Chapter 15
Brody
Sitting in my car outside of Alyssa’s house, I stare at her front door. I have no clue what I’m doing here. I went home after locking up The Haven and took a shower, but I couldn’t stop worrying about her safety. What if this Chad dude tries something before they can arrest him? What if they’ve already arrested him, he got out on bail, and he’s pissed enough at her to retaliate?
That thought had me flying out the door of my house and heading straight to hers. I called Hunter on the way, with my brand new cell phone Casey had bought for me a few days ago, and told him that I needed him to cover me at the bar. He didn’t ask any questions or chastise me. It was the first time I’ve missed work, and he just said “No problem”.
Now as I sit out here, I have to wonder if there’s another reason why I’m in her driveway. I’m worried about her, sure. But that emotion just started today, and that alone isn’t enough to drive me here. I’m wise enough to know that I sure as hell have been having other feelings where she’s concerned.
There’s no denying that she has stepped inside a circle of trust with me, which makes her far more than just a casual friend. After unburdening to her, I felt lighter than I’ve ever felt in my life. It was actually healing to know that there is one person in this world that knows I didn’t kill someone. That one person heard the undeniable truth and won’t have to look upon me with some level of disappointment, loathing, or sadness.
It means I have one person in my corner.
Then there’s one other thing that I feel toward Alyssa.
Lust.
She’s been under my skin for a long time now. As much as I keep pushing her away from me physically, I can’t seem to push her out of my mind. And I’m not sure I want to fight against it anymore.
Getting out of my car, I walk up the staircase of her stilt cottage. I have no clue what I’ll even say to her when she opens the door, but that doesn’t stop me from raising my fist and rapping against the wood sharply.
After a few moments, I hear her unlocking her deadbolt and she’s swinging the door open. My throat tightens with how beautiful she is. She’s wearing similar pajamas to what she had on the other night, loose pants, this time in a baby pink color, and a white tank top that molds provocatively over her breasts.
“How did you know it was me?” I ask with censure. “You shouldn’t just open your door up to anyone.”
Stepping up to the doorway, Alyssa points over my shoulder. As I turn to look, I see a security camera mounted to the ceiling of her front porch.
“I have a monitor on the security panel. I knew it was you,” she says with a smile.
She looks at me in open friendship, and I don’t get a hint of anything on her face to make me think she still might have feelings of a more intimate nature with me. It makes me second-guess myself.
“Come on in,” she says as she steps back to give me entry. Kicking my flip-flops off in her foyer, I follow her in.
Her living room is richly decorated. I hadn’t paid much attention to it last night but with a glance, I take in what must be thousands of dollars in Persian throw rugs and antique furniture. It reminds me of Stacy’s lavish home, yet it doesn’t make me think any worse of Alyssa. That’s because I have firmly come to believe that having money doesn’t make you entitled. Alyssa taught me that in so many ways.
“You’re house is beautiful,” I tell her.
“Surprised I spend money on something other than dog food?” she teases.
“It suits you,” I tell her honestly “Just as much as the dirt and dog hair you wear all the time. You’re multi-dimensional.”
Alyssa laughs deeply, and it’s a sound I haven’t heard yet from her. It’s pure delight and amusement encased in a smile so wide that two of the most beautiful dimples appear at the corners of her mouth.
“So what brings you by?” she asks over her shoulder as she walks into her kitchen. I trail along behind her, taking the opportunity to study the sway of her hips that’s part confident woman walking and part sexy seductress.
It’s all Alyssa.
“I wanted to make everything went okay at the police station.”
“Right as rain,” she assures me, opening her refrigerator to pull out a bottle of water. “Wyatt called and said he was arrested a few hours ago. He’s probably out on bail already.”
She holds up a bottled water for me, but I shake my head ‘no’ and prop an elbow on her counter. “I’m worried that Chad might try something. I don’t like the idea of you being here alone.”
“So you thought you’d come by and protect me?”
“Something like that,” I tell her, because while I wasn’t the one to suggest it, it’s definitely what I had been thinking. “Let me crash on your couch tonight.”
“I can take care of myself,” she says softly. “But thank you.”
“Then let me stay the night anyway… with you,” I tell her quietly, and then hold my breath while I wait for her reaction.
I’m emboldened when I see her eyes go round with surprise, and then flare hot with understanding of what I’m saying. She walks toward me, setting her water bottle on the counter.
Her hand comes up as she steps into me, her palm sliding along my bearded jawline and then curving around the back of my neck. She pulls me down in one fluid motion even as she stands on her tiptoes to reach her mouth to mine.
My entire body sighs in relief that this is going to happen… that I am going to know Alyssa on the deepest of planes, and my skin hums with anticipation.
Her lips caress mine softly, but she has no hesitation when she opens her mouth to me and our tongues meet in a kiss of need and desire. The kiss is brief but it’s deeply sexual, leaving no doubt that we’re on the same page.
When she pulls back, she does nothing more than take my hand and turn to lead me out of the kitchen.
Right through the living room and down a short hallway to the back of the house.
To her bedroom, which is no less filled with rich furnishings and sumptuous bedding, but it is by no means ostentatious. In fact, it’s subtle with creams and tan colors, and soft lighting that makes the chocolate-covered walls glow in comfort.
It’s peaceful, just like Alyssa.
Dropping my hand, she turns to me, her arms hanging loosely at her sides. She is spectacular… all freshly innocent face and lush womanly curves, and I want her so bad that my bones ache. She represents everything that could possibly be good in my life now, and while it scares the shit out of me, I’m helplessly drawn to it.
It makes me hopeful.
We stare at each other a moment, delicious tension filling the space between us. My fingers itch to touch… my mouth waters with the need to taste.
“Take your clothes off for me, Alyssa.”
Her lips curve upward at my request, but she never hesitates for a minute. Her fingers grasp the bottom of her tank top, and she lifts it slowly… past her flat stomach, to the underside swell of her breasts, over her nipples, which tighten when the cool air hits them. My body stiffens with longing and the minute the tank top clears her beautiful face, I’m stepping toward her.
Dropping to my knees, I sink my fingers into the waistband of her pants, clear past the elastic edge of her panties. I lean forward, placing a kiss on her stomach, which causes her to shudder. That response from her… it would have dropped me to my knees had I not already been there.
Alyssa’s hands come up, palms to my cheeks, and her thumbs graze over the skin just above my beard line. I look up at her and my breath catches over not just the desire I see in her eyes, but the tenderness she feels for me. Part of me wonders if there is any pity, but the promise of what’s to come makes me banish that thought.
I pull her pants and underwear down her legs, my thumbs grazing along her skin as I make the descent. She smells like wild honeysuckle, and her skin is so luxuriously soft. I wish that I were clean-shaven so I could rub my cheeks along it.
Alyssa balances herself by placing her hands on my shoulders while she lifts her feet, one by one, and I pull her clothes off. As she sets her foot down, I look back up at her, my hands grasping on tight to the backs of her thighs.
“You don’t know how bad I want you right now,” I tell her in a moment of harsh truthfulness. It’s a moment of vulnerability I rarely succumb to.
“Probably as bad as I want you,” she says softly, her hand coming up so her thumb can rub along my bottom lip.
I close my eyes for just a second to relish the feeling. When I open them back up, I pin my stare to the beauty of what lies between her legs and pull her toward me. She’s not ready for the movement so her hands come again to my shoulders for balance, and I push my face right into her soft curls, inhaling deeply.
Yes, wild honeysuckle and femininity, and the smell is so wonderful that it banishes the stench of prison clean from my memory.
I stand up in a decisive move, picking her up in my arms. Turning to the bed, I lay her in the center and just roam my eyes over that fantastically amazing body, which is spread before me, to do with whatever I want.
“Take your clothes off for me, Brody,” she murmurs, one hand coming over to rest delicately on her stomach, where she strokes her skin. I watch, hypnotized, as her hand glides upward to her breast, grazing softly over her nipple. It makes my dick ache with need, but I oblige her request.
I pull my t-shirt off and am surprised by her gasp. Her eyes move over me hungrily, and she says, “All of it.”
Unsnapping the button to my shorts, her eyes drop to my waist and she licks her lips. I slowly slide my zipper down, marveling at the way her eyes darken as I torture her with my reveal. I never knew stripping for a woman could be so sensual, but I’m finding I like having her eyes on me.
When I drop my shorts to the floor and step out, I stand before her with my cock at full attention. She stares boldly at it, and then raises her eyes to mine. “You’re beautiful,” she tells me.
I crawl onto the bed, and her legs part to make room for me. I move all the way up her body, hovering for a moment before I lean down and give her a chaste kiss. The sigh that flutters over her lips is so beautifully sweet that my heart flips over.
Then I move back down, kneeling between her legs, using my hands to push them further apart. I drag my index finger through her curls, loving the slick moisture that speeds my progress.
She sucks in a deep breath, and a quick glance up at her has her eyes glued on my hand. Carefully, I sink my finger into her, groaning over the heat that surrounds it. Alyssa lets the air out of her lungs in one huge expulsion, and her hips flex upward for more.
And I want to give her more.
Lying down on my stomach between her legs, I position her legs over my shoulders. She gives a tiny moan because she knows what’s coming. I watch her and her eyes are closed, her lower lip pulled between her teeth, her hands grasping at the down comforter.
Leaning my head to the left, I rub my beard along the inside of her thigh, first one way where the lay of the bristles are soft. Going back the other way, they abrade slightly, and Alyssa whispers, “That feels so good.”
Taking my hands, I part her gently and gaze in appreciation. Leaning down, I make one long lick up her center, circling my tongue around her * a few times. Alyssa’s hips fly upward, and a groan bubbles out of her.
“Shh,” I soothe her gently, lowering my mouth again.
A warbled cry comes out of her when I bring my lips to her again. I slowly move over her, my breath coming out in hot bursts over her sensitive flesh. I lick at her like she’s my own honeysuckle-flavored ice cream, moving my tongue softly one moment, and roughly the next. I suck at her, pulling her * into my mouth, rubbing the flat edge of my tongue in a fluttering motion, which causes Alyssa to cry out in desperation.
She desperately wants to come, this I know.
I desperately want her to come, so I bring one hand down to push my fingers into her, rotating them slightly, while my mouth continues to work her.
Her legs are trembling, and I can feel them clenching in anticipation. She’s on the precipice and needs a hard push over. Pulling my mouth away, I angle my thumb over, causing my fingers to rotate in her again, and I push down hard against her.
Alyssa erupts violently, her inner muscles squeezing hard around my fingers, while the rest of her body stiffens momentarily. The keening cry that comes out of her startles me with wonder that I could do something like that… could cause that type of reaction in a woman.
I gently remove my hand, leaning up slightly to kiss her stomach. I can feel her trembling all over and when I raise my head up, I see tears leaking from the corners of her closed eyes.
“Alyssa?” I murmur in worry.
Her eyes open up to me, shining and soft. She gives me a smile that is filled with gratitude and care.
“I have no words,” is all she says, and I smile back at her.
Crawling up her body, I tell her, “I’m not done with you yet. You know that, right?”
She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me down for a kiss. It’s sweet with a touch of hot, and I cannot wait to sink myself into her.
Alyssa breaks the kiss and murmurs, “I want you inside of me so bad.”
I don’t need to be told twice and I scoot backward off the bed, grabbing my shorts and pulling a condom out of my wallet.
When I look at Alyssa, she has an eyebrow arched at me. “You came prepared.”
“I came hoping,” I tell her with a smirk. “A man can hope, right?”
She gives a tinkling laugh, her eyes sparkling. “Absolutely.”
I start to tear into the foil wrapper, when she gives me pause by saying, “What changed your mind? About being intimate with me?”
Her question startles me, and I look over at her. For a moment, I don’t know the answer, but then it comes to me. “I think I got tired of being in the darkness of misery. I decided to try for something good.”
My answer seems to satisfy her, which is good. It’s the only one I have.
I start to tear the condom wrapper again, when she pushes up from the bed onto her knees and crawls toward me. Reaching out, she takes it from my hand and says, “Let me.”
I let it go with no fight, because yes, I want her hands on me. The prospect of her rolling that onto my cock has me almost delirious.
“Lie down on the bed, Brody,” she commands me softly.
I hold her gaze for a moment, and then I crawl on the bed, lying down in the center of it. I put my hands behind my head to raise it up a bit, all the better to see what she’s doing. Raising one leg, I plant my foot on the mattress and swing my knee back and forth while she makes short work of the foil.
When she has it in her hand, the end pinched between her thumb and forefinger, she turns to rake her gaze up and down my body. My dick leaps under her bold perusal and practically begs for her touch.
Alyssa shuffles her knees a few paces to get closer to me on the bed, wrapping one tiny hand around the base of my erection. Her touch… that first spectacular touch… has me growing even harder, and I can’t help but to thrust my hips to create some friction.
“Easy,” she murmurs to me.
Her words are both tender and sexy, and I’ve never been coiled tighter in anticipation of something than I am right now. Using her other hand, she gently rolls the condom down my swollen length, squeezing me firmly when she finishes.
I start to sit up, because I’m almost out of patience, but her hand pushes at my chest and she commands, “Don’t. I want to take care of you.”
She wants to take care of me.
I’m not sure I’ve ever had words directed at me before that have had such impact. I’ve certainly never had a woman say she wanted to take care of me… at least not in the form of pleasure.
I don’t know what that means, but I follow her direction and lie back down on the bed.