Dream On (Stories of Serendipity #2) (19 page)

He looked up at her, and saw a vision of ecstasy.
 Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her mouth was open in a tight ‘o’ while it looked like she had momentarily stopped breathing.  Suddenly, her body stopped its urgent undulations and she shuddered against him, as a gasp escaped her mouth.

“Oh...Dalton.”

“What?”  He thought he knew, but he wanted to hear her say it.

“I think...I just had...” Her breathing was still rough, and he reveled in the flush on her cheeks and the glassiness in her eyes.

“Did you come?”

“Yes.” She breathed, smiling at him.

“Was that scary?”

He thought she might have blushed, but her already-flushed cheeks managed to hide it.
 “No.  It wasn’t scary.  It was...awesome,” she breathed. Alyssa looked down at her disheveled appearance. She pulled her dress up over her breast, and straightened her skirt, but not before Dalton could see her white panties with an alluring wet patch on them.  He adjusted his jeans, trying to relieve some of the tightness in his groin.

She saw him.
 “Do you want me to do something for you?”

“Like what?”

“Like, um...” Her hands continued to fiddle with the skirt of her dress as she looked pointedly at his crotch.

“Oh.
 No, you don’t need to do anything.”  He had pretty much had a hard on all evening, an hour or two more wouldn’t kill him.

“Are you sure?”

Dalton leaned over and kissed her chastely on her lips.  “I’m sure Alyssa.  You can get me another glass of wine if you want.”

She got up to go get the bottle of wine from the kitchen.
 When she returned, she sat down next to him and poured the glasses.  She handed Dalton his glass, and taking hers, she leaned back against his side as he slipped his arm around her.  They sat in companionable silence for a little while before she asked, “Is your dad doing okay?”

He snuggled her closer in the crook of his arm, loving her scent.
 “Not really.  He’s under hospice care and has been for a couple of weeks.  It’s just a matter of time for him.”

“How’s your mom doing with it?”

“Not good.  My sister’s tried to be there for her, but when he dies, Mom will probably fall apart.  I’ve been trying to help my sister, but aside from taking shifts at the hospital so they can go home and rest, I don’t really know what else to do.”

“Well, you’ve been doing stuff around the ranch.
 That’s got to help, right?”

“Yeah.
 The thing is I’ve really been enjoying the work.  I think it’s time for me to move back, especially if Dad dies.  Otherwise, Mom would have to sell everything he’s worked so hard for.”

“Do you want to move back?”

Dalton looked at her and saw she was looking down, running her fingers around the rim of her wine glass.  “Yes, I do.”  She didn’t respond, so he tilted her face up to him with his index finger.  “I want to move back, Alyssa.  I don’t want to go anywhere.”  He kissed her on the forehead, then turned her so he was holding her in both arms with her back to him.  He rested his chin on the top of her head and felt her as she breathed.

Sitting like this, her smell surrounded Dalton.
 Vanilla.  She smelled so sweet.  He inhaled deeply in her hair.  “You smell so good.  Do you bathe in cookie dough?”  He teased her.

She giggled. The sound of it made him warm in his stomach. “No. I don’t bathe in cookie dough.”

They sat like that, in enjoyable silence, drinking their wine, until finally Dalton said, “I need to get home.  I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, I need to go to bed anyway.”

They stood, and Dalton embraced Alyssa, relishing her warm softness.  “I had a great time tonight.”  He breathed in the scent of her hair one last time, anxious already for the next time he would be this close to her.

“I did too, Dalton.
 Thank you for dinner.”

She walked him to the door, where he leaned down for one last kiss.
 

“I’ll call you tomorrow?”
 He asked.

She nodded at him before he let himself out the door.

On his way home, Dalton delighted in the feeling of elation that consumed him at the prospect of beginning something with Alyssa.  His brain swam with memories of Alyssa, her shyness, her laughter, her sensuality.  The memory of her trembling and shuddering beneath him on the couch brought a smile to his face.  He looked forward to doing much more of that with her, hopefully with fewer clothes on, but he was determined not to rush things with Alyssa.  She was an exceptional woman, and he didn’t want to ruin things.

When he got home, he saw both his mother’s and his sister’s car were in the driveway.
 That was not a good sign.  Neither one was at the hospital.  

He walked to the door
filled with dread and opened it to see Mary, Renae, and Kelly sitting on the couch in the living room with their arms around each other, and tear streaked faces.

“Oh, God.
 Mom.”  He went to his mother, and she clutched him, needily.

“He’s gone, Dalton.”
 Wracking sobs coming from the woman who had been such a strong force in his life, broke his heart.

“I’m sorry, Mom.
 I’m really sorry.”  He wrapped his arms around the frail lady, and wondered how much weight she had lost in the last couple of weeks.  Helplessly, he looked at Renae, who clutched a crumpled box of tissues in her lap.

“Where have you been, Dalton?”  His mother looked up at him with pain filled eyes. 

“I had a date.  I’m sorry, Mom.” 

“I tried to call you…to tell you…” She dissolved into tears again, and Dalton grabbed a tissue from the box on the couch next to her.

“I had my phone turned off, Mama.  I’m sorry.”

“You shouldn’t have done that.  You knew your father was dying.  You knew we might need to get in touch with you.”  Her voice was accusatory.

“I said I was sorry, Mama.  Please.”

Mary’s voice was rising in pitch, as she spoke.  “So, while your sister and I were by your dying father’s bedside, you were out getting your jollies off with some…”

“Don’t say it Mama.  I feel bad enough.  Please.”  He looked at her, pleading.  “Don’t bring Alyssa into it.  She’s not what you’re thinking.”

“All I’m thinking is how you’ve messed up, again, Dalton.  We needed you tonight!”

“I can’t tell you how sorry I am.  But if you’re going to stand there and yell at me for a mistake I can’t take back, then I’m going to my room.”

“Go to your room, then!  Run away from your responsibilities, just like you always do!”  Mary turned to her daughter, who looked at Dalton helplessly, as he turned and strode from the room.

An hour later, Dalton was still in his room, listening to the quiet of the house.  He had listened to his mother and Renae talk in hushed voices in the living room, and then he heard Renae put Mom to bed.  He waited a little while before venturing out into the living room.  Renae was sitting on the couch with a bottle of whiskey and a bottle of water on the coffee table in front of her.

“Hey.”  Dalton said quietly, so as not to startle his sister.  “I’m really sorry I had my phone off.  I wasn’t thinking.”

“It’s okay.  Is she really different?  From the others?”

“Yeah.  Alyssa’s special.”  Dalton grabbed the bottle of whiskey and took a healthy swig, feeling the burn as it went down his throat.

“Good for you.  And also, because she’s Kelly’s teacher.  I’m not sure I would be comfortable if her teacher were one of your usual whore-types.”

“Ouch.”  Dalton thought he probably knew what she meant, but it still hurt a little to hear the words.

“Mom will get over this.  It’s just hard for her, and she expects you to be at her beck and call when she wants you.”

“Yeah, I know.”  He drank again, before passing the bottle to Renae, who sipped a little whiskey and then sipped from her bottle of water.  Dalton hadn’t drunk with her like this since her husband had died. 

He put his arm around her and pulled her close, to comfort himself as much as her.  “I really wish I had been here.  I’m going to live with this and Mom’s anger for awhile.”

“She’ll get over it.”

“And make me feel as lousy as possible in the meanwhile.”

They spent the next three hours getting drunk together, telling stories about their dad.
 Renae took prim sips of whiskey, chasing them with water, while Dalton swigged from the bottle.  Memories floated through the room, of Dalton and his dad restoring the Triumph, of their father’s reticence to let Renae wear makeup, of ways he had taken care of them, in the best way he knew how.  

They laughed and they cried, and through the laughter and tears, Dalton knew they would be okay.
 He knew their dad wasn’t sick anymore.  Now, he just needed to help his mom get through this part of her life, just like his dad would, the best way he knew how.

Chapter 15

Alyssa was doing laundry on Saturday, reliving the night before.
 The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she was.  She had acted like a teenager, or worse yet, a dog in heat, dry-humping Dalton’s leg in desperation. Alyssa didn’t know what had come over her.  Well, yes, she did.  

Kissing Dalton was like kissing a thunderstorm.
 His mouth awoke a torrent of sensations in her insides.  Mortified at the memory, she concentrated on sorting clothes into piles, until she was interrupted by a knock at the door.

Opening the door, she was surprised to see Dalton standing there, looking more disheveled than she had ever seen him.
 His hair was more tousled than usual, his clothes were wrinkled, and his eyes were rimmed with red.

“Oh, Dalton.
 What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer her, choosing instead to grab her around the waist and hug her hard, kicking the door closed behind him.
 He held her close to him, as though his life depended on her being there for him.  She was happy to oblige.  Feeling his strong arms around her, holding her so close was reassuring.  

As comforting as this was, Alyssa realized he wasn’t there for her.
 He needed her comfort, not vice versa.  She brought her arms around his neck and hugged him back, as hard as she could.  He buried his face in her hair, and she could feel his body tremble in her arms.  

It had to be something with his dad.
 She couldn’t imagine what else could upset him so much right now.

“Dalton, I’m sorry.
 Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.”
 Suddenly, he was pushing her against the wall behind her door, and his mouth was on hers.  His lips were desperate, needy, and she met them willingly.  Alyssa felt his sorrow in the down turned edges of his mouth, the forcefulness of his kiss.  

The rawness of his grief tore at her heart, and she melted into his arms, willing him to take what he needed from her.
 She opened up to him readily and felt his tongue move inside, pushing past hers.  She heard a whimper escape her throat, as her hands moved from around his neck down his back, feeling the hard muscles tensed up beneath her fingers.  His hands moved down to her backside, lifting her, as she wrapped her legs around his waist.  His erection ground into her, filling her with the warmth that she had felt last night.  His mouth moved down to her neck, and she gasped as he kissed the tender spots that made her insides quiver.

“I need you, Alyssa.”
 The ragged words tore at Alyssa.

He put her down
and used his hands instead to lift off her stained tee shirt and cup her breasts in his hands.  Dropping to his knees, he suckled first one, then the other while he dragged down her sweatpants.  Her breath came in ragged gasps as she wound her fingers in his hair, pulling him toward her. She could hear the buckle of his belt before she heard his zipper, and then he was pulling her down on the floor with him, still kissing her breasts.

“You are so beautiful to me, Alyssa.”
 He breathed between her breasts.  Somehow, while she was reveling in her Dalton induced haze, he had pulled down his own pants and pressed his erection against her leg.  

She moaned as he brought his mouth back up to hers for another knee-buckling kiss, and she was thankful she was lying down.
 She sensed a change in his kiss.  It wasn’t filled with grief as it had been before.  His lips had lost the firmness, and his body wasn’t trembling anymore.  His kiss had grown hungry but not for consolation.  She could feel the raw lust in his mouth, and she complied, dropping her hand to his erection, feeling the soft skin covering his hard length.  He groaned deeply into her mouth and his body shuddered as she ran her fingertips from the base of him to the tip, fondling the piercing she knew would be there.

“Alyssa...” He breathed unevenly in her ear.
 Her hand grabbed the base of him and slowly moved upward.  “You have to...” His body convulsed and he grabbed her hand with his, stopping her motions. Groaning again, he rolled off of her, breathing deeply.  “I’m sorry.”