“Aren’t you tired?” I yawned, watching Alex through half-droopy eyes. We’d gone at it for what must’ve been hours, but whereas I was ready to pass out, he looked alert and awake as ever.
“If by ‘tired’ you mean you wore me out, perhaps,” he said in an uncharacteristically teasing tone. “But if you’re asking whether I’m sleepy, no.”
“How is that possible?” I mumbled into my pillow.
“Insomnia, Sunshine. I sleep a few hours a night—if I’m lucky.”
I frowned. “But that’s…” Another huge yawn. “Not good.” Humans need sleep. How had Alex survived all this time on only a few hours a night? “We should fix that. Chamomile tea. Meditation. Melatonin…” My voice drifted off. If only my head didn’t feel so heavy and the bed weren’t so comfortable, I could make him tea or find a guided YouTube meditation or something.
“Let’s talk about it later. You’re exhausted.” He smoothed a hand over my head, and I purred as I nestled into his touch. “Good night.”
My breaths slowed as sleep took over. I thought I felt an arm wrap around my waist and pull me close, but I was out before I could confirm.
That night, for the first time in a long time, I slept soundly with no nightmares.
24
Ava
Alex and I spent the rest of the weekend locked in our suite, subsisting on room service and orgasms and christening every surface—though I’m not sure “christening” was the right word to use, considering how filthy our activities were.
Sex with Alex was sex like I’d never known it. Raw. Animalistic. Soul-destroying in the best possible way. It shattered every preconceived notion of who I was and molded me into something darker, more depraved. He called me Sunshine one moment and his whore the next.
And I loved it.
Even at his coldest, Alex had always treated me with respect outside the bedroom, but inside the bedroom, I was his toy. His to fuck and use—in the shower, pressed against the window, bent over the desk—and I craved it as much as he did.
I screamed, my core clenching around his cock for what must’ve been the thousandth time as another orgasm ripped through and broke me into a million pieces of ecstatic agony.
When the fog of pleasure finally faded, I found Alex staring down at me with a smirk.
“What?” I murmured, too drowsy with content to utter more words.
“I love watching you come apart.” His hands gripped my hips possessively. “Only for me, Sunshine. Never forget that.”
“What would you do if I did?” I’d meant it as a tease, but Alex’s eyes glittered with danger as his fingers dug into my flesh.
“You’d have a man’s murder on your hands. Is that what you want?” He grazed my skin with his nose before he sank his teeth into the side of my neck—punishing and marking me at the same time.
Pain and pleasure burst through me. “Careful,” I breathed. “Or you’ll ruin your reputation for unfeeling sex.”
“No one else will see me this way. Only you.”
Before I could rein in the out-of-control butterflies in my stomach, someone knocked on the door. “Who is that?” I asked, still trying to wrap my head around his words. No one else will see me this way. Only you.
A grin tugged at my mouth.
“Room service. We ordered it before you cornered me and had your way with me.” Alex rolled out of bed and laughed softly when I mock glared at him from my pile of wonderful, fluffy pillows.
“For someone with a supposedly ‘superior’ memory, you seem to have forgotten that you’re the one who woke me up with an urgent…issue.” I arched an eyebrow, remembering the sensation of his hands cupping my breasts and his cock rubbing against my ass this morning.
“Did I?” He flashed a lazy smile, and I all but melted into a pile of goo. I would never tire of Alex’s smiles. I’m sorry, honey, but it’s over, I told my poor heart. You don’t belong to me anymore. “How inconsiderate of me.”
It wasn’t until he brought back our breakfast that I realized I was starving.
Sex, I decided as I nibbled on a croissant, is my favorite form of exercise.
But as incredible as the weekend had been, we had to return to reality tomorrow, and there were things we still needed to discuss.
“Alex…”
He sighed and set his coffee down. “I know.”
“What will we tell Josh?” I winced, imagining my brother’s reaction. I should buy full-body armor, just in case.
“We’re both adults. It’s our decision what we do with our lives.” Nevertheless, Alex grimaced. “We’ll tell him in person when he comes home for Christmas.”
I nodded. Okay, that gave us over a month to prepare—though I wasn’t sure anything would prepare us for the shitstorm Josh would unleash once he found out his baby sister and best friend were sleeping together. Which brought me to my next question…
“So, what exactly will we say? I mean—” I stabbed at a strawberry, hating myself for bringing this up during such a blissful weekend but also knowing we needed to figure out where we stood before we spiraled into a mess of misunderstandings and uncertainty. “Are we friends with benefits? Dating? Exclusive or non-exclusive?”
Alex gripped my chin and brought my gaze to his. “What did I tell you? You’re mine, Sunshine. You’re never touching another man unless you want him six feet in the ground. So yes, we’re fucking exclusive.”
Was it bad that his words turned me on so much? Probably, but I didn’t care. “Same for you and other women.” I scowled, remembering Madeline. “No matter how much they throw themselves at you or…or look like a supermodel. How many women have you slept with, anyway?”
His grip loosened, and his dark chuckle set off flutters in my stomach. “Jealous, Sunshine?” he purred. “I like this side of you.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Alex rolled me over until I was beneath him again. “All that matters is I’m only sleeping with one woman from now on.”
“So, is that what we are?” I gasped when he slid his rapidly hardening cock along my already-wet slit. “Fuck buddies?”
“Among other things.” He fished a condom from our dwindling supply—he’d had to run out yesterday for a box—and pinned my wrists above my head before thrusting into me. “You want to fuck, we fuck. You want to date, we date. You want to call me your boyfriend, I’ll call you my girlfriend. But for now, let me take care of that needy little pussy of yours, hmm?”
And he did.
My shameless moans soaked the air as Alex pounded me into the mattress, his thrusts so rough the bedsprings squeaked and the headboard slammed against the wall.
A tingling sensation blossomed at the base of my spine. I reached up to play with my nipples, my breaths coming out in short pants. I was close. So close. I was going to—
The unwelcome ring of an incoming call interrupted our obscene symphony of moans and grunts, followed by a cool voice.
“This is Alex.”
My eyes flew open. I gaped at Alex, who stared down at me with a calm expression as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the call. Gone was passionate, playful Alex; in its place was the composed businessman Alex.