Apartment 2B (17 page)

Afterwards, she looks over at me and grins. “That’s my favorite movie.”

“You don’t say? Why?” I laugh.

She scowls at me. “I love it because Patrick Swayze is the main character. Such a
wonderful actor!”

“Want to take a nap?” I ask her sleepily.

“Sounds good,” she says as she turns off the television.

I’m too tired to get under the worthless sheet anyway so I just pull her to me for
warmth. With her back against my chest and my arm slung protectively around her, we
both fall quickly asleep.

When I wake up, it’s dark. My overseas schedule is dictating her schedule. She doesn’t
seem too upset about it though as she breathes quietly in a rhythm that indicates
sleep. Rubbing my hand along her side, I stop when I reach her bare thigh. Her breathing
becomes slightly ragged and I feel a small hand cover mine as she guides it to the
edge of her dress and back under it, pushing it up along the way.

I slide my hand all the way up her dress to her belly and caress her soft skin there
for a few moments. Rolling her to her back, I remove my hand so that I can free her
breasts from the top of her tube top. Leaning down, I taste and suck on her breast.
When my mouth comes in contact with her nipple, she moans loudly. I pay extra attention
to it and smile when she begins to slowly buck her hips off the bed.

Sitting up, I yank off my shirt and slide out of my sweatpants. I find the edges of
her dress and pull it off of her body. After tossing it to the floor, I move between
her legs and spread her knees apart. Using my thumbs, I spread her open for me and
taste her for the first time. Somehow I knew she was going to be sweet, and she was
even sweeter than I imagined. Dragging my tongue between her pussy lips again, I find
her clit and tease it. Her moans are getting louder as she thrusts her hips up with
each lick. Gently, I pull her clit between my lips and suck on it.

Her hands find my hair and grip roughly, which turns me on. I want to sink myself
into her, but I’m a patient man. Dipping one finger inside her, I discover that she
is extremely wet for me. I slide another one inside and her moans become whimpers.
I’m still doing crazy things with my tongue and grazing her g-spot with my fingertips
inside her when she shudders wildly with an orgasm. The clenching around my fingers
is so fucking hot, and my dick is jealous.

Removing my fingers, I kiss my way slowly up my body. I know it drives her crazy because
she’s trying to pull me closer to her by my hair. When I get to her mouth, I chuckle.

“Did you enjoy that?” I tease against her lips.

“That was quite possibly the most amazing experience of my life,” she whispers in
a way that makes my dick throb for her.

Pressing my lips to hers, I kiss her softly at first, but soon she’s wrapped her legs
around my hips, kissing me hungrily. Between kisses, she lets out soft moans and bounces
her hips closer to me each time. At one point, my dick slides against her wet pussy
and I groan. I need to go find the condoms, but I just want to feel her again without
it on. Giving in to insanity, I push myself all the way inside of her to the hilt.

“Oh, Lane, yes,” she moans against my lips.

I go to pull out, but she feels so damn good. Pumping a couple more times, I revel
in the way her body hugs mine as it desperately attempts to milk out my own orgasm.
I can feel myself getting closer, so I take every ounce of willpower I have and yank
myself out of her so fast that she cries out from the loss.

“Fuck, babe. I’ll be right back,” I promise breathlessly.

“Bathroom,” she informs me softly.

I go to the bathroom and find the box before carrying it back to the bedside with
me. I can now see her as the light shines on her naked body from the bathroom. Her
hair is sprawled out beneath her, making her look wild and sexy as hell. With legs
still spread and waiting for me, I hurry and sheath myself with a condom. Climbing
back between her, I push my dick back inside her. She feels fucking good even with
a damn condom on. I’ll be suggesting birth control soon because I love feeling her
hot flesh against mine.

By pulling her legs up over my shoulders, I can get deeper inside her, and I thrust
hard. She’s practically yelling my name as she gets closer and closer to orgasm. Using
my thumb, I massage her clit with one hand and reverently stroke one of her thighs
that’s pressed against me with the other. When I see her hands move to her breasts
to tweak her nipples, I almost lose control. Thankfully she’s close to the edge too.
A few more strokes of her clit and she’s screaming out my name as her pussy tightens
around my dick. It’s enough to draw out my own orgasm, and I finally shoot out my
release.

“Baby, you feel so fucking good,” I praise her as I kiss the inside of her thigh before
pulling out of her.

Climbing off the bed, I deposit the condom in the bathroom trash. I catch a glimpse
of my reflection before I exit the bathroom. The fool grinning at me looks happy.
Shaking my head, I make my way back over to the bed and crawl in. Finding her tiny
body, I pull her flush against me with her back to my chest. I love holding her like
this.

“Lane?” she says quietly.

“Yes, babe?”

“Thank you.”

“Well, I know I’m good, but you don’t have to thank me,” I tease.

She giggles, which is always music to my ears, and slaps my hand resting on her belly.

“No, thank you for giving me this. I thought I was lost forever because of what that
woman did to me. You changed that, and I will forever be thankful. I don’t understand
how you did it, but it’s happened and I am enjoying every minute. So thank you for
helping me heal.”

I stroke her hair back and kiss her neck.

“You’re helping me heal too. I wasn’t feeling the greatest coming back to deal with
my brother’s death. It fucking sucked, in fact. But then, you showed up all beautiful
and stranger than hell. I needed to know you.”

She was quiet for a minute before she spoke again, clearly mulling something over
in her mind.

“Lane? I still don’t understand about Liam. He left me a week ago, but you say he
died six months ago. We really need to talk about this because it really bothers me.”

There it is. The big fucking elephant that’s been in the room since the moment we
met. My body tenses up with annoyance. When she says stuff like this, it reminds me
that she isn’t completely mentally stable.

“Babe, he died six months ago from overdosing on a shitload of pills. I got temporary
leave to deal with the funeral. That week, I buried my brother beside my parents.
It fucking sucked. After that, I began packing up his apartment but had to go back.
Now, I’m back for good. I talked to the building manager, and as long as I paid the
rent monthly, I could take over the lease. You moved here a month ago, so there’s
just no possible way you could have known Liam.”

There. I said it. She tenses under me, and I know she’s upset, but dammit, so am I.

“I think you should leave,” she whispers. Well, fuck.

“No, babe, I think—” I begin, but she cuts me off.

“Lane, leave,” she says coldly as she rolls away from me and off the bed. When she
heads to the bathroom, I jump out of bed and follow her. She’s turning on her ice
shower, I presume.

“Sidney, I’m just saying that, given your history, you could have just imagined it.”
Shit, that came out more insulting than I meant, but it was truth.

“Screw you, Lane. I
loved
him! How dare you tell me otherwise!” she screams at me. Tears fill her eyes, and
she looks wild. In this moment, I’m struck that she really is mad. And not in the
angry way. What have I gotten myself into?

Turning away from me and giving me a nice view of her round, scarred ass, I’m once
again hit with the fact that I’ve been sleeping with a woman who needs professional
help. Fuck.

She steps into the water and closes the curtain. I walk over to it, opening it up,
and see her staring ahead like a fucking zombie. I want to comfort her, but when I
reach out for her and icy water splashes me, I pull away.

“I think you need to call your friend Tina,” I grumble.

She snaps her head at me angrily. “Go!” she spews at me. Her face is contorted because
of the fury she feels toward me. It’s such a far cry from the woman I just made love
to not thirty minutes ago. I was such a dick for injecting myself into this sick woman’s
life.

“Bye, Sidney. I hope you get the help you need,” I reply sadly as I leave the bathroom
to find my clothes.

After I dress, I leave the apartment, locking the door before I pull it closed. It
will be hard for me to stay away from her, but the bottom line is that she claims
to know my dead brother. I can deal with a certain amount of crazy, but that shit
just pisses me off.

I let myself into my apartment and frown when I see that it’s pitch black except for
the glow of the laptop on the kitchen table. The hair on my neck prickles because
I certainly remember closing it. Storming over to it, I’m about to shut it when I
read the words on an open Word document on the screen that effectively halt me.

Fix it, Pain. She’s worth it.

What the fuckity fuck?! Pain? Shit. Someone is definitely fucking with me. When Liam
and I would fight, he would call me Pain instead of Lane. It always infuriated me
when he did it. Tonight is no different as it evokes those same feelings. Who would
know this much about the two of us to do this to me? My thoughts drift to Sidney.
Could she have slipped into the apartment and found a journal or something? That would
explain a lot.

Sighing, I slam the laptop closed and head to bed. Thankfully there is only one month
left on the lease. I’ll have to start looking for a new place other than this shitty
apartment complex infested with crazies.

Climbing into my own bed, I fall asleep easily.

Fix it, Pain. She’s worth it.

That stupid phrase played over and over in my dreams last night. But in my dreams,
Liam stood by my bedside, all brooding like usual with his arms crossed. This shit
is making me fucking crazy. Annoyed, I decide to do laundry today and start gathering
my dirty clothes. A shower seems in order before I leave my apartment, so I turn on
the faucet and wait for it to get hot. Steam quickly fills the bathroom as I undress.
Stepping into the hot spray, I relax as the water soothes my muscles, which are tense
from the whole Sidney situation.

I’m just finishing up when the water turns icy cold.

“Fuck!” I yell and scramble to turn the water hotter. But when it’s all the way to
the hot and ice water still showers down on me, I turn it off completely and hop out.
I’m shivering as I dry off. This building has the shittiest fucking pipes. After wiping
off my face and drying my hair, I look up at the mirror. A chill that has nothing
to do with the ice bath I just took creeps over me. Someone has written something
in the steam on the mirror.

Fix it, Pain. She’s worth it.

What in the fuck?

I stomp into the bedroom and dress in some low-riding jeans paired up with a black
T-shirt. I’m pretty sure I locked the door last night, but I need to know for certain.
When I see that the bolt lock is engaged, I am pissed. She has to have a fucking key.

My belly growls at me as if it’s pissed too. I remember that all of the groceries
we bought yesterday are at Sidney’s place. This just gets better and better. Snatching
up my laundry basket, I head out to do laundry.

I stop at her apartment first and bang on the door. I’m ready to tell her to stay
out of my apartment, but she doesn’t answer. Irritated, I make my way to the basement.
When I get to the bottom of the basement steps, I see her bent over, wearing one of
her short-ass dresses—sans panties—pulling laundry from the dryer. My dick twitches
in greeting.

Storming over to her, I slam my basket down on the table behind her. She jumps so
high, and I almost feel guilty for startling her. Almost.