Stealing Grace (12 page)

“You know I’ve never done this.”
You’re embarrassed? He knows already. Plus it’s something you should be proud of. You actually waited until you were married
.

“Then we have one more thing in common,” he said with a sheepish smile.

Her eyes opened, wide and shocked.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I’ve lived here my whole life, Elena. Not a lot of single girls running around. And as hypocritical as it sounds, the men are kind of instructed to wait until marriage. That’s my excuse.”

“Well, I just never found anybody that I loved so...” She instantly regretted that. He looked down at her questioningly.

“Are you sure...I...I don’t want you to do-”

“I’m sure,” she said clearly. “Are you?”

After a short pause, never taking his eyes away from her he spoke again but it wasn’t to answer her question.

“I won’t hurt you, Elena...ever.”

“I know,” she said with conviction.

Then he held her face and kissed her passionately. He was so gentle with her, so loving, so attentive and slow and easy
.
It was like she always knew it
should
be. She had always imagined her first time would be her at fourteen behind the counter of the Quik Mart like her mom, but this. This was the way it was supposed to be.

Not kidnapped in a monster community that steals wives but with someone like Alex. A lonely old soul like her and they had been waiting for each other. Even if she wasn’t in this situation, she would have fallen for Alex had they met on the street.

It was slow and wonderful and surprisingly satisfying.

Afterwards they fell asleep quickly in each others arms. The yellow moon shining in the window, casting shadows on the foot of the bed.

* * *

She woke in the morning to find him braced on an elbow, watching her, tracing her lips and eyebrows with his finger. He looked a little guilty that he’d been caught and she giggled at him.

“What are you doing?” she crooned.

“Exploring.”

“Mmhmm. And what did you discover?”

“Your lips are soft, but not as soft as the little spot on the back of your neck, right here,” he said sweetly and touched it with his finger.

She shivered.

“Is that right?”

“Yeah,” he said huskily and bent down to kiss her. “I’m so glad I married you,” he whispered.

She laughed.

“I’m glad you married me too.”

They stared at each other. Elena couldn’t believe this was her life. Everything had been perfect last night. And yes, it hurt, but Alex had been as gentle and loving as she thought possible. He’d been attentive, watched her face for discomfort and other things.

And now, the morning after, Elena wondered if it would be weird but it didn’t seem to be. Not too much. Now she just watched him and waited for him to move. But he didn’t. He stayed right there, a little half smug half sweet smile playing on his lips, watching her with curiosity.

Elena moved first.

“I guess I’ll go make some breakfast. What do feel like?”

“It doesn’t matter. Anything you want.”

She thought about that for a minute.
Hmmm...

“Anything?” She smiled sheepishly and bit her bottom lip, hoping he would get the hint.

He did.

He laughed and smiled widely. How could this be? How did he deserve this?

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited for someone like you, Elena.” She nodded her head in agreement, smiled back and they began round two.

* * *

Afterwards, she got up and went to the closet to find clothes for the day. He stayed in bed, watching her. He hadn’t realized how petite she was before. The clothes he had gotten her before were way too big and did nothing for her figure. She was so gorgeous, the perfect fit for him. He’d noticed that last night. How she seemed to fit exactly right under his chin when they lay down. How her arms closed around his neck just right.

But looking at her now, he thought other things too. He was tempted to just grab her up right then and run away, hop the first plane out and never look back. Though his father, nor the community, would never stand for that and wouldn’t stop looking, and had cops on their side, he wasn’t sure if they could get away, but he wanted to try. He needed to. Elena deserved to be set free.

As the thought turned over in his brain, so did another, he knew she would never leave the other girls. She felt obligated to them. She felt guilty.

As Elena finished pulling her shirt over her head, she started to fix her ponytail as she walked out of the room, smiling at him before she was out of sight.

* * *

She started the coffee and pulled out the creamer to set on the counter. She figured since it was so late in the morning they would settle for toast.

She was in deep thought, thinking about the things that has transpired the night before, and this morning. She no longer felt strange around Alex. He was no longer a stranger
to
her. He was as much a prisoner as she was.

They had found each other though. She was certain he was the one for her. This was some kind of Harlequin romance mixed with the Lifetime channel, but in this chaos she had some peace, about her own self anyway. She would do all she could for the girls, she had to try and in the mean time, enjoy what fate had handed her. Alex.

Alex came in and poured his coffee, Elena so wrapped up in thought she didn’t even notice. He took a sip and then reached out to touch her arm. She jumped and then smiled realizing she had been dazed.

She pulled herself into his outstretched arm, her head against his chest, his arm around her waist. He didn’t ask what she was thinking about, though from the look on her face it couldn’t have been all that bad, he thought.

“So are we heading to the office today?” Elena asked not moving.

“Well, I’ve got to just grab a document and deliver it but otherwise there wasn’t much to do today. If you want, I’ll just run and do that really quick and you can stay here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

He seemed so sure. He trusted her completely.

“Really? Are you allowed to leave me here? I mean, you don’t have anything to worry about I just...I mean will someone say something to you about it?” Elena was elated that he trusted her enough for that but also a little worried because Alex seemed to be taking a few chances lately.

What if someone stopped by while he was gone?

“No. I’ll literally be gone 10 minutes. You can lock the door behind me so no one can barge in again and don’t open the door for anybody. I don’t know why they are so worried about it anyway. If a wife did escape the house, she wouldn’t get far. I’ve seen it. The community is very isolated. There’s no where to go where they wouldn’t be seen. It’ll be fine.”

He hesitated, studying her face, then kissed her forehead and grabbed the keys from the hook by the door.

He pointed to the lock on top end of the door and motioned for her to lock it once he was gone. She pulled the bar through and felt it click home. She couldn’t believe she was alone. She had no idea what to do with herself.

She turned around the room, really taking in the décor. The beige walls weren’t bare. There were a couple of paintings but that was about it, one was a sailboat and the other was a seaside dock with seagulls.

No family pictures anywhere. No knick knacks. No silly trinkets. Had she really not noticed how little stuff Alex had in this house? This was very ‘bachelor’ of him, she thought, though not anymore as she glanced down at her ringed finger.

The hall walls were completely bare except for one oval white mirror. She walked over to the bookshelf. A massive floor to ceiling bookshelf, filled with books of all kinds of genre’s and subjects.

That was practically all Alex had done the first two weeks she was here. Read. She scanned her fingers down the line. She was surprised by some of the titles: Great Expectations, The Vampire Lestat, The Land That Time Forgot, Wuthering Heights?
What a horrible book. Heathcliff is the most ridiculous man I’ve ever heard of. And don’t get me started on Catherine.

Then of course the usual man stuff. The Thin Red Line, The Odyssey, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Alex Cross, Motorcycles For Dummies. She moved further down to the c.d.’s; no surprises there. She moved back to the books and grabbed the copy of Frank Perettis The Oath and sat down to read.

She sat in his chair, her legs hanging over the side. She knew she wouldn’t get far into it and then he would be back but she wanted to take advantage of her alone time. When she turned page five she heard the key in the lock. He looked surprised.
Because I’m reading? Or because he didn’t expect to find me here when he got back?

He locked the door behind him. This would be the normal for when they walked through that door from now one, considering their unexpected intruders lately. Always fearful of someone coming in and finding something they didn’t like. He set his keys and folder on the table and walked over to her. She hadn’t moved, just watched him.

“Find anything good?” he asked and she nodded.

“I think so. I just figured I would start one on my own. See how far I got.”

“That’s a good one,” he said peeking at the cover. “It’s about a strange community as well,” he said wryly and chuckled.

“Did you get everything squared away?” He nodded so she added, “You look surprised to see me.”

She smiled to let him know she was more amused than upset. He smiled too and sighed.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” he said it almost like a confession.

“You were testing me?”

“Mmm...not really. I just wanted you to know I trusted you, completely.”

“Hmm. Well, I’m still here,” she said chipper.

“I can see that.”

He was smiling hugely.

He squatted down on his knees to be at her level. She was biting her lower lip as she folded her book to a close and leaned forward. They kissed and he put his hand across her stomach, his other hand in her hair. He then quickly swiveled her around to face him and pulled her close, placing her feet on the floor on either side of him.

This kiss was deep and long and his breath was extremely warm and minty. She felt him wrap his arms around her waist tight and her fingers moved through his hair. He was glad she had stayed, even after the warning about the community seeing all. He thought for a second she might try, at least.

An even happier thought for Elena was that, not once did it even cross her mind to try to escape. That’s when she realized, without a doubt, she was happy with Alex and belonged here with him.

* * *

Alex was elated and it showed as he leaned over her. She hadn’t been pretending to trick him into getting away. She hadn’t been buttering him up. She wanted to stay, with him. He could no longer contain himself. He scooped her up, her legs now wrapped around him, and carried her to the bedroom.

Round three.

Chapter 5

They had skipped lunch, laying in bed the rest of the afternoon, talking. Alex ran his fingers through her hair, kissing her forehead and asking her random questions.

Dinner conversation was a light and humorous that night. They were beginning to be extremely comfortable around each other. They joked around. He helped clear the table and even scooped them some ice cream into bowls. They later watched a movie and fell asleep on the couch together.

In the morning, Elena regretted the couch. Her neck was stiff and sore and killing her. Alex was still asleep. She climbed carefully over him and headed for the bathroom. After her hot but not so soothing shower, she put her clothes on, actually fixed her hair, as she found some hair gel under the sink. She wanted to ask Alex about getting some personal things but still felt weird about asking him for money and a ride to the store.

He had assured her it was no bother. She would make a list today. She sat there, staring in the mirror at herself. She looked so much older than she was, she thought. She wondered what her life would be like if she’d never left Tennessee.

Would she have met someone? Gotten married? Kids? Would she have eventually fallen into the trap of her families lifestyle. No. No, she wouldn’t have. No regrets, present situation included.
There is a reason for everything.
What a strange life.

* * *

She walked back into the living room to find Alex was already up as the blanket was folded on the top cushion of the couch. She smelled the coffee. She loved that about him already. He always had the coffee going.

She made her way to the kitchen and saw him, spatula in hand, standing over the stove making a breakfast of grits and scrambled eggs. She smiled. He already had her mug down from the cabinet and the creamer on the counter.

As she poured her cup he wrapped his arm around her waist from behind. He brushed her hair over across her neck and Elena flinched as she turned her neck.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, thinking he had squeezed too tight.

“My neck. Kink.”

“The couch...I’m sorry,” he realized and released her waist.

He began massaging her neck and upper back, asking where it hurt most. She was grateful. It actually helped more than the hot shower did. He then began to kiss her neck in between rubbing movements. She giggled and turned to face him. Both wrapped their arms around the other. They didn’t even think when kissing now.