Taming Alec (9 page)

When our breathing calmed, he slowly pulled out. I watched with my eyes half-closed as he stood and pulled off the condom. After tying it off and tossing it into the garbage, he turned and walked out of the room.

Confused, I stared at the doorway.
If he left me after that…

Seconds later, he returned with a washcloth in his hand. He slowly spread my legs and wiped the cloth across my tender skin. He wiped himself off as well before tossing the washcloth in the garbage. I gave him a questioning look.

He gave me a sheepish grin. “There was, uh…blood.”

“And you said you weren’t a nice guy.”

He lifted me up long enough to pull the blankets down before dropping me back onto the bed. I scooted over as he climbed in next to me and pulled the covers over us. I was surprised when he tugged me over to him and wrapped his arm around me. I snuggled into his chest, loving the feel of his skin against mine. I breathed in his scent, memorizing it.

After a few seconds, I finally found the courage to speak. “That was…good.”

He chuckled. “I was hoping you thought it was better than good.”

I ran my finger back and forth across his stomach. “You know what I mean. It was definitely better than good.”

He kissed the top of my head. “At least I can stop fantasizing about what you look like naked. It was starting to drive me crazy.”

“Was the real thing as good as your imagination?” I asked.

“Ten times better.”

He grabbed my chin and lifted it so that he could kiss me on the mouth. “No going back, right?”

“No going back. You’re stuck with me,” I teased.

He pulled me tighter against him. “This is…different.”

“What is?”

“Cuddling,” he said the word with disgust.

I laughed. “You’ve never cuddled with someone before?”

He shook his head. “Never.”

“Well, I guess we can both say we’ve had a new experience tonight.”

He grinned. “I guess so.”

When I finally fell asleep that night, Alec was still holding me.

I paid the delivery boy before closing the door and carrying the pizza into the kitchen. I put it on the table and flipped open the lid. I was too hungry to wait for Alec.

A few minutes later, I looked up when he came out of his bedroom.

He took one look at me with my mouth full and grinned. “Hungry?”

I gave him a sheepish look as I swallowed. “Food’s here.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I figured that much out.”

He walked over to me and grabbed the pizza out of my hand. I protested, but he ignored me and dropped it back into the box. He pulled me close and kissed me. I instantly forgot about food as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

When he finally pulled away, I was breathless. He picked up a piece of pizza and started eating. When he saw how flustered I was, he smirked. He loved doing that to me. For the past week, he’d found every excuse he could to touch and kiss me. I wasn’t complaining. It was like I was floating on a cloud constantly. What I felt with Alec was incredible. After the weeks of heartache, it seemed like I’d finally found my place.

I never believed in love at first sight, but with Alec, I was starting to wonder if maybe it did exist after all. I’d never felt a connection like the one I had with him.

Being in a relationship was new to both of us. We were well aware of the fact that we had no idea what we had gotten ourselves into. I was okay with that. Since I’d met Alec, I’d found myself in a lot of situations that I couldn’t understand. That didn’t matter though. I was adapting faster than I thought possible and being with him was quickly becoming my new norm.

The morning after our talk, Alec had acted strange, like he was afraid he would do something wrong. He would still seem unsure of himself from time to time even though I’d explained that I had no expectations or presumptions about how things would happen between the two of us. It had made me realize just how hard he was trying to make things work between us.

“What do you want to do tonight?” I asked.

Between our work schedules, we were only able to spend a few nights together. I was excited about having him for the entire evening.

He shrugged. “We could always have lots and lots of sex. I’m down for that.”

I grinned. “I’m sure you are.” A thought occurred to me. “I know what I want to do.”

“What?” he asked, sounding suspicious.

“It’s nothing bad. Gesh. I was just thinking about when you said you played guitar. I would love to hear you.”

He seemed unsure of himself. “I don’t know.”

“Why not? You said you’ve played in front of people before, so I know you’re not shy.”

“It’s different with you. I care about what you think,” he admitted.

I smiled, touched by his words, even if it seemed to kill him to say them. “Come on. I’m sure I’ll like it.” When he still seemed uncertain, I stepped closer and wrapped my arms around his waist. “Please, Spike.”

His body shook with laughter. “You’re not allowed to call me that.”

“Why not?” I teased.

“Because everyone else calls me that. I’m Alec to you.”

I squeezed him tightly. “Fine. Alec, will you please play something for me?”

He sighed as he removed my arms. “I suppose.”

He pretended to scowl, but I could see the amusement in his eyes.

“Go sit on the couch. I’ll be back in a second.”

I walked over to the couch and sat down as he disappeared into his bedroom. When he reemerged, he had an acoustic guitar in his hand. He sat down on the opposite side of the couch and strummed the guitar. He fiddled with the tuning pegs and then strummed again.

Once he was satisfied, he turned his attention to me. “This is something I’ve been working on for a few weeks. It’s not finished yet.”

I nodded encouragingly. He looked away as his fingers began to move across the neck of the guitar. I watched in fascination as he played. The melody was soft, almost sweet. He played for a few seconds before he started singing. My mouth dropped open in amazement as I listened to him. His voice was deep normally, but it turned into a low growl as he sang. Listening to him sing was otherworldly.

What is happening to me?

I’m just trying to survive.

Then, you came to me, and I felt like maybe I wasn’t really living,

Maybe I just needed to find someone who gave a damn,

A damn about me

You don’t belong here.

You can’t,

Not with me.

Innocence can’t go hand in hand with the devil.

Things like that just aren’t meant to be.

I feel like I should’ve been a better man,

Especially when you look at me.

Just don’t stop looking at me.

As he finished, I ran my fingers under my eyes, trying to keep my tears from falling. His voice was mesmerizing. I had no idea how he wasn’t singing professionally. Every word he’d sung captured me. I felt every emotion his voice held.

“Dear God,” I whispered as I stared at him in awe.

“I know it’s not that great, but it isn’t finished. It’ll be better when I’m done,” he said, obviously mistaking my awe for dislike.

I shook my head. “It was amazing. I’ve never heard anything like it. Why are you in West Virginia, running a bar, when you could be out there, singing to the world?”

He seemed surprised. “You really liked it?”

“I loved it,” I told him honestly.

He sat his guitar on the table and tugged me over. He lifted me onto his lap and wrapped his arms around me. “I started writing it when I met you. I couldn’t seem to get you out of my head, so I decided to put everything I felt down on paper. It helped but only a little.”

“You have to be the most romantic man I’ve ever met.” I snuggled into his chest. “Can’t do relationships? Psh.”

He laughed. “When I’m around you, everything seems easy. I wish I had met you a long time ago.”

I sat up and looked into his eyes. “Things will never be easy. Life never is, so a relationship won’t be any different, but we’ll figure it out.”

“You think?” he asked, his expression serious.

“I know.”

He leaned in and kissed me gently. “No going back.”

“No going back.”

“Now, how about that awesome sex I mentioned earlier?”

I laughed as he picked me up and carried me to his bedroom. I knew what I’d told him was true. Nothing worthwhile was ever easy in life. I had no doubt that Alec and I would have issues along the way, but it didn’t matter. I wanted him, and he wanted me. That was what counted.

Our story was only beginning, but I’d found my happily ever after already. I couldn’t wait to see what would come next.

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Every child puts his or her parents up on a pedestal. Parents could do no wrong, and their opinions were your opinions as well.

At the tender age of six, I felt the same way. My mother, the famous supermodel, Andria Bellokavich, was my idol. I wanted to wear her clothes, make my hair look the same as hers, and share her opinions with the world.

“I can’t
believe
they let that kind of riffraff in this park,” my mother said as she wrinkled her nose in distaste.

I followed her gaze to see a boy around my age and his mother playing by the sandbox. “What’s wrong with them, Mommy?”

“They’re low-class white trash, and I don’t see why they feel the need to invade
our
park.”

I stared at the boy. I saw nothing low-class about him, but what did I know? My mommy knew everything, and if she said they were icky, then they must be.

“Can we make them go away?” I asked, eager to please my mommy.

“I wish, but unfortunately, this is a public park, so there’s nothing I can do. I will say this—we will not be coming back here anytime soon.”

I loved this park, and it made me sad that we couldn’t come back. I instantly hated the boy and his mother for taking away my favorite place in the world.

“Can I go play on the slides?” I asked, not wanting to waste a minute of my time here since it would be my last.

“Of course, honey, but don’t go anywhere near
them.
” She sniffed as she pulled out her BlackBerry and started punching buttons.

I hated that thing. Mommy was always on it, and she never paid attention to me when she was. Daddy had one, too, but he always put it down if I wanted his attention. I didn’t mind Daddy’s so much.

“Thank you, Mommy!” I said as I leaped off the bench we were sitting on and ran for the slides.

I looked back once to see if Mommy was watching, so I could show her just how fast I could climb up the slide, but of course, she wasn’t looking. She still had that stupid thing glued to her hand.

I sighed in defeat and slowly climbed the ladder. I was so proud of myself when I made it to the top. Not every six-year-old could climb this high without being afraid, but I could. I’d been doing it forever or at least since I was five and Mommy had started to let me run around the park on my own. She always told me that I was a big girl now and that I could take care of myself while she worked.

I sat down and pushed myself down the slide, giggling when I got to the bottom as I felt the static in my pigtails. I loved the slide. It was my favorite part of the park—after the sandbox, of course. I glanced over at the sandbox to see that the boy and his mommy had moved on to the swings.