Alphas on Top

by Harper Sloan

  After a few minutes of lying together still joined, we separated and lay back against the pillows at the head of the bed, side by side.

  Dante turned the TV on and flipped through the channels until we agreed on an episode of 'American Dad'. We spent the next half hour lying together, legs intertwined and hands clasped together as we laughed our way through the show.

  It was such a ‘normal’ relationship activity that I felt hope that maybe we could be something. As the show credits rolled, Dante stood up and dragged me out of bed. Wiggling his eyebrows at me he asked, “You ever been skinny dipping?”

  He came so out of left field sometimes that it was adorable. “Yes I have. I did it a few summers ago with a bunch of girlfriends up at the lake. It was freezing, but fun.”

  I suddenly had the disconcerting thought that he had likely skinny dipped with a bevy of the Dante-bot beauties, and I felt the green-eyed monster rear her ugly head. “I guess you do it all the time, right?”

  He shook his head in the negative at me as we walked down the stairs. “No baby, never with anyone else. I don’t bring people here. I told you, you’re the only one, ever. I do like to swim naked though, and tonight I want to share that with you.”

  The relief I felt was instantaneous. I knew he had sex with tons of women, and it was something I needed to accept. But I couldn’t deny that I’d hate the thought of being like every other woman, as though he was working through a checklist of sexual positions and experiences with me that was his norm. The fact that no other naked woman had been in the pool, or his bed for that matter, was a relief. Still, it raised a question that I needed to ask.

  "I know I'm being nosy, so tell me to shut up if you want. If you weren't bringing them here, then where were you... well, you know?"

  He gave me a searching look before answering. "This is going to sound terrible, but I can't lie to you. It was always at their places or hotel rooms. My home is about family and people I care about. What I was doing with them had no place here."

  I could see that he was expecting me to think less of him for that for some reason, but the truth was that I had no judgment of it. I squeezed his hand to show that it was okay, and then I let it drop. I wasn't there to do an investigation or to put him on trial.

  When we reached the French doors in the great room that led to the outside, I hesitated for a second. We were a long way back from the road, and his neighbors didn’t overlook the yard, but I had to ask. “You’re sure no one will see us, right?”

  Without hesitation, he shook his head in the negative. “Baby, I’d never let someone else see you naked. You’re all mine.”

  That was all the reassurance that I needed, and within seconds, we were naked and out on the patio. Dante asked me to wait while he turned on the outdoor stereo system and then wandered off to do so.

  I sat back on a pool lounger and enjoyed the feeling of the warm evening air on my naked skin and the view of the stars in the sky. The outdoor system came alive with Dante’s U2 playlist, a band we both loved.

  Turning my head at his approach, I watched in appreciation as he strode toward me, totally confident in his nudity. Frankly, he had reason to be confident. He was a sight to behold, naked, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on him again. I smiled in thanks as he handed me a glass of wine. It was a delicious zinfandel that he knew was one of my favorites, and I enjoyed the burst of cold flavor as it slid over my tongue.

  Taking my glass, Dante set it on the table next to my lawn chair and pulled me to my feet. He smiled at me as he bent down and put one arm under my knees, the other on my back. Just like that, he lifted me off my feet and spun me around. I’d never been literally swept off my feet before, and it touched me in ways I didn’t know were possible. I laughed and threw my head back as he spun.

  I was still laughing when he suddenly tossed me through the air, throwing me into the pool. I surfaced giggling, pushing my hair out of my eyes. He stood at the edge of the pool smiling at me, and I wasted no time swimming across to him. Grabbing onto the edge, I looked up at him, enjoying the view as I laughed. He was gorgeous, like a black haired Adonis, a god amongst mere mortals.

  My gaze traveled from his feet to his face. Reaching his eyes, I smiled at the heat I could see reflected back at me in his gaze. “Dante, you’re a naughty boy, and you don’t play fair.” He chuckled as I said that, and I took my opportunity, grabbing his ankles and pulling him in.

  When he surfaced he was sputtering and laughing. “Sabrina! You little minx! You give as good as you get!”

  We spent the next half hour splashing, dunking, and swimming with each other, enjoying the night, the water and each other. It was me who finally surrendered, admitting that I needed to catch my breath.

  Pulling me to him, he instructed me to hold on. I complied, wrapping my arms around his back, my legs around his waist and laying my head on his shoulder. Wrapping his arms around my back, he gently swayed us back and forth in the water. It was beautiful and remarkably comfortable, the two of us silently enjoying the water and the night as the sounds of Bono singing “All I Want Is You” played on the stereo system. It was true. All I wanted was him.

  As Dante swayed us to and fro in the water, I wondered why on earth he believed that he could never do the relationship thing. He was so good at it. Calm, comfortable, charming and so affectionate, he was literally perfect. I knew there had to be something that I was missing, some piece of information that I wasn't privy to.

  Almost as though he sensed that the direction of my thoughts was serious, he removed one of his hands from my back and cupped my breast. Just like that, I stopped thinking. Arching, I leaned back into the water and floated, my legs around his waist the only thing that held us together.

  The look on his face as he stared down at me is one of the best compliments I’d ever gotten. He looked downright enchanted, as though I was a five star meal and the best present ever all in one. His face reflected the way I felt toward him back at me, and it touched me.

  Once he had both hands free, he wasted no time sliding them up my torso and palming my breasts in his hands. I tilted my head back so that I was now free floating, the sound of the water freeing me from everything except the feeling of his hands. It was beautifully intense, and as I stared at the stars, I thought that I’d have paid a million dollars to bottle the moment.

  His left hand was alternating between my nipples, teasing and plucking at them. It was an exquisite sensation; made more so by the fact that with my head floating in the water, I couldn't see what he was going to do next. Palming both breasts, he rubbed and then pinched my nipples. "Dante, that feels so good.”

  Gradually he started walking backward, gliding us through the water toward the stairs. When he finally got us there, he sat down and settled me onto his lap. Sliding his right hand down, he ran his fingers over my sensitized cleft, and I shivered in awareness.

  He took me slow and deep, branding me with his passion. It was beautiful and intense, and it felt like more, so much more than just sex. When I exploded into orgasm, I buried my face in his hair to hide my tear filled eyes as he filled me with his own release.

  In that moment, I accepted in my head what I’d known in my heart since the morning he came into my bedroom and asked me to take this leap of faith. I didn’t just love him as a friend. I was in love with him.

  Head over heels, lock stock and barrel, utterly over the moon in love.

  After we both caught our breath and were able to move, we went inside to shower off the chlorine and then curled up in bed. I watched television while Dante read on his iPad. The whole thing felt so comfortable and so right. Such a normal thing for a couple to do, just living our lives together.

  When I started to yawn, Dante plugged his iPad in and announced that it was time for bed. Turning out the lights, he drew me to him, just like he had the first night, my back to his front. Laying his chin on my shoulder, he gently rubbed along the curve of my hip and relaxed me to sleep.


  I woke in the middle of the night, the room bathed in darkness. My body was on fire and Dante was gently massaging my clit. Arching my back, I moaned as he continued his gentle assault.

  “I’m sorry I had to wake you up. I tried to go back to sleep, I swear I did. But being with you like this, my body had a mind of its own. I need you, baby. I need to be inside of you so fucking badly.”

  The butterflies in my stomach spread their wings, and I was breathless as I turned my head and told him to take me. Raising my leg and pulling it back over his, he entered me from behind, the two of us both lying on our sides.

  The loving we shared was passionate, slow and intense. He rode me through two orgasms before taking his own release. Afterwards, I barely made it to the bathroom and back before falling asleep again.

  The following morning I came to with Dante shaking me. I grumbled heartily as I rose to alertness, causing him to laugh at me.

  “You really are the very worst in the morning aren’t you?”

  I responded by giving him the finger and telling him to fuck off.

  He knew better than to take me seriously, so he just laughed at me. “Ouch baby. Luckily, I know what makes you happy in the morning.”

  Grabbing me off the bed, he carried me to the bathroom and put me down inside the door. “Take a shower so that you’re human again, and then meet me in the kitchen.”

  Turning on all the jets, I got into the shower. As usual, the second I tilted my head back and water started massaging my scalp I perked up. Some people would have needed coffee to wake up. I just needed a shower.

  Twenty minutes later I was in the kitchen sitting at the island in a tee shirt and the pair of Dante’s briefs I'd taken possession of after the first night we had sex. I watched while my stomach growled as he finished making us eggs Benedict.

  My mouth was all but watering when he set our plates down and hopped up on the stool next to me. The Benedict was delicious, just like everything Dante cooked. He was incredibly gifted in the kitchen.

  After breakfast, we quickly did the dishes and discussed what we would do with the day. Ultimately, we decided that we’d like to spend the day together at home (Dante’s words, not mine… but I liked them).

  We both went upstairs to put our bathing suits on. His was a pair of basic black trunks, while I was wearing a red bikini. Heading out to the pool, Dante put his Renegade Saints playlist on the outdoor sound system, and then we set up loungers side by side to soak up the sun.

  A few minutes in, I remembered that no one could see into the yard, and I decided to take my bikini top off. Sitting up I removed it, and then went about rubbing sunscreen on my breasts. I heard Dante’s rough intake of breath and I turned and gave him a wicked grin.

  We were smiling at each other when I heard my iPhone start ringing. It wasn’t one of the personalized rings, so I had no clue as to whom it could be.

  Dante jogged across the lawn and grabbed my phone from the table on the porch. When he looked at the screen, his steps came to a halt. The silence stretched as the phone continued ringing. “Dante, who was it?”

  His body language was alarming me. He said nothing, not even when the phone stopped ringing. He kept it in his hand in a death grip, and he wasn't moving or saying anything. Standing from my lounger, I started walking toward him. "Dante, you're scaring me. Who called?"

  Stomping over to me, he waved the phone in my direction. “It was the kissy motherfucker from your dance competition. I didn’t realize that you were still talking to him.”

  I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He was jealous! It was incomprehensible to me that he'd be jealous of Marcus, and I shook my head at him.

  “Jesus, Dante. He was barely a friend. Yes, he’s called since the competition. No, I haven’t spoken to him. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  Glaring at me he said, “That asshole all but mauled you in front of our family. I’d assumed you told him that you weren’t available, but here he is, still calling! Tell me now, are you thinking of dating this asshole?”

  For a moment, I could only gape at him. Had he taken crazy pills with his breakfast, or was he really this dumb? “Have you lost your mind? NO! I’m most certainly not thinking of dating Marcus. I’m committed to WHATEVER this is. I’ve had sex with exactly three people in my life. You, the boy I lost my virginity to in high school, and a college boyfriend. Before you, I hadn’t even had sex in the last three years. Do you see me as some promiscuous bitch that would do something like that?”

  Running both hands through his hair, he stared at me in frustration. “Fuck! No. I definitely don’t see you as being promiscuous. I’m sorry. The thing is… Well, I’ve never cared before what anyone I was with was doing. Somehow you’ve gotten under my skin. I don't like that he's calling. I don't want anyone else making a play for you, baby. I care and I want you to be only with me.”

  Inside my head, I did a little happy dance because I thought we might be making progress.

  “Dante, are you saying that you want this to be a real relationship?”

  The little happy dance in my head came to a screeching halt and the bottom dropped out of my stomach when he stared at me in horror. The look on his face clearly stated that he was having a negative reaction to my query, and I felt like a fool.

  “You mean an official relationship, girlfriend and boyfriend? No! I can’t do that. I can never do that. For now, I want us to be only with each other. But I can’t be a boyfriend. I don’t want that. I will never want that, never commit to anyone, Rina. This will burn itself out at some point, and we'll walk away with the memories. You're the closest I'll ever come to being in a relationship, but even for you, I won't take that step."

  Every word out of his mouth was like a knife in my stomach, and I was cut to the quick. It turned out that I had been living in fantasyland, because I was a fool to hope that we could be something.

  That settled it for me. I had to get the hell out of there and start putting distance between us. I was a lot of things, but I’d never given someone the satisfaction of seeing me when I was down, and I wasn't about to start. I knew that I needed to stay calm, composed and collected, no matter what.

  Summoning all of the strength that I could muster, I gave him a wry smile. “Then that’s that. I’m fine right now, but someday soon I will want more. I'm not going to wait for you to tell me that it's burned itself out, so I'm telling you, we just combusted. I care about you as a friend, but since that’s all we can ever be, we need to go back to that and we need to do it immediately. No harm, no foul. Effective immediately, we're just friends."

  He looked flabbergasted, and he started sputtering as he tried to assimilate what I’d just said.

  “What? NO! Sabrina, I don’t… I need… Oh Christ. I want… Fuck.”

  I watched with my heart in my throat as he paced back and forth for a minute, his hands running through his hair as he chose his words. Finally he looked to me and said, “If that's what you want… what you need… Fuck. I’d never want to hurt you. This was all extraordinarily selfish of me. But that’s me. I’m a selfish asshole. That’s why I fuck and run.”

  I shook my head at him and smiled, even as I screamed on the inside. “You haven’t hurt me, Dante. I’m a big girl, and I’m fine. Everything is going to be all right. This ran its course, and it had nowhere to go but down. Face it, we’ve been doing this for over two months, and you can only ever stomach doing three weeks. You probably reached your capacity for being with me anyway.”

  He looked as though he might be ill, and he stared at me for a moment in what looked an awful lot like horror. “I don’t feel that way at all, don’t ever think that, much less say it! I didn’t want… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. What the fuck have I done? You're going to leave me, aren't you? You’re not going to want to stay friends. I'm losing you, and you're going to quit too, aren't you?"

  It killed me to do it, but I lied to him. “Dante don’t be silly. It isn’t as though we had a relationship.
We had sex for god’s sake. Good sex, but just sex nonetheless. We’ll be all right. We just need a period of adjustment. I'm not going anywhere."

  It was ripping me apart inside to play it that way, but I had pride. All I knew was that I needed to get out of there to go lick my wounds in private.

  He looked uncomfortable and unsure, but he nodded. “If that’s what you want, what you need… I have no choice but to honor your wishes. Do you want to swim or something? Or… go see a movie? There’s no reason for you to leave now. I want to be with… I want to spend time with you. If we're still going to stay friends, we can spend the day together, right?”

  I shook my head at him. “Not today. I’m fine, but I’m going to go home. We need some distance, need to find our way back to being just friends. Give it some time, Dante." Giving him what I hope passed for a reassuring smile, I turned and walked away to retrieve my bathing suit top before quickly putting it back on.

  As I strode back across the lawn, he stayed standing where I left him. I held out my hand, but he did nothing but stare at me blankly. “Hey, earth to Dante. I need my phone.” Nodding, he handed it back to me.

  I continued on into the house, jogging upstairs to quickly change. When I was finished, I spent a few minutes throwing my things back into my overnight bag. Taking a deep breath, I made my way back downstairs to find Dante sitting in one of the entryway chairs.

  He was back in outer space mode, not noticing that I’d descended the stairs. I cleared my throat three times before he snapped back to awareness, jumping from the chair and coming to get my bag.

  I dredged up a smile that I hoped didn’t look as unreal as it felt, then stepped around him to walk to the door. Looking at him as I opened the door, I motioned to him to follow me. “Come on Dante, I need to go.”

  Turning back to the door I went to leave, not making it far as I walked right into a solid chest. Taking a shocked breath, I looked up to find Damien smiling down at me.