“Give it to me, Allie,” he growled as he continued to rock, using a bit more force. Tightening his grip on her wrists elicited another gasp, so he rocked harder. The sexy little noises she made when he moved against her were intoxicating. He wanted inside of her, but wanted to watch her fall over the edge once first, and she was close. Lifting her shirt, he’d never been so thankful for tank tops with built in bras, because her beautiful breasts all but fell out for him. Taking one tight nipple in his mouth, he sucked. It only took a few hard tugs on her nipple before she was crying out underneath him. He could feel the heat between her legs against his body as she rode out the orgasm. Squeezing him with her legs as he slowed his motions, he released her breast from his lips.
Her legs relaxed around him and he let go of her hands. Rising to his knees, he yanked his shirt over his head before jumping off the bed and getting rid of the rest of his clothes. Grabbing a condom, he made his way back to her. She was limply laying there with a satisfied smile on her face as he grabbed the waistband of her shorts and started to pull them down, placing kisses over her bellybutton, her hips, and then her legs as they went. She managed to get her top off by the time he made his journey back up her body. He smiled down at her as he took a moment to admire the body laid out before him; he made quick work of the condom, and said, “Damn, you are a beautiful sight, Allie Baxter.”
She rubbed her hands over her abdomen and then up to cup both of her breasts, her body writhing at the same time. “You’re not so bad yourself, Mike Lawson. Now get down here.”
“Yes ma’am,” he said as he positioned himself. He hitched one of her knees over his arm, sighing as the heat of her body engulfed his. He took a moment to absorb the pleasure that washed over him at the feeling of their joined bodies. When her body began to tighten around him, and squirm beneath him, he knew his time was up. Slowly, he slid out of her grip, then pushed back in. She gasped, he moaned.
Setting a steady rhythm, he proceeded to move his body over hers, demanding she give him everything. She did. Every sigh, every moan, every gasp was for him. It fueled his need to give to her, and demand more in return. He slid his arm under her other knee and spread her beneath him. He caught her gasp in his mouth as he rested his whole body against hers. Her hands flew to his shoulders and held on as he drove her body higher. When her hands made it into his hair, she gripped it impossibly hard as she brought his lips down to meet hers, making her own demands.
Picking up the pace, he thrust harder, demanding her release. Breaking away from the kiss, she dropped her head to the mattress and cried out as her body shook against his. Then her hands found his back, her nails digging in as she attempted to hold him against her as she called out his name. All of these sensations combined brought his release to the surface. Another demanding thrust deep in her body and he found it.
Collapsing on top of her, he fought to catch his breath as his body came down from the high he just experienced. Thoughts and concerns invaded his euphoric state as he worried that she was going to find an excuse to leave. He wanted her here, in his bed, all night. Lifting his head from her neck, he looked down and found her smiling at him. She reached up and swept his hair from his forehead, and he asked, “Stay with me tonight?”
He didn’t see any hesitation in her eyes when she smiled and answered, “I’ll try.”
And really, that was all he could ask of her. She answered honestly, and he was going to respect that and not pressure her, but he was going to make sure she knew how much he wanted her to be there. So he kissed her gently and said, “Try very hard, Allie ... please.”
ALLIE opened her eyes and looked at Mike. His slow steady breaths indicated he was sleeping. Cautiously, she extracted her tired, but tightly strung body from his grip. Easier said than done, she thought as she attempted to lift his giant paws from her breast. His hold was remarkably strong for being so gentle at the same time. Once she was free from his arms, she worked on sliding her legs out of the tangled limbs at the end of the bed before rolling them cautiously to the floor.
Looking over her shoulder at the mountain of sleeping male behind her, she sighed. Why was she trying to leave again? The nagging guilt she had for enjoying the feel of Mike’s strong embrace was threatening to choke her, and there was panic hovering nearby. Allie quickly blinked back the tears that were threatening once again. Bending over, she found her clothes in a haphazard pile on the floor and made quick work of dressing. Standing up, she looked at Mike again and felt a whole other level of guilt now. Not the guilt for being with him, but for sneaking out on him in the middle of the night after telling him she would try.
Trying to strengthen her resolve, she told herself Mike was a big boy and could totally handle waking up alone. She nodded to herself and padded her way across the carpet to leave his bedroom. The little snick of the door opening felt like the slamming of cymbals announcing her escape, but with a quick check she saw that Mike was still sleeping soundly on the other side of the room. Making her way into the hall, she carefully closed the door behind her and finally exhaled.
Leaning her forehead against the door, she once again asked herself why? Her answer wasn’t the same as a few minutes ago. There was guilt still, but now it was over leaving instead of staying. Pulling her heavy head away from the door, she stared at it, like she could see Mike through it. She continued to stare as she took a step away from the door. Then another, and another. With every step away, the clenching sensation in heart tightened until she had to take a deep breath to try and relax it. Reaching up, she absentmindedly rubbed her chest as she took her eyes off of the door and began to make her way quietly down the stairs.
Once in the living area, she stood there and looked around, taking in all the items that made up Mike Lawson. For some reason, she couldn’t bring herself to continue her path and walk out that front door. Allie recalled the feeling of finally letting go and surrendering to the bliss of being in a man’s strong arms, releasing a contented sigh.
Looking to her right, she took in the seating of the room, which consisted of a couch, loveseat, and a big chair with an oversized ottoman in front of it. The ottoman where she found Mike last night after rushing to his place when she realized she’d hurt him. Her stomach turned at the memory of how he looked when she found him, leaning on his knees with his head in his hands. Distraught. The mere thought of causing him pain, like she might be doing right now if she were to leave, knifed through her chest. Looking in the direction of the stairs as if considering going back, she didn’t know what to do. She wanted to leave, to escape, but then the next second wanted to strip out of her clothes and crawl right back into bed with the first man, in five years, who got past her guarded heart.
She shook her head at her indecision, slightly disgusted with herself as she made her way over toward the sitting area. Sitting down on the edge of the couch, as if she felt she shouldn’t be there and didn’t want to get caught, she looked up at the wall in front of her. There was a giant flat screen television mounted in the middle of the wall over a simple shelving unit that housed various books and simple knick-knacks. She smiled when she saw a picture of Mike and Zane there, and stood to get a closer look at it. Picking it up, she smiled bigger when she took in the two of them out on a boat. She knew Mike loved watersports, and this was something he enjoyed with his son.
They were wearing life jackets and sunglasses as they stared at the photographer, both of their hands signaling hang-loose, and big, happy no-holds-barred smiles. Clearly, Zane looked a lot like his father, because in this picture, they almost looked like the same person at different stages of life instead of father and son. Curiosity over what his wife looked like got the best of her and she set down the picture in her hand. Searching the faces in the pictures on the shelves in front of her, she found one of a younger Mike with a woman and a small boy.
The image was a perfectly posed image of a young family. The woman sat on the grass with her legs going across the field of the picture as s
he posed for the photographer. She had blonde hair that was long and surrounded her face to fall in front of her shoulders. She had a simple, yet elegant face with features that might not have been considered stunning, but the smile on her face made her glow with the happiness that was evident as she held onto a young Zane. He had to be around eight or nine years old, and his smile looked as big and vibrant as the one his mother had. The contrast of his dark hair to her light hair was shocking and only confirmed that Mike’s genes dominated the kid’s genetic make-up.
Behind them, Mike sat with his legs going the opposite direction of his wife’s, as she leaned into him. He had one hand on the ground for support, and his other arm was slung around her shoulders, holding his family close. Allie’s heart ached at the sight of the beautiful, young family in front of her. The thought that their future wouldn’t be what they expected was enough to bring tears quickly to her eyes, causing them to spill over and drop onto the frame in her hands. They had their whole future ahead of them, oblivious to the fact that it was going to be ripped away from them.
Behind her, a voice startled her and almost made her drop the picture she was holding, her grip tightening, as she quickly glanced to where the voice had come from. “That picture was taken the year before she got sick. It was our last professional family portrait.” When Zane had come in, she didn’t know, but she suddenly felt as if she was trespassing. She quickly dashed away the tears that were rolling down her face and fully turned toward the young man.
Allie didn’t know what to say except, “I'm sorry.” Even though she said it, she wasn’t sure if she was apologizing for crying or for intruding on their family portrait.
Zane shrugged and moved toward her. Taking the picture from her hands, he looked down at it, and a soft smile graced his face. “Wow, Dad looks almost exactly the same.”
Allie huffed a little laugh and looked back down at the picture. “You look just like him, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. He told me a story about one time when I was little, and he had to pick me up from my new daycare. The lady behind the counter hadn’t met him yet so when he signed me out, she asked for him to verify that I was his son. My dad lifted me up and held me next to his face and said, ‘Oh, he’s mine all right. We’re just trying to figure out who his mom is.’” Zane gently set the picture frame down in the spot she had picked it up from as he laughed at the memory.
It took Allie a few seconds to catch onto what he had said, but then she laughed lightly. “Wait, still trying to figure out who the mom was? That doesn’t make any sense.”
“That’s exactly what the lady said, too. Right before she shook her head at him and then scolded him for not being serious about the safety of his child or some crap like that. She apparently didn’t have a sense of humor like his.” He backed up, still smiling at the picture. Allie watched him and could see the fond remembrance cross his face, and she fought her instinct to comfort the young man.
Then it dawned on her that she was standing in the middle of their living room, at an ungodly hour, talking to Mike’s kid. It had to be obvious to him why she was there, which sucked because she was trying to avoid this kind of scenario. Why was he here? She thought he was out for the night.
Mike had told her that he and Zane had an honest and direct kind of relationship. He made sure to have an open door policy with his son, and in exchange for that, he would answer his questions honestly. Deciding to be direct with the young man, she said, “I feel a little awkward being caught in your living room in the middle of the night. It’s not really a situation I’ve been in before, and I’m not quite sure what to do.” She shrugged her shoulders and gave him a sheepish smile.
He gave a little laugh before dropping his long body down on the couch. “It’s okay. It doesn’t bother me that you’re here. Dad and I have talked about it, and he wouldn’t let you stay here if he hadn’t done that. That’s how he is, and besides, he likes you.” She considered how Zane had essentially told her exactly what his father had told her, so she tried to relax about it. He was eighteen years old and going to college soon; he knew about sex. But that didn’t mean she wanted to have a conversation with him about it. Changing the subject she asked, “Your dad said you were out with friends for the night. Why are you home already?”
He considered something before he said, “Yeah, I went to a party with some friends, but I didn’t like some of what was going on there, so I figured it was best to leave. The friends I was going to be staying with were still at the party when I left so I had to come home.”
She admired that he clearly had a good head on his shoulders. Motioning to the seat next to the couch she asked, “Mind if I sit, too?”
“Go for it. I’m not really tired yet so I was just gonna play a game or two. I don’t suppose you play video games?” He gave her a smirk that told her he was used to grown-ups turning down his question. Little did he know …
“Well, considering I have three different gaming consoles and three nephews of varying age, you could say that I’ve played a game or two.”
“Oh, really. What kind?” he asked with a skeptical look on his face.
“You name it, I’m sure I can play it,” she said, full of confidence. She could tell Zane was considering which game to convince her to play.
After a few seconds he said, “If I pull out a game with guns, you’re not going to get all girlie and complain like the average female, are you?”
“Well, smart ass, do I look like your average female? Try me.”
He huffed a laugh and got up to put the game in and get it started. Walking back over to her, he smiled and handed her the controller before saying, “Game on, Ms. Baxter.” She stifled a laugh and pretended to act offended. He was trying to get her flustered with a little irritating jab; it was well-played, but it wouldn’t work.
“Oh, you’re gonna pay for that one. Game on is right.” Allie waited for the screen to come to life and jumped right into the action with Zane. Giving as good as she got, before she knew it, the two of them were fully enveloped in the games of modern day warfare and which was the best way to kill a zombie. All thoughts of escaping the Lawson household were gone and forgotten.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MIKE blinked his eyes open and stared into the darkness of his bedroom. Something woke him up, he knew that, but he wasn’t sure what it was. Taking a few moments, he laid there and listened to his surroundings. It wasn’t until he heard the muffled sound of talking that he looked to the side and took note that he was in bed alone, even though he was very much not alone when he went to sleep. Yep, that wasn’t a dream. He finally had Allie sleeping in his arms when he contentedly drifted off last night, but she was definitely not there now.
Forcing himself to get up and investigate, he crossed his fingers in the hopes he would find Allie downstairs. Slipping his shorts on, he opened his bedroom door. The sounds were more decipherable now and he could identify Zane’s voice, mixed in with the sound of guns and bombs exploding on the sound system.
His heart dropped a little in disappointment as he made his way downstairs to tell his son to turn it down a little. It wasn’t until he found himself turning the corner to face the living room that he heard Allie’s voice. “You think you’re big shit over there, Lawson? Read the numbers and weep ‘cause you’re losing to a girl.” He smiled at her mocking tone and the sight of her standing on her toes, bouncing, while playing the game.
He stood there for a few moments and just watched their interactions. Both of them looked completely comfortable with one another, and he couldn’t help the spark of hope that ignited in his chest. This was something he wanted. Even though his son was an adult, he wanted to make sure that whatever woman he ended up with, she would be able to have a relationship with him too.
After a few minutes, he stepped into the sitting area and he dropped onto the couch behind Allie, waiting for a pause in the action to touch her. Neither of them had noticed him, as they were so engrossed in t
he onscreen action. It was clear Allie had some experience playing the game since she was beating Zane, which was just another point in her favor. Not that she needed any more—he wanted her regardless.
Zane’s player died, prompting Allie into some form of victory dance. Standing in front of him, her hips swayed and she bounced from foot to foot. At the other end of the couch, his son cursed and tossed his controller on the seat. Mike said, “Hey, watch your mouth. There’s a lady present.
Allie squealed in surprise and Mike took that moment to grab her around the waist and pull her into his lap. Falling not so gracefully, he secured her in place and smiled at her. She put her arm around his neck. “You scared me.”
“I’m sorry, baby, but I didn’t want to interrupt while you two were playing. Especially since you were obviously winning,” he said.
She smirked. “So you were witness to Zane totally getting his ass kicked by a girl?”
He laughed and looked at his son. “I sure was.”
Zane shook his head and said, “And now I have to clean her car. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. At least it’s only washing her car. Now I know better.”
Allie smiled at him and said, “You got off easy. Try asking my nephews what I’ve manipulated them into doing in the past.”
“I think I’ll take your word for it,” Zane said as she shut down the gaming console and collected the controller from Allie. “I expect a rematch sometime soon. I can’t go down like that.”
Allie huffed a laugh. “Sure thing, after you wash my car.”
“Thank God you don’t drive a truck like my dad’s. I’m heading to bed. Sorry if we woke you, Dad.”
Love Resisted (The Real Love Series) Page 17