SADIE
I was done tryingto convince myself that my life wasn’t a fairytale. Tonight was magical. That was all there was to it.
As Alex and I slow danced on the rooftop I looked over the city. I wished I could come up with a better descriptor to use, but I was truly at a loss for words.
I’d never seen a more beautiful view. Alex pressed his hand more firmly to my back and I lifted my head and glanced up at him. Okay, there might be one more beautiful view.
Alex was physical perfection, there was no doubt about that. But I honestly didn’t think that was why I was drawn to him. I was attracted to his appearance, of course, but it was more than that. It was deeper, it was like my soul was the moth to his soul’s flame.
This night could not get any more perfect. Well, except for the fact that blisters had formed on my heels and my feet were killing me. How did women wear heels every day?
A wrinkle formed between Alex’s brows. “Are you okay?”
That was another trait he had that was so ridiculously attractive. He was so attuned to me. He noticed everything. I would have thought that would be unnerving or irritating, but it was the opposite. It made me feel...seen.
I smiled up at him. “I’m just not used to wearing heels.”
“Take them off,” he commanded roughly, although totally innocent in nature, it sent my arousal meter reading off the charts.
My entire body lit with tingling exhilaration as I bent down and slid off the vintage, six-inch Jimmy Choos that Charli had insisted I borrow and wear.
“Ahh,” I let out a relieved sigh.
When I straightened, Alex was holding out his hand. “Sit with me.”
My pulse sped as he led me across the deck and settled on a chaise lounge chair. He didn’t drop my hand as he guided me to sit between his legs.
I’d thought that slow dancing with him tonight, our bodies pressed against one another’s, had been glorious. But this, seated between his legs, feeling his heartbeat pounding against my back was an entirely new level of intimacy.
His hand started moving up my bare leg, and I shamelessly parted my legs giving him complete access. My entire body was thrumming with tingling excitement. I wasn’t sure if it was the wine and glasses of champagne that had gone straight to my head. Or the feeling that Alex was actually opening up to me. Or if it was the incredible view of the city. Or if it was just that being this close to Alex made me do things that I normally wouldn’t.
It was the strangest thing. I wanted this moment to last forever, but I also wanted more. As much as I loved being cocooned in his arms, sitting between his legs, I wanted to be naked with him.
“I’ve never felt this way before. I can’t get enough of you. I’ve tried to ignore it. I’ve tried to deny it. I’ve tried to avoid it. But I can’t.”
His admission was filled with pain. I could hear the pain in his voice. I knew that what he felt for me didn’t make him happy.
Maddox believed that I was good for Alex. That he needed me. But I wasn’t sure that was the case. He still hadn’t told me that he was actually available. I knew that I couldn’t fix him. I told myself that I wasn’t going into this with blinders on.
But none of that changed the fact that I wanted—no needed—to take everything he was offering.
As we reclined under a blanket of stars with the moonlight shimmering down, I watched as his large hand ran down my leg. It reminded me a little of the way I’d watched him undress me through the reflection of the glass wall in the hallway the first night we’d been physical.
My heart was thudding so hard, I was sure that he could feel it through my back.
His breath heated my neck taking away any chill that I might be feeling from the nippy night air causing goosebumps to rise on my skin.
“All I think about is you.” He whispered against the sensitive skin just below my ear as his hand ran up my inner thigh, stopping a mere inch before the apex of my legs and moved back the way it had come. “I can’t go a day, an hour, even five minutes without thinking of you. I go to sleep and you fill my dreams. I can’t escape you. You’re always in my mind. Your smile. Your laugh. Your scent. Your taste.”
This time his hand traveled up my inner thigh, it didn’t stop just before my sex. It continued up and his hand cupped my most intimate place. My legs fell farther apart, exposing myself like I was Achoo about to give herself a bath. The gesture giving him silent permission to take me. All of me.
I had no idea if residents that lived higher up on the hill could see us, but I didn’t care. The only thing I cared about was what I was feeling right in that moment.
His fingers caressed my mound, still covered in the black silk of my panties. His touch was firm enough to set me on fire, but gentle enough to make me ache for more. As good as his teasing felt, I wanted to feel his skin against mine. My hips began to roll into his touch.
“Does that feel good?” he rasped, his lips brushing against my ear.
“Yes.”
