Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Alex was still quaking from the sensations he had sent through her.
Who even knew that what he just did to her was a thing?
He had used his mouth on her in such a sensual way…
she felt her face get hot again, and she reached with her hands to cover it up.
She was slowly becoming conscious again and floating back into her body.
The rafters high above her. The silky couch beneath her.
The words Philippe had said to her. She shuddered at the obscene pleasure of it all.
Before she could bask any longer in the feelings of what had just happened, she felt his strong hands lifting her by her waist. Her eyes shot open, and she caught him winking at her before he flipped her over onto her knees.
She had just enough time to catch herself and plant her hands on the arm of the couch.
Philippe lifted her ass and in less than a second, she felt him slide into her still throbbing sex.
Alex, scandalized by the position, could hardly protest because just as she thought to say it was too crass, he squeezed her hips with commanding hands and began moving inside of her. Then it felt far too good to complain.
He was so big and thick, and in this position, she could only just take all of him.
She still ached from the last orgasm, but all she could think was that she wanted everything he would give her.
She was aware that this was different than it had been last night.
She felt it in the way he manipulated her body, the way he had taken her so aggressively.
The way she felt him using her for his pleasure. She wanted to give him pleasure.
Just then he angled her up and ran both hands up her torso, across her breasts, pulling her body back to him.
She felt his strong chest against her while he skewered her where they were joined.
She could feel his dominance, over her body, over her.
Then he moved one hand to her throat and held her firmly.
His body burned into hers and she felt his breath on her neck as he whispered gruffly against her ear.
“You’re mine, Alex,” he said and his hands dug possessively into her.
She about lost her mind. There were so many sensations, but she could do nothing more than surrender as he continued to feed her feelings that she didn’t even know were possible. He was so powerful and so in charge of her body, she was lost to him. All she could do was gasp out, “Yes.”
With that, he released her throat and thrust forcefully behind her, knocking her forward once again.
He began moving faster and Alex tried desperately to keep up with everything that was happening.
Was it embarrassing that he had this much control over her?
She’d fought with him physically and mentally to keep things even between them, but here, now, she wouldn’t even know where to begin.
He was the master. He rammed himself deep inside and she let out a tortured cry.
Oh, who cares, she thought, and she let herself lose control.
The intensity just kept coming and coming. Alex moved against Philippe, her body arching and reacting to his touch, his smell, and the thrilling moans he was making as he, what did he say? Fucked her. She never wanted it to end.
Then Philippe reached around with his hand to her front, to knead the needy spot between her legs.
All at once, she was on the edge again. She felt the orgasm start deep inside of her this time.
Her legs went watery and Philippe took the sign to break her apart.
Her body’s response was immediate to the rough, absolute penetration.
Before she knew it, she was screaming and panting and rocking against him like the animal she had become, all the emotion she had wrapped up in this man, coming out in one great surge.
Philippe let out a savage growl of his own.
His speed and force let her know he was just seconds behind her.
He ripped into her, one hand digging into the flesh of her hip, the other pressing firmly against her front, drawing out her unyielding orgasm long enough to meet his.
He froze and grunted as he lost himself, pushing every fraction of himself into her.
She felt him swell and pulsate against her soft walls, as merciless waves of shattering pleasure rolled through her.
Once he could, he began sliding himself deliciously inside her again, extending every sensation until the last shudder, as they both still gasped for breath.
Before he finally left her body, still trembling around him, he reached forward, grabbed a fistful of her hair, bent her back, and kissed her.
It was a few moments before either one of them could speak. They lay wrapped together, face to face on the couch, while the fire continued to crackle in front of them. Philippe had not stopped holding her or kissing her since they had collapsed, consumed, completely spent.
“Whatever you just did to me… whatever you call it?” Alex said.
“Yeah?”
“I liked it.”
Philippe chuckled as he bit at her collarbone. His hands were still on her, moving up and down her body. She closed her eyes and sighed while he continued to make her tingle.
He brought his hand to her face and brushed her hair back. “You make me absolutely crazy, Alex,” he said. “You always have.”
“I could say the same about you,” she replied with a smile.
The moment was a cushion. A deep, comforting softness after a rapid descent. So much had happened in the last few days. Alex was happy to lie there and not think about anything else except the sweetness of his lips on her skin and the way his arms felt around her.
But Philippe pulled back, obviously not so content. He searched her face with his eyes, and she understood that he had something he wanted to say to her. He pressed his lips together, took a breath, and then after one last pause, he spoke.
“You know, Alex,” he said. He wrapped his hand around her waist and held her tight. “When I kissed you. The first time? And then I went to Emily?” He watched her intently. “You have to know,” he trailed off. He looked away, then back to her, earnestly. “She wasn’t the one that I wanted.”
Alex paused, listening to him with her whole body. These words, she knew, had the power to recolor a pivotal point in her memories, if she understood him correctly. “You wanted me?” she asked.
“Of course I wanted you,” he said. He closed his eyes and brought his finger and thumb up to rub his forehead.
“I had always cared about you, but that night, it all changed very suddenly. You were growing up, I was growing up.” He looked away and to the fire.
She saw it flickering in his eyes. “I don’t know what happened, but...
all at once, it was just different. And I didn’t know what to do.
” He turned back to her. “I just knew I couldn’t have you then. ”
“No,” she said. “I was too young. I wasn’t ready.”
“It was stupid what I did. I was—stupid and cruel.” He took a deep sigh.
“I only thought about what that kiss meant for me. I never thought about what it meant for you.” He closed his eyes in a wince before continuing.
“But then you challenged me and you knocked me out.” He repositioned himself to lean above her.
“You disappeared, Alex. You just were gone.” He searched her eyes.
“I didn’t know what to make of everything that happened.
I was upset. I was humiliated. And my mother wouldn’t tell me anything about you or let me read your letters because she said I needed to write to you myself. ”
Alex blinked, taken aback. “I didn’t realize it had affected you so,” she said.
“Alex, I was devastated,” he said. “I wanted to write to you, but I didn’t know what to say.
” He sighed and dropped his head. “I never knew what to say.” He stayed with his head down, but in a second he looked back at her, and she recognized new conviction on his face.
“But now I do,” he said. “Now I know exactly what to say. To you.”
Those mesmerizing gold-ringed eyes were on her.
She realized that something had been building in him for longer than she ever knew, and now she felt magic changing the space between them, an aura connecting them, lighting them up in a swell.
Her stomach fluttered in anticipation, and she hoped she was prepared for his words.
“Alex.” He paused and took a slow, deep breath. “I’m in love with you. I’m sorry I didn’t say it before. It’s been there all this time. I just needed to figure it out.”
The words spiraled in deep, soothing wounds inside her that had never fully healed.
She brought her hand up to his cheek and brushed a thumb across his lips, the scar she had given him, pausing to let the words affect her.
He was waiting for her—anxiously, she knew—for some signal that she felt the same, but she needed to take everything in and to let his words settle inside her.
Alex realized that all this time, it had never really been about whether or not Philippe wanted her.
His intentions had always been there; they had been immature and misguided, and they needed time to evolve, but they were there.
He’d set a mark on her years ago, but she had always been too afraid of getting hurt and too full of shame to let him get close.
She looked at him now, his eyes burning with ardor and madness and she knew the only thing to do was to wrap her arms around him and tell him all the ways she loved him too.
Instead, she burst out laughing.
“That’s not what I was hoping for,” he said, exasperated.
“You just look so angry at me!” she laughed.
“Well, do you blame me? I’m trying to tell you how I feel!” He went to move back but she wrapped her leg around him and leveraged herself on top.
“Philippe,” she said. She stretched across him, weighing her body against the length of his. She reached up to his face and put her hands on his cheeks. “I love you,” she said. “I love you. How could you expect a different response from me?”
He looked at her with his brow furrowed. “You’re a little hard to read sometimes.”
“I know.” She laughed, as she dropped her head to his chest. “I’m going to work on it.” She looked back at him and bit her lip through a grin.
“So,” he said, looking at her intently. “Is now the right time to ask you to stay with me? I don’t want to keep having to capture you.” He smiled now. “Though I certainly like what happens when I get my hands on you.”
“I will not make it quite so difficult for you to catch me anymore.” She looked at him coyly.
“Then marry me, Alex.”
She watched him for a long moment, feeling the weight of the words floating in the air. “Well, first,” she said, still teasing him. “First, I want a promise from you.”
“Anything,” he replied.
“I had always liked being your student,” she said. She arched her back, as desire for him began to roll through her body, knowing for the first time that he was hers for the taking. “Teach me more,” she said and she licked the scar on the bottom of his lip.
His eyes grew heated again. Suddenly, he flipped her onto her back, and he was poised on top of her once more. “I agree to your terms.” He leaned in to kiss her. “Now do you say yes to my proposal?”
“Yes, Philippe,” she said, smiling as she pulled him close. “Yes, of course, yes.”