Apartment 2B (14 page)

“You’re lucky I just used my thumb. That lip just begs to be sucked between my teeth,”
I say softly, looking back down at it. It no longer trembles and now her mouth slightly
parts open. When her tongue darts out to lick it, it’s almost my undoing.

She shakes her head and sighs heavily, the heated moment fleeting. “Tell me about
Liam. I’m confused.”

Clearly I am too because she acts like she saw him the other day, which is absolutely
not the truth.

“Did Liam ever tell you about our parents?” I ask.

She nods and pinches her eyebrows together. “He just told me they died. That’s pretty
much all he told me. I knew he had a brother, but other than that, he was secretive.”

I hold back a groan because I hate telling this story, but something tells me that
Sidney needs to hear it.

“About a year ago, Liam was visiting my parents. They had been discussing the fact
that they were ready for him to get his life back on track. He’d spun wildly out of
control while I was in the service. They were worried about him and were prepared
to get him the help he needed. On this particular night, they were arguing in the
car on the way back from dinner. Dad was driving and Liam lost his temper, yelling
at our father. Mom was in the back seat trying to calm him down. I guess Dad got distracted
and ran a red light.

“A truck hit the side with Mom and Dad on it, killing them instantly. Liam walked
away without a scratch. He was devastated. We both were. When I got leave to attend
the funeral, he was in a fog. I tried to talk to him, assure him it wasn’t his fault,
but he wouldn’t hear it. I had to leave him to get back to my post, but I felt sick
about it. He wasn’t right in his mind, and I fucking worried like crazy. Any time
I got an opportunity, I would try and call him. He would never answer.

“One day, I got the call that he had committed suicide. Loaded up on a bunch of pills
and took the chickenshit way out. He left me all alone, and it fucking sucked. When
I came back for his funeral, I left the apartment as is until my tour ended. I’ve
paid the rent for the entire lease so that I could come back and tie up the loose
ends.”

I’m working really hard to keep the tears from coming. I cried enough for Mom, Dad,
and Liam. Now, I’m just angry. Sidney can’t keep them in though, and she sobs beside
me.

“But I don’t understand. I just saw him last week. When did he do this?” she demands.
I can tell that she’s close to a breaking point.

“He killed himself six months ago.”

“Impossible,” she whispers. And even though she tells me that I’m lying, I know that
wheels turning in her head as she works to figure something out.

“Sidney, it’s not impossible. It’s the truth. I have a death certificate that proves
it.”

Her eyes close as she tries to shake something from her mind. I feel a shift in the
air to an unknown place as she shakily slips a hand down the front of her dress and
begins scratching her breast. The way she does it, so methodically and obsessively,
worries the hell out of me.

“Sidney, stop it.”

But she doesn’t stop it. The scratching becomes more fierce, and now her other hand
has slipped to her inner thigh, digging at the flesh there. I’m mesmerized by her
movements but finally snap myself out of it.

“Sidney, STOP IT!” I roar at her, trying to pull her from her trance. She ignores
me, so I am forced to grab both of her wrists and bring them to my chest. Her eyes
fly open and panic crosses her features as she fights to pull away.

“Don’t! No!” she yells, finally breaking her silence and screams.

I release a hand but still have a firm grip on the other. Immediately, her hand goes
back to its scratching. Snatching it back up, I pull her toward me. She’s squirming
like a madwoman, but I refuse to let her hurt herself anymore.

“Sidney, shhh, I have you. Stop. Please,” I plead calmly with her.

When her body relaxes a moment, I pull her the rest of the way to me and wrap my arms
around her back to hold her against me. Lying down on the couch, I bring her down
with me. She’s still in my death grip. I can feel her shuddering violently, and she
begins sobbing loudly.

I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with her, but I’m not letting her go. She still
feels tense as she attempts to break free of me. Using one arm to hold her close,
I take the other and gently thread it through her hair, stroking it. The gesture completely
relaxes her and she melts into me. My heart is pounding so hard in my chest.

Finally, her crying subsides, but her breathing is jagged. She no longer fights to
get away, so I finally relax my own body. After what seems like hours, she tilts her
head up to me. Her eyes are filled with awe as she looks at me.

“How is this possible, Lane?” she asks.

I’m unsure what she is asking. All I can focus on right now is the lip that is now
inches from my face.

“I don’t know what you mean,” I whisper.

She blinks at me in shock as my breath tickles her face. “Your breath is warm.” Again,
she makes absolutely no sense.

Before she can say anything else, I bring my face closer to hers and suck her lip
into my mouth. Her eyes close and a moan escapes. My dick roars to life between us.
I continue my suckling of her lip. When she pulls away, I groan at the loss. She tastes
like garlic and wine. It is a delicious mixture.

“How is this possible? I’m so confused right now,” she confides.

That makes two of us. The woman speaks in riddles.

“Sidney, I don’t know a thing about you, but you talk to me like I should know. All
I know is that I’m very much enjoying you on top of me. But you could probably already
tell,” I tease and slightly thrust my hardness into her belly.

She’s still wide-eyed like she can’t believe I’m holding her like this.

“I’ve had a rough life,” she tells me. For some reason, the tone in her voice tells
me that I’m not going to like what I’m about to hear.

“Go on,” I urge as I begin softly stroking her back.

She rests her head back down on my chest as she melts to my caresses. “My momma abused
me terribly. The scars come from the switches she would beat me bloody with. That
was manageable though. What wasn’t was the…” she trails off. I feel her entire body
tense up, so I wrap my arms around her, afraid that she’ll try to run away.

“What wasn’t manageable?”

“The bleach baths.”

My ears are ringing because I don’t understand what she’s telling me, but I am quickly
getting pissed. Not at her. At her motherfucking bitch of a mother. A mother who has
done terrible things to a child to make her behave the way Sidney does.

“What the fuck are bleach baths?” I ask, my voice rising. She shivers, so I attempt
to relax and stroke her back again.

“She was always so worried about toxins and thought it was her duty to scrub them
away. When she would get on her rampage, I’d be forced into a scalding-hot bath while
she scrubbed me away with bleach. It was horrifying. I was trapped with that woman
doing terrible things to me until a month ago when she died. And even though I’m free,
I’m still a prisoner to my past. I can’t stand for people to touch me. You witnessed
firsthand when I fainted. Liam respected that. He never touched me except the night
he left. That night he gave me a whisper of a kiss.”

She stops talking, and we both think about what she’s just said. I still don’t understand
how she knows Liam if she just moved here a month ago. It doesn’t make sense. And
as much as I don’t get it, I can tell with my whole heart that she isn’t lying. There
are just some things you can’t make up.

“Then how am I holding you right now? You haven’t fainted,” I observe.

Her breath comes out in a rush. “I don’t know. I’m slightly freaking out right now.
This has never happened before. I’m scared to death, but at the same time, I am enjoying
it because I’ve never been this close to someone before. Not since all of those years
of the abuse. Liam was the closest thing, but we never crossed that barrier. Now you’re
holding me and I don’t want to move. I’m afraid the spell will break and I’ll be back
to the old me. The me I hate.”

Her words are so sad and they break my heart. I turn us over on the couch so that
we can face each other. My arms are still possessively wrapped around her. Something
about her makes me want to keep her safe and close at all costs. From this position,
I can see her face now. Suddenly, I want to touch every inch of her.

Sliding my arm that isn’t pinned under her up her body, I watch with interest as she
shivers. My hand finds her cheek and I tentatively stroke it with my thumb. Her icy-blue
eyes close and her lips part. Dipping my head down to hers, I softly kiss her lips.
When her tongue shyly slips out to meet mine, we both gasp at the jolt of electricity
that courses through us when they touch.

The kiss is sweet and innocent at first, but it quickly grows in intensity. It’s apparent
that she’s drinking up her newfound abilities and testing the boundaries. It’s hot
as hell to experience this with her. I push my tongue into her mouth and she moans
but quickly thrusts hers against mine. Her hand shakily finds my hair and threads
her fingers through it. Such a simple gesture, but it feels amazing.

When she moans again, I want her on top of me once more, so I roll over onto my back,
pulling her on top of me. She surprises me when she straddles my hips to get a better
position to kiss me. My cock strains to be freed from my denim, especially when she
grinds herself into me.

“Oh my fucking God, Sidney. You are so fucking hot,” I groan as she rides me through
my jeans. I haven’t been laid in months, and I can feel myself getting close to coming.

“How does this feel so good?” she asks, completely awestruck. I don’t have an answer,
but I am in complete agreement.

She kisses me again, and my hands trail their way down her back until they are at
her ass. Testing my theory, I slide up her dress, pleased to discover that she has
no panties on. My hands slide over her bare ass and she moans loudly. I give both
cheeks a little squeeze as I push her down against my cock.

“I want to be inside of you so fucking bad. I bet your pussy is dripping wet for me.
Can I feel it, baby?” I croon.

She whimpers at my words but lifts up her pelvis as an answer. I move one of my hands
around to the front and slip it under her dress. Easily, I locate a very wet spot
between her legs and push a finger inside her.

“Lane!” she cries out.

Her pussy is incredibly tight, and it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out that
she’s a virgin. When she begins to ride my finger, I use my thumb to massage her clit.
She’s panting now, and within moments an orgasm consumes her body. Her body tightens
fiercely around my finger. Once the clenching has stopped, I pull it out of her. She
falls onto my chest, still breathing heavily.

“Wow. Um…that is better than they describe it in the romance books,” she admits.

I chuckle from underneath her. This woman is so different from anyone I’ve ever come
in contact with. I’m spellbound.

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Sidney, you have no idea the things I could do to
you that feel one hundred times more exhilarating than that. I promise you, I will
show you every last one.”

Her body reacts to my words as she snuggles into me. My dick still throbs for release,
but I ignore it as I hold her. This girl is fragile and needs special care. I plan
on treating her right.

“I can’t wait,” she tells me with a bit of sauciness to her voice, which surprises
me.

Of course, my dick springs back to life. As her breaths even out, indicating that
she’s asleep, I mentally force my cock back into submission by thinking of anything
but the beautiful woman spread out over me.

I wake up to whimpering. Sidney is still asleep on my chest, but she appears to be
having a nightmare. My hands stroke her back until she calms down again.