by Ali Parker
“Oh God.” I moaned, my legs feeling weak.
“That’s it, baby. Let it go. I’m going to fuck you so hard against this wall. Are you ready?”
I whimpered, my body still quivering with the aftershocks of the first orgasm. “Yes.” I breathed.
“Hold on.” He growled, forcing my legs wider as he guided himself to my entrance.
I gulped down the lump of excited anticipation as I felt the first probing of his swollen head at my entrance. He pushed in, holding my hip before his other hand went to my shoulder. He slid inside, his full length scraping over sensitive nerves, triggering fresh, new sensations of ecstasy. I gasped, my fingertips gripping the wall as he pushed himself inside me.
“That’s what I needed.” He groaned when his body was fully seated inside mine.
“Me too,” I whispered, feeling complete with him inside me.
“I’ve been thinking about this for days.” He groaned.
“Me too,” I repeated.
Words were not coming to me easily. My brain was flooded with ecstasy. I couldn’t think straight. I was lucky I remembered my own name.
“You fit me like a glove. You’re so tight and wet. I can’t think of anything else but being inside you. I’m addicted to you,” he said, his voice gravelly as he slowly pulled out and drove back in.
“I’m ready.” I gasped, encouraging him to take me hard like I knew he wanted.
I could feel the barely restrained energy humming through his body. His fingers were digging into my shoulder as he pulled me back against him. The connection between our bodies was electric. The parts of our flesh that were touching were tingling with energy. It was that sexual chemistry between us, like two magnets being drawn together.
“You undo me. I can’t control myself around you,” he rasped, his thrusts picking up speed.
I could feel his energy, feel his need, and I knew he was speaking honestly. Both hands went to my hips, holding me in place as he started to move faster, his thrusts increasing with intensity. I pushed back from the wall, forcing my body against his, matching each thrust with my own.
“Harder!” I demanded, feeling him holding back.
“I don’t want to hurt you.” He grunted.
“Harder!” I shouted.
He groaned, giving in to his body’s demand for more. I held on, his body slamming into mine until I found myself hugged up against the wall once again. I felt like I was spiraling out of control. Every inch of me felt like my skin was on fire in the best way. I pushed back, hearing his sounds of pleasure as he had his way with my body. I relished in the feeling of being able to make him lose control. His guard was always up high, shielding what he was really thinking and feeling. In that moment, he was raw and completely exposed to me.
“Goddamn it,” he muttered.
He stopped and turned me around to face him, I nearly slid down the wall. Without him inside me, his hands holding me up, my legs were jelly. He took my hand, kicked open my office door, and stalked toward my desk, doing a one-arm slide to move all my paperwork off my desk.
I gasped, my eyes wide as he yanked me toward him. Before I could warn him not to hurt himself, he lifted me and deposited me on the desk, before stepping between my legs and sliding back inside.
“Oh.” I groaned. The feel of him back inside me with one easy thrust sent me high into the clouds once again.
His arm went around my waist as he kissed me. I wanted him naked. I wanted to be naked. I could feel the unbridled power humming through his body. I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding on to him as his thrusts slowed, every one of them dragged out, prolonging the pleasure.
“I don’t want to stop.” He breathed.
“Don’t stop.” I gasped, leaning up to kiss him.
“I can’t hold back,” he whispered, the words sounding pained.
“Let go, baby, I’m ready,” I assured him, reaching my hand up to cup his face.
It was a sweet tender moment, completely opposite of what had happened in the hallway. His kiss was deep and meaningful as his body went tense. I could feel him throbbing inside me. I closed my eyes, giving myself up to the sensations stealing my ability to think straight. Our bodies crested together, both of us holding on to each other as the orgasms took over.
He rested his forehead against mine, kissing the tip of my nose. “God, that was good.”
I burst into laughter, pushing his chest. “I live four blocks from here. We could have gone to my place and got naked.”
“I didn’t want to wait. I wanted you now,” he said unapologetically.
I got off the desk, feeling a little silly as I walked half naked into the small hallway to pick up my panties and pants. I pulled them on, watching as he strutted toward me in his half-naked splendor. He dressed before pushing me against the wall and kissing me again.
“I want you already.” He breathed.
I smiled, shaking my head at him. “You’re crazy.”
“I’ll drive you home,” he offered.
“I have beer at my place, if you’d like to come up,” I offered.
He still had me pinned against the wall, his eyes gazing into mine. “I definitely want to come up—for a beer.”
I couldn’t believe I wanted him again. I was still enjoying the aftershocks of the last two orgasms and I was already thinking about the next one. He was addictive. I put my hand on his chest, reminding myself to be careful. In the heat of the moment, I had almost forgotten he was still recovering. “Maybe you’d like to stay the night?”
He nodded. “I would love to stay the night. Do you have to work early tomorrow?”
I grimaced. “I’m afraid I do. You can sleep in. I won’t throw you out of my bed.”
“I like the sound of that. Although, I’d like it better if you could stay in bed with me.”
“Not tomorrow, but maybe another time,” I said, kissing him and sliding out from under his body.
If we stayed like that much longer, I’d end up naked and under him on the floor. I drew the line at sex on the floor of the coffee shop. I walked into the office to grab my purse and cringed at the sight of the small disaster.
“I’ll clean it up,” he said, walking in behind me.
“It’s okay. Leave it. I’ll take care of it tomorrow. I want to get you home,” I said with a sexy smile.
“I like the sound of that,” he said, reaching for me again.
It was another heated kiss before I convinced him my bed would be a much better option. I turned off the lights, following him out the door. The night was sultry or maybe it was just the remnants of the sex clinging to me. Either way, I couldn’t wait to get home and strip down to something far more comfortable and freeing. Hell, with him, I’d probably be naked before I made it through the door. I didn’t mind the thought one bit.
He parked the car in front of my building and followed me up the stairs. It was only then I remembered I’d been in a bit of a hurry this morning when I left for work.
“Don’t pay any attention to the mess,” I said, slightly embarrassed by the disarray.
He chuckled. “I’ve come to expect it. It’s part of who you are. I like knowing you aren’t all that put together.”
“Thanks, I think,” I said with a laugh, walking to the fridge to grab a couple of cold beers.
As I pulled them out of the fridge, I found it funny I had beer in my fridge at all. It had only been a couple weeks, and his influence was already showing on me.
Chapter 45
Mason
I woke up with Adelaide in my arms, just like I had most mornings the past couple of weeks. I couldn’t believe how much I enjoyed sleeping with her, in the literal sense. My past experiences had usually ended up with me getting out of bed after sex and heading home or back to my hotel room. I had never wanted that connection, that level of intimacy. Sleeping in the same bed with someone made you completely vulnerable. I didn’t like that.
With Adelaide, I didn’t feel vulnerable. I wasn’t worr
ied about her doing anything to hurt me or her taking advantage of me. It was a little scary, but I had complete faith in her. I prayed to God she never betrayed me. I wasn’t sure I could survive it. It would kill me to have her do something that felt deceitful or like she had used me.
“You’re awake,” she murmured beside me.
“I am.”
Her hand slid under the blanket and over my chest. Her fingers lightly rested over the area of my ribs that had been sporting the ugly bruise. The bruising had faded, but she always stopped in the same spot, knowing my body intimately and remembering where it was without needing to look. Her hand continued down, finding my morning erection and wrapping her hand around me.
“You’re up early today,” she cooed.
I chuckled. “I don’t know if I ever went down. You’re going to kill me with all the sex.”
“I wonder if it’s possible,” she whispered, her mouth moving over my chest.
I put my head back, giving her plenty of room to run her tongue over my neck and chest area as her hand worked up and down. The familiar ringtone cut through the silence of my dark bedroom. It was the equivalent of a cold shower.
“What is that squawking?” she asked her hand dropping me.
“My mom.”
“What?” she said with confusion.
“That’s my mother’s ringtone.”
She burst into a fit of giggles. “Is that a squawking bird?”
“It is. Don’t tell her that is her ringtone,” I muttered, rolling to the side to grab my phone.
The damage had been done. I couldn’t think about sex with the idea of my mother in my head.
“Hi, Mom,” I answered the phone.
“Good morning. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“It’s before nine, so there’s a good chance you did,” I said dryly.
She knew I didn’t get up early. I had a feeling her early call was intentional. She hated the idea of me sleeping away my days. I had tried to explain a million times that while she was sleeping at night, I was awake. She slept away the nights, I slept away the days.
“How are you feeling?” she asked.
“Mom, I’m fine. I’ve been fine. I’ve healed,” I told her. Again, something I had been telling her for days. She just couldn’t seem to believe I had healed and put the accident behind me.
“Good, I worry about you,” she said, getting ready to delve into what I expected was a lecture about my lifestyle.
“Mom, I’ve got company,” I said, not caring if it offended her moral standards.
“Oh, I see.”
“I’ll talk to you later,” I told her, trying to end the call so I could get back to what I had been doing.
“Mason, I’m calling to invite you to a family dinner tonight. It’s been a while. I’d like you to come,” she said it in a way that was more of a request rather than a question.
When my mother made a request, it wasn’t to be ignored. “I don’t know. I have plans,” I told her.
My plans were to hang out with Adelaide, but she didn’t need to know that.
“Your brothers, well, most of them, will be here. I think it would be a good idea for us to get together. We almost lost you, Mason. I think that would hit home for you. Your family is all you have. I know they’d all like to see you,” she insisted, moving into mom-lecture mode.
I let out a long breath. I was a rebel, but I still had a hard time turning down my mother. “I’ll think about it,” I told her.
“Dinner is at six, I’ll see you then,” she said, hanging up before I could remind her that I had said I would think about going.
I put the phone down and scooted back over next to Adelaide.
“What was that about?” she asked.
“My mom asked, which means she is ordering, my presence at yet another family dinner as if the last one wasn’t a big enough shitshow for her. Family dinners are not fun for me. It usually ends up with all of them looking at me like I just crawled out from under a rock. They bitch at me for not being nice enough to our mother and for not coming around enough, and they go on and on and on.”
She was quiet for a second. “I wish I could go to a family dinner, even if it was to fight with my family. I would give anything to argue with my dad again. I can’t say I ever knew my mom, and I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but I think I would like the arguing. Arguing would mean someone cared enough about me to bitch at me about my life.”
“Well fuck me. Now I feel like an insensitive asshole.”
She burst into laughter, slapping at my chest. “That wasn’t my intention. I only meant to say you should appreciate what you have, because you never know when it all might be gone.”
“You met my brothers. They can be so condescending.”
“Because they care.”
“If you say so.”
I lay in bed staring at the ceiling. I knew she had a good point. It wasn’t a point I appreciated, but I knew she was right.
“You okay?” she asked in a soft voice.
“Yes. I’m thinking about what you said.”
“I don’t mean to lecture you. I know you get plenty of that. I’m only saying you were so close to not being on this earth anymore. Your family probably realized that. Maybe they need to make amends with you. I don’t know if you realize this, but you are important to a lot of people. They might not show it very well, but they do,” she said.
“I suppose,” I muttered.
“What if one of them were to be in an accident tomorrow? What if you lost one of your brothers? Could you live with that?”
“Ouch, damn, you’re harsh,” I said, looking down to scowl at her.
“I don’t want to be harsh, but I want you to realize just how unpredictable life can be. Tomorrow might not come for someone. I hate the idea of you carrying around guilt. I want you to be happy and I think to do that, you have to be guilt-free,” she said.
I rolled my eyes. “God, you’re like my conscience come to life.”
She giggled, went up on her elbows, and gave me a kiss. “I’m only trying to impart some wisdom on you. Take it or leave it.”
She rolled away before I could grab her and pull her over me. She walked naked to the bathroom, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Everything she said was true. I couldn’t say I had a great relationship with any of my brothers, but I certainly didn’t want to lose one of them. I didn’t want that feeling of regret. Regrets were not for me.
I grabbed the phone and hit the call back button. “Hi, Mom,” I said when she answered.
“You’ll be here by six?” she asked, already knowing why I was calling.
“Yes, I’ll be there by six. I’m bringing a date,” I told her, not asking her if it was okay.
“You are!” she exclaimed, sounding like she had just won the lottery.
“I am. I’ll see you tonight,” I said and hung up.
I hoped the family dinner would be better than those we had in the past. I hoped Adelaide was right and they had a new appreciation for me. I wanted to believe we could all be one big, happy family and they could accept me. Adelaide would be thrilled to know I had accepted the invitation. I had a feeling she would be less thrilled to know I was dragging her with me.
She came out of the bathroom, wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. “Did you call her back?” she asked with a knowing smile.
She was too smart for her own good. “I did.”
“Good for you. I’m proud of you.”
I walked to her, giving her a quick kiss. “Good, because you’re going with me.”
Her mouth dropped open as she shook her head back and forth. “No. I don’t think so.”
“I already told my mom I was bringing a date. She was thrilled.”
“You didn’t tell her it was me, obviously,” she muttered.
“I want you there. I need you there,” I insisted.
“Mason, this is your family. I don’t want to intrude,” she argued.
&n
bsp; I shook my head. “You’re not intruding. They’ll be much nicer to me if I have a witness,” I joked.
She wrinkled her nose. “I don’t know about that. They don’t seem to be the type to care if there are witnesses. Don’t they just make them disappear?”
“You’re thinking of the mob. We’re the Bancrofts, just a step below the family,” I teased.
“Ha. Ha. Easy for you to say. I will feel so out of place.” She whined.
“You’ll be with me. If it’s too bad, we’ll go. I promise they will be on their best behavior. I think they’ll like you. I want you to meet them, and if I’m going to be doing more of these family dinners, you will be with me,” I stated.
She walked away from me. “I never agreed to that.”
“Are you saying you don’t want to meet the rest of the family?”
“No, I’m not,” she replied without elaborating.
I watched her walk out of the room. I could hear her in the kitchen. I took a second to try and understand what was going on. The niggle of doubt that she didn’t want to meet my family because she didn’t want to get that involved with me wouldn’t stop popping to the forefront of my mind. I knew we’d kind of taken things fast. We’d been spending almost every night together and I had just assumed she would go with me. In my mind, we were a couple.
“Adelaide, is it the family thing?” I asked walking into the kitchen.
“The family thing?”
“Yeah, are you worried I’m moving too fast?”
She grinned. “No. I’ll go. I’m sorry. I’m a little nervous to see them all again. It wasn’t the warmest welcome in the hospital. I guess I’m worried they’ll see me and talk to me and decide I’m definitely not good enough for you.”
I reached for her chin, forcing her to look up at me. “It’s me who isn’t good enough for you, and if they can’t see that, they’re fools. It’s you and me. Period. They will come around or they can go away. It’s as simple as that.”
“Okay. I’m with you. I will be right there beside you, rolling with it. I’ll be your Bonnie,” she said with a laugh.
“I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I’d be happy to have you riding shotgun. Unless—” I said, getting a devilish idea.
