The Inheritance (Volume Three) (2 page)

“Let me guess,” Neal says. “He slept on the floor.”

I smile. “At first. But then the inevitable happened.”

Neal shuffles closer to me, his foot hooking around my ankle. “The inevitable?”

I nod. “He climbed into my bed.” Beneath the covers, Neal’s hand finds my waist. “Threaded his fingers through my hair.” His fingers slowly trail up my spine, a soft shiver running through me. “Leaned in close until our bodies were flush together.” At the nape of my neck, his fingers expand, splaying across my skin. “And he kissed me.”

Our lips press together, Neal’s fingers pressing into the back of my neck as I pull myself closer to him. My hand wraps around his arm, fingers digging into the muscle as our legs tangle in time to the rhythm of our mouths. Our kisses are slow and deliberate, Neal’s mouth moving an inch to the left, massaging my lips.

His tongue pokes out of his mouth and swipes along my bottom lip. My mouth opens to release a gasp of pleasure and he laps it up, his tongue snaking its way between my lips. I welcome the muscle, meeting his tongue with my own, his fingers digging into my hair as we press closer.

Beneath his briefs his cock grows hard, poking into my hip. My fingers curl around his arm, nails against his skin as I drag them down towards his waist. A groan builds in his chest and his free hand grips my ass. A small yelp flies from my throat and he kisses it away, the corner of his lips tugging out to a smile.

His hands massage my ass through my underwear as I hook a leg around his waist. There’s more space now for him to shuffle closer, his erection pressing directly against my clothed clit. The miniscule second of pressure isn’t enough. My foot hooks around his leg and I drag him closer, hips against hips, his cock against me, a wave of pleasure brewing in my stomach before it flows between my legs.

My fingers dig into his hip as he gives my ass a slap. I want to moan but we have to be quiet. When they threaten to spill out, I pull Neal’s bottom lip between my teeth, biting down as I trap them in my mouth.

The pair of us grind against one another, a sloppy, slow rhythm that hardens Neal’s cock and builds the wetness between my legs. His fingers slide beneath my underwear, followed by his palms, until his hands are against my bare ass, gripping mounds of flesh and pressing me closer against him. I feel all of sixteen again, grinding against Justin in my bedroom, biting down on his clothed shoulder to keep quiet, just in case my father comes home early. It was a more of a thrill back then, danger prickling up my spine, but with Neal it’s
easy
.

The heat from our bodies fills the room and Neal throws off the thin sheet that covers us. Exposed to the air, a slight chill wraps around my skin, but I ignore it as Neal breaks our kiss and trails his mouth down my neck.

His lips graze the curve of my breasts, popping out of my bra. Behind my back his fingers work at the clasp, unhooking it. The straps fall from my shoulders and I wiggle out of it, tossing it towards the end of the bed where it tangles in our sheet. Neal pushes me on my back and kneels between my spread legs, one hand massaging my breast as his tongue licks at the other. He sucks my nipple between his lips, tongue swirling around it, getting it hard.

My hand grips the back of his head as I reach down between my legs, my wetness oozing through the fabric of my underwear, slicking my fingers. A small moan flies from my mouth. Neal glances up, a wicked grin spread across his lips.

“Shh,” he says, dropping a kiss to the center of my chest before he snakes up to my mouth.

We kiss as my legs wrap around his waist, desperate fingers pushing his briefs past his hips. His own hook around the band of my underwear and pulls them down my legs, our bodies rearranging so we can rid ourselves of them. We toss them past the bed and claim our previous positions, Neal between my spread legs, his hard cock poking against me.

My hands bury themselves in the dark strands of his hair. “Fuck me,” I say against his lips.

“You have to promise to be quiet.”

I pull his bottom lip between my teeth, nibbling at it. “I promise, if you promise.”

He hooks his pinky around mine. “Pinky swear.”

I’m deliriously happy, an uncontrollable grin painting across my wide mouth, teeth exposed as he places two kisses to either cheek. Is this what love is supposed to feel like? Weightless and lightheaded, like sucking down helium?

I have no control of my limbs. My arms throw themselves around his neck, my legs widen to let his cock in easy. My back arches off the bed as he slowly pushes into me, his face buried in my neck, my skin swallowing his long groan.

My lips fall open but nothing comes out. My throat’s taken over, closing up, trapping my voice, keeping my promise for me because I can barely think.

I’m drowning in the feel of him, the scent of him, the sound of him.

His body slaps against mine with every thrust. It’s a sticky sound, sweating flesh against sweating flesh, but it brings an even larger grin to my mouth.

With my head against my pillow I watch as Neal’s gaze flows from my eyes, to my breasts, to my pussy, trained on the way his cock flows in and out of me. He’s obsessed with the sight, hips quickening whenever he sees it. Sees
us
. Moving as one.

My orgasm builds slowly. It starts in my chest, blooming beneath my ribcage where my heart sits, pounding. It’s a painful clasp that explodes like a black hole, spreading the universe through every inch of me. My fingers scramble to grab hold of Neal, slipping from his hair to his shoulders, pulling him down for my teeth to sink into his skin. A whimper slips out, pops in the air disruptively, but Neal says nothing. His own orgasm has muted him.

He shudders atop me, muscles clenching as his eyes slip close. He collapses beside me, clumsily pulling out. A wet heat drips between my legs, wetting the mattress below.

Neal catches his breath and pulls me into him, my head on his chest, his arm thrown around my shoulder. The pair of us breathe in our scent, naked in the dark, sweating in the heat. He kisses the top of my head and my heart grows into my throat.

I love Neal Dietrich. It’s undeniably true and I’ll do everything I can to keep him safe.

Alanis pops half a boiled egg in her mouth. She has six of them, propped in ceramic egg cups, lined up on the kitchen counter. Like me, she’s dressed in the same clothes as the night before but she looks less ridiculous in her casual green dress, than I do in my sparkly number.

“How’d you sleep?” I ask, grabbing a water from the fridge.

“Fantastic,” she says, voice flat. She pops another egg in her mouth. “I’ve been up for hours.”

The clock on the microwave says it’s six a.m.

Alanis has another egg. “Do you know she has ten thousand dollar’s worth of merchandise in the living room?”

“No, I didn’t.”
      

“And she only makes fifty thousand a year.”

“How do you know that?”

Alanis tilts her head to the side. “Did you think I was going to blindly trust you without doing some research on my own?” She pops in another egg. “I bet she’s in debt up to her eyeballs.”

Gina doesn’t hear Alanis as she enters the kitchen, her curled hair bouncing against her shoulders, a navy blue skirt tight around her hips. “Good morning,” she says, poking her head in the fridge. “You ate all the eggs.”

“Sorry about that,” Alanis says.

She has another one.

Gina’s smile tightens. “How long do you think you’ll be here, Alanis?”

“Caitlin and I are leaving today.”

“We are?”

Alanis nods. “If anyone finds out you’re here, or that you’ve been here, this’ll be the first place Lee checks for Neal. You have to go back to...Where are you staying?”

“My father’s condo.”

“
Your
condo,” Gina corrects.

“Right,” Alanis says.

Gina’s making a pot of coffee when Neal steps into the room. The second he spots me, he throws his arm around my waist and pulls me into a kiss. He tastes of mint toothpaste and smells of aftershave but I can’t get enough of him.

Gina clears her throat. She and Alanis lean against the kitchen counters, Alanis toying with her phone, Gina pouring herself a cup of coffee.

Neal kisses Gina’s cheek and her blush creeps beneath her blouse. “Good morning,” he says, reaching for a mug. Gina shuffles out his way. “What time did you get up?” he says to Alanis.

“You know me,” she says. “I never sleep.”

Neal hands me a full mug. A smile spreads across my mouth.

Alanis snatches it from him. “We’ll get breakfast on the way.”

Neal’s face falls. “Where are you going?”

“Back to the condo,” I say.

“And you can’t stay for breakfast?” Neal says.

“No, we can’t,” Alanis says. She points to me, “We have to get going, but you have to change.”

I stare down at my dress. “I don’t have anything else to wear.”

Alanis glances at Gina.

“I doubt she can fit any of my clothes,” she says.

Years ago, Gina and I wore similar sizes, though her boobs were always bigger and spilling out of her tops. Her age has brought along wider hips and a stomach she hides behind a tight layer of spanks.

“Then I guess we’re switching outfits,” Alanis says.

“We’re doing what?”

She pats Neal on the shoulder. “Be sure to watch the news.”

She steps out the kitchen, her car keys twirling on her finger. Gina follows, a soft smile and touch of the arm thrown my way.

“I’ll see you around,” I say, pressing my lips to Neal’s.

We kiss for a moment before Neal breaks away.

He presses his forehead against mine, the smell of roasted coffee wafting between us. This is the moment he says, ‘I’ll miss you’ and I counter with ‘I love you’. My eyes will grow wide in realization and Neal will pull me impossibly closer.

“Be safe,” he says, taking a step back.

I throw him a glance over my shoulder and try not to fixate on my disappointment.

______

Alanis makes me pay for three coffees and a dozen donuts at the Dunkin Donuts a few streets away from my father’s condo. She drinks her coffee like she eats her eggs, downing half within seconds.

“Before I drop you off I need to know you’re not an idiot,” she says.

“You’re not coming in with me?”

“No. I have some other things to do.” She turns a corner and throws me a glance. “Are you an idiot?”

My eyebrows furrow. “No.”

She throws her phone in my lap. “Prove it.”

Her phone is unlocked, the web app open and showcasing an article and video on ABC7, Chicago’s local news. The title: BREAK IN AT THE DIETRICH HOME.

The newswoman stands on the opposite side of the street from Neal’s house, his home protected by bright yellow police tape and officers strolling up and down the street. Neighbors watch from their stoops as officers enter and exit the front door, making sure no one can get a good look inside.

The woman says nothing we don’t already know. Neal’s house was burgled by what seems to have been a group of assailants. There are no leads but Neal, who was seen late last night leaving Excalibur, is nowhere to be found.

“This is the good part,” Alanis says.

The newswoman says, “Friends and family have been attempting to contact Mr. Dietrich all morning –”

“Bullshit,” Alanis says.

“—and while it’s too early to jump to conclusions, police might rule this a kidnapping.”

The video stops and Alanis reclaims her phone, shoving it between her thighs. “Now explain to me why there are a dozen donuts and an extra coffee in the backseat.”

“Eleven,” I say.

“What?”

“There are eleven donuts in the backseat. You had one at the counter.”

Alanis smiles.

I give myself a minute to think before, “I never did that well on tests in high school.”

“Fair enough. I won’t judge you
this
time. We have donuts because the cops are going to be at your apartment. You were the last person Neal was seen with. If they think he’s been kidnapped you’ll be the first person they suspect. But you have an alibi. You came home late, woke up early and went out to get breakfast for you and,” she snaps her fingers, “that girl you’re staying with…”

“Ashleigh.”

“Right. Hence, why you’re wearing my clothes and I look like a prostitute.”

Alanis and I are around the same dress size but the front of my dress sags on her, creating a deep V-neck that exposes her chest and the front of her bra. She wears it proudly, shoulders back in the driver’s seat, sunglasses perched on her nose.

“Can I ask you something about Neal?” I say.

“Depends.”

“How long were the two of you together?”

“How do you know we were together?”

Because I found your photo in his bathroom.
I shrug. “I had a hunch.”

She turns her head towards me, the car rolling down my father’s street. “We were together for three years. Engaged for one.”

A pesky lump builds in my throat and I swallow it like a rock. I refuse to be one of those women who get choked up at the knowledge that the man they love had a life before them.

“Engaged?” I say, raising an eyebrow. “What happened?”

She stops the car a few blocks away from my father’s condo. Fingers flexing around the wheel she says, “He wasn’t adventurous enough for me. I like a little danger in a relationship and Neal’s quite boring.”

I have to laugh. “You think this is boring?”

Alanis grins. “You have no idea how exciting life can get.”

______

There are two cops waiting for me when I enter my father’s condo. Ashleigh’s sitting on the edge of a chair across from them, in a pair of pink sweatpants and a t-shirt. Her hair’s pulled into a messy bun and there isn’t a hint of make-up on her. The police must’ve woken her up.

I shut the door behind me and she jumps to her feet. “You’re back,” she says, rushing over. She throws her arms around my neck and pulls me into a tight hug.

“I just went out for breakfast,” I say, shaking her cup of coffee.

She pulls away, eyebrows knitting in the middle.