Beautiful Rose (Elixir Billionaires #1)

47. Rose

47

ROSE

We have officially closed on the property. I can’t believe Henry and Zander made this happen so fast. It still feels like a dream.

I once again swipe the hundreds—okay, not hundreds—of photographs on my phone, and each one is still there.

The rustic cottage with tall windows.

The flowing creek glimmering under the moonlight, making it appear like diamonds shining on a fairy’s billowy skirt.

The cozy fireplace roaring in orange flames when Zander threw some wood in it on our last visit.

This is all perfect.

When I swipe one more time, my gaze stops on a photograph of Zander and me by the fire.

He’d placed the gray plush blankets on the floor and spread an extra over us.

My shoulders are bare, with the blanket tucked under my arms.

This girl doesn’t look like me —that’s my first thought.

Everything starting from my unruly hair, my dreamy blue eyes, and the wide smile on my face, which has an orange glow because of the fire, is so unlike me.

How did this happen?

Because of him.

My gaze shifts to Zander.

Sweet sugar, he is beyond handsome. His side of the blanket sits pooled on his lap. His brawny arms and his chest and abs are on full display.

My breath catches at the sight of him.

It’s like I’m transported back to that room, near that hot fireplace.

Crab, he’s too hot. My whole body feels hot and…sweaty.

I glance back at myself, this time with less scrutiny.

I fit in this picture. I fit next to this handsome man. If some stranger sees this photograph, they would believe that I’m his and he’s mine.

While I’m still drooling all over my bare-chested man, he makes an appearance out of my bathroom in nothing but my baby-blue towel wrapped around his waist.

When he leans forward, picking up the second towel from the bed next to me, ready to dry his wet hair, I get a good look at the tattoos on his shoulders—the angry, bare rose thorns drawn over his skin in black ink. Where the thorns end, blood is splattered in red ink.

My chest tightens, and all the warmth and heat evaporates as I’m suddenly surrounded by a feeling of cold.

They look so real. Every time I see them, I imagine the thorns pricking his skin and drawing blood. I flinch at my imagination.

“Hey, what’s the matter?” Zander perches next to me on the bed.

I shake my head. My heart clenches just looking at his face.

“It’s my back, isn’t it? ”

“No.” I shake my head, but I guess it’s not very convincing.

“Don’t lie.” His fingers run back and forth over my cheeks, making my throat scratchy.

I gulp down the pain, hating to see him this serious so early in the morning. “Does it hurt you too? To look at my back?” I grab his hands, which are resting on my face.

“Rose, your marks are different from mine. My art is self-inflicted. It’s a reminder of my suffering. While your marks are a reminder of how far you’ve come. They show your strength.” He squeezes my hand, trying to make me believe something I don’t feel.

I haven’t come that far.

I haven’t gathered the courage to decide on a wedding date or to think of a future beyond getting engaged.

Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing the right thing with Zander, dragging him along in this hope that someday we’ll get married.

Can I even do it? Marry him?

“Let’s talk about something else,” he says when he notices my hand gripping the cuff of my nightshirt. “What were you thinking before this?” Zander tilts his head toward his back before getting up and grabbing the glass of water on top of the nightstand. His neck bobs as he drinks.

“I was thinking you’re too sexy.”

The water he was drinking comes out of his mouth. “Holy fuck, couch girl,” he chokes out. “I’d have never guessed those words could even come out of your mouth.”

“Me neither.” I look away from his burning gaze, suddenly feeling shy around him.

“No, don’t you dare go back to being all cute and shy.” He grabs my face and forces me to look at him. “Now that I know you have a naughty bone, I’d certainly like to see it more.”

“I don’t have a naughty bone.” I shake my head, and his hand drops from my face. “I have the exact same number of bones as any other woman in this world.”

He flops down on the bed beside me. “Say something more.” His shining eyes blink fast, causing a tingling in my chest.

“Zander—”

“Please.” He wiggles his eyebrows, and my heart does a happy dance upon watching his amusement.

“I…” My hands twitch, pulling on the cuffs of my nightshirt, but this time for different reasons. “I want to do something.” I look at him from under my lashes.

“What is that?” He grabs my hands, displaying a wide grin. His left dimple makes me all mushy and crazy.

“Something…you wanted.”

“Oh, babe, you’ll have to give me more than that. If you ever get to know what all I want from you, with you, to do to you, you might run for the hills.” A low groan escapes his lips as his back hits the mattress and his arm covers his eyes.

My throat dries at the sight of him spread over my queen-sized bed, his broad bare chest on full display.

“Really?” I squeak. “I don’t want you to hold back.”

He removes his hand, and his steamy gaze meets mine. “Rose, I don’t hold back. Your cuteness, your shyness, it just forces my brain to create all these fantasies. And most of those we live, like in front of your bathroom mirror or near the fireplace.”

Before I can think about all the possible fantasies of his that we don’t fulfill, he sits upright. “So what prize am I going to get for being sexy?”

“I’m gonna…blow you.” I hold my breath, trying hard not to chicken out.

“Rose! Don’t mess with me. This is not a thing to joke about.” His face is suddenly serious, and I don’t like his almost accusing tone.

“I’m not,” I reply quickly. “But I need you to help me. I’ve done a lot of research, but still, theoretical knowledge can only take me so far. It’s like I can read and watch all about driving, but it doesn’t get real until I’m inside a car and my hands are on the steering wheel.”

“Are you really comparing blow jobs to driving cars?” He’s trying to act all calm like his CEO persona, but the excited lilt in his voice gives him away.

“Teach me. I want to do it.” My body heats up, and my words shake, betraying the courageous front I’m trying to portray.

“Since when?” He grabs my hand, and his quickening pulse resonates with mine.

“Are you just going to ask questions? If you aren’t interested, then it’s okay.” I have only so much courage. I push the covers down and get up from the bed. But before I can go far, Zander follows me and gathers me in his arms.

“I’m interested. I’m fucking beyond interested. You know I’ve been interested since the day you proposed to blow me in my office while wearing that black dress.”

My heart rate skyrockets at his remark. “Then teach me.”

“Are you sure?” His gaze doesn’t leave my face, and I know he’s checking for any of my nervous tics.

“I might be shy about these things, Zander, but I want to experience, or at least try, everything with you.”

A playful smile plays on his lips at my words. “Everything. That’s a big word, couch girl.”

“Not as big as you,” I murmur, rubbing myself against his hardening penis.

“Oh, Rose. You shouldn’t have done that, babe.” He leans forward and grabs my lavender pillow from the bed. Throwing it on the floor next to my feet, he says, “Get on your knees. Class starts now.”

My hands move from where they were resting on his chest. Zander grabs them at the last moment and helps me get down .

“What should I do?” In this position, I’m eye level with the towel knot around his waist.

“Close your eyes.”

I look at him in confusion. How can I do this with my eyes closed? I’m not even sure I can do it right with my eyes wide open. But when Zander simply stares down at me, waiting for me to follow his instruction, I comply.

“Do you really want to do this, couch girl?”

I smile despite the nerves. My heart swoons at his tenderness, and some of the nerves settle down.

He knows my heart.

I open my eyes and nod, determined to give him the fishing best blow job in the whole world.

“Then remove the towel. I’m all yours.”

My hands tremble as I pull the end of the towel, and it pools at his feet before me.

Fish! He has strong legs.

How did I not realize this till now? Maybe because I’ve never been in this position. I’ve given him a hand job several times now, but I’ve never been face-to-face with his…penis.

Holy sugar!

I gulp and stare at his thick, long—

“You’re killing me, Rose. Why are you staring at it like that?”

I bite my lip before looking up. “I just realized I’ve never seen it this close.”

“You can’t be all cute when you’re down there.” He groans, but there’s an amusing smile on his lips. “Put your hands on me.”

And I do. My hands cover his thick, and hard cock before I slowly move them up and down the length of him just like he showed me during our first time in my bathroom, not far from here.

His fingers gently push my bangs away from my forehead, and I glance up at him. His eyes are burning with fire, and his chest rises and falls. His expression, a perfect blend of being aroused, proud, and thankful, boosts my confidence.

My one hand stays on his hard cock, and the other curls around his muscular thigh. I open my mouth and swipe my tongue over the head of his cock. It tastes salty and…funny.

I look up and notice Zander watching me with deep concentration and hesitation. To prove to him that I do want this, I lower my mouth, and his smooth shaft slides in. I try to take it all in until…I gag.

Crab!

“Rose.” He takes a step back and his shaft slides out of my mouth, leaving a trail of saliva down my lips and chin. “Babe, you don’t have to take all of me in.”

“But I want—”

“I know. I want it too, but more than that, I want this to be something fun for both of us . Take as much as you can in your mouth, and for the rest, use your hand.”

When he steps forward this time, I do as he said. Curling my hands around his shaft, I then place the rest of his length inside my mouth.

“Just suck like you suck on my fingers before I put them inside you.” His voice comes out hoarse, and his eyes close. His breathing frazzles, and when I suck him fast, his eyes open. They’re blazing with fire. My own breath catches at the sight of this rare vulnerability on his face. He looks beyond hot.

My eyes widen as they meet his when he swells inside my mouth.

“You can…take me out…if you like,” he whispers in a battered voice. When I don’t do that, he curses loudly. Wetness gathers around my sex at his pleasure.

His face turns up to the ceiling as he clenches his fists at his sides. His thighs, his chest, his neck, all red and sweaty.

Then my mouth fills with his hot, thick, salty cum. I swallow most of it, but still, some rolls down my chin when Zander pulls out. He bends forward a little, his eyes closed.

I sit on my heels, watching his every move when his eyes open. He looks at me with such intensity that it scares me to my bones.

I can’t live without him.

And then he smiles, his left dimple making an appearance and calming my racing heart.

“As always, you blow my mind, couch girl.”

“Apart from the other things I blew,” I blurt, and his lips curl up.

“You’re going to be the death of me.” Zander lifts me off the floor before throwing me on the bed.