for people to like him. If he really cared about Jackson and Kimberly, the man wouldn’t be parading around their dirty laundry in public like he was. Mariah was sick to her stomach of the governor. That man is a true politician and willing to ruin anyone who gets in his way; even his own family, she thought.

Perhaps she was being too hard on River by pushing him away. He already had so much to deal with, and it wasn’t like Mariah was helping him with his publicity much anymore. Mariah vacillated between her feelings for River and wanting to keep things professional. If only she could trust that River had worked through his anger and was ready to move forward. The grumpy, upset River that had been around lately was not the one she wanted to spend time with.

Mariah heard the knock at her front door, but she knew that the nurse was going to get it and that she didn’t need to bother with getting up. Although, Mariah was feeling just fine now, she was a rule follower and wasn’t going to go against the doctor’s orders. Doctor Reynolds had told her to stay in bed all day, and that was exactly what she was going to do.

“I need to thank you,” River said from the doorway with a huge smile.

It was close to nine o’clock at night, and Mariah couldn’t imagine what he needed to thank her for. She really hadn’t done a darn thing all day except for watch television and sleep. He pulled out a pint of ice cream from behind his back and presented it to Mariah like it was a ring. As he got down on his knee, Mariah couldn’t help laughing.

“Mariah Waves, will you … eat this ice cream with me?” River said as he pulled out a spoon from his pocket and handed it to her.

She couldn’t stop laughing and nodded her head up and down to say yes. Mariah felt like she looked horrible; she had been in bed for the entire day and hadn’t even bothered to shower at all. But at that moment, she didn’t really care. She pulled River into bed next to her and flipped the television onto a new reality show.

“You are surprisingly good at showing your appreciation,” Mariah said as she took a huge bite of the ice cream.

“I had such a good day with Jackson. Thanks for pushing me to go over there. It made things so much clearer. He knows. He hugged me and told me that he knows I’m his dad.”

“Really?” Mariah said with surprise. “How did it go? What did you say?”

“It sounded like Kimberly’s husband told him in an effort to get him not to like me at all. So the good news is he still likes me. I was so mad when he said that he knew I was his father. I wanted to be the person to tell him. You know, it was just wrong the way he found out.”

“Yes, that was wrong,” Mariah said.

But Mariah was starting to really dislike the governor altogether. He certainly didn’t seem to have his family’s best interest on his mind in much of anything that he was doing. Mariah kept her thoughts to herself for the time being, though. She certainly didn’t want to add to River’s anger. Although River seemed to be handling his anger very well at the moment.

“I did really good, though. I told him that he was lucky to have three grownups that loved him as much as we did.”

River beamed from ear to ear with pride at how he handled talking with Jackson. Mariah couldn’t help smiling as well. It did seem like River was getting the hang of being a responsible adult.

“You did good,” Mariah said as she leaned in close to River and let her head rest on his chest. “Have you talked to April or Edward yet?”

Mariah was nervous to bring up his business stuff, but River seemed to be in a rather good mood for the moment, so she thought she would give it a chance. His company was about to be taken away from him, and even though he was starting to get a hold of his personal life, his business really had to take some sort of priority or he was going to lose it.

“Not really. But I do have a great idea. I’ll tell you about it later, though.”

Mariah sat up and looked at River with wide eyes as she tried to figure out what was going on. His smile was permanently on his face, and River looked like he was actually happy. The suspense was killing her, and she wanted to know what River’s big idea was. She felt horrible when surprised.

One time when Mariah was little, her father promised her a surprise for her birthday. He told her three days before, and she couldn’t think about anything else for those entire three days. When she went to school, she got in trouble for not paying attention. When she was at home, she got in trouble for asking so many questions about the surprise. Finally, when the day came for her big surprise, Mariah had fallen asleep in her bed and had to be woken up to see it. Her father had found her a horse of her own. It was a tremendous surprise, but she had worn herself out from exhaustion anticipating it.

“Why not tell me now?” Mariah asked as she looked eagerly at River.

“Because I want to sit here with you in my arms and not think about anything else for a little while. I’m starting to like not thinking about work sometimes. You know until I met you all I did was think about work all the time.”

“That’s good, I think. But right now you really should be thinking about work.”

“But I’m not. I’m thinking about you.”

Mariah couldn’t help smiling. As much as she wanted to push River and talk about his business and get things straightened out, it was sure nice to just lay there and pretend that everything was perfectly fine.

“Okay,” she said.

They cuddled in her bed and watched several episodes of television in what Mariah felt was as normal a moment she would ever get with River. They laughed at the goofy shows and even cried at a sad part together.

“Thank you for looking out for what is best for me, even if it wasn’t what was best for the bottom line. I appreciate that very much,” River said as he pulled Mariah’s face up toward his and kissed her.

Mariah instantly felt the electricity between them as his lips touched hers. It didn’t matter how logically she was thinking about things; when his lips and hers collided, the entire world stopped. The only thing that mattered to her at that moment was continuing to kiss River.

Her big plan to keep things professional was clearly not going to work if he kept kissing her. She couldn’t even remember why she had wanted to keep things professional in the first place. That was the power of River’s kisses. She loved that power so much.

She wanted more from him. More time, more kissing, more touching, and Mariah couldn’t deny that she wanted to feel his body on top of hers as they made love. She let her hands move to his shirt and started to unbutton each of his tiny dress shirt buttons.

It was like her taking the initiative to undo his buttons was all River needed to move forward with his lust for her. He quickly pulled her down on the bed and let his lips shower her with kisses. From her neck, all the way to her bellybutton, River kissed every inch of her. He seemed so relieved that Mariah had changed her mind about the whole professional thing.

“Wait, this is probably against doctor’s recommendations,” Mariah said as she stopped River.

He laughed at her at first because he seemed to think she was joking. But Mariah was dead serious; she didn’t want to go against the doctor's recommendations at all. He had told her to rest all day long and that she couldn’t return to work until the following day.

“It’s one o’clock in the morning. You’ve rested. It’s time to get back to your normal activity level,” River whispered as his teeth tugged on the top of her pants.

“It’s one o’clock?” she questioned.

“Yes, see; so it’s really the next day, and you are perfectly within your doctor's recommendations.”

River continued to pull on her pants and used his hands to help out. Mariah thought about what the doctor had said and was still trying to decide if it was alright to have sex or not when River’s tongue attacked her center.

She felt fine. Even her headache that she’d had earlier in the day was finally gone. It was certainly not something that she thought would harm her. Mariah ran through the reasons to move forward with their lovemaking and the reasons not to. She finally decided there was just no way she could deny herself the pleasure of an evening with River.

She let out a moan of delight as her hand moved quickly to his hair to push him away. Well, for a moment she wanted to push him away, but she quickly changed her mind and allowed River to continue bringing her to pleasure.

“I’m just what the doctor ordered,” River said with a smile.

Mariah couldn’t argue that; River was a much-needed person in her life. It felt so normal to have him near her; it felt so much like what she had always wanted. But there was one nagging feeling that she couldn’t get past: what if River disappeared after his case was over? River certainly wasn’t known for his long-term relationships, and Mariah knew she might be setting herself up for heartbreak, but something inside of her just wouldn’t let her give up River just yet. She had to see things through.

River moved up her body and spent a delicious amount of time teasing Mariah. He seemed much more at ease with her at her house than he had been in his own house. Perhaps it was good for him to get away from the day to day life he knew and try something a little different—like Mariah’s tiny apartment.

“Oh, my gosh. Is the nurse still out there?” Mariah said as River perched above her and prepared to slide inside of her.

They were both naked and worked up and totally ready to make love, but Mariah had to stop things. She couldn’t imagine making love to River if the nurse was still there. She had to know the answer.

“No, silly; I sent her home when I got here.” River laughed.

“Oh, so you assumed you’d be invited to spend the night?” Mariah joked.

“No, I knew I would stay the night. I just didn’t know I would get to spend it in your bed.”

Mariah kissed him and pulled his body on top of hers. She loved the feeling of their bodies together. It was more than just a pleasure-filled feeling for her body; it made her soul feel refreshed and rejuvenated. River was like home to her, and she wanted to keep him around for longer than just the public relations case they were working on.

As their bodies moved together, Mariah closed her eyes and felt the deep pleasure that River brought to her. Slowly, he thrust inside of her, and she moaned out as her body gave in to the pleasure. Wave after wave of pleasure ravaged her body, and she couldn’t take it another moment. She screamed out in pleasure as her body tightened up with a deep explosion.

Her hands made their way up and down his chest as Mariah took in each muscular bump of his body. It was odd to her that she felt so comfortable with him. She didn’t feel self-conscious anymore, and she certainly couldn’t imagine what life would be like without River around.

It wasn’t normal for Mariah to feel so comfortable with a man. At least, it wasn’t her norm. But it was very appreciated, and even if things didn’t turn out between Mariah and River, she would always remember just how it felt to be with him.

His sandy brown hair and hazel eyes glistened down at her as she looked up dreamily at him. River was more than just an arrogant asshole like she thought he was on the first day they had met. Mariah felt like she knew him so much deeper. She knew his goals and his hopes for his life. If only everyone else in the world could see the side of River that she saw; Mariah was sure that they would love him as much as she did.

Instead, it seemed like the world was against him. It seemed like his business could be taken away from him and his life could plummet into the darkness at any moment. Mariah absolutely hated that everything was going so wrong for River all at once. But as she held onto him, she realized that at that moment they were happy.

As they made love, it didn’t matter what was going on in the press. It didn’t matter about his past or her past. While they held on to each other, nothing else seemed to matter much at all. That was the feeling Mariah couldn’t let go of. That was the comfort and bond she had with River.

Their lips touched each other, and Mariah let out a sweet moan of delight. River felt like home to her. How the hell was she ever going to let him go when he decided to move on? She had no idea, but the fear was certainly there. Mariah wasn’t a dumb girl. She knew River had never had a long term serious relationship, or at least, he hadn’t had one that she could find in the tabloids. She wasn’t going to start thinking that she would be able to change him and that River would magically want to stay with her.

All Mariah could do was live in the moment and take pleasure out of the time they had together. She couldn’t worry about the future, and she certainly couldn’t change it.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Mariah said softly to River.

“Me too.”