Marisa Chenery - Roan's Fall

“Fine. Have it your way. What do you want to talk about?”

Even though Ansley promised herself she wouldn’t touch Roan until after they’d had their chat, she couldn’t stop her gaze from running over his body. Telling herself to stop it, Ansley jerked her gaze back up to his face. “I don’t know. There was something you wanted to say to me yesterday before…” She let her words trail away. Ansley didn’t think it would be a good idea to bring the subject of sex into the conversation. “Why don’t we start there?”

Roan seemed to stiffen for a second before he inched a little closer. “How about we talk about you instead? You know more about me than I do about you.”

“Okay. What do you want to know?”

He reached across the couch and started to play with the ends of her hair that fell over her shoulder. “Let’s see. Something easy to start with. How old are you?”

Having Roan play with her hair like that, Ansley found it harder to concentrate. “I’m twenty-six. What about you? How old are you?”

“I’m a lot older than I look.” Ansley wondered if Roan had been deliberately vague on purpose when he quickly added, “We’re supposed be talking about you, not me. What about family?”

Ansley didn’t usually like to talk about her parents, mostly because she never knew them. Since Roan had introduced her to his family she figured she might as well tell him why he would never be in a position to meet hers. “I don’t have any family.”

“How old were you when you lost your parents?”

She took a deep breath. “As far as I know, both my parents are alive and well.”

Roan gave her a confused look. “I don’t understand.”

“Both my parents were teenagers when I was born. They both chose to give me up for adoption shortly after my birth. They also signed papers that they didn’t want me to have any contact with them once I reached my maturity.”

“What about adoptive parents?”

She shook her head. “I grew up in an orphanage.”

Roan’s hand shifted from her hair to the upper part of her arm. He rubbed it with comforting strokes. “So you basically have been alone all your life?”

“You could say that.”

He gathered her close and put her on his lap. “Well, you don’t have to be alone anymore.” Roan nuzzled the side of her neck.

Ansley shivered when he pressed feather light kisses against her skin. She wrapped her arms around his neck. “We talked about me, now it’s your turn. Are you finally going to tell me what you wanted to say, or do I have to force it out of you?” Roan pushed her off him so fast Ansley ended up on the couch in an undignified heap. “What did you do that for?”

He ignored her question, stood and turned to face her. “Why don’t you pack some more clothes, then I’ll take you out for some coffee or something before we head back to my place.”

Given Roan’s reaction, Ansley got the distinct impression he now wanted to avoid this talk he had wanted to have with her. She had no idea why, but she decided not to press the issue. She sat up on the couch and looked at Roan. “You want me to stay over at your place again?”

He gave her a sexy smile. “Of course I do. Actually why don’t you pack enough clothes for the week?”

“Are you sure, Roan? Not that I’m complaining, but don’t you think you’re taking things a little fast? The last boyfriend I had, we didn’t reach the stage of staying overnight at each other’s places until we had dated for a month.”

Roan picked her off the couch and kissed her until her toes curled. He pulled back and crushed her to him. “Let’s get one thing straight here. I’m not like your other boyfriend. I’m much more than just a boyfriend. Never forget that.” He kissed her breathless again. “Go pack your clothes. I’ll wait out here for you.”

He slowly let her slide down his body until she stood on her feet. Ansley tried to slow her rapidly beating heart as she went to her bedroom to pack. If Roan wanted her to stay at his place for the week, she would stay for the week. She just prayed to God that during that time she didn’t do or say something to screw it up.

The next morning, Ansley woke up at seven o’clock on the dot, a particular talent of hers. She never needed an alarm clock. Somehow, no matter the time, she managed to wake up when she needed to be awake. Quietly, not wanting to awaken Roan who snored softly as he slept next to her, Ansley slipped out of bed. She grabbed her suitcase and brought it with her as she softly closed the en suite bathroom door behind her. In a matter of minutes, she washed her face, brushed her teeth and hair, and got dressed. Normally she would have taken a shower before heading into work, but she really didn’t have time for it. She had a longer drive to get to work this morning than she normally would.

Slipping back out into the bedroom, she collected her purse and tiptoed across the room to the closed door. Roan slept on. Ansley smiled and blew him a silent kiss. She would let him sleep. He had earned it. They hadn’t really slept much during the night. At least one of them should be able to sleep in.

Ansley closed the bedroom door slowly behind her, then tiptoed down the stairs not wanting to wake the other occupants of the house. At the front door, she unlocked the deadbolt and the lock in the doorknob. After she opened the door, she turned the lock on the doorknob so it would lock behind her. The deadbolt she wouldn’t be able to lock again since she didn’t have the key, but figured the one lock would be good enough. Thankful her car hadn’t been parked in the large garage, she started her car and headed out to the street. Ansley had only been on the road for ten minutes when she started to feel as if she missed Roan. She ignored the feeling and turned on her car stereo. The music helped distract her, but the need to be with Roan seemed to persist. Ansley told herself that she was being ridiculous. She’d just left Roan. How could she be missing him already? And it wasn’t as if she wouldn’t see him again. She planned to do her shift at work and then head back to his place afterwards.

By the time Ansley reached the salon, she felt as if a whole year had passed since she had last been with Roan. It just didn’t make any sense. The real need to be with him, to touch him, to kiss him, threatened to override everything else. Her body ached for his. Turning off the car, Ansley gave herself a shake. “Get over it.” Had she become so obsessed with Roan that he had become the center of her universe? She hoped the hell not. If she didn’t stop it, she would end up more than devastated if he were to change his mind about how he felt about her and left. She would probably end up turning into his stalker, begging him to take her back. Not something Ansley ever wanted to see herself doing. She walked into the salon and hoped the inner turmoil she felt didn’t show on the outside.

Sherry was the first person to see Ansley. She followed her back to her chair. “So? How was Mr. Tall and Muscular?”

Ansley put her purse away then turned to Sherry. “Who?”

“Oh, come on, Ansley. You know exactly who I meant. So how was he in bed?”

“Who says we slept together?”

Sherry gave her a stare that silently asked Ansley, What do you take me for? “Sure you didn’t sleep together,” she said sarcastically. “Give me a break. That hunk of a man did not come in here, kiss you senseless, then carry you away over his shoulder just to say hello. I bet he screwed your brains out.”

Ansley’s lips twitched. “You do have a way with words, Sherry.”

“That’s why we get along so well.”

“So true,” she said with a laugh.