by J. H. Croix
“Understood.” He took a sip of coffee and glanced to the recorder he’d set between us on the table. He’d asked if he could use it, and I’d agreed on the condition he send me anything for review before it was published. He set his coffee down and looked square at me. “Well, let’s start with the basics. Any comment on the charges against Mr. Gordon?”
“I suppose all I have to say is I understand why it happened. I don’t mean to say hitting someone is a good idea, just that he was upset and it’s what happened.”
“It’s safe to say plenty of people agree with you on that. Can you tell me the nature of your relationship to Mr. Gordon?”
My heart set to banging in my chest. I had anticipated this question, but I still didn’t know how to answer it. I felt my cheeks heating. Alex had quickly come to mean far more than I’d expected. In the span of a few weeks, he’d gone through several stages in what he meant to me. A casual friend who I trusted because of his connection to a dear friend. I trusted Olivia completely and by extension Liam. Liam held Alex in the highest esteem and considered him his best friend, so even before I’d gotten to know Alex better, I’d trusted him by virtue of those connections alone. He’d then become a man I wanted with a ferocity that knocked through my self-imposed defenses and made me feel alive again. Yet, even in the headiness of that desire, I’d had a single goal and it was purely physical. I couldn’t have known acting on that would kick things up another notch. I hadn’t anticipated the feeling of connection with him, an intimacy raw and startling in its depth.
I abruptly wished I’d thought to call Alex before I met with Brad. For a second, I started to worry I might say the wrong thing. The worry vanished as suddenly as it manifested because I knew with certainty that Alex wouldn’t hold anything I said against me even if it created problems for him and his case.
“He’s a good friend,” I said. The moment the words came out, I reconsidered. “He might be more than that,” I blurted out next, wishing instantly I could take the words back, not because of the circumstances under which I said them, but because everything with Alex felt too new, too raw—fragile as spun sugar.
Brad merely nodded and took another sip of coffee, conveniently oblivious to how much it meant that I was even allowing myself to think about a man in any context with me that wasn’t purely platonic.
My office door opened simultaneous with a knock, and Daisy stood there. She had a tense look to her, her eyes flicking from me to Brad. She put her hands on her hips and slammed the door shut behind her, her gaze locked on Brad. “Don’t you dare make her…”
I held a hand up. “Daisy, it’s okay. I told him I would meet with him.”
Her concerned gaze bounced to me. “What are you thinking?”
“That I’d rather have my own say about it than to have people speculating.”
She pursed her lips, and I felt heartened at her appearance. Even if it was unnecessary at the moment, it was good to have Daisy in my corner. She was fierce when it came to protecting her friends. She glanced between us and promptly pulled out a chair.
“Okay, consider me, I don’t know, her…her friend who will kick your ass if needed,” she said with a firm nod.
Brad flashed a small grin. “Fair enough. Mind if I ask you a question?”
“Go for it,” Daisy replied firmly.
“Any comment on the situation?”
“Joe deserved it. That’s exactly what I think.”
Brad angled his head to the side. “Perhaps you could elaborate on why you think that?”
Daisy leaned forward, her brown eyes fairly snapping with anger. “He raped and assaulted my friend. Even if she wasn’t my friend, I’d have been horrified by what he did. He made the court case into a living hell for her, making it not worth going through a trial, and he got off way too easy if you ask me. Karma’s like a boomerang and sometimes it takes longer for it to come around, but it always does. A few punches doesn’t even come close to what he put Harper through, so he should still consider himself lucky.”
I almost laughed, not because it was funny, but rather the overwhelming relief made me giddy and the circumstances of this particular moment bordered on ludicrous. Brad and Daisy continued talking while my attention started to wander a bit. Until Daisy said… “Well, I mean it’s obvious Alex did it for love.”
My head whipped in her direction, my heart starting to bang wildly in my chest, and hope waving a little flag and dancing inside. I promptly ignored hope’s attention-seeking gambit. The last thing I needed was to start getting all wistful over what might be. Daisy was definitely on the passionate side when it came to her feelings. She felt everything strongly, and tended to assume the same of everyone. “Daisy, I don’t know…”
She waved a hand dismissively in my direction. “You can be all coy about it, but it’s not going to change anything. He wouldn’t have been so angry if he didn’t really care about you.”
“Yeah but, I don’t think…”
Brad caught my eye and shook his head. “Don’t worry. I won’t be announcing Mr. Gordon’s in love with you. Well, unless he tells me so,” he said with another slight smile.
Daisy crossed her legs, one foot bouncing up and down. “Oh whatever. You should let it be a good story. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself with the whole love thing, but you have to admit he’s way into you.”
I blushed so hard, I could’ve used some cold water to splash on my face. I couldn’t quite believe we were having this conversation in front of a reporter, but then Daisy was never one to shy away from anything. I looked to Brad. “Did you have any more questions for me?”
“Just one: do you have any concerns that Mr. Schmidt is a risk to other women?”
His question took me aback, but only for a second. I knew the answer without hesitation. “Of course. He never took responsibility for what he did even when he accepted the plea deal. I’ve always wondered if it would happen again.”
Chapter Fifteen
Alex
I breathed in the cool, rainy air and slowed my stride as we approached the entrance to the park. Harper was still meeting me daily to run. Honestly, I had tried to run every day before, but practice was enough of a workout that I’d skip here and there. With Harper, I hadn’t missed a day. Another two weeks had passed since I’d landed my fist in Joe’s face and not much had really happened with that. Zoe kept Coach and I apprised of her communication with the prosecutor, but beyond the initial filing of charges, nothing had changed. She’d filed something to delay something—hell, she told me what, but it was in dry, legal terms so I didn’t absorb it—and told us she preferred to take a wait and see approach. She thought Joe might back off if he got too much public pressure. I kept reminding her I had actually punched him, but she shrugged it off.
Meanwhile, I was doing my damnedest to ignore the press, while Coach was busy stirring it up. He didn’t seem to care what the status of my charges was. He was focused on the whole ‘good guy Seattle Stars player’ press. Harper had told me about her call from the reporter from the Seattle Observer and showed me the story he wrote. I figured it was her call to say whatever she wanted, but it sure seemed like the reporter had some lingering opinions on what happened with Joe’s old case. He spent half of the article reviewing the light sentence Joe got and comparing it to average sentences for the crimes he’d pled to. Oh, it bloody pissed me off that rape wasn’t on that list, but Joe was stuck with assault charges.
The good thing in all this: I got to see Harper more. Beyond our morning runs, I’d stolen another two nights with her. I glanced to her as we transitioned to a walk once we reached the sidewalk beyond the park entrance. Like me, she eschewed a raincoat when we ran in the rain, insisting it was annoying to listen to the rustle of it and she didn’t mind getting wet. Her dark brown hair was wet with a loose lock sticking to her cheek. Without thinking, I reached over and brushed it off her cheek. She glanced to me, her blue eyes bright in the silvery gray light.
Ju
st like that, I was hard. The air around us felt electrified. I almost stumbled, too busy staring at her when we reached a cross street that I didn’t notice I was stepping off the sidewalk.
“Alex!”
She grabbed my arm just as a car whizzed by. Bloody hell. This woman made me lose my mind and definitely my focus. We stood there with her hand curled around my forearm and the misty rain falling all around us. Cars passed by, one rolling through a puddle nearby and sending a splash of water on our legs. The splash penetrated the fog in my brain, and I finally tore my gaze away. I shook my arm loose, curled my hand around hers and started walking. I had one thing on my mind. I needed Harper. Now.
Our route through the park this morning landed us closer to my flat on the way back. It was a bloody good thing Harper seemed to be of the same mind as me because otherwise I’d have been practically dragging her. As it was, we were almost running when we reached the steps to my building. Usually, I’d stop the check on Callie, but not today. We made it through my front door in seconds, and I spun around the moment the door slammed shut behind us.
We were both drenched. My t-shirt was sticking to my skin, as was hers. That worked for me because her nipples were tight peaks through her bra and shirt. When she looked up at me as she leaned against the door, a drop of rain rolled down her cheek and onto her neck. I dipped my head and licked it off. Just that small taste of her skin and lust bolted through me.
Our lips collided in a hot, wet, messy kiss. I wanted to devour her, frantic to slake the need pounding through me. Seeing her daily kept me in a state of semi-constant arousal, all the while I was trying not to force myself into her life. Liam had told me enough times I could be intense, so I’d been trying to tone it down and let the course of what was happening between us unfold gradually. Bloody hell. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done. The only time I wasn’t batting thoughts of her away was during practice and games.
Harper’s tongue dueled with mine and she nipped at my lips, an edge of wildness to her that matched my own. Her skin was cool and damp and pebbled under my touch. Her head thumped against the door when I stepped back and dragged her wet t-shirt over her head, her bra following in quick succession. Her nipples, dusky pink and damp, tempted me as they tightened further in the cool air, but she didn’t give me a chance to draw one into my mouth when she yanked at my shirt, sliding her hands up underneath and stepping closer to me.
I reached behind my head and tugged my shirt away where it fell to the floor in a rumple with hers. Before I had a chance to think, her lips were mapping their way down my chest as she shoved my shorts down, immediately curling her palm around my cock when it bounced free from my briefs. My knees almost gave way at the feel of her stroking me. I was pushed up against the edge of my control and so hard, I was on the verge of pain.
Her lips kept mapping their way down, and I groaned when she dragged her tongue along the underside of my cock. She shimmied down to her knees, and I gripped her damp hair, powerless to stop her when she set to explore every inch of my shaft with her lips and tongue. By the time she drew me into her warm mouth, I was about to explode.
“Harper,” I bit out, my voice rough.
She paused and drew back, the act itself almost making me lose the thin thread of control I was holding onto. Her eyes whipped up, dark blue through her lashes, which were damp and spiky from the rain. I meant to say something. Hell if I knew what. That brief pause helped me regain a smidgen of control. Before she set to licking, stroking and sucking me to the very edge of my sanity. My mind zeroed in on one thing—I wanted to be inside of her.
It was an act of pure will, driven by the lash of my need, to step back and pull her up roughly. Her lips were swollen and pink between our kisses and what she’d just been doing to my cock. I was beyond anything even resembling control. I shoved at her running pants, which were fitted as it was and damp on top of it. As a result, she almost fell over in the course of me nearly tearing them off. A half-wall ran a few feet alongside the door where a shelf held keys and the like that I tended to toss there when I entered.
In Harper’s stumble, she caught her balance on the top of the wall and paused to kick her shoes off and free her legs from the tangle. Her bottom, that delectably lush bottom, faced me, and my last bit of restraint snapped. I stepped to her and ran a palm down her back, grimly savoring the hitch in her breath and the feel of her skin pebbling under my touch. I took another step, my cock brushing against her. Her back arched naturally as I dragged my palm in another pass along her spine, this time sliding down into the cleft between her thighs. I slid a finger through her folds, slicking it in her wetness. She was so wet, I almost came at the thought of how it would feel to sink inside of her. That flickering thought drove me, and I positioned myself behind her, gripping my cock in my hand and dragging it back and forth against her.
She moaned and arched further, her bottom rising to me. I was so far gone, I almost forgot a condom. At the last second, my cock in my fist and its tip resting at the entrance to her core, I remembered.
“Bloody hell! Hang on…”
I started to step away and whipped back to her when she spoke.
She was looking over her shoulder, the sight of her so sexy, it hit me right in the chest. With her damp locks partially drying, her hair was a rumpled mess. Her eyes were dark and her cheeks flushed. “Where are you going?” she asked, her question impatient, her tone husky.
I swallowed. “Condom.”
She shook her head. “I’m on the pill. Until you, there was no one for four years. I’m not worried if you’re not.”
I stared at her. “Are you…?”
Her eyes darkened further. “Oh. My. God. If I wasn’t sure, I wouldn’t say anything.”
She started to straighten, but that’s all I needed. I was back behind her in a flash. I glanced down between us. Wetness slicked her folds, tempting me further even though I was already ruled by my need. My cock was about to burst, but I hung on with every ounce of control I had left and slowly eased inside of her. Her channel throbbed around me, its warm, wet, pulsing clench felt so bloody good, I groaned. I gripped her hip with one hand and slid the other up her back and threaded my fingers in her hair as I set to rocking into her.
She’d taken me so close to the edge before, I was there already, pleasure thundering through me with every drive into her. I hung on, determined she’d find her release first. I slipped my hand down through her curls, finding her clit hot, swollen and wet. She cried out, her creamy clench tightening around my cock and sending me hurtling. My release pounded through me and poured into her. I eased my grip on her hair and curled my hands over hers where she held onto the wall. We stood like that with me leaning over her, my forehead resting in the dip of her shoulder, breathing her scent in, as we slowly caught our breath.
After a few moments, I felt her skin pebbling again and realized she must be cold. Between running through the rain and the heat of our encounter dissipating, it figured she would be. I straightened and stepped back, regretfully sliding out of her, and lifted her into my arms.
She didn’t resist and relaxed into my hold, her eyes flicking up to mine. “Where are we going?” she asked, a subtle smile curling one corner of her mouth.
“Shower.”
Chapter Sixteen
Harper
I stepped into the hallway outside Alex’s front door, reluctant to leave. Although I didn’t have to work today, I’d promised Olivia I’d stop by and help her paint the extra bedroom in the apartment she shared with Liam. They were in the midst of looking for a house to buy and sprucing up the apartment in advance. I looked up at Alex, straight into his dark chocolate gaze, and felt my heart thump. It should’ve been enough that we’d just ripped each other’s clothes off and he’d sent me flying with another intense climax, but it wasn’t. I hadn’t allowed myself to give in to how much and how often I wanted him. I kept thinking I’d start to slake my need. The opposite seemed to be happening. Every time
I was with him, the need gripped me more deeply. I was about to say something when I heard a sound.
I glanced to the main entrance door, which had been left slightly ajar. I surmised Alex and I hadn’t quite closed it in our rushed stumble inside. Callie stepped through the door, a soft mewling sound coming from her. She was drenched. Her fur, a calico mix of brown, black and gold, was sticking up in spikes here and there and wet everywhere. Her mostly gold face lifted, her dark eyes looking at us. For a moment, we both froze. When she didn’t dash away, I knelt down.
“Hey Callie girl,” I said, trying to keep my voice low.
Alex stepped into the hallway and knelt beside me. He was quiet and simply held a hand out. Callie approached slowly, while I hardly dared to breathe. She looked rather bedraggled and was likely cold. I glanced through the window outside to see the rain had picked up from its earlier drizzle and was falling steadily now. She incrementally approached us, sidling along the hallway wall until she reached Alex. After a moment of complete stillness, she sniffed his hand and remained still when he softly scratched under her chin. She emitted a rumbling purr.
I looked at him and was torn between laughter and tears, although I kept my emotions in check. Here was this man, tall, strong and imposing, called the Beast by his teammates, trying to make himself as reassuring as possible for a stray cat. I didn’t know what to think of what it said about him as a man. Perhaps, it was more honest to say I didn’t know what to think of what he was coming to mean to me. As a man, he held true strength, the kind where he didn’t need to use it to intimidate anyone. Underneath his thoroughly masculine, alpha-sexy exterior beat the heart of a true gentleman and a softie to boot.
I thought Callie was precious, but she looked rather pathetic at the moment. She was wet, dirty and skinny. After a few quiet moments of Alex rubbing her chin, she dashed past him into his apartment. He stood slowly and glanced to me, his eyes questioning. I gestured with my hand for him to close the door, so he did.