He was in Nepal, according to the computer.
“Is that the man who did it?”
Alexander quickly shut down the computer before turning to me.
“You didn’t see that.”
“But is he?”
Alexander stood and moved around me, pausing outside Vanessa’s door before going into the living room. I followed, aware that I was putting my nose into something that I shouldn’t, but finding it so hard not to.
“Alexander?”
“We should go. You have to be in court in a few hours.”
“You don’t have to tell me. I could probably check into it on my own.”
He paused at the door, his hand on the knob. He turned slowly, his eyes moving over me.
“Yes, that’s the man who did it.”
“He jumped bail?”
He cocked his head to one side like he was trying to ease a tense muscle. “His lawyer argued to the judge that Vanessa was his girlfriend; therefore, there was no way he could have done what had been done to her. He claimed that he had sex with her and then left her to find her own way home and she was attacked by someone else. Based on that, the judge granted a ridiculously low bail. And he skipped the country on mom and dad’s penny.”
“Did the prosecutor fight it?”
“Briefly. But he had too many other cases on his docket to bother with it for too long. He said there wasn’t much that could be done until the little fucker came back to the United States. He said we should be grateful the guy took off and likely wouldn’t be back. That was the best anyone could hope for in cases like this.”
I shook my head, anger burning in my chest. “Did you hire a lawyer of your own?”
“Of course. But there was only so much he could do. They all insisted that their hands were tied by the system and the fact that the kid had an endless supply of money to keep him safe from the law.”
“No wonder you hate lawyers as much as you do.”
He didn’t answer.
We drove back to my apartment in tense silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts. Once inside my place, he disappeared behind the closed door of his bedroom like he’d done every night since we shared that first kiss. I went to my room, too, settling on the edge of the bed, my fingers pressed to my lips as the memory of that first—then the second—kiss burned there. I couldn’t stop thinking about him holding his sister as he’d done. He was so rough around the edges when he was with me, always so controlled, always so in charge. But with her…there was a side of him that he hid from the world that came out tonight. I got a little glimpse of it. And I wanted more.
I got up and peeled off my jeans and my cardigan, telling myself I was going to get into bed and go to sleep like a good little girl. But maybe I’d known where I was going all along.
I slipped out into the hallway in nothing but my panties and thin camisole, taking the few steps to his bedroom door quickly so that I couldn’t think too hard about what I was doing. I hesitated at the door, but then I twisted the knob and let myself in.
He was lying on the bed in his boxers, his knees bent and his arm thrown over his eyes. He sat up as I crossed toward him, his eyes dark and unreadable in the darkness of the room. Or maybe I just didn’t want to read what was unmistakable in them. I wanted him to want me, but I was so afraid he wouldn’t.
He didn’t move as I climbed onto his lap, my hands moving slowly over his shoulders. I let one hand drop, my fingertips brushing against the beautifully rendered foliage on the tree that adorned his chest. Then the blue and black edges of the anchor that honored his service in the Navy. As I touched his tattoos, his hands finally moved, coming around my waist and pulling me closer against him. And then he buried his head against my chest and just held me.
That was more than I could have ever asked for.
Chapter 9
Alexander
I was torn up inside, embarrassed that Tierney had seen Vanessa’s meltdown. But I was also touched by the way she took control of the situation, pulling Vanessa out of her head long enough for her meds to finally kick in. I couldn’t have done half as well as she had. I would have just held her and let her cry until exhaustion finally took over. I don’t know what I would have done without Tierney’s help.
And I hated that I felt this overwhelming sense of gratitude toward her. It made it so much harder to keep my hands off of her when we were finally alone in her apartment. I had to go straight to my room so that I wouldn’t give in to the instincts that were nearly overwhelming me, urging me to give in to the needs that had been building every second that I spent with her.
I thought I was safe. But then she came into my room and crawled into my lap and…no man could possibly be that strong.
I pressed my face to her chest, needing the reassurance that she was really there, needing the compassion that I’d been so reluctant to take from anyone since Vanessa’s attack. And then the other needs took over.
I threw her down against the mattress and stole her lips, my hands roughly seeking her heavy breasts, my palms aching to feel those nipples that always seemed to stand up and greet me whenever I walked into a room.
Fuck, such beautiful breasts!
The women I was normally drawn to had small breasts, a handful that fit just right in my mitts. But these…how could I not have desired this? So much more than a handful, they were like delicious pillows of eroticism. And her mouth…she tasted of cotton candy and carrot cake and everything that was good and sweet in my life. I couldn’t bury my tongue deep enough inside of her; I couldn’t touch her in enough places. I couldn’t bring those sweet moans to her lips quick enough, hard enough; I couldn’t get enough of anything her body was offering me.
She wrapped her legs around my waist, her hands kneading the muscles of my back like bread dough. She pulled me close and then pushed me back, tearing at my body and then tugging at my hair. It was intense, the feel of her hands on my body. It made me harder than I think I’d ever been, my need so overwhelming that it was almost blinding.
I tore at her panties, needing to be inside of her. She lifted her hips and urged me on, her mouth following me when I pulled away, her lips slipping over my throat, her teeth nibbling at the skin over my Adam’s apple. When I managed to get my hand inside her panties, when I cupped her swollen cunt lips, she raised her hips, a moan escaping from deep in her throat.
She wanted me. And I…fuck, I wanted her!
I ripped her panties away and pressed my cock against her. I felt my head begin to slide inside. She was wet, so wet that there was very little resistance as my head filled the opening of her cunt. But then resistance came, and I felt her body tense. I was almost too far gone to understand. Almost.
I pulled back, cradling her face gently in one hand. She wouldn’t look at me and that seemed to confirm what her body was telling me.
I couldn’t let this urgency, this one-sided demand, be her first experience.
I lay my head against her chest, breathing so hard that I was a little lightheaded. I lay like that for several minutes, waiting for my need to abate just a little. And then I lifted her shirt and took a nipple into my mouth, sucking gently at it as she ran her fingers through my hair.
I took my time with each breast, sucking her nipples and licking down around the bottom edge of those gorgeous mounds. Her skin tasted like cinnamon and sweat, an interesting combination that was more of a turn on the more I tasted it. Then I slowly began to make my way down along her ribs, running my fingers over the heavy bone that pressed against her skin more and more as she drew in breath after breath. Her navel was just waiting, begging for my tongue to dance along its rim. And further…she cried out when I blew on her wet cunt lips, her clit already peeking out of its hood, waiting for me to pay it a little attention.
I fell to my knees beside the bed and pulled her toward me with a tug on her hips. She came without resistance, shyly spreading her legs, fighting me just a little when I pushed those gorgeous thighs a bit
wider apart. But when I began to nibble on her fat outer lips, she was more than happy to spread her legs as wide as I wanted them.
I’m not much on oral sex. Like most teenage boys, I had my fair share of blowjobs in high school, but I wasn’t one of those who was more than willing to reciprocate. I’d rather use a finger, imagining how heavenly it would feel when my cock finally slid into that tight cunt. But there was something different about tasting Tierney. It was like honey tingling the tip of my tongue, the sounds of her moans like music, like the kind of music that just touches your soul. There was something about her that touched my soul.
I wanted to make her come. I wanted to watch pleasure dance over her face and know that I’d put it there. I wanted to hear her moan, see her writhe, and feel her orgasm deep inside of myself in a way I’d never done before. I wanted to make her come in a way I’d never really cared before.
I’d made women come before now. I wasn’t a completely selfish lover. But it was almost a side effect with those women. With Tierney…I didn’t want it to be a side effect. I wanted it to be my prime objective.
She lay fairly still at first, as I ran my tongue along her outer lips, and then along her inner lips. She was still when I blew on her clit and ran my tongue along the rim of her opening. But her juices flowed. And when I nibbled on her clit, she moved against me, moving in such a way that it made it pretty clear where she wanted to be touched and where she didn’t.
I slid a finger inside of her, as I sucked on that hard little nub of tissue. I listened to her moans, as she pressed her hips into my hand. And then I pulled out the finger to replace it with my tongue, and I thought she might jump out of her skin. I did it again and again, finger then tongue, over and over until there was no shyness in her movements at all. She was getting into it, writhing her hips, grinding against me until my finger was so much deeper inside of her than I would have thought possible.
I knew the moment her orgasm hit. She stiffened, her back arched, her hips half off the bed. She squeezed her thighs together, holding my hand hostage against her cunt. A low moan came from deep inside of her, so deep that it sounded almost like someone else. I waited until her body relaxed again, waited until she rode the wave slowly over the crest. Then I climbed up onto the bed with her again, stealing her lips as I stretched out beside her.
I wanted her. I wanted her with a desperation that was almost overwhelming. But I continued to force myself to wait, to watch as she slowly returned to something close to the starting line. Then I slid my hand between her legs and gently began to manipulate her clit again.
She rolled into me, spreading her legs without request. She reached for my cock, but I brushed her hand away, afraid her touch would push me too far over the precipice I’d been standing too close to since the moment I first saw her.
I pushed her back against the mattress and climbed between her open legs, tugging one thigh high up against my hips. She looked up at me, her eyes glazed with pleasure and desire. Still I hesitated. There was no turning back from what I was about to do. I needed to be sure she understood that. But before I could say what was on the tip of my tongue, she reached up and pressed a single finger against my lips.
“Please,” she whispered softly.
I watched her eyes, as I reached between our bodies to guide myself to her. I pressed my head against her opening, pushing gently even as her natural lubrication smoothed the way. Once again, I felt that slight bit of resistance. Her body didn’t tense this time, at least, not like it did before. She even pushed her hips up toward me a little.
My cock slid slowly inside of her, the thickness of it brushing against her moist walls as my head sought out the thin membrane of resistance that waited deep inside of her. I didn’t really feel it when I hit it, but I saw the flash of pain in her eyes as I burst through. She bit her lip, closed her eyes, her fingertips pressing into my muscles. I pushed even deeper inside of her and she moaned softly, the sound almost like a whistle as a rush of air came from between her lips.
When I was completely inside of her, I lay still for a moment, waiting for her eyes to open, waiting for her to show me that she was there with me. When she did, when that same need continued to fill her eyes, I moved into a slow, easy rhythm. A little roll of the hips and then a gentle thrust. She bit her lip again, her hands pulling and tugging at me. And then another thrust, and another. She moaned softly, her hand moving over my hip, her fingers sinking themselves deep in the flesh of my ass.
After a minute, I tugged at her hip, taught her my rhythm, taught her how to move against me. Just when I thought I’d felt all the pleasure she had to offer me, she began to move with me and it was like a whole different ball game. We moved together in a nice, slow movement that did incredible things to me, to my equilibrium, to everything I’d always thought I knew about sex and pleasure.
I couldn’t hold on. I wanted to. I wanted this to last all night. But it was just too much, too good. I cried out as my balls tightened and my cock swelled just a little bit more. I came inside of her, filling her with all I had to give. She wrapped her legs around my waist, holding me tight against her, inside of her. She moaned, these delicious sounds coming from between her gorgeous lips that just added to the pain and the pleasure that was rocking through me like an earthquake through an overcrowded city. She tore me down to my foundation.
When it was over, I brushed the hair out of her face and stared at her, trying to memorize this moment, the beauty of her face, the kindness and the affection that was shining in her eyes. I wanted to remember this forever.
She reached up and kissed me, nibbling briefly on my bottom lip.
I held her close and kissed her until every breath I took was hers. And then we slowly began to move together again, as though the last time had just been a dress rehearsal. And, like any opening night act, it was so much better than the practice round.
I couldn’t get enough of her. I didn’t want to get enough of her. I knew, instinctively, that this woman had the potential to be deeply dangerous for me. But it was too late. There was no place to turn and hide.
Chapter 10
Tierney
I tugged papers out of my satchel, not sure what I was doing or why I was doing it. I was standing in court, about to argue that my client should be allowed to continue with the terms of his bond despite the fact that he’d gotten caught with two ounces of marijuana in his pockets, but I couldn’t think of anything beyond the lingering swell of my lips from Alexander’s kisses.
I needed to get a grip.
“You have to get me out of here,” Brendan Harmon said, as the guards led him into the visitor’s room at the county jail just over an hour ago.
“You were caught with—”
“I know what they found. But it wasn’t mine. That cop planted it on me!”
“That’s a serious charge, Brendan.”
“It’s the truth! He put it in my pocket while he was patting me down because they want me in jail before the trial so they can get me to tell them where that Peterman girl is. But I don’t know! While they’re concentrating on me, the real kidnapper is still out there somewhere!”
“Sit down, Brendan,” I said, aware of the tension growing in the guard who was escorting him. If he didn’t settle down, I knew the guard would just drag him out of there again, and it would reduce our chances of getting bond reinstated. “You need to stay calm.”
“How am I supposed to be calm with everything that’s going on?!” But he took his seat and sat still while the guard secured him to the rings in the table and floor. He glared at Alexander for a long minute before he asked, “Who’s he?”
“A colleague.”
“Is he working on my case, too?”
“You need to focus on me, Brendan.” I leaned forward a little, forcing him to look me in the eye. “I need to know exactly what happened.”
“The bastards pulled me over before I was even two feet from my parents’ driveway. They said I had a headlight o
ut, which was bullshit because it was the middle of the afternoon. And then they pulled me out of the car and searched me, said I was being resistant. I didn’t do anything, Tierney!”
“Okay, Brendan.” I scribbled a few notes on a legal pad, but I wasn’t really hearing anything that was going to help us. “When they bring you to court, I need you to be quiet and respectful, okay? I’m going to do my best to convince the judge to let you back out on the same bond, but I can’t guarantee he’ll go for it.”
“I need to get out, Tierney. I can’t stay behind bars until we go to court on this bogus breaking and entering charge!”
“I know. But I haven’t heard anything that makes me think the judge will see things our way.”
The boy paled, staring at me from big blue eyes that were almost haunting. I felt for him. He was barely eighteen, and he was the son of one percenter. He’d probably never been told no by anyone his entire life, and now everything was no.
“I’ll do the best I can.”
But now that I was standing in court, I was struggling to remember what I’d planned to say last night when I was making all these notes and working out my argument. Too much had happened between learning of Brendan’s arrest and this moment.
I glanced behind me, catching Alexander’s eye briefly. He was standing at the back of the courtroom as he had the first time I saw him.
We hadn’t talked about last night. I woke late, rushing off to the shower before he woke and then rushing out the door, not really stopping to give him a chance to say anything. And then I didn’t know what to say. What do you say to the man who gave you—reluctantly—insight into the darkness in your life? To the man who relieved you of your virginity after such a long, almost painful, wait for that moment?
I couldn’t help but wonder what he thought when he realized I hadn’t been with anyone else. I expected him to kick me out of his bed and tell me to grow up. But he was so gentle…so perfect. It was well worth the wait.
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