Summer Nights: Push It Forward & Hold Your Horses

by Rochelle Paige

  “Then she has me,” I swore before hanging up and calling my dad for help.

  “Hey, Drake! How was the game?” he asked as he picked up the call.

  “It was fine. We won, but I’ve got a problem, Dad,” I answered before explaining what was going on with Alexa.

  “That does sound like it could be a problem. Do you want to ask her if she wants to fly out here to stay with us?” he offered.

  “No, Dad. I need to figure out who’s at the bottom of this. As much as I’d like to just pull her out of her hometown and away from possible danger, it won’t work in the long run because we’ve got to go back to school in a few weeks anyway,” I pointed out.

  “That’s a good point. I know a guy I can call for advice. He’s done some work for me before. I think you’ve even met him a few times. I’m sure he’ll know what to do. I’ll give him a call to see what he thinks our next move should be. So don’t go running off half-cocked until you hear back from me, okay?” he asked.

  “I’m not making any promises, Dad. I’ll head over to talk to Coach and get out of this week’s practices so I can head back early. If I hit the road tonight, I can drive through the night and make it back into town tomorrow.”

  “I recognize that tone of voice, so I know there’s no changing your mind. Just promise me you’ll drive safely and have your coach call me if he gives you any trouble about leaving early,” he offered. “I’ll call you back as soon as I can to let you know what Nico has to say.”

  With a plan in place, I felt some of the weight lift from my shoulders. My dad had my back so I could have Alexa’s. That was exactly how it should be.

  chapter 4

  alexa

  I’d finally given in to my exhaustion and taken a Tylenol PM before going to bed, so the ringing of my phone confused me at first. I thought it was coming from my dream, but the sound was persistent. I reached a hand out to blindly search for my phone, which was resting next to me on my bed for when Drake called me. I’d gone to bed pretty early, but I didn’t want to miss his call.

  “Hello,” I murmured into the line when I managed to grab it. I blearily rubbed at my eyes when there was no reply, trying to peer at the screen to figure out if I’d missed catching him in time. But the call was connected and it said Unavailable instead of Drake’s name. Before I could say anything else, the caller hung up, and I realized that I’d somehow slept through ten missed calls. Back to back to back. All of them showing an unavailable phone number.

  I was officially freaked out. My dad was gone for the next week on a trip for a company who used him for charters a lot, so I was alone in the house, and suddenly, I didn’t feel very safe. What I wouldn’t give for Drake to be here with me right now, but I knew those thoughts were purely selfish. He was exactly where he needed to be, but I definitely needed to tell him what was going on the next time we talked.

  My phone rang again, and I grabbed it and punched the green button without thinking first. “Who the hell is this?” I screamed into the phone.

  “Alexa, it’s me. What the hell’s going on? Are you okay?” Drake asked on the other end of the line.

  “Oh thank God,” I sobbed hysterically. Between the tension of the last week, the medicine I’d taken to help me sleep, and seeing those calls on my phone, I completely lost it.

  “Shhh, baby. Everything’s going to be okay. I promise,” Drake soothed me. “Calm down. Tell me what happened.”

  Everything tumbled out of me in a rambling explanation. The calls, the flower, the weird feeling of being watched, my sudden fear at being home alone tonight. All of it.

  “Alexa,” he sighed. “We’re going to have a serious conversation later about why you waited to talk to me about this. But for now, I want you to go downstairs and make sure the doors and windows are locked and the alarm is set.”

  “Okay,” I whispered, ashamed at the disappointment I’d heard in his tone.

  “Do it now while I’m on the phone with you, baby. I want to make sure you’re safe tonight.”

  I wandered downstairs and made sure everything was locked up. I hardly ever used the alarm system my dad had installed because he wanted me to be secure when he traveled out of town overnight, but I was relieved that he’d had it put in now.

  “All done,” I said as I climbed back into bed and pulled the blankets over my head to shut the rest of the world out.

  “Good,” Drake replied before there was silence on the line.

  It was a deafening silence that made me worry that Drake was pissed and wouldn’t forgive me for not telling him about everything right away. “Are you mad at me?” I asked.

  Drake didn’t answer very quickly, and I felt the tension mounting between us.

  “I’m not happy with you right now,” he admitted. “But we can talk about that later. You need to get some sleep.”

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered , my words slurring slightly as my sleepiness overcame me again.

  “I know you are, baby. Everything will be okay. Sleep now,” he murmured into the line as I felt myself drift off.

  ****

  The sunlight was streaming through my bedroom window when I woke up the next morning. I still felt fuzzy since I always reacted weird to Tylenol PM. I couldn’t even take a full pill. I had cut one in half last night. As I rolled over onto my phone, I realized that the last thing I remembered was talking to Drake about him being angry with me for keeping stuff from him. And rightly so. I didn’t know what I had been thinking. I should have mentioned it after the first phone call. Or at least when it had happened the second morning. Definitely on the third. By then, it had been a pattern I couldn’t ignore.

  Burying my head in the sand wasn’t going to help anything. It seemed like whatever was going on was just getting worse. The call last night had thrown me since it hadn’t been in the morning like the others. And the flower on my car had freaked me out. I needed to figure out what the hell was going on here, but I didn’t have any idea where to even begin other than maybe to call the sheriff’s office. I definitely needed to talk to my dad and Drake about it too.

  I made some coffee to help wake myself up and wandered out onto the front porch as soon as I was able to pour myself a cup. With my first step outside, I could tell that something was wrong. A bunch of white roses were resting on the doorstep. That meant that the person who had been calling had been to my house this morning first thing before I woke up and left them for me.

  I stared at the flowers for a moment before picking them up and tearing them apart in search of a card. There had to be something here that would tell me who had sent them. I needed a sign, a clue, anything to tell me who was behind this all.

  As I was flinging flowers out of the package, the sound of a car turning into the drive startled me. I glanced up and saw Drake’s Viper pulling up to the house. The staggering relief I felt at seeing him, even knowing that it meant he’d left early and drove through the night to me, almost brought me to my knees. I ran towards him and flung myself into his arms as soon as he stepped out of the car. Even with everything hanging over my head, I’d never felt safer than I did with his arms wrapped tightly around me.

  chapter 5

  drake

  I had pushed my car to the limit to make my way back to Alexa as fast as I possibly could, stopping only for a few quick pit stops. My focus had been completely on the drive ahead of me and trying to keep my temper in check. I hadn’t liked the advice my dad had given me when he called back. I liked it even less right now. How in the hell was I supposed to keep a level head when some ass was playing games with my girl?

  When she broke down during our call last night, I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I’d made the right decision in leaving early to be here for her. Having her in my arms right now only reinforced that feeling. I carried her upstairs to her room and dropped her onto her feet before I noticed the rose petals in her hair.

  “What the hell?” I growled, gesturing at her head. I watched as she reached
up and pulled a petal away.

  “I found them outside this morning,” she explained. “But I have no idea who sent them. I couldn’t find a card or anything.”

  I was pissed the hell off that someone was tormenting my girl and frustrated beyond measure that things had gone this far before she’d told me anything. “Dammit, Alexa. You can’t keep shit like this from me.”

  “I’m sorry, Drake. I was going to tell you what was going on. I swear I was. At first, it was just little things and I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t realize that it was so serious, and by then, you were already here.”

  “Goddammit, Alexa!” I roared. “When are you going to get it? If you’ve got a problem, then I’ve got one too! You are mine! Mine to fuck. Mine to love. And mine to protect!”

  “Yes, I’m yours,” she said, trying to soothe the beast that was prowling inside me, but mere words weren’t going to cut it.

  “Strip,” I bit out as I ripped my shirt over my head. She looked at me with a stunned expression on her beautiful face. “Now!” I ordered because she wasn’t moving fast enough. The need to dominate her was riding me hard.

  As soon as she was down to her panties, I tossed her onto the bed and rolled her onto her stomach. I pulled her panties to the side and lifted her ass in the air so I could feast on her from behind. At the first flick of my tongue, I heard her sigh deeply. Stiffening my tongue, I fucked in and out of her body while I roughly held her in place with a tight grip on the crease at the top of her legs.

  I hadn’t shaved in days, and my scruff was scraping against the sensitive skin between her thighs. The red marks on her skin, a stamp of my possession, soothed me a little. But it wasn’t enough. I dipped two fingers inside to make sure she was ready. Thank fuck she always wanted me. I found her dripping wet, so I drove in with one powerful thrust.

  “Do you trust me, baby?” I groaned.

  “Yes,” she gasped out as I drilled her with measured strokes.

  “When you don’t talk to me about shit, it makes me feel like you don’t trust me,” I growled.

  “No, Drake. That wasn’t it at all,” she whimpered, whipping her head back and forth.

  “I don’t know if I believe you, baby. Do you really trust me that much?” I goaded her.

  “Yes! You have to know I do. With everything. Anything.”

  A dark chuckle escaped from my lips as an idea formed in my head. A way to prove that she had complete faith in me.

  “Give me your hands, Alexa.”

  “What?” she asked, turning her head to look at me over her shoulder with a dazed look on her face as I held still behind her with my cock buried deep inside.

  I pushed her shoulders down on the bed and drew her hands behind her back. I gripped them tightly in one fist and lifted one of her knees so I could fuck her slow and deep.

  “I know it’s gonna hurt a little, baby. I have it on high authority to fuck some communication skills into you. I’ve never been this far before, but I need you to trust me to make it good for you. Can you do that for me, Alexa?”

  “Yes,” she hissed out.

  “Fuck. Just like that,” I groaned as I bottomed out inside her, bumping against her cervix. My balls slapped against her pussy with each thrust, earning me a gasp every time.

  Her hair had slid over her face so I couldn’t see her eyes anymore, so I widened my knees to get more leverage and reached down to pull her hair away. Her walls clenched against me as I tugged it out of the way.

  “More,” she moaned, so I grasped her hair in my fist and yanked it back as I pounded inside even harder.

  “My baby likes being a little bad?” I grunted.

  “Oh God!” she screamed as she flew over the edge and clenched tight around me.

  “Lift your ass higher for me,” I growled as I tugged her hair harder in my fist and pulled her fists up a little to make room for her to follow my command.

  With her body spread out below me, completely at my mercy, I knew she’d gotten my point. I grabbed Lexi’s hips as I hammered inside over and over again. Each punishing thrust a reminder of who she belonged to. Me.

  chapter 6

  alexa

  As I stared out the kitchen window while sipping my coffee, I pondered how the last couple of days had gone by without too much trouble. Having Drake around made me feel less vulnerable. Some women might judge me for it since I should be able to take care of myself, but part of what had drawn me to Drake in the first place was how safe he made me feel. But I’d never expected to be in the kind of situation where he would find the need to take it to the extreme.

  I wasn’t allowed to go anywhere by myself. And since my dad wasn’t back in town yet, that meant that Drake had to take me everywhere. Hell, I was surprised I’d been able to convince him to let me take a plane up without him. Thank God for that because that would be super awkward with a Mile High Club flight. Hello, paying customers who want to get some alone time in the back of my plane. Don’t mind my boyfriend sitting up here with me. I promise he’s not a Peeping Tom, he doesn’t plan to video tape you, and no, he’s not available to join you either. I was pretty sure that wouldn’t have gone over very well at all.

  He also added a ton of bells and whistles to the security system my dad had installed a few years ago. We now had motion detectors inside the house that would trip the alarm if someone made it into the house. How they’d manage that with the motion sensor lights, glass break detectors, and panic buttons he’d also had put in, I had no idea. Add in hidden security cameras so that Drake would be able to catch someone if they approached the house when they weren’t supposed to be there and I felt like I was starring in my favorite movie. Although I didn’t think even Mark Wahlberg would be able to come up with a plan to get in here if I were hiding gold bars in the basement.

  This waiting game was beginning to drive us both crazy. Nothing had happened since Drake had come back to town. I wasn’t sure if I felt better because maybe it was over or worse because it could mean that they were watching me closely enough to know that Drake was with me now. I almost wanted something to happen so we could bring this mess to an end and move on—hopefully with a little more freedom for me.

  “Hey, baby,” Drake whispered in my ear as he wrapped his arms around me.

  I’d left him sound asleep in my bed. In the room I’d grown up in. Where my stuffed animals and dolls rested next to trophies and awards. A room that would never seem innocent to me after the things Drake had done to my body in that bed. Just the thought of what we’d done together had a blush spreading across my body.

  “Mmmmm, what’s put that look on your face?” Drake teased before nipping at my ear.

  I turned in his arms to kiss him good morning. “Well,” I began before I was interrupted by the sound of my cell phone ringing. “That’s weird. It’s Aubrey, but she should be at work already.”

  “Then you better grab it in case it’s something important,” Drake said before giving me a quick, hard kiss on the lips and stepping away to root around in the fridge for stuff to make breakfast with.

  “Hey, what’s up?” I said when I answered the line.

  “Lexi, you are not going to believe who I just saw at the bank. Or I think I saw, because as soon as he saw me, he turned around and left right away—” “Aubrey!” I interrupted her. She wasn’t getting to the point. “Who the hell was it?”

  “Shit, sorry. I could swear it was Brad.”

  “Brad?” I gasped, drawing Drake’s attention back to me.

  “Yeah. I can’t be sure because he took off so quickly. But I really think it was him,” she said. “Do you think he’s behind the strange crap that’s been going on?”

  “I don’t know,” I whispered, staring at Drake with a look of horror on my face.

  He slammed the refrigerator door closed and stomped over to me, grabbing the phone from my hand. “What the hell, Aubrey?” he growled into the line. A variety of expressions crossed his face—understanding, anger,
and even a flash of satisfaction. “Don’t worry. I’ve got her covered. Thanks for letting us know though.”

  He paused to listen to what Aubrey had to say for a moment. “Yeah, I get that you aren’t sure if it was him or not, but at least you’ve given me somewhere to look. I’ll make some calls, find out if he’s in town or not. It’s good to finally have an idea of who the fuck might be behind this shit.”

  I pressed myself against Drake’s body, wanting to get as close as possible.

  “You don’t have to do that,” he said. “Stay where you are. Act like you didn’t see anything wrong and let me do my thing. Trust me. There’s no way in hell I will let anything happen to my Lexi.” Drake punctuated this statement with a kiss to the top of my head as he disconnected the call.

  I was shaking in his arms, relieved to finally have an idea of what had been going on but scared by what this could mean. I thought things with Brad had ended back when the Silvers had gotten him to leave town. Why would he be back and causing problems for me now? It had been ages since I had last seen him.

  “This is a good thing, baby. Knowing where to look will help us end this sooner. You know that, right?” Drake asked.

  My head was buried in his chest. “I know,” I mumbled.

  “Hey, look at me, Alexa,” Drake commanded as he tilted my head up and looked me in the eyes. “What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”

  I felt tears welling up in my eyes and spilling down my cheeks. “I feel like such an idiot. I didn’t really think that it was Brad even though he pulled crap like this before he left town. That’s why Jackson felt the need to push him into leaving. So he wouldn’t bother me anymore.”