by Alexa Davis
“Don’t cover yourself up,” he pleaded with me. “I want to see you.”
He kissed me hard enough for my hand to inadvertently to let go of everything it was holding. He turned me into something thrilling, something so exciting; he brought color into my life in a way that I hadn’t had it before.
Sure, deep down I knew that things were far more complex than that, but I just wanted to enjoy the heat of the moment for a little bit longer.
As Terrance nudged my knees further apart, the flame burned even brighter. I needed to feel Terrance. I wanted every damn inch of him, and just for a moment, I also wanted some control. I forced myself into a sitting position, all the while still kissing him frantically.
I climbed up onto my knees and twisted both of our bodies around. Terrance was so involved in my mouth that he barely noticed as I lay him down softly on the bed.
“Oh my God, Morgan.”
He certainly noticed as I straddled him with a wicked smile on my lips. And, he didn’t stop noticing as I tore my top off and threw it to one side, as I unhooked my bra and dropped it to the ground, as I unbuttoned my skirt all the way down and tossed it towards his bedroom door.
I was fully naked for Terrance, and it felt so good.
“Damn, girl, you are incredible.”
Terrance sat up and took my nipple in his mouth. As he sent another exciting round of sensations bulldozing through my system, I forced my fingers to continue unbuttoning his shirt. If I was showing every inch of me, I wanted to see every bit of him, too.
After all, once I told Terrance the truth, I might never get to see all of him again.
Luckily, he unbuttoned his own pants, so all I needed to do was yank them out from underneath him, taking his underwear with him. His cock sprung to attention and made me mouth water, but there was no time for that today. Terrance had hold of himself and was angling himself towards me.
As I felt every inch of him buried deep into me, I cried out with sheer bliss. This time, having him inside of me felt a million times better because there was no alcohol blurring my judgement. I slid up and down over him, clinging needily to him as I moved. I could feel my nails clawing at his skin, but I didn’t care, I needed him to keep me centered.
“Oh, fuck, Terrance,” I panted as I rode him. My body was slick with the sweat I could feel dripping off me, but it didn’t matter because he was exactly the same. “Oh my God.”
His strong arms were clasped onto my back, guiding my movements, helping it to feel incredible for both of us. My heart hammered in my sternum, my stomach filled with a powerful heat... I was growing nearer, dangerously close.
“Shit, Morgan, I... I...”
We both shuddered and gasped at the same time, clinging to one another as we shared the intense bliss. I was flying higher than air, my head wasn’t even on planet Earth anymore, and it was a bonding experience to have Terrance going through the same feelings as me. It drew us closer in a way that I’d never felt before.
It had never been like this before. I didn’t want it to end.
***
“I have work in the morning, you know?” I warned Terrance in a sleepy tone. “If I don’t leave now, I’m going to have to get you up really early to drive me.”
“I don’t mind,” he assured me with a happy smile. “I’m just glad to have you here with me tonight.”
He laced his fingers through mine in a sweet and loving gesture, which made the words almost spill past my mouth – if only I knew exactly how to phrase the sentence. The only problem was it was a hard enough thing to say, without the fact that we’d just had sex again. I was pretty sure it’d make me look horrible if I said it now, like I was using him or something.
I would tell Terrance, I would. I just needed the right moment.
“And, I can’t take you back yet, anyway.” He propped himself up onto his elbow to look at me, so I did the same.
“Why not?” The eye contact we were sharing felt intense, but in a really nice way.
“Because we haven’t arranged our next date yet.” Oh God, why did he have to be so nice? There was no way I could mistake him for an asshole now, not after he’d been so kind, so that was one good thing.
“Oh yeah? Well, whenever you want.” I vowed to myself that I would tell him the,. Whenever we got together next, I would confess the truth. I would spend any time apart planning exactly what I’d say and wouldn’t let anything interrupt me. “Just...you know, text me or whatever.”
I watched intently as Terrance’s eyes flickered shut and he fell fast asleep. I could almost see the world falling away from him as he drifted off to dreamland, which left me wondering what could have him so stressed. Having no money concerns mustn’t be that difficult, surely? That was the main source of my issues. The only bad thing that I’d seen happen to Terrance since I’d known him was the fight, and he said that didn’t bother him anymore.
I flopped my head back onto the pillow, hating that I would eventually, as soon as I worked up the bravery, add to that. Even if he took the news well, it’d stress him out. It certainly had me.
I tried to picture him holding our baby lovingly in his arms, cooing and cradling, but I couldn’t – just like I couldn’t see me holding a baby, either. It was like this knowledge that my brain knew, but couldn’t quite accept yet. I would like to believe that it would all work out and things would be fine in the end, but I wasn’t so sure.
My mind was racing, there was no way I could get any sleep now, and while Terrance had said it was alright for me to wake him up early for a ride home in the morning, I wasn’t convinced it’d be the same at six a.m., so I slid out from under the sheets and grabbed my clothing items one by one. As I snuck into the front room and I threw them all back on, I got that terrible guilty sensation once more.
I was leaving, having done nothing that I intended to. I’d deepened the mess.
Just so Terrance didn’t think I’d run out on him, I grabbed a notepad he had left on the counter and wrote him a note.
‘Terrance, I had to go to work, didn’t want to wake you. See you soon! Morgan.’
I figured he wouldn’t see it until late morning anyway, and that way I could be breezy. The last thing I wanted was to come across as too needy. I needed to imagine that I wasn’t pregnant and this was just a normal fling, so I didn’t scare him off too quickly.
Leaving as quietly and quickly as I could manage, I called a cab from the long elevator ride down and spent the car journey trying to figure out my next move. Whatever I did, I needed it to be a smart one.
Chapter Nineteen
Terrance
Wednesday
“What is wrong with you?” I laughed at Braxton as he wiped some more sweat from his forehead. “You’re acting like you’ve never been here before. This is the damn gym we come to all the time, you fool.”
I expected him to join in with my mirth, but if anything, my comments only seemed to make him worse. “Come on, you’re gonna have to tell me what’s going on now. I’m unbearably intrigued,” I urged.
“If I tell you, you’ll be cool about it, right?” He was practically shaking as he spoke, this was something huge. Even bigger than I’d been expecting. I furrowed my eyebrows and glared at him, willing him to continue, but it seemed that he needed confirmation from me first.
“Okay, what’s going on? I’ll be cool, just spill the beans.” My overactive imagination started concocting wild, awful thoughts that I didn’t particularly want to deal with. Braxton is dying, he’s betraying you, he’s on something...
“My girlfriend works in there.”
My heart fell out my ass at that statement. He had me all worked up for that? Was he insane? “Your girlfriend?”
“Come on, boss, you promised you’d be cool.” There was a real edge to his tone, this mean that he was serious.
“Braxton, I’m happy for you,” I tried to sound kinder now. “I’ll be good, I promise you. I want to meet the lucky lady. When did you meet? H
ow did you meet her?”
“Actually, she lives in our building.” His whole face flamed as he spoke, which made my heart go out to him a little. “We met in the lobby, and well, I really like her.”
I clapped him on the back and gave him my brightest smile. “Let me see her, I want to know if she’s good enough for you.”
“Trust me, she’s too good. You’ll see.”
He shook his head, took in a deep breath, and pushed the door open. I chuckled once more, pulled my bag further over my shoulder, and followed him inside. I had no idea what I was expecting when we got in, but it certainly wasn’t the girl standing before me with Braxton’s arm slung over her shoulder.
“Boss, this is Emily.”
“Emily, a pleasure to meet you.” I took her tiny hand in mine and shook it, my mind doing mental calculations, trying to work out how it must work. She was tiny, about 5 foot 3 by my estimation, and stick thin. She had a sweet body, but compared to Braxton’s tall and wide frame, well...it was a mystery. “I hope you’re being good to my friend.”
“Oh, I am, I adore him.” She actually gushed as she spoke, and the way she looked up at my friend was incredible. Even if it didn’t make any sense to me, it seemed to work for them. “He’s wonderful. I think I’m falling for him.”
I gave Braxton and thumbs up and moved away to leave them alone. They took the moment and ran with it, kissing as if they weren’t in the middle of a very public place. It was sweet really, if not a little bit sickly. They were in the first flush of love, the time when everything felt amazing. I sort of experienced that all the time, but it was more of a lust thing, rather than love.
Although maybe it seemed like I was finally grown up enough to be ready to move on. There was definitely something different about me since I’d met Morgan. I’d even checked my phone a couple of times to see if she’d responded to my message apologizing for not being awake on time to drive her to work, but there hadn’t been anything yet. She would though, I was sure of it. We’d had such a great time, there was no way I could be the only one who wanted more of that.
“Sorry about that.” Braxton finally joined me at the weights, grinning brighter than he ever had before. “She’s incredible, right?”
“She’s absolutely gorgeous.” I watched him watching her for a second, jealousy spiking through my system. I wanted some of that look of pure love. “You’re one lucky man.”
“Well, you’re lucky, too.” Braxton finally managed to drag his eyes back to me for a moment. “You have your thing with Morgan, right?”
I hoped I still did. I hoped I hadn’t pushed things by initiating sex. She seemed really into it, but maybe I was just projecting my own feelings onto her. Maybe I would’ve been better taking things a bit slower...even if the chemistry was damn near impossible to resist. I’d spent so much of the date wanting to kiss her, it just felt like the right thing to do at the time.
God, look at me, freaking out over a text gone unanswered. What had I become, this was insane!
“Yeah, I mean, I think so.” I shrugged, trying to appear like I wasn’t too bothered. “We had a good date the other night, so I assume we’re still on.”
“What’s going on with you, boss?” He eyed me curiously. “It’s not like you to be so unsure about things.” He didn’t need to say it because I could see it in his eyes. He was wondering how our roles managed to get reversed. I was, too.
“No, I know, she just...keeps me on my toes.” Morgan certainly did that.
“Well, I think that might be a good thing. That’ll stop you from getting bored. Are you going out again? Because I really think you should.”
“We talked about it.” I couldn’t help but smile when I thought about that sleepy conversation after we’d had after our incredible night of fun. “But I haven’t arranged anything yet.”
“And, why not? Go and call her right now. I guarantee she’ll be waiting for that call.”
His confidence made me grin – maybe that was exactly what I needed to do. If I really thought about it, the message I sent didn’t really require a reply, anyway. Maybe Morgan was growing frustrated with me, waiting for me to take action, which was exactly what I’d normally do. “Yeah, I think you might be right.”
I dropped the weight back on the rack and went to grab my phone from my bag. Just before I made my move, Braxton grabbed my arm and gave me an intense look. “You deserve someone nice, boss, and I really think that Morgan might be the right one for you. I just want you to be happy because you’ve given me the confidence I need to find someone.”
“I know,” I patted his hand gently. “But you deserve it, too. I’m really happy for you.”
His words touched me in a way that he didn’t even realize, so as I made my way outside for some fresh air while I made my call, I thought about them. I liked that he called me a good person. After all, the Canton name didn’t carry all good qualities with it. Money, yes, but niceness, not always.
But it didn’t matter, that wasn’t me. I was different and Braxton had just confirmed that.
As the cool air filled my lungs, my heart started to pound just that little bit faster. Any minute now, I would be speaking to Morgan again, making plans to see her and I just couldn’t wait. I got her number up on the screen and paused just staring at her name for a moment.
“Get out the way, idiot!” As some guy on a bike yelled at me, dragging me out of my daydream, I jumped back quickly. I wanted to shout something back, but I really couldn’t be bothered.
And then my phone blasted out anyway, dragging my attention back to the screen. It said Private Number, but I couldn’t stop myself from picturing it being Morgan, thinking of me at the exact same moment that I thought about her.
“Hello?” I answered happily, but I didn’t get a reply. “Hello, anyone there?” I could hear breathing, so I knew it wasn’t no one, but why weren’t they talking? “What’s going on here? I’m about to hang up. I have an important phone call to make right now.”
“Not one that’s more important than this.” The gruff voice shocked me a little, I wasn’t expecting that. “I suggest you listen up, sunshine.”
Sunshine... The words struck ice cold fear into my heart. This was a part of the thing I’d been waiting to happen, finally coming true. “W...what are you talking about?” Playing dumb seemed like the best choice.
“Oh, I think you know. Don’t play dumb with me, it wont get you anywhere.” I didn’t answer that. It didn’t seem worth it. “It’s time for you to pay up now, don’t you think?”
I gulped loudly, hating the way this man had me exactly where he wanted me: shivering and afraid. The only problem was I felt pretty certain what he was capable of. “I... I...”
“Did you not get the message a few weeks back? I’d assume that you’d be willing to act smart now.”
“I don’t owe you any money,” I finally spit out. “You know that just as well as I do.”
“Ah, I see, you want to play games.” He clicked his tongue loudly down the phone. The sound came through so vividly that I had to hold the handset away from my head until he stopped. “You don’t want to end up like your brother, do you?”
“My... My brother?” This was too much, it felt too intense. I needed to know more. If this man knew what had gone down with Mason, then I needed to keep him on the line, even if he scared the shit out of me.
But I couldn’t; he laughed loudly then all I could hear was the dial tone buzzing in my ear.
Fuck.
Fucking hell. What a fucking mess!
I glanced around everywhere to see if I was being watched, but there wasn’t anyone around. Nothing looked out of the ordinary; Somehow, I was totally alone. I looked back towards the gym, but despite the fact that my friend and bodyguard was in there, I didn’t want to return. I just wanted to go home, to be alone.
Braxton was in there with Emily; he wouldn’t miss me too much.
‘Braxton, I feel sick. I’m going home. I’ll see
you later, okay?’
With that, I stuffed my phone back into my pocket and kept my head down while I practically ran back to my apartment. I felt hundreds of eyes on me, as if every single person was watching me, trying to work out what I was going to do next. I probably looked like a crazy man, I didn’t fucking know anymore. I just couldn’t stop running until I was by myself.
Then I could think, and boy, did I have a lot to think about.
By the time I finally managed to slam the door behind me, I found myself panting breathlessly, terror coursing through me. Somehow, all the bad stuff that had happened in my life was all linked. I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t spotted that before. Now, I needed to grab all the jigsaw pieces and put them together methodically, rather than trying to ram them together in ways they didn’t fit. I had to do it rapidly, too, before I got another unwelcome phone call from that threatening asshole.
I didn’t want to end up like Mason.
I wasn’t prepared to end up six foot under – it wasn’t fair and it wasn’t right.
But the question was, how would I go about stopping it?
Chapter Twenty
Morgan
Friday
“Nrgh,” I woke up irritated that my phone was making an odd noise, one that didn’t much sound like my alarm. That meant someone had deemed it necessary to raise me from my slumber before I felt ready for it. “What?”
I blinked a few times, waiting for my eyes to adjust to the glare of the screen which was far too bright for this early in the morning, but as I finally came to, my mood switched right back around again. I didn’t mind being woken up by Terrance; he was just about the only person in the world that I didn’t mind texting me because it meant we were still on track.
‘Hey, Morgan, hope your week is going well. Would you mind if I cooked you dinner tomorrow night? Terrance’
I smiled brightly to myself, imagining him crafting out this message, thinking of us having another date. I never thought it’d come to this when I picked him up off the streets, or when we hooked up in the club, but in a way it was nice.