3 Book Romance Bundle: "Her Last Love Affair" & "Loving Him Peacefully" & "Unwelcome Reunion"
Page 13
Chapter Eight
Could This Be Real
Allie slowly removed herself from the arms of Morpheus to find her warm pillow moving. It was a small, almost imperceptible undulation, accompanied by a soft, rhythmic thud against her ear. She recalled falling asleep to a faster, harder version of that rhythm. Gradually she opened her eyes and found her hair draped over a tanned chest. As she tried to move, she realized one of her arms was beneath her, while the other was clinging to the warm torso, half-beneath her. Her right leg was tossed over another, more muscular, hairy leg and her inner thigh had something large, warm and flaccid nestled against it.
“Mmm,” she hummed delightedly, tightening her hold on the comfortable pillow.
“Hey,” a deep voice, groggy with sleep, muttered above her.
Tilting her head, Allie looked up at Reece and smiled. A few unruly strands of his thick hair had fallen onto his forehead, this coupled with the joyful grin on his face, gave him an almost naïve, boyish quality. Allie wasn’t fooled, however. The events of the night before left no doubt. Reece was far from naïve, and if Allie had thought he knew his way around a woman’s body at the age of eighteen, it was nothing to what he seemed to have learned in the interim.
“Hey,” she responded warmly. Turning, so she was lying more completely on top of him, she shuffled up his body. “Wow,” she grinned, kissing his lips briefly.
“Yeah,” he acknowledged, sleepily. “Wow, is right.”
“I would ask where you learned some of those moves,” she whispered thoughtfully. “But I don’t think I want to know.”
Reece, dropped his head back on the pillow and chuckled. “It’s not like that,” he insisted. “I mean, I’m not some jerk who-”
Allie silenced him with another kiss, allowing this one to linger a little longer. “It’s all right,” she said, when she finally pulled away. “You don’t have to explain anything to me.”
With a nod of understanding, Reece fixed Allie with a serious expression. “Last night was incredible,” he said.
“For me, too,” she told him, smiling.
“So, umm,” he hesitated. “Can we see each other again?” he asked, placing his hand at the back of his head and tilting his chin, so he could watch her reaction.
Allie’s smile faltered. She was so very tempted to say, ‘yes’. She wanted to see Reece again, wanted to spend more nights, like the last one, with him. She knew, in the seconds after she’d woken, that being with him had been so very different from the others. Each time with the others, she’d experienced a thrill, a temporary satisfaction that burned with as bright a desire almost as soon as the moment passed. With Reece, however, some much deeper need in her had been quenched. She couldn’t give that need a name, but she knew it existed.
“Allie,” Reece nudged, nervously waiting for her reply.
“I…” she mumbled, shaking her head, as confused thoughts warred. One part of her brain screaming at her to see more of him while she still had the chance, while the other part reminded her not only of the problems associated with seeing him frequently, but also that she hadn’t yet fulfilled her goal. There were still three men she’d contacted and had arranged dates to see, and there were a further four that she remembered and wanted to track down. “It’s complicated, Reece,” she eventually huffed, rolling off him and grasping the sheet around her naked torso.
“It’s not,” Reece countered, sitting upright. “It doesn’t have to be complicated at all. I want to spend more time with you.”
“But my life is so hectic right now,” she told him, shuffling out of the bed and taking the large sheet with her. Twisting, she wrapped herself as though she were wearing a toga. “I told you last night, I can’t think about a relationship right now.”
“I’m not asking you to,” Reece insisted, still sitting on the bed and making no effort to conceal his nakedness. “Allie, please,” he said, lifting his palms. “I didn’t want to make you panic, I just wanted to see you again.”
“You said, it could never just be sex with you and me,” Allie replied, wandering agitatedly to the foot of the bed.
“It can’t,” he reiterated firmly. “Are you telling me that last night was nothing but sex to you?” he countered, a dark cloud passing over his brow.
“No,” Allie responded. “Of course it wasn’t, but…”
“Hey,” he soothed, shuffling off the bed and moving towards her. “You said we didn’t have to label it, right?”
Silently, Allie nodded her head.
“So, let’s not label it,” he urged, moving close enough to touch her, but keeping his hands to himself. “It’s not a relationship, but it’s more than sex. We don’t need to know any more than that.”
Allie considered that proposal. It didn’t solve all her problems, but with him standing there completely naked, it was incredibly tempting. “Can we think about it?” she asked quietly.
“Okay,” he replied, with a nod. “On one condition,” he added.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“That we go back to bed right now,” he smiled, cocking his head at the mattress.
Allie couldn’t prevent the smile that spread across her face. “I don’t know,” she murmured, with mock suspicion.
“If I haven’t left yet, it’s still the same date, right?” he asked jovially, both arms reaching out to her and tugging her towards him.
“That’s your logic, is it?” she giggled.
“Yep,” he confirmed proudly. Keeping a firm hold on the sheet, he spun her before pushing her back onto the bed. The sheet stayed with him, unraveling from Allie, until, when she landed on the mattress, she was naked once more.
She laughed loudly as she fell, screeching when she realized he was ripping the sheet from her. However, her laughter soon tapered off, when she noticed Reece wasn’t laughing with her. “What’s wrong?” she asked, looking up at him.
Reece was gazing back at her, a look of horror on his features.
“What is it?” Allie quickly blurted when she was met with silence.
Reece’s jaw slackened in dismay, as he lifted his hand and pointed at her torso.
Allie followed the line of his finger and found herself looking at a large blue bruise beneath her left breast. She didn’t notice Reece moving, but he stepped towards her and placed his palm on her right knee. Allie’s eyes flashed to his face in alarm. She opened her mouth to speak, but was forestalled when Reece gently parted her legs. There, on her inner thigh, was another bruise, this one much larger than the first.
“I hurt you,” Reece whispered, barely able to say the words for the bile rising up from his stomach.
“No,” Allie quickly stated, covering his hand with her own.
“Look at you,” he mumbled, flinching and sweeping his hand out from beneath hers. “They weren’t there last night, Allie,” he said, standing straight and raking his fingers through his hair. “I did that to you.”
“It’s not your fault,” Allie tried to placate him. “I just….I bruise easily,” she awkwardly explained.
“Allie,” he shook his head, disbelievingly.
“It’s true,” she insisted. “I’m a little anemic.”
Reece stood silently, watching her carefully, as he seemed to assess whether her body language suggested she was telling the truth. He couldn’t make up his mind. The fact that he remembered the night well and was certain he hadn’t been even remotely rough with her supported her explanation. And yet, something in her eyes troubled him.
“I promise,” she added sincerely. “You did not hurt me,” she insisted, looking him directly in the eye.
That, he was fairly certain, was the truth. “Are you sure?” he urged.
“I swear, Reece,” she stated, shuffling towards the edge of the bed, until her legs were hanging off the end. “Now,” she sighed, desperate to change the subject. “What were you saying about coming back to bed?”