Chapter 17 #2
Now I’m here, standing in front of his door once again, practically shaking in my Prada boots.
I reach up to knock, but the door swings open.
Axl’s electric scent fills my nose and sends the biggest dopamine rush to my head.
Relief fills me, like I’m an addict and getting a hit of his scent was the very thing I needed to feel like myself again.
“Oh.” He stops his descent through the doorway, and a huge grin paints over his face. “Hi.”
His reaction makes me smile as well, suddenly feeling shy in my abrupt arrival. “Hi,” I reply, then point down at the keys in his hand. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I was just going to meet my dad,” he says, beckoning me inside. “Let me call him to reschedule.”
“You don’t have to reschedule.”
“I know, but I want to. He’ll understand.”
Axl walks out of the room and leaves me to sit in his living room.
It’s cozy, and there are dents in the couch like him and Ledger spend a lot of time here.
The aroma in the air is strong, both electric and sweet from their combined scents.
Video games sprawl over the surfaces, stray guitar picks, and ashtrays.
Then I see his drumsticks lying on the coffee table, the pink bow I gave him when we were teenagers hanging out beside them.
I pick the sticks up and feel them over.
The wood is smooth but with worn, little specs of dirt and paint blended into the surface.
There’s a rough edge, like tiny indentations in the side that feels nice against my fingers.
I turn it over and squint at the tiny letters I see there, trying to make them out.
When they come into focus, my heart picks up speed.
LITTLE RECKONING.
His nickname for me is carved into the side, tiny and sacred.
My face cracks into a smile as I put them down seconds before Axl comes back into the room.
“Sorry, we had to make plans to get breakfast before the meeting tomorrow since he’s going on a date tonight.”
“With someone here?”
“Hell no,” he says, laughing. “A few towns over. That’s why he can’t meet up in a bit.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I should have told you I was coming.”
He waves me off again. “I see him all the time. Plus, it was about the video. Apparently, he thinks he can get it taken down, and if not, he thinks you and I have a case for legal compensation.”
The surprise of that hits me hard. “What? Really?”
“Yeah, and he plans to bring it up in the town meeting tomorrow,” Axl adds, his lips turned into a smirk. “So, Gabby is going to get what’s coming to her.”
I groan, thinking about the meeting tomorrow.
Most of the town attends because it’s seen as a big collaborative effort to keep the town the way it was intended.
Kids and teenagers aren’t allowed, because sometimes it can become hostile.
It looks like tomorrow won’t be any different.
“That’s really cool of your dad to look into this. ”
He shrugs. “This is his hometown, and he loves it, but he isn’t blind to its many faults. Mainly its people.”
I nod, feeling lost in my head. Silence falls between us as we both think about the past few days since the gala. I finally look back up at him and sigh. “I’m sorry I haven’t called since that night.”
Axl shakes his head. “It’s fine—”
“No, it’s not. I wish there was a good excuse, but really, I just needed a few days to sort things out. To make sure it didn’t turn into a bigger situation. Like, with my parents and Brent.”
He nods, understanding, but his face falls slightly. “That’s a relief. I thought, maybe… you were embarrassed. Of being found with me.”
“No.” I scoot closer to him, finding his hand automatically and lacing them together.
His skin sparks against mine, and it feels like another thing I’ve been missing the past few days.
“I mean, people tried to make me feel ashamed about it. My mother was a bitch as usual. She doesn’t understand, called me a disappointment… ”
Axl growls, the sound deep in his chest. “You’re not.”
“I know.” I caress his face, loving the protective instincts he has. “They wanted me to feel those things, but I don’t. Ripping off the band-aid, having everyone know, was the last step. Now, all I feel is relief, because I am finally free to be with you.”
He puts his hand on mine and meets my eyes.
“You want to be together?” There’s so much emotion on his face, but he’s trying not to let the hope seep in.
I have so much practice with keeping my emotions in check, but my beta has always had his heart right on his tattered sleeve.
It’s one of the things I love about him, how he’s never had to be someone he isn’t.
“More than anything. I’m done hiding. I want to go to the bistro with you, shop for our clothes at the mall—”
“Ew, the mall.”
“Hey, I’m giving a speech here!”
He chuckles. “Sorry, go ahead.”
I square my shoulders, loving the teasing look on his face. “I want to be who I am; my wild, adrenaline-junkie mess of a person. But I want to be that person with you, my boyfriend who is in a band and loves street racing and getting high and flipping off anyone who judges him for it.”
He fakes a gasp. “You just said the ‘B’ word.”
“Yes, I did.” I laugh, climbing onto his lap and straddling him. His jeans feel amazing against my bare thighs, and my skirt rides up as his hands slide up my skin. “Will you be with me? Go through this adventure with me?”
Axl’s hands come up to my hips, and he grips me in a delicious way.
“I’ve dreamt of this moment for years, my Little Reckoning.
” He guides me over him, my core colliding with his hardened cock for a second before he angles me to grind on his thigh.
A moan escapes me at the way the rough denim feels against my clit, and my nails dig into his chest. “But never in my wildest dreams did I think you’d be the one asking. ”
“Not even in one?” I ask in disbelief. “You always thought it would be you?”
His lips curve into the smirk I love, lust dancing with his usual bold features.
I surrender to his movements, letting him move me over him again and again and again.
“In all of those dreams, I was deep inside you, begging you to be mine. Not letting you finish until you agreed to let me have you once and for all.”
I cry out, his cock hitting me in just the right place to send sparks down my spine. “Maybe we should… let that happen, like you always imagined,” I suggest, heat pulling under my skin.
“But this is better than any dream, baby,” he whispers huskily.
He keeps the rhythm steady, grinding my hips over him at just the right speed and harshness.
My clit sings with every swipe, wetness seeping through my panties, but he doesn’t stop.
He drives me wild with the motion, my head becoming dizzy as the rope gets pulled tighter and tighter.
Holy shit… am I going to come like this? Fully clothed and grinding on his leg?
It’s like he reads my mind, because he grips tighter and groans. “Fuck, baby. Are you going to come? You feel so fucking good, rubbing against me like the beautiful little whore you are.”
There’s a panting noise I soon figure out is coming from me.
I try to quicken the pace, desperate for whatever pleasure he is trying to pull out of me, but he keeps me locked in his grip, loving the control he has over me in this moment.
“That’s it, Stacey,” he whispers, and it shoots right through me to my clit.
“My fucking slut, take it. I want to see your body contort with it. I want you dripping over my thigh until your scent is soaked all the way in.”
The edge of the cliff is almost there, and I grunt with the force of it, wanting nothing more than to feel this incredible, surprising finish with everything in me.
“A little bit more. Keep going, you’re almost there.
Fuck.” His head leans back, his pace faltering slightly as he curses under his breath.
His cock twitches right near my skin, causing something to snap.
The repeated motion overstimulates my clit until it’s pulsating and releasing.
The orgasm flies right through me, and my hips move of their own accord to continue the pleasure, rubbing against him in a way that feels primal and intimate as sound after sound falls from my lips.
I can hear him laugh in the sexiest way, his voice broken with desire.
“That’s it. You’re so fucking beautiful. ”
When my hips can’t possibly move anymore, and the orgasm starts to subside, I go limp in his arms. He holds me, clutches me closer as he breathes deeply by my ear, and I feel safe. Like there is nothing we can’t do together, til the end of our days.
“That was—” I swallow, my throat dry and breathing uneven. “Intense.”
“That was hot,” he says, adding his own adjective. “I can’t wait to come up with more creative ways to make you come.”
Even though I like the sound of that, my cheeks blush all the same. “I’m sure there are plenty of things we can try.”
“And we will,” Axl declares. “Because I love to see your pretty face come undone with pleasure.”
“Stop it,” I say, not having the energy to push him.
“Nope, you’re stuck with me now. I’m your boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend.” I sigh in relief, in happiness, my face relaxing into his chest. My world feels a little more bearable.