Chapter 17 #2
He noticed when she stooped down to take her mail out of the slot, she staggered a bit.
She bent her knees and shook her head to regain her balance.
Jesus, she was worse than he thought. The very idea of her working while she was like this infuriated him.
Since she didn’t object when he put his arm around her waist, he left it there to usher her inside.
“Home sweet home,” she said with a sigh.
His first impression was small, followed closely by neat.
The furniture in the living room was too big for the space, but looked comfortable.
From where she kicked off her shoes, he could see into a slice of kitchen and the edge of a hallway.
Lexi bent over at the waist in a stretch to grab the backs of her legs.
Grayson bit back a groan, certain she wasn’t doing anything for his benefit.
He left her to it. The kitchen held a two-seater wooden table on rickety legs against the side wall.
A half-sized refrigerator and stove took up the space across from it, with a thin metal sink in between.
He took the protein bars out of his pocket and set them on top of the fridge, where she would be sure to see them.
There was zero counter space, and Grayson opened the refrigerator to find two bottles of beer, three eggs, and a chunk of what might have been cheese once.
He threw out the questionable chunk and wasn’t surprised the miniscule freezer held nothing.
Grayson left the kitchenette to stride down the four steps of hallway.
A bathroom to the left was neat, if utilitarian.
Why the hell didn’t the bathroom have a door?
With his hands on his hips, he glanced into her bedroom, and readjusted his assessment of neat to minimalist. There were no throw pillows; no host of picture frames; there were no mirrors or cute scripted sayings on any walls.
His Alessandra didn’t live here. She existed here.
She ate and slept here - barely, by all accounts - waiting to go back to the gym. And his club, he realized.
He’d seen more of Lexi’s proof of life at either of those places than he could see in her own home.
Standing alone in the hall between her bathroom and bedroom, he scrubbed his hands over his face, hard.
Fine. His girl had issues. Who didn’t? Was he right to bring her into the fight arena?
To be her first Dom? What if she wasn’t ready?
“Grayson?” he heard from the living room in a small voice. Lexi sat on the edge of the couch, twisting her spine in another stretch. “What are you doing?” she asked.
“Just went to wash my hands,” he lied.
Lexi nodded vaguely, and hesitated as she went to stretch again.
“Why are you here?”
Grayson could tell he was losing her. Her expression had taken on a distracted expression, and her gaze wandered over him instead of her looking directly at him.
“I was bringing you home, to sleep, Alessandra.”
“Oh.” She didn’t move from the couch.
Grayson thought that if he walked out the door right then, she would just stay there stretching until she passed out.
“What do you wear to sleep, Alessandra?”
Confused, she looked down at her outfit.
“Whatever.”
Hissing out a breath, Grayson spun around and walked into her room.
A dresser sat in one corner. The top drawer held bras, underwear and socks.
He found a small, satiny black pair of boxer briefs wadded up in the back, and took them out.
The second had t-shirts and tanks, and he grabbed the softest one he could find.
It had holes and a cut-off neckline, but maybe that meant it was an old favorite.
He rifled through the third drawer and found sweatshirts mixed in with tightly folded jeans.
Though her clothes and surroundings were poor quality, he appreciated her sense of tidiness. He couldn’t stand disorganization.
“Alessandra?” he asked, sticking his head out her bedroom door. She came down the hall, that cloudy expression still making her look almost like she was sleepwalking. Grayson handed her the pajamas and pushed her through the embroidered curtains into her bathroom.
“Get ready for bed,” he said, prepared to walk away. She would sleep, she would eat some of the food he’d ordered, and he could stop by and check on her in the morning.
“What do you mean? It’s daylight,” Lexi said. Grayson stared down at her, and wondered if she’d forgotten their conversation at the gym.
“The sun is about to set, and we agreed you’re going to lay down,” he reminded her. “You’re going to get yourself off, and then you’re going to sleep.”
Lexi blinked at him. His patience started to tear itself into small pieces. How the fuck was she surviving this way? He couldn’t understand it.
“I thought you meant later,” she said.
“No Miss, I mean right now. That’s why I brought you home.”
“Oh.” She looked again at the clothes in her hands. “I don’t have any food, I have to go to the store.”
“I ordered food for you, it should be delivered in a little while.”
“Oh.” Still she hesitated.
Grayson deepened his voice. “Alessandra. Go get ready for bed.”
Lexi stared up at him a second more before turning into the bathroom. Grayson forced himself to walk away from the see-through curtain. He sat on the large reading chair in her living room, surprised to find it comfortable and inviting.
From the bathroom, he heard water turn on, and decided not to picture her washing up… but he could picture her here easily, curled up under a blanket. She would read one of her books or watch… his gaze scanned the living room. Did she not own a TV?
Footsteps behind him caught his attention, and he turned.
While the majority of his blood flow went south, he didn’t react outwardly.
The shorts he’d picked were short enough to be considered underwear and rode high on the outside of her hips.
The t-shirt had no neckline, like he’d thought, and was falling off both of her shoulders.
Her breasts were the only thing holding the shirt up, and she seemed unconcerned with her near nakedness.
With his heart pounding, Grayson rose to stand in front of her. Her black hair was straight and loose around her shoulders, and he reached out a hand to brush some of it back. As he did, the scent of apples drifted from her hair, making his mouth water.
The spit in his mouth dried; he swallowed hard and wrapped his hand around the back of her neck. Her heartbeat wasn’t as fast as his, but he could feel it pounding hard. Lexi didn’t resist as he tugged her closer and brushed his mouth across hers. Once. Twice.
Lexi sighed as he settled in, keeping the kiss light.
He tasted sweet mint, and enjoyed that she’d taken him literally when he’d said to get ready for bed.
On her tiptoes, Lexi used his shoulders for balance, and he felt her nipples brush up against his chest. Before he meant to, Grayson had one hand up her back beneath the shirt, and the other was knotted in her hair.
Lexi was wrapping herself around him, fluid as water.
With herculean effort, Gray gentled his touch and pushed against her shoulders to shift her away from him.
Lexi kept her eyes closed as she swayed and licked her lips, as if to savor the flavor of him.
His dick swelled at the sight, and he squeezed her tight to his chest, inhaling her crisp, candied scent. What was she doing to him?
The knock at the door startled both of them, and Grayson turned to answer the door.
A teenager stood on the small cement porch holding two bags of takeout.
Spicy scents wafted their way inside as Grayson took them and tipped the driver.
He was sure to keep the opening of the door narrow and used his shoulders to block any view of Alessandra.
No way in hell was anyone else seeing her like this.
Lexi stood where he’d left her, eyes fixed on the food. He took it as a good sign that she was hungry. He spoke as he moved past her into the kitchen.
“Looks like you’re eating first.”