And in Time...

by Jettie Woodruff

  “Can I use it?”

  “Hell no. You’re dangerous with a camera.”

  “You’re the dangerous one, especially shirtless.”

  Alexis refrained from saying how dangerous she could be without pants. She instructed him to follow her instead. Besides, she wasn’t dangerous at all. She hadn’t even done this in so long, she’d be lucky if she remembered how. Cory followed Alexis upstairs and she turned down the bed for Riki. Just like the night before, he managed to get her into a Pull-Up without waking her.

  “Why don’t you do that before she falls asleep?”

  “It’s easier this way. She’s not a baby and she doesn’t need a diaper.”

  “Does she?”

  “Yes, every time. What are you smiling at?” he asked in a whisper.

  “You, and the way you are with her. It’s sexy as hell.”

  “It is?” Cory questioned, coming to her at the door.

  “Oh, very much so. Hot doctor with a little girl wrapped around his finger? Hell yeah, it’s sexy.”

  “She definitely stole my heart, kind of like what you are doing,” he said while taking her hand and pulling her into the hall away from sleeping Riki.

  Alexis wasn’t sure how she felt about his last remark. She wasn’t ready to talk about being in anyone’s heart. That was a little deeper than she cared to go at this point in their relationship. She derailed it instead.

  “She won’t roll out of bed?”

  “No, she has a couple of times but not for quite a while.”

  Alexis spun around, startled by Mr. Dog. “What are you doing up here, boy?” she asked. Mr. Dog stopped and let her rub underneath his neck before pushing on the door to where Riki was. Alexis watched bewildered while he spun in two circles and plopped to the rug with a deep doggie breath.

  “He never comes upstairs,” she explained in disbelief. Mr. Dog stopped coming upstairs months ago. He had been taking a new medicine for his arthritis—maybe it was helping. Regardless, Riki evidently stole his heart, too.

  “Why on earth would you name a dog Mr. Dog?”

  Alexis led Cory back down the stairs and explained the name. “I hated him when I got him. I never gave him a name because I didn’t want him.”

  “Then why did you get him?”

  “I didn’t get him. He was my breakup present from Mitch.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Nope.”

  “What happened?” Cory asked, not knowing if he should or not, but he wanted to know. There had to be more to it than what he’d learned. People didn’t take that many years to get over a high school sweetheart. There had to be more to it than that.

  “We were young, too young,” she added, sitting on the sofa. Cory sat beside her and lifted one of her legs over his. “I was sixteen, he was seventeen. We both went off to college but not far. We still saw each other on weekends and every chance we got. I had just finished with school and he had one more year because he was playing football. I’d just moved back home and found out I was pregnant.”

  Cory’s mouth noticeably dropped and his eyebrows rose, but he didn’t speak. He didn’t speak, wanting her to continue, but he was shocked.

  “I told him that weekend and we told my parents together. My father had a long talk with him and before he left, he asked me to marry him. I said yes. I’m sure his proposal had a lot to do with my dad’s persuasion. They don’t really believe in having sex out of wedlock, let alone a child. We planned on getting married at my parents’ house. I spent countless hours organizing a wedding. My wedding. I was so happy, planning my life with Mitch. I was going to stay with my parents until he finished school, and then we were going to buy a house in town.” Alexis shook her head, remembering that time of her life.

  “You don’t have to tell me, Lex. I don’t want to upset you,” Cory interrupted while his hand ran up and down her leg. If he’d reading her right, she felt sad about it, and that was the last thing he wanted.

  “I’m not upset, Cory, it was a long time ago. I’ve been over him for quite a while.”

  “But you don’t want to do it again?”

  Alexis shrugged her shoulders with a sigh. “I’m scared.”

  “I swear I would never hurt you.”

  “Let’s just take it a step at a time, okay?”

  “Yes, of course. What happened?”

  “I lost the baby. A week before the wedding. He didn’t care about the baby, and he was happy that we didn’t have to get married,” Alexis explained in low tone while she tried not to sound hurt or sad.

  “Are you serious?” Cory asked with turned in eyebrows. What an ass.

  “Yeah, the following weekend, the weekend that was supposed to be our wedding day, he sent Mr. Dog to me with a note via one of our friends. The note said he was sorry things worked out the way they had and he thought we needed some time apart. He said the puppy was for the whole baby thing and he hoped it helped me get over it. He even had the nerve to end it with a P.S.—saying he was okay with me waiting for him if I wanted.”

  “And you thought I was an ass?”

  Alexis smiled sadly, not liking the way she felt, but for the first time, it seemed different. The nostalgic longing she’d once felt for Mitch was gone. It was the loss of her baby that broke her heart, not Mitch.

  “Do you want another beer?” Cory kissed her knuckles and Alexis slid from the couch.

  “Yeah, I think I do. I’ll get them.”

  Cory waited for her anxiously, flipping through a sale paper on the coffee table. He looked over to the kitchen door, wondering what was taking so long. Alexis stood with her hands behind her back, leaned against the threshold, staring at him. She didn’t understand what she was feeling. She wasn’t sure if she was ready for any of this, but she was sure of one thing. She wanted him.

  Cory went to her and took her in his arms. His body pressed her against the doorframe while his knee went between her legs. Alexis held her hands behind her back and stared up at him.

  “You scare the hell out of me,” she said softly.

  “If it’s any consolation, you scare the hell out of me, too.”

  “Take me to bed.”

  Cory pulled her hand and led her toward the stairs. Alexis pulled away long enough to flip off a couple lights. Her heart melted a little more when he stopped off to kiss Riki’s sleeping lips and cover her arms. The melting heart did little to calm the nerves going on just below the first layer of skin. Adrenaline pumped wildly through her veins while she waited for the inevitable. Pep talking herself calm, she inaudibly reminded her lungs to take in air. Jesus, God! This wasn’t the first time she’d had sex. Why the hell was she so nervous?

  “You okay?” Cory questioned in a quiet tone, closing the door behind them. Alexis smiled but didn’t reply with words. She didn’t trust her voice just yet. She needed a moment.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” he professed.

  “I’m fine. You’re not going to hurt me.”

  Cory ran his fingers up her arm and stared attentively at her body. Their eyes searched each other out, quietly without words. Alexis’s arms hung limply at her sides and her mind telepathically willed him to touch her. She had no idea how to take the lead, or if she even should. Her breathing became short and shallow when Cory unfastened her belt and then her jeans. Her eyes watched his hands pull the tight shirt from her waistband while she tried hard to swallow. With one quick move, Cory spun her in his arms. Her head dropped to his shoulder when his lips found that arousing spot, just below her ear, and his fingers slid between the lacy elastic. He tenderly let his fingers explore her body, softly brushing her sensitive skin. His fingers made their way between the thin material of her bra, forcing an instant bead. Alexis couldn’t stop thinking about his other hand, so close to the throbbing between her legs.

  “You okay?” Cory whispered in question with warm kisses to her neck.

  Alexis snorted. “Just trying to remember how to do this.”


  “Want me to tell you?”

  “Sure,” she whimpered when his fingers twisted the bead behind her bra. Why did she say that? No. No. She didn’t want him to tell her. She wanted him to do it. Gah!

  “The thing is, you don’t have to think about it at all,” he assured her while sliding his hand a little lower in her jeans.

  “I don’t?” she rasped with broken words, forgetting once again that she needed to breathe.

  “No, you know the intent and you have the desire. Your natural instincts know exactly what to do.”

  “They do?” she faintly replied, tilting her head and trying like hell not to move his hand down herself. This was torture and he did it on purpose.

  “Yes, and now you have one thing on your mind. What is it, Alexis?”

  “Sex.”

  Cory’s fingers moved a little lower. His fingers now rested on her mound, just above her pelvic bone. “Yes, you’re in the first phase of the sexual response cycle. Do you know what that is?” he asked while moving his fingers, paying the other breast the same attention with a twist. Alexis shook her head and he answered with hot, sexy words to her bare shoulder. “Excitement. Are you excited, Lex?”

  Alexis had no idea where she was, but she liked it. Her eyes refused to open and her head moved around for his lips to touch her skin. “I am.”

  “I know you are. Do you know how I know this?”

  “How?”

  Cory’s hand pressed against her lower abdomen. “Your muscle tension is increasing.” His hand moved from the pucker behind her bra and he flattened it. Flush in the center of her chest, he pointed out her accelerated breathing. “Your breasts are full, forcing this hard bead,” he whispered to the sensitive spot below her ear again, sending a line of chills straight down her spine. “Your heart rate has increased, and your skin is warm, flushed.” Yup, all of those things. Yes. She felt that. “Blood flow has increased, resulting in a pulsating feeling where the swelling has already taken place. That’s the first phase, Alexis. The excitement.”

  “Aaah,” she whimpered when his fingers thrust downward and they both felt the excitement.

  “You’re so ready, Alexis.” Alexis’s right foot stepped to the side and Cory took the invitation with two fingers. “The next phase is the plateau. Everything I just told you was happening, has now intensified from my touch. Your pupils are dilated, you’re very sensitive right here, and it continues to swell with the increased blood flow,” Cory explained while his fingers circled the swelling nub and she lost control. “Do you know what the next phase is, Alexis?” he asked in husky murmur, applying more pressure and a quicker pace.

  Alexis didn’t answer. She didn’t need to go to med school to know what the next phase was. She could feel it. Control was being loss no matter how hard she tried. With everything in her, she strained to reclaim control. Her eyes opened and she looked toward the window. She needed a distraction. It wasn’t supposed to happen that fast—was it? Cory’s enduring fingers picked up speed and she let out a soft moan.

  “Oh God,” she audibly muttered, causing him to pick up even more velocity, bringing her to the crest of no return. Her legs parted, her toes curled, and her hands grasped the legs of his jeans. “Aaah” she called when she felt the muscles tighten low in her stomach and then lower. That’s when the ripple effect took over and she felt wave after wave after wave.

  “And then you have the resolution,” Cory boasted with the same sexy tone while his lips lightly sucked on her neck.

  “Those are really ugly curtains,” she blurted out of the blue in a pant. Her rapid breathing slowed with every breath while she came down from her glorious high.

  “What?” Cory asked confused, both eyebrows curved toward the bridge of his nose.

  Alexis giggled and turned to him. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud. I was trying so hard not to, you know. I was repeating ugly curtains over and over in my head, trying not to, you know,” she said again like she was too embarrassed to say the word. She was too embarrassed. There was no hiding that.

  Cory laughed, too, and then kissed her, causing the first stage to start all over again. Their tongues danced and devoured each other’s mouths while the blood flow did exactly what he explained in phase one. He took a step back and removed her bra completely, and then dropped to his knees. Alexis wiggled her hips, helping him slide her out of her jeans.

  “I think you have me at a disadvantage,” she said while standing in nothing but the sexy black panties. Cory remained fully dressed, wearing jeans and the same Journey tee shirt she’d seen him in the day she ran into him at the grocery store. He stood and removed his shirt with a smirk.

  “It’s still not fair. You still have more on than me.”

  “You’re beautiful. Take your panties off.”

  Alexis felt the crimson flush that time. “No, it’s your turn.”

  Cory smiled and slipped out of his jeans. Bright white boxer briefs showed a well-equipped package, fully erect lying to the left side of his shorts. And there went the blood flow again.

  “Your roll,” he said with a smirk. Alexis took a step toward him and he stopped her. “Uh-uh. Take them off,” he ordered.

  “Rock, paper, scissors?”

  “No. Take your panties off, Alexis.”

  The pulsating between her legs increased with the swell. The authoritative way he’d just ordered her to undress for him was hot as hell. Her thumbs seductively moved between the elastic and she slowly slid them over her hips. His eyes watched with intent and Alexis felt more blood rushing to unexplored places. Cory’s hand dipped inside his boxers and topped the hotness chart. Although her eyes couldn’t see the stroking, her mind could, and that was enough.

  Alexis screamed when he closed the distance between them and tossed her to the bed. “You cheated,” she accused. Cory’s mouth once again devoured hers and she felt her body quiver beneath him. His naked chest next to her bare breasts caused her to fall a little more. She loved being naked below him. Alexis watched with the same concentrating eyes when Cory removed his shorts. Very well endowed. That was being said with only one guy to compare him with, but still. Their kiss became emotional and desperate when Cory settled between her legs. The impressive throb between her legs was cosmic and intensified when she felt him enter her. Moving slowly in, deeper and deeper, Alexis lost herself again. Watching his chest glisten with his own damp arousal, his lips on her beaded breasts, and the feel of him moving, deeper and deeper, left Alexis with a longing she never wanted to end.

  The deep burning that started in her lower abdomen, quickly spread to her groin, her lips parted, and her toes did that curling thing again, but this time, she didn’t try to stop it. She moaned, and dragged her nails down his back, thrashing beneath him with whimpering moans mixed with gasps. Cory moved faster, deeper, harder, and then thrust one last time, deep and hard. And just like that, he exploded, too. His body dropped to hers and they panted in unison, coming down from ecstasy in slow motion.

  “Those are really ugly curtains,” Cory confessed while his lips kissed hers. Alexis laughed and he kissed the tip of her nose. “That didn’t work for shit,” he admitted.

  “I could have told you that.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked, concerned about her pain.

  “I’m fine. I’m more than fine,” she assured him. She was fine. She hadn’t been that fine in, well, never. Finally feeling that proverbial safe point, Alexis relaxed in his arms. Sex was tiresome. Alexis was emotionally drained, exhausted even. She dozed off with a smile, trying to let that security penetrate her heart and unwind. That one might take a little bit, but this was okay, too. She was more than satisfied with where they were and how she felt.

  Although it was hard to differentiate, she was sure Cory took her from behind sometime in the early morning, and she once again hit that third phase. Oh, happy girl…

  Eight

  Alexis was missing from her bed when Cory woke. After a stop off to the bathroom he
went to find Riki missing from her bed as well. He quietly descended the stairs and walked toward the voice. The smile was instant, witnessing Alexis with his baby girl. Riki was dressed, sitting on the table in front of Alexis.

  Alexis held two pairs of socks in front of her. “Do you want the pink ones or the purple ones?”

  “Pink!” Riki yelled.

  Alexis pulled the socks apart and Riki stopped her. “No…no. Me not wike pink.”

  “Do you want purple socks?”

  “Yes,” she said with a yell, making up her mind right before changing it again.

  Alexis put a purple sock on one foot and a pink one on the other and lifted her to the floor. “How’s that?” she asked.

  Riki looked down at her feet and giggled, pleased with her two different colored socks. Alexis smiled, amused at her excitement for two different colored feet and stirred the scrambled eggs. Alexis got excited next. Her eyes scanned Cory’s body, standing in the door, wearing jeans and no shirt. Holy smoking hotness. She actually had to swallow the instant lake of water in her mouth.

  “Wook, Daddy,” Riki squealed while she squatted to touch her toes, showing her daddy her unmatched feet. Cory lifted her into the air and held her little feet in his hands.

  “I love your socks. Good morning, how did you sleep?” he asked Alexis while holding Riki and kissing her.

  “I’m not sure. We need to talk about that,” Alexis countered with a frown and a wooden spoon pointed right at him.

  Cory gave an ornery grin and kissed her again. “Yes, that happened. You’re very hard to wake up.”

  “Wet me get down. Me have a get sumpton,” Riki announced.

  Alexis set the table with bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast while Cory pulled on a shirt and sat at the table. She poured coffee for them both and called for Riki.

  “Come on, Riki, your breakfast is ready.”

  “You don’t have to wait on me, Lex,” Cory said with his hand running up the back of her leg.

  “I like taking care of you, and you, too,” she admitted while she pulled out Riki’s chair, giving her a sippy-cup of milk and lifting her to her booster seat. Cory handed her a fork and she put it down, plopping eggs to her mouth with her fingers. Alexis was just getting ready to sit, too, when the phone rang.