Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Mary London
Rhett’s breaking my heart right here in this abandoned alley, but I know I can’t fix him. And I know I won’t bend on what I want out of a relationship. A girl doesn’t reach mid-thirties still single and suddenly cave for less than what she deserves. At least this girl doesn’t.
I throw out that ultimatum, not as a threat, but as an invitation to do better.
With the way Rhett’s eyes are darkening into a smoldering fire of need, I’d say he’s fixin’ to do so much better.
His hands drop from my face to cup my hips.
He yanks me against him, letting me feel the hard ridge in his pants, lewdly rubbing against me.
A car starts down the street, making me all too aware we’re in public, but here in the dark alley, the driver certainly can’t see us. Rhett spins us, then pushes me up against the brick building behind me, the cool brick a lovely contrast to the heat of his body pressing against my front.
“I’m not going to be like the other men you’ve dated, Mary London, and that’s a damn good thing,” he grumbles against my cheek.
He inhales like he’s breathing me in before switching to the other cheek and repeating the animalistic gesture.
His lips still haven’t touched mine and it’s making me twitch with anticipation.
“Oh yeah?” I whisper, voice coming out breathless.
One of his hands slips from my hip and skims my jaw, only to settle on my throat in an aggressive hold. It doesn’t hurt but the pressure is enough to make my breathing kick up another notch.
“I don’t give a fuck about being seen by your side,” he hisses, breath hitting my face.
“I just want to be with you, Mary London Winthrop. I want to rub your tired feet at the end of the day and make you a shitty dinner and build you the best damn bar you’ve ever seen.
I want secrecy right now to protect you, not because I care what other people think of me.
When the time is right, we’ll go as public as fucking right here in the alley. ”
I gasp as a white-hot ribbon of need tears through me. Rhett stills. Then his lips tilt into a devilish smile.
“Oh, you like that, June bug? You want to fuck right here?”
I can’t even form words. Rhett’s done the impossible. He’s made me speechless with need in a way I’ve never experience before. I nod frantically, the back of my head scraping against the brick.
Rhett looks left and right, then up above our heads. I know he’s looking for people and cameras, but I don’t worry about it. I know he’ll protect me. What he said is true. All he’s ever done is put me first.
His gaze comes back to mine and he plucks a quick, sweet kiss from my lips. He pulls back before it can get heated. “I’ll always give you whatever you need, June bug. You just have to tell me.”
And then he shifts us three steps to the right, into a doorway where it’s even darker.
My back hits the wooden doorway, uncomfortable but quickly forgotten.
My footsteps echo a bit thanks to these darn heels and we freeze for a couple seconds to make sure no one down the street heard.
Not even the moonlight reaches us here, giving us enough cover to make this work.
Apparently satisfied with our situation and with his hand still on my throat, Rhett starts giving directions.
“Undo my belt and unzip me.”
His jaw is clenched hard, and while his face is in shadow, I can make out the intense way he holds my gaze.
I bite my lip and fumble for his waistline.
Gosh almighty this is hot. Hotter than anything I’ve ever done.
I get his jeans undone, taking it one step further and reaching in to stroke his cock.
He’s so hard already, the heat and weight of him in my hand only making me pant harder.
He grunts, pulling back his hips slightly. “Nuh-uh. Pull your pretty skirt up, baby. When I say jump, you wrap those thighs around my waist and hang on, you hear?”
“Yes, sir,” I manage to drawl, feeling a bit lightheaded with want and straight up giddiness.
I reach down for the hemline of my dress, pulling it right up to my waist. The cool air floods in, making me all too aware of what we’re about to do.
Aware that I’m flashing anyone who might poke their head into the alley on the way to their car.
Rhett grins and I forget about the whole world.
Far as I’m concerned, it’s just him and me.
“Jump,” Rhett whispers.
I do, assisted by his hand on my hip. My legs come around his waist and he presses me back against the wall. His hand leaves my throat to grip his cock.
“Remember the second part?” His voice is a rough grumble covered in velvet.
“Hold on?” I gasp, hands scrambling to get a grip on his shoulders.
He doesn’t acknowledge the fact that I had enough brain cells working right now to speak. He just pulls aside my panties and thrusts inside me, the full length of him driving home in an instant.
I cry out. From the uncomfortable stretch.
From the shock of what we’re actually doing out in public.
From the fierce look on Rhett’s face. His eyes have lost focus.
His jaw is working side to side, his breath huffing through his nose.
One of his hands comes up to slam over my mouth, cutting off the cry that’s turned into a moan.
His callouses scrape over my sensitive skin.
It’s too much. It’s not enough. It’s everything I wanted but didn’t know how to ask for.
Rhett’s moving, driving into me over and over, each thrust accompanied by a low grunt of concentration.
My back is slamming and sliding against the hard door.
My hair is caught behind my shoulder and it’s pulling my scalp.
Rhett’s jacket must have a button or something because there’s metal digging into one of my thighs.
And his cock, dear heavens, his cock is going to split me in two with the force he’s using.
My fingernails dig into his leather jacket, gripping him for all I’m worth.
I tip my head back to see the stars up in the sky. A grin splits my face while I’m getting banged in an alleyway. Oh God, I’ve never loved sex this much.
His thumb finds its way below my skirt and under the panties that are definitely ruined after this. He strums it across my aching clit, making me absolutely wild. My legs try to climb him like a tree.
“Stop…fuckin…movin’,” he mumbles, slamming into me like I’m the problem and not his intense pace.
“Can’t!” I gasp. “Won’t!”
And then I break, every muscle in my body tensing with a pleasure so extreme I’m not sure this is a livable experience. Rhett clamps his hand back on my mouth and I’m biting him, out of my goddamn mind as the whole world spins in a vortex to ultimately detonate between my legs.
Rhett stiffens, and I don’t care if it’s because the entire town of Heaven has walked into the alley or because he’s coming. Nothing external matters. The only thought in my head is curses I wouldn’t say out loud and one reverberating question.
How can I get him to do this again?
Rhett’s whole body shakes and my arms reflexively wrap around his neck, pulling him into me.
He slams the side of his fist against the wall behind my head, grunting words I can’t make out.
Before he’s caught his breath and definitely before I’m ready, he pulls out of me, hands on my hips to lift me off and then down on my own two feet.
I have no business trying to stand in heels right now.
My skirt flutters downward, covering me.
Rhett stuffs himself inside his pants and quickly buttons up.
I sag against the doorway, hoping my legs will stop shaking soon.
“Holy shit,” I whisper.
Rhett’s head pops up and he runs his hand through his hair, looking left and right. Then his gaze comes back to me, taking in the length of my body, spent and satisfied. He steps forward to cup my cheek and run a thumb over my skin.
“I should send you back in that bar with your hair all a mess and us dripping down your thighs. Make sure every man in there knows you’re mine.”
“Caveman,” I toss at him, not able to hold back the grin. Dirty-talking Rhett might just be my favorite.
He kisses me, light and reverently, totally at odds with what we just did.
“Nah, I think I just like making you messy.”
I grip his wrist, wanting to hold on to this moment. This man.
“You can mess me up anytime you want, ’Lanta.”
Things have been good, so good, between Rhett and me for weeks.
Now that he’s not treating me like a precious doll anymore, we get along perfectly.
He’s my friend and contractor by day, intense lover by night.
We have to sneak around to see each other, but that sneaking makes every time even hotter.
He’s not holding back sexually or with his feelings.
I catch him staring at me sometimes, a dazed look in his eye.
I know what he means. I can’t believe I may have found The One either.
We haven’t come right out and said what we’re feeling, but I know for me, I’m hopelessly in love with Rhett.
Rhett’s crew is making a ton of progress on the bar.
We should be able to open the second week of January, right as all the college kids come back to school after the winter break.
I’m burning the candle at both ends, running the boutique, working on Grand Opening plans for the bar, and sneaking off to see Rhett at night.
Adrenaline and coffee are my two best friends.
Thanksgiving sneaks up on us, and thankfully, Rhett decides to host dinner so it’s not one more thing I have to deal with.
He invites me, Silas, and Betsy Mae. He warns me that Papaw will also be there, but I’m not worried.
He shows up slightly tipsy, but not staggering drunk. In other words, he’s manageable.