Chapter 50
Holly returned to her apartment with two cups of coffee and two blueberry muffins. She hoped her unwanted visitors would be gone and Justice had remained.
She found it odd that she felt no fear of him. Her time in security of Area 2 had taken care of that.
Her anger had ebbed at Noah and his cronies. How dare he barge into her home like that and start questioning her as if she should be a threat to him. If she wanted to turn in Justice—or any of them, for that matter—she would have done it already. They’d all be in custody so deeply buried in the system, no one would ever find them.
Opening her apartment door, she paused for a moment as she listened for deep voices. She heard none, only Griffin singing. She grinned, happy she’d taken the little guy from her neighbor.
She closed the door behind her with her foot. Justice stood from the couch and came over, taking the bag of pastries from her and setting them down on the kitchen table.
He grinned, but remained silent.
“I brought muffins, if you’re hungry,” she said.
“Starved.”
She pulled the blueberry goodies from the bag and pointed to the cabinet that held the plates.
He turned and opened it, and she snuck a peek at his backside. His broad shoulders tapered down into a tight waist, and a very nice, full, round ass.
“I’m sorry about your visitors,” he said, handing her the plates.
“Did you get things worked out between all of you?”
He shrugged. “As much as we can. There’s just a clash between us.”
They moved to the couch, and Holly took a long drink of her coffee that tasted absolutely fabulous.
“Have you given any more thought to what we talked about?” he asked. “What I told you?”
Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “I have. First, you need to tell Noah and his goons that your secret is safe with me. I’m not telling anyone anything. I saw the way those aliens were treated in Area 2, and it was wrong. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for someone being put through that.”
Justice smiled and took her hand. “Thank you. I’ll let him know.”
She glanced down at their entwined fingers.
Black on white. Alien on human.
Their differences didn’t concern her. The only thing that mattered was what lay on the inside of him, which happened to be a good, decent man.
“Second, you hurt me, Justice, but I understand why you did what you did. I can’t say I love you at this point. I know you say you think you know me because you’ve been spying on me for a year, and I’m not going to try to change your mind. However, I will tell you this. I can be a bitch in the morning if I don’t get enough sleep. I cry at Kleenex and life insurance commercials, and I hate reality television. I have a hardcore crush on Joe Manganiello, and one of my favorite things to do at night during the weekend is look at the stars and drink too much wine. Did you know any of that about me?’
He shook his head.
“So, see, we have a lot to learn about each other.”
“Who is this Joe Manganiello male? I think I should pay him a visit and let him know that he’s to stay away from you.”
Holly burst out laughing. “You have a lot to learn about the ways of life on Earth. Joe is a huge star. He doesn’t even know I’m alive. He’s just hot.”
“Hot?”
She sighed. “Good-looking. Very good-looking.”
“I see. But he doesn’t live in the area?”
“No, he doesn’t. Not to my knowledge.”
He grinned. “Okay. Please continue with what you were saying.”
She glanced down at their hands again, feeling like she would be stepping off a cliff with her next words.
“Here’s the thing, Justice. I do like you, a lot. I should be afraid of you; I shouldn’t want anything to do with you, but you are a good man, and I’d like to see where all this goes. What we can become together.”
She thought his face would crack in half with the large smile he gave her.
“So, you’ll give us a chance?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
His leg bounced, as if he suddenly had bugs in his pants.
“I want to kiss you, Holly. To hold you. I’ve missed you so much. Can I please do that?”
Heat cascaded through her, and she smiled. “You never have to ask to do that, okay?”
He pulled her close and took her coffee cup from her, setting it down on the table.
His lips grazed hers, and she pulled him close. He seemed hesitant, but as she gently pried his mouth open with her tongue, she had a thought.
“Am I the first … human woman you’ve been with?”
He nodded. “Yes. I never imagined anything more beautiful.”
She shook her head. Of course, it all made sense to her now. He’d been a good lover and when he’d told her to ‘show him’ what she wanted done, she’d just assumed he’d been curious as to what she liked. Now, she realized he simply wasn’t quite sure what to do.
“Show me what you want me to do, what makes you happy, Holly.”
She pulled him down on top of her as heat flooded her core. A lover that she basically got to train and teach? Oh, hell, yes. She had no problem with that one at all.
“The first thing you need to know is, I really like sex. I don’t get much of it, so I have a lot of catching up to do. I’ve been in a bit of a dry spell.”
He nodded seriously as he ran his hand through her hair. “Okay.”
“So, that means we’ll be having a lot of sex, Justice.”
He grinned. “I can think of worse things.”
She palmed the side of his cheek. Her heart knew she would quickly slip into the ‘love’ zone with him. He proved himself to be kind and good, not to mention devastatingly good-looking.
Tracing her fingers over the line of his jaw, she grinned. “Let’s get to work then, shall we?”
He kissed her deeply as he pressed his erection against her thigh. “I’m at your service, pretty lady.”
Later that night, Holly woke with a start, feeling as though someone was in the apartment, and she immediately thought of Billy. Of course, it would be impossible for him to be here as he’d died.
Concentrating on the sounds, she didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and tried to calm her heartbeat. She turned and stared at Justice, who lay next to her naked, but sleeping soundly.
They’d been in bed all afternoon and into the night. Looking at the clock, it read 8 p.m. Surprisingly, she still felt tired, but hunger overrode that.
Pushing the covers back, she put on her ratty, red terrycloth robe and made her way into the kitchen and couldn’t help the small smile on her face. Justice had proved to be a wonderful lover—eager to learn what she wanted, and damn, did the guy deliver.
Opening the fridge, she knew she had very little in there, but hoped maybe the food fairies had made a delivery. Her hopes were dashed when she saw beer, butter, a carton of eggs, and a bottle of wine. She should have spent her money in a more effective manner at the grocery store, but she also hadn’t been right in the head.
Now, she felt grounded, like she had a tether to this world, one that supported her, lifted her up when she needed it, and loved her. But shouldn’t that be what a relationship was all about? She thought of her brother and what a drain he’d been on her very soul. Guilt crept in, and as hard as she tried, she couldn’t push it aside. She’d done the best she could, but it hadn’t been good enough.
With Justice, it felt as if she had permission to be the person she should be—strong and capable of great things.
She decided to make some scrambled eggs and down some beers.
“What are you doing?” Justice said from right behind her, startling her.
“I thought you were sleeping.”
“I was, until I didn’t feel you next to me.”
He kissed the column of her neck, and a shiver tore down her spine.
“Do you want some eggs and beer?”
He chuckled and grabbed her ass. “Sounds great.”
She turned and smiled at him. His eyes glowed a battleship gray. She’d watched them change from the dark orbs to the gleaming light when the sun went down. It had been fascinating. It started with a little pinprick in the center of his pupil that slowly grew until his full eye shone.
After pulling the eggs and butter from the fridge, she bent down and pulled a pan from the cupboard. She melted the butter and cracked the eggs, then pulled out two beers.
“So, what got you up?” he asked.
She sighed. “I don’t know … it just felt like someone else was in the apartment, and I immediately thought of my brother.”
Justice opened the beers then handed one to her.
“It was just really strange,” she said.
He placed his hand on her shoulder and massaged it lightly. “Are you okay now?”
“Yeah. I just feel so much guilt about what happened to him.”
He pulled her close and she laid her cheek on his bare chest.
“Time helps to heal wounds, Holly. That feeling will eventually fade. You weren’t responsible.”
She nodded and sighed, feeling as if she could stand here in his embrace like this forever. Her stomach grumbled, letting her know it needed food, stat.
“Thanks,” she said, turning back to the stove. “It’s nice having you around.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist. “I can’t tell you how happy that makes me to hear you say that. I feel like when I’m with you, I’ve found my new home.”
She grinned as she stirred the eggs. For the first time in a long time, she thought of herself as happy.