by A. J. Downey
“Try the steak, before it gets cold,” he urged. I smiled and cut into it.
“Medium rare, how did you guess?”
“I didn’t,” he said chuckling. “I just fixed it how I liked, figuring I could always cook it more thoroughly if I needed to.”
“Where is yours?” I asked and he chuckled.
“Was starving, I ate already, but you needed the sleep. Eat up, it’s a school night. I’ll drive you home. What were your plans for Friday?” he asked.
“Well, you see, I thought my boyfriend might take me on a date somewhere.”
“Smart man,” he said smiling. “I certainly wouldn’t waste a Friday night with you. Dress casually; we’re going to the 10-13 to hang with some of the guys.”
“Sounds nice,” I said softly, the fact he wanted to take me back there, introduce me as his, causing butterflies in my stomach. I didn’t think I would ever get tired of the sensation. Nor did I think he would ever not cause them. They took flight now, just by the way he was looking at me.
“I plan on taking this slow, Ally. Treating you right…” he said gently.
I nodded and chewed carefully, “I like the sound of that,” I confessed.
“Good girl,” he whispered and kissed my forehead reverently. I completely loved when he did that. It was just everything.
I finished my meal which was one of the best I think I had ever had and took my time getting dressed. Damien threw on a hoodie over his bare chest and shrugged his feet into some sneakers.
“I want you to keep the keys and the code,” he told me when he handed me my things that had been left behind. I nodded and he said, “Come whenever you want, whenever you need. Okay?” I nodded again.
“Let’s get you home, as much as it kills me to say that,” and he pulled me close for another one of those amazing forehead kisses that made my eyes drift shut and the whole world fall into perfect place.
He drove me home in his big Escalade and when he pulled up to the curb, he sighed, frowning at the Point Side.
“Text me when you’re in your apartment with the doors locked. I need to know you’re safe.”
I smiled gently and agreed, “Okay, but I’ve lived here my whole life. They know me, and I know them. I’ll be fine.”
“I know, but it’s the Point Side, Bright Eyes. I’ll never be comfortable with letting you go in there as long as you’re mine.”
“I know, but it's fine, really. It’s where I live,” I said firmly.
“Right.”
He leaned over the center console and kissed me and I was reluctant to have it end and to go. He drew back and I smiled, though it felt brittle.
“I’ll see you soon,” I promised, and he sighed.
“Just have to get through the work week hustle,” he agreed and didn’t sound at all happy about it.
I slid out of the SUV and looked back, murmuring, “In case you didn’t know, I love you too,” before I shut the door behind me and took the walkway quickly before I lost the nerve to leave his side completely.
I am a strong, confident, modern woman. I reminded myself. Now, forward march, Ally.
Still didn’t stop me from turning back to look before I had to round my grandmother’s fountain garden to go through the doors into the building. He was watching me, the dome light dimming and going out until I couldn’t see him anymore. I went inside and quickly to my apartment. As soon as the locks were in place, I texted obediently.
I’m inside, safe & sound.
He texted me back a heartbeat later with Good girl. Sleep well.
I smiled and sighed happily answering, I will, you too.
Sleep came surprisingly quickly that night and I was on a high for the rest of the week, even though it seemed to drag abominably slow. On Friday, Damien came into the café and when I handed him his coffee said, “Come over to my office after work, I drove today. I’ll take us where we need to go. I don’t like the idea of you taking the bus.”
“Okay,” I murmured and blushed faintly when Millie fixed me with an impressed gaze and smile. I hadn’t planned on that. Didn’t realize that he wanted me around where he worked. Also, I had planned on going home and changing, but that wasn’t nearly as big of a deal. I had some money set aside for a thrift store run and might be able to come up with something cute there that I could quickly wash and dry at his place before we went out.
I blushed harder the more Millie wouldn’t stop looking at me, and as soon as the café was mostly clear, she came over to me, wiping her hands on her apron with an eyebrow raised. I blushed again even harder and wouldn’t meet her eyes when I mumbled, “He fired me first, okay?”
She laughed derisively and said, “Seriously? He fired you so you could see him?”
I looked at her and said, “I want to see him too, so it’s not even like that.”
“Oh, honey, I didn’t mean to upset you,” she reached out and put a hand on my arm and I swallowed nervously.
“I really like him, and I know he likes me, too. I guess I just didn’t think that the suspicion and that would start so soon…”
“I’m sorry,” she said dismayed and sighed. “He’s just a very powerful man in this city and –“
“I’m just a poor girl from the Point Side. Yeah, I know.” I put my hands to my face and pressed my fingertips into my eyes, stress washing over me and through me. We’d both been afraid of how it would look since the beginning, had managed to fool one another into believing that it wouldn’t be so bad, but apparently, our initial assessment of people’s reactions was on point. Frustrating. Especially that it was coming from Millie.
“I didn’t mean it like that, Ally.” She had the grace to look embarrassed, but we both knew that wasn’t exactly true. Still, it was Millie, and I knew her heart was in the right place. Her judgment came from a place of concern, not malice.
“I’m going to make us some coffee and then you are going to tell me all of the good things, like how this came to be. I believe some perspective, specifically yours is in order,” she said with a smile.
“Basic white girl special?” I asked.
“One pumpkin spice white mocha coming your way,” she agreed and I smiled.
I took one of the two person tables by the front window within easy reach of the register and espresso machine while Millie whipped up our drinks. She brought them over and took a seat across from me while I carefully edited some things in my mind. I wasn’t about to give away any of Damien and mine’s secrets. Some things were best left private, and privacy was something that, despite our extreme differences in demographic backgrounds, we could both appreciate.
I told my other boss, and honestly, Millie was like a second best friend next to Dawnie, who was already caught up by this point. Except where Millie got the edited version, Dawnie not so much. Of course, I didn’t tell either of them anything that Damien wasn’t okay with me sharing. I’d discussed things with him and he had been reluctant on a few points but ultimately he had sighed on the other end of the line and asked me if I trusted Dawnie and when I’d told him absolutely, he’d acquiesced.
I understood. Again, despite the differences in our backgrounds, much remained the same. Whether it be high society or the slums of the Point Side there was one universal truth to both of them. Be careful who you told what. It could and would be used against you to another person’s gain. Also, it didn’t necessarily have to be true, either. We were determined to keep it short and simple. As far as the world at large needed to know, Mr. Parnell had been charmed with and fallen for the girl who made his coffee in the morning. The other details weren’t relevant, but if they came to light, it could be potentially damaging to him professionally.
People loved gossip, especially if that juicy bit of gossip involved a sex scandal surrounding a prominent public figure such as the city’s star ADA.
Millie looked at me across the small table where we’d spoken in hushed tones after I laid all of this out and her shoulders dropped. She shook her hea
d in wonder and said, “Ally Cat, I love you, my dear girl, and sometimes you break my heart with how wise beyond your years you’ve needed to be.”
“Thanks, I think,” I murmured and took a sip of my drink.
She chuckled and patted the back of my hand. “Most definitely that was meant as a compliment. You’ve been handed a very poor hand in so many ways, yet you’ve borne it all with such grace. You wear the weight of the world on your shoulders like a set of wings, dear girl.”
I stared at her for a moment, a little wide-eyed. Her final compliment catching me off guard, my eyes misting from it. It was quite possibly one of the nicest, most beautiful things anyone had ever said to me.
“Oh no! Don’t cry!” she came around the table and hugged me and I told her how I felt. She smiled and pulled back and said, “And that’s what ultimately matters, that you’re happy.”
I was happy. Happier than I could remember being not just in a long time, but ever.
27
Yale…
A light tap at my door. I kept my eyes on the report in my hand and did what I usually did and said, “Yeah, what is it?”
“Um, hi…” her lyrical voice trailed off into an uneasy laugh and I looked up. It never ceased to amaze me how hearing her voice made my heart lift in the center of my chest, soaring to great heights until we had to part again.
She stood nervously in the doorway to my office and it did things to me. It was both strange and wonderful having her here in this space and it was telling to me how much I wanted to integrate her into every part of my life. Once I was in, I was all in, and Ally was no exception to that rule. I dropped the police report in my hand and let it fall, momentarily forgotten to my desktop.
“You’re late,” I said gently, with a devious smile. I’d told her to meet me “after work”, meaning when she got off work, but she hadn’t been incorrect in coming here when she knew it was time for me to get off. I just wanted to punish her for the sake of it. I wanted to hear her whimper and moan.
“Um, I figured I had a little time before you were off, so I went to the thrift store a couple of streets over. I thought I would need something to wear tonight.”
“Don’t you need to wash things before you wear them?” I asked, amused.
“Yes,” she said slowly, coming into the room to meet me in front of my desk. “But I thought I could wash them at your place. Maybe while I made us some dinner?”
“Ah, maybe.” I pulled her closer to me, an arm around her waist, “I was planning on taking you to dinner. Besides that,” I kissed her gently and loved how she melted into me, “I like my dessert first,” I whispered against her mouth.
“Oh,” she breathed and I could tell, she was as turned on as I was at the possibilities.
Another thing I loved about Allison Blaylock was her ability to keep up with my sexual appetites. I smiled at her and she smiled up at me but our moment was shattered by another interruption.
“Yale, do you have the Gerard case file in here, I could have sworn I had it in my office but I can’t seem to find –“
I cleared my throat and Chrissy looked up from the legal pad she was jotting notes onto against her other arm. She looked up through those naughty librarian glasses of hers and froze mid-step.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had a visitor.”
“Quite all right, Chrissy; you know my girlfriend, Ally, right?”
She looked dumbfounded and I tried not to laugh at her expression. Ally was blushing in a riot of soft pink across her nose and cheeks as she stammered out, “Hello Ms. Franco.”
“Hi,” Chrissy said, finally recovering. “Good to see you again, it’s been forever,” she joked and Ally laughed. I raised an eyebrow and Ally let me down gently.
“She came into the café for lunch earlier.”
“Ah,” I smiled.
“Gerard case file is in the pile,” I said and thrust my chin at my overflowing filing cabinet.
“Right.” Chrissy went over, and, as she rummaged, asked, “Are you both going to the 10-13 tonight, then?”
“That was the plan,” I responded.
“Good, I guess I’ll see you there,” she smiled tightly and I had a moment of rue. She was going to tell Youngblood, and by default, the rest of the guys will know I was holding out and the ribbing would likely be brutal as a result.
“What just happened?” Ally asked, confused, and I laughed.
“I believe my temporary downfall with the rest of the Knights over holding out about you.”
“Oh, fun,” she said dubiously and laughed. I laughed too, and it felt good.
“Speaking of the 10-13, it awaits. I figured we’d go back to my place and I could grab a change of clothes. You,” I held her out slightly in front of me and swept her with my gaze, “You’re beautiful no matter what you wear.” It was true. She had a knack for being fashionable in this bohemian-chic, city girl sort of way.
“Thanks,” she said softly. “Especially considering I make most of mine and Dawnie’s clothes.”
I jerked back, frowning slightly and said, “How did I not know that?”
She shrugged, lightly and I nodded. “Now I’m curious.”
“Tell you all about it on the ride?” she asked.
“Sounds like a plan; let me wrap up a couple of things and we’ll get out of here.”
“I like the sound of that,” she said softly and I gestured for her to take a seat in the chair across my desk. She sat down and we made small conversation as I shifted things around, organizing it for the following Monday. I wasn’t oblivious to the curious and wide-eyed staring going on outside my office door; I simply didn’t care. The jealousy in some of those stares was a palpable thing, and that I did care about, but I would have to address it as situations with more merit than a simple dirty look came up.
“Ready to go?” I asked finally, and Ally smiled gently.
“When you are,” she said and I gave her my arm as we went out and I locked things up.
“Good night, Mr. Parnell,” Chrissy called and I gave her a tight-lipped grin. She shot me a look full of barely-suppressed laughter that pretty much guaranteed the ribbing I would receive at the hands of my brothers. I was fairly certain she owed it to me. Working under me as a prosecutor and as my second chair wasn’t always an easy thing.
I led Ally to the garage, held her hand and opened her door for her. The drive back to my place was light on the talking and we did have a couple of hours to kill before we needed to head out. She took the time to strip and put her clothes and that which she’d procured from the second-hand store into the wash. I took the opportunity to ambush her from behind as soon as the washing machine started.
“Shower with me,” I ordered, and she giggled lightly, turning in my arms and looking at me with those luminous eyes of her.
“I’d love to,” she said, and it was the perfect blend of soft and seductive to my ears.
She led me to the master bathroom and opened up the shower door. With a sultry look over her shoulder, she turned on the rain feature shower head and crooked her finger in my direction. Amused, I undressed, eyes locked on her as she stood under the shower fall, tipping her head back and letting the water soak her hair.
God, she was beautiful, and I couldn’t wait to join her, have her body warm and close. She thawed something in me. My cold and frozen soul felt like springtime had finally arrived anytime I was in her presence and it was a miraculous feeling. Even when I forced her to her knees in front of me. Of course, not that it was much of a struggle.
I peered down my body at her, jaw clenched, and with a look, told her exactly what I expected of her. A piece of my darkness was echoed in her eyes as she looked up to me and took me into her lush mouth for the first time.
I groaned bowing my head and closing my eyes, just concentrating on the feel of her hot wet mouth on me. The way her velvet tongue teased the ridge under my head. How it felt to stroke into her, over that tongue, touching the back of he
r throat. She choked, and I backed off, working with her on relaxing her throat, guiding myself to her limit, testing her gag reflex and finding the right cadence.
It took her a while to time her breathing, and I loved the edge of fear in her eyes when I held her on my dick just a touch too long for her comfort. It was an aphrodisiac all on its own. She let me know when it was too much with a light series of taps against my hip with her fingers and I could tell, this wasn’t exactly her favorite thing, but she did it because it pleased me.
As a reward, I didn’t come in her mouth but rather in my hand, letting the falling water wash it away and bringing her up to kiss her.
“Thank you,” I murmured against her hair, holding her close and I felt her lips curve into a wan smile against my shoulder.
“You’re welcome,” she said and her voice was brittle. I drew her back and smoothed her hair back from her face, searching it, cocking my head.
“Talk to me,” I said. “What didn’t you like?”
She blushed and I waited her out. We wouldn’t be getting out of this shower until she told me. I didn’t like how rattled she seemed, I was afraid she had let me push her a little too far past her limits in order to please me and while I was proud of her for pushing her limits, I was also unhappy that she let me go too far. That was unacceptable to me. I didn’t want to hurt her. Push her, yes, damage her, no.
“I really didn’t like not being able to breathe. Um, I don’t know, I trusted you not to actually hurt me but it was scary. Like really scary.”
“Okay,” I murmured and cradled her close, smoothing my hands over her comfortingly, “Okay, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was bothering you that much.”
“I don’t think I did either,” she said honestly, and I understood that. First time trying something and all, sometimes it took a little longer to decide on if that something was just uncomfortable, or a strong dislike.
“I’ll be making this up to you,” I whispered against her hair and she nodded against my shoulder, hunkered against me, almost huddled miserably as she mulled things.
