Military Romance Collection: Contemporary Soldier Alpha Male Romance (120 page)

Chapter 7

James picked me up for another date two nights after my conversation with Lucy. Despite my attempts to act natural, I knew that I seemed distant and cold.

“Is everything OK?” he asked. “You’ve been looking at that menu for a long time. We can go somewhere else if you don’t see anything you like.”

“No,” I said. “I’m fine.” I hated that kind of response. I didn’t want to be the type of woman a man had to grill for information, but I was still figuring out what exactly my thoughts and feelings were. “Have you ever had a black girlfriend before?” I finally asked.

He seemed to relax, which surprised me since I felt like I was asking an uncomfortable question. “Is that it?” he asked, smiling. “Is that what’s bothering you? I thought you were worried about the other night.”

“No,” I said. “The other night was great. Amazing, really.”

“I agree,” he said, with joy in his voice. “I was just worried you thought we were moving too fast. Instead, you’re worried that I’m only dating you because you’re black, right?”

“The thought crossed my mind,” I said, a little embarrassed.

“No, I’ve never had a black girlfriend before. I have dated black women before, but I’ve dated women from a lot of backgrounds. I know all about fetishism and the problems it causes. I’m attracted to you. Very attracted to you. But it’s not only because you’re black. I would have left the store without asking you out if I wasn’t attracted to your intelligence.”

“And you would have fantasized about me later?” I said, with a mischievous grin replacing my hurt frown.

“That’s a strong possibility!” He laughed.

“What about white guilt, savior complexes, and master-slave fixations? You got any of those?”

“I sure hope not!” he said. “Who’s been getting into your head?”

“A girlfriend. I don’t know why I let her get to me. She has horrible taste in men. I mean really bad taste in guys. She’s just trying to help, but her help can sometimes keep me from taking valuable, wonderful risks.”

“To be honest,” he said. “I had a friend caution me against you too.”

“Was it a race thing? Was it your parents?”

“No,” he said. “But I did tell them about you. Early as it might seem, I was excited enough about you to sing your praises to them, and they hope to meet you some day. I’m probably getting ahead of myself though.”

I was flattered at how happy he was to be with me. It was adorable to see a powerful, self-assured man act like a schoolboy with a crush, especially over me.

“It was a friend of mine. He’s more of a business partner, really, but we have coffee or brunch now and then. He was worried you were only interested in me for my money. That’s not the case . . . right?” He asked as though he were joking, but I could tell he was genuinely curious about the answer.

“No. I’ve thought about it, and Lucy asked about it, but I am happy with my life. I don’t need a lot of money.”

“Lucy’s the friend, huh? What did she say about the money?”

“She wanted to know how much you had,” I said, feeling guilty that I’d talked about it at all, but knowing honesty was important here.

“What did you say?”

“I said you might be a millionaire based on your car and clothes and all that. She said that you were more likely a billionaire because you weren’t a showoff about your money.”

“Lucy sounds like a smart woman, even if she was trying to scare you away from me.”

I was finding it hard to look him in the eyes, even though I knew that his eyes brought me a lot of comfort.

“Alison,” he said hesitantly. “I do have a confession to make to you.”

My heart jumped to my throat. I had felt such relief when he denied all of Lucy’s allegations, but my tension was renewed and intensified.

“When I came into your store,” he continued, “I wasn’t just browsing. I was scouting for a new location. You see, I own the largest chain of bookstores in the United States. I knew about your bookstore, and I wanted to see if you were competition. I also wanted to see if a bookstore could thrive in that area.”

I waited for more. This didn’t seem like enough to constitute a confession, but he was still hesitant.

“I asked you out,” he said finally, “to see if you would be willing to sell me your store or the land so that I could build my own store there.”

He could see the hurt on my face, and I wanted him to see it. My heart was sinking. All I could think about was the lecture Lucy would give me on whites gentrifying black neighborhoods and closing black businesses, taking black jobs. That was how all those white-only suburbs near my hood came to be anyway.

“But,” he said, “my attraction to you was real. I never brought up the store because I was so caught up in getting to know you. In fact, I forgot all about it that night. I knew there was chemistry between us,
real
and
rare
chemistry, and my priority switched to exploring that. By the next morning, the only thing I was interested in building was a relationship. That’s still what I want to build with you, a relationship. Something meaningful and true. Something honest.”

I could feel my tough exterior cracking, and my vision blurred as hot tears filled my resistant eyes.

“If you don’t want to see me again, I will understand. I will understand, but I will be heartbroken. My heart will break because I’m giving it to you. I’m falling for you, fast, and I want us to be together. I’m in love with you.”

I finally broke down and bent down, weeping, in front of James. He moved to my side and rubbed my back and hair, patiently waiting for me to regain my composure. “I love you too,” I said between sobs. “I’m in love with you too.” My tears, I could feel, were not from sadness or anger, but from years and years of repressed feelings. My family, my neighborhood had forced me to build a tough shell in order to survive, and James’s love had worn a hole in my armor. With the dissolution of my toughened hide came a backlog of emotions that was overwhelming. Before I had enough time to feel ashamed of crying in front of him or in front of the other restaurant patrons, my tears turned to laughter.

James began kissing my neck and head as I laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, as I laughed at my tears, as I laughed because it felt good to laugh. When I finally calmed down, and after another period of uncontrollable laughter brought on by the very confused look of our waiter, I returned his kisses. I could taste my tears on my lips, and I knew he could too, but our kisses were deep and meaningful. They were cleansing.

Chapter 8

This time, we drove to his house, which was a magnificent property hidden deep in the suburbs behind lush greenery and tall, guarded fences. He excused his staff for the evening so we could be alone. We both laughed at how corny we must have looked as he carried me over threshold after threshold to an enormous bathroom lit with candles and decorated with aromatic flowers. The bathroom was bigger than all the rooms in my house combined. The bath, which had already been drawn and was slick with oils and bubbling from the underwater jets, was big enough to fit four comfortably.

He placed me on the edge and began removing my dress. He unzipped the back and lowered the garment, revealing my attentive breasts and my g-string, which I promptly removed. The steam of the bath felt good as it kissed my naked flesh, and I stood for a moment delighting in my own nakedness. We were surrounded by full-length mirrors, and I admired myself from new and various angles before turning to disrobe James.

My heart began a familiar racing as he ran his hands along my sides and down my back while I unbuttoned his shirt and pants. He was big enough that his frame totally eclipsed mine in the mirror. I hadn’t before realized just how broad and muscular he was. The candlelight flickered to highlight his defined musculature, and I felt the glowing warmth of arousal radiating from my pussy.

He clearly was feeling similarly aroused, as his manhood nearly jumped out of his boxers when I lowered them. I had only begun to take his eager cock into my mouth when he urged me into the bath. The water was the perfect temperature to loosen my muscles, which were still tense from the emotional rollercoaster of an evening, and I found myself simultaneously relaxed and more aroused than ever. He sat next to me, where water jets massaged us both as we massaged one another. The oil in the water was enough to lubricate our skin entirely. We explored one another’s every crevice with oiled hands. He ran his fingers through my small triangle of pubic hair before sliding one into my cleft, gently rubbing my clit. I cradled his ample testicles before moving my hand to oil the head of his hefty cock.

I maneuvered myself to his lap and looked into his eyes as I rubbed his purple head against my pink pearl. He gasped and tossed his head back when I lowered myself, inch by ecstatic inch, onto his thick shaft. As I moved up and down, my lips gripping his dick, the water moved in waves. My orgasmic contractions matched those waves. With one of his hands on my back, pulling me closer, and the other clutching my ass and spreading my cheeks, he took control of the rhythm. He stood in the water, and I wrapped my legs around his torso. I kissed his chest, neck, and face between groans of ecstasy as he pumped his fat dick into my love-mouth. I had never felt the walls of my vagina stretch so gratefully.

As his pace accelerated, I could feel my orgasm building to new heights. He pressed a fingertip from his anchoring hand against my asshole, and I looked him in the eyes. Between gasps and moans, I managed to say, “I love you so much. I want you to come inside me.”

He kissed me deep just as we both reached our peak. Shudders ran through us both, and I felt his hot load filling me completely. The rhythmic throbbing of my pussy milked every last drop of his pearly essence from him. We collapsed into the water where we continued our kissing. I felt a closeness that was totally new to me. I loved the feeling of having him close to me, of having him inside me. Again, I cried, but this time it was from overwhelming joy.

Chapter 9

Over the next year, James asked me to marry him, saying he would take care of me and that I would never have to work another day in my life. Of course, I accepted his marriage proposal, but I explained that my work was important to me and to the neighborhood.

With the money that he was going to use to build a new megastore, James revitalized Harold’s bookstore, allowing Harold to officially retire. Harold appointed me total owner and manager.

James still had plenty left over to donate to the group home, which expanded their building to include a pool, a basketball court, and a fully-stocked library and art center.

Lucy broke up with her boyfriend because he was continuing to put pressure on her to go back into hooking. James talked to a very eligible coworker and friend. Lucy and James’s friend arranged to meet for coffee. She told me she hopes he has lots of white guilt.

Needless to say, I moved in with James, and we make a point of sending all of the staff home at least one night a week. 

THE END

As the last few stragglers in the office packed up their things and prepared to head home early, Evelyn Black stared at her computer screen, black now, and her reflection in it. The Santa hat she wore flopped to the front, the white ball at the point hanging just above her left eye. Its droopy attitude matched her own.

“Remember, Eve, if you want, you’re welcome to join our family for Christmas,” Danielle reminded her with a hug. “We’ll have a full house, a little spiked egg nog, bad caroling, and something under the tree with your name on it.”

Eve smiled at her friend gratefully. “I appreciate it, and I’ll think about it.” But Eve didn’t want to intrude, and she wasn’t in a place where she felt like being surrounded by Dani’s enormous family, even on the most festive family occasion of the year.

She was spending Christmas alone, for the first time in her life.

She pulled herself out of the chair and followed the line of people leaving the bank, which was closing early the day before Christmas Eve. They would be closed tomorrow and Christmas Day, and she would have no one around and nothing to do for the entire time. It wasn’t that she hadn’t made plans. After all, it would be the first Christmas without her parents, and her sister, Delia, had been excited about spending it together. She’d planned to fly in from Phoenix with her boyfriend, Rupert, and Eve was going to make dinner and have her best friend, Blake, over.

But two months ago, Blake had gotten into a serious relationship and would be joining the girlfriend’s family for the holidays in Palm Springs. That was fine, until two weeks ago, when Delia called to say she’d landed a role in a big movie and had to be in Brazil in three days. She wouldn’t be back for at least two months with the filming going on, but they could celebrate their own Christmas then.

Eve was happy for her; Delia had been trying to make it in Hollywood for three years now and had barely kept food on the table most of that time. This was her big break, but it was also disappointing for Eve, who now had no one sitting at a table she would have filled with food. And the presents under the tree would have to stay there, for now. None of them had her name, either.

Depression hung like an ominous cloud, more threatening than the Pacific Northwest chill in the air or the weather reports of the next great snowstorm shutting down Seattle. Eve was determined not to let it get the best of her, but it was hard. Everyone around her had someone, and though she could have gone to Dani’s, the idea of doing so made her feel more pathetic. So, she’d resigned herself to a lonely day full of snack foods and old favorites on TV. She wasn’t going to bother cooking as she’d planned. Maybe she’d have another opportunity someday.

At home, she heated a can of soup to warm her from the inside out and turned on her stream account, finding a sitcom she hadn’t seen in a while to play from the beginning. It was more background noise than anything, but she could smile at it while she toiled around the house. She picked up the clothes scattered everywhere, vacuumed and dusted. Just because she wouldn’t have company didn’t mean she wanted to let her tiny little house fall apart.

She primped the Christmas tree, picking up some fallen tinsel and changing one of the little bulbs on the string of lights that had burned out. She told herself that, one year, she would break down and get a real tree. For now, the tree she’d been using for the last four years worked well.

As she finally sat down to relax, the overhead lights blinked several times and then brightened again, and the television fuzzed and returned to life. She scowled and paused the show, listening as the wind whipped outside. It rattled the windows and howled with its force, and Eve instinctively pulled her cardigan tighter around her as she got up to crank the heat. She glanced at the gas fireplace and decided to start the flames as well, just in case.

With temperatures dropping below freezing outside, she didn’t want to lose electricity and be without heat or light. And on that note, she went to the hall closet, pulling out her battery-powered lanterns and tealight candles. She was going to be prepared.

Contented that she had the supplies she needed, Eve turned the show back on and huddled in the corner of the couch amidst the throw pillows. It was only a few minutes later that the snow started to fall outside, and she glanced several times out the window to her left at the large flakes. They were thick, and with the heavy winds, the flurries became almost a blizzard, and rather than remaining steady or slowing, the rainfall only picked up.

Frowning as the lights dimmed and fought to stay on again, Eve got up and glanced at her yard. She was shocked to find a good five or six inches already having built up, and the roads were covered, too. With a sigh, she reluctantly admitted to herself that it didn’t matter what she discovered she needed. She wasn’t going to be able to get them for at least a couple of days. As she watched, she lost visibility and realized she’d never seen such a heavy snowstorm.

Returning to the living room, she reached for her cell phone to check for any weather alerts, her settings sending messages about inclement weather. There were three flashing messages – wind advisories, freezing advisories, and an ice and snow warning. As she sighed, not particularly thrilled with the forecast, her phone lost its connection, giving her a ‘no network’ message, and Eve felt a little nervous about that, especially since she hadn’t gone out to buy a regular corded landline like she kept meaning to.

She tried restarting the phone, but it didn’t do any good, and she knew some of the towers must have come down. And then the lights blinked and power went out. Great, just what she needed.

She didn’t know any of the neighbors who were actually here; most of them had traveled for the holidays. But she had to hope that, should she have an emergency, one of those she didn’t know would let her use the phone.

As she had the thought, a loud thud sounded against her front door, and Eve jumped, not expecting company and praying it wasn’t the tree in the front yard having fallen so she wouldn’t be able to get out. She took a few hesitant steps in that direction, and she jumped again as three more loud raps sounded.

Definitely not a tree, unless she’d fallen asleep and woken up in Middle Earth with the tree-herders. She peered through the peephole, and she was surprised to see someone huddled against the wind on the corner of her stoop, wearing nothing but a thin sweater and jeans. She wasn’t a fool; Eve left the chain on the door, just in case it was a trick, and she opened it the crack the chain allowed.

“Oh, thank god someone’s home!” A pair of startling silvery eyes gazed up at her from beneath long, dark lashes coated with snowflakes. “My car broke down a few blocks back, and my phone isn’t working. Do you have a landline?”

Eve grimaced. She didn’t, but she couldn’t send the man, whose teeth were chattering now, back out into the storm to find someone else, not without something warmer to wear. “I wish I did,” she told him, trying to decide what she was going to do. “I do have coffee and hot chocolate and a blanket.” It was almost Christmas, and if this man was a raving lunatic serial killer, she deserved whatever fate came to her. “Would you like to come in out of the cold?”

He looked as skeptical as she felt, and Eve almost laughed. But at long last, he nodded. “If you don’t mind.”

She closed the door, removed the chain, and opened it fully to admit him inside. Closing the door against the chill, she directed him to the fireplace. “Sit over there. I’ll get you something warm to drink and a blanket.” He all but ran to the hearth, and Eve poured some of the fresh coffee she’d made, taking it to him so he could curl his hands around the warm mug while she grabbed a thick fleece blanket. She draped it over his shoulders and took a seat awkwardly on the edge of the couch.

“Thank you,” he said, sounding like he was in less pain. “I’m Aidan.”

“Nice to meet you, Aiden. I’m Eve.” It took all her self-control not to snort at how close that was to ‘Adam and Eve’, especially since her heart pounded wildly now that she got a good look at him. His hair was blond with a reddish tint, his lashes long and dark around those strange silver eyes so it looked almost like he wore eyeliner. And his face had a thin angular shape with a youthful softening just at the back of his jaw that made it absolutely gorgeous. He was curled in on himself as he tried to get warm, but she guessed him to be around six feet tall, and he was definitely fit.

“How did you end up out in the storm?” she asked, trying to distract herself before she started drooling.

He made a face. “I was trying to get up to Bellingham, but the storm hit, and I couldn’t see on the highway. So, I pulled off to try and find a place to wait it out. I couldn’t see very well and I guess I ended up in this neighborhood, and I don’t know what happened, but my car just stopped running.” He motioned with his chin toward the window. “It’s around the corner. I didn’t mean to disturb you. You’re just the first person I found home.”

“It’s alright. You didn’t interrupt anything important.” That was an understatement. Maybe the circumstances weren’t the greatest, but Eve was grateful for the company, however short term it would be. And she especially liked the fact that he was easy on the eyes. “I’m not sure if you’ll be able to get your car started or not, but I doubt it would be a good idea to try to fuss with it while the storm is going on. And since the towers are down, I don’t know if you’ll be able to get anyone to come get you. I have the couch. If you need to, you can stay here tonight, as long as you promise you aren’t some thief or crazy murderer.”

Aidan smiled, producing deep dimples in both cheeks, and waggled his eyebrows. “You never know, do you?” he asked in a melodramatically sinister voice. He shifted and reached into his back pocket, and he pulled out his wallet, flipping it open to reveal a badge. “I’m a cop, actually.”

That gave Eve a sense of relief, though granted, cops could be psychologically damaged, too. But he seemed fairly normal and even had a sense of humor. She smiled back at him. “In that case, you can stay. We’ll see how the weather is in the morning and if we have cell service. Or power.” Either would give them access to a phone and at least a towing company.

“I appreciate your kindness,” he said, somber and sincere. Eve shivered, and it had nothing to do with being cold, the flames radiating enough heat to reach her where she sat.

She glanced toward the kitchen and asked, “Are you hungry? The stove is gas powered, so I could heat up some chili or something.”

He shook his head. “Maybe in a bit. I’m okay right now. Thank you for offering.” He sipped the coffee and stared into the flames. “I hope I’m not imposing on any family plans you have. I’m guessing you aren’t traveling.”

The reminder of how alone she was made Eve blush, and she turned away from him. “I don’t have any plans at all for Christmas. I did, but they all fell through.” That sounded like a sob story, and she hated it. She didn’t want pity from anyone, especially a handsome stranger.

“So did mine.” Eve had figured that, considering he couldn’t get where he was going. But then he said, “It’s my third Christmas alone. I was headed to Bellingham to get the ball rolling on selling my parents’ house. I’ve been putting it off forever now, and I thought it was time.”

The despondency in his voice made Eve turn around, and she saw the longing in his eyes as he gazed at some distant point. Eve empathized and thought that, no matter how bad she felt things were, someone else always had it worse. “I’m sorry,” she said, meaning it from the bottom of her heart. On a whim, she stood and took the three steps to where he sat, taking up residence on the hearth next to him and angling toward him. The incredible heat brought a flush to her cheeks as she told him hesitantly, “I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. I haven’t felt festive about the holidays all year, and I thought maybe I deserved to be alone for Christmas because of that. But now I think we were supposed to meet. I know it’s crazy, but why don’t you just stay here for Christmas?”

His head shot up, and he pinned her with his piercing silver gaze. “You don’t even know me, Eve.”

She shrugged. “It’s the season of giving, right? I want to give you a nice Christmas. I don’t have a gift for you, but we could eat together, watch some Christmas movies if the power ever comes back. Would it be so bad to spend Christmas with a stranger?” Eve sort of liked the idea of spending a couple of days with Aidan. He stirred something inside her that made her throat dry and her lungs tight, and she wanted to know what it was.

As he smiled at her, something sparked in his eyes that heated Eve far more than the fire ever could, and she had a hard time remembering to breathe. “You know, if someone had told me this morning I’d be stranded in the dark with an absolutely gorgeous stranger with a heart of gold as a hostess, I would have told him to write a screenplay because that shit only happens in the movies.” He laughed softly, and Eve blushed. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had called her beautiful.

She tried to maintain her looks, using an expensive conditioner to keep her raven-black hair shiny and smooth, applying just enough liner around her green eyes to accent their almond shape, and dabbing a light coral pink on her lips to show their fullness. And she ate right, most of the time, so she was thin, and she dressed for her figure. But no one ever seemed to notice.

But then, it was more than physical attraction that drew her to Aidan. Maybe that was mutual.

Clearing her throat, she managed, “Not to be too forward, but if someone had told me the snowstorm would deliver a sexy cop to my doorstep for Christmas, I would have told them not to tease because I’d been disappointed enough this year.”