12. Olivia
12
OLIVIA
I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Days later and that kiss Alex and I shared was still stuck in my head.
The man wanted to destroy everything my family built, yet I couldn’t stop thinking about how amazing the weight of his lips felt on mine. What was wrong with me?
“You’re thinking about it again, aren’t you?”
I blinked and carried my attention back to Elena who sat across from me. We were in the middle of our Saturday morning ritual of yoga, followed by coffee at our favorite café. Elena’s raised eyebrows made me blush.
“I can’t help it,” I grumbled and then took a gulp of my lukewarm pistachio latte.
“I can’t believe you sucked faces with your ex when you two are supposed to hate each other,” Elena said. “I didn’t know you had it in you to step out of prude mode. I’m so proud.”
I rolled my eyes as she pressed a hand to her chest. “I don’t hate Alex,” I said. “I hate what he’s become. I hate that he’s out for my blood. The look in his eyes when he talks about winning the battle for BioTech is a little scary. A determined Alex is a dangerous one.”
Elena watched me through narrowed eyes. “Yet you sound proud.”
“I am.”
Why deny it? My friend wouldn’t understand my mixture of resentment for Alex and the pride I felt. He did it. He did exactly what he said he’d do. He made it big and changed things for the better for him and his mother. That’s why I was worried… What Alex wanted he got, and now he had my empire in his sight…
“Okay,” Elena said, putting her coffee cup down. “I need you to tell me what’s going on between you two. You dated, you broke up, and years later, he’s making a grab for your company. Why?”
I shrugged. “For revenge. Although, he swears it’s just about business.”
Elena shook her head. “That’s too simple. Revenge for what?”
I should have known her journalist mind would prompt her to push for more information. I didn’t want to share the details because I was still ashamed…
“I told you, I broke up with him,” I said.
“For a good reason, I’m sure.”
“I thought it was a good reason…” Even though I’d spent nine years regretting it…
Elena leaned back in her chair and drummed her fingers on the table. “You’ve been too cryptic about Alex. You know that only fuels my curiosity.”
“I know, but can you respect that I don’t want to go into details about my breakup? It was brutal,” I sighed.
Elena nodded and immediately dropped it. “Okay, let’s talk about something very important then. ”
“What’s that?”
“Sex.”
I snorted my amusement. “What is that again?”
“Oh, God.” She shook her head. “I worry about you.”
“Because I’m not having sex?” I asked incredulously. You’d think my life span had been shortened because I wasn’t having sex…
“When was the last time you had the big O?”
I gawked at my borderline insane friend. “Why is that important?”
“Because sometimes I think you’re so uptight because you don’t get enough sexual release.” She lifted her eyebrows. “Well, when was the last time?”
While I was slightly annoyed, I answered honestly because she was the only one I trusted to talk about these personal things with. “Well, I came close to having one two months ago with that vibrator you talked me into getting.”
“You came close?”
“Yeah, but I got interrupted by a phone call. It was work.” I shrugged. “I never got back to it…”
“So you haven’t gotten off in… months…?”
I squirmed, getting uneasy. “Well… more like years…”
Elena’s eyes widened comically. I snickered when she made the sign of the cross and muttered something in Spanish. She was so dramatic.
“How can that be?” she asked. “You dated—well, maybe not dated —but you went out with that guy a couple of times two years ago. You said you and he?—”
“I said we slept together. I never said it was good, and he didn’t… get me off .” After that fiasco, I just never bothered with sex. It was hard to make the time, anyway. “Oh, my god,” I gasped, suddenly hit with a realization .
“What?”
“Only one man has ever made me orgasm!” The shock of the realization made my pitch louder than I intended and the guys sitting at a nearby table turned to look at us with amusement.
I winced and hunkered down in my chair while Elena chortled. I knew she wasn’t laughing at my sad orgasmless plight, but at the fact that I was so embarrassed about strangers hearing about it. I grew up being wary of anything I did or said ending up in the press, so my horrified reaction was a reflex. I even looked around to see if anyone was recording.
“Relax,” Elena said. “I doubt anyone here recognizes you.”
I took another look around. She was probably right. The place was filled with college kids who had their attention glued to their devices. They wouldn’t know too much—or care—about “Massachusetts’ royal family.” I hated being called that. Living in the limelight sucked ass, as my brother would say. I straightened in my chair and gave her a sheepish smile.
Elena grinned. “Let me guess, Alex?”
I nodded.
“Wow.” Elena’s expression and tone became teasing. “Since he’s the only one who can get you off?—”
“He’s not ,” I interjected, sounding like a first grader.
“You’d better sleep with him, girl,” Elena finished.
I guffawed. “Yeah, right.”
“Seriously, Liv. Think about it… sex with your rival.” She clasped her hands and rested her chin on them. “The intrigue, the tension, and the love-hate energy fueling the passion… Can you imagine the orgasm after all that?”
I watched Elena with amusement. She always made me forget the pressure of my responsibilities and who I was. I was able to laugh and relax… like I used to with Alex. My thoughts just kept going back to him .
“Somebody’s been reading too much smut,” I said.
Her broad grin was confirmation. “I’m telling you, Liv. There’s something deliciously dangerous about sleeping with the enemy. There’s this reporter at my office who I can’t stand. We butt heads at every turn. He’s a thorn in my side and my biggest competition. Yet each time we have a heated exchange, I want him to throw me down on the boardroom table and just?—”
“Oh, my God,” I groaned. “Please, I don’t need a visual.”
Wearing a wicked smirk, she lifted her cup and drank.
“I’m not going to sleep with my enemy,” I murmured. “No matter how good he is in bed.”
Elena slammed her cup down. “You can’t say things like that and not expound. How good are we talking?”
Heat seared my cheeks, but I shared because talking about the good times with Alex was probably the closest I’d ever get to achieving an ounce of my former happiness.
“Well… we were only nineteen when he took my virginity, but you’d think he was a man with years of experience in the art of pleasing a woman.”
Elena sat forward and plopped her jaw on her palm, all ears…
Eleven years ago…
It was quiet as Alex and I stared at the breathtaking view from the overlook, known among the locals as Cupid’s Cliff. The name was a tad dramatic but the place offered privacy and scenic views which made it a legendary spot for couples looking for a quiet escape .
I asked him to take me here after our movie date because I didn’t want to go home. I’d been cooped up in my apartment for days, studying.
“So…” Alex had an arm around my shoulders, and he drummed his fingers on the back of the leather seat. “Are we here to strictly admire the view or are we going to make out like every other horndog who comes up here?”
I glanced at him, wondering what he’d say if he knew what I was thinking. Butterflies created havoc in my stomach as I gathered the courage to speak. “You’re a horndog?” I asked.
He snorted softly. “Of course, I am, Princess. I’m nineteen. I’m obligated to be a horndog.”
A smile tugged at my lips. He said the most outrageous things. “Yet, you’ve waited on me for eight months…”
He turned to me with a slight frown. “Of course. I’m not with you just for sex, Liv.” He stroked my cheek. “I’ll wait for you for as long as you need, baby.”
I practically felt my heart turn into a puddle. I told him I wasn’t ready to have sex, and he didn’t bat an eyelash.
“You’ve never even looked at another girl,” I mused aloud.
When I told my last boyfriend that I wasn’t ready for sex, he hopped into bed with the first available cheerleader the next week. I had pretended not to know about it.
Alex’s lips curled into his sly smile. “That’s because…”
I listened with a goofy grin as he belted out the lyrics to The Flamingos’ “I Only Have Eyes For You . ” My giggles filled the car when he sang the sha bop sha bop. He was the sweetest, most romantic guy I’d ever dated, and no one made me laugh as much as he did.
I must have gazed at him with hearts in my eyes. I knew Alex was sexually experienced, and I watched him exercise so much restraint for me. That was how I knew he was the right guy to be my first.
“Alex?”
He stopped singing. “Yeah?”
“Remember when we were joking around about fantasies last week, and I was too shy to tell you mine?”
He smirked. “Uh-huh.”
“I’m ready to tell you, and I want you to make it happen.”
He tilted his head. “Okay…”
“I’ve fantasized about you making love to me on your Mustang.”
Silence ensued as Alex gaped at me. It wasn’t easy to render him shocked or speechless, and I had to swallow my smile.
“ On it? Not in it?” he croaked.
“ On it,” I confirmed, glancing at the hood of the sleek ride.
He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat. I noticed the way he subtly tried to cover the bulge forming at his crotch. He blew out a breath. “Hmmm. Well… sure. I’ll make that a reality whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready,” I whispered, locking eyes with him despite my pounding heart.
“Oh, fuck,” he muttered. “Look, Liv, I don’t mind waiting. You don’t have to do something you’re not ready for to please me. I’m fine just?—”
I practically dove over the console to kiss him. He groaned as our lips met. “Shut up and kiss me, Alex,” I murmured into his mouth. “Make love to me.”
“ Jeezus , Princess,” he moaned. “I knew there was a wild woman in here somewhere.”
I showed him how wild I was… for him . He pulled me over to straddle him as our tongues danced and our hands explored each other in a frenzy. My fingers tugged at his hair as the fire built between us. He groaned and trailed his hands down my back and then he gripped my hips tightly to pull me even closer.
As if on their own accord, my hips rolled and my heat rubbed against the hardness of his crotch. That made him growl deep in his throat, a guttural sound that resonated with untamed desire. I shivered with anticipation and a hint of nervousness.
Alex’s lips left mine long enough for him to open the door and slide out of the car with me still wrapped around him. He put me on my feet to meet my gaze. “Are you sure about this, Liv?”
I held his gaze, peering into the intense blue depths. There was so much sincerity in them. He made me feel so alive and cherished.
“I’ve never been more sure about anything,” I whispered.
Eyes still locked with mine, he tugged his shirt off, spread it on the car’s hood, and lifted me to sit. I smiled at how he always ensured my comfort no matter what we were doing. He wedged himself between my legs and began to trail kisses down my neck. His hands slid under my shirt to caress my bare skin, and I arched into his hot touch. My rising body temperature was cooled by the gentle spring breeze whipping around us.
My top came off, leaving me in just my bra, and my skirt was bunched around my waist. Alex tugged my bra down, revealing my hard pink nipples that practically begged for his touch. He took each peak and rolled them between his thumbs and forefingers. That sent an electric sensation shooting down to my core. When he took them into his mouth, I nearly catapulted into the starry sky .
“Alex,” I moaned as he suckled my sensitive peaks.
We’d made out plenty of times but his mouth had never gone beyond my lips and neck. He released a nipple with a pop and kissed his way south. My breath came out in short spurts as I watched him with wide eyes.
He straightened to hook his fingers into my panties and slid them over my legs. My breath hitched when he paused to slowly appraise my body, his gaze lingering on my breasts. The way his eyes moved over me felt as if he was touching me, and it made my breathing escalate.
As he stared at my bare pussy, shyness crept in and I had the urge to snap my legs closed. However, it was impossible with him standing between them.
“You’re so beautiful, Liv,” he purred as he caressed my thighs. “My perfect little ice princess.”
I grinned. My peers had given me the title of Ice Queen out of disdain, but Alex turned it around and made it an endearment. He accepted me for me… my prudish ways and all.
“You think I’m perfect?”
“Fucking perfect ,” he replied as he pushed me further up onto the hood. Wearing his signature mischievous grin, he pushed my legs up to throw them over his shoulders.
“Alex…” I gasped with uncertainty. No one had ever gone down on me. It was so… intimate . What if I didn’t like it? “We don’t have to…”
“Trust me, Liv.” He kissed the inside of my thigh. “I’ve wanted to do this for months.”
“Y-you have?”
“Mhmm.”
He’d been so patient, so who was I to deny him? Besides, I was just as curious about it as I was nervous .
I swallowed and forced myself to relax as his mouth inched closer to my center. His hot breath fanned over my core, making me shiver. And then he plunged in, his tongue lapping at my folds. I let out a soft moan, stunned by the pleasure that surged through me. I tugged at his hair with one hand while I tried to keep myself upright with the other.
He slid one finger inside me while he teased my clit with his skilled tongue. His strokes were slow and careful. I swear, his thoughtfulness of my inexperience made me wetter.
When I relaxed around his single digit, he added another. The way he curled his fingers inside me hit a spot that made me cry out and buck my hips. My vision blurred with pleasure.
“Holy shit! Alex, what was that? What did you do?”
He lifted his head to smirk at me. My inner muscles clenched with arousal at the sight of his lips glistening with my juices. “It seems I’ve found your g-spot.”
“Oh… right.” My face heated with the embarrassment of my inexperience. I was also amazed by his experience. Most guys our age couldn’t even find the clitoris. Just how many girls had Alex been with for him to be this good…? My rising jealousy was wiped away by pleasure.
He stroked the sweet spot again and my eyes rolled back. He didn’t let up, continuing to hit that spot over and over, each thrust sending waves of pleasure through my body. His tongue found my sensitive bud again and the dual stimulation drove me so high up the precipice of pleasure that I thought I’d never find my way back down.
I exploded with a scream that was sure to be heard if there was anyone else in the vicinity. They would know exactly who wrung that orgasm out of me too because it was Alex’s name that I screamed.
He lapped at me like a hungry cat and groaned, “I’ve thought about you coming in my mouth so many times. You taste so good.”
Oh, my God. I gawked at him as he kissed his way up my abdomen. As I continued to shake from my orgasm, I had to remind myself that we were the same age. A nineteen-year-old had no business possessing that kind of skill in the art of love-making, nor in the way he handled a relationship. He was… incredible .
“More, Alex…” I shamelessly begged, wrapping my legs around his waist as I reached between us to undo his belt.
He groaned. “We can’t, Liv.”
I stiffened. “What? Why?” I’d die if he admitted to not wanting me the way I wanted him.
“I didn’t expect this to happen. I have no protection.”
“Oh.” Relief coursed through me. “It’s okay. I started taking the pill days ago. I knew I wanted you to be my first tonight, and I’m certain that we’ll keep having sex so…”
Alex blinked and then shook his head. “Jesus, Liv. You planned to lose your virginity in detail? I thought I was getting somewhere with you woman, but you’re still a control freak.”
“Alex,” I admonished when I saw the laughter in his eyes. “Now is not the time to tease me about my flaws.”
“I love your flaws,” he murmured with a smile. Once again, my heart turned to mush.
I smiled back. “Besides, I trust you, so please don’t stop.”
His eyes softened, and I swore I saw adoration in them. He wasn’t one to hide his feelings. Without another word, he pulled me closer and freed himself. I let out a shaky breath, my body trembling with anticipation. Our gazes remained locked as he entered me slowly, giving me time to adjust. However, as he pushed deeper, I couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped me.
He froze. “I’m sorry. ”
“It’s okay.” It was a mixture of pleasure and pain, but I wanted more. Soon, the discomfort disappeared. I started to move with him, our bodies finding a perfect rhythm. We started moving faster, chasing our release.
When he let out a string of expletives and his fingers tightened around my hips, I knew he was close. I was afraid he’d leave me behind, but he didn’t disappoint. He reached between us and found my clit. His sensuous strokes as he drove into me had me teetering on the edge.
The build up of tension in my core was almost unbearable. When it snapped, my entire world exploded into shards of lightning and pleasure. I clung to Alex, hoping he’d anchored me to the earth as I shook uncontrollably. My arms and legs tightened around him as he came and we just stood there for a while, our ragged breaths the only sound in the night. I gazed up at the sky to admire the tiny lights decorating it.
I had sex for the first time with my first love under the stars, and I had two mind-blowing orgasms. It was perfect.
Alex finally pulled back to cup my face. He stared at me for a moment before he said, “I love you, Olivia Brentwood.”
My heart tripped, dipped, and twirled. I knew he did because he showed me all the time, and he alluded to it often. However, he’d never said the words out loud.
“I love you too.” I smiled. “We should totally get married when we graduate.” I snapped my lips together, and my eyes widened.
Oh, God. That slipped out. I was still drunk on pleasure… not that I didn’t mean it. I’d marry him in a heartbeat, but maybe he didn’t want to hear that. We were still teenagers, for goodness’ sake. I stared at him, horrified.
However, in true Alex fashion, he grinned. “Fuck yeah, we should. ”
I blew out a breath and then giggled. Alex was a little reckless. He plunged head first into most things but that was what made him fun. Plus, when he loved you, he did with everything he had. I’d have a blast spending the rest of my life with him…