from Pain to Pleasure (Gainesville Book 1)

by Jeanisse, Bella

  “Always.” He winked, and then he sighed. “Sorry. Force of habit.” He put out a hand and grasped hers. “Just a shower.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds and hoped his dick behaved.

  Alex’s entire body shivered as Danielle undressed in the changing area of the shower stall. He couldn’t avert his gaze. She looked so beautiful. As each piece of clothing hit the table beside her, his cock grew. When she was naked and under the water, he couldn’t move. He stared. His mouth watered, and his body ached.

  Danielle set her bag on a shelf and glanced at Alex. “Are you staying dressed?” She let the water run over her head. “You OK?” She hid a smirk.

  “Uh, um, well, I guess.” He continued to watch her hands run all over her body. After what she went through, I wanna just fuck her? I’m going to hell. “Be right there.” He quickly undressed and moved behind her. His erection grazed her back. “Sorry.”

  She stepped back. “Why?” She pressed her body to his. “Never be sorry you want me.”

  He groaned. “Please. Don’t.” He retrained himself, but it wasn’t easy. “Babe, we can’t.”

  “We can.” She looked up at him. “Dr. Greene gave the OK. Remember?”

  He grabbed her arms and spun her. “You want this?” His body shook as he met her lustful eyes. “God, I love you.” He bent and kissed her lips. Then he lifted her and placed her back against the wall. “You sure about this?” He gritted his teeth, dying to sink into her. Her nod made him groan. Their lips met in a searing kiss that drew a moan from them both. Suddenly, he pulled back. “Wait. The doctor said we have to use a condom. I didn’t bring one.”

  She grinned slyly. “I did. In the bag.”

  Alex kissed her neck as he reached into the bag and snagged one. “You’re the best.” He hurriedly donned it. “You comfortable like this?”

  “Can you get in at this angle?”

  He smirked. “You’ll see. Hold my arms.” She gripped them tightly. Then he took a step back and held her body at an angle. He lined his cock up and pushed in until the head was engulfed. “Fuck.”

  Danielle’s eyes opened wide. Anxiety gripped her. “Wait.”

  “I’ll go slow. If it hurts, just tell me to stop.” He looked into her eyes. “Do you want it?” He waited, but she didn’t say anything. “Please. If you’re that afraid, tell me now. I won’t go any further. I promise.”

  “I really want to,” she replied. “I’m just nervous because it’s been so long.”

  “Ah.” He wished he could kiss her, but the baby made things complicated. “Slow. OK?” Her nod was all he needed. He thrust in a bit then slowly withdrew. “You good?”

  She smiled. “Yeah.” Her eyes closed as he gave her several more languid, shallow strokes. Then he drove in deeper, and she cringed. Something was not right.

  He stopped immediately. “Hurts?” He thought she felt tighter, but then again he was so horny, he couldn’t be sure.

  “No, but give me a minute. Please.” She wasn’t sure if he touched the stitches or what. It felt strange. After maybe 30 seconds, the feeling was gone. “It’s better, Alex. Keep going.”

  Alex sighed and started to thrust again. Each time, he gained ground. Then his eyes opened wide. “I can feel it.” The stitches weren’t cotton thread. “This is the one time I wish I was smaller.” He pulled back somewhat, unsure how to avoid her cervix. There wasn’t as much room anymore.

  “You OK?” Danielle felt his hands tremble. “We can stop if it’s not good for you.”

  He gave her a crooked smile. “It’s not that. Close your eyes, and I’ll figure something out.”

  She did as told and sighed. His rhythm was slow but perfect. Her fingers dug into him as pleasure washed over her. “I missed this.”

  “Me too.” He squeezed her thighs and buried himself in her. “Ow! Fuck!” he cried, and then pulled out. “Damn. That hurt. This position won’t work. I’m sorry, babe.” Carefully, he set her on her feet.

  Immediately, Danielle tugged the condom off and checked his penis for injury. There was none. “What hurt you?”

  “The stitches are nylon or something. They stick out.”

  She hugged him as close as possible. “I’m sorry. How about I…” She held his hips and started to slide down to the floor.

  “No.” He pulled her back up. “In bed, we’ll try again.” He turned her and whispered, “I’ll wash you.” He smiled as he did just that.

  * * *

  Minutes later, they walked back into the dorm room in towels. Alex set his things on the computer desk. He hoped she was still into sex. The painful hard-on under his towel counted on it, too.

  Danielle snuck a peek at Alex. He was still ready and quite nervous. She didn’t want that. After she had dropped her towel, she got into bed and stared at him. “Aren’t you coming?” She gave him a sexy look, her eyelids hooded, and licked her lips.

  “Damn.” Alex shed his towel and knelt on the bed. The limited number of positions they could accomplish with her pregnancy flashed before him. “Let’s try this.” He lifted her legs onto his chest and placed a pillow under her hips.

  She had a hard time breathing. “Wait.” Then she moved the other pillows around until her head and shoulders were elevated as well. “OK.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I gotta get another condom. Wish we didn’t have to—never mind.” He looked around and found a box on the night stand. “Did you put those there?”

  “Yeah.” She winked. “We’re gonna need more.”

  Excitedly, he grabbed one and rolled it over his erection. “Relax, babe.” He directed it to her entrance and gently pushed in. “Definitely tighter.” He took his time, unsure how deep he could go. Then he grabbed her hips and thrust in deeper. “Ah. OK. There it is.” His eyes drifted down. He still had a few inches to go. “Um… let’s try something else.” He pulled out. “Lay on your side, and I’ll come at you from behind.”

  She felt a bit guilty, although it was out of her control. “Should I do anything?”

  He slid a hand over her hip to her belly. “No. Just let me experiment until something works. Please.” He settled down behind her and again entered her slowly. Her hips shifted. “No. Don’t move.”

  “Sorry.” She closed her eyes. “Hold my hands, please.”

  Carefully, he reached for her hands and linked their fingers together. “Keep as still as you can. I love when you fuck me, but—”

  “I understand.” She didn’t want him in pain while they made love.

  He leaned his cheek on hers and pumped slowly. He shivered from the pleasure already. “Amazing.” He moved faster but stayed as shallow as he could.

  Danielle’s head went back, to his lower shoulder. Alex’s lips brushed her ear, and she shuddered. His breath made her skin tingle. She had the urge to arch her back but resisted. His cock delved deeper and finally caught her sweet spot.

  He felt her orgasm build finally. To encourage her, he moved his mouth to her neck and sucked hard. She gasped, and he let go. He moved a bit lower, to her shoulder. Then he moaned as she squeezed him within.

  “Cum for me, babe.” He groaned and picked up his pace, carefully. “Fucking cum!”

  She exploded with a scream, “Alex!”

  It pushed him over the edge. “Ahh!” He clung to her as he filled the condom. “Told you I’d make it work.”

  Chapter 39

  The trip back to Tallahassee was bittersweet for Danielle. She was terrified to face Brian. She clung to Alex's arm when they walked into the courtroom. Soft voices met them. For a few seconds, she froze and searched the room. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She could almost feel Brian’s fury.

  “Hey. It’s OK.” Alex stood in front of her and lifted her chin. “I’ll be here the whole time.”

  It killed him that he couldn’t soothe her. The last few days, she cried at random times. She wouldn’t let him comfort her. All their work to protect
her from the trial backfired when there was an article in the newspaper about it Friday morning. The date had slipped her mind.

  “He can’t get to you.”

  She shivered, and then looked up. “You sure?”

  “Look around.” He stepped back and waved a hand. “He’d be insane to try and touch you here.”

  She took in her surroundings. There were multiple deputies and cameras in all corners. That only slightly alleviated her anxiety. Brian was insane. She was sure of that. When Alex took her in his arms, she gripped his dress shirt tightly. He was the first witness, so that he could stay in the courtroom for the entirety of the trial. A shudder moved through her as she imagined Brian’s glare when she relayed what he had done to her.

  “I’m here, beautiful. I’m here.” Alex wasn’t sure what else to say. She shook like a leaf. “Let’s go sit.” He led her to the first bench and sat with her. An arm around her shoulders, he clutched one of her hands to his chest. “It’s over after this. We just need to get through it.”

  Danielle laid a hand on her swollen belly. It felt like their son was doing somersaults. “He’s moving.”

  “Really?” Alex placed a hand on her abdomen. He felt the jostling inside her and smiled. “So amazing.” He rarely felt his child’s kicks. It made him jealous she was able to feel it all the time.

  A shadow passed over them. “Are you ready for the circus?” Carly Steadman, the female assistant District Attorney, stood before them. “I have a footstool for you, Danielle.”

  With a sigh, Alex looked up. “Thanks. She’s scared.”

  “They’ll be more officers here when Brian arrives,” she assured them.

  Danielle’s bottom lip trembled. She barely lifted her head. “He’s crazy.”

  “He passed the psych exam, though.” Carly frowned. “If he does anything out of line, I’ll have him restrained.”

  Eyes opened wide, Danielle grabbed Alex’s hand. “He won’t be in handcuffs?”

  Alex hugged her. “I’ll be behind you the whole time.”

  “If he makes a move toward you, he’ll have 10,000 volts shooting through his body.” Carly patted Danielle’s hand. “We’ll all keep you safe.”

  Alex smiled as he thought about Brian being tased. It was much deserved. “Can we do anything more to help her feel safe?”

  “Not with him pretending to be normal.” Carly knew Brian was a psychopath. Since he knew how to fool doctors and judges, she wasn’t sure she could provoke him enough to show his true colors. However, she planned to try. “Let’s see how today goes.”

  The courtroom became noisier as it filled up. Danielle shifted nervously. Soon she would have to sit beyond the barrier. She held Alex’s hand in a death grip, terrified to let go. It had been months since Brian last attacked her, but she had doubts anyone could protect her from him forever.

  Alex thought about her and the baby. She was still on modified bed rest because of the cerclage. He had worried the stress of the trial would cause more complications. That was the last thing they needed.

  “It’s time,” Carly called.

  Alex stood and ushered Danielle to the prosecutor’s table. There were a comfortable chair and a footrest for her. He glanced at her eyes. She looked hydrated enough. The pitcher of water on the table with glasses was a slight relief. He pestered her about her water intake.

  * * *

  Brian’s lawyers stood on either side of him. They guided him to the courtroom. He was glad to be free of prison clothes. Even more so the hand- and leg cuffs he wore on the trip over. That felt like he was on a chain gang; hardly able to move. The thought of wearing those daily until the trial ended made his blood boil. Stupid bitch! If she would’ve just done as she was told, none of this would’ve happened.

  He had fooled everyone on his defense team that Danielle cheated on him, and he had a temporary lapse when he attacked her. He told them her father was the abuser. The psychiatrists were harder to deceive. They tried to trip him up. Good thing he expected it. He knew how to pass a psych test.

  The side door to the courtroom was opened, and he walked through with his head held high. However, when he saw Danielle next to Alex, all sanity was lost. Her belly protruded. That threw her infidelity in his face. He nearly bolted her way to smack some sense into her.

  When he sat behind the opposing table, he smirked at the couple. They hadn’t paid nearly enough in his eyes. He sported the injuries from his last encounter with a fellow inmate. Every day, he endured beatings. He was sure Alex had someone spread the word he was a sexual predator. If that was all he had to deal with to prove it was all her fault, he would. He was sure he could convince 12 idiots he was the victim.

  Danielle flinched when her eyes settled on Brian merely feet away. Oh, God. He’s up to something. She backed up, accidentally pushed a chair and almost fell.

  Alex caught her and held her close. “Don’t look at him.”

  He turned and glared at Brian. Then he almost laughed. The black eye and swollen lip were well deserved. After the surgery, Damien leaked what Brian had done for him. They knew that wouldn’t go over well in the county jail. Hope he suffers. Within minutes, the judge entered, and Alex had to go to his seat.

  Next to his mother, the day dragged on until Alex had to testify. He hated to leave Danielle, whose hands still shook. Once sworn in and seated again, Alex stared daggers at Brian. The questions from the prosecutor forced images to flood his mind. He described how Brian treated her before he left for Russia and the bruises he had seen that week. When he was asked about conversations between Danielle and Brian, he had to be careful to stick to what he heard. The judge frowned when he heard Brian had used her laptop camera to spy on them.

  Then came the hard questions. He shed a few tears as he relayed both the events at the hotel, and when Brian attacked the second time. Against Danielle’s wishes, he mentioned the vaginal tear and her fear of sex. That lead to his observations about how she was affected psychologically.

  Danielle gripped the table edge while Alex testified. When it was the defense’s turn, she closed her eyes. “I don’t feel well,” she muttered to Carly.

  “Anything I can do?” Carly whispered.

  Danielle took a deep breath and shook her head. She didn’t want Brian to see her fear. “Maybe I just need a drink.” She took a sip of water.

  Brian’s lawyer walked toward Alex. “Is it true you pursued Miss Brooks although she was dating Mr. Foster?”

  Alex knew they would ask. “I was her friend and helped her through a rough time.”

  “Wow.” The lawyer smirked. “You call impregnating someone else’s girlfriend ‘helping?’ Was that before or after you put his brother in the hospital?”

  With great difficulty, Alex kept his cool. “We did have sex, and she is having my baby. I wouldn’t have been with her if Brian didn’t treat her like a punching bag. Now she knows sex isn’t just punishment.”

  “Objection!”

  Alex hid his grin behind a hand. He had hoped he could get that in. The volume of the room went up as everyone discussed what he said. When the judge called the room to order, there was silence. The next few questions told him Brian had been in Danielle and Marie’s laptops. They had doctored photos and emails Danielle sent to Brian about her and Alex. It was obvious Brian claimed he was driven temporarily insane by the affair.

  “How can anyone be expected to handle this with grace?” The lawyer passed the messages to the jury. “Mr. Foster was thousands of miles away while his girlfriend was in Mr. Hick’s bed.”

  A lunch break was taken in the middle of Alex’s time in the witness stand. By the time he finally stepped down, he felt the jury glare at him. The defense made him out to be a relationship wrecker. Somehow, they found out about a few couples he had broken up in the past when he slept with the woman. It was most likely Sherri. She hated him. Upon redirect, Carly lessened the blow, but the damage had been done.

  When he was close to Danielle, he bent d
own and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

  “Not your fault.” Danielle was slightly dejected, though. She hadn’t expected Brian’s lawyers to dig into Alex’s past, only hers. With a hand on her belly, she hoped it couldn’t get worse.

  The judge nodded to Carly. “Should we end it for today? How is she doing?” He had been told Danielle had complications with the pregnancy.

  Carly turned to Danielle. “Can you handle a few more hours or so?”

  “I don’t want this to drag on forever.” Danielle felt fine. Having her feet up helped.

  Alex reached over and held her shoulder. “If you’re having any pain, we need to stop.”

  “I’m not,” she assured him. “I’d like to continue as much as we can today.”

  Carly stood. “She would like to keep going, if that pleases the court.”

  The judge smiled. “That’s fine. I’d like this one to be over as soon as possible, too.”

  After the hotel security witnesses and Detective Marshall had been at the stand, Danielle’s name was called. Alex squeezed her hands and kissed her forehead. His smile gave her a bit of strength.

  Brian’s eyes followed her all the way to the front of the room. He seethed. That asshole knocked my woman up. I’m gonna kill her. His hands shook with the need to wrap them around her neck. A hand on his arm made his head whip around.

  “Don’t even think about it,” one of his lawyers said.

  With gritted teeth, Brian nodded. He curled his fingers into fists. It became more difficult by the minute to control his rage. He stared at Danielle, sure when he was acquitted that she would come back to him… whether she liked it or not.

  Danielle’s entire body shook as answer-by-answer, she told the room what her life with Brian was like. Tears fell several times. It wasn’t easy to bring all those painful memories to the surface. She stared at her wringing hands, unable to meet anyone’s eyes. Some in the jury gasped at some revelations.

  In the audience, Alex didn’t hide his tears. He was overwhelmed by the detail that Danielle was forced to go into about her abuse. She hadn’t told him even half of it. How’d she survive? He couldn’t imagine how she endured so much. The many visits to the emergency room pissed him off, though. No one reported Brian over the years. His days of fooling the rest of the world were over. You’re going down.