“You got it,” I said, murmuring against her lips. “And that’s a promise I fully intend to keep.”
She moaned into my mouth when I crawled onto the mattress with her, pinning her against the bed with my entire body covering hers. Both of us knew exactly where this was headed and we were choosing willingly to follow.
We’d come a long way, Jane and I, but in the back of my mind, I thought about everything that was supposed to happen in the next few days, and I hoped it all went according to my plan.
Because if not, this thing between us would implode, and there was no way I could let that happen. I couldn’t let her go. Not now and possibly not ever.
CHAPTER 35
JANE
It hit me like a slow, devastating realization every time, this irrational, undeniable chemistry between us. Alex kissed deliberately, with intention, his tongue sweeping into my mouth like he wouldn’t stop until he’d kissed every thought out of my brain and every other man out of my history.
I turned into goo underneath him, liquid heat pooling between my legs and everything else quickly fading away. All my life, I’d insisted on keeping a tight grip on the reins. I never let go. Never allowed someone else to take over.
Tightly woundwas the expression I’d probably most been associated with until I’d met him, but with Alex, I felt safe. Safe enough to let go and to hand over the wheel so he could drive. His hand settled at my waist, firm and possessive without ever crossing into force.
Alex never rushed. He controlled the pace like he controlled everything else, confident enough to take his time. My fingers curled into his shirt, my heart doing something reckless and traitorous in my chest.
God, he’s dangerous.
But not in the way I’d thought before I’d gotten to know him. It wasn’t because of the money, or the power, or the way people bent around him without realizing it.
For me, it was because of this, the way he made me feel chosen. Like there was nowhere else he’d rather be and no one else he’d rather be with.
When he pulled back, his forehead rested against mine and he murmured against my lips. “You’re thinking again.”
I let out a soft laugh, tracing my fingertips across the sharp lines of his jaw and just looking at him, this impossibly gorgeous man with that lock of dark hair hanging over his forehead and the warmth in those mossy eyes. “I can’t help it.”
“You can,” he said. “You just don’t trust it yet.”
He was uncomfortably close to the truth, but I just smiled, not even bothering to deny it. “Does it help to know I was thinking about you?”
“Oh yeah?” A slow, wicked grin spread on his lips as he ran the flat of his palm along my side. “What were you thinking?”
He braced himself over me, holding himself up on one of his elbows and making me feel the weight of his presence. Bedroom Alex was the sexiest thing I’d ever encountered, his dominance not loud or performative, but made up of quiet certainty, steady hands, knowing exactly what he wanted, and making space for me to meet him there.
His hand finally brushed my thigh, gently sliding under my skirt. I squirmed underneath him, my fingers sliding into his hair. “I like it when it’s just us.”
Fierce protectiveness flickered behind the warmth in his eyes. “Me too. It’s just easy.”
I searched his face, looking for even a crack of insincerity and finding none. “I started this thinking you were a distraction. A way to avoid the last of my life falling apart.”
“And now?” he asked.
“I think you might be something else entirely,” I said. “It scares me a little, if I’m being honest.”
His expression softened, his thumb brushing along my cheek. “I would never hurt you, Killer. Not in a million years or for a billion dollars.”
Dipping his head back down to mine, he took my lips in a deep, slow kiss that melted my brain and narrowed the world to only what was happening between us. I felt pampered in his attention, cherished in the way he touched me like I was something precious instead of broken.
“Alex?” I murmured as I brought my fingers to his chest and slowly started undoing his buttons one by one.
“Yeah, baby?”
My heart skipped and I smiled against his lips. “You’ve never called me that before.”
“Haven’t I?” He pulled back only far enough to let me see the smirk sliding across his lips. “Do you like it?”
