Chapter 34
Faith

Faith woke up and squinted at the clock. It had only been a few hours and there had been no call from Mama. She rolled over and looked behind her to an empty bed. Sadness and disappointment flooded her. Again? After all this?

Suddenly, Alex appeared in the doorway. He’d slipped on pajama bottoms in a plaid print and was shirtless. She was still exhausted, but the sight of him with mussed up hair and that perfectly toned torso instantly turned her on. How can I still want him this badly, even after what we’ve just been through?

With him, it will never be enough, she realized.

Alex smiled and brought two cups of coffee to her bedside table.

“Mmm,” she said as he leaned down to kiss her. He sat beside her while she propped herself up on the pillows and took a long swallow of coffee.

He watched her closely as she got her caffeine fix. “What?” she laughed, nervous.

“I . . . I think it’s time we talked,” he said.

“About what?” she asked, in hopes of putting it off.

“About us,” he said.

She sucked in her breath. “Are you breaking up with me?” she asked. Her voice squeaked. She’d heard about this, about trauma and tragedies that tore apart even decades-long marriages. What could it possibly do to her and Alex, who hadn’t even got a real relationship off the ground yet.

“Breaking up with you?” Alex asked, incredulous. “No! God, no, the opposite. I mean, I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “You’re the question mark in all this.”

“Me?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am. You. Yeah, I . . . Listen. I’ve never been good at talking about this stuff.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” she asked with a laugh.

“Faith, I . . . I care about you. A lot. Hell, I love you.”

She felt her eyes widen in surprise. Alex had told her he loved her before when they were having sex, but she had chalked it up to the heat of the moment. He hadn’t mentioned it after, and neither had she. Looking at him now, she could see lines of tension running through Alex’s body. He was nervous!

“You love me?” she asked, challenging him to look into her eyes.

Alex met her stare. “I said I did. I just. . .I didn’t trust myself with just anyone. You know?”

That was all she’d ever wanted. To hear those words, she felt the last of the walls between them fall down.

Faith put down her coffee mug and kissed him long and deep.

“I love you too,” she said, and she could feel the relief surge through his body. His hand went to her waist, and she felt the wetness start to spread between her legs. “Alex,” she whispered and pulled back. She searched his eyes and saw nothing but transparency.

“I don’t know what to do,” he said. “I mean, your whole life’s in California. And me . . .”

“Yes?” she asked. “We, uh, we never talked about that,” she said. “What are your plans? What do you want to do? Are you going to stay here—”

He held up a hand. “Slow down on the questioning,” he said with a laugh. “Your law school is showing.”

“Sorry,” she said.

“But to answer one of your questions, I don’t know what my plans are. I know you’re not s’posed to say that, not when you’re almost thirty years old, but it’s the truth.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not one to talk,” she said with a sigh. “I spent my whole adult life preparing for a law career, and now I dread the thought of going back.”

“To California?”

She thought she heard some hope in his voice. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “To my firm, that’s for sure. But as far as leaving law entirely, I just don’t know.”

“You could always stay here,” he said with a shrug.

“Here?” she asked. “You mean—”

“You still got the property,” he said. “And I’m sure Craig or another contractor could do somethin’ with the house. Even if it was just to use the foundation.”

“I . . . you know, I guess you’re right,” she said. “There are all kinds of law specialties I never really fully considered. And if I can pass the bar in California, I’m sure I can here. Maybe, I don’t know, environmental law,” she said as she remembered his suggestions for the property. “Or immigration law,” she added. She’d never forget Mercedes’s smile, or the way Sofia had looked at her with those trusting eyes.

“I don’t want you to change your whole life, not for me,” Alex said. “I was just, you know, sayin’. You do own a whole island in Georgia.”

“Yeah,” she said with a laugh. “God, that sounds weird.”

“And, hell, I could always go to California,” he said. “Not much keepin’ me here. ʼSides the family, but that’s what planes are for, right?”

“You’d . . . you’d go to California?” she asked. “For me?”

“Not for anybody else,” he said with a grin.

“Ugh,” she said. “You’d hate it. I hate it a lot of the time, now that I think about it.”

He gave her a strange look. “You aren’t s’posed to say that ʼbout your hometown,” he said.

“I don’t mean California as a whole,” she said. “Just, I don’t know, maybe the crowd I ran with back in San Francisco. But some sleepy little beach town, like where I grew up? I could see you there.”

“You mean us,” he corrected.

“Huh?”

“You could see us there.”

“Oh,” she said and looked down.

“That is, if you’d have me,” he added.

“Of course!” she said. “Don’t be weird. So what is it? Georgia or California?”

“Heads Carolina, tails California,” he said.

“What’s Carolina got to do with this?”

He laughed. “It’s a song! A country song, so I’m not surprised you don’t know it. All y’all Californians don’t care much for the good stuff.”

“Hey!” she said. “I have fantastic taste in music.”

“Yeah, I bet you got some Kesha on your playlists and everything.”

“Okay, the fact that you even know who Kesha is says more about you than me.”

“All I’m sayin’ is, we don’t have to make any hard decisions right now. And if it comes right down to it and we can’t decide? Hell, we can just flip a coin.”

“How romantic,” she said.

“That’s me—can’t help myself.”

She bit her lip and looked at him. When she’d arrived on Saint Rose, the last thing she’d expected was to stumble right into her future. Faith remembered that first day, when she’d walked in on the argument between Alex and Caleb. Lee had tried to soothe her with promises that Alex was just that way.

He’d scared her that day—and many days after. So brooding and moody. She never would have guessed what was underneath it all. And now he was all hers.

“You know,” she said, “I’m sure the police will be here any moment. Maybe we should . . .”

“You sure know how to sweet-talk a guy,” he said.

Faith started to protest, but his lips were already on hers. He bit her lower lip playfully, and she let out a yelp.

Alex grabbed her waist and pulled her on top of him. Even through the khaki shorts she’d fallen asleep in, she could feel his hardness as it pressed into her. “I should shower,” she said between kisses.

“Nah,” he said. “I wanna taste you. Just how you are.”

He ripped open her button-up blouse, and Faith didn’t care about the buttons that flew around the cabin. Underneath, she wore nothing. Alex’s fingers caressed her bare breasts. “Naughty,” he said. He spanked her smartly, and she cried out into his mouth. “Take ʼem off,” he said.

She pressed herself up and started to pull at her shorts.

“No, stand up,” he said.

Faith did as he said and balanced precariously on the soft mattress. She watched him pull off his pajama bottoms as she stepped out of her shorts and thong.

“Sit,” he said and gestured to his face.

Faith smiled, straddled his face, and lowered herself onto his mouth. She groaned in pleasure as soon as his tongue slid across her clit and started to explore her depths.

With her hands braced on his toned stomach, she watched his cock grow even harder as he lapped at her juices. She reached for him and ran a thumb over his tip. The touch made him flick his tongue harder against her clit.

On all fours, Faith lowered herself and took him in her mouth. His tongue licked at her clit as he slid a finger into her. She called out as she trailed her tongue along his length.

He knew her body expertly, how each touch would make her respond. Alex brought her close to orgasm before he backed off. With every tease, it made her suck his cock with more vigor.

“Are you gonna come on my face?” he asked her. He’d taken his mouth from her center and bit her inner thigh.

“I want you to come inside me,” she said.

He slapped her ass, and she pushed herself up. Faith moved down and grasped his shaft. As she lowered herself down, she faced away from him and felt his hands as they gripped her thighs. The angle hit her G-spot perfectly, and she had to pause to keep from coming immediately.

Alex squeezed her ass and pulled her cheeks apart with his thumbs. Faith traced her hands across her nipples and down to her clit while she started to ride him in reverse.

As she worked toward her climax, he twisted her hair in his hand and pulled lightly. Faith called out his name as she came.

“Fuck,” she heard him say through gritted teeth as he spilled himself into her. Eyes closed in ecstasy, she thrilled at the throb of him inside her. She kept him inside her until she couldn’t any longer. Their juices spilled out of her as she fell backward into his arms.

Alex kissed her forehead and pulled her close to him.

“I don’t know what it is,” he whispered to her, “but I just can’t get enough of you.”

She giggled. “The feeling is mutual.”

“Even though,” he said in mock seriousness, “I’m gonna have some serious explainin’ to do to Caleb about his stained sleeping bag.”

“Hey!” she said. “It’s not my fault you do that to me.”

“Do what?”

“You know,” she said, suddenly shy. “Get me so wet.”

“All right, all right. I’ll take the blame, ma’am,” he said. “But I have a real good excuse, I hope you know.”

“Yeah?” she sighed. “And what’s that?” Faith draped a leg over him.

“I’m no expert,” he said, “but I reckon it’s ʼcause I’m crazy in love with you.”

“Sounds like a good reason to me,” she said. “Especially since I’m madly in love with you, too.”

The End