Chapter 9
The senseof being smothered and bound invaded me. Bands were tightened around my arms and ankles as I thrashed and kicked. I screamed and attempted to break free of the binds. I gasped for air as I tried to escape.
Through my foggy mind, I heard a voice calling my name. This time it was deep, rich and steady, not harsh and hateful like before.
“Alexia, wake up. You’re having a nightmare. Please wake up.”
Hands gently touched my cheeks, pushing my hair away. I opened my eyes and Pearce’s face came into focus. His eyes were soft but filled with concern.
“Oh J-Jesus.” I trembled so badly words weren’t possible.
“Take a deep breath. You had a nightmare. That’s all it was. You’re safe.”
I did as he asked, and the panic eased. “They took me again.”
“No one has you but me.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into his side. “Keep breathing, babe, nice and slow. That’s it.”
His hands moved up and down my back, massaging circles on it and slowly the tension abated.
“It was awful. I was trapped in that place again.”
“You scared me to death when you started whimpering. You better now?”
“Much, thanks.”
His arms were a safe harbor. I never wanted that sense of safety to end.
The sun streamed through the gaps in the shutters when my eyes opened. A band of steel encircled my waist, and a muscular thigh was draped across my hip. I peeked under the covers and grinned. Pearce’s hand splayed across my belly and I covered it with my own.
His mouth moved against my neck before I heard, “Good morning, gorgeous.”
“Good morning to you.”
I turned over in order to see him. His hair was mussed, and an unruly lock fell across his forehead. His eyes were soft and sexy. He brushed my hair off my face and moved to kiss me.
“Stop. I need to brush my teeth.”
“So do I.”
That didn’t stop him from kissing me. His hands wandered around my body and soon we moved to a steady rhythm of our own. In the middle of it all, he stopped suddenly and flipped us over, putting me on top.
“I have a serious need to watch you make love to me,” he said. His eyes were half closed and he ran his tongue along his lower lip, as if he was anticipating tasting something special. I leaned over him and touched his lip with my tongue and he groaned. He thrust into me, hard. I sat up and shifted my hips, catching his motion. His fingers laced with mine and then he brought my hand down to my sex.
“Touch yourself, Alexia. I want to watch you.”
My eyes about popped out of my head, as I pulled my hand away.
“I … I can’t do that!” I protested in shock. That was something I only did in private.
“Yes, you can. Do it for me. It turns me on just to think about it. But to see it, with me inside of you, would be amazing.” He guided my hand back down. “I’ll make it easy for you. Just like this.” He started a light circular motion, his fingers on top of mine, but before long, his hand disappeared and mine was the one circling my clit, as he watched.
The tension built and threatened to burst when he said, “Open your eyes and come for me.”
The second I looked at him, my orgasm erupted, and I called his name, collapsing onto his chest.
“You look amazing when you come. Christ, I’ve never seen anything so fucking beautiful.”
I was being cradled by him as his hands moved up and down my back, while he whispered sexy words in my ear.
When my wits returned, I raised myself to my elbows and stared at him. I wanted to tell him a million things, but I didn’t dare let myself because it was way too soon to talk about this. I did something else instead. I began to do to him what he did to me the night before. I worshipped his body with my hands, mouth, and tongue, licking, sucking, nibbling, and kissing every inch of him. When I got to the very best part, I took him into my mouth and pleasured him until he was pulling my hair and fisting the sheets.
“Jesus, Alexia, you’re going to be the death of me. I knew I was right.”
“About what?”
“Your mouth. It was made for kissing. And not just my lips, sweetheart. Get up here.”
I crawled from the end of the bed and he pulled me on top of him.
“One day,” he announced with conviction.
“What?” I asked in confusion.
“One day you’ll stay here. Forever.”
I laughed.
“I’m not kidding, Alexia. I’m serious.”
His eyes didn’t leave mine for a millisecond. He didn’t even blink.
“I don’t think I ...”
He interrupted me. His eyes softened then, turning from the smoldering smoke of a fire to a muted gray of an early morning mist. “I’m not asking you to think. You’re going to be with only me one day. And don’t worry. I’m a patient man and willing to wait for you to work out your issues.”
My jaw hit the floor and I didn’t know what to say or do. I couldn’t breathe.
“I suppose I’ve shocked you.” He still hadn’t looked away.
All the words evaporated. Then something nudged my heart, warming me from within. I wanted to say something, anything. He’d said what I’d been thinking, but I was stupefied to hear it from him.
“You don’t need to say anything, and I hope I didn’t just scare the life out of you.”
“No!” I finally blurted out. “You didn’t. I was thinking along those same lines, but it was ridiculous because it’s too fast. This scares me. We scare me. I’ve been a hot mess for such a long time. I want us to be together, but only when I get rid of the baggage. Just look what happened during the night. I’m still dealing with that nightmarish attack on top of all the other crap. My life’s a giant shit show.”
“And now I’ve dumped this on you. I should’ve kept those thoughts to myself.”
“Don’t think of it that way. This is a beautiful thing. I’ve never felt this way before.”
“Even about Peter?”
“One of the things I felt the guiltiest about over his death was that stupid argument we had. He wanted to get married, but I had decided I didn’t. I loved him, but not enough to marry him. That’s why I carried this guilt for this long. But it’s different with you.”
He grabbed my face and our lips crashed together in a bruising kiss.
He ended the kiss and asked, “Then can we be exclusive?”
“I’m kinda thinking that way. I just want us to take this a bit slower.” He smiled and it felt like sunshine bathing my body in its warmth.
“You have plans for today?” he asked.
“Only with you.” I grinned.
“Good. Let’s shower and then I want to take you somewhere.”
“Where?”
“Huh-uh. It’s a surprise.”
He tugged my hand, and I followed him to his massive shower. An hour later, we finally emerged scrubbed, shampooed, conditioned, and thoroughly fucked as well.
While we were getting dressed, I told him about my Christmas present from Lisbeth. He shocked me by saying, “I heard about it from my grandmother.” My jaw sagged. “Alexia, this is Charleston. Not much goes on south of Broad without everyone knowing about it. Especially if it has to do with Lisbeth and my grandmother. They’re best friends, you know.”
He was right. I hadn’t thought about it, but south of Broad, or SOB, where all the blue bloods lived was a well-known gossip arena.
“So?” he asked.
“So what?”
“Aren’t you going to ask?” he teased.
“Ask what?”
“What my grandmother said.”
“Okay, I’ll take the bait.”
“Let me see if I can get it right. She said, ‘Pearce, you know your friend Alexia must be mighty special if Lisbeth bought her a brand-new Toyota Highlander for Christmas. Lisbeth Rutledge usually doesn’t let loose of a penny unless someone forces her to.’ I think I got it right.”
A fit of the giggles hit me. It wasn’t what he said, it was how he said it. He used a high soprano-like voice with an exaggerated Charleston accent.
“Oh my God! I wish I had recorded that. You were perfection. And that accent!” I was still laughing so hard that my sides were beginning to hurt.
“Honey, growing up here it comes with the territory. I had to temper it when I went to Duke. My patients couldn’t understand me half the time and asked what country I was from.”
Charlestonians had serious accents, particularly if they were the offspring of blue bloods. “I bet! Chicago was probably even worse.”
“No, by that time, I’d learned to control it. They could still tell I was from the South, though.”
“Well, Dr. Middleton, I think your accent is mighty sexy.”
“Hmm, do you now?” He grabbed me and bent me backward over his arm and kissed me. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him to me. It started out as a fun kiss but quickly turned into a heated, passion-filled one, as I hugged him tightly to me.
“We’ll never get out of here if we don’t stop now,” I said against his mouth.
“True,” he said back against mine.
We reluctantly let go and headed out the door.