The Alpha King Call Boy: Chap 47-128

Fiona

I couldn’t believe it was almost ten o’clock when I looked at my watch.

“I’ve kept you here way too late,” I told the three colleagues who had been working with me all afternoon and evening. We were nearly finished with the proposal I’d promised to have ready for our client by morning. I could come in early to wrap it up myself from this point. “This is as far as we’re getting tonight.

Everybody go home. We’ll pick it up tomorrow.”

They were relieved and hurried away. I saw all three of them headed for the elevator within minutes, having gathered their belongings rapidly, while I was still organizing my notes in the conference room.

I was simply not capable of moving that fast right now.

Once I’d done my own, much slower-paced end of day routine and was in the elevator myself, I finally opened up my phone for the first time in several hours, and saw I had an unread text from Alexander.

I smirked as I read it. He was still begging me to send

him selfies. I would have done it if I hadn’t been a total mess from my crazy long workday.

I wrote him a reply while riding down the second elevator to the lobby, saying I was finally headed to the car and would be back soon. I also apologized, a little sarcastically, for not having time to take the pictures he requested.

He replied: No problem. You can do it tomorrow. 😉 And then added: Can’t wait to see you… I’ve got those couple things ready you said you wanted.

I kept my eyes wide open and keenly focused as I hurried through the palace halls on my way from the car to our bedroom. It was only about a two minute walk. But it was late on a dark, new moon’s night, and the big marble hallways were only dimly lit with a pale, ambient glow coming from sconces high up on the

walls.

The brief era of my being able to move through this space lackadaisically had come to an end, it felt like. I was jumpy now, turning my head to look around every corner as I passed intersections into other corridors.

Looking out for Iris, I guess. Or any other surprises.

My nerves settled down as soon as I caught sight of Alexander. I let our bedroom door fall closed behind me and felt safer immediately.

He had glanced at me with a smile on his face, but it slipped away as he studied mine.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

“I’m fine.” These two words came out as an involuntary reflex. “Well, tired,” I added. “Very tired.

Why, do I look terrible?”

“No, no.” He took my purse and briefcase away from me, set them on the floor and then swept me into a full-body hug. His heat was palpable, radiating into me.

My arms slipped around his waist. He kissed the top of my head and left his mouth lingering there.

“You look beautiful, as always,” he lied. “You look very pale, though.” Alexander reeled back, then, and used one finger to tip my chin upward. “Did you eat enough today?” he asked sternly.

“Probably not.” I hesitated, not wanting to start him worrying, but then confessed the rest. “I was pretty sick in the morning, actually. I threw up a few times. I think I was just fatigued.”

“I’m so sorry.” He said this in a way that made it

sound like he felt fully responsible for the problem.

I nodded. “I need to sit down for a minute,” I told him gently.

“Of course.” He unwrapped his arms from around my body. He almost stepped away, but then came to kneel before me instead, indicating he wanted to remove my shoes. “I, uh… actually drew you a bath, if you’re interested in heading right in there.”

“Oh. That’s nice. Yes, I’d like that very much.”

He grinned, looking proud of himself. “Good,” he said, finishing up his work on removing my shoes and putting them away tidily by the door.

I got settled in and took care of some necessities while Alexander fetched me a glass of ice water. I was undressed and underwater and uttering a relaxed

“ahh” when he brought it to me in the bathroom a few minutes later.

“Thanks for this,” I told him. “Don’t let me stay in here too long, though. It’s too relaxing. I’ll fall asleep.”

“I could keep you awake,” he said suggestively.

Alexander was standing a few feet away, unbuttoning his snowy white shirt. He took it off and hung it on a hook on the door. Then he walked over and crouched down, coming to kneel beside the tub.

“I think that would also put me right to sleep right now,” I told him regretfully.

He chuckled. “Fine,” he said. He grabbed a loofah sponge and started covering it with fragrant soap, brought it to my chest and began to pass it very gently over my skin, soaping me up. I let my eyes close

while he moved the soft sponge all over my body, starting at my neck and chest and moving downwards.

He made it successfully all the way to my feet without incident. “You’re sweet,” I whispered tiredly as he deemed his job complete and wrung out and hung up the loofah.

“You want help getting out?” he asked.

I did. He wrapped me in a fluffy white towel and made easy work of removing me from the big clawfoot tub, which might not have been so simple on my own in the clumsy, exhausted state I was in.

I slipped into soft purple nightgown while Alexander dimmed the lights in our room and carved me up a slice of cake. He said yes when I asked if I could eat it in bed. That’s where I met him a minute later.

“So what’s going on at work? Everything okay?” he asked, once we were settled in, relaxing on top of the covers with little dishes of rich, delicious, heavily frosted chocolate cake.

I licked my fork clean after taking a bite. I could not have explained why, but that rich chocolate was a healing elixir for me in that moment. It was satisfying a very deep craving. There was something next-level, almost spiritual about how good the taste and the heavy dose of sugar was making me feel.

“This is so good,” I said dreamily, not realizing for a couple seconds that Alexander had just asked me a question. “Oh. Work. We’ve got a big problem with the development project. It’s a total nightmare, honestly.”

Alexander smiled amusedly at my first remark. The second one, the answer to his question, made his

eyebrows shoot upward interestedly. “What happened?”

I licked frosting off my lips. “Can we talk about it tomorrow, maybe?” I asked gently. “I’m sorry, I want to tell you all about it, but I’m just so tired.”

“Of course. I’m sure everything will be fine. I’m sure it’s nothing you can’t handle.”

Talking about what I could or couldn’t handle reminded me of something else. “Will you do me a favor?” I asked.

“Anything. What do you need?”

I sighed. “A refill on that medication I got from the palace doctor a while back.”

Alexander’s eyes changed as he found my meaning.

He looked sad to realize that he alone was not enough to keep me well.

“Just to have on hand for emergencies,” I added, attempting to soothe his injured pride. “With my responsibilities at work, all the time I spend in the car back and forth, and everything… it’s just not always practical for us to have as much contact as my body would like…”

“I’ll call the doctor and have her drop off the medication,” he said quickly. Then he leaned in and kissed me on the forehead. His lips were sticky.

“Hey,” I whined. “You got frosting on me.”

He covered his mouth, laughing. “I’m sorry.” He went and got a cloth napkin, wetted it in the sink and brought it back. I snatched it from him and wiped my forehead.

“I forgive you,” I told him playfully. I handed him my now empty dish, along with the napkin. He put everything away and then rejoined me in bed.

A fresh wave of fatigue suddenly swooped over me as Alexander scooted his body close to mine and touched me with his warm hands.

“I am so sleepy,” I told him, burying my face into the crook of his neck. I was about to add, “but I should get up and brush my teeth.”

He replied before I could make my tired mouth form more words. “Go to sleep, then,” he said, and he began to stroke my hair gently.

I must have passed right out the instant I received that permission, because that’s the last thing I remember before my alarm went off in the morning.