Despite everything, I still like Alex. I like the man I caught a glimpse of in Romanoff’s. After last night’s ordeal, he’s been angry and more reserved than on our first date, but who can blame him? I gatecrashed his party and then he had to run after me only to save me from the clutches of a mugger.
Still, I can’t ignore the question in the back of my mind. Would I even be here if I hadn’t walked into that restaurant and gotten attacked? The seesaw of emotions I’m riding is exhausting, first fretting about Alex forgetting about me and now worrying that sleeping with him was nothing but a result of unfortunate circumstances.
The toothbrush I used the last time I was here stands in a glass next to the basin. Alex’s toothbrush is neatly arranged in a similar glass next to the twin basin, which I presume to be his side. The setup screams of the exclusivity he asked of me last night. Like him, I don’t like to share, but I know myself well enough to know I need more. I need emotions, deep and lasting ones. I need trust. Especially after Tony, trust is non-negotiable, and trust is the one thing Alex and I don’t share. He obviously doesn’t trust me, and after last night, I don’t trust him either. Not fully. He’s evasive. He’s not completely honest with me. I thought I knew exactly where I stood with him, but now I’m not so sure. This road I’m heading down with him is a dangerous one. There’s only one way it can end—with my broken heart.
I know what I have to do. I should’ve done it right from the start. It’s called self-preservation, and it means walking away. The mere thought makes my chest tighten painfully. Dammit. How did Alex get under my skin so fast? It must be the emotional bonding that comes with sex. I can’t help it. It’s just how I’m programmed.
I hover in front of the fancy shower, considering walking away without a goodbye, but I’m not strong enough. Opening the door, I step inside the spacious cubicle. Alex turns, brushing back his wet hair with both hands. Surprise flares in his eyes, but his lips curve in a pleased way. He wraps an arm around my waist and drags me closer, his head already coming down for a kiss. I’m only making this harder on myself, but I let him kiss me while the water cascades over us.
He tears his mouth from mine as he crushes my body against his. He’s hard, and the molten look in his eyes says he wants me. He drags his hand up the inside of my thigh, holding my gaze as he slips a finger inside. My wetness tells him I want him too. The knowledge shines with a light of fever and victory in his crystal-blue eyes.
When he gives a shallow pump, I rise on tiptoes from the fire that immediately ignites in my lower body. My moan is lost in the sound of the water, but his gaze fixes on my parted lips as he curls his finger and rubs a sensitive spot. Clutching his shoulders, I gasp. He holds me up with his arm around my waist as he makes my knees weak with a single finger.
“More,” I push from a throat still raw after last night’s attack.
As always, he obliges. He doesn’t make me beg or wait. He gives me two fingers, his pace turning faster. He quickly brings me to the edge but pulls out before I go over. Carefully, he turns me around and pushes me down with a hand between my shoulder blades.
“Hands on the wall,” he says.
I splay my palms over the coolness of the tiles as warm water runs over my back. He wedges a thigh between my legs, spreading me with his arm secured around my waist so I don’t slip. Bent over in a wide stance, I’m vulnerable and on display, but my body is the one thing I do trust him with.
He plants a kiss on every vertebra of my back, then goes down on his knees behind me and drags his tongue through my folds. I shiver at the promise of that touch, hoping that, like last night, he’ll skip the foreplay. He doesn’t disappoint. He sucks my clit into his mouth and grazes it with his teeth. My back arches from the pleasure. I drag my nails over the wall as he licks me like candy. I can’t find purchase on the smooth surface of the tiles, but he keeps me steady with his broad palms on my hips as he fucks me with his tongue and tortures me with sucks and licks until my thighs quiver and my legs threaten to cave.