No Refunds No Exchanges: A Hudson Family Series- Book 4- Matt and Ali

by Chontelle Brison

  “Okay your turn now, tell me when the last time you had sex was.” His question caught me so off guard that I choked on the soda I’d just swallowed. After I shooed his hands away from attempting to smack me on the back, I leaned back and looked at him. What did I have to lose by being honest? There was nothing beyond tonight.

  “Like sex with a human or with a vibrator?” I asked. If I had expected Matt to rear back in shock, I would’ve been sorely disappointed. The man just sat back and gave me a steady gave that told me he wasn’t going to let me deflect.

  “Okay, the last time I had sex with a real live penis was nine or ten months ago, other than that it’s strict diet of Rabbit vibrators and KY warming liquid,” I admitted.

  “Eight months, you’ve haven’t had sex with someone in eight months? Was it at least good sex?” I fought the urge to clam up and stop talking. Of course, eight months would be a long time to a freaking hooker! No, eight months would be a long time to anyone! Just pray he doesn’t ask about how long you went before the fuck buddy!

  “Um, actually it was okay,” I answered; one look at him told me he wasn’t going to let my vague answer stand.

  “Fine, it was sex… as in a means to an end. It was pitch black, my top was pulled down so he could play with my breasts, but my dress stayed on, and I didn’t allow him to touch me anywhere other than my breasts or my mouth.” This time, Matt choked on the candy he had just popped past his lips.

  “So how did you have sex?” he choked out while gasping.

  Sigh. “I took his pants off, and rode him until we both came while he held on to my breasts.” There I had told him the whole truth.

  “Why? Why have sex like that, Alison?” Matt practically whispered. I could hear the pity seeping into his voice.

  Using the excuse of throwing my empty pretzel bag away, I got up and paced into the kitchenette. I turned back, and Matt was standing by the wet bar, a weird expression on his face. Looking as if he was struggling with himself, I watched as he gripped the counter so hard his knuckles turned white.

  “Matt?” I asked, afraid he would explode if I said the wrong thing.

  He turned those piercing green eyes toward me and for a moment, I thought he was going to try to touch me again. Not sure how I felt about that, I moved to the small dining set and sat down in one of the dark contemporary chairs.

  I waited for him to finish warring himself. I knew he had gotten himself back under control from whatever urge he had battled with when he took the chair opposite of me and looked me dead in the eyes.

  “Why?” his voice was insistent.

  “I’d only had sex with one other person before the accident, and when he came to see me in the hospital I heard him crying,” I felt my fists clench at the memory of Richard standing outside my room, talking to the doctors about the injuries and scarring I would have.

  “You were mad because he was upset that you were hurt?” Matt had a look of confusion on his face, and I couldn’t blame him. It’s why I had thought Richard, my then ex-husband, was crying. I was wrong, so very wrong.

  “He wasn’t crying because I was injured, he was upset because of the scars. He had seen the burned flesh on my back and my thighs; he came in and lifted my bandages while I pretended to be asleep.” Matt’s face told me his still didn’t get the issue.

  “Matt, he was upset that my body, my beautiful body, was going to be hideous, scarred, deformed, ugly, that he could never again brag about how he had this gorgeous, younger woman hanging on his arm,” I told him through clenched teeth.

  What I hadn’t shared was just too painful to repeat. I didn’t tell Matt how I had overheard Richard on the phone talking to someone, telling them that his plan to get me to take him back was through, that’d he never be able to touch me without recoiling in horror at my body. I had been hooked up to so many machines, and my legs were pinned in traction so that they would heal, that I couldn’t move, all I could do was let silent tears roll down my cheeks. I realized that I was never going to give anyone the chance to hurt me like that again, no one.

  “He was an idiot,” Matt shouted slamming his hand down on the table.

  “He was honest Matt, now it’s my turn to ask you a question,” I replied ignoring his outburst. Matt might be angry on my behalf, but it didn’t change anything. He was gorgeous and sexy, and I was scarred and worn.

  Without missing a beat, Matt’s playful smile returned, and I was relieved that he’d let his anger at Richard go. “Okay, I know about the rules you have, why you don’t tell clients anything personal about yourself, what you get out of it, why you prefer to have sex with women instead of relationships while you wait for that perfect, neat and tidy woman to walk into your life,” Matt began to protest, but I held up my to silence him. “Tell me what Matt likes to do when he's not every woman’s wet dream.”

  He seemed to consider the question for a long time before he answered, “I like hanging out with my brothers, going to the dojo in town and working on my brown belt in jiu-jitsu, I like doing Sudoku puzzles and cleaning. In a house full of guys and one girl, something always needs to be cleaned, and it drives me nuts when something's out of place.” He confessed.

  “I have to admit Matt, I kind of guessed the last part. You do seem a little anal-retentive,” I teased.

  Matt laughed and threw his last piece of candy at me, which I skillfully ducked, again! I sat there and stared at him, daring him to leave the offending piece of chocolate on the floor.

  “It’s killing you right?” I chuckled as Matt’s hands began to twitch.

  Looking offended, Matt shook his head so hard I was sure it would spin off, “Nope, not at all, I am not anal-retentive.” He argued as I grabbed the linen napkin off the table and threw it over my shoulder. I knew when it hit the ground behind me because Matt’s eyes followed it all the way to the floor. Trying not to smile, but loving how uncomfortable he was, I went to grab the napkin in front of him, but his hand shot out like lightning and caught my wrist.

  “Alison,” he gritted out through clenched teeth, the warning clear. Never one to back down from a challenge and quite enjoying seeing Matt, so out of sorts, I released the napkin. As soon as he let go of my wrist, I snatched the napkin and threw it to the ground.

  I laughed so hard I almost cried until I saw the angry look on Matt’s face. It was a look that promised payback, and there was no way I was going to stick around for that. With no thought to my throbbing hip, I bolted from the chair with Matt in pursuit. As I dodged his hands and weaved around furniture I threw any item I could get my hands on to the floor, by the time he tackled me in the next room, I fell to the bed laughing so hard I almost couldn’t breathe.

  “Okay, okay, uncle, uncle I give,” I shouted through my fits of giggles.

  Matt, finally discovering the key to his revenge began tickling me under my arms until I was laughing, sobbing and begging for mercy.

  “Do you Alison?” he asked breathing as heavy as I was from our wrestling match.

  “Do I what?” I asked suddenly realizing I was pinned under his massive body, and his face was so close I could feel his breath.

  “Do you give?” he asked as he began closing the distance between our lips.

  Knowing what he intended and being sure that if he kissed me I would never want to let him go, I did the only thing I could, I took my hand, raised it in a chopping motion as my father had taught me and brought it down, hard, right where his shoulder and his neck met. It was a self-defense move that dad and taught me when I was fifteen. Matt’s eyes went wide and then he collapsed on top of me. I knew it was a cowardly move, I also knew he’d only be out for a short time. Pushing his body off mine, I jumped off the bed and looked at his peaceful form. Feeling incredibly guilty, I wasted no time rolling him to his back and covering him with the thick comforter. Worried that he would wake up before I could get out of the hotel, I took the tie-back off the curtains and tied one wrist with one end and the other I tied to the leg of th
e dresser. I did the same with the other and went to work on gathering my things. I quickly pulled the dress that Matt had bought me over my head and placed it on a hanger, laying the shoes, earrings, and perfume on the smaller dresser. I grabbed my jeans and tee-shirt and pulled them on in record time. Running into the bathroom, I grabbed my pills and took one muscle relaxer and one Ibuprofen, it was a long drive home, and I knew my hip would start to ache before I even got to the truck.

  Once I had gotten everything together, I turned back to Matt and almost sighed at how handsome he was. His arms being bound gave me a good view of his muscular biceps and the steady rise of his chest was almost mesmerizing. Before I could stop myself, my feet were walking over to the bed, I leaned down to kiss his lips. What could it hurt? I’d never see him again, and I was dying to see if they were as soft as they looked.

  Leaning down, I was just about to brush my lips across his when green eyes flew open and stared me. First flashed confusion, then shock, but when he realized his hands were bound, those eyes turned angry. Shit, time to go, Cinderella this coach has officially transformed into a pumpkin!

  I backed away from Matt’s struggling form, wincing as he cursed when he unsuccessfully tried to pull loose from his bindings.

  I turned to run, I didn’t know how strong he was and if he got loose there was no telling what would happen.

  “Alison, don’t you dare! Don’t you dare run away from me again!” he ordered in a tone that made me stop dead in my tracks. Almost against my will, my body turned around, and the expression on his face was dark and severe.

  “Um, I’m going to leave a message with the agency for someone to come and get you, and I’m leaving a key with the front desk so they can get in, I’m sorry Matt, I have to go. I can’t- I mean, ugh…bye,” I quickly rattled off as I took two giant steps backward toward the door.

  Matt’s face looked thunderous, and he lunged for me. Thankful the bindings held I screamed and took off for the door.

  “Alison, you can’t run from fate woman, like it or not we have a connection! Fuck! Alison, please don’t leave,” he pleaded and it took everything I had to grab the hotel doorknob and run from Matt Wolf before I did something stupid, like climb up on that bed with him and beg him to love me.

  Matt

  I opened my eyes and immediately wanted to shut them again. After struggling with the ties that Alison had used to tie to me the bed for a few hours, I had finally fallen asleep. However, even in my dreams, the little pet lover tortured me with her cute smile and feisty temper. So to wake up to Devlin’s shit eating grin and laughter ringing in my ears just pissed me off.

  “Oh my God, this is too funny! Seriously, dude I need a picture for my Instagram….no wait, better yet, I’m going to Snap Chat this to the guys…this is fucking priceless,” Dev continued to laugh as he approached the bed.

  “Fuck you Dev, one picture gets sent anywhere, and I’ll tell everyone how you pissed yourself last October when we all went to Fright Dome!” I warned. I saw the color drain from Dev’s tan face, and his cocky smile disappeared. Yeah, no matter how tough Devlin acted, you put him in a scare house with Killer Clowns and the man loses it. The only thing that saved him was my throwing my soda at his crotch and telling everyone that some girl had gotten scared and spilled it on him. We had never spoken of it, but I wasn’t above dirty tactics to make sure my own embarrassing moments weren’t discovered.

  “Aw Matthew, now that’s just messed up dude,” Dev complained as he untied my wrists. As soon as I was free, I jumped off the bed and tried to the rub the feeling back into my wrists.

  Smirking at Dev’s stupid pout, I asked what I really wanted to know, “Did Alison actually leave a key for you at the desk?”

  “Actually, she went to the agency and shoved an envelope, with the room key in it through the mail slot, Jessie, and I found it when we came in this morning.”

  I lifted one brow at his statement. “You and Jessie came in together? As in your came in the same car?” I liked Dev, he was a colleague and a friend, but Jessie was a sweet girl, not much older than my baby sister Rachel.

  “Yeah she stayed at my apartment last night, there was no way she was going back to her place after her ex had trashed it,” Dev answered soberly. I could see the anger brimming just under the calm exterior he put forward.

  “Her girlfriend left her?” I felt like an ass, I had no idea that Jessie and Riley were having problems, but then again getting personal details out of Jessie was like trying put a dog away from a pork chop; necessary but you risked getting your hand bit off in the process.

  Dev flopped down on the desk chair while I looked for my shoes and other items that had been left strewn around the room. “Yeah, I tried to get her to tell me what happened. She just dodged and said she and Riley were done, and it had been ugly. So, I insisted on at least taking her home, but when I dropped her off, I heard her scream so I ran up to her door and shoved it open and…no lie man, the house was torn apart. Not only that but all of her stuff had been cut up or doused with gasoline.” Dev shook his head as if he were trying shake off the memories.

  I sighed. Jessie was good people, I knew Dev cared about her, and I wasn’t sure if it was my place, but I was about to go all big brother on his ass.

  “Listen Dev, I know you like Jessie.” I put a hand up to stop the protest that I was sure was coming. I waited until he sighed and settled back in the chair before I continued. “Jessie is into women Dev, and she’s like a sister to me, so don’t make me give you the- hurt her and die speech- man.” I gave him a look that let him know I was dead serious.

  Dev stood up and paced around the room impatiently. He ran his hands up and down his face and then bent over with his hands on his dark jeans. He looked up at me, his brown eyes actually showed pain.

  “Fuck! You love her!” I practically shouted. He straightened immediately and puffed out his chest. Typical Dev move, whenever you called him out on his shit, he immediately got defensive.

  “No, I fucking don’t,” he insisted shaking his head. I knew the signs, I saw the same face on both my brothers when the spoke about their women.

  “You so fucking do, man!” I told him straight. You couldn’t sugar coat things with Devlin, he needed it right between the eyes.

  Dev took two angry steps toward me and when I raised a brow that said- really? You want to go here with me? He immediately changed course and flopped on the bed in dramatic fashion.

  “Fuck! Okay, I love her, I’ve loved her for over a year, but it doesn’t matter, not only does she not want dick, I happen to be an escort! So, that’s two things I can’t give her, pussy and monogamy!” I watched him groan as he sat up on the rumpled bed looking like a lost puppy.

  Feeling like an old man, I sat next to him and clasped his shoulder. “Listen, this escort gig is great man! But it doesn’t have to define you or be forever, if you find a woman who makes you want to make that exclusive commitment, then you need to grab it cause that doesn’t come along every day.”

  Dev snorted, “Yeah, easy for you to say, you have a career beyond this. I’ve never been good for anything except fucking, it’s all I know.”

  “Fuck that!” I punched his shoulder to pull him out of his pity party. “That’s your father talking, just because you didn’t want to be in the family business doesn’t me that your worthless man! I’ve tasted the wine you crafted when you spent last summer on that little vineyard you own, it’s as good or better than your old man’s.” It felt weird trying to cheer up the guy who looked like he could throw down with anyone at any second.

  Most people didn’t know that Dev’s image was mostly an act. Sure the guy had tattoos and a pierced brow, but they guy had a big heart and was still struggling to find himself in the shadow of a father who was some corporate billionaire.

  “Aw..fuck off Matt,” Dev chuckled shoving me away.

  “Come on now Devlin, shouldn’t we hug this out?” I joked trying to lighten up the conversation t
he best way I could.

  Dev jumped off the bed and stood with his ass against the closet. “Listen, I know I have a beautiful ass and everything, but there will be no bro-hugs, no copping a feel of my goodies or anything like that, I am strictly wired for the Vee Matt, not the Dee!” Dev laughed as I threw the shoe I had been putting on, at his stupid head.

  “Let’s get out of here you moron,” I told him as I retrieved my shoe. I bent over to tie the laces when I saw a leather messenger bag lying under the bureau. I knew it was the one Alison had with her last night. I grabbed it up and smiled when I saw the tape recorder she had used for our session inside of it. Rifling through the fifty or so pages that were also inside, I realized it was all of her notes from the previous interviews she had done that week. She was going to need these to give to her boss, the one she did the research for.

  All last night I was tried to think of a way to get Alison’s contact information. I had planned to coax it out of Jessie, but it was confidential information, and I knew Jessie was a stickler for the rules. Now that I had found her notes, I knew I had everything I needed to make sure that my bondage loving, pet sympathizer would have to see me again.

  “Yo, Matt! Are we finished here or what?” Dev called from the kitchen.

  “What’s that?” He asked pointing to the messenger bag in my hands.

  “It appears; my date left her notes from our interview behind,” I told him as I began to plot my next move.

  Devlin’s weird look pulled me from my thoughts. “Um, Matt…you look horribly hung up on a chick you didn’t even get to fuck.” He looked at me, face full of concern.

  I smiled. The idea of seeing Alison again not only thrilled me but also made me salivate at the thought of spanking that ass of hers for the stunt she had pulled last night.

  “You know that face I made? The one you told me meant that I was in love with Jessie?” He asked.