by Jenika Snow
“Yeah.” He looked pleased, and she also saw a hint of relief. He smoothed his fingers over her cheek, as if memorizing her. He took his other hand and moved it between their bodies, positioning himself at her entrance. At the feel of the thick head of his shaft breaching her opening, she didn’t hold back the groan of satisfaction.
“Wrap your legs around me, Mary.” She did what he wanted and crossed her feet against his lower back. A grunt left him when her moving around, trying to get into position, had another inch being pushed inside of her. He didn’t tease her this time, just slowly pushed every bit of his cock into her. A mask of ecstasy washed over his face when he bottomed out inside of her. “It feels so good, Mary. You’ll never know how good you feel to me.” He pressed his face into the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply.
Alex started slowly thrusting in and out of her. He would pull out just enough that the crown of his dick was the only thing lodged in her pussy, and then he would push back into her. His movements were unhurried, languished. His eyes were closed, the tendons in his neck taut, and his jaw clenched. He looked so good, so male. He was going slowly for her, and she could see by the way he strained above her that he wanted to go faster, harder, like how he had taken her in the locker room.
“You don’t have to hold back for me, Alex. I just want you to take me.” He slowly opened his eyes, but only half way. The drugged look that he wore had her pussy clenching around his length, which caused him to groan deep in his throat.
“I do, Mary, I really do have to hold back. You have no idea what I want to do to you, how I want to touch you, kiss you, and how hard I want fuck you.” He shoved deep inside of her, and she moved up the bed an inch. His hands were on the bed beside her head, and she could see out of the corner of her eyes the way he pulled at the sheets, clenching the material in his big fists. When he dipped his head and ran the tip of his nose along the shell of her ear, Mary shivered in response. “You’d run screaming if you knew how much I want to own your body, and mark you so every fucking guy knows that you’re mine.”
He pulled out and thrust hard into her again. She moved up the bed one more inch, and a cry of pleasure left her. He gripped a chunk of her hair, tilted her head back as far as it would go, baring her throat to him completely, and gently bit the side of her neck.
“Does that scare you, Mary?” He pumped into her again, shallowly so that she was aching for more. “Does it scare you to know that I want every part of you, and that if another guy looks at you the wrong way, talks to you, or God help him, touches you, I’ll fucking beat his ass so bad he won’t be able to walk right ever again?” His words were dangerous and low. “Answer me, baby.” Another hard shove into her and she was forced to tighten her fingers on his massive biceps and hold on.
“N-no, it doesn’t frighten me, Alex.” On the contrary, it turned her on so damn much that she no longer had her legs around his waist, but had her feet braced on the mattress and was lifting her hips in time with his powerful pumping.
“Christ, Mary.” He started moving faster, and right when she would have come he pulled out. For a moment Mary was stunned speechless. Had he really just stopped when she was so close? She lifted her head to stare at him from between her legs. Alex was on his knees, his erection jutting forward, and the indentation of the piercing at the tip of his shaft visible through the condom. He gripped the root of his shaft, breathed in and out heavily, and stared at her pussy.
“I want to take you from behind, Mary.” He lifted only his eyes to her, and she licked her lips and nodded. He didn’t smile, didn’t move, and just continued to stare at her. Mary moved so she was on her hands and knees, and looked at Alex from over her shoulder. He still gripped himself, but now he took his free hand and ran it over his mouth, back and forth, as he stared at her ass. “Pull your ass apart, Mary. Let me see what’s mine.”
Her heart was beating double time, and the fact he had spoken so demandingly had her doing exactly what he said. She reached behind her, gripped the mounds and spread them. He groaned deep in his throat. He moved closer, so close that his body heat made her feel like a fire surrounded her. Placing the tip of his erection at the opening of her pussy once more, she expected him to slam inside of her, but he didn’t, and instead held onto her waist, grunted, and moved back into her with a tenderness that startled her. Over and over he pulled out and pushed back in, never increasing his speed, but making sure to fill her completely and thoroughly. She ached for more, needed it as fierce as she knew he could give. The sheets were bunched in her hands, and she looked over her shoulder once more, not afraid to ask him what she really wanted.
“Alex.” Her voice was soft, but strained from the need to come desperately. “I need you to give it to me. You’re holding back.” He looked at her, and she saw the way his throat worked when he swallowed. He was nearly out of her body, but after she said what she wanted he curled his fingers into her waist and shoved back into her, hard. “Oh, God.” She closed her eyes as a ripple passed through her. He did it again and again, keeping a bruising grip on her as he pounded into her already deliciously sore pussy. She was so close to getting off, but before she could take matters into her own hands and touch herself, Alex had his finger between her thighs and rubbed her clit. He pinched the swollen tissue hard enough that her eyes watered and her orgasm crashed into her. It was agony and ecstasy all rolled into one. She bit her lip, feeling him touch the hidden, engorged bundle of nerves deep within her and felt her pleasure peaking to a volcanic level.
The tangy, metallic flavor of blood filled her mouth, but she didn’t care that she had broken skin, because what Alex was doing to her at this moment couldn’t be called anything but fucking her raw. Her breasts shook from the force of his thrusts, and the sound of their damp skin slapping together filled her ears. He grunted and growled behind her like some kind of feral animal, but all that accomplished was having another series of smaller contractions going off inside of her, milking him like a fiend. With one ear-splitting groan he buried the full length of his dick inside of her and came. She felt how tense he was, how hard and bunched his muscles were as he strained behind her. When his body was no longer taut he covered her back with his chest, his warm, humid breath coasting along her nape.
They fell to the side at the same time, and Alex immediately curled his arms around her and brought her back to his solid chest. His shaft softened inside of her, but was no way flaccid, and she wiggled against him. He nipped her earlobe and groaned. “You better stop doing that, or we will be going round two.” He kissed her ear and pulled out of her, much to her disappointment. He left the room, presumably to go to the bathroom, but she was too tired to open her eyes and check. A few minutes later he was back and sliding into bed beside her, resuming the spooning position with her back to his chest. They were quiet for several moments, and just as she was about to pass out his deep voice pierced the stillness.
“Thank you for sharing a part of yourself with me tonight. It means the world that you trusted me.” He buried his face in her hair and inhaled.
“I’m glad I told you, too.” And she was. As the silence once again descended upon them, Mary let her thoughts take over for just a moment, and let herself entertain the idea that she could easily fall in love with Alex Sheppard.
Chapter Sixteen
Sweat fell into the Alex’s eyes as he made another lap around the field. He may not be able to play in any games until all this shit was sorted out, but he still went to practice with the rest of the team. Alex was actually grasping what Mary was teaching him, which surprised the hell out of him since concentrating while around her was pretty fucking hard. What he knew for sure, he had no idea what the hell he had signed up for when he decided to take a Human Sexuality class. She was patient with him, because ever since their relationship had gotten physical he hadn’t been able to keep his hands off of her. But her little “rewards” if he paid attention and stopped manhandling the tutor were incentive enough for him to a
ctually focus.
Now it was Friday, and they were supposed to head to her family’s place for dinner tonight. The whole situation was crazy, unpredictable, and he loved ever fucking minute of it.
He made one more lap and stopped when he reached his teammates. They all breathed out heavily, but running around the field was punishment for a few of the guys coming in late and hungover or still partially drunk.
“I should make you guys do another twenty laps just for the hell of it.” Coach stopped in front of them and scowled. Yeah, he was pissed, and whenever Coach was angry it was a pretty scary thing to see. “I don’t know how many times I’ve warned you about coming to practice hungover, but I’m sick of it. I don’t care if it wasn’t all of you, because we are a team, and when one of you screws up, the whole lot of you do.” He scanned his eyes over the players and stopped on Alex longer than the rest. “I’m surprised more of you aren’t failing your courses and in Sheppard’s position. In fact, I thought you would have been smarter than he was and taken his screw-up as a life lesson.”
Alex tensed in anger for being called out in front of everyone, but he kept his mouth shut. A few of the guys cast him a wary glance, but quickly averted their eyes when he narrowed his at them.
“No one is leaving practice until every single one of you sweats out the alcohol, and the only thing you’ll want to do on a Friday night is ice your muscles.”
There was a collective groan. Alex looked at his watch. He was supposed to head home, pack a weekend bag, and pick Mary up at her house in an hour. They would then head over to her parents’. He had reserved a hotel room, and the thought of having her all alone, under him, and crying out his name, had him hard as fuck. He adjusted himself through his outfit and walked over to where Coach was talking to a few of his teammates.
“Now get your asses back on the field and run Play 3 again until it’s right.” Coach turned to Alex.
“Coach, I’m supposed to be heading out this weekend with my girl. I can’t really stay late tonight.” There was a moment of silence. Coach shook his head. “You are one of the ones that needs to stay, Sheppard.”
“I’ve been on time since you told me about bringing my average up, and I haven’t come to practice hangover. I’m also working my ass off trying to get my grades up.”
“You want an award, Sheppard?” Alex gritted his teeth and tightened his hands into fists. Coach was to be respected, but that didn’t mean he liked people talking down to him.
“No, but I am telling you I need to leave. I’ve got plans.”
Coach’s expression stayed bland. “Looks like you’re going to have to be late, Sheppard. Now go with the team and practice.” He didn’t give Alex time to comment, because he was already making his way to the field. Alex turned around and watched his teammates get in formation to practice a play. Shit. He could leave, but there would no doubt be serious repercussions involved, and he was already on probation.
“Fuck.” He quickly walked over to his duffle and grabbed his cell from inside. After he dialed Mary’s number he turned away from the field and braced his arm on the cement wall.
“Hi.” The smile in her voice was contagious, and he found himself smiling in return.
“Hey, baby.”
“Are you on your way?” He voice was soft, melodic, and had him closing his eyes and savoring it. Shit, he was so into her, and he didn’t care what anyone said about that.
“Aww, baby, I have to stay late for practice tonight. Coach is really being hard on the guys coming in hungover.” He heard the sound of a zipper being closed and knew she was getting ready.
“Really?” Her disappointment was clear. “You can’t leave early? Maybe tell your coach you have plans?”
“I’m sorry, baby, but I’m already on probation because of my grades, and I really don’t want to piss anyone else off.”
“Well, you are still coming, though, right?”
Things with them were so different now, and he couldn’t even explain it rationally. Just a few short weeks ago he would have never thought he would ache just to see Mary’s face, just to hear her voice, and to touch her skin. But all of that changed when she gave herself to him at Frost’s and only continued to change for the better every time he saw her, hell, every time he spoke with her. They may not have sat down and discussed what kind of relationship they were in, but there wasn’t anyone else for him. Besides, the way she looked at him told Alex she was just as into this as he was. He didn’t look at other girls, didn’t think about other girls, and sure as hell didn’t get wood when one of them in a short skirt brushed by him. All he wanted anymore was a certain dark haired girl with vibrant blue eyes and a passion inside of her that could bring him to his knees in more ways than one. He looked at the dull porous grey wall in front of him and flattened his hand on the rough surface.
Could he actually love someone in such a short amount of time? He had never been in love, didn’t know what it felt like, but the emotions inside of him every time he looked at Mary told him what he felt for her wasn’t just desire for her. He cared about her, so fucking much. If this was what love felt like, this deep need to protect her, and the possessiveness that consumed him when he was around her, then yeah, he loved her, so damn much.
“I don’t know how late I’ll be, but yeah, baby, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” And he wouldn’t, because he would go anywhere with her, do anything for her, and there wasn’t anything on the planet that could stop him. His friends would call him pussy-whipped, but it was so much more than that. He was in love for the first time in his life, and there wasn’t anything that could take that elation from him.
****
Mary dreaded going to this wedding. Not only was Alex still practicing and not coming until later, but she was stuck in her parents’ stuffy dining room having to listen to Margo going on and on about how unhappy she was about every little aspect of the wedding décor, the dresses, even the music. Of course Margo was very high maintenance, but she could also be a mega-bitch on the best of days. So here she was, sitting at the table with her family, and listening to Margo complain about how the red wine was too dry for her liking. Joe sat beside Margo like the proper gentleman, agreeing with everything she said.
“Mary, did you hear what your sister asked you?” Mary looked over at her mom, realizing she had been zoning off.
“I’m sorry, no. I was lost in thought.” When she was around her family she was expected to be the proper daughter of the Trellis’s. Her back was straight, her hands neatly folded in her lap, and she felt like a total imposter. It was all automatic.
“I asked what happened to your date? Did he bail?”
She glared at Margo.
“He’ll be here later. He had practice, and it ran late.” Before Margo could spit back a smart-assed comment, which Mary knew was poised on the tip of her tongue, the front door bell chimed, and her mother clapped.
“Oh, Mary, I forgot to tell you I ran into an old friend of yours a few weeks back.” Mary’s heart picked up speed because she could imagine exactly which “friend” her mother was referring to, especially since Lance had called her a couple of weeks ago. Her mom was up and moving to the door before the Trellis family “help” could get to it first. God, her mom was overly excited. She heard excited chatter and then Lance’s deep, snobby voice. Moments later her mother and ex-boyfriend came back into the dining room, but Mary refused to make eye contact with him. This whole situation was bullshit. She was angry that her mom had brought him here, but in her defense Mary hadn’t told anyone why they had broken up, or all the horrible things he had done to her. After their conversation on the phone several weeks back, she thought Lance would have taken the hint she wanted nothing to do with him. Clearly that wasn’t the case at all.
“Mary, are you even going to say hello to Lance?”
Clenching her hands around the linen napkin on her lap, she lifted her head and looked at the guy who had made her feel like she was nothing in e
very sense of the word. Lance Marten, with his perfectly styled short blond hair and clear blue eyes, looked exactly how she remembered when she left him at that party two years ago. At just a glance he seemed like a perfect boy-next-door type, but under that exterior he was worthless. The argyle print sweater vest he wore was wrinkle free and flat against his starched white button-down shirt, and his Dockers were pressed to perfection. He smiled at her, but she knew Lance well enough to see a pile of shit when it was right in front of her.
“It is so good to see you again, Mary. It has been so long.” He moved around the table, and she tensed. His smile was bright white and straight. No doubt he had bought himself a set of veneers. Before she could move he gripped her under the arms and hauled her up smoothly.. He pulled her close to him, and she nearly gagged at the strong smell of his Polo cologne. It was the same cologne he wore when they had been dating, and a scent she couldn’t stomach any longer because she always attributed it to his drunken outbursts, and the way she had felt with him … dependent and needy.
Whispering so only she could hear Lance said, “Since you didn’t want to see me on your own, I was lucky enough to run into your mother at the country club. Strange how things work out like that, huh?” Yeah, how convenient. “It is so good to see you.” He moved back and smiled broadly at her. “I can’t believe it. You haven’t changed at all.”
She wanted to push him away, to tell him it was only two years, not a decade, since they had last seen each other. Being in front of him again told her two things: she still hated him, and as much as she had grown since being away, and become stronger, there was still a part of her that felt small when in his presence. Here she had thought she had grown since leaving Brentsville, Lance, and her family’s strict, tight rein on her life. Had she been that wrong, or was she just letting Lance control a part of her that he had no claim over?
What she wanted was Alex, to feel his strong hands holding, his scent washing away Lance’s sickly sweet cologne. Alex didn’t care about a title, or a social status. Her mother was all but beaming at their reunion, and her father stared stoically at them.