I stepped through the front door and locked it behind me. I kicked out of my shoes and hung my purse up on the hook and froze — Mom’s bag was still in its place next to mine. She never went to work without it.
“Mom?” I called through the silence, praying she’d switched bags or just forgotten it.
A moment passed, then another.
“Mia?”
If I was much of a swearer, I would have sworn. Instead, I hurried across our cluttered living room and into the kitchen.
Mom sat at the table on her favorite pink cushion, that morning’s paper spread across the surface, a pair of scissors and several neatly clipped coupons at her elbow. A cup of steaming, green tea rested between her hands.
“What are you doing home?” I asked, wishing my tone wasn’t accusing even as my panicked gaze jumped to the window just behind my mother’s back. “Are you okay?”
“There was some flood in the building,” she answered simply, never looking up from her coupon hunting. “They told everyone to stay home until it’s cleaned up. Mr. MacKay even said we’d get paid for it, isn’t that nice?”
I shot a glance around the room, expecting my dad to be there somewhere. He wasn’t.
“Where’s Dad?”
She flipped a page, her movement stiff and shaky. “His shift started before mine. He’s the one who called to tell me not to come in. He’ll be home soon.”
My attention went to the window again, searching for the man I’d told to meet me there. Stupidly, I realized I’d left my phone in my purse on the other side of the house and I hadn’t programmed Davien’s number in, so I would have to find the slip he’d given me, punch in the number … there wasn’t any time. He would be arriving any minute.
I looked at my mother again with her black hair slicked back into a neat bun at the back of her head and the worry lines cut deep around her eyes. She’d always been a beautiful woman, but stress and pain had stolen so many years off her already. If Davien waltzed in for no good reason, or any reason at all, it would send her into an early grave. I had to get her out of the kitchen, or I had to get Davien around to the front of the house without anyone noticing.
I opened my mouth to suggest she get into bed and relax until supper, but something beneath our feet took that moment to rumble. It vibrated along the linoleum, creating a ripple across the surface of Mom’s tea. We both exchanged glances as a clunking sound followed.
Mom’s face morphed into one of exasperation. She slapped her cup down on the table, sloshing amber liquid over the rim.
“That stupid thing!”
With great carefulness, she shuffled to her feet. I knew a good daughter would have offered to go instead. But all I did was stand there, mute and grateful for the distraction as my mom edged her way carefully to the cellar door.
“I told your father he needed to look at that damn thing. How are we supposed to wash clothes around here?” She started down the rickety steps leading down into the dank hole below. “I swear, it’s going to explode one day and where will that leave us then?” She rattled on about a torched house and more bills as she descended into the darkness.
I waited until her footsteps had hit the cement at the bottom before sprinting to the backdoor and yanking it open.
“Davien?” I hissed, poking my head out.
He materialized seemingly out of the shadows pooled along the corner of the back porch. Even expecting him, I jumped at the sudden sight of him moving towards me.
“My mom’s home,” I told him hurriedly. “My dad’s on his way.”
He raised a brow. “Another time?”
Sense told me that was the right answer. He needed to go away before someone spotted him. Bringing him into my parent’s home when they weren’t home was bad enough, but to sneak him into my room when they were...
“You have to be really quiet,” I told him, grabbing his hand.
Somehow, with my heart wedged in my throat, I got him to my room without running into Mom. I shut the door and locked it for good measure just as I heard Mom slam the basement door downstairs.
“Mia?” she called.
“Upstairs!” I called through the door. “I’m going to lie down. I have a headache.”
“Do you need an aspirin or some tea?” she called back, making me feel like an ass for lying.
“No, I’m just going to sleep it off.”
I didn’t hear anything, nor was I given the chance to when Davien was behind me. His arms closed around my middle and I was yanked back into his chest.
“You lied to your mother,” he growled into my ear, hands tearing at my skirt to locate my center. “Do you want me to fuck you that badly?”
His fingers shoved aside my panties and delved into the place already aching for his touch.
My eyes closed. “Yes.”
Chapter Five — Davien
Getting snuck into a woman’s bedroom wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for me. I’d lost count of the number of times I had to jump into a closet, or out a window when said woman’s not previously mentioned husband came home early. Yet, something about being in Mia’s bedroom, surrounded by her things while her mother puttered around downstairs had something dark and twisted stirring in my soul, something primal and … hungry. Fucking her in her childhood bed made my toes curl with delight.
“Take it off. All of it,” I bit out into her ear before releasing her and moving to the twin sized bed barely big enough for a single adult.
The springs jingled in protest with the settling of my weight. The frames groaned. I briefly wondered if it would even hold us, but that was a problem for when it became a problem.
Mia turned, fingers already at the zipper down her back. “Help me?”
I motioned her over to stand between my knees. She scooped her hair over one shoulder and waited for me. But I was drawn to the smooth contours of her legs, the curves and bends. I’d never been a leg guy, but something about hers made my hands itch to touch, to glide my palms up the calves all the way up to her waiting lips. I even liked her toes and I never paid much attention to those on women. Hers were neatly clipped and painted a soft pink even though the nails on her hands were bare.
“Davien?” she whispered, peering back over her shoulder at me.
“Shh,” I murmured, distracted in my own discovery.
Curious, I rose from my sitting position and pulled down the tongue on her zipper. I helped her shake the material down to pool around her ankles. Her white bra and panties followed until she stood beautifully naked before me.
I stopped her when she tried to turn.
“Stay.”
I returned to my seat, never once taking my eyes off her. At that vantage point, I had a perfect view of her ass. The toned, round muscles weren’t enormous, but they had enough meat for a man to grab and hold while he pounded into her. Her waist was narrow, but not so much that her ribs protruded. It was a nice, average curve that suited the satin line of her spine.
“Turn around.”
She did, her cheeks bright pink. “What are you doing?”
I had no idea. Of the many lovers I’d had in the course of my thirty years, I had never wanted to study one before. I always knew just enough to pleasure them, to touch them where they liked, where I liked, but I had never been visually intrigued by a woman before.