Chapter Nine #2
Alex blew out a breath. “A lot of things happened all at once. I tried to off myself, failed, my mother disowned me, and that’s when I called her up. That was…seven years later, and she still gave a damn.”
I furrowed my brow, quickly mathing out the entire timeline. “You’re twenty-six?”
“Yeah.” She suddenly stiffened, eyes opening. “How old are you?”
I bit my lip, pausing just long enough for anxiety to settle upon her countenance. “Twenty-three.”
I laughed as she glowered up at me. “Oh, thank God.”
“Worried I still had ‘teen’ in my age?”
“Look, I have my list of past run-ins with the law. Statutory rape was never on that list, and I don’t want to add it now.”
“Don’t worry, silly rich girl.” I leaned down and kissed her hair, as teasingly as I could. “I’m well above ‘of age’.”
“Listen, when you’re a ‘silly rich girl’, people will do crazy shit to extort you for money.” She paused, some distant hurt filling her words. “You never know who you can trust.”
I kept with the soothing touches, knowing it was probably a piss-poor massage but hopefully still of comfort. “You can trust me, I promise.”
I wasn’t expecting her asshole grin. “Which is exactly what someone I shouldn’t trust would say.” At my scowl, her visage softened. “I know I can trust you.”
She left it at that. Warmth filled my chest, my heart fuller than I had thought possible.
The good mood was interrupted by her rumbling stomach. I giggled. “Hungry already?”
“Hey, kickboxing takes a lot of calories.” Alex lifted her eye slightly, catching my eye. “If you want to stay the night, I’ll make dinner.”
Every part of me yearned to say yes, though one hesitation stilled me. “I do work tomorrow, but let me see if I can swap shifts with Liam.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble over it.”
“I won’t.” I placed a kiss onto Alex’s bare back, then grabbed my phone from the table, still in my straddled position.
Hey can we swap tomorrow and Saturday morning?
Already, he was typing back. You’re not seeing Cliff, right?
Every nerve bristled in offense, but it was, unfortunately, a valid question. No.
I watched the three little dots dance as he typed. Swallowing my pride, I sent a follow-up: I’m seeing Alex.
The little dots ceased their bouncing. I could practically see frantic fingers typing away when they resumed. Prove it.
From anyone else, it might’ve been creepy. Liam was just a protective idiot. “Alex, Liam wants proof. Can we selfie together?”
Alex’s eyes opened. “Sure?”
I turned away while Alex put her robe back on, brought back by a kiss to the back of my neck. “What is this? Liability insurance?” she asked.
“Essentially, yeah.” I brought the camera uncannily close as I beckoned Alex in, giving it my best fish-eyed look. Alex followed but mimed a kiss to my cheek.
Send.
Buzz.
TERRA.
Buzz. Buzz.
WHAT IS HAPPENING.
A final message completed the trio: Yes, I’ll take your shift. Have fun bby.
“So we’ll be the hottest gossip at the coffee shop now?” Alex asked, her amusement clearly in her grin.
“Oh, we’ve been the hottest gossip. It just has weight now.”
Alex rose, stretching as she muttered. “I’ll start dinner then. You’re a vegetarian, right?”
The statement gave me pause. “Yes. How did you know that?”
“You made a joke to Liam, must’ve been months ago, about not wanting beef with someone ‘cause you’re a vegetarian. I thought it was clever. Stuck with me.”
I blushed as she left for the kitchen, surprised to be remembered at all.
While Alex assembled ingredients for cooking, I sent a text to my mom as well.
Hey, I won’t be home tonight. Got a date. She’s pretty special
It probably wasn’t typical to imply to your mom that you had a sex life, but when your mom was your roommate, certain boundaries had to be different, lest she worry.
And, well, El had lived with us for three years. Surely she’d known we’d started having sex at some point. ‘Don’t ask; don’t tell’ was easy when there was no risk of pregnancy or STIs.
Mom and mine’s relationship could never quite be typical.
Dinner was some sort of stuffed noodle with risotto. I struggled to pay attention, enamored whenever Alex said the names of ingredients with any sort of foreign accent—which she did quite a bit. Casual evidence of her cultured upbringing was plainly apparent the more she spoke about cooking.
It was absolutely delicious, and Alex finished it with sparkling cider. But when it all wound down, a blissful anticipation began brewing.
“So, as nice as my couch is, I do have a bed.” When Alex beckoned, I all but fell into her arms, enamored as her touch warmed me down to my bones. “And I have pajamas you can borrow.”
“Hmm.” I made a show of humming as I slid my hand up her neck to cup the back of her head. “But what if I wanted to sleep naked?”
“I wasn’t going to presume anything, except that you probably didn’t want to sleep in a thong.”
“True.” I placed a slow kiss onto her lips, joy tugging at my smile when she melted into the touch. “Maybe after we aggressively fuck.”
“Aggressively?” Alex said, amusement in the slight crease of her gaze. “Feels a bit early to bust out handcuffs.”
“I meant me shoving you down and riding you before you eat me out all night, but that plan’s open to constructive criticism.”
“There is nothing worth criticizing in that plan.” Alex kissed me soundly, even as her grabby hands groped under my ass and swept me off my feet.
Hitched over her shoulder, I swooned as she carried me up the stairs and into her bedroom.
The master bedroom was more of the same as downstairs, decorated up and down in maximalist luxury, with an adjoining bathroom that promised to be as impressive as the guest set-up.
To my surprise, she set me down tenderly.
“Give me a minute to put the strap-on back on,” she said, before leaving me for the bathroom.
Alone, I had a chance to admire the space. No cheap glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, but I recognized a star lamp when I saw one—and there it sat on her bedside table. I turned it on, heart soaring at the gorgeous ambiance filling the room, the glowing lights and shifting cool hues.
Beside the lamp, my hand brushed two prescription bottles, the sudden seizing in my chest unexpectedly strong. Alex was sober, right?
It was none of my business. It wasn’t my place to check, but I cringed as I took a peek, emotionally preparing for some sort of opioids.
It was nothing of the sort. Just name-brand lamotrigine and an SSRI—
Oh.
I rolled back onto the bed, guilt threatening to erase my arousal.
This was, indeed, none of my business. SSRIs had an obvious origin, and there were only a select few reasons to prescribe this particular mood stabilizer.
Dad hadn’t stuck around long enough for me to really say I knew what it was like to live with someone with bipolar disorder, but he’d had the same medications on his nightstand.
Alex fought demons. That much had been made clear. But it ran deeper than just an abusive mother and a cruel upbringing, and my heart ached for her, for the Alex who fought demons both inside and out.
Shuffling from the bathroom reminded me where I was and my purpose here. I quickly disrobed, naked as I posed with my breasts thrust out beneath the beautiful, though artificial, night sky.
The bathroom light shut off, and out came Alex, confidence oozing despite the silly bounce of silicone between her legs. She was hot as hell in that sports bra, though her smug visage softened as her eyes traveled across me. “Terra, you’re…ethereal.”
Had I died in her arms before? Was this actually heaven, for a hot butch to call me ethereal?
“I see you discovered my lamp,” she continued. I sat up as she pressed a few buttons, slowing the shifting light.
She thought she was smooth, slipping the meds into her bedside table drawer. I pretended not to notice, instead beckoning her forward.
But Alex stood tall and shook her head, that fuckboy grin returning. “I believe you promised to ‘shove me down’. Get to it.”
Hot and bothered didn’t even begin to cover how that attitude left me. “I think it negates the power play if you command me to shove you.”
“I think, if you want to be eaten out all night, you’ll get to shoving.”
I placed a hand to my bare chest in mock offense. “Is that any way to speak to a lady?” Regardless, I rose from the bed, matching her gaze with barely curtailed lust. “Is this your secret, rich girl? You just want a hot femme to boss you around?”
“You think that’s a secret, Princess? With tits like that, you could have me on my knees.” She caressed my face, her lips close enough for my breath to hitch. “Wars have been fought over faces like yours.”
My jaw dropped. I just about shoved her then and there. “Alex, you can’t be nasty, then turn around and say something like that! I can’t push you around if I’m too busy swooning.”
“My fatal flaw is that I’m too gallant and respectful?
I’ll try again.” I felt it deep in my core when her gaze shifted, darkening before my very eyes.
“You’re going to ride me, Princess. You’ll put on a show.
You’ll let those cute tits of yours bounce while you fuck yourself.
You won’t touch yourself, no—see, that’s for me.
I get to control your clit, I’ll finger that cute asshole of yours—hell, I’ll shove ‘em down your throat if I want. Because in here, you’re mine, Princess.
Your body is mine. And when you’re at the brink of finishing, I’m going to hold you down and fuck you until you forget your own name.
So, you’re going to shove me onto that bed and pretend like you’re in charge. Got it?”
Holy shit.
I—
I was dripping.
I had nothing to say at all. I had no blood in my brain to even try.
Alex leaned in closer, then whispered, “Are you okay?”
I responded by grabbing her hand with my own nearly numb appendage and tracing her fingers up my thigh, until she touched some of the wetness escaping my core. “I am so okay,” I managed, then I brought her finger to my mouth, licking my own desire from her finger.