He didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out what those two separate issues had to do with each other. “I’m a fairly good judge of character, and Gus is top-notch. Joelle landed herself a good man, so she made sure she never let him go.”
“He never gave Joelle any room to let go. He’s a lot like you in that regard,” she added with a warm glance his way that, honest to God, was as tangible as a caress. Then she sighed and unlaced her fingers so she could hold his hand instead. “But I’m not like Joelle. She’s braver than me in so many ways. She spent a single day and night with Gus, and that was all it took for her to decide she was going to spend the rest of her life with him. I’m not like that. I have to see the lay of the land and try to figure out all the possibilities of what could go wrong.”
“Fuck that backward way of thinking.”
“Backward?”
“Yeah. Try thinking about what can go right instead. Because that’s the reality of us being together,” he added, while the determination of that vow sank into every part of him. “I won’t allow wrong to happen to us, Alice. Wrong can go fuck itself. Together, we’re as right as right can be, and nothing in this whole goddamn world will ever change that.”
“We’re as right as right can be,” she repeated softly. A small smile appeared before she brought his hand to her lips. “Promise me you won’t give up on my sorry ass just because I’ve got this bad habit of looking before I leap.”
“It’s all right to be cautious, Stems. I get that you’ve had to tie yourself in a million knots after your dad died, just to make sure no one thought you were a stick of unstable dynamite. I come from a long line of killers who took pride in beating people to death with their bare hands. Believe me, I know what it’s like to have people look at you and think you’re a lost cause just because you carry a bad man’s name. I totally fucking get it. That’s why I’m ready and willing to go at your pace. But be warned—I won’t let you get frozen in place by the restraints you perpetually put on yourself. Life is too short to play it safe, especially when it comes to me. You are safe with me. You need to wake the hell up to that fact.”
“I must be waking up, because I’m starting to realize I need to think about my apartment.”
About damn time she came around to it. “What about your apartment?”
“Should I let it go?”
He took his eyes off the freeway long enough to give her a hard look. “You tell me, woman.”
“I…” Her intake of breath was so huge it was a wonder any oxygen was left in the Hummer’s cab. “I think it’s time for me to pack up my shit and move completely into your place.”
“Hell, yeah, it’s time.” It was his turn to bring her hand to his lips, but that only made the hunger inside him worse. Leave it to Alice to drop one of her few remaining defenses while he was doing seventy down the freeway. “This pleases me no end, babe. But I won’t be truly happy until you stop calling it my place, and start calling it ours.”
“Gotcha. That’s first on my list—getting used to saying that.”
“Saying it and feeling it. That’s the truth of your life now. What’s mine is yours, and what’s yours is all fucking mine.”
“It’s crazy, how all this feels like a dream.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw her shake her head. “It’s like I’m scared of waking up to find none of it is real.”
Like he didn’t know that. “You can’t get rid of me that easily, Stems.”
“Right back atcha, pal.” With another smile, she turned in her seat to look at him more fully. “Could we stop off someplace to pick up some boxes? I can head over to the apartment on my lunch break tomorrow and pack up the rest of my things. Now that I’ve decided to do this, I can’t wait to get it done.”
“I can’t wait to get you home to show you that’s exactly where you are—home.” He squeezed her fingers, then laid her hand on his thigh and kept it there. “In the meantime, why don’t you get me ready to fuck you good and proper the moment I come to a stop?”
“Are you sure a hand-job is the safest thing to do while driving down the freeway? Especially when I do… this?” Her hand slid up his thigh to cup his dick, and suddenly the whole world was a better place. “I’ve got a thing about people not being in control when they’re behind the wheel.”
He put his hand over hers, just in case she had any ideas about retreating. “I’d never put you and those gorgeous legs of yours at risk. I’ll let you know when you need to stop.”
“I can do a hell of a lot in the time it’s going to take to get home.” As she spoke, that sweet hand of hers squeezed his package through the denim encasing him. His jaw knotted, and he did his damnedest to keep the vehicle’s speed consistent as she started up a squeezing, milking kind of rhythm, interspersed with teasingly raking her nails over the thick denim covering his fast-hardening cock.
Fuck.
Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.
But there was no way he’d allow her to stop now.
“I don’t know if you’ll ever be able to understand how thrilling it is, knowing I can make you catch your breath.” Her voice was pure sex, low and purring and affecting him just as much as her hand on his crotch. “I mean, you’re such a man, Loki. So strong. So unstoppable. So…you. To know that I can get to you is more arousing than I could ever describe.”
That piece of information was enough to drag his attention away from the increasingly urgent tightening of his balls. “You getting wet for me, baby?”
“I’m always wet when I’m with you.”
“Fuck me.” A lightning-fast calculation told him that home was around ten minutes away. Whereas countless parking garages in countless high-rise buildings were all around them.
Simple equation.
Simple result.
A squeak escaped her when he wheeled sharply off the freeway and into a building’s underground entrance to a parking garage. Without fanfare he snapped up the ticket that spewed from the automated machine, then drove until he found an out-of-the-way space.
“Where are we?” Alice asked while Loki undid his seatbelt and adjusted the seat as far back as it would go. “Is this a hotel, or—”
“Don’t give a shit where it is or what it is. We’re alone and our asses are safely parked. That’s all we need.”
Her dark gaze swung around to crash into his. “You mean…?”
“Undo your seatbelt and get ready to straddle me, cowgirl. You’re going to ride my cock until we both explode.”
“Damn, that mouth of yours.” Despite her grumbled words, she didn’t hesitate to do exactly as he instructed, but not before shimmying out of her leggings and panties, leaving her in a longish black-patterned blouse and nothing else. How he loved a plan-ahead woman. “One of these days you’re going to have to teach me how to do all that melt-the-bones dirty talking.”
“There’s no secret to how dirty talk works, Stems. I just say whatever the hell you inspire me to say. Believe me, the inspiration you give me is never-ending.”