Chapter 30

___________________

Rose

AS MUCH AS I hated to admit it, that annoying police officer from last night may have been right. By the time we reached the D.C. area the storm that passed through last night was settled right on top of us. The rain was coming down in sheets with golf ball-sized hail falling from the sky. We had been driving for eight hours, with only a few stops in between. I knew Alex had to be exhausted and the weather elements were only making matters worse. I felt guilty for making him drive in this. If it weren’t for me he would’ve been still at his parents’ house and driving home in much more suitable weather conditions.

“Alex, I think maybe we should just pull over. It’s really bad.”

“This ain’t nothing.” He blew me off.

I looked down at my seatbelt, making sure it was tightly fastened as he shot in the left lane, passing car after car. “Umm…this isn’t the Daytona five hundred, you know?”

“People drive like idiots over just a little bit of rain.”

“A little bit of rain? It’s like a monsoon out there.”

“My case and point, you would be one of those people who’d be driving like an idiot.”

“I beg to differ with you, but you’re the one who’s driving like an idiot right now,” I countered.

A slew of brake lights faced us ahead, causing us to come to a complete stop on the interstate. “What the fuck? Ah, come on!” Alex banged on his steering wheel.

After moving only about two miles in the next half hour Alex got off at the next exit. He pulled over, punched something into his GPS, and mumbled under his breath.

“I have a suggestion. Why don’t we get something to eat and just stay overnight here and let the storm pass? It’s almost nine o’clock. You must be exhausted from all the driving, and by tomorrow morning this traffic mess and bad weather should be gone.”

“It’s fine, I can take a different way, but my damn GPS isn’t cooperating!”

“Alex, please. I’m hungry and you’re tired. It’s fine. As long as we make it back by Monday morning, I’m good.”

He raked his hand through his hair and let out a defeated breath. We pulled back onto the road and drove a few miles until we came across a hotel.

“Perfect! And there’s a restaurant in there too!” It was a welcoming sight to my grumbling stomach.

We grabbed our bags, walked inside, and waited for the man behind the desk to end his phone call. “Yes, can I help you?” he greeted after hanging up the phone.

“Oh, yeah we need a room,” I requested.

“Two rooms,” Alex cut me off.

“Really, Alex, why are we gonna waste money on two rooms when we can just get a room with two beds? It’s not like we’ve never slept together before.”

The man behind the desk cleared his throat and covered his mouth to stifle his laughter.

“Oh, no, nothing happened.” I didn’t know why I felt the need to explain myself to a complete stranger I’d probably never see again, but I did. “We actually did just sleep…you see, we were—”

“One room is fine,” Alex chimed in to stop my incessant chattering. “With two beds.”

“Okay, let’s see…” The man stared at his computer screen. “You’re in luck. Room two twenty-four with two beds”—he lifted his head from his monitor and smirked—“is ready and waiting.”

“Perfect!” I pulled out my credit card, but Alex reached over me with his. “Alex, will you please let me get this? It’s my fault we’re even here in the first place.” My protest fell on deaf ears. Without another word we were checked in and on our way to our room.

After dropping off our bags in our room, we headed back downstairs to the restaurant. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until my burger was placed in front of me.

“Hungry?” Alex teased.

I dabbed my mouth with my napkin, a little embarrassed over the way I was attacking my food. “Well, it’s not like we stopped to eat all day.”

“That’s because someone was on a tight schedule,” he mocked.

I stuck out my tongue at him and shoved one of my fries in his mouth. I talked nonstop to slow down with my eating. By the time we finished, my stomach was full, and I was more than certain Alex’s ears were bleeding from my chatter, but if they were, he didn’t show it. This weekend had turned into an unexpected, pleasant surprise. I may not have succeeded with the whole purpose of the trip with William’s daughter, but I did have a great time with Alex and his family.

I never really felt like I belonged with my own family. My brothers were so much older than me. They had their own families, and my mother and father were just always too busy. It was clear Alex’s family had money, even though Alex never flaunted it. Yet, they still had time to be a family. His mother was so sweet and open. I couldn’t remember any time in my life having the deep heart-to-heart conversations I had with her with my own mother, and it saddened me in a way. When I was with them, I felt like I belonged, but I couldn’t deny it sounded kind of strange. After all, I had just met them, and it wasn’t like I had the greatest relationship with their son, but there was something about them that was comfortable and true.

After dinner we sat at the bar and had a drink. I suggested calling it a night when Alex was nearly falling asleep in his beer. We headed back to the room, and I could tell Alex was feeling uncomfortable over our shared quarters. After taking a quick shower and nearly getting third degree burns from the hot water, I dried off and put on my pajamas. I ran my brush through my hair a few times and then walked out of the bathroom.

“Hey, be careful with the hot—”

I was frozen for a moment, unable to hold back my smile at Alex, sound asleep, sitting up in bed, shirtless with his back propped up against the pillow. How on earth did I find a man I had once so vehemently despised now so absolutely adorable? Inching closer, I picked up his phone that had fallen on the floor right by his bed and placed it on the nightstand. My eyes studied him as he slept. Gone was the uptight persona and the deep thoughts that always bogged him down. He seemed so at peace, so relaxed, so unlike the Alex I had come to know.

Carefully taking a seat on his bed, I gently traced my finger along the scar underneath his eye. A wave of emotion overcame me, now knowing the history behind it. I was saddened and admired him at the same time. I had never been this close to him before. Close enough to hear each breath he took. Close enough to feel the warmth coming from his body. Close enough to smell the faint scent of his cologne that still lingered on him. I wasn’t sure what it was that had come over me in that moment, but I felt an overwhelming need to be closer to him.

I lowered my head and grazed his lips with mine. His eyes peeled open. Dark green and full of emotion as they locked with mine. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I prepped for his rejection, knowing I had overstepped my boundaries. But oddly enough, I found myself wishing not that I could take back what I had just done, but that his feelings would mirror mine.

The split second of silence was like eternity, and I knew this was my chance to back away and apologize for being so forward, but instead of listening to logic, I let emotion guide me once again, pressing my lips against his for the second time. He moved closer, took the sides of my face in his hands, and eagerly kissed me back. His hands worked through my hair as our lips continued to lock and our tongues meshed together in unison.

We eased down on the bed, and he lifted my shirt over my head. The warmth of our bodies fused together when the skin of his broad, bare chest touched mine. I had never felt the irresistible want for any other guy I’d been with in the past as I did for him at that moment. It was all so odd to me, I didn’t even like him, or at least, I didn’t think I did…or maybe I liked him more than I was afraid to admit, even to myself.

The want I was feeling intensified to need when his muscular arm wrapped around my body, pulling me closer to him. My breath hitched, and my stomach tingled when his tongue cascaded down my neck. I reached for the button on his pants and he paused. God, no, please, I will owe you big-time if you just allow for this to happen.

“Rose,” he whispered, his voice low and hoarse, which was only adding to the inferno deep inside me. “I think—”

I placed my finger over his lips to stop him from saying the words. I was afraid if he spoke them they might actually make sense to both of us. “Don’t think.” My lips found his once again, and when his hands moved up and down my body, he had answered my plea, removing my pajamas bottoms and panties with one quick pull. I arched my back when his lips trailed down my body, softly kissing my inner thigh. I closed my eyes while he awakened things inside of me I never knew existed, causing me to wonder how I had been missing out on this my entire adult life.

I impatiently anticipated him inside of me while he hovered over me with an intense gaze that slowly turned to regret.

“I, umm…don’t have...”

“I have one.”

His eyes widened.

“A girl can never be too careful.” I pulled in my bottom lip and stared up at him. “But…” I was on the pill and the last thing I wanted to do was end our moment. The thought did cross my mind of just skipping the condom, but I knew he was way too responsible to allow that to happen. “Stay right there.”

His smile made my stomach dance. I got up and quickly grabbed the little pouch inside my purse containing my personal items. I was lying beside him once again in a matter of seconds. Giving his pants a gentle tug, he helped me out and removed them. I handed him the packet and he stood up, wasting no time putting it on. Grabbing the back of my thighs, he pulled me to the edge of the bed, and a pleasurable gasp escaped me when I felt the fullness of him inside me. He stared down at me, gauging my reaction, his movements slow and gentle. Our lips clashed, and our bodies became entangled with each other, finding the perfect rhythm and moving together in unison. We picked up the pace until I almost reached my breaking point then slowed down once again. I sensed some enjoyment on his part over the pleasurable torture he was bestowing on me.

I took his face in my hands and stared up at him. “You’re good, but I’m better.”

I smirked, scooting out from underneath him. He turned on his back and watched in amusement as I climbed on top of him. He entered me once again, and this time I took over. It was interesting to see we were the same way in bed as we were with everything else, always wanting to let the other know who was in control as he grabbed my hips, and I set the pace.

He sat up, and I wrapped my legs around him, throwing my head back and closing my eyes, no longer worrying who was in charge. The only thing I was able to focus on was how perfectly our bodies conformed in ways I never imagined. We were both so close to reaching our high, and this time I was certain he couldn’t stop it, even if he wanted to. He pulled me closer, burying his face into my neck and letting out a pleasurable groan at the same time I came undone around him with my fingernails gently digging into his back.

I rested my head on his shoulder as the two of us tried to catch our breaths. Oddly enough, I didn’t have any regrets, and I was hoping he was feeling the same way. It was the best sex I’d ever had, but that was a little tidbit I would definitely keep to myself.