Dream On (Stories of Serendipity #2) (22 page)

“Okay.”
 He stood, and she followed him to the door.  He turned to her, and the intense steely gray of his eyes took her breath away. He grabbed the tops of her arms and pulled her into a tight bear hug.  “Can I kiss you?  Or is that too physical?”  He breathed into the top of her head.  

She looked up at him, unable to speak. Alyssa was intoxicated by the nearness of him, the feel of his body against hers, and his smell.So she nodded.

He lowered his mouth to hers, in a chaste kiss, but her arms snaked up around his neck, pulling him closer, and the kiss grew in intensity.  He pulled her body up against his, his hands caressing her back, sending little arcs of electricity up her spine.  She moaned into his mouth.

He pushed her back.
 “Dammit, Alyssa.  I can’t even kiss you without wanting to throw you up against the wall and fuck your brains out.”
              Her heart pounded at his admission, and she felt a flare of pleasure, knowing that she drove him as crazy as he did her.  “Then, I guess this is good night.”  A satisfied smirk graced her lips.

He growled at her
and stalked out the door, into the night.

After locking the door, Alyssa went back to her room, and sat on her bed with her vibrator.
 “Imagine that.  I think he likes me.”

Vibrator looked at her blankly.

“I may not even need you, after all.  I actually had an orgasm with him the other night.  Did I tell you that?”  She swore it looked like the purple toy drooped a little at the suggestion.

She grasped the vibrator firmly in her hand, mentally comparing it to Dalton’s penis.
 She hadn’t actually examined his, but they felt about the same, except his had been smooth and warm, and her vibrator was cold and bumpy.  She ran her hand up and down the glittery shaft, practicing her technique.

“I wonder what he would think, if he knew I was practicing on you.”
 She giggled conspiratorially, continuing to stroke the rubber member.  Realizing what she was doing, she blushed and looked around her room guiltily, before replacing it in her drawer and going to bed.

As she lay there, she thought about Dalton and his unspoken promises.
 Would she have sex with him?  She hadn’t completely decided, knowing the decision would probably be made in the heat of the moment.  Alyssa knew she wanted to desperately.  He made her feel so good, so needed.  Shivering with delight, she closed her eyes, and sleep came to her.

Chapter 17

Dalton spent most of that week with his mother, afraid to leave her alone.
 Renae had spent so much time with her already, he wanted to give his sister a break.  She did have a life of her own that she needed to get back to.  Since she had been staying in his room when she spent the nights there, Dalton was glad to get off the couch.  

Dalton had decided to stay there, and he started that routine.
 In the mornings, he checked on his mom before taking the truck out to the pastures to check on the cattle.  He usually took a notepad, making notes of things to get done around the place.  

His list grew every day, as it became painfully clear how much his dad had let slide in the last few months before his illness.
 There were fences and equipment to repair, the hay was sub-par, and there wasn’t enough of it for the upcoming winter months.  Plus the grass in the fields needed attention.  Dalton couldn’t see any evidence of fertilization in a year or two.

After his morning inspection, he would go back to the house and make sure his mother ate something.
 The morning was usually spent in the den with her, while Dalton piled his dad’s ledgers in his lap and transferred them onto a laptop program.  After making sure his mother ate lunch, he either spent more time on the ledgers or ran errands for his mother.  The ladies from her church stopped by periodically with food, and they usually stayed for a visit.

He tried to talk to his mom during the day, but she had shut down.
 It was as if the funeral had drained her, and what energy she had left was reserved for the church ladies.  When they showed up with food, she perked up a little and managed a stilted conversation.  But with Dalton, she could only manage monosyllables.  His heart broke for her.  He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose someone that he had devoted nearly fifty years of his life to.

Thursday, after lunch, he was trying to make room in the fridge for the food he knew would show up soon, when his mother came into the kitchen and sat at the table.

“Dalton.  Come here and sit with me.”

He eagerly obliged, as she had not instigated conversation all week.

“So, you’re moving back here?”  He was surprised.  Dalton had told his mother this, but she hadn’t responded to him, so he had no idea if she had heard him or not.

“Yes, Mama.
 I’m ready to move back, and we can’t lose the ranch.”

“Are you going to live here?
 In this house?”

“If it’s okay with you, yes.
 I was planning on it.  I may take the pennants off the walls in my room, though.”

A twinkle in her eyes revealed emotion that made his heart clench.
 Any emotion besides grief made him happy.

Mary took her son’s hand, “Who is she?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re ...father and I always knew it would take a woman to get you back home.
 We just didn’t think it would take so long.”  Her eyes grew sad again, and the tears that had been welling all week long threatened to spill over.

“Mama.
 I’m so sorry.  I never intended to be gone so long.”  He clasped her shriveled hand in his.  “I’ll take care of things now.  You don’t need to worry.”

She sniffed back the tears that were advancing, and said, “I’m not worried, son.
 I just wish you hadn’t taken this much time, too.  Now your father won’t ever get to meet her…Who is she?”

He sighed, “Alyssa Fuller, Kelly’s English teacher.”

“And this one’s special?”  Mary sounded hopeful.  The tone in her voice made Dalton’s heart swell.

“Very special, Mama.”
 He smiled at her, glad for the first time in his life he was having a truthful conversation about a woman with his mother.

“Then I want to meet her.”
 She patted his hand.

“Are you sure?
 Are you up to a visit?”

“From the girl that’s captured your heart?
 Absolutely.”  She actually managed a smile.

Slightly uncomfortable for some reason he said, “She has kids.”

Her smile vanished.  “Most people your age do, Dalton.  Time doesn’t stop for anybody.  Have you met the children?”

“Yes, Mom.  They’re great.  You’ll love them.  And Alyssa, too.”

“Well, it would be better I guess if she didn’t have children.  They complicate relationships.  Have you ever gone out with a single mother, Dalton?”

“I’m sure I have, Mom.  But this is totally different than any other relationship I’ve had.  I guarantee you that.”

Mary didn’t sound too enthusiastic.  “Well, if you say so.”

He let out a relieved sigh. “Okay, I’ll see if they can all come on Saturday.
 Is that alright?”  He knew his mother wouldn’t be pleased about the kids, but he wouldn’t be daunted.

“Of course.”She stood, and walked over to the counter, where Dalton had stacked most of the food from the fridge.
 He hadn’t finished making space.  “Go over there tonight and take them some more food.  We don’t need all of this.”  She gestured to the mountain of Tupperware containers and casserole dishes.

“Yes, ma’am.”
 He jumped up eagerly and started shoving containers into a grocery bag.  “Are you sure you’ll be okay tonight, Mama?”

“Yes, Dalton.
 I’m going to take one of those little pills the doctor gave me and go to bed early.  You go and have fun, tonight.  I’ll be fine.”

Dalton was out the door before he could feel guilty about leaving her alone.
 Racing to Alyssa’s house, he felt a stirring in his loins, which he couldn’t suppress.  Just thinking about her excited him.  He needed to see her.  His self-imposed exile this week had been out of a sense of duty, but at his mother’s slightest urging, he had raced out to get his Alyssa fix.  Yes, that was it, she was like a drug to him.  And he was addicted.

He knocked at her door, and Sierra had answered, “Dalton!”
 She squealed, and something inside Dalton lurched at the sound of his name coming out of this tiny little girl.  

Cayden raced around the corner, sliding into Dalton’s legs in his sock feet, hugging him around his thighs.

Alyssa’s voice came from around the corner, where Cayden had appeared, “Sierra!  You didn’t just open the door, did you?”  As she came around and saw Dalton, she stopped short and raised her eyebrows.

“Sorry I didn’t call first.
 Mom gave me permission to go out, and I just left.  I didn’t think.  Do you guys have dinner plans?”  He raised the bag of food.

“I haven’t started anything, yet.
 Come on in.”  A chorus of cheers from the kids melted Dalton’s heart.

Alyssa heated up the food, while Dalton helped the kids set the table, and they all sat down to eat.
 It was Sierra’s turn to pray tonight, and her prayer made more sense than her brother’s.  “God is great, God is good, Let us thank him for our food.  Amen.”  

While they ate, Dalton asked Alyssa about her day.
 She sighed heavily.  “I had a substitute today while I conducted parent conferences.  Most of them were okay, but a couple were pretty brutal.  And then, when I got back to my classroom after school, I found out the substitute let the kids goof off all day, so I’ve got a day wasted while they do the work tomorrow.”

“Sounds frustrating.”
 He knew what could relieve the tension he saw radiating from her body when she talked about work.

She nodded, “It was, but I’ll get over it.
 Tomorrow’s another day.”

“What are you guys doing tomorrow night?”

“I’ve got duty at the football game.  It’s Homecoming.”

“Wow, I haven’t been to a Homecoming game in...years.”
 He chuckled.  “Do you need a date?”  He waggled his eyebrows at her.

“You don’t have to, Dalton.
 It’s high school.  Not a big deal.  And I have to work while I’m there.  It wouldn’t be fun.”

“Hmmm...You’re probably right.”
 He had an idea, though.  He decided he would go anyway, if his mother was still doing okay.  “How about Saturday?  What are you guys doing then?”

“Nothing, yet.
 Why?”

“Mom has invited you guys to come out to the house.
 Y’all want to come out for lunch?”

She looked at Sierra and Cayden’s eager faces.
 They were buzzing in their seats as if they were electrified.  “Sure.  Meet your mom?”

He winked at her.
 “Yeah.  Come meet my mom, Alyssa.  You and the kiddos.”  He ruffled Cayden’s hair, who was sitting next to him.

She shrugged.
 “Okay.”  The kids shrieked with delight.

After they cleaned the kitchen and the kids took baths, it was bedtime.
 Dalton had been looking forward to this all evening long.  They all piled up in the bed, the way they had the other night, and Alyssa began her story about the king cockroach who didn’t like messy kids.  When she had finished her story, the kids were still awake, just awake enough to ask Dalton to sing them a song.  Dalton didn’t really sing much, but there was a song that had been floating through his head for the last few weeks.  He began to sing "Dream a Little Dream" softly.

Dalton heard Alyssa’s sharp intake of breath when he started singing, and he wondered if she had been singing that song to herself, too.
 So much about this whole situation was so weird, but so much of it was so right.

He continued singing quietly as he watched Alyssa in the darkness.
 He wanted her so badly right now, but he was remembering her rule.  He wasn’t going to push her into anything tonight.  He would wait until next week, and then she was in for it.  He would tease her into submission if he had to.  He remembered how tense she had been at dinner and how he wanted to relieve the tension...

As he finished the song, a hush filled the room, and he rolled off the bed, waiting at the door for Alyssa, who quietly scooted down the bed and joined him.
 She pushed him out the door and shut it softly behind her without a second glance back at her kids.

Dalton looked at her face and saw her eyes had turned a deep blue, and her cheeks had splotches of pink on them.
 “You have a sexy singing voice.” And then she pushed a surprised Dalton up against the wall with her body and pulled his head down to hers in a kiss filled with need.  Alyssa had never kissed him like this before.  His erection instantly sprang to life at the contact, and his arms went around her, pulling her closer, as his mouth opened to hers, meeting her tongue willingly.  Her tiny warm tongue stroked his feverishly and he groaned in her mouth.