SWNOVELS : Chapter 60
Alexander hardly waited until we were seated in the dining room before asking, “So how are things going at work?”
“Well, my project is back on,” I answered. “Scarlet’s company was effectively destroyed by the scandal.
An activist got a boycott started just yesterday and I suppose the pressure was too much, because Scarlet announced already that she’s going to liquidate the company in order to settle the class-action suit.”
I watched Alexander’s face carefully as I brought up this subject, studying his reaction. Ever since learning from Nina that my very own fiancé had been the one to uncover this scandalous story and bring it to the media, I had been wondering why Alexander would keep such a thing secret from me.
He nodded along as I spoke, keeping his eyes on his dinner plate. “I saw something about that on the news,” he replied between bites of food. “So Scarlet can’t keep trying to sabotage you anymore, right?”
“I guess that’s right.”
Alexander finally met my eyes. “I’m so glad,” he said, reaching out to touch my hand. “I hated that she put you through that. Your job is hard enough without someone directly targeting you like that.”
I sipped my herbal tea, studying Alexander’s eyes as he gave me a sweet smile and squeezed my hand affectionately. I believed that he was being genuine in this sentiment. Nina had suggested that Alexander was working secretly to help me fight Scarlet because he just wanted to support me without asking for any credit.
Of course, she’d followed that idea up with a warning to never trust anyone.
“So your big project is back on track,” Alexander continued, dropping my hand and returning partial attention to devouring his meal with haste. “Tell me
more about that.” It occurred to me, watching him demolish a steak in about a minute flat, that it had been challenging for him to wait so late to have dinner with me.
I started telling him about my day, but glossed over the details. I wasn’t sure, at first, how much he really cared to hear any specifics, thinking that he was asking about my work just to be polite. But he was more interested than I expected, asking lots of follow-up questions that I soon began to tire of answering.
He was hanging on my every word while I spoke about real estate and finance minutia, behavior I would have found odd from just about any person who did not work in the industry themselves.
“Why are you so interested in this?” I asked him outright, keeping my tone sounding casually pensive.
He looked away and shrugged. “I’m just excited for
you,” he answered a little too quickly.
The fact was, I was truly grateful for Alexander’s help.
Without it, my project would be dead. But it was clear that he was hiding something from me. Of that, I was sure.
I resigned myself to put my questions aside for the rest of the night, though. At this point, I just needed to rest. A long day at the office had been exhausting enough, and managing this careful conversation zapped the last of my mental energy.
It was full dark when we left the dining room. The night had turned chilly, with blustery winds knocking on the palace windows. I was sleepy after eating, and the only energy I had seemed to be coming directly from Alexander’s touch. He held my hand as we walked through the cold palace halls that were teeming with deep shadows, making me feel safe in
He was still enjoying his suspiciously good mood, and once we were alone again with a locked door behind us, he was all over me.
His charming half-smile and the seductive look in his amber eyes had me melting already, when suddenly his hands were on my hips and slowly inching my dress upwards. The light touch and anticipation both had me tingling. I put my hands flat against Alexander’s chest, feeling the ridges of his muscles.
He grinned, looking down at me darkly.
He had the skirt of my dress balled up in one hand and slid the other between my legs, starting to tease me with a feather-light touch. I kept my eyes locked on his, loving the lust I saw in them, feeling how much he wanted me. At some point, my mouth had fallen open. I didn’t bother to close it. I just grabbed the
loose collar of his shirt to keep myself standing while he increased the pressure with his fingertips.
“Take me to bed,” I begged. I was getting shakier by the second. He picked me up and carried me there like I weighed nothing, laid me down gently and then stripped off his own clothes. I shimmied my dress the rest of the way off, up and over my head, and threw it aside.
If I’d had more energy, I would have leapt on Alexander by then. But I’d been working myself into the ground all week. I was at his mercy, flooded with desire for him, desperate for his touch.
Finally he climbed into bed and hovered his big, strong body over mine, then started kissing me all over. My eyes were tempted to flutter closed, but I kept them open, taking pleasure in the sight of his perfect, golden body. He sat back on his heels, pulled
behind my knees to get me flat on my back, then gently stacked my legs to one side. I let him do what he wanted, my body limp in his hands. Alexander then buried himself inside of me with little effort, making me shiver and gasp.
A shock of pleasure went surging through my entire body. Alexander smiled, looking gratified, and started to pulse his hips against me. Slow at first, then faster.
I tried clutching at pillows and sheets for purchase, but it was nothing doing – eventually I found the edge of the mattress with one hand and kept a grip there while Alexander pounded our bodies together hard, making me scream with even greater pleasure and release than I’d been expecting.
I’d been spending so much time lately being the one in control. At work, I was running a big show, with hundreds of people reporting to me and millions of dollars on the line. And I was always in control of my image, from the perfection of my clothes, hair, and makeup, to the polite, professional smile on my face.
It felt so good to let it all go.
After he made me come a third time, Alexander dug his fingers hard into my hips and pushed himself as deep inside me as he could, then enjoyed his own moment. Then he rolled me onto my side and sidled up behind me, pressing our sweaty bodies close together, and put his lips against my neck in a light, lazy kiss that brought an involuntary smile to my own.
He stroked my neck and back so lightly, I could hardly feel the pressure of his hand, only the spark of warmth that rolled off his skin and into mine.
I thought briefly about wanting to take a shower before falling asleep, but then Alexander pulled a sheet around the both of us, cradled me in his arms,
and let out a low moan that sounded so content, I couldn’t bear the thought of wrenching away from his sweet embrace.