Page 94 of My Turn

“You saw me?”

“It didn’t really set in until you were standing in my living room, though. From that first smile, I was done for.”

He yanked me closer to the edge of the counter and I gasped when his dick pressed against me. I hadn’t noticed him take it out, I’d been so focused on his beautiful face.

“Twelve fucking years, Alana. That’s how much time I have to make up for.”

He buried himself inside of me and I dropped my head back. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. His fingers circled my wrists and pulled me into a sitting position. Gripping the back of my neck, he kissed me. God, he fucking kissed me and for a second, I knew that kiss.

It must’ve been the years of longing, all the times I’d imagined his lips on mine. Anything else was just madness. Maybe I had gone mad. He didn’t give me a chance to keep pondering it. Being fucked by Jayce while his blue eyes bore into mine was the epitome of divine intervention and it demanded my full attention, my complete and utter devotion.

He could have all of it. All of me. My wants, my dreams, and my desires were bleeding into him, creating some fucked up symbiotic relationship that would ensure our connection to each other. If it was severed, it would most certainly rip me to pieces.

Chapter 35

Jayce

I was still in shock over what happened three days ago. It was easily the best day of my life. Even though we’d had sex before, to me it was the first time. It was different; better.

She’d come back one day after work, but she refused to stay here every night. That was ridiculous and I was tempted to just have all of her stuff moved here while she was at the school, but I reined it in. There was no urgency. We’d finally made it to this point and I didn’t want to push her too far. If she wanted to take things slow, we could do that. I’d hate every second of it but for her, I would stop time.

My eyes felt heavy and I had to shake my head to keep myself from drifting off at my desk. Work felt tedious today, but I had a deadline to meet and I’d been distracted lately. I often had to remind myself that life was still moving at its normal rate outside of my Jayce-Alana-Erebus ordeal. Finally, I could put some of my energy into other things again.

Who knew you could get burnout from stalking? It was the definition of hard work and dedication.

I was too bleary-eyed for this shit. After closing out of the program, I got to my feet and stretched. I ambled into thekitchen and made myself a triple shot espresso. At this point, I might as well start doing coke, but coffee was cheaper.

Just as I took my first sip, my phone buzzed. Assuming it would be Alana, I checked it immediately. My brow furrowed when I saw the text.

Unknown:I need your help.

Jayce:Who’s this?

Unknown:Alicia. You’re the guardian angel.

I’d almost forgotten that I’d given her my number. I might have been shocked an almost ten-year-old could text, but she was born in 2015, so it made sense. While I typed out a response, I grabbed my boots. I didn’t have a good feeling about this.

Jayce:What’s going on?

Alicia:Mike. Angry.

Jayce:You home?

She sent a thumbs up, which was all I needed. If she felt the need to ask me for help, it must’ve been bad. I could only guess that this had to do with the case. My parents had their first visit with Alicia on Monday and he’d tried to make an appeal the week before to prevent it, but it was shot down.

But why was he angry now? It was Wednesday and it was a half-day for the district, so he’d probably been home for a few hours. I felt more concerned when I thought about Alana. Maybe he tried to talk to her today. I wanted to trust that she’d tell me if he did, but I wasn’t going to lie to myself. Judgment calls were not her strong suit.

I’d deal with her later. Her last text was only half an hour ago, so I knew she was safe. My priority right now was Alicia. Mike’s bad day was going to get a hell of a lot worse if I walked in on something I didn’t like.

*****

From the outside, it looked normal. That was never a good indicator of the things that went down inside. Alana’s parents were lovely when they were in public. In private, they were a shit show. Going to prison was what they deserved for hurting my girl. Just two days before that video, Alana’s dad slapped her so hard that she tumbled down the stairs. She tried to pass off the bruises as a bicycle accident because she didn’t want us to worry, but I got her to tell me the truth when we were alone.

I should’ve just killed the guy, but I was barely sixteen. I hadn’t graduated to that level of protection yet. That sort of thing took time. The me that existed now would turn the bastard into fertilizer. Probably her mom too.

On the way here, I went back and forth about the mask. It was how Alicia knew me, but I didn’t want Mike to be aware of that identity. It looked like she’d be meeting her uncle for the first time. Since they didn’t want to overwhelm her on Monday, she’d only seen my parents and Charlie.

To give him one chance, I knocked on the door. It swung open, revealing a haggard-looking Mike wearing an unbuttoned dress shirt. It smelled like he’d bathed in vodka. What a responsible way to spend the afternoon at home with his stepdaughter.