Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
Philippe felt like some other force was guiding him as he moved into the room.
He was barely aware of his body, just his eyes, which were filled with her.
Alex shuffled back as he came into the room, but he pressed towards her knowing the only way to awaken himself from the half-life he’d been living was to get closer.
She was perfectly ripe, like nothing he’d ever seen, and he had waited far too long to devour her.
Her luscious smell floated around him, and though his body raged for contact, he was determined not to rush a single second of the experience.
When he had arrived at the mansion, he had searched for her in a panic.
He tore into the ballroom without ceremony and scanned the crowd.
It had taken him mere seconds to spot her, with her back to him, across the room; she was the only woman dressed in winter colors and the only one not dancing.
If he hadn’t been so relieved to see her, he could have laughed.
Alex would always find a way to not quite fit into high society but damn it if it didn’t make her all the more alluring.
He touched her cheek and his heart came alive, and with his other hand he traced a line up her side, slipping over the silk.
His heart thumped in his throat and his muscles strained to get close to her.
Her raspberry lips parted as she looked up at him so sweetly, and he lost the battle to take it slow.
He planted his palm in the small of her back and dragged her to him, her body against his causing sparks of life to shoot through him.
Alex gasped and he kissed her as power and vigor washed through him.
It was as if he hadn’t existed until that very moment.
In a second, her arms were wrapped around him, pressing their bodies together.
But it wasn’t enough. Even now, he worried she would escape, so he picked her up and backed her to the wall behind them.
Now cornered, he kissed her again, his mouth parting her lips, and he indulged himself in their tender wanting while he grasped the lace at the edge of her undergarments.
His fingers twisted in the fabric in concentrated frustration.
Then, he pushed his hand upwards, taking the chemise with it.
He was too rough, he knew it, but her skin was smooth and creamy, and he wanted to leave bruises on it.
Slow down, he thought to himself. He had to remember that Alex had never done this before and though he wanted to mark her as his own, he could not forget that she was innocent.
“Will you have me here? Against the wall?” she asked breathlessly.
Philippe groaned. “Chérie, the first time is in the bed,” he said through gritted teeth. She never made things easy.
With that, he pulled the chemise up over her head and she was bared before him, wearing only her little drawers to cover her bottom.
Her breasts were full and perfect, her hair falling just below them.
She was so much more delicate than she seemed when she was clothed.
She looked up at him coyly. He liked having her so vulnerable before him.
He tore at his clothes, managing to get down to his own undergarments, eager to feel her skin pressed against his. When he felt the curve of her breasts against his chest, he quaked inside. He kissed her with new intensity, his hands on her cheeks, in her hair.
“I am trying to be gentle with you, belle. But you make it so difficult,” he said against her ear.
“Who said I want gentle?” she whispered back.
The small claim he had on his body was challenged as his instinct took over.
He grabbed her ass to pick her up again, and he dropped her onto the bed.
His breath was ragged and torn in his chest. He felt frenzied as he watched her from the foot of the bed, lain out, waiting, smiling before him.
For a second, he paused and took a breath to calm himself.
It was so much more than it had ever been with anyone else, and he didn’t know if he could ever get enough of her to feel satisfied again.
She propped herself up on her elbows and watched him.
She smiled and bit her bottom lip and even wiggled her toes in anticipation.
His heart thumped so forcefully, he clutched at his chest as he stared back at her.
“Are you alright?” she asked, still amused.
He nodded, but he couldn’t speak. Words would come at another time.
Instead, he would show her just exactly how hard he had fallen for her.
He bent down then and leaned into her body, in pure wonder.
He needed to touch her, to be sure she was real, to connect, to claim her.
He ran his hands up the outside of her calves, pausing to press the inner smoothness of one against his cheek.
He kissed her skin, his hands working upward.
When he reached her knees, he heard her breath catch as he moved them apart, but it only made him more bold, more eager to seize her.
He flung one leg back over his shoulder and gripped handfuls of flesh while his lips explored the inside of her thighs.
His palms reached to her backside, and he tangled his fingers in the silky fabric of her garment and squeezed.
It made her yelp. He liked making her make noises, and he looked up at her with a grin, before teasing his tongue along her contours where soft material met softer skin.
Alex gripped the sheets and dropped her head back with a groan.
The scent of her desire urged him on, and he found himself caught in a growl as he nipped at her skin.
Soon, he was kissing her belly and his hands were moving up her torso while he balanced himself between her legs.
She arched to meet his touch. He watched as she followed his hands with her eyes, her lips parted.
Then he moved his greedy palms up to her breasts.
She jerked towards him at the contact, and in response, he gripped her firmly into his hands, his arousal ready to overwhelm them both.
He hovered above her and teased his lips against hers.
Then he dropped his head to her breast and sucked tender skin into his mouth, making her cry out as he did so.
She threw her arms across his shoulders, drawing him closer.
He felt her body moving beneath him, her hips rocking up towards him.
He used his knees to spread her thighs open wider, and he pressed himself against her, sliding the length of him along her most sensitive area.
Alex dropped back onto the pillows with a shudder, thrusting her breasts out for him as she did.
He sucked and grabbed hungrily at her. Her body was so wild and sensitive.
He had to go further, he couldn’t wait any longer.
He released his hold on her breasts and situated himself so he could move his hand lower and paint the outside of her drawers with his fingertips.
After a moment, he reached beneath the fabric.
Her eyes shot open, but he moved his other hand up to her hair and angled her for a kiss.
He took her mouth as he touched her, working his fingertips over her silky skin.
He drew large circles across her sensitive flesh, slowly opening her up.
There was tension in her body, but he felt the moment when she submitted.
He dipped into her to drag out some of her own wetness.
Then he found her delicate pebble and teased it, her legs now falling willingly apart.
Alex broke their kiss, panting. She closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around his neck, her body telling him things words couldn’t.
He watched her, marveling at her form, her body moving like a melody.
He wanted to give her everything, and he wanted more and more and more from her.
He moved his hand more firmly against her now as his own need refused to be put down, and soon he felt her body reaching towards the end.
But then he pulled his hand back. He wasn’t done with her quite yet.
In realization, she snapped open her eyes and looked at him accusingly.
He smiled and shook his head. “I told you,” he teased. “This time I would be inside of you.”
She closed her eyes and half laughed, half groaned.
Philippe rose then and stood at the foot of the bed.
With both hands, he eased the garment off of her legs.
He watched her sex, pink and wet and ready for him, as she watched him.
Then he moved his own undergarments down.
Alex’s eyes widened when she saw him bared, thick and wanting, and the feeling he had to finally make her his woman overcame him.
Taking her knees and moving them apart, he kneeled before her.
But instead of lying back and letting him take the next step, Alex came up onto her knees.
She looked up at him and ran her hands over his body, which until that moment, he’d forgotten was bruised and beaten.
Over his muscles, across his skin, the feel of her lips and her breath on his wounded flesh was so satisfying even as it made him all the more desperate.
She stretched up to kiss his lips, but her hands moved lower, over his abdominal muscles, past the angling of his hips, and to his surprise, she took the sturdy length of him into her palms. Philippe nearly crumbled.
She moved her hands up and down, spreading his own wetness across his shaft, watching as she did so.
Then she looked back to him with a bold smile before reaching down to feel the throbbing weights beneath him.
He clenched his jaw and felt like he may buckle.
“Alex,” he growled.
“Not until you’re inside me,” she said with big eyes.