Unforgivable

by Megan Hart

  Mick to Alice

  Open the envelope, it’s a surprise!

  —Mick to Alice

  Chapter 38

  They never made it to the farmers’ market. Alice’s plans for Amish quilts and fattening pastries had been circumvented by Mick surprising her with tickets to a concert. He’d looked so pleased with himself when he handed her the envelope containing the tickets he’d printed that she couldn’t even be mad. Okay, so it wasn’t a trip to horse-and-buggy country, but it was still going to be a good time. Did it matter what they did, she told herself, so long as they were doing it together?

  Besides, the Lion’s Head had always been one of Alice’s favorite places to see live music. The venue was touted as “intimate,” which translated into small. A stage, front and center. Bars on either side. A balcony above. She’d been to barely attended acoustic performances and also shows so crowded it had been almost impossible to move. Tonight’s show, a hard rock Irish band called the Dirty Dubliners, promised to be one of the latter, but that kind of added to the fun.

  “I’ve never seen them live,” she confessed to Mick as they waited in line to get in. “But their last album was amazing.”

  “I knew you’d love it. Glad I got that announcement about the show last night.”

  Inside, she directed him to the side farthest from the stage. The bar back there generally had much shorter lines and less of a crowd, with a decent view of the stage. It was closer to the bathroom, too, always a plus when in a crowd.

  “You don’t want to be front row?” Mick asked as they wove their way through the audience, her hand in his, leading him.

  “I’m too old to be in the front row of a crowd like this.” Alice laughed. Her fingers curled in his. It was a good excuse to hold his hand, and she didn’t let it drop even when they got to a clear spot on the floor.

  Mick pulled her close for a second. “You don’t want to be in the mosh pit, huh?”

  “No.” She let him nuzzle her. “Hell, no.”

  Mick laughed. “You want a drink?”

  “Absolutely. Jameson and ginger ale.” Grinning, she watched his brows raise. “Hey, we’re here to see the Dirty Dubliners, gotta go Irish.”

  Under cover of the shadows and the massive number of other people, Mick took her hand and pressed it briefly to his crotch. “You need some Irish? I got some for you, right here.”

  It was funny and dirty and kind of trashy, but oh so sexy just the same. It made her forget all about how she’d wanted to look at quilts and cornfields this weekend, how irritated she’d been that he’d once again switched up the plans without asking her first. His hand covered hers, moving it over the bulge of his denim-covered cock. The heat in his gaze sparked her own; Alice pressed her body to his and lifted her mouth for a kiss.

  “Let me get that drink,” Mick said a few breaths later, when the jostling crowd made it awkward for them to make out.

  They’d need to find a quieter place for that.

  Alice staked out their spot while Mick got the drinks. Her Jameson and ginger was tingly and warm and tasty, though not as delicious as Mick’s kiss. She’d found a place near a pillar so he could lean against it. He pulled her back against him, one hand hooked into her belt loop to rock her ass against his crotch.

  Bill would never have come to see this band with her, Alice thought as the crowd roared and cheered at the opening band’s first notes. He would never even have known how much she loved the Dirty Dubliners. Mick, on the other hand, had been the one to first introduce her to the band way back when the band was selling CDs out of the back of their van. She had one of those CDs, signed by the original members. Years had passed and she still listened to it.

  Alice let her body mold to Mick’s as they moved to the beat. There was nobody else she wanted to be with, and that thought sent competing shivers of heat and cold all through her, peaking her nipples and sending a flush up her throat to her cheeks and making her grateful for the darkness that hid them. Mick rolled his hips, and Alice lost herself in feeling him against her. It didn’t matter the beat of the song, fast or slow, they moved together in perfect sync the way they always did.

  When he slid a hand along the back of her skull to twist his fingers in her hair, pulling her head back, Alice closed her eyes. This, this, oh this, she thought as Mick’s breath caressed her cheek. His lips found her ear. His tongue flicked. She pushed herself back against him.

  “You know my fantasy,” he said into her ear. “About a dark hallway in a club . . .”

  She knew, all right. It was so unfair, how much she remembered about him. How he’d told her once, long ago, that he wanted to take her into the shadows while a rock band played and get his hands all over her. His mouth.

  There was a dark hallway here, beyond the bathrooms. It led to an outside exit where people went to smoke. It also had a small alcove hung with a coatrack nobody ever used, because who left their coat unattended in a bar?

  Maybe it was the drink. Maybe it was Mick. Whatever it was, Alice couldn’t fight it. Hell. She didn’t want to. When he tugged her hair again, everything inside her went molten.

  Mick made her lose her fucking mind.

  She tossed her empty plastic cup into the nearby trash can and took his from his hand to toss that, too. At his confused look, Alice smiled. She took his hand.

  “C’mon.”

  Again, she led him through the crowd with their fingers linked. Inside the alcove, she found his mouth, already open for her. In seconds, Mick turned her. Put her up against the wall. He raked her throat with his teeth until she gasped. Her knees went weak, and if he hadn’t put his thigh between hers, she might have stumbled.

  “You,” he breathed into her ear, but said no more than that.

  “Me?”

  His thigh nudged upward, pressing her in just the right spot, and all other speech fled her. She should’ve worn a dress, Alice thought incoherently. Then he could’ve put his hand up it, in her panties, inside her. . . .

  Oh, God, she was going to come. Unbelievably, unavoidably, and undeniably. Pleasure spiked as Mick rocked her against his thigh. His mouth plundered hers, tongue fucking deep inside. Her hands went to the back of his, seeking purchase in his hair, but it was too short now to lose her fingers inside. His hand, though, went back to where it had been before. Her fingers twisted, tugged, pulled. Then, without warning, yanked.

  Alice came with a low moan into Mick’s mouth. She shuddered. Her pussy clenched, spasming, and her back arched. Blinking, she eased down from the high of climax. They’d only been in the alcove for about three minutes, tops. A couple stumbled down the hall, veering toward the alcove before seeing them and bursting into laughter.

  Mick moved to shield her automatically, keeping her from view. That, Alice thought in a daze, was why she loved him. Because of things like that. Simple, but important, showing that he cared enough to protect her.

  And oh, she thought. Oh, love. Oh, no.

  “I want to fuck you right now,” Mick said into her ear.

  Alice shuddered. They couldn’t. They’d already gone further than they should’ve. But she couldn’t deny that she wanted him inside her, right there, fucking to the steady thumping beat of the opening band’s last song. He was hard against her, his breath hot on her neck. His hands gripped her hips. They stayed that way for another minute before another passing couple interrupted, and then, no matter how much she wanted to stay, Alice knew it was time for them to get out of there.

  “Later,” she promised him. “Later, you can do anything and everything you want.”

  Alice to Mick

  Listen to this song. It always makes me think of you.

  —Alice to Mick

  Chapter 39

  She was amazing, and Mick couldn’t get enough. Not only had she remembered his old fantasy, but she’d made it come true. Making out with her in that alcove, getting her off . . . He could’ve moved a stone block with his dick right now.

  The Dirty Dubli
ners had taken the stage and hadn’t stopped rocking for the past hour. Mick had been watching Alice more than he’d been looking at the band. She bounced along to the music, throwing him a grin every now and then, and Mick found her more intoxicating than the Jameson and ginger. Everything about her was light and joy, and every time she looked at him, all he could think about was how much he wanted to be the man to always make her look that way.

  He was aching to taste her. Get inside her. But it would’ve been kind of a dick move to ask her to leave early so he could get her home just for that, so Mick forced himself to stop thinking about his half-hard cock and the heat of her against his thigh, and how she’d moaned and shook. . . .

  “That’s my favorite song,” Alice said as the band finished one of their recent hits and started immediately into a rare ballad. Her gaze glittered for a moment at the opening notes. Some of the joy faded from her face.

  Mick knew this song. It was from the Dubliners’ first album, before they got signed to a major label. It had been written while the band was trying to find its voice and wasn’t typical of the band’s style. It was about love and loss and heartbreak, and once, Mick remembered, Alice had burned a copy of it onto a CD and sent it to him along with a short, viciously sad letter telling him she never wanted to see him again.

  It had been the last thing she sent him.

  Facing him, Alice met his gaze in that steady way she always had, not looking away. Her eyes glittered with blue and green reflections from the lighting. She wasn’t crying, but he pulled her close to him anyway. He couldn’t take away what had happened in the past, so he did the only thing he could; he held her close and tight and breathed her in and hoped it would be enough to stop her thinking about what had been and start her thinking about what could be.

  When the song ended, she squeezed him hard and stepped away. “Gonna run to the bathroom.”

  By the time she got back, the band was heading into an encore. When she asked him if he wanted to get out of there before the rest of the crowd, Mick agreed. They made it through the doors and to the parking garage before the rest of the traffic hit.

  “Are you hungry or anything?” he asked as he navigated out of the city and onto the highway.

  Alice, who’d been quiet since leaving the club, shook her head. “No. Let’s just go back to your place, okay?”

  That had been the idea on his mind all night, but again, he didn’t want to seem like he was making it all about getting her into bed. “Sure. If that’s what you want.”

  “If it’s what you want,” Alice said. “I guess I could just go back to my place. If that’s what you want.”

  Mick bit back his irritation. “You can go home if you want. Or we can go back to my place. Whatever you want.”

  “I don’t want to make you do something you don’t want to do,” Alice said sharply.

  “I want you to come back to my place!”

  She looked at him then. “Good! Because that’s what I want to do!”

  It felt like half a fight, and he didn’t know why they were heading that direction, but he did know enough to shut up about it after that. Alice turned on the radio, so at least the drive to his house wasn’t too awkward, though it was quiet. By the time they got there, she was even singing along under her breath.

  Inside, he offered her a drink, but she declined. Same to food. It wasn’t early, but it wasn’t late, either, not by Friday night standards.

  “Want to watch a movie or something?” Mick asked, trying to figure out what he could do to make her happy.

  Alice shook her head and gave him a look from the corner of her eye. “Do you want to watch a movie?”

  “No,” he said, deciding to be bold. “I want to take you upstairs and get my mouth between your legs until you scream my name.”

  A low, raw noise slipped out of her. Just like that, heat blazed between them. He had her in his arms half a minute after that. Somehow, she jumped. He lifted. Her legs went around his waist, his hands beneath her ass. If they’d been close to a table or a counter he’d have seated her on it, but all he could do was take a few unsteady steps toward the stairs.

  “Shit, Alice, I’m going to drop you,” he muttered into her mouth as he put one foot on the bottom step.

  They both moved, ending up with her sitting and him between her legs. Arms tangled. Mouths sliding every place they could get to. She broke the kiss with a gasp, a hand on his chest to push him back.

  “Upstairs,” she said. “Bed.”

  She got to her feet and moved, Mick on her heels. She took her shirt off as she walked, tossing it at him along with a sultry glance over one shoulder that had his tongue lolling out like a cartoon dog. Her bra came next, showing off those perfect tits, though she covered them with her hands and gave him a coy raise of her brows.

  In his bedroom, more kissing. More hands. More tongue. She urged him to tear off his long-sleeved shirt, then let out a laugh at the sight of the T-shirt he wore beneath.

  “You and layers.” She shook her head. “Get naked faster!”

  Mick was happy to oblige. Alice fell back onto the bed, lifting her hips so he could tug off her jeans, though neither of them had remembered to take off her boots first. Laughing, they struggled, and he paused to soak in, once more, how truly fucking beautiful Alice was.

  “What?” she asked self-consciously.

  Mick shook his head and finished shucking out of his jeans and briefs. Her gaze dropped to his cock, hard as iron now. Fuck, he loved the way her eyes went all dreamy when she looked at him.

  “I love watching you get turned on,” Mick said.

  She looked at his face, mouth open as though to say something, but all she did was lick her lips. Then slowly, deliberately, she moved back on the bed and let her thighs fall open. One hand drifted along her inner thigh to stroke a fingertip along her pussy. Then, oh fuck, she stuck out her tongue to lick the same fingertip. Her eyes never left his.

  Mick knew an invitation when he got one. In a heartbeat, he was between her legs. Hands slipping beneath her ass to lift her close so he could feast on her. At that first long lick, she gave a low cry. When he found her clit and let the flat of his tongue stroke over it, her hand went to the top of his head.

  He loved it when he made her react this way. He loved turning her on. And hell yeah, Mick loved making Alice come.

  He flicked his tongue over her slick flesh until she cried out again. Then he moved up the bed, rolling onto this back and pulling her along with him until she ended up straddling his face. Much better, now she could ride his mouth and tongue, really getting herself off, and all he had to do was lay back and enjoy every second of it.

  Mick closed his eyes, letting himself get lost in every smell, every taste of her. Alice moved on his mouth. Slowly at first, then faster. Her hand reached behind her to stroke his cock, and the arch of her back pressed her pussy harder against his mouth. He was drowning in her and didn’t care; all that mattered was how good this felt.

  When she started to shake, he knew she was close. Her stroking hand faltered, edging him. Mick gripped her hips to keep her from moving off him. He wanted her to finish right there, right on his mouth, he needed to feel her come on his tongue. Just. Like. That.

  She shouted his name, hoarse. Her pussy throbbed and pulsed under his tongue. He drank her in, savoring every second of her climax, his balls aching for release. He protested with a groan when she moved off his face.

  Alice laughed, low and throaty, but her giggle turned to a groan when she seated herself on him. For a moment, neither of them moved. Breathing hard, she looked down at him. Mick ran his hands up her body to cover her breasts, and when she reacted with a sigh and another of those dreamy looks, he pinched her nipples lightly.

  “Oh,” Alice said. “Yeah. That. Again.”

  So he did it again. And again, when she asked. When she started to move on him, Mick gave himself up to everything. The slow, building pressure in his balls. The sharp sting of her
nails digging into him.

  He wanted to fuck her forever, but he wasn’t going to last more than another minute. Alice moved faster, focusing on his face now. She looked determined. Riding him. Responding to his reactions.

  “Come for me, baby,” Alice said like he’d be giving her a gift.

  Mick gave her what she wanted. Pleasure exploded through him, so fierce he was sure he knew what dying felt like. There was nothing else but this ecstasy. Nothing more than the feeling of her body gripping his, urging him to the edge and hurtling him over it. In that moment, there was nothing else for him but Alice.

  She collapsed on top of him, her mouth on his throat and her hair a delicious tangle all over his face. His arms went around her, holding her close. When she finally rolled off him to flop, spread eagled on the bed, he could barely muster the strength to move. But he had to. He needed to look at her face. It was the last sight he wanted in his vision before he fell asleep.

  “What?” Alice said when she noticed him staring. She rolled to face him. “What?”

  “That was fun.”

  She smiled, but only after a second or so, as though she hadn’t quite been certain of how she wanted to react to what he said. Then she moved in close and kissed his mouth. She took a fingertip and pressed it to each eye, closing them.

  “Sleep,” she whispered, and he gave her that, too.

  Mick to Alice

  Hello, gorgeous. I had to leave before you got up. I started the coffee for you and fixed that squeaking drawer in your bathroom. See you later.

  —Mick to Alice

  Chapter 40

  Dayna had pinged Alice online that morning, and with the barest amount of prompting had admitted that she’d been with Paul the night before. Alice had immediately invited her to lunch. There were conversations you simply couldn’t have in a text window.