His face was slowly closing down, becoming defensive and cautious. The contrast to how he usually looked, alight with laughter and happiness, was stark. AndIwas doing that to him. I swallowed and forcedmyself to speak.
“This is more than hooking up, isn’t it?” Making him say it was cowardly, but I couldn’t—I justcouldn’trisk his disgust if I’d misunderstood what he’d said.
“I’d like it to be.” He moistened his lips.
My heart jumped at his words. I had to keep things light and not let him know how vital this was to me. “Are you sure the dirty sock thing isn’t a dealbreaker? Because I”—my voice fractured with nerves—"Iwantthis. I want to be with you.”
His smile was like the first day of spring, warm and bright and filled with promise.
“Clean floors are overrated,” he informed me happily and kissed me.
I was making little sounds into his mouth as I kissed him back, and I hoped to hell he thought they were turned-on sounds, not the joy and hope that were fizzing so fast inside me I couldn’t keep it all in. We could have this. I could havehim,something I hadn’t thought possible.I’d just need to be careful not to ask for too much.
*
Much later, emotions safely hidden once more, we reluctantly began to dress in crumpled clothes. My suit would be a lost cause unless Bath had a decent dry cleaner. It had been worth it though, I thought, remembering the hunger with which Alex and I had torn off one another’s clothes
“I prodded Steven last night,” Alex informed me as he pulled his socks on.
“I hope that’s not a euphemism.”
“Don’t worry—he couldn’t get away fast enough. I wanted to know if he was familiar with our Arthurian heritage. It wasn’t asurprise to him, and he was also scornful of James’s attitude, so I’m pretty sure he knows what his old man’s up to. So I baited him a bit—still not a euphemism. You’re going to have to watch my back from now on. Otherwise, I’m going to wind up drugged, in Vegas, and married to Ella.”
I stared at him. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
Alex grinned briefly. “I suspect Steven got in touch with some other dragon families to find outtheirthoughts on our heritage, because when he came back to talk to me later, he was definitelyinterested.” He hesitated. “Damn it. I might have stirred up a hornets’ nest instead of achieving anything useful for our investigation. We’re not very good at this, are we?”
I sat on the bed beside him. “At least we know now that Steven’s involved. I’d presumed, wrongly, that James would keep his plans ring-fenced from him. Steven has the reverse of a Midas touch—everything he handles turns to disaster.”
Alex nudged me. “You’re very proper for someone who’s just been sucking my cock. I think the word you were looking for was shit.”
“Probably,” I agreed. “Speaking of our investigation, James introduced me to Tom Fortescue last night. He’s James’s brother and cut from the same cloth. They grilled me like a job interview, but one held over a shark tank—one wrong answer, and I’d have been chum. Tom wants me to go to Zurich with him in a couple of days’ time. I think they want to evaluate how I handle clients. There’s no other obvious explanation.”
“So long as they’re not going to throw you out of the plane halfway over the Channel,” Alex said. “Do you think it’s safe to go with a Fortescue to somewhere no one knows you?”
“I have no doubt that if James Fortescue knew what we were up to,he’dbe the one dealing with us. He wouldn’t outsourcethis, not even to his brother. I think it’s precisely what it looks like—part of a job interview.”
“Congratulations, I guess. But for the love of God, be careful. I don’t like the thought of you there on your own.”
I kissed him. To have someone other than Rufus care about me was strange, and I liked it. A lot.
He kissed me back, and then the clothes we’d been putting on started to come off again. Earlier, we’d piled up pillows on the bed to sit against. I wondered if that had been prescience, because they were positioned perfectly to muffle my gasps as Alex kissed his way down the length of my spine, alternating his kisses with little licks.
By the time he reached my arse, I was weak with pleasure, unable to do more than moan as he opened me up with his tongue. He teased me with fingers and mouth and tongue until I was begging, needing his cock more than I’d needed anything ever.
He pushed into me, so slowly that the anticipation was killing me. “God,” he said, sounding wrecked. “Look at you, taking me so easily. You’re beautiful.”
And he kept talking. Even when he started fucking me, he told me how good I was, how gorgeous, how he loved doing this with me. He asked me to turn my head so he could see my face, and after that, everything became a blur as he thrust into me, over and over. I came so hard I thought I might have died.
Afterwards, he held me gently and kissed my forehead. I’d never known anything like how it had been with him. He’d wanted me, not just for my body or my talent at giving head, but forme.
I lay in his arms, and I felt treasured.
Chapter Eighteen
NATE
Back at the Fortescues’, we both went for a solo shower. I was glad not to be sharing mine because I sang at the top of my voice, belting out musical numbers as I floated on a cloud of happiness. Alex was amazing. And he wanted me. The grin wouldn’t come off my face, not even when I got shampoo in my eye.