Al sat up straighter, wiping her eyes, and gave him a shaky smile. "Maybe they should. Strawberry ice cream is terrible."
That startled a laugh out of him. "No persecution from this end. Even if you start exclusively eating strawberry ice cream."
She pulled back enough to kiss his cheek, and the touch felt like a blessing, a gift as important as the sharing of their bodies. "Do I get extra corruption points if I eat it off your skin?"
"If you eat anything off my body, you'll be far from needing extra points in corruption."
Her laugh reverberated through him. "I'll hold you to that."
Rex stood on legs made unsteady by his release and helped her to her own feet before tucking her into his side and starting for the stairs.
"What are you doing? I should clean up; we made a mess out here."
"It'll keep until the morning. I'll put it all away when I wake up. My body clock is set to tradie time; it'll be gone before you're out of bed."
"Rex," she protested.
"Alannah. You've let me do a lot tonight, and I meant it when I said you took it like a champ. I'm asking you to give me this. Let me take care of you."
She wrinkled her brow at him. "But I'm not giving you something if you're the one looking after me."
He set her at the bottom of the stairs, wrapped his hands around her hips and started climbing, so she had to move ahead of him or be run over. "It's a gift to me. You let me give you what you needed before. This is what I need you to give me." He stopped a few stairs below her and used his grip on her hips to turn her to face him. His stubble scratched at the soft skin of her stomach when he planted a kiss below her belly button. "Let me, sassy girl. Let me take you to bed. Let me wake up with you in the morning. I'm sick of hating your shower on my own."
Al turned to him, but when their eyes met, understanding replaced the argument that she'd clearly been preparing. She skated her fingers up his arms to place her hands on his shoulders, outlining his muscles as she went. "Only if you show me how to take care of you too."
Chapter 6
They fell into a routine quickly, or maybe it was just that they fell into bed a lot. And into the shower. And on the kitchen bench. And bent over the sofa, which fast became a favourite spot of Alannah's, because it seemed to be Rex's favourite place to deliver the bites of pain that preceded his kind of pleasure. The first time she saw the little marks his belt had left, she squeaked so loudly, Rex rushed the bathroom.
"Look at this!" She gestured to the bruises printed on her skin.
He was cautious. "Is this a good thing or a bad thing?"
His response had Al hesitating, questioning herself, wishing she wasn't naked while he was clothed. "What—what should it be?"
"No 'should' here. No wrong answers. How do you feel about it?" He stroked a hand down her spine, seeming to notice her nudity for the first time.
Al thought about it for a long moment. "Good, I think. I'm… satisfied. Proud of them."
"Thank fuck." He sank to his knees behind her, dropping kisses on each of the small bruises. His fingers slipped between her folds and found her already wet. "Because I feel like I've won a medal, seeing my marks on you. It's a goddamn honour, Alannah."
She'd tried to turn around then, to embrace him and maybe entice him into matching her state of undress, but he pinned her with his grip on her hips, thumbs pressed hard to her cheeks, leaving her bent over the bathroom counter while he buried his face between her thighs.
Surely, at some point, Al thought, at some point, he should stop being able to come up with new, delicious ways to intensify their intimacy, bringing technicolour to an act that, for her, had usually been monochrome. But there were always more. Nearly as powerful as her own pleasure was witnessing the moment he finally allowed himself his. He made it something of a personal challenge to wring as many orgasms from her body as he could, peppering the process with the hot-sweet bite of pain she was learning to crave. Only when he'd decided she'd had enough, did he let her push him over the edge.
Rex during orgasm was a sight to behold, all deep growls and taut muscles and clenched jaw. She learnt the way his thrusts turned erratic when he was close and how to make it into something even more intense, clenching her intimate muscles around his length or swallowing him deep just at that point of no return. In the aftermath, each and every time, whether they were finishing after a few short spanks or the kind of hard, brutal fuck he perfected in her bed, he pulled her close and held her as she stabilised, never leaving her to face her doubts alone.
She wondered whether this was what falling in love could be. Because though a lot of their time was dedicated to fucking, that wasn't all they did. There were the movies they chose alternately, the Monopoly game she'd gracelessly lost, the conversations held as she taught him to make cupcakes and he showed her the latest things he'd carved out of scraps of wood. And the cuddling. She'd never been much of one for cuddling after sex, preferring to get up and move, but the way he held her in the aftermath was addictive. Though it was admittedly possible that her change of heart could have been because everything had been different before she was doing those things with Rex. Sex with him was entirely different, entirely more consuming, than any other physical intimacy she'd ever known.
The first time she had tried to slip out immediately post-orgasm, he rolled the two of them over and pinned her beneath his bulk. "I'm not finished."
She quirked an eyebrow. "I don't want to split hairs here, big guy, but you definitely finished."
His laugh reverberated through his chest and into hers, like he was channelling it out of both of them. "I'm not finished with you. Just… stay with me a second, okay?"
She recognised the tone from the aftermath of their first time and wrapped her arms around him as he had when she'd started panicking. Some of his tension immediately released. He tucked her into his side, held close by one muscled arm. She traced patterns on his chest until she felt him relax.
"I feel silly," she murmured, tucking her head into his neck, "not realising that you have needs after sex as much as I do."
He was silent for a long moment, long enough that she wondered whether he'd heard.
"I told you it was an honour, seeing my marks on you. It is, and it's… there isn't another word for how it makes me feel, knowing you trust me to fulfil your needs without giving you more than you can take. That's a fucking honour. But I'm relying on my ability to read you to know what's the right amount. So afterward, coming back to this part of myself—of us—it's important, because it proves I got it right. If I didn't give you what you needed, this is when I'd be able to tell, and I'd give you more. If I gave you too much, this is when I'd know to fix it."
"You've never hurt me more than I can handle," Alannah said slowly. "And I love the way you do it."
He ran a hand over her curls. "I believe that, sassy girl, but I also know there's no harm in making sure. It'd be arrogant to think I was immune to fucking up. And if I make a mistake, you'd best believe I'll do everything in my power to fix it."
"It's only arrogant if you can't back it up, big guy." Al pushed extra sass into her voice to hide the sudden warmth that bloomed in her chest at his words.
Rex rolled to cover her body with his own again and reached for the packets on her nightstand. "Tell me again that I can't back it up."
Alannah made it only a few days before she had to come clean to Kayla over lunch. Her friend picked up on what could only be an unmistakeable aura of satisfaction, before she'd even joined Al at the table.
"I'm presuming that this," Kayla gestured toward Alannah, keeping her voice low to avoid being overheard, "is the work of the prodigal son?"
"You shouldn't call him that," Al said, trying not to giggle. "His name is Rex."
"The alternative is me calling him Sexy Rexy, so I'd have thought 'prodigal son' was a better nickname."
"You know, I take it back. Stick to prodigal son. How long have you been bottling up the rhyme?"
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Kayla grinned broadly. "Since you told me his name. So, how did it happen? Is it good?"
Al barely restrained herself from fanning her face. "Very good. He's very bloody good."
"Alannah Green," Kayla accused, "do you have a crush on your live-in friend with benefits?"
In lieu of response, Al ducked her head to hide her smile and flagged down a waitress.
"Okay, you don't have to tell me the gory details," Kayla said mildly once they'd placed their orders. "I just want to know you're being careful—with your emotions, I mean. I'd hate to see the prodigal son derail your plans."
"He won't," Alannah said immediately. "I've already signed the contract in Mansfield. I can't back out now, even if I wanted to."
"I just don't want to see you get hurt," Kayla said. "Plus, I'd like it if my best friend came back here eventually, instead of being chased off by the prodigal son."
Al laid her hand over her friend's on the table and squeezed. "I'm not sure where I'll end up, but wherever it is, you'll always be welcome."
A waiter set coffees down in front of them.
"More importantly, now," Kayla said, smile turning mischievous again, "exactly how good is it? You look like you've had the world's best skin treatment."
"I didn't realise I was looking so haggard before," Al teased. "Is there really so much of a difference?"
"Well you've been avoiding me for days, so I presumed you were dead," Kayla said matter-of-factly. "I'm comparing you to the corpse I expected to see."
"I haven't been avoiding you," Al protested. "I've been busy. I do have a job to finish up in the next few weeks. All my projects need to be finalised and in order so someone else can take over."
"Does that make Rex your last… project?" Kayla wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Sounds like finalising that one's going just fine. I'm guessing it'll require a lot of very extensive work before the handover."
Al shifted in her seat, suddenly uncomfortable. "I'm enjoying working on this "project" just fine for now. I'm sure the handover will be just as enjoyable."
"Don't hold out on me. I tell you everything about Sam and me. How enjoyable are we talking?"
Al relaxed, glad to settle back into this more comfortable subject. "God, Kayla, it's so good. He's so good. I didn't realise sex could be like this."
Kayla looked thrilled. "Will you introduce me on Friday? I want to meet him. I was at the hairdresser on Thursday, and from the way Joan Mooney was talking, you'd think Mr. Universe had rolled into town. She's stirring up every eligible bachelorette to catfight for his affections, and a few ineligible ones."
Al frowned at the heavy feeling the words brought into her chest, fighting to keep her face blank. She settled on a look of annoyance. "That woman has no filter."
"And she's the best source of gossip I know. Every old lady in a five-mile radius must have been there, chatting over their blue rinses."
"I swear she watches me from across the road every time I drive away from home, just to make sure she knows what I'm doing," Al added. "I bet the blue rinse brigade knows how many times I've been to the supermarket."
"If Joan only caught ten percent of what went down over the perms, she'd still have more information on this town than anyone else I know. And with the way she spreads the gossip…" Kayla spread her hands helplessly. "As I said, cat fighting."
"Cat fighting over him would be… unproductive," Al said. "He's not Mr. Universe."
"From the glow you're giving off, I would be surprised if that were true."
"Oh no." Al grinned, ducking her head again to hide her blush. "He's so much better than Mr. Universe."
They didn't cover anything else heavy until they were finishing lunch.
"I wanted to ask," Kayla said, voice carefully casual, "if you want me to come with you to visit your mum on Monday. I know it's a hard day, so if you need someone, I'll be there."
"Five years this year." Al wished Kayla hadn't brought it up. "I haven't even thought about it. Does that make me a terrible daughter?"
"Of course not. I just thought… You don't have to do anything differently, Al. Your mum would be so proud of you, every day."
"I hope so," Al said. She tried not to think about the last days of her mother's life, the frail woman in her hospital bed, shrunken from both the cancer and the treatments, the way her eyes were so huge in her face, her laugh louder than should come from such a small body. I love you so much, Alley Cat. Take care, my brave girl. Al snatched for her serviette to wipe at her suddenly watering eyes.
"I didn't mean to bring it up like this. I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it. I've actually been putting off thinking about it, to be honest. But I do need to make plans. Thank you for mentioning it."
"I'll be there if you need me, okay?"
Al tipped her head back, trying to force her tears back in with a watery giggle. "Thanks, Kayla. I'll, well, no matter what, I'll be fine."
Rex knew he'd been lucky in his life, especially considering he'd willingly put himself into a war zone more than once. He'd received only minor injuries during his service and come home with his psyche intact, thanks in part to judicious use of the army's mental health services, but also because he'd been fortunate enough not to find himself in the worst of situations. He was aware that he was lucky to be alive, to have a roof over his head and food in his belly. Still, he'd never woken up praising the rising of the sun as some did. At least, he hadn't until he started beginning his mornings with Alannah.
Though, admittedly, that could also be the steady diet of giving and receiving pleasure to which he was rapidly becoming addicted.
If any of the other workers on-site had noticed a change in Rex's demeanour, they didn't mention anything. He was still primarily working with Jamie Cameron, though the older man sometimes went hours without more communication than giving instructions. The two of them were falling into a pattern of separate but synchronous activity that rarely required conversation, so Rex was surprised when the older man cleared his throat and initiated a conversation with which he was clearly uncomfortable.
"So you're living with Alannah Green now, are you?"
"Yes, sir. Well, she's putting me up at her house. Bit weird to be back at my parents' place, so she's letting me use her spare room." Rex avoided eye contact at the reminder of the catalyst for shifting his accommodation.
"Not what I heard," Jamie said. He levelled a steely glare from underneath bushy eyebrows. "Not a good idea to piss where you drink, Castlereagh."
"I don't know what you've heard," Rex said evenly, "but I know what's true, so you've got no cause to be worried."
"And what is it that's true?" Jamie asked.
"Alannah is… a good friend. I'd never treat her with anything but respect. And with all due respect to you, no matter what my relationship with Al is, it's not your concern."
The two men worked in silence for long moments. "I knew her mother," Jamie said eventually, the words coming out like grinding gears. "Knew her pretty well. Wouldn't want Michelle's girl finding herself in any trouble because she wasn't treated right."
"She's not… it's not like that," Rex managed, feeling like a teenager caught kissing behind the bike sheds.
"Make sure you keep it that way. Alannah's a good girl. Cautious. A man like you could take it the wrong way, think she's simple, easy to manipulate."
"She's far from simple," Rex said reflexively.
"Glad you already know that, mate."
Rex wanted to immediately ask what Jamie meant by the "man like you" part of his comment, but he forced himself to wait until the older man said whatever he was struggling with. In the end, he got both at once.
"She's not like you. Alannah was born and bred in Shepherd's Creek. Hasn't seen much of the world. Not like the women you might be used to in your travels."
"I was in the army, Jamie, not doing a Contiki tour."
"A what?"
"It wasn't exactly eight years of partying,
all right? Al might not have travelled much, but she's not stupid, and I'm well aware of the kind of woman she is."
Jamie scratched at his beard. "Glad you already know that too. Just saying… if I were you, I wouldn't let her get caught up, just because you're an adventure."
Rex caught himself before he could fly off the handle at the suggestion that he might not be treating Al properly, but only barely. "I don't know why you think you need to tell me this, but Al's got a good head on her shoulders. If you trust that about her, you can probably imagine why you don't need to police who she lets use her spare room."
"Just keep it to the spare room, mate," Jamie said, turning away to signal the end of the conversation. "A lot of people in this town see her as family since her mother passed. Wouldn't want to see her hurt, that's all."
The unsettled feeling stuck with Rex for the rest of the day. He was home earlier than Alannah, as usual, but opted to switch out his work gear for shorts and a t-shirt, feeling the need to get out of the house and stretch his legs. While his work was physically demanding, it was far from the fitness regimen he was used to, and today, he needed something particularly demanding to drain the restlessness from his blood.
He set off running and chose a path at random, eventually finding himself on a walking trail that circled the town proper. A couple of hills later, he was cursing himself for letting his training slide as he settled back into town. Not that he wasn't getting plenty of exercise, but it was of a different kind. And then he had to push Alannah out of his head, because his shorts were definitely not designed to contain an erection.
Shepherd's Creek wasn't a big town, but it spread over a relatively large area, and the walking track ran outside the town itself. It pushed the limits of Rex's stamina, since it hadn't been tested with a good, hard run in some time. The town had grown since his departure, sprawling out into what had previously been untouched bushland. The main street looked the way it always had, but from the top of one of the hills overlooking the town, Rex could see the increase clearly against his outdated mental map. More buildings, more houses, more streetlamps lighting the backstreets that he'd once raced down in his brothers' cars. The town had grown in his absence, and though he'd never regret the time he spent away, it was sobering to realise how much had passed him by in his hometown. He'd missed Shepherd's Creek when he left, of course, but it had been manageable, more about the people than the place, or so he'd thought. But now, looking out over the bush in the glow of evening, he wondered how he'd ever thought this part of the world was anything short of paradise.
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