She giggled and asked him why he was so nervous. “I haven’t seen you in a while, Allie, and the last time I saw you, you weren’t married.”
Her face fell and Allie sighed. She started to take her own clothes off and Justice’s mind lost all train of thought that he had. She was naked, standing there seconds later and her body had changed. It was now even more beautiful, and he took her in.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Allie insisted.
Justice just nodded his head. “Okay.” He would have agreed to anything at that point. His eyes were locked on her body, and he needed her so badly. How long had it been? Justice felt like it had been forever. Was she here? Justice felt like he had made the long travel for a reason, and he was going to make sure something good happened. He was going to figure out a way to have her. He would do anything to make it happen.
“Huh?” Justice wasn’t paying attention to her words. All he could think about was how he was feeling. Allie was next to him, touching his shoulder and asking him if he was even listening to her. “I am trying to, I assure you.”
She giggled and said that she supposed that was as good as it was going to get. Justice agreed, and he hoped that it was enough for her. “You cannot imagine how much I've been thinking about you, Allie. I was so worried about you. I didn't think I would get here in time. I don't think I've ever been that scared in my life. I don’t know what I would have done if something would have happened to you.”
He told himself that he wanted to hold some of it back, but looking at her then, he was unable to hold it back. She was looking at him in that way she did, and he couldn’t help but melt. Justice wasn’t able to deny the feelings he had for Allie, even if he wanted to.
“Well, you see now that I'm fine.”
“You may look fine, but I don't think you are. There's something in your eyes and eventually you're going to have to tell me what happened.”
Allie scoffed, “Why, because my brother told you to find out? He's probably feeling guilty for setting me up with such a monster I would imagine.” Allie’s words were bitter, and it only proved Justice’s words even truer.
Justice was quiet for a moment, and he turned the water on, ignoring her and her question. When he turned back around, he answered, and he left little to the imagination of how he was really feeling. Allie said a moment later that she was just joking, but Justice didn't see the humor in it. It felt impossible at the moment to feel anything positive about it.
Then, she pushed past him and got into the shower, letting down her hair and leaving him gagging and watching her. Justice was trying to have a conversation, but with the way she was undressed right then, it was pretty clear that he wasn't going to get very far. He wondered if Allie knew how her antics were affecting him. Did she care? Justice wasn't sure of either thing. He wanted to ask her what was going on, what made her different, why she had gotten married. In truth, Justice had so many questions and a lot of the answers he feared. There was no telling why she did what she had done. Was it so wrong for him to want to know why?
He stepped into the shower with her and shut the door behind them. It left them in a cocoon and there was really no room to go anywhere. He could feel the many parts of him rushing against her simultaneously. Justice honestly wasn't even trying. He would probably be better off not touching her, because then he would be able to think straight. Now, she was wreaking havoc with his mind. If he didn't know any better, Justice would have thought that she was doing it on purpose.
“Do you really want to fuss?”
“Fuss? What are you talking about?”
Allie smiled and moved next to him. “You know, all this fussing you're doing right now. Do you want to fuss, or do you want to do something that's a little more fun? It has been so long, Justice. I thought that you would be more enthused.”
Justice agreed that he was, and Allie moved in to kiss him. His body was stiff with need and the first touch was all that he needed to ignite his true desires. In seconds he was consuming her, piece by piece.
Chapter 22
Justice
Bringing her back to Ben wasn’t something that Justice wanted to do. The simple fact was that Allie was just as she had always been, and he liked her as much as he had before. Those feelings of love that came over him the last time they were together, still rushed over him in seconds of being with her. Justice was so happy with her, and waking up to her was one of the best feelings. He didn’t know how it would work out when they got back, worried that her husband would come to get her, or Ben would try to marry her off again. Justice knew that Allie was a commodity in a lot of ways, but even after everything that happened, she still wouldn’t be something that he could have. He wanted her, needed her even, but Justice knew that it didn’t matter. He couldn’t have her. He could never have Allie in a meaningful way. She would always be just out of his reach.
That thought process brought him from one of the happiest men, to one of the saddest. Justice didn’t want to drive her back to her brother. He didn’t want to lose her again. It made him wonder if they needed to go back at all. What did he have to lose back there? Nothing that Justice would lose would be more than losing Allie. He’d already lost her, and Justice knew that no one and nothing else was ever going to compare.
He turned to her and slowed down, pulling the rental car off the side of the road. He had something he needed to ask her, something he wasn’t even sure about, but he had to know. What would she do if given an option?
“What are you doing, Justice?” Allie asked him with a strange lilt to her voice. It took Justice a moment to know that she was likely thinking that they were about to have sex again, that's why her attention was so strong. Justice could barely look at her. His desires were just as strong as hers, but he was trying to hold it in. He wanted to be serious for a moment, not like that. Finally, he asked her if they could have a serious conversation. She said, of course, but there was something holding her back.
“What do you have to say?” Allie finally prodded.
“What if we didn't take you back to your brother’s?” Justice just left it out there sitting in the air between them. He was nervous about what she would think, kept looking at her and waiting for her to say something. Why wouldn't she say something?
“What do you mean? Where else would we go?” Allie asked like she genuinely did not have an idea. That bothered Justice a little bit, because he, of course, was thinking how great it would be to have it be just the two of them. Had she never thought about it?
“You know, we could just take off together and find somewhere that we could just be us. If we go back, your brother is probably going to marry you off again. I don't know how it's going to work because you've already been mated to another guy, but I don't really care. As long as we can be together, I don't really worry myself too much about the specifics. If we go back though, it’s likely not going to happen.”
Allie was quiet for a time and that just filled Justice with anxiety. He wanted to know what was going on in her mind, but her expression wasn't showing anything. That just led to his brain to come up with whatever the hell it wanted to and that was probably a lot scarier than anything else.
“How would that work?”
It was a legitimate question, of course. Justice, as soon as he had thought about it, wondered the same thing to himself. He knew that it would be murky, and it could completely blow up in their faces, but he wanted to try. The last thing he wanted to do was make it harder on Allie, but she was carrying his children. And besides, the man she had married was likely going to try to make it hard on her. There was no telling what he was going to say or what Ben was going to do. The best bet was to take their chances together. To Justice, it seemed like such an easy answer.
