Chapter 25 Morris
MORRIS
“Princess Zoey! Come on, you’re gonna be late for your first day of school.” Lia scurries around the kitchen, holding two of her dogs. “I can’t find your lunch. Did you already put your lunch in your backpack?”
“I did.” Alice hands Lia the brand-new princess backpack, complete with a new, soft-sided lunchbox.
“Mommy!” Zoey skids into the kitchen on her favorite pair of glitter shoes. “Do we have time for Lia to braid feathers into my hair?”
Alice chuckles and checks the time. “Not this morning, sweetheart. Let’s leave something special for your second day at the new school, okay?”
Leo fills a travel mug with coffee and grabs a banana from a bowl of fruit on the counter. “See you around ten?” he asks.
I nod. “We’ll be there. If the insurance people get there before I do, just get started without me. You know the property even better than I do.”
After the fire was put out and Jerry was arrested and charged with arson, we got Zoey enrolled in school and filed a claim with the insurance company to get the building repaired.
Since most of the contents had been pulled out before the closing, all the fire damage was minimal.
The walls and floors needed tearing out, but we would have replaced that anyway.
Thankfully, the insurance money will help pay to restore some of Leo’s grandfather’s truck too.
“Start without you. Got it, boss.” Leo nods and ruffles Zoey’s hair as he says goodbye. “Have a great first day, princess.”
“Leo,” Zoey groans. “Don’t mess up my hair. Lia just finished it.”
Alice smooths back the hairs Leo messed up, although, to be fair, I think she looks the same as she did. “Okay, my love. Have a great day. I’ll see you when you get home from school. Make new friends, don’t be shy. And just have fun.”
Zoey kisses her mom, then takes Lia’s hand as they head out to Tiny’s truck. “Shy?” Zoey chatters, tossing her perfect little backpack over her shoulders. “I’m not ever shy. Why would Mama say that?”
Lia waves as they head out, tossing a smile back at us.
Then finally, Alice and I are alone.
I cross the kitchen and pull her against my chest. “Come on,” I say. “I’ve got a surprise for you.”
“Mmm, what kind of surprise?” Alice’s caramel eyes light up, and her sugar-sweet smile fills my senses as I lean down to kiss her.
“Come on. I’ll show you.”
I take her hand and lead her through the house, out to Leo’s garage. I pop the door and wait for the mechanical slats to slide away, revealing what I’ve left inside for my sweet little bird.
“Morris?” Alice twirls to face me. “What is this?”
We’ve been jockeying cars and trucks, depending on what we need, where we need to go, but I’ve also been parking my motorcycle in Leo’s garage. On the ground beside it is a gift-wrapped box.
“That’s for you,” I say, pointing to the box. “Open it.”
While she opens her gift, I watch her. This is the woman I want to make my old lady. The one I want to make memories with, make love to—hell, make something I never thought I’d ever want, but which now I know I need. A family.
“Morris…” Alice turns to face me, her eyes wet with tears. “This is…this is just…”
“You’ve earned it, baby.”
She pulls a brand-new, custom-painted motorcycle helmet from the box. The helmet itself is a perfect shiny black, but inked on the back in smoky gray and red are an enormous pair of wings.
“It’s not a patch, but they’re yours. Your new set of wings.” I help her slide the helmet over her hair and size it to fit.
“Morris, I don’t know what to say.” Her voice is shaking, and she’s smiling through her tears.
“Say you’ll go for a ride with me, sweetheart. Say you’ll get back up with me, no matter how many times life knocks us down and tries to break us. Say you’ll fly with me as long as we both have wings.”
She clings to me in a tight hug, made a little awkward by the bulk of the helmet. I laugh and pull a matching one for me from where I hid it behind some of Leo’s grandpa’s old tools.
“Shall we?” I ask. I hold out a hand to my old lady. We’ve got close to three hours before my new office manager and I need to be at the property to meet with the insurance people. Plenty of time.
Alice climbs on behind me, and I feel her grip me tight around the waist.
“You scared, baby?”
If the strength of her grip is any indication, she’s stain-her-panties terrified. And that’s the last thing I want to cause her.
“No.” She whispers it against my back.
But I know the truth.
I feel it.
She is afraid, but she trusts me.
She’s uncertain how to hold on and trust.
But she is.
She’s doing it.
I think back to all the times in her life when she must have been afraid. Facing the future alone with Zoey and no help, no support.
When she realized the man she married was nothing more than a douchebag in a suit.
When she made the plan that brought her into my world.
The attention and care that went into every detail.
She had to be that way. Had to put her little girl first. Had to put her strength and heart and head together and push the terror away.
I climb off the bike and check the time on my phone.
“What is it?” Alice looks concerned. “Did I say something wrong?”
I shake my head and reach for her hand. “Nope,” I tell her. “And let’s get one thing straight. You never have to worry about saying anything wrong to me.”
Alice’s nostrils flare as she takes in a deep breath. She’s listening to my words, but her eyes sear into mine. She’s thinking fast, wondering what I’m thinking. What I want.
The last thing I want is for this thing between us to remind her of anything she’s been through before. That fucker Cruz. That loser whose name I don’t even need to know, the jizz-stain that brought beautiful Zoey into the world.
“Come here,” I say.
Alice steps off the bike and removes her helmet before she steps close to me. “What is it, Morris?” she asks, her caramel eyes going dark.
I reach past her and click the button on the wall that closes the garage door behind us.
“Morris?” Alice looks confused. “Aren’t we going to ride?”
I nod. “Soon. There’s something I want to get straight with you first.”
Alice meets my eyes, a slight frown tugging her full lips downward. “Okay. What is it?” she asks.
I bend my head to hers and kiss her lips lightly.
“Cruz was the last worthless motherfucker to lay his hands on you,” I grit out against her lips.
“From now on, if I touch you, it’s because you want it so badly, you’re begging for it.
If you’ve got something to say, you fucking say it.
You wanna call me a no-good motherfucker because I didn’t take out the trash, you do it. ”
I lift her chin and meet her questioning stare.
“Alice,” I say before sweeping her mouth with my tongue.
“I’m not expecting you to trust me overnight, to put the past completely behind you.
But I want you to try. No fear. Between you and me, there’s none of that old shit.
You wanna walk away from me, you walk. You wanna run toward me, you climb aboard and ride me hard. We clear?”
Alice swallows. She blinks at me, a shimmer of tears making me unsure whether she’s happy or sad. I’m not left wondering what’s behind the look for long, though. Alice leans close and rests a palm against my chest.
“We’re clear,” she says. “And Morris?”
I nod.
“Thank you.” Alice rests her forehead against me, and I wrap my hands around her waist.
“Nothing to thank me for, darlin’,” I say. I’m about to climb back on the bike so we can get this ride underway when Alice stops me.
“Nobody’s home,” she whispers against me, a puff of sugary sweetness reaching my nose. “And we have a little time…”
“Yeah? What’d you have in mind?”
My sweet little bird steps away from me and gives me a saucy lift of one eyebrow. “There’s another kind of ride I’d like to take on this bike,” she says.
I like the way this woman thinks.
I nod and cross my arms over my chest as Alice slips her hands under her tank top.
She shrugs the fabric over her shoulders and stands before me in another pair of those ass-hugging yoga pants and a whisper-thin bra.
Her nipples bead up as I stare at them, almost like they know what my mouth has in store.
“Mmm-hmm,” I mutter, trying hard to let her take the lead.
Everything in me wants to grab her hips, turn her over my bike, and show her all the ways I want to ride.
But this moment is about our connection.
About Alice leading the way. About Alice learning to trust me.
And that’s a lesson I’m more than happy to wait for.
Alice reaches behind her and unclasps her bra with a single satisfying snap. Her firm tits are free, and the warm air in the garage pebbles her skin. Her eyes blaze, and I know she wants to know how I feel about what I’m seeing. She wants encouragement, and fuck, how I want to give it to her.
“Fuck me, Alice,” I say. “Your body…your smile…”
Before the words are out, she’s completely naked, standing before me looking proud and not even a little shaky.
“What are you waiting for?” she asks, a tease in her voice. “That belt won’t unbuckle itself.”
I waste no time freeing my dick from the confines of my jeans. Alice doesn’t even wait for me to step out of them. She turns and bends deep at the waist, supporting her weight on the seat of my bike. As she tries to settle herself so the bike doesn’t tip over, she starts cracking up.
“This sounded a lot sexier than it seems to be turning out,” she says.
“This is very fucking sexy,” I assure her. “But let’s make sure we don’t tip over. A sex accident in his garage would be real awkward to explain to Leo tonight.”
Still wearing my shirt, I step out of my jeans so I can walk Alice’s naked body toward the wall of the garage. Leo’s got tools hanging on hooks, but there are more than enough places where Alice can brace herself with her tiny palms.
She faces the garage wall, and I bury my mouth against her neck, kissing her ears, her hair, and reaching around her to pinch those tight nipples until she purrs. She widens her stance, opening her legs and jutting her ass up against me.
“Morris,” she begs. “Please.”
I angle my cock against her ass and work my hips so the head slides smooth as satin between her thighs. She wobbles as if her knees are weak, and I move my hands to her hips. She gasps, then gives a little disappointed groan when I move my hands from her tits, but she won’t be wanting for long.
I slide myself against her lips, teasing her folds with my dick until she’s writhing, her hips working hard against me to angle her ass to feel more of my cock.
I know she wants me inside. I want to feel her electric tremors beneath me as I make her come, but I want her to enjoy this.
I want to take my time, taking her from slick and ready to drenched and desperate.
I keep hold of her hip with one hand, but with the other, I reach between us and press my thumb against her puckered opening.
I apply the slightest pressure as I slide inside her pussy, and the guttural moan that erupts from Alice nearly makes me blow right there.
I press just the tip of my thumb against her asshole while my dick slides inside, the delicious wetness I find there so slippery, I have to control my movements so I don’t slip out.
Within seconds, we’ve hit our groove, and Alice grinds backward against me, seeking her pleasure against my body while I hold off as long as I can.
The animalistic slap of my body against hers is like heaven, and finally, when Alice’s nails scratch against the drywall and she heaves huge gasping sighs of bliss, I can release hard and deep inside her.
After we finish, we stay locked together and lean against the garage wall, panting and misted with sweat. I lift the hair from her neck and rest my face in the valley between her shoulders, deeply breathing her now-familiar fragrance.
“Should we clean up?” Alice asks after a minute.
I nod, my legs weak from fucking her standing, my heart rate still slowing.
I don’t want to leave the erotic fog, but we’ve got places to be.
And more riding to do. Alice pulls on her clothes, and then we both go back inside to quickly wash up.
Alice changes into a clean pair of panties, and we head back to the garage.
“Alice Sparrow, my beautiful little bird.” I pull on my helmet and reach a hand out to her. “Come on. Let’s take a ride.”