Sequel: In Unexpected Places

Against the Odds

Against the Odds - Chapter Eleven

Alex had just checked on Emma, making sure she was fast asleep, and was putting on her pajamas when the buzzer for the door rang. She shrugged it off; sure it was just some drunken person hitting the wrong door. It happened every once in a while and they usually figured it out after the person they were looking for didn’t answer.

She put on her pajama top that was long enough that no shorts or pajama pants were required and wandered into the kitchen, looking for something sweet to eat and a big fat glass of wine.

The buzzer rang again.

She looked at it and frowned. She had half a mind to go tell them they had the wrong flat, but she really didn’t feel like getting in an argument tonight with someone who was too wasted to get it.

She found some cookies and was pulling the wine bottle out of the fridge when the buzzer rang again. Throwing up her hands she stomped over and slammed her hand on the call button.

“What?!” she shouted into the intercom.

There was a moment of silence before the voice came crackling through.

“It’s me.”

Her knees almost gave out.

She didn’t say anything. She couldn’t. Her voice was caught in her throat and her entire body started to shake. She just hit the button to let him in and stood there, as still as a statue while she waited with a racing, terrified, excited mind. She had maybe hope he would call, but had never hoped he would show up here, or anywhere she was, after she had walked out of that door. What was he here to say? Did he just want closure? Did he just want to tell her that he was glad it was over and thank her for making the decision? Or was he here in hopes that she would apologize? Because she would; she would beg and apologize and do anything if he would never, ever be out of her life ever again.

The knock sounded at the door and she reached for it, pulling it open. The air whooshed out of her lungs when she saw him there. She faintly recognized the security officer pushing into the apartment to check it, but the only thing really registered was Harry. He was in one of his signature button downs and those jeans that he wore in just that way that made her want to yank them off of him as fast as she could. His hair was as mussed as ever and he was looking at her…oh, he was looking at her like he had been in the desert for weeks and she was the first water he came across.

“Harry…” she whispered.

His security officer pushed back past them and Harry moved into the flat, shutting the door behind him and locking it soundly.

“Alex…” he finally whispered back.

And then she flung herself right into his arms.

He grunted as her chest hit his, but he accepted her without pause. He immediately lifted her in his arms, pulling her up and off the ground by her thighs, his breath catching as she wrapped her legs around him immediately. Holding her steady with one arm under her backside, his other hand reached up and fisted in her hair, pulling her face close to his.

“I’m home,” he said gruffly.

Her heart slammed into her chest and she knew instantly what he meant. She was his home, her and Emma. Home wasn’t a place for him. Home was with her and her daughter. He loved them both and that was where he belonged, wherever they were. The tears slid from her eyes, running unchecked down her cheeks.

“Welcome home, my love.” she whispered, laying a hand on his cheek, the other sliding in the hair at the base of his neck.

“I’m going to kiss you now,” he said, shivering at her words and her touch.

“Oh baby, you better do more than that,” she murmured, her gaze dropping to his lips.

He groaned and pulled her mouth to his, pressing her as close as possible. He teased her lips with his tongue, moaning into her mouth when she opened it for him, sliding his tongue to dance with hers. She wrapped both arms fully around his neck, pressing her upper body against him, whimpering into his mouth at the way he felt against her, the way he made her body yearn for his.

He took the initiative and moved them, trying to kiss her and steer her at the same time down the hallway to her room. She giggled quietly and shushed him, not wanting to wake up Emma sleeping down the hall.

Finally he got her to her room, and shutting the door behind him he turned and pushed her up against it, reaching under her to turn the lock on it. He kept at her mouth, loving, needing the taste of her. She was so sweet and smooth, his favorite flavor of anything in the world.

She let him take everything from her lips and her tongue, kissing him back with the wild abandon she could only ever imagine having with him. She ran her hands through his hair, down his face, over his shoulders, reaching down his back and clawing at his shirt, wanting it off of him right now, needing to feel his hot skin. She was in her tiny nightshirt but he was way too dressed. He immediately moved her away from the wall, turning around and walking over to the bed where he set her down on it on her feet, so she was standing tall above him. She watched as he quickly popped the buttons on his shirt and once he was done, she reached down and pushed it from his shoulders quickly. Then she went for the hem of his undershirt, pulling it swiftly right over his head. She ran her hands over the bare skin on his shoulders and chest and he sucked in a large breath of air at her touch.

Harry reached up to her hips and pushed her nightshirt up over them, revealing her tiny little cotton panties underneath. He groaned and pressed his face close to her, right in the juncture of her thighs, pressing a hot, open mouthed kiss right over her sex. He could tell she was ready through her damp underwear and he almost lost it right then. His fingers hooked in the waistband of her panties and pulled them down her legs at the same time she pulled the nightshirt over her head, revealing that she wasn’t wearing a bra. She was standing there, naked and beautiful before him and he was dying to worship every single inch of her.

As much as he wanted her, she wanted him the same way. Growing impatient, she dropped to her knees on the bed and her hands flew to his belt, quickly undoing it and unbuttoning and unzipping his pants. He captured her lips with his as she pushed his pants down over his hips along with his boxers so he was just as naked as she was. As he stepped out of the pile of clothes at his feet, she reached between them and found him with her hand. He groaned into her mouth as her hot hand began to stroke him. It felt like she was trying to trace and brand every single inch of him with her fingers and it was sending him flying toward to edge much too quickly.

“Alexandra,” he murmured as he grabbed her hand and pulled it away from him. He was still at her lips, drinking as much as he could from them.

The fact that he wouldn’t let her touch him inflamed her and she pulled away from him, determined in her efforts. Before he could ask what she was doing she leaned down and kissed the tip of him softly and then enveloped him in to her mouth. His hands immediately shoved themselves into the thick mass of her hair, knowing that at some point in the very near future he was going to have pull her away.

Her mouth was already wreaking havoc on him, as it did every single time she did this to him. Her mouth was like magic; a certain, very specialized type of magic that almost caused him to embarrass himself like a teenage boy. He groaned, throwing his head back as he let her have her way with him for a few moments, her mouth pulling on him deeply and slowly. Finally he had hit his breaking point and pulled her off, panting as he looked down on her, her mouth swollen from what she had just done to him and her cheeks flushed.

There was nothing sexier on earth.

He pulled her up and she almost climbed up his body, wrapping her arms around his neck as he wrapped his own arms around her. He lifted her then and her legs went around him. He reached between them and with one hand on himself and one arm under her backside to guide them both he slid himself into her, burying his length all the way in one stroke.

Alex cried out at the fullness, the completeness that enveloped her at his entry. Her head fell back, allowing him to reach her neck with his lips, sucking and licking there as she shimmied on him, fighting for movement. He chuckled and turned around, lowering himself backward on the bed so that she was on top of him.

“Love me, Alex,” he said as he looked up at her. He knew she needed this. He knew she needed to be in control, to show him that she was ready for this. She wanted to prove to him that she was strong enough to do this for both of them. It was symbolical and meaningful and he was right, she did need that.

She looked down at him and when he put his hands up in front of him she grabbed them, entwining her fingers with hers.

And then she began to move. Harry fought the urge to close his eyes in response to the way she felt on him, rocking her hips against him, controlling the pleasure for both of them. Alex moved in a way that allowed him to touch every part of her inside, sending shots of fire through her body. She kept moving that way; never breaking eye contact with the man she loved below her, who fighting off his own climax as he was so determined that hers would come first. She continued to ride him, reaching for it, stretching out, desperate for it, but unable to find it by herself.

She needed him.

She whimpered, her eyes never leaving his and he understood. He released her hands and pulled her down close to him. He slipped a hand between their bodies to her center, so wet and slippery from their actions. His fingers located that sensitive nub at the top of her cleft and he stroked it, moving his thumb around it in small, tight circles. His other hand captured a breast, kneading it softly before moving to the nipple, pulling it softly between his fingers.

“Ohhhh…” she cried out at the new, dual sensations. “Harry…”

“Yes, baby…it’s yours…just take it, my love” he encouraged, speeding up his actions as she moved faster on top of him.

Her eyes fluttered closed and he felt her begin to clench around him. Her hands fisted in the comforter by his head and just as she finally let go, she opened her eyes to him and he saw the pleasure explode there, saw the tears form in her eyes, and felt her body pulse tightly around his. He was useless against it and his reaction mirrored hers as he went with her, pouring himself into her. She cried out softly over and over again as the waves of her orgasm washed over her. Combined with the feel of him pulsing within her, it was almost too much for her and she finally collapsed against his chest, breathing harshly and letting the tears fall from her eyes against his chest.

**************

“I’m hungry,” Alex said, sometime later after they had both recovered their wits.

Harry laughed beside her. “I hope you mean for food…because I’m not sure I’m up to the task for anything else right this second.”

Alex turned her head from where it rested on his chest and smiled up at him. “Wimp.”

“You cannot be serious, Alexandra. I need to recover first. I’m only human. I mean…”

She shook her head and put her fingers to his lips, giggling at him. “I’m kidding. I mean food. We can talk about round two later.”

He grinned down at her. “Damn right we will. But in the meantime, yes, let’s go get you some food.”

They both slid from the bed and dressed, Alex pulling back on her sleep shirt and a new pair of panties, while Harry slid his undershirt and boxers back on. They padded quietly to the kitchen and Alex directed Harry to a chair while she heated up some left overs for them. She poured them each a glass of wine and then brought the leftovers to him, sitting down next to him at the little round table.

They ate in companionable silence, just enjoying the other’s company before they started the talk they each knew was coming. When they both finished Harry cleared their dishes and then took Alex’s hand and their glasses of wine and pulled her back into her bedroom. They climbed back under the covers and both turned on their sides, hugging their pillows and facing each other.

“Alex,” Harry began. “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t have left.”

“I shouldn’t have told you too,” he responded, his voice catching.

“I shouldn’t have told you I didn’t love you. Nothing could be further from the truth. I love you so much, Harry.” The tears were back, she just could seem to fight them off tonight.

“I know,” he said softly. He wiped the tears from her face with a couple soft swipes of his thumb.

“What made you decide to come here tonight?” Alex asked.

Harry took a deep breath. “My brother.”

Alex blinked. “Your brother? You mean William?”

“Yes, that brother,” Harry chuckled.

“How did William make you decide to come here tonight?”

“He found me in my room earlier this evening, completely drunk and in a sorry ass state of mind. He almost kicked my ass trying to get me into the shower and sobered up. Once I was clean and had downed several cups of the worst coffee that has ever existed, he talked me through everything, made me see where I had fucked up, and then he told me to go get my girl.”

Alex smiled. It was a silly thing, but for some reason she loved it when he cursed. Maybe it was the little bit of bad boy thing he put out there sometimes. “That William, he’s smart. I’m glad you came and got your girl,” she murmured.

“Me too,” he murmured back, leaning over and kissing her softly. “Although, let’s not ever admit to Will that he is smart. Ever.”

“Deal,” Alex said with a giggle. Then her face grew solemn as she processed her next thoughts. “You know, I talked to my dad tonight. I haven’t spoken to them in a while, just a few minutes on Emma’s birthday. I had been putting them off telling them about you,” Alex said quietly.

“I figured you had. Why?” Harry asked. He wasn’t mad or offended, just curious.

Alex took a deep breath. “I think I was worried they would question me inviting you so fully into me and Emma’s life so quickly and inviting that much potential attention and scrutiny on me and my daughter.”

Harry reached up and smoothed her hair back from her face. “Are they normally critical?” he asked.

She shook her head slowly. “Never. It was my own insecurities.”

He smiled. He knew that. “So what did your dad say?”

Alex grinned. “He said that if you were going to war for your country when it was obvious you didn’t have to that you deserved my understanding. He said that you deserve my love and support. He said that you deserve to have me write letters to you while you are away to tell you how much I love you and to keep hope alive.”

A slow smile stretched across Harry’s face. “He said all of that?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah.”

“Do you think he’s right?”

“One hundred and fifty percent.”

Harry pulled her to him. “God, I love you…and your dad.”

She threw the pillow she was hugging to the side, did the same with Harry’s, and snuggled closer into his chest. “I love you too…and my dad.”

They were quiet for a moment, and then Harry broached the subject neither of them wanted to talk about.

“This doesn’t change the fact that I am, in fact, being deployed.”

She took a deep breath. “I know.”

He leaned back from her so he could see her eyes as he spoke. “I don’t want to leave you for four months, but I have to.”

She nodded. “I understand.”

“I’ll be back, Alex. I have every faith in the world that I’ll be back. I’ll be back and we’ll move forward. I’ll think about you and Emma every second of every day. I’ll miss you and Emma every second of every single day.”

She was silent for several moments, just processing what he said and the emotions that went along with it.

“When you do leave?” she finally got out once she was able to speak without fear of breaking down into tears again.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Two weeks.”

In that instant the emotions beat Alex’s resolve and she broke down into tears instantly. He gathered her close, rubbed her back, and did his best to calm her as the sobs wracked her body. His own emotions took a beating as well in those moments, and he wiped his eyes as several tears slipped out unchecked.

Eventually she calmed. The sobs faded and she was able to pull herself together enough to pull back and look at him. When she saw that his eyes were a little red, although certainly nothing like hers, she knew that it was completely okay with him for her to be sad like this; that he felt sad like this too, and that they could share this, could get through this together.

“Alex,” he murmured, pulling up the blanket to gently wipe her face free of tears.

“Hmmm?”

“How hard would it be to take a long weekend this weekend?”

She looked at him thoughtfully. “How long of a weekend?”

He shrugged. “Maybe take Friday and Monday off? I’d like to take you somewhere and after this weekend my training for deployment will make it impossible.”

She thought it over for a second. “I suppose it could work. Are we talking just me or me and Emma?”

“I figured Emma has school.” It was his way of saying just her. He loved Emma more than life itself, but what he had in mind was just for Alex – at least this time.

“She does,” Alex said with a nod. “I’d hate to pull her out. She can probably stay with Molly.”

“Okay, then just you,” he grinned.

“Then yes, I can take a long weekend. Where are we going?”

He leaned down and kissed her softly.

“Balmoral.”