In Search of Grace (28 page)

             
Charles was worried.  He had not spoken to Alex
since yesterday.
 
He knew that she
was back from
New York
because she had called when she returned.
Pounding harder on her front
door,
he refused
to give up
as he looked over to her car sitting in the
driveway.

             
“All right, I am coming.”

             
Leaning against the siding in
relief,
he scolded
her
through the door.  “Hurry up
,
bitch.  It is pouring out here.”

             
Pushing through the door at the first sign of it opening
,
he turned with his hands on his hips.  “What took you so long
?”
  He stopped
,
surprised
when
she rushed into his arms.  She was crying hard, and from the looks of
her,
she had been doing it for a while now.

             
“Come with me honey…do we need more whiskey?”

             
“No!” 
S
he started to wail all over again.

             
“Good grief
,
girl.  What has gotten into you?”  Sitting down on the couch, he pulled her down with him. 
“
Wait, let me get you some tissue, this is a Louis Vuitton scarf you know
- c
an’t have you slobbering all over me.”  Alex smiled through her tears.  She should have called her friend,
as
Seth suggested.  He was just what she needed.

             
Taking the tissue and the glass he procured for her, she sniffed. 

             
“Never you mind what it is, just drink.”

             
Sitting down next to her again, he fluffed and arranged his clothes.  Eyeing her warily, making sure she took a sip
,
n
odding in approval when she did.

             
“There we go, now you go ahead and tell me what is causing you to be so hysterical.”

             
Alex leaned to the side and put her head on her big friends shoulder.

             
“It was so great
,
Charles.  He was mad at first, because I didn’t call him and tell him I was going away.
But he was the first place I went after I got home.”

             
Her face flushed remember
ing
how he had patiently made love to her.

             
Seeing the color rise to her face, Charles’
s
eyebrows rose.

             
“Oh, do tell
,
and give me
all the sordid
,
dirty little, wel
l
hopefully not
little
,
details.”

             
Alex went an even deeper shade of red.

             
“No
,
I most certainly will not.  But it was pretty great.”
She admitted.

             
“Why do I get the feeling yo
u are not telling me everything?
”

             
Alex took another sip of the whiskey. 
“
He came over this morning to make me breakfast, but I
was not
feeling well
.”

             
Charles laughed
.
“Randy little devil is he?” 

             
Alex smiled.  “He didn’t come over for that
.
”

             
“Hmmmm
, a
re you surrrreee
?
”

             
“Charles! ANYWAYS
,
I must have fallen asleep and had another ni
ghtmare.  He asked me about it.  He wouldn’t stop asking.”

             
Charles put his arm around her shoulders as she started crying again.  “You did not tell him about your scar did you?”

             
She shook her head while the tears
that had stopped for a brief
time
started flowing
heavy
again
.  “Why is it so hard for me to trust anyone
Charles?
  What is wrong with me?”

             
“Oh, baby, I don’t know.  It sounds like
you went through
a
pretty
traumatic
experience
.  M
aybe you just can’t handle tell
ing
anyone.”  He paused.  “
I personally think that
you will start
feeling better
if you opened up a
b
it
,
sugar.”

             
“Maybe.”  Alex sat up and blew her nose again. 
Charles
looked at her ho
rrified.  “Ok, you need to stop
.  T
hat is just gross.
  Did you
eat anything today
?”

             
“No
.  Seth was making me breakfast then
got called into work and didn’t finish.” 

             
“Well, I am here now
,
and we are goin
g to eat
.  That will definitely make you feel better.”
  He looked at his watch. “Brunch, dinner or whatever you want to call it
,
seeing that it is
after
4:00 in the afternoon now.”

CHAPTER
16

             
Seth unlocked his front door.  He wanted to see Alex, but all the lights in her house were off.  He did not want to disturb her if she was finally getting some re
st.  He had called her earlier
and was relieved to hear that Charles was with her.  He knew his meeting would run late so he did not feel like he had to rush to her knowing she
would be safe with her friend.
Now, all he wanted was a hot shower and sleep.  Unbuttoning his
shirt,
he walked into the bedroom.  His fingers stilled at
the sight in front of him.  Alex was lying in his bed
as t
he light from the nightstand
illuminated
the room.
His heart expanded at seeing her
.
He realized that he could get very used to coming home and seeing her there.

             
Quietly
he finished undressing, careful not to disturb her.  His shower was much faster than he originally
planned
, and a real smile came across his face
for the first time that day.
  Slipping into his pajama
bottoms,
he walked back into the room.  He
did not
want to startle her. 
Lifting
up the corner of the sheet and
blankets,
he eased
in
next to her
and f
or a few minutes
lay gazing
at her.
When he gave her the key this morning, he had hoped
something like this would happen
,
but
since they had
unfinished business to discuss,
thought
it would be a long time before she had the courage to do it.  Maybe they
were
making more progress than he thought. 

             
Reaching out to her
,
he traced down her neck to the top of her shirt.  This one was not a pull over but buttoned down.  Undoing the first button, and then
the
next
, h
e
watched
for any sign of her waking.  Her breathing
remained steady
as he
kept
working his way down
until he reached the last one.
  The shirt opened at the release of the last button.
  He let out a long
,
slow breath, realizing that he had been holding it in.
Sliding his hand across her
skin,
he marveled at the softness
before pushing t
he fabric off to the side
,
leaving her bare
,
allowing
his eyes
to
feast on her.  Gently he squeezed one breast before lowering his head down.  Her
nipple hardened at this touch a
s
he sucked
gently
.

             
Alex felt a need deep within her come alive
.
  She squeezed her legs tight hoping to relieve the pressure she was feeling.  Moving slightly
,
she let out a quiet moan as
she slowly
woke to find
Seth at her breast.  Smiling
sleepily,
she ran her fingers through his hair
as h
e looked up.  His heart melted when she gave him the brightest smile.

             
“
Hi.
You
’
r
e
home.”

             
“Hi yourself.”

             
Moving up
to
her mouth
,
he brought his down on hers
with an intensity that should have scared
her
.
  Placing her hands on either side of his head, she matched him
, h
er mouth opening, inviting him in
further
. 
P
ulling
away,
she arched her neck
allowing him access to
even more.  Seth kissed down her neck, licking her
then
nipping at her breasts.  She moaned at the sensations he was eliciting inside of her.  He continued down, kissing her navel
until he reached the top of her
underwear
; with no hesitation
,
he
pulled
them down and off as he continued exploring with his mouth.
His lips trailed down
one leg
excruciatingly slow
and then back up the other.  “You are driving me crazy
,
Seth.  Come here.”

             
He pushed aside her hands that were reaching to pull
at him
.  Saying nothing, he gently kissed her on the inside of her thigh, felt her leg quiver as he worked closer to the heart of her.  She jumped when he kissed her
,
and she tried to shift away.  “Seth,
please
stop, I have never..” she paused embarrassed.  He looked up at her incredulous. 

             
“Never
,
Alex
?
Then
I better make this good for you then.”

             
Alex gasped as his mouth retu
r
ned to the most private spot on her body.  She felt out of control as he sucked on her
,
just as he had with her breast.  She could not hold back
,
and
the
orgasm
was
so
strong
,
it left her feeling
weak.

             
Seth
did not
stop
as
he drank from her deeply
,
and she felt his tongue inside of her.  Reaching down she grabbed
at
him
again
.

             
“I need you inside of me
,
Seth.”

             
His mouth came back to hers
,
and she could taste herself on his lips.

             
“I want you so badly
,
Alex.  Put me inside of you.”  Alex reached between them.  Seth moaned feeling her fingers wrapping around him.  He was fully
aroused
and throbbing
as she directed him to her.  Slowly he slid into her, loving the feel of her hot and ready for him.