Forever Mine (All American Alpha Book 2)

by Paige Parish

  I swallowed hard and started the engine, forcing myself to focus on the road in front of me. It was a beautiful late afternoon. The sun was low in the sky and left an orange sheen everywhere the light touched. I enjoyed the flickering of the light in the leaves above us as we rode to the restaurant. Combined with her warm embrace and my awareness of her voluptuous body next to mine, I didn’t think I’d enjoyed a ride this much in a long time.

  Dinner was filled with easy conversation. We seemed to naturally fit so well together, complementing each other with similar likes or opposites that felt like two sides of a coin.

  We both loved football, obviously. We discovered that we both enjoyed similar tv shows and movies. One big difference was that she’d lost her father when she was young, but she’d had a close relationship with him. I’d never known mine. So we agreed that if I showed her how to knit, she’d teach me how to fish. I’d never had anyone take me.

  The thing about Lacy, the idea that most struck me, was just how easy she was to be around, how delightful her laughter was, how sparkling her humor was. She fit with me.

  Then she told me about her mother’s illness and about how that douchebag Bradley had treated her. I wasn’t a violent man and rarely got so angry that I lost control, but I felt my fists clench a little as she told me about how he’d ended their relationship. I just wanted to punch that guy and make sure no one ever made her feel like she didn’t deserve the world ever again. More importantly, I wanted to take her into my arms and hold her close and tell her that I’d never let her be hurt like that. As independent as she clearly was, there was a vulnerability about her that I found I wanted to protect more than anything.

  I was so wrapped up in wanting to protect her and just plain wanting her, I didn’t realize the moment I’d decided I wanted this to go much further than tonight, much further than lust. All I knew was that one minute I was wanting to pull off her clothes and thrust myself into her, holding her against the world, and the next minute, I was picturing her belly round with our child. Maybe we’d even have twins. They ran in her family, I learned.

  The idea took me by surprise and made me want her body more than I could stand while, at the same time, wanting to show her the utmost respect, and court her until she couldn’t stand being apart any longer.

  God, the fantasies that woman was giving me. And not just about fucking her.

  When we arrived back at her house, she invited me in for a drink. Not wanting the night to end, I followed her eagerly. We settled onto the couch and picked up our conversation about her mother’s cancer journey as if we’d never stopped talking. All the while, somehow, we continued to inch closer to one another without being fully aware of it.

  Finally, she set her glass down and turned back to me. Before she had a moment to react, I took her face in my hands and pulled her in for a soft kiss. She was surprised at first but then moved her hands to my hips, pulled herself a little closer and gave in to the kiss, opening her lips and tasting my tongue lightly at first and then hungrily.

  I slid my hands to her rear and pulled her over me to straddle above me. I left my hands on her butt, squeezing slightly as I allowed my tongue to explore her neck and collarbone. She lifted her hands easily when I pulled up her shirt up and over her head. I used my thumbs to trace her gorgeous creamy cleavage and then moved my hands to her back to unhook her bra and pull it off, tossing it onto the sofa beside us. I took her nipples into my mouth, and she moaned, arching herself and pushing her crotch against my legs. I could tell it was hot and damp and confirmed it when I used one hand to cup her there, causing her to hiss. She responded by pulling my shirt over my head and planting kisses along my chest.

  I made my way to my feet, keeping her straddling me and pulling her legs around my waist, holding her ass to make sure she felt secure.

  “Which way?” I whispered against her lips.

  She breathed, “Down the hall. Last door on the left.”

  I carried her, still straddling me, kicked open her door, and eased her onto the bed. Her linen pants secured only with a string, so I untied the knot and pulled them down over her hips, planting kisses all along her hip bone and thigh, then down her leg. I left her panties in place and stood, removing my jeans but leaving my boxers on. I leaned down to her to kiss her mouth again, already addicted to that delicious, soft, inviting mouth.

  I whispered. “Jesus, Lacy, I want you more than anything I’ve ever wanted in my life.”

  “Same,” she barely gasped. “I want you inside me.”

  I traced from her forehead, down her nose, to her lips and let her suck my finger in a little. It nearly drove me insane, especially when it brought visions of her taking another part of me between her lips. She reached for the waistband of my boxers, and I pulled back slightly.

  “Not yet,” I said firmly and made my way down her body until I could smell her sex through her lace panties. I pulled them aside to allow my fingers and tongue to have access to her hot pussy and I began to trace her clit with my tongue, causing her to throw her head back, her chin rising, and her body arching against me. I increased my pace and slid a finger into her. She arched again and let out a half moan, half gasp.

  “Lacy, I’m going to make you come. I want you to let go and show me how it makes you feel.”

  She nodded, whimpering, as I pushed harder and faster into her, my tongue driving the rhythm, until she bucked, sucked in air and held her breath, stilling under me. “Show me how it feels,” I said against her pussy.

  She let it out then, a scream of ecstasy, of release. “Fuck, that felt so good, Brent. I feel like I’ve melted.”

  She lay back, her breath shallow and fast. I watched her, stilling my finger but keeping it inside her, occasionally giving her clit a sensual, short lick. It caused her to shudder every time my tongue met her swollen button. Finally, she pushed against my head and breathed, “Enough. I need a minute. I can’t take any more. It’s . . . too . . . much.”

  I made my way up her body to lie next to her, allowing my hand to trace her soft tummy lightly and then up between her breasts before circling each nipple. She turned to look at me, utter pleasure flush on her face. “That was amazing, Brent,” she whispered, reaching for my impossibly hard cock.

  I shook my head and grabbed her wrist. “I want to sleep next to you, now,” I said, planting kisses along her cheek. “Let’s prolong this for a bit more. I want you to be sure you want me before I fuck you. I’m going to make you explode before you tell me you are forever mine. Be sure, Lacy, because I’ve never felt so sure in my life, about anyone. I don’t know what you’ve done to me, but I won’t be satisfied with just one night. I want to savor you before I claim you. And you need to be sure before I do that.”

  “Brent, I am—” I cut her off.

  “Let’s give it one night. If you’re still sure tomorrow, when the pleasure I’ve just given you has worn off, then I’m going to let you see just how small of a taste tonight was. And you’re never gonna want anyone else. And I’m never going to want anyone else.” I kissed her and held her while we settled into conversations about our lives. I wasn’t sure why, but I didn’t tell her about Allie. Mostly because whatever she had meant to me, the woman lying next to me already meant so much more.

  Lacy

  When I woke up the next morning, Brent was gone. I turned over to look at the clock on my phone, panic starting to rise in my gut when I saw a note sitting on my nightstand.

  My gorgeous Lacy,

  As much as I wanted to stay all night, I couldn’t trust that I wouldn’t give in and take you. And I meant it when I said I wanted to savor you. So when my willpower was almost gone, I decided to remove the temptation. Call me when you wake up. I can still smell you on me and want more, so much more.

  --B

  I squealed like a child and jumped out of bed, then danced around the room, allowing my mind to replay over and over the night before, the sensations of his finger inside me and his expert tongue ush
ering me into that earth-shattering orgasm. I felt my body flush every time I thought about it. I sat back on the bed and calmed myself before I picked up my phone to call him.

  When it went to voicemail, I figured he was probably sleeping, so I left a message indicating that it was the next day and I was still sure. It was a reminder of the promise he’d made the night before. I hung up, dropped the phone beside me, and threw myself back onto the bed.

  We hadn’t discussed when we’d see each other again. I just assumed we’d be spending that evening together. I hopped in the shower to begin my day, planning to go over to Mom’s in a little bit unless I’d heard from Brent.

  After the shower, I checked my phone and didn’t see a message or text from Brent. I wasn’t concerned. It was still a little early. As much as I’d learned about him over the last two evenings, I had not yet discovered if he was an early riser or preferred to sleep in each morning. And I wasn’t sure what time he had left my house so that he might have been up well into the early morning hours.

  I made my mom’s favorite raspberry iced tea and packed a few sandwiches to take with me to visit before heading over to her apartment. I promised myself I would not check my phone at all while I visited.

  Two hours later, I jumped into my car and pulled out my phone, expecting to find communication from Brent. Nothing. That was the first moment worry crept into my heart, but the day was still young. Unfortunately, I couldn’t convince my brain that there was no reason to be concerned yet, and I imagined at least a half-dozen scenarios about why he hadn’t yet returned my call by the time I arrived home. Walking into my house, I sent him a quick text: Everything okay?

  It was more than a half-hour later that a text came back through.

  Yeah. Sorry I haven’t called back yet. Caught up in something. I’ll call later this evening.

  There was no trace of the warmth he’d had in every word to me the last two evenings we’d spent together, but texts couldn’t really convey feelings well, and I kept myself busy for the next few hours, diverting my thoughts when they drifted into various interpretations of his text—all of them negative, of course.

  Finally, my phone rang, and my stomach flipped a few times as I answered and heard his voice.

  “Hey,” he said wearily.

  “Hi,” I cautiously responded.

  “I’m sorry I haven’t called back. Something big has come up here and thrown me for a loop. I’m still dealing with it, but I did want to call you and tell you I was still anxious to see you again. I just can’t tonight though.”

  “Oh, that’s okay.” I tried to sound nonchalant, but my gut was burning. I could already tell I had failed at protecting my heart because even though he had said he was anxious to see me; I was fighting back the tears. “I have a lot of work to do anyway. Will I see you again sometime this week?”

  “Definitely,” he said. “Let me call you tomorrow, and we’ll go from there.”

  He hung up before I could say, “goodnight.” I decided to spend the rest of my evening working, to try to keep my worrisome thoughts at bay. Hopefully, everything would be better tomorrow.

  Brent

  Jesus, Allie had the absolute worst timing in the world. Or maybe this was the best timing. I was good and well over her and possibly heading into a new life with an incredible woman. So I certainly was in no place to be sucked back into her drama, at least not into rekindling whatever it was that we had had. But I was, no doubt, totally mired in a different drama with her now, one that couldn’t be dodged so easily.

  I had woken up in my bed, sore from a prolonged erection and holding myself apart from Lacy for so long. My first thought was to call her, but my phone dinged with a text. I smiled and grabbed it from the table, expecting to see some sweet message from my little fairy, Lacy.

  Instead, Allie’s cold words read, I’m here, coming to your house. You can’t avoid me forever. We have to talk.

  Shit! She’d researched where I was now. There couldn’t possibly be anything we had to talk about, now, three years after she’d just about left me at the altar. Unfortunately, it seemed she was headed to my place right at that moment. There was no good reason I could avoid her. And I wasn’t much for dodging conflict when necessary, anyway. I prefer to get things out in the open and get closure immediately. I wasn’t one for putting anything off or lingering in anything that was done and over. And she and I were definitely done and over. I didn’t think there was anything left to say, so it was better to let her do whatever she came to do and get her on her way so that I could see Lacy.

  My phone rang just as a knock sounded at my front door. I looked down at my phone and smiled when I saw it was Lacy, but I pushed it on to voicemail, and slipped on some jeans and tee-shirt, eager to see this through with Allie.

  I was surprised to see her holding a toddler when I answered the door. My heart lurched, immediately considering the possibilities. I stared at her standing on my porch when I opened my door, not willing to even speak to her yet. Her face dropped into a scowl after a moment.

  “Aren’t you even going to invite us in?”

  Had it not been for the toddler in her arms, I wouldn’t have let her into the house, but I stepped aside, and she marched in. I studied the baby’s face for any familiarity while noticing the child’s red hair and blue eyes.

  Reluctantly I led her to the sofa and offered her some tea. When I returned to the living room, I saw that she had set the child on the floor and had given her a couple of toys. However, the little girl didn’t seem interested, and when she spied me in the doorway, she pulled herself up and grabbed on to her mother’s leg, lowering her head to hide behind her knee.

  I handed Allie the drink and sat down in the chair next to the sofa.

  “What do you want, Allie?” I said, abruptly, observing the child.

  “It’s good to see you too, Brent.” She scowled.

  I shifted my gaze from the little girl to her face and noticed Allie’s sunken eyes. She’d always been a little too thin for my usual taste in women, but it hadn’t deterred my attraction for her when we’d first met. She’d been slightly forward and had initiated everything, so I’d fallen into a path with her, allowing our connection to grow over a little time. She may have started things, but I think what had caused me to think I was in love with her was that she had grown up in an abusive home, and my instinct to protect her and keep her safe had outweighed anything else. Now she looked even thinner than I’d remembered.

  I nodded toward the child but softened at the sweet little angelic face. I smiled at her causing her to hide further behind Allie’s leg.

  “Who is this sweet angel?” I asked, as gently as I could, while dread washed over me.

  Allie looked down. “This is my baby, Kimmie,” she said, reaching for the toddler. “Our baby, Brent.”

  My eyes darted toward her and I blinked, not able to identify the tangle of emotions in me.

  When I said nothing, she sighed. “I’m betting you want proof.”

  I nodded.

  She reached into her bag and pulled out a birth certificate. It was dated about seven months after she broke up with me. She had listed the father as “Brent Majors.”

  I studied the paper for a moment, “This isn’t exactly proof, Allie.”

  “Well, it’s enough for the lawyer. You can fight it if you want if you prefer to be seen as a deadbeat dad who won’t acknowledge his daughter.”

  My heart ached as I looked at the little girl in her arms. Allie knew that I had wanted nothing more than a family and had talked about how much I couldn’t wait to get her pregnant. “Why are you just now telling me about her, then?”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t want to hurt you more than I already had,” she said. “When I first found out I was pregnant, I wasn’t going to go through with the pregnancy, so I didn’t want to tell you then.”

  “And when you decided to keep her? Why didn’t you reach out?”

  “I thought I could do it on
my own. I didn’t want to cause any complications to your life after I’d broken your heart.”

  I folded my arms narrowing my eyes at her. “That’s not a good enough reason.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Goddamn you,” she hissed, trying to keep her voice low. “I should have known you wouldn’t take responsibility since I didn’t tell you right away. Fine, then, we’ll go.” She stood and grabbed her bag, and Kimmie began to cry as she tried to hold on to her mother’s leg.

  I reached out and steadied the little girl, and she turned wide eyes on me, crying harder.

  “Sit down, Allie. Let Kimmie calm down for a moment. We’ll talk about this.”

  We talked for a couple of hours, but I still didn’t feel confident she was telling me the truth. However, I didn’t want her to run off with a child that might be mine. I would not be an absentee father if this were my baby. There was no way I’d let a child of mine grow up without me, not like I’d grown up without a father.

  When Lacy texted me, my heart dropped. No, everything wasn’t okay, but until I’d figured out what all this meant, I couldn’t burden her with this. After Allie left with Kimmie, I returned Lacy’s text. I needed to call my lawyer before I talked with Lacy.

  My lawyer agreed that we’d need proof, and set up an appointment with me the next morning. I called my assistant coach to let him know I wasn’t going to make it to school the next day, and just after I hung up, Lacy called again.

  As badly as I wanted to go to her, I needed to make sure I was doing right by Allie and Kimmie. I didn’t want to frighten Lacy either, so I let her know I still wanted to see her the next day. I was exhausted, and didn’t want to bring any of this to her door yet.