Swirl: The Complete Collection (BWWM Interracial Romance) (Books 1-3)

by Lexi Lewis

  Especially not when there were so many other things to get worked up about.

  She went into her room to change into her pajamas and then went to help him bring the food into the living room where she plopped onto the couch. He sat next to her and pulled out his laptop, loading up the list he’d made.

  “So, how long is it?” Eve wanted to know. It was sort of surreal that there was a list of people who might want to hurt Reese, but apparently jealousy was a common theme when it came to sports.

  “Pretty long,” he replied with a sigh. “Too long. And I mean, some of these people probably haven’t thought a single bad thing about me, but I can’t remember anyone being openly hostile, so I have to suspect everyone, which is actually exhausting.”

  “That sounds exhausting. It would have been so much more useful if Paul could have actually told you something other than the fact that he was traitorous,” Eve said.

  Reese shrugged. “I would have taken still being ignorant over his betraying me in the first place.”

  She could hear the pain in his voice, and she regretted her flippant comment almost instantly. “Hey,” she said softly. “I’m really sorry, you know? That he did that to you.”

  “Why are you sorry? You’re not the one who made him do it. No one made him do it, and that’s what makes it so messed up,” Reese responded. “Like, I could see if he was being blackmailed or if he really needed the money or something, but he’s just being greedy and underhanded because he can. Because apparently having more money is more important to him than the fact that we’ve known each other for this long. And I don’t get that at all. What did I do wrong?”

  Eve reached out and rested a hand on his good leg. “It’s not your fault, Reese. Sometimes people are just selfish and only interested in working to help themselves. Sometimes there’s nothing you can do to change the fact that people just aren’t very good at heart. Beating yourself up about it isn’t going to help change anything, though.”

  “Is that how you felt about your dad?”

  It was a complicated question with a somewhat easy answer. “Yes, it’s kinda the same thing, I guess. In principle, anyway.” She’d spent most of her childhood trying frantically to correct her behavior, thinking that maybe the reason her dad was so terrible to her mom was because she was bad or something. Because he wanted to be terrible to her, but her mother kept stepping in.

  It wasn’t until he came back the second time that she’d realized that there was nothing she could do to make it stop because it didn’t have anything to do with her. Her father was just a bad person, and there wasn’t anything she could do to change that.

  “Anyway, maudlin trip down memory lane aside,” Eve said. “The fact is that people can be awful, and it’s no one’s fault but their own. So there’s probably nothing you did to make this happen, and it was Paul’s own greed or whatever that spurred it on. So you can stop worrying about him and start concentrating more on whoever the other guy is. Because while I don’t think you’d have done it on purpose, there’s probably something this guy thinks you did to slight him or something.”

  “Either that or he’s just jealous that I’m better. That I was better.”

  He went back to his list, and the two of them talked through it while they ate. It was funny how it was such a grim topic, but it was clear that they both were enjoying themselves, trading comments and jokes about the people they were adding and removing from the list.

  “He retired,” Reese said about Graham Mayhew. “With more medals than I have now. I don’t think he’d have a reason to be that mad at me.”

  “Okay, what about…Donovan Parks? You got first and he got second in this competition two years ago and then he never shows up on any rankings again.”

  Reese furrowed his brow, trying to remember. “I think he got hurt in the next showing,” he said. “And I wasn’t there for that.”

  “So that’s a no?”

  He sighed. “Probably a maybe. I wish I had more of an idea what the motivation here is. Then I bet I could narrow this down better.”

  Eve glanced at the clock and was surprised to find that they had been at this for almost two hours already. She yawned and cracked her back, grateful that it was her day off the next day so that she could sleep in.

  Her aunt being in town was a blessing, and she leaned her head on Reese’s shoulder, closing her eyes for a moment to block out the lines of text they had been staring at and combing through for the last little while.

  Reese’s hand came up to stroke her head, and she smiled, yawning again.

  “Maybe it’s time for bed,” he murmured to her, and she could hear him closing the laptop and setting it on the coffee table.

  “Mm, or maybe it’s time for something else,” she said, grinning mischievously.

  “You’re already half asleep, Eve. I think it’s definitely bedtime.”

  “I’m not sleeping,” Eve corrected him. “I’m resting my eyes. It’s different. And I’d be wide awake if there was something interesting going on.”

  “Interesting like what?”

  “Well. We have the place to ourselves. And we’ve already had sex in here. And in the bedroom. That leaves a couple of other places that we’ve yet to break in. I mean, the bathroom seems kind of off limits for now, considering shower sex doesn’t really work when you’ve got to wrap your leg up to keep your cast from getting wet.”

  There was a grin in Reese’s voice when he spoke. “And Devin’s room is off limits for obvious reasons.”

  “Naturally.”

  “So that leaves the kitchen, then. I dunno, do you want to do that in the same place where you eat your oatmeal in the morning?”

  “Well, I was thinking that the kitchen table is probably at an awkward height for that, but there’s always the counter. Standing up sex should be easy for you, right?”

  Reese laughed, and it was such a warm sound that Eve couldn’t help but open her eyes to look at him. He looked more relaxed than he had since she’d gone to get him, and she found that she liked that a lot. Liked knowing that she had something to do with it.

  “Yeah, it should be. Are you actually serious?”

  Eve snorted. “Of course I’m serious. You should know that I never joke about kitchen sex, Reese Abbot.”

  “How should I know that?” he asked, making a face at her.

  She rolled her eyes and got to her feet, stretching to work the kinks out of her back. Sitting in the car for the two hours it had taken to get to Reese’s parents’ place and back and then sitting down on the couch to work on the list was surprisingly unpleasant for her back. Considering she was on her feet all day at work, she’d thought that she would have enjoyed the chance to sit down for a while, but it was always the opposite. She just wanted to get back up again.

  She’d casually neglected to put on underwear when she’d gotten into her pajamas, and she let him see that as she pulled her shirt over her head and took off the fluffy pink pants, standing naked in the middle of the living room.

  Just to amuse herself, she put the coffee table between them and let him look his fill.

  Eve could feel his eyes on her, and she knew that he liked what he saw from the way those pale gray eyes warmed and darkened as they locked on her and traced over her body slowly. It was almost like a physical thing, the way it felt. And she knew that it probably wouldn’t be long before he needed to get his hands on her, too.

  Having someone who regularly wanted to touch her and kiss her was so good for her self-esteem because for a while she’d worried that maybe she was invisible to the opposite sex. One of her fellow nurses, another woman with a child to raise on her own, had speculated that there was something about motherhood or guardianship that sent up red flags when men looked at them. No one wanted to be saddled to a woman who had a child, apparently.

  But Reese had never faltered in that aspect. He’d known about Devin since before they’d started messing around back in the hospital, and it had never
seemed to bother him.

  Standing there, waiting for him to make a move, Eve could be nothing but glad.

  Well. Glad and eager for him to touch her, but those two things went hand in hand in the moment.

  Finally, Reese got to his feet, eyes intent on her as he moved around the table and pulled her closer to him. There was something about being naked while he was fully dressed that sent a thrill through her body, and she let out a shaky breath and smoothed her hands down his chest.

  “Like what you see?” she teased.

  “Always,” was the reply, and it made her blush and duck her head.

  His fingers slipped under her chin, though, and he raised her head back up, leaning down to cover her mouth with his in a warm kiss.

  They’d shared a couple of quick kisses in the car on the way back here, but had mostly kept their hands to themselves while they had been eating and working. Now it was obvious that there was plenty of pent up desire between them as they kissed and let their hands wander.

  Since they only got to see each other once every week and a half or so, it felt like there was always so much lost time to make up for when they saw each other again. The kiss started off slow and reassuring, but built in heat and intensity the longer it went on.

  Soon enough, Eve was slipping her hands under his shirt and touching his skin, dragging her nails down the length of his chest and groaning into the kiss when his hands found her butt and hauled her closer.

  He was taller than her and so much broader, and it was definitely emphasized by their current positions.

  “So, the kitchen, then?” he murmured when they needed to breathe, and she grinned, nodding.

  “If I wasn’t in this cast, I’d toss you over my shoulder and carry you there, but I don’t think you’d appreciate being dropped on your head because I’m hobbling around,” Reese teased.

  Eve shook her head with a snort. “Yeah, no. Let’s just walk. I don’t have time for a concussion tonight.”

  He laughed and pushed her in the direction of the kitchen, one hand still sliding up and down her back. “Do you have any idea how much I want you?” he asked her. “I’ve been thinking about this since the last time.”

  “I’m so flattered.” But the husky tone of her voice just proved that she wanted him just as much.

  Once they were in the kitchen, she moved to the counter next to the sink since there were no cabinets there for either of them to bang their heads on while they were doing this. Eve spread her legs and pushed her body back so that Reese had room to grab her hips.

  “Have you ever done this before?” he asked her.

  “No. Not here, anyway. There was this one time in college, but I don’t think you want to hear about that.”

  “No. I don’t. I don’t wanna think about anyone touching you but me.” The possessive undertone in his voice made her shiver, and she found that she didn’t want to think about anyone touching her but him. She didn’t want anyone but him to be touching her now.

  He took his clothes off behind her and then he was fitting himself against her from the back, hands going to her hips and his hardness pressing against her bottom.

  She moaned at the heat and the sheer force of the want that went through her, arching her hips up a bit to tempt him to put his dick where she wanted it.

  “Brace yourself,” he murmured to her, and she did, planting her hands flat on the counter. It occurred to her that this would be the first time that they were doing this where he would be more in control of it.

  The last few times had been on the couch and in her bed, and she’d been on top, directing the movements. But now he was going to be in charge more or less, and her heart raced as desire pounded through her.

  “You can…mmm…you can just…” She didn’t know how to say it, how to tell him that she really wanted to feel this and didn’t need him to be careful with her, but when he pushed into her hard enough to lift her onto her toes, she knew he had gotten the message. Maybe it was because he needed his own form of stress relief, or maybe because he just liked to take things a bit faster and harder sometimes, but either way, he was clearly getting ready to give her what she wanted.

  It felt amazing, and Eve gave a low moan, fingers curling against the cool, fake marble of her kitchen counter. She let out a shuddering breath, trying not to start begging for more, but that was almost easier said than done.

  Reese’s hands were tight on her hips, and she wiggled, willing him to move already.

  “Do you want this?” Reese breathed, one hand lifting to draw his nails down her spine.

  “Oh, god, yes,” Eve panted back. “Please, Reese. Please.”

  And that was all it took. He stopped teasing her, and instead grabbed her hip again, using his hold on her for leverage as he pulled out a bit and then shoved back in, setting a pace that had them both moaning breathlessly. The counter had her at the perfect height for him to be able to take her fast and just a little roughly, and the small kitchen was soon filled with the sound of their ragged breathing and skin meeting skin.

  He wasn’t gentle with her at all, digging his fingers into her hips and making their bodies meet with a snap on the harder thrusts, and she loved it, moaning out his name and trying to meet him thrust for thrust, trying to get him deeper, harder. She just wanted more.

  “You feel so good,” he groaned. “I love doing this with you, y’know that? Just…so good.”

  She had to agree. Even though it had been a while since she’d been with anyone other than him, she couldn’t remember it feeling this good. It was always so good with him. Each time he pushed into her, the pleasure building inside her grew more, and she was panting and so close before long.

  Eve reached a hand down between her legs to play with herself, and she shuddered at the fierce jolt of pleasure, white hot sensation curling in her, thick and heavy.

  It wasn’t going to take much to make the tightening of her body erupt into release, and in the end it was the way that Reese groaned her name that did it.

  Just the way it sounded in his pleasure laden voice was enough to have her shivering hard and coming with a cry, heat and pleasure roaring over her in waves as she arched and bucked a little, going tight around him.

  Her knees threatened to buckle with the force of the pleasure, but his grip on her hips held her up. Reese’s thrusts went erratic the closer he got, and it was only another moment before he was following her over the edge with a low cry of his own.

  He slumped over her as they both tried to catch their breath, and Eve felt the day catch up to her. She needed to shower and pick her clothes up from the floor, but all she could really think about was sleep at this point.

  “Now, it’s time for bed,” she murmured to Reese, feeling his answering chuckle through her body.

  “We do this a lot,” he remarked. “Have sex and then go to sleep. It’s a good system.”

  “Mm,” she agreed. “The best system. You’re going to have to get off of me if you want me to move, though.”

  There was a bit of grumbling, but eventually they were both upright and on their way to the bed. Eve considering picking her clothes up off the living room floor as she passed them, but it would be some time before Devin came back home, so she supposed it didn’t really matter at the moment.

  And she was more concerned with getting to sleep anyway.

  Curling up next to Reese in the bed was one of her favorite things now, especially after so many years of sleeping alone. Automatically, he went to the side of the bed that he usually took when he was here, and Eve wondered when she’d started thinking of it as his side in her head.

  She didn’t have enough mental capacity left to think about that for long, though. As soon as she got under the covers, she was moving closer to Reese, tucking herself against him and smiling when he wrapped an arm around her.

  “Any specific time we need to be up tomorrow?” he murmured around a yawn.

  Eve shook her head. “Not really, no. My aunt is
taking Devin to school, and she’ll call before she comes over if she’s going to. But I think she’s going to try and see if she can find out where my dad is hiding. So we can sleep in.”

  “Good,” Reese said. “Because I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be out until at least noon.”

  She laughed, but she echoed the sentiment. It wasn’t that late, but she was worn out and ready for sleep.

  CHAPTER 6: A BREAK IN THE CASE

  Reese didn’t stay with Eve nearly as long as he wanted to, and he didn’t get that much work done, either, but they had both agreed that it would be better if Eve told her aunt about him before they met, and Eve had to go back to work, so they spent the day together and then he went back home.

  Despite the fact that so many things that he’d consider bad were happening, time was passing quickly, and another week had gone by before he’d even really had time to process it. He hadn’t heard from Paul since the night he’d kicked him out, and he couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not.

  Who knew what Paul was plotting with whoever his accomplice was.

  Reese tried to hold on to the fact that Paul had said he didn’t want to hurt him, but he wasn’t sure how much of that was true. He wasn’t sure what to believe anymore when it came to Paul. All he knew was that he needed to figure out who was responsible before they made another move.