Chapter 11 #2
As I fuss with the locks, she adds in a conspiratorial tone, “I know I said I wouldn’t tell you what to do. But I’ll make a suggestion. Go with your heart. I did, and it brought me more happiness than I ever dreamed.”
Her suggestion keeps repeating while Alec and Winter exchange quick pleasantries at the door. And again while I greet Alec with a hug and a kiss before inviting him inside.
Go with your heart.
It brought me more happiness than I ever dreamed.
Could the same thing happen to me?
After years of believing I didn’t deserve it, could I find a happy ending just like Winter, Lark, and Rory have?
I’m still spinning the thoughts in my mind as Alec sets out all the takeout containers across the dining table. “They had lobster ravioli on special,” he says, gesturing at one of the containers. “And I remembered you saying how much you like lobster. So I thought you might enjoy it.”
“I do,” I reply. Leaning against him, I kiss his cheek. “I love lobster. When I was a kid, my dad would take me to Cape Cod every summer. We’d go to this little fish shack in Hyannis where they had the best lobster rolls. I still think about them sometimes.”
Alec wraps his arm around my waist and kisses me back. “We could go. To Cape Cod, I mean. And the lobster shack.” A thoughtful expression moves across his face. “Maybe this summer we could go. Make a vacation out of it.”
Hope flares bright. “I’d like that.”
His features grow serious. “I know that’s a ways off. And I’m not trying to rush things. I guess… when I think about next summer, I picture spending it with you.”
Turning to face him, I loop my arms around him and tuck my head under his chin. “I know you’re not trying to rush things. But when I think about next summer, I want to spend it with you, too.”
Alec presses his lips to the top of my head. His tone is thoughtful as he says, “I never thought about a future with a woman before. Not like this. Planning trips and spending holidays together…”
My acrobatic heart flips. “Holidays?”
I tilt my head back just in time to spot two pink smudges color his cheeks. “Well. We always have a special Thanksgiving dinner at Enzo’s place. The whole team goes, plus any friends who want to join us. It’s really low key, we just hang out and eat, play games, watch football…”
“That sounds fun.” For the last three Thanksgivings, I’ve gone into Burlington to volunteer at a soup kitchen.
And then I come home to eat a frozen turkey dinner and play Tenebris Veil with all the other people who don’t have a family to spend the day with.
But spending Thanksgiving with Alec and his friends sounds infinitely better.
“You don’t have to decide right now,” he assures me. “We still have over a month to go. But—” His gaze softens. “I’d really like it if you came.”
Winter’s words jump to the forefront of my mind again.
Go with your heart.
And what is my heart saying?
“I would really like to go.” Holding his gaze, I add, “I haven’t spent Thanksgiving with anyone since I moved here. But… I’d really like to spend it with you.”
Alec stares at me. Emotion darkens his eyes. “Haze.”
Nerves jitter in my stomach. “There’s something else I’d really like.”
“What?”
“Well. Two things, really.”
Alec strokes my cheek. “What? Anything you want, I’ll do my best to get it for you.”
My heart lodges in my throat. But I push past the fear and say it, anyway. “I’d like to call you my boyfriend. Instead of just a guy I’m dating. Because… it feels like more than just dating. Maybe it’s just me—”
“It’s not just you.”
“It’s not?”
His mouth curves into a tender smile. “No. It’s not. And it feels like more than just dating to me, too.” He brushes his lips across mine before asking, “Do you really think I’d be talking about a trip next summer if I thought this was just a casual thing?”
I give him a sheepish look. “I suppose not.”
Alec kisses me again. “So that’s settled. You’re my girlfriend. What’s the other thing you wanted?”
“Um. It sort of goes along with that.”
His brows pull together. “Okay?”
“I was just thinking, maybe you might like to stay over tonight?”
Alec nods. “Of course. I can stay on the couch, like I did the other night. That’s no problem.”
“I was thinking more like… in the bedroom? With me?”
Time seems to stop as I wait for his response.
Slowly, Alec asks, “Do you mean sleeping in the same bed? Or do you want me to bunk on the floor?”
I don’t know why I’m so nervous about this. It’s not like I’ve never spent the night with a man before.
But this is different. Alec is different.
“I was thinking about the same bed. But maybe we wouldn’t just sleep. Maybe we wouldn’t stop like we did the last couple of nights.”
“Are you saying you want to spend the night together?”
“Yes?” That shouldn’t sound like a question. “Yes,” I repeat more firmly. “I don’t want to stop this time. I want to be with you. Unless you don’t want—”
Alec’s lips crash down on mine.
His arms tighten around me, holding me close.
This kiss isn’t a tender one. It’s not cautious or careful. It’s hungry. Needy. Passionate.
Alec’s arousal prods my belly, hard and insistent.
One big hand spans my lower back, pulling me firmly against him. His other comes to my nape, tilting my head back so he can take the kiss deeper. His tongue plunges into my mouth, taking possession of it. Stroking. Exploring. Tasting.
I’m up on my tiptoes, clinging to his biceps for balance. Though I don’t need to, because I know Alec would never let me fall.
My lungs burn for air, but I can’t bring myself to pull away. Not when this feels so right. Not when the sensations flooding my body feel more important than anything.
But Alec has more common sense than me, because he finally breaks the kiss just as I’m starting to feel lightheaded. He cups my cheeks as he gazes down at me with eyes nearly black with desire.
“Haze.” It’s almost a growl.
“Alec,” I breathe. “Is that a yes, then?”
One corner of his mouth curves up, deepening that perfect dimple at the corner of it. “It’s a yes. Of course. I’ve wanted you…” He shakes his head. “Shit. I’ve wanted you for longer than I wanted to admit to myself. Years.”
“Years?”
“Since the first time I saw you at Blissful Brews,” he clarifies. “You had this gorgeous smile that lit up the room. And your—” He stops.
“My what?”
“Your ass.” Alec chuckles. “Your ass is literally the most perfect one I’ve ever seen. And watching you all around the bar in those sexy jeans… Shit. It was hard to keep my eyes off you.”
A rush of pleasure fills my chest. “They’re just regular jeans.”
Alec slides his hand down to my butt and gives it a gentle squeeze. “Everything you wear is sexy.”
Heat coils in my belly. An empty, aching feeling throbs at my core. My nipples go hard, flaring with sensation as they rub against Alec’s chest.
I move my hand between us, down below his waist. I cup his erection, feeling it jerk against my fingers. He lets out a low hiss and the tendons of his neck go tight. “Haze.”
“Alec.” My voice doesn’t sound like my own. I unfasten his pants and slide the zipper down, then stroke him again, this time with only the thin fabric of his briefs separating my skin from his.
He sucks in a sharp breath. Feeling him grow even harder and bigger against my fingers emboldens me, and I reach into his briefs, caressing him. He’s hot and velvety soft against my fingers, slick with excitement.
My belly tightens, and my panties go damp in anticipation of feeling him inside me.
“Dinner,” Alec groans. “And I brought you a present.”
I stroke him from root to tip, reveling in his reaction. With each movement, he jerks in my hand. His eyes are half-lidded and glazed with lust. He moves his hand from my neck to my breast, plumping it and flicking his thumb over my distended nipple.
All I can think about is taking him inside me. Feeling the delicious stretch as he fills me. Coming together in a collision of desire and need, the sensations building from a fire to an inferno, my body burning for his touch…
“Maybe we could reheat dinner?” I suggest. “We—”
But the rest of my words fall away as he pulls my shirt and bra off and tosses them aside, then lowers his mouth to my breast. He pulls my nipple between his lips, suckling at it. His teeth lightly graze my skin, bringing an eruption of goosebumps all over my body.
My legs go all wobbly, but Alec keeps me from falling, just as I thought he would.
I keep stroking him, aching to feel his hard length plunge into me. My inner muscles quiver in anticipation. My heart is racing like I just ran a marathon, and I keep forgetting to breathe.
Alec stares at me—no, he devours me; his gaze hot and hungry as it roves across my body. “Hazel,” he breathes. “You are so damn gorgeous.”
I lift the hem of his shirt as I try to tug it over his head. “I want to see you, too. All of you.”
Alec flashes me a lascivious smirk. “That’s no problem.” Then he whips his shirt off one-handed—which is both an admirable feat and also incredibly sexy—and tosses it aside.
Then he’s bare-chested in all his muscly glory.
And oh, is it glorious.
He has thick slabs of muscle edged with hard lines and angles, all brushed with a dark smattering of hair that tapers down washboard abs and below his waist. His shoulders and arms are heavily muscled, too, but not with those scary, veiny muscles bodybuilders have.
No, these are muscles honed from hiking and climbing and practicing martial arts. Natural ones.
Incredibly sexy ones.
Alec notices me staring, and his smile gets bigger. His dimple grows deeper. “Do I meet with your approval?”
I place my hand on his chest, feeling his intense warmth seeping into my skin. His heart is pounding in contradiction to his confident demeanor.
Maybe he feels insecure sometimes, too.
Maybe he’s excited and nervous, just like me.
The dual thoughts give me courage to tease, “So far. But I haven’t seen everything yet.”
Alec arches an eyebrow at me. “What about dinner?”
I trace the lines of his abs with my fingers, feeling his stomach twitch beneath them. “I’m not really that hungry right now.”
“Hmm.” He unbuttons my jeans and slides them down my hips. “Maybe we should do something to give you an appetite then.”
My breath catches. “Maybe we should.”
He holds my gaze, his expression sobering for a moment. “I want this, Haze. Trust me. But if you’ve changed your mind, if it’s too soon, that’s okay.”
My body is buzzing with need. My legs are shaking and I’m about two seconds from begging him to take me right here and now. “I haven’t changed my mind. I want you.”
His dimple appears again. “Okay.” A beat, and then, “Good. No. Not good. Fantastic.”
Then he lifts me into his arms, one hand at my back and the other supporting my butt. I wrap my legs around his waist and nip at the base of his neck. He smells of amber and citrus and a hint of salt; a scent that’s now permanently burned into my memory. “I want you,” I repeat. “I’m sure.”
As he carries me towards the bedroom—and oh, is it sexy, being carried like this—I whisper near his ear, “I’ve wanted you since the first time I saw you, too.”