Chapter Twenty
I chewed over Mamí’s words for every mile of my trip back to Tempe.
If Alex is willing to cheat on Caitlin, he’ll cheat on me, too.
I knew it was true, and yet I wanted to believe better of Alex…
which in turn made me angry. Why was I willing to believe I was a home-wrecking whore but Alex was not just as responsible?
Why was I absolving him of the sin while taking it all upon myself?
More importantly, was what I had with Alex worth destroying my friendship with Caitlin over? I hated that the answer wasn’t as clear-cut as it should be.
After arriving home, I quickly unpacked and then straightened the house.
I kept a tidy space normally, especially after I was laid off and spent the majority of my time within my home’s four walls, but tidy wasn’t good enough for Alex’s first visit.
So while I didn’t have time for the deep clean I would have liked to embark upon, I did take more care ensuring the house shined.
Then I made sure I shined, hopping in the shower for a quick wash and applying fresh makeup.
As the clock on my stove turned to seven, I felt confident.
The house looked great, especially because I lit the candles that were arranged in the wood-burning fireplace and flipped on my candle lamps, giving the living room and my bedroom a cozy, welcoming feel.
I poured myself a glass of wine and grabbed my phone, sinking onto the love seat to sort through my notifications just as the chime of my doorbell jerked my head up.
Padding to the door, I threw it open, finding Alex on the doorstep.
“Hi,” I breathed, stepping aside to let him enter.
His intoxicating scent teased my nose as he slipped past me, and when I closed the door, I gritted my teeth before I turned to face him.
Alex was wearing a pair of gray sweatpants and a dark blue hoodie with the Scorpions logo on it, his glasses perched on his nose.
He looked comfortable in a way I’d never seen him, and I was flattered he felt relaxed enough with me to let down his guard.
He also looked so hot I wanted to rip down his sweatpants and devour him.
“This is a lot larger than I thought it would be,” Alex murmured, turning on his heel as he surveyed my living room, which opened to the kitchen on one side and led to the three bedrooms on the other.
I spun, too, trying to see the space through his eyes.
The warm beige walls filled with tapestries, mirrors, and an eclectic mix of frames featuring prints of my family and the island.
The knitted throw blankets and fluffy pillows.
The woven rugs that added warmth to the old hardwood floors.
The collection of various houseplants scattered throughout.
“It’s much smaller than the McMansions you can find in the east or west valley. ”
“Well, considering this home was built in the fifties?” He paused, and smiled when I nodded. “I’m sure this was large for the time. I mean my apartment in Manhattan was six hundred square feet, and my current condo downtown isn’t even nine hundred.”
The corner of my lips tipped up. “It’s not fancy, but it’s comfortable. I’ve been very happy here.”
“It feels like you. It’s stylish and colorful, and also inviting and homey.”
“You think I’m homey?” I snorted. “You make me sound like an old lady.”
“Not at all.” Alex raised his brows. “When I say homey, what I mean is that I feel at home whenever I’m with you. And this place is infused with your spirit.”
Time seemed to stand still in the wake of his words. Every single beat of my heart was both earth-shattering yet a simple second in time. All I could do was stare at Alex and endeavor to breathe.
“Sofia,” he whispered, his voice clipped and gravelly, “show me to your room.”
Oh God. Desire roared like a flash flood through my blood, and my core clenched at the sinfully authoritative tone of his voice. Forcing down a swallow, I silently walked to my room, pausing just inside the doorway.
I had always thought my bedroom was rather spacious. Although there was room for a king-sized bed, I had selected a queen so I had room for the stationary bike that sat in the corner. But Alex’s presence in the doorway dwarfed everything around him, and I shivered as he advanced closer.
Alex glanced around my room, his dark eyes taking in the decor before he studied the suede upholstered headboard and the colorfully stitched bedspread that I had procured the last time I visited San Juan.
After assessing the details of my most private space, Alex turned his attention to me. His heady gaze felt like a caress, and I resisted the urge to rub my thighs together.
“Come here, Sofia.”
Wetness flooded my panties, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from whimpering. Since the beginning of our acquaintance, Alex had been easygoing. Quick to laugh. And during our time in his hotel room in Tucson, he had been content to let me hold the reins.
But this Alex was a different beast altogether.
I skirted around the footboard of the bed until I could tilt my head back and meet his gaze.
With an aching slowness, Alex raised his hands to my face, his palms running along my jaw to my hair, where his fingers knotted in my curls. His pupils were so large they almost swallowed his irises when he finally leaned down and kissed me.
His mouth moved over mine as if it had done so for a millennium. As if his lips—his hands, his body, his beautiful mind—had been designed to fit perfectly with mine long before we met.
What you have with Alex is temporary…
Gripping the front of his shirt, I pulled him closer, wrapping my arms around him and molding my body to his. No. I refused to let that thought keep me from relishing my time with Alex.
Unlike the previous morning, when Alex had been satisfied to taste and touch me for stolen minutes on end, this time he was impatient.
His hands smoothed down my back to grasp my ass, hitching me close as his hips moved against mine.
He was already hard, and my mouth watered as he stroked his cock against my core.
“Fuck, it was so hard to be close to you today. To laugh and joke with your family as if I don’t know what it feels like when your pussy clamps on my cock as you come.”
The moan that tumbled from my lips was indecent, yet I didn’t care.
I suddenly needed him naked, and I began to fumble with the drawstring on his pants without lifting my lips from his.
Once I managed to undo the tie, I yanked his pants from his hips, my hand darting to the waistband of his boxer briefs.
My fingers curled around his thick length, and Alex groaned against my mouth, teasing an excited laugh from me.
“I need you,” I breathed, my voice ragged. I was well past the point of being sexy and flirty.
Alex ripped his lips from mine, his chest heaving.
With jerky movements, he shoved his pants and briefs off his legs, kicking them away.
Then he grabbed the hem of his hoodie and then his T-shirt and stripped them over his head, sending the clothing tumbling to the floor.
Alex stood before me, naked aside from a pair of white socks.
I felt grossly overdressed in my leggings and cropped sweatshirt.
A problem I rectified immediately by peeling off my leggings and tossing aside my top.
Alex didn’t wait for me to remove my underwear, instead grasping the hem with impatient fingers and ripping them off my legs.
After making quick work of my bra, he gathered my breasts in his hands and leaned down to press a kiss to each one.
“Get on the bed,” he growled.
I did not have to be told twice. Crawling onto the mattress, I glanced back at Alex over my shoulder. “What did you have in mind?”
“My God, Sofia, if you only knew the sort of things I’ve imagined doing to you. The things I want you to do to me.” His hands came down on my ass, his fingers digging into my flesh. “I want to fuck you so badly.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” I purred, my fingers curling like talons in the bedspread.
His naked chest heaved as his dark gaze traced over my feet, up the backs of my thighs, and over the rise of my ass to my face, and whatever he saw there drew a rough sound from the back of his throat. “You’re a fucking menace to my sanity.”
I shrieked a laugh when Alex grabbed my legs and flipped me onto my back, pushing my curls out of my face as he loomed over me.
“I’m not leaving tonight.”
“You better not.” I emphasized the point by canting my hips to rub against his cock.
“Shit,” he bit out, leaning down so his hot, velvety skin rubbed against mine. I whimpered at the contact.
“That’s number one,” he mouthed against my collarbone.
I angled my head to the side so he could kiss up my neck to snare my lips for a long, sensual kiss. “What?” I panted when we finally broke apart.
Alex slid down the bed, pausing when he reached my breasts. “That’s the first sexy sound I’ve coaxed from you tonight, but it won’t be the last.”
Sliding my hand into his hair to run my nails along his scalp, I chuckled, a breathy, throaty sound. “You seem real sure of yourself.”
“Of course I am.” A taunting light shone in his eyes. “I’d be happy to show you.”
And he leaned forward and took my nipple into his mouth, sucking on it hard enough for my back to bow.
An inaudible sound—something between a groan and a grunt—echoed in the room and Alex chuckled. “That’s two.”
Alex continued his assault, sucking and blowing on my breasts, overwhelming me with the most delicious torture, even while he continued to keep count.
Soon I couldn’t lie still, my hips shifting and my legs opening and closing as I looked for relief from the fire burning in my core.
Ever attentive to my needs, Alex skipped his fingers down my stomach to my pussy, where he stroked up and down my slit.
When he circled my clit, I bucked my hips and cried out.
“I fucking love touching you.” He gripped the inside of my thigh and hitched my leg higher. His fingers returned to my core, where he dipped them inside while the heel of his palm rubbed against my clit. A long, ragged groan fled his lungs.
“And th-that’s one,” I managed on a broken sigh.
He nipped at the spot where my hip joined my thigh. “Oh, I’m about to rack up that count for both of us.”
Then he settled his broad shoulders in the apex of my thighs and licked up my slit.
Just like he had promised, soon Alex and I were both humming and gasping like the most erotic soundtrack I’d ever heard.
An orgasm teetered just beyond my reach, and I gripped his hair, angling my hips to direct his tongue to the spot I knew would make me see stars.
But he eased away, a pained expression on his face.
“Alex,” I whined, rubbing my thighs together. I threw an arm over my eyes. “You can’t leave me like this.”
His chuckle was all silk and gravel as he rolled on a condom. The mattress sank a moment later as Alex joined me on the bed, but instead of climbing over me, he settled at my side and gently manipulated my limbs until my back was cradled against his front.
“I’m tired and I know you are, too,” he rasped in my ear, his hand traveling up my side to cup my breast, his thumb teasing across the hardened tip. I mewled, pressing my ass against his groin. “So let’s do something different.”
With a crinkled brow, I glanced back at him. Alex dropped a kiss to the tip of my nose and then grasped my thigh, propping it on his hip. My eyes flew wide when his cock ran along my seam.
“I’ve thought about you all day. Fantasizing about the ways I wanted to make you come.” Our breaths hitched in tandem when he notched himself at my opening. “But now I want to take it slow. I want to savor every moment of this.”
He thrust inside to the hilt and held himself there, one hand gripping my hip and the other holding my breast. A silent wail held my mouth open, and I dropped my head to his arm.
Alex’s heartbeat was erratic against my back, yet he held perfectly still.
But soon I couldn’t bear to stay still, not when every instinct in my body urged me to move.
So I did. Clenching my teeth, I swiveled my hips and received a guttural groan as a reward. Encouraged, I quickened my pace, dropping my head forward as pleasure streaked up and down my limbs, fusing in my core. He felt amazing, and I told him as much.
“I love it when you use me to make yourself feel good.” Licking his fingertips, Alex snaked his hand to the juncture between my legs, where he stroked around my clit. “Keep going. I don’t want you to stop until you come all over my cock.”
Oh. God. Reaching back, I gripped his thigh, my nails biting into his skin as I pumped my hips, taking him faster and deeper, the effort leaving me breathless.
After several moments, though, Alex thrust forward, surprising a gasp from my lips.
Affixing his mouth to the spot just below my ear, he sucked while he continued to move, the smack of his thighs against my own a steady beat in the room.
Once again, my body was primed for release, like a bow pulled too taut.
I arched my back into his next thrust, dropping my hand to rub my clit before circling my palm around his cock where he worked it inside me.
Like a spark to gasoline, Alex combusted, his teeth sinking into the side of my neck as his body shook.
The combination of sensations tipped me over the edge, and my orgasm roared through my blood as I cried out wordlessly, curling in on myself as pleasure erased all thoughts.
I vaguely remembered Alex pulling out and carefully arranging my tired limbs before he left the bed to dispose of the condom, I assumed.
Several moments later he returned, turning off the lamp on the bedside table and rejoining me under the covers.
Gathering me in his arms, Alex tucked my head under his chin and kissed my temple.
“Good night, love,” he whispered, to me and the moon. And all I could do was smile before I tumbled into a dreamless sleep.