Chapter 35: Thirty-four

Saturday faded into Sunday, and with the new dawn, a dose of reality began to intrude into our perfect weekend escape. I’d eventually made my way down to my Jeep, but all the spare condoms I’d had in my glove compartment ran out that morning after I woke Reese to a full-body massage.

Panting and sweating, I rolled off her and stared dazedly up at the ceiling, trying to get my pulse to settle.

Next to me, Reese blew out a breath and wiped her hair out of her face. “Wow. That just never gets old.”

I lolled my head to the side so I could look at her. Still naked with her breasts flushed once again from my beard burn, I realized… We were going to need more condoms. Possibly more food.

Staples for the survival of a weekend of marathon sex: condoms and food.

“I’ll make you a deal,” I said, enjoying the view of her just like that. “If you promise not to move from this spot and stay exactly as you are until I get back, I’ll run out and find us some lattes.”

She closed her eyes and moaned. “Sold.”

So I popped from the bed and searched the floor for my clothes. When I pulled them on, they felt a little funny because it’d almost been a full twenty-four hours since I’d actually worn anything—excerpt for that brief thirty seconds it’d taken me to run out to my Jeep for condoms.

Checking on my girl before I left, I was pleased to find her still sprawled in the tangle of sheets, exhausted and satisfied from my attention.

I grinned over my accomplishments and bent down to give her a goodbye peck, but my insatiable lady wrapped her arms around me, sinking her fingers into my hair and deepened the contact, nipping at my bottom lip as if to entice me back to bed.

Groaning, I crawled back on top of her, still fully clothed, with my shoes on and everything. “So you want to tease, eh?”

“Mmm,” she answered, smiling smugly as if she’d just gotten her way.

My hand wandered down her side as my tongue stroked hers. When I pushed two digits in, her eyes flared and breath puffed from between her damp, swollen lips.

Eyes turning smoky with need, she shook her head. “How the heck do you do that? You can wear me out and wring me dry until I feel like I never want to move again, only to, wham, make one little—~Oh, God~—okay, make that, one ~deep~ stroke, and you light me back up again. ~How~?”

I shrugged, watching her face as my fingers went deeper yet. “Just natural talent, I guess.” Grinning, I asked, “Hey, how fast do you think I can make you come with just three fingers?”

Before she could answer, I used my thumb to massage her clit while the two fingers inside her flexed against her happy spot.

“Mason…Mason,” she chanted. “Oh my God. I can’t…” Her head thrashed, her fingers bit into the sheets, and sweat beaded on her brow.

I showed no mercy, driving her hard and then teasing her soft. The juxtaposition of fast followed by slow, rough then gentle drove her crazy.

“Oh…my…God…”

“Thirty-nine seconds!” I cheered as soon as she was finished coming.

She rolled her face my way to scowl but didn’t yet have the capability to reply.

Feeling as if I’d done my job well, I grinned and leaned in to kiss her sweat-dampened brow. “Don’t move.”

I rushed from the apartment, hurrying so I could already return to her. It wasn’t until I’d slid behind the wheel of my Jeep, however, and started the engine, then glanced up at her door that I remembered reality. Patricia’s threats. Reese’s psycho ex. The fact that Reese still thought I’d slept with another woman a day and a half ago.

I panicked for a couple moments, worried about leaving her alone, trying to remember if I’d locked the door behind me. I had… I think. God, I hoped so.

Unable to help myself, I hopped out of the idling Jeep and dashed up the steps to her door, just to be sure.

Yep, locked.

It still took me another few seconds to leave, though. I didn’t want to scare her and tell her the truth but I also wanted her to be vigilant. Deciding to just hurry and get my trip over with as quickly as possible, I rushed to the nearest convenience store and damn-near sprinted down the aisles on the search for condoms. They only sold mini packs, so I grabbed three.

When I started toward the checkout counter, a mother with two boys and a little girl was there, buying candy bars. I faltered, feeling weird about standing behind kids in line with nothing but condoms on me, so I snagged a big pack of gum I was passing and piled it on top to mask what else I was holding.

The cashier took forever doling out change. I tapped my pile of gum and condoms against my thigh impatiently and glanced out the window to check on my Jeep. No idea why I did that, but I blinked when I found some random guy, about my age, standing next to it, peering in through the driver’s side window.

Wondering if he was trying to rob me, I kept an eye on him as the family in front of me finished their transaction and started for the door. I stepped forward, not even saying hi to the cashier as I tossed my shit on the counter and then reached for my back pocket to pay. The snoop must’ve decided I didn’t have anything valuable enough to steal, because he backed away from my Jeep and glanced toward the front windows of the store, only to pause when he made eye contact with me.

I narrowed my gaze, feeling specifically singled out by him. He was a total stranger to me with smoothed-back super-blond hair that almost looked white out in the sunlight. For some reason, it reminded me of Draco Malfoy’s hair from ~Harry Potter~.

“That’ll be nineteen fifty-three, sir,” the cashier said, jostling me from my stare.

Pulling a twenty from my wallet, I tossed it onto the counter and grabbed my things. “Keep the change.” Starting outside, I watched the Malfoy wannabe turn away and walk off.

What the hell?

That was just plain weird. I watched him disappear around the other side of the building and shook my head. I would’ve called Reese then, just to check on her, but when I went to reach for my phone, that’s when I realized I’d forgotten it at her apartment.

“Shit.”

I would’ve driven straight back to her, but then she would wonder why I hadn’t gotten our lattes. So, I once again rushed as I made my way to the coffee shop next. The drive-through line was insane. I figured it’d be faster to park and go inside, and I was right.

I’d just gotten Reese’s white chocolate mocha and my triple mocha frappe and was turning toward the exit when I saw him again. He sat at a small table just inside the entrance, with a ball cap on this time, but the douche wasn’t fooling anyone. He was wearing the same damn T-shirt and jeans he’d had on at the convenience store when he’d been sniffing around my Jeep.

Why was he following me? I was certain I’d never seen him before. Was he another Ethan Riker whose mom had been one of my clients?

He had a very distinctive, narrow face with an overly pointed chin. When I passed, he glanced up slightly.

I nodded, and said, “Hey, man,” so he’d be certain I ~knew~ he was there.

Saying nothing in return, he just dropped his gaze to the cups I held and narrowed his eyes.

Once I returned to my Jeep, I glanced around the interior to make sure nothing was disturbed. Everything looked the same as ever, so I shrugged, deciding I was being paranoid. It wasn’t until I was fitting the lattes down into the cup holders that I realized he’d looked upset to see I had ~two~ drinks, and one of them had Reese’s name on the cup. My gaze shot to the coffee shop.

“Son of a bitch.”

I pushed out of the Jeep and hurried back to the shop, but once I yanked the door open, Malfoy was gone.

I spun in a circle, trying to find him, but he’d completely disappeared. Blowing out a rattled breath, I ran a hand through my hair and returned to the Jeep. I was just being paranoid, I repeated to myself. It hadn’t been Reese’s ex stalking me. He’d just been a random weirdo who’d followed me from one place to the next.

When I pulled out of the coffee shop, though, I was extra aware of everything and everyone around me. I wanted to go straight back to Reese and check on her, but I also didn’t want to lead some stalker straight ~to~ her, either, so I ended up driving in circles until I was absolutely certain no one was following me.

Sighing in relief when I pulled into the driveway of Reese’s garage apartment, I was happy to find that nothing had changed since I’d left.

My pockets bulged as I stuffed them full of condoms and gum before I grabbed the drinks and crawled out of the Jeep.

There was one lady across the street walking a dog, and a man in his yard, watering flowers, but those were the only people around. No pale-blond freaks loitering anywhere.

I jogged up the steps and tapped on the door with the toe of my shoe. When Reese opened it immediately, my heart skipped in my chest, wondering why she’d been waiting so close to the door and was no longer in bed, where she’d promised she would stay.

Damn, had something spooked her?

I only had to look into her eyes to know something was wrong.

“What happened?” I demanded, scared shitless.

She wrung her hands together and winced before plopping down on her couch and blurting, “One of your clients sent you a text message. I read it. Then deleted it.”

I blinked, not expecting to hear ~that~. I’d been ready to hear about a strange noise startling her or a face in the window—though the likelihood of a face appearing in her second-story window was pretty much nil. Hey, I wasn’t exactly thinking logically at the moment.

I stepped into the apartment, kicked the door shut behind me, and sat beside her. “Good,” I said, placing the lattes on the coffee table so I could take both her hands. “I’m glad you deleted it. But I don’t like this look on your face, Reese. Talk to me.”

She shook her head and stared blankly at our connected hands. Fear welled in my gut.

Maybe I should’ve told her I hadn’t slept with Patricia after all. But would that even make a difference? I had a feeling it was the overall fact that I’d been a prostitute that was freaking her out at the moment, not what I had or hadn’t done with my landlady. Besides, I was worried at this point that I’d waited too long to tell her at all; the likelihood of her believing me ~now~ if I tried to confess the truth was alarmingly low.

Licking her lips, she looked up into my face. “H-how often do you get a text like that?”

I cringed. Yep, it was my overall past beginning to haunt her. “It’ll take a while for the word to get out that I’m done.”

She bobbed her head up and down as if she agreed before asking, “And how much longer after that will it take to ~convince ~all your clients that you’re really serious this time? How long will they continue to slip you their business cards and tell you to call as soon as things between you and me get a little rough? I mean, how ~closely~ am I going to have to watch what I say? Because the first time I piss you off, you could just go running back to—”

“Stop,” I rasped unsteadily, tugging her against my chest because each word cut into me like a knife. It literally hurt to hear her worry about such a thing. “I’m ~not~ going to cheat on you, Reese,” I promised. “I will never do that. I tried the other way. For ~two~ years. And I didn’t like it. I’m not going back. I just want ~you~.” I hugged her tighter when dread shuddered through me. “Don’t break up with me already. It’s only been one day. That’s not enough, not ~nearly~ enough. Please don’t give up on us yet.”

“I won’t.” Then she looked up at me and burst into tears. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I keep saying this stuff.” She crawled into my lap and tucked her face shamefully into the crook of my shoulder. “I just want you too, Mason. I don’t want to break up with you. I don’t want to lose you at all.”

“Shh.” Kissing her hair, I rocked us gently. “You’re not going to lose me. It’s okay.”

She nodded and spent another few seconds crying before she trailed off with the occasional sniff. I just kept swaying with her and stroking her hair until she finally drew in a breath and lifted her face.

A few stray tears still clung to her cheek, so I wiped them away before kissing her nose. “I know it has to be damn near impossible for any woman to deal with a boyfriend who has a history like mine, especially being that it’s a very recent history. And it isn’t fair to ask you to. But I ~need~ you to. If anyone can get over what I was, you can. You are so strong. You are so amazing. You are…everything.”

She nodded and swallowed noisily. “I’ll get over it,” she said.

I nodded my thanks and kissed her gently on the lips. After the amount of times I’d spent inside her yesterday, the kiss could’ve turned passionate in a heartbeat, except it didn’t.

Something had changed between us. I could feel a distance that hadn’t been there at all the day before. Reality was definitely returning, and it was nudging a wedge between us as it did.

We sat cuddled together on the couch so long that Reese suggested we finish watching the ~Harry Potter~ movies.

I arched my eyebrows. “Finish?” I asked, wondering when we’d ~started~ them.

Grinning, she rolled her eyes. “Wow, you really don’t remember ~anything~ we did that night you got drunk here, do you?”

I blinked. “We watched ~Harry Potter~ together?”

She laughed, but it wasn’t quite the big open sound she usually shouted out. “We watched the first two and a half.”

Wow. I didn’t remember watching nearly three movies at all with her that night. Maybe one, but I couldn’t have told you ~which~ one.

So we restarted on the third movie, even though I didn’t remember a thing about the first two. Between the sixth and part one of the seventh, we took a break for food. While Reese was scouring the kitchen for a quick meal, I emptied the condoms from my pockets, having a feeling we wouldn’t be using them any time soon. I dropped them on the magazine table by the door and wandering over to the kitchen area where she was fixing us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

“Can I help?” I asked, coming up behind her so close my chest rubbed her back and I could reach under her arm to dip out a scoop of peanut butter with my finger.

She jumped, not expecting the move. I knew I’d just startled her, but to me, it felt almost like a rejection. She sent me a tense smile over her shoulder and said, “Thanks, but it’s okay. I’m almost done.”

Which felt like ~more~ of a rejection.

I stepped back, giving her space and then hopped up to sit on the counter a few feet away so I could watch her work. “I never asked you what you wanted to be called.”

Glancing up as she slapped the first sandwich together, she wrinkled her nose in confusion. “What do you mean?”

I shrugged. “It’s weird to me that your name really isn’t Reese. But then I got to thinking, maybe it’s weird for ~you~ when I call you that, since you’re…you know, Teresa.”

Yeah, even saying Teresa felt funny. She wasn’t Teresa to me. She’d always be my Reese. But for her, I’d learn to call her whatever she wanted.

She just smiled. “Don’t worry. I’m more used to Reese than Teresa too since that’s what I’ve been called for as long as I can remember. I could never pronounce Teresa right when I was learning to talk, I guess, so it sounded like I always said Reesa when anyone asked me my name. Then Reesa eventually became Reese, and now here I am. One hundred percent a Reese. Although, I have to admit, I am used to signing Teresa. So it is a little awkward to write Reese on official documents, not to mention the Randall part.”

“Teresa…Nolan, right?”

She nodded. “I have no idea why I chose Randall for the new last name. I think it just sounded good with Reese so I went with it. And you know…” She paused thoughtfully, tipping her face to the side as she bit her lip. “If…~when~…all this with Jeremy is over, I think I’ll just keep Randall for a while. It’s grown on me.”

When she smiled, I smiled back softly, only to grow serious when she handed me my PB and J.

Watching her take her first bite, I asked, “Do you ever get scared, you know, worrying about him coming for you?”

With a roll of her eyes, she continued to chew until she swallowed and finally answered, “Only all the time.”

I lifted my eyebrows. “Really. Wow. I could never tell. I mean, there might’ve been small instances once or twice where you looked briefly haunted, but the moments would vanish so quickly they never put up any serious red flags for me. You usually act so unconcerned about everything.”

“Trust me. I’m way more on guard these days than I ever was before. I keep everything locked and secured whether I’m home or not. I never had mace or whistles or flashlights hanging from my keychain until him. And I even took a self-defense class this summer. I’ve definitely changed how I do ~a lot~ of things now.”

“That’s good.” I nodded, glad to know she still kept vigilant and on guard, no matter what.

She sent me a strange look, so I flushed and kept talking. “I mean, it’s always good to be safe and prepared, not just for that guy, but anything that might happen.”

She studied me a moment before smiling and nodding. “Too true.”

Then she took my hand and tugged me off the counter. “Now let’s get back to our marathon.”