The Alibi

Hammond groaned. “God help me, so would I.”

A heartbeat later his arms were around her and his mouth was grinding against hers. Water dripped from her hair onto his shirt. Her lips were warm, her tongue soft, her mouth sweet.

When they finally pulled apart, they spoke each other’s name for the first time, laughed at themselves, then kissed again, if possible with more passion than before. He untied the belt at her waist, slipped his hands inside the robe, and touched her, stroking the smooth skin of her belly, eliciting soft moans from her when his fingertips feathered across her mound.

Hammond’s blood pounded against his eardrums as hard as the rain pounded the roof. It drowned out everything else. The cautious murmurings of his common sense and conscience didn’t stand a chance against such a racket.

He lifted her against him and carried her to the bed. Then, in a frenzy of impatience, he removed his clothes. When he stretched out on top of her he sighed with a mix of desire and despair. Her thighs parted and in the next breath he was enveloped in her warmth.

Sinking deeper, he swore softly, his voice cracking with emotion.

“I didn’t sleep with you because I needed an alibi, Hammond.”

Planting his hands on either side of her head, he looked down into her face and began to move. “Then why?”

She arched her back up to meet his thrusts. “For this.”

He buried his face in her neck. The sensations were incredible. They shimmied up through his penis into his belly, spread through his chest and outward to his extremities, making them tingle. He allowed everything else to drift out of his consciousness so he could savor being inside her. But a climax was rushing upon him too quickly, so he stopped moving and whispered urgently, “I don’t want to come yet. Not without you.”

“Touch me.”

She guided his hand between their bodies and placed it where they were joined. He moved his fingers lightly, stroking her simultaneously inside and out. She cupped her breast and pressed it up against his lips. He flicked the nipple with his tongue. The sound she made was almost a sob. They climaxed together.

* * *

They got beneath the covers. He drew her up against him, nestling her bottom against his lap. That’s when he realized that he hadn’t worn any protection. But, somehow, he didn’t care overly much. What good would it do to fret? There was no help for it now. He just wanted to hold her. Smell her. Be near her and share her body heat.

He was content to gaze at her face where it lay in the crook of his elbow. He thought she was asleep because her eyes were closed, but he noticed her lips curving into a smile. He kissed her eyelid. “Penny for them.”

She laughed softly and looked up at him. Lightly she traced the shape of his mouth with her fingernail. “I was thinking what it would be like to dress up and go out on a date with you. To dinner. A movie. Out in public and for all the world to see.”

“Maybe. Someday.”

“Maybe,” she whispered, sounding no more optimistic than he.

“I’d love escorting you around Charleston, showing you off to all my friends.”

“Truly?”

“You sound surprised.”

“I am, a little. For a back-alley affair—”

“That’s not what this is, Alex.”

“Isn’t it?”

“No.”

“I’m a relative newcomer, but I’ve learned how things work here.”

“What things?”

“Social circles.”

“I don’t care about that crap.”

“But most Charlestonians do. I have no pedigree. Your family practically invented the concept.”