Dream On (Stories of Serendipity #2) (25 page)

They rushed in and washed the cow slobber off their arms before going into the kitchen.
 Alyssa was impressed with the hominess of the large space.  It wasn’t anything fancy, but it was neat and well used, and Alyssa liked it.  She sat at the table across from Dalton with Cayden and Mary.  Sierra sat between Mary and Dalton.  The last place at the table was conspicuously empty.  

Mary had prepared a feast of fried chicken, ham, mashed potatoes with gravy, green beans, steamed broccoli with cheese sauce, a tossed salad, and chocolate cake for dessert.
 When Alyssa commented on the food, Mary modestly shrugged her shoulders.

“I didn’t know what your kids would eat.
 Mine were notoriously picky eaters.  I fixed a little of everything.”  Alyssa felt a little strange when Mary talked, as if the older woman’s words were saying one thing, when she meant something else entirely.  But, Alyssa couldn’t figure out what that was.

“Well, they like fried chicken and they like ham, so we should be good.”

Lunch passed quickly, the kids on their best behavior, thankfully.  Alyssa was glad she didn’t have to throw any ugly looks around this first time she met the woman who raised the phenomenal man she was dating.

“Your home is lovely, Mrs. Colt.”  Alyssa said, once everyone had started on their cake.  “How long have you lived here?”  Prior conversation over dinner had seemed stilted, like small-talk.  Alyssa felt a desire get Mary to open up. 

“Oh, since about 1967.  That’s when Richard and I got married.  Renae came in 1970, and Dalton in 1975.  So I guess, about 45 years.”

“Wow.  This house must have seen a lot over the years.”  Alyssa remarked.

“Yes.  I suppose it has.”  Mary sniffed, and Alyssa kicked herself for bringing up an awkward topic.  Mary was still grieving over the loss of her husband.

“How long were you married, Alyssa?”  Mary enquired, her tone alluding to more than curiosity.

“Um…Five years.”

“Are you widowed?”  Ah…Now Alyssa had it.  She was the mama bear, being protective of her son, trying to find out more about the woman he was seeing.

“No ma’am, I’m divorced.”  She begrudgingly admitted.

“Ah…”  Mary raised an eyebrow, laced with disapproval.

Dalton cleared his throat and looked at his mother pointedly. 

“I’m sorry, dear.  That’s none of my business.”  But Mary’s tone clearly implied it was her business.

“That’s alright, Mrs. Colt.  I don’t mind answering any questions.”  Alyssa was resigned to making herself an open book.  She had nothing to hide from Mary.  She really wanted to like her.

“Well, then how often does their father see them?  Is he still in the picture?”

“Oh yes, very much so.  We trade weeks with the kids.  Every other Sunday evening he picks them up and takes them home for the week.  We alternate holidays.”

“Well, that’s convenient.”  Mary didn’t sound impressed.

“It’s convenient for the parents, but I’m afraid the children miss out on too much without the stability of staying in one place for too long.  Unfortunately, I can’t afford to take my ex-husband to court for more custodial rights.  So, we’re all doing the best we can.”  Alyssa explained.

“I won’t pretend I understand, but your children seem to be delightful young people.”  Alyssa again had the feeling Mary didn’t mean what she was saying, but she didn’t want to delve too deeply into the subtext of her words.

Alyssa was proud the kids were behaving and actually listening attentively, not interrupting, like they usually did.  She looked over at them and winked.  “They have their moments.”

After lunch
Mary told Alyssa, “I’ve got some lemonade made for the children.  I’ll watch them play in the backyard, if you and Dalton want to take a walk.”  She looked at Dalton and said, “But don’t be gone too long, please.”

“Okay, thank you, Mary.”
 Alyssa wondered what had just passed between the two of them, but she didn’t question anything.  She followed Dalton, who took her hand in his and led the way to the barn.

They walked slowly, Alyssa savoring Dalton’s strong silence.
 She didn’t want to talk right now.  In fact, as soon as they got into the barn, she had plans for him and they didn’t involve talking...

Of course, he thwarted her plans as soon as they got inside the doorway.
 He grabbed her and threw her against the wall of the barn, his mouth on hers before she could even gasp.  His tongue invaded her mouth, hungrily, tasting her, drinking her.  She responded readily.  She wanted this as much, if not more than he did.  Something foreign inside of Alyssa awakened, and she grabbed the lapels of Dalton’s shirt and spun him around so he was up against the wall and she was leaning into him, kissing his neck while he groaned.  His enormous hands were on her waist, spanning her rib cage, pulling her closer to him.

“God, Alyssa.
 I want you so bad...” He breathed harshly.  “I don’t know what gets into me when I’m around you.”

“I’ve got plans, Dalton.
 You need to just let me do this.”  She told him between kisses.  She didn’t know exactly what had come over her, but it was primal, and she was letting it loose.  Her hands reached under his shirt, and rubbed his hard chest, pulling the shirt up as they went.  Her mouth tasted the flesh there, delighting in the moans she heard from Dalton.  Kissing lower, her tongue played with his belly button, eliciting muscle spasms from his abdomen.  Fingering the waistband of his jeans, she looked up at him.  He was watching her warily, and he looked like he was holding his breath.  She proceeded to undo his belt, while his eyes grew alarmed.

“Alyssa...”
 He expelled a loud gasp of air.  “You don’t have to...”  Her mouth was on the outside of his jeans, remembering the exquisite torture he had put her through the night on her couch.  She mouthed his erection through his jeans, hearing his groans as his hands grabbed tangles of her hair.  She unbuttoned his fly and opened his pants to find him wearing no underwear.

“Oh my...” She exhaled as she examined the piercing at the tip that had consumed her dreams, as well as her waking thoughts.
 She looked back up at him again and smiled, before lowering her head to tickle the tip with her tongue.  She had never done this before, but the primal part of her told her it was just like kissing, so she went for it.  

Kissing, licking, and tasting his entire member, while being careful with her teeth, Alyssa could hear Dalton’s ragged breathing.
 She put one hand on the base of him, and the other around his hips to squeeze his rear.  She was managing to turn herself on and was enjoying every minute of it.  She could feel her insides getting warm and tight, as she finally put the entire member in her mouth and sucked.  Hard.

Dalton’s voice came out in a cracked moan, as he moved his hips to the rhythm of her head, still holding onto her hair.
 She pulled her mouth off and flicked the silver curved bar on his tip, before putting it all back in again.  She moved her head up and down, while sucking, and moving her tongue to the rhythms of Dalton’s hisses and groans.  

“Oh God, Alyssa...Stop.”
 She couldn’t stop.  All she could think about was the other night, where Dalton had brought her to such heights of pleasure with his tongue.  She came up for air.

“Quid Pro Quo, Dalton.
 Don’t give if you can’t receive.”  She went back to her ministrations.

“I didn’t...Oh God...Holy F
uck!!”  He pushed her head back and turned his back to her abruptly, bending over slightly, his arm moving rapidly twice before his body shuddered, and he exhaled deeply, leaning on the barn wall.

She
was feeling proud of herself.  She could bring a fraction of the satisfaction she had felt to him, but when he turned to face her, she found herself backing up, her pride dissipating.

“Dalton?
 What’s wrong?”

“Why did you do that?
 Alyssa?”  His eyes glowered at her, steely gray that had almost turned black.

“I wanted to make you feel good.”
 She said quietly.  “Didn’t you like it?”

“Yes, I liked it.
 Who wouldn’t?”  He growled.  She was taken aback.

“Then...why are you mad?”

“Because I...I just didn’t expect it from you.”  His shoulders lost a little tension, but his eyes were still molten.  “That’s all.”  He must have noticed her face, because the next thing he said was, “I’m not mad.  Are you okay?”

“Yes, Dalton.
 I’m okay.”

“Good.”
 In two steps, he was on her, pushing her backward towards the stack of hay bales, kissing her feverishly, ripping her shirt untucked.

“Dalton, what are you doing?”

“Quid Pro Quo, Alyssa.  What do you think?”  He growled at her.

“But...”

“I’m not keeping a fucking tally.  If I want to make you come, I will, dammit.”  He ripped her jeans open and started tugging them down her legs. When he got to her knees, he froze, as children’s laughter pealed like a bell from outside the barn.

Pulling them back up, roughly, he smoothed his hair with his hands.
 “Later, of course.  Not around your kids.  Although, I’m not sure how my mother is any different from the kids.”

Alyssa’s breath was as ragged as Dalton’s, so they just sat on the bales of hay, while she tried to compose herself.
 Tucking her shirt in, she asked, “Dalton?  What do you mean, you didn’t expect it from me?  Why not?”

His eyes on hers were like little gray magnets, that she was unable to pull away from.
 “Because I didn’t think you were into that kind of thing, that’s all.”

“You did it to me two nights ago.”
 She laughed.

“Yeah, but you weren’t exactly willing at first.
 Remember?”

“Well, I wanted to do something for you.”

“Well, you did something all right.”  He looked at her, pulled her to him by the back of her neck, and kissed her softly.  “You do a lot of things for me.”

“So...was that...okay?
 I mean was it...as good as... others?”

He laughed, “Yeah.
 It was.  Why are you nervous about how it was?”

“Well, I’ve never done that before.”

His eyes grew large, as he ran his hand through his just smoothed hair.  “Never?”

“No.”

“But...but you were married.”  He looked appalled at the idea.

Alyssa sighed.
 “Our marriage was a farce.  Steven was very “Christian," as in, sex is for procreation, not fun.  We didn’t do much of it, and when we did, it wasn’t fun.”

“He must have thought it was a little fun, to be with Stephanie.”
“Hence, my self esteem issues for the last three years.”

He pulled he
r into his arms and held her close to him.  “You’re beautiful, Alyssa, don’t let him make you think otherwise.  And you’re sexy as hell.  You were great at that, especially for your first time.”  They sat in silence.

Still holding her, he asked into her hair, “What’s your top five?”

“Top five what?”

“Favorite things.”

She closed her eyes and thought for a minute, “Hearing my kids laugh, watching them sleep, the smell of fresh cut grass, dancing in my kitchen, and the first warm day after winter.  What about you?”

“The smell of your hair.”
 He breathed deeply in illustration.  “Riding my motorcycle, the peace that comes with watching the herd in the morning, hanging out with Kelly,” he lowered his voice to a whisper, “you.”

“You can be serious. I wasn’t fishing, Dalton.
 ”

“I’m not biting, Alyssa.
 I’m serious.  Unless of course, you want me to.” His voice lowered to a growl, and he dipped his head to nibble on her ear.

Alyssa giggled and pushed him away, playfully, trying to ignore the shiver of delight running through her body.

“Dalton!  Mom!  Are you in here?”  Cayden’s voice preceded him to the barn.  “Miss Mary said we could go fishing.  Can we?  Please?”  His eyes were round and pleading.

Dalton looked at Alyssa, “Are we fishing now?”

“Sure.”

As Dalton led the way back to the house for the fishing gear Mary had already stacked on the porch, he thought about what Alyssa had just done and his reaction to it.  It had felt amazing, but it was totally unexpected.  When he had first started dreaming of her, Alyssa was a mouse of a woman, who couldn’t even touch herself.  Now, she was not only taking initiative with him, but she was damn good at it.  He was hard again, just thinking about it.  Tomorrow night, when the kids had gone to Steven’s house, he would show up at her place and show her just what she had been missing.  He would take this to the next level.  He was tired of being careful with her.

In the truck, Alyssa squeezed in between Mary and Dalton, and the kids were in the back with the fishing gear.
 Dalton was surprised at the feeling of contentment overpowering him.  He could feel Alyssa’s body squeezed next to his, and instead of the lusty craving he was expecting, he felt nothing but warmth for her.  Her scent overwhelmed him and made Dalton want to hold her tight and never let go.