by Anthology
Five minutes later we’re toweling off and putting our clothes back on. Sadness is etched on her face, and I can’t help but draw her back into my arms.
“Hey, I don’t want to go,” I remind her.
She nods against my chest, heaving a sigh. “I know,” she replies. “I just hate to be away from you so much. I miss seeing you every day.”
I rub soothing circles on her back and kiss the top of her head. “Let’s go out to dinner tomorrow night,” I suggest, and she looks up at me, a hopeful glint in her eyes.
“Really?”
We don’t get to go out that often. Between both of our schedules, we’ve been confined to mostly stolen moments. We haven’t had a date in weeks.
“There are a bunch of places to eat on or near your campus, right?” I ask.
She’s beaming at the idea, nodding as she stands on the tips of her toes and smashing her lips to mine. “My last class gets out at six, and there is a great little Mexican place right off campus,” she says excitedly.
“Apparently I’m not taking you out enough.”
“It’s statistically proven that taking a woman out ups your chances for sex,” she informs me, a devious glint in her eyes.
“But I already get sex every time I see you.”
She thinks on it for a moment. “Ok, ups your chances for anal sex.”
I stand a little straighter. “I’ll be taking you out every fucking night then.” I’ve been trying to ease her into the idea of anal play for a few weeks now.
She giggles and takes my hand while shaking her head. We head down the stairs of her parents’ house and out to her car so she can drop me back off at mine.
The truth is, we don’t go out often for fear of being seen by someone we know and it getting out. There are things that need to be cleaned up before that can happen.
School started back up a week ago for Alyssa, putting my temptation away from the office for almost a month now. It’s been agony without her, and everyone has suffered from the ill mood it has put me in. When I do get to see her, it is in brief, stolen moments, leaving me refreshed, but my mood goes downhill pretty fast once I am no longer in her presence.
My fingers lace with hers, and I hate that I have to let them go soon, that I have to leave her. The car pulls into the parking lot and to the backside of the building, where I moved my car as I left for the day. I crash my lips to hers, relishing her taste because it will have to last me nearly twenty-four hours.
“Have a good night, baby,” I whisper against her lips and pull my body out of the car and away from her.
“Sweet dreams,” she calls back.
I dip my head back in the car, kissing her again before saying, “They’re always sweet. They star you.”
It makes her smile and gives me a little more sunshine. Taking a deep breath, I climb into my car and start it up. She turns right out of the parking lot, while I turn left. Not even a block apart, and I miss her already.
The drive gives me time to think. It’s terrible that my… Well, that was another thing—my relationship status with Alyssa. Though we’ve never really said anything, the label of girlfriend definitely applies.
That said, it’s terrible that my girlfriend was so excited over a date. Am I that shitty of a boyfriend?
Apparently so, since I’m just now realizing what started off as a fling long ago graduated to a relationship. I know it’s been a while since I was in a new relationship, but maybe I am a selfish bastard, only thinking of myself.
There are a couple of things I know Alyssa wants, and my divorce with Rachel being finalized is one of them. When that’s done, we’ll both feel better telling Cooper and the rest of her family about us. Maybe then we’ll be able to fully explore this.
I’m tired of hiding. Tired of sneaking around. I’m not a teenager anymore, I’m an adult, and I want an adult relationship with my girlfriend…even if she is a teenager herself. Luckily I won’t feel so weird about that soon—her birthday is next month.
As I pull into the driveway, I stop the car halfway up—the lights are shining out the windows on the first floor. I look up the driveway and spot Rachel’s car sitting by the back door.
Motherfucker. She must’ve made a copy of her key before she gave it back.
I park the car and slam the door, storming in and making sure to slam that door as well.
She’s standing at the counter in what I’m sure she thinks is an alluring outfit.
“Welcome home, darling,” she says, a fake smile plastered on her face, a bottle of white wine in her hand as she pours it into a glass.
“Get the fuck out of my house.”
I loosen my tie and open the fridge, looking for something to eat. There is little to no food sitting on the shelves, so I pull out a container and open it, sniffing the contents. I cringe and pull it out, throwing it in the trash—an all-too-common occurrence. I never did get back into cooking. Instead, I pull out a bottle of red wine and pour a glass.
She watches me, unfazed and not leaving. “I was thinking…maybe we could spend some quality time together.”
“I don’t want to spend any time with you, quality or other.” I down half the glass, so annoyed I’m unable to even enjoy it.
“Dean,” she begins, standing in front of me and placing a perfectly manicured hand that I paid for on my chest. I glare down at it, jaw clenched tight. “I feel like I hardly see you anymore. You’re always working.” Her hand creeps higher, and my eyes narrow further. “Baby, why don’t we move to the bedroom…?”
“What do you want?” I snap, cutting her off.
“I was just thinking we should go on vacation, maybe to Tahiti or something. Spend some time together, just the two of us. I think we need to…reconnect. Stop all this silly divorce nonsense.” She reaches down and cups me, but it doesn’t stir anything.
I grab her hand and pull it from my body. “Rachel, I don’t want you.”
She pulls back, her face screwing up into an annoyed look as she crosses her arms. “Are you sleeping with someone? Cooper’s little sister? My lawyer said it doesn’t matter, since there’s no evidence it started before the divorce, but that’s it, isn’t it? That’s why you won’t give in?”
“I won’t give in because I can’t stand the thought of entering a place that countless men have been since we met,” I sneer, and she gasps in indignation. “Don’t try to deny it. You fuck anything with a dick.”
“What the hell do you call what I’m doing now?”
“Seducing me so you can get whatever expensive thing you want today... I’m not stupid,” I say and push past her, picking up my laptop and heading down the hall.
“No, you’re just an idiot! I got you to marry me without a prenup!”
I stop in my tracks and turn toward her. She’s smirking at me like she’s won.
“That may be the case, but who has all the access to the money? Yeah, not you, bitch.”
My retort wipes that damn smug look right off her face and she turns red, screeching at my back.
“I’ll take you for everything, Dean! Everything!” she screams.
“Get the fuck out, Rachel, before I call the cops.” I don’t wait to hear her response, letting the slamming of my office door cut her off.
Slumping down in my chair, I rub my face. I was happy half an hour ago, and within five minutes of getting home, I’m miserable. I pull out my phone and send her a text, knowing she’s probably made it to her evening class.
I miss you.
Simple, but it’s very much the truth.
Miss you too *kisses* – Aly
I chuckle at her response and relax a bit. Just talking to her, even in this manner, calms me. Maybe it’s because in the almost two months we’ve been together, she gets me more than Rachel ever has. Alyssa might be young, but I’ve never felt a connection to anyone like the one I have with her. Smart, sweet, sassy, modest, and sexy as hell.
My little temptation with her seductive, plump lips…
I smirk as I look at the clock; she’s in her business lecture. The perfect opportunity to send her dirty texts.
Tomorrow I’m going to eat you out until you’re begging me to stop. Then you’ll wrap your luscious lips around my cock and take it all in before I fuck you until you pass out.
That should make her squirm.
It’s not a moment later that my phone buzzes with her reply.
Meanie!! And I’m looking forward to dinner and the after show. ;) – Aly
I smile and put the phone away, moving instead to the large stack of mail. The bills I pull aside while the rest meets the trash can. I rub my face and open up my email, looking for anything that isn’t garbage. Then I log onto Facebook for my daily dose of social media. Alyssa is in class, so I can’t chat with her, but as I scan the list of people online, I stop at Megan Lockley—Cooper’s wife and my divorce lawyer.
Megan is an awesome ally to have on my side, and I’m happy to have someone I know and trust handling my shit divorce. I first met her five years ago, shortly after she started dating Cooper. It was the friend test. That night we did shots, head-to-head, and when I won, she called me a “fucking, wanking tool.” When I asked her which was it, fucking or wanking, she snorted and said “Well, you’re fucking your hand when wanking it, aren’t you?”
She got the thumbs up, and I can’t see a more perfect woman for my best friend.
Dean: Need you.
Megan: Sure. Cooper’s at the gym. What’s going on?
Dean: Rachel was here when I got home. Can we use that against her so she’ll finalize this damn thing? I want it over. I need it over.
Megan: Coop says you’ve seemed happy lately. Does that have something to do with it?
Dean: It’s been a year. I’m ready to have her completely out of my life. And yes, being happy is part of it but I can’t elaborate right now. Cooper will kill me when he finds out.
Megan: Unless you’re fucking his sister, I don’t think he’ll care.
My eyes widened at the screen. It was just a flippant comment, but she hit the nail on the head. My silence must have been too much, because Megan is typing again.
Megan: Oh, God, please tell me that’s not it. Please tell me you aren’t banging Alyssa.
Dean: I want to be free to date her without all this baggage from Rachel.
Megan: Dean, this is serious. You’re one of his closest friends. When he finds out what you’ve been doing…it won’t be pretty.
Dean: I know, but I don’t think I can live without her anymore.
My admission startles even myself. She is my temptation, my Eve, and I don’t want to be apart anymore. She breathes life into me, and I want her with me always.
I want to spend forever tainting her, making her as addicted to me as I am to her.
Chapter 8
Two weeks later, I’m on campus to pick Alyssa up. I have her class schedule memorized, texting her dirty messages during lectures, teasing her as she did me. Turnabout is fair play and alive in the replies that I receive, leaving me hot, bothered, and desperately wanting. Sometimes even while I’m meeting with clients, which can be very distracting.
I’ve made some changes in my life, one being putting my foot down with Rachel and the divorce. The second is making sure both me and Alyssa carve out time at least twice a week for dinner. During those few short hours I’m privileged too each week, I’m strained to cram in all of my emotions, all of my needs. It’s time I’ve become dependent on. Dependent on seeing her, life reviving into my system and making me functional again.
My dependency has led to a jealousy and fear that I’m unable to express. For the first time in my life I have something real. Someone that I care about with my whole being. But what right do I have to be jealous? I’m a much-older-than-her, still-married man. Doubts creep in, and I’m left eviscerating myself in examination for what I have to keep her. If she leaves me for a guy closer to her age, there’s nothing I can do.
If she leaves me…
One small sentence that shakes my core and shoves it in my face just how much I feel for her. What started out as a little affair, a sexual need, has grown into much more than I could conceivably imagine.
Cooper has noticed the difference in me. He thinks it’s because of a woman, and he’s right, but I haven’t told him anything. Megan has kept her promise and is the only one that knows about us.
“Dean!” Alyssa calls out as she runs to me, her messenger bag swinging.
She jumps into my arms, making me stumble back. I chuckle at her excitement in seeing me. It calms me, knowing she missed me too. I feel the exact same way she does.
“My little temptress, I’ve missed you so much,” I say, pulling her as close as I can, kissing the top of her head.
She laughs and shakes her head. “It’s only been a day.”
“And who jumped into whose arms?”
She bites her bottom lip. “The woman who’s missed you so much she can’t contain her happiness in seeing you.”
Her words work to appease the doubts that are always circling in my brain—if I was closer in age to her, would we be together? Could we be together? Would we have a fighting chance?
We have many obstacles, and a future unknown.
Then it hits me…
Fuck. I’ve fallen in love with my temptation.
More than just unadulterated lust for her sinful body, I also want her mind and her soul. I want everything she has to offer me. And it’s been this way for weeks…more like months.
“If you say things like that, I’ll never be able to let you go,” I whisper in her ear.
She pulls back, smiling up at me. “Then don’t.”
“There’s so much…” I’m silenced by her fingers on my lips, her beautiful eyes staring up at me with no hint of humor.
“My brother, well… he’ll just have to get over it. Honestly, I’m a little confused by you at the moment. Where is my confident, alpha guy? This Dean seems vulnerable, and I’m wondering what has caused my beautiful man such discomfort.”
My eyes seal shut, my forehead resting on hers. She’s never been this blunt before about us, about what she wants—what we both want. In the past few months, she seemed content to only take what I could give her in stolen moments. But now, we both need more. We need to make this something we can have all the time and around the people we care about.
“You have,” I admit. “Being with you.”
There is a moment of pause before she moves to step out of my arms, but I hold her tight.
“So that’s it? Come to brush me off. You’ve had your fill then? Done with the little girl?” she asks angrily, twisting to get out of my arms, and I realize she’s taken my words the wrong way. “Let go of me, Dean!”
“You misunderstood me,” I say, tilting her head to look at me. Tears fill her eyes, her bottom lip trembling. “You make me vulnerable and insecure.”
“How could I make you that way?” She reinvigorates her attempts to get away, but I hold her in place.
“Because I’ve fallen in love with you, and I’m terrified of losing you.”
Her tear-filled eyes turn to look at me, disbelief written on her face. “Don’t say that to appease me.”
“I love you, baby, so much,” I say again, solidifying my words, my forehead resting on hers.
Tears fall from her eyes, her features morphing from pain to a breathtaking, brilliant smile covering her face.
“I love you, too,” she whispers before crashing her lips to mine.
I moan into her mouth, my hands grab onto her soft body, and my cock grows hard.
“Come on, let’s go.” I grab her bag and she wraps her hands around my arm.
Life’s about to get interesting.
“Calm down, baby, you’re sweating,” Alyssa says, trying to soothe me, running her fingers through my hair.
I’m walking into the lion’s den. Of course I’m sweating!
It’s Alyssa’s birthd
ay, and her family is having a party for her. I know we’ve had this planned for weeks, coming out to her family, but now that it’s upon us, the reality is harder than the fantasies we’d been having.
We’re here to tell them we’re together, her whole family, which includes Cooper. It’s one of my birthday presents to her—being free to be together.
Cooper’s already here, his car in the driveway, and I’m a nervous wreck about my best friend’s reaction. Alyssa slips her hand in mine, giving me a reassuring kiss, but it does little to help. Her family thinks they are meeting her boyfriend, “Adam,” but they’re in for a big surprise.
“Just remember, it doesn’t matter what they think,” she says.
I agree, but it doesn’t change the level of anger I know is going to be aimed at me.
She calls out to her parents as we walk in, and I stop breathing. I’ve never been so nervous to meet a girlfriend’s parents, although I already know hers. I even have their phone numbers, gotten drunk with her father a dozen times, and bought her mom Mother’s Day cards.
Cooper’s voice echoes around the walls, growing louder as we enter the open area that holds the kitchen and living room.
“Alyssa!” Cooper grins from ear to ear as he jumps from his seat on the couch and runs over. The smile dies when his eyes land on me. Confusion takes over, but when he sees her hand in mine, it all clicks and I steel myself for my punishment. “Son of a bitch!” His fist collides hard with the side of my face, sending me slamming to the floor.
There are shouts and angry words flying around, along with the ringing in my head, but the one sound that cuts through it all is Cooper falling down on the ground right beside me. I look up to find a very pissed off Alyssa glaring down at him, her fist clenched tight.
That’s my girl.
“He’s married, Alyssa!” Cooper protests, hand holding his jaw where she’d hit him. “And more than a decade older than you!”