“Okay,” Nora said, heading for the door. “Send it when you’re ready. I’ll continue with Let Them Eat Cakes. It’s actually a pretty fun campaign. Maybe you’d like to take a look at that, partner?”
Alex glanced up. “Partner ... I like that,” he said, watching Nora as she smiled and walked out of the room. “Partner,” he whispered, staring at the door long after it closed. “I like that very much indeed.”
*
Bayside hospital was bustling, the lobby busier than the rush hour traffic outside. Faces of all description vied with the relentless buzz of voices, staff pages and crying children. The wail of sirens echoed from the nearby ER, and coupled with the antiseptic odor and chilly air conditioning, created an intimidating environment that triggered in Alex many less than happy memories of trips to the doctor and needles.
He paused in the crowded waiting area to check that his phone was muted and that there were no messages. Alone with his guilty conscience after his conversation with Nora, Alex had found it impossible to concentrate on his work. The Alex Stone magic was rapidly becoming the Alex Stone curse, but now the consequences had become far more serious.
Navigating toward the a huge, semicircular reception desk topped by plants and annoyingly cheerful stuffed animals, Alex glanced nervously at the matronly woman typing at a computer with dagger-like stabs. She peered up at him over the top of her glasses.
“Can I help you, Sir?”
“Could you tell me if Rick Slater is receiving visitors?” Alex asked. “I believe he’s in Room 407. I’ve been trying to call, but no one picks up.”
“Sir, we’re one of the busiest hospitals in the area,” the receptionist said as she perused a different screen. “You just have to keep trying.” She paused and scrolled down a window. “Okay, here we are. Yes, he’s fine for non-family visitors. Elevators are to your right. Visiting hours finish at eight.”
“Thanks,” Alex said, his anxiety rising as he approached the elevators.
As soon as one arrived, an anxiously chattering Asian family rushed in behind him, the multigenerational clan literally pressing him against the wall. Alex sighed with relief as they exited on the third floor.
Alone with his troubled thoughts, he hesitated when the elevator doors opened onto the fourth floor. He stepped out, feeling a vague sense of panic. It had been a decade since he had last set foot in a hospital, and the memory of arriving minutes before his grandfather had died still haunted him.
Ahead, a nurse’s station loomed like Mission Control. The soft pastel decor did little to ease Alex’s nerves as he followed the numbers to Room 407, the muted drone of televisions and the conversations waxing and waning from the rooms he passed.
Some patients strolled the corridor attached to IV drips, while orderlies ferried the less ambulatory on wheelchairs. Battling a tendril of unease coiling in his gut, Alex paused outside Room 407. Hearing nothing, he peered into a generically pleasant private room.
A drawn blue curtain blocked Rick from view, but the relentless beeping of monitors confirmed his presence. Alex stepped inside, hesitated, then approached.
“Rick?”
Silence.
“Rick, it’s Alex.”
More silence.
Alex approached the curtain and peeked inside to find Rick asleep, then caught himself before he uttered a gasp of shock. The pale, almost gaunt figure hooked up to multiple drips and monitors was not his best buddy from college. Alex had a sudden flash of the emaciated face of his grandfather staring up at him from the bed for the last time.
Oh ... my ... God...
Unable to move, unable to process the specter of his friend, Alex stood at the foot of the bed. Suddenly, Rick’s eyes fluttered, closed and then opened. As his gaze fixed on Rick, a glimmer of recognition lit his eyes. “Alex?” he whispered hoarsely.
He paused to clear his throat, then reached for a cup of water on the stand. Alex rushed over to hand it to Rick, who sipped thirstily through a straw.
“How are you, buddy?” Alex asked.
Rick drank deeply. “I feel like shit, man,” he said. “Fucking had to be medevac’d. Can’t even remember what happened after that.”
Alex’s heart contracted. “Food poisoning...?”
Rick grimaced. “Ciguatera poisoning from some damned fish I ate. Jesus ... felt like I was going to die. I’ve never been so fucking sick.” He closed his eyes for a moment as if attempting to banish the unpleasant memory, then looked at Alex. “So Tisa finally got hold of you.”
“Yeah, I spoke to her today.”
“I’ve been here for three days, buddy. Would you have come any sooner if she’d told you I had died?”
For as long as he lived, Alex knew he would never forget the look in Rick’s eyes. They had shared a lot, perhaps too much, in their years of post-adolescent revelry, but the hurt that shadowed Rick’s expression branded Alex like a hot iron.
Alex frowned. “I’m sorry, Rick,” he said. “How the hell ... you’ve been to the Caribbean so many times. It’s like your back yard. Who knew you’d get sick this time around?”
“Yeah, it sucks, doesn’t it,” Rick said. “Especially when it was all about your dirty laundry.”
His words struck Alex like a gut punch.
Rick set the cup back on the stand. “We’ve always had each other’s backs, Alex,” he said, “but man, I could have died. This isn’t some after party shit anymore, buddy. This is serious. I can’t be doing this anymore. You want to hold me to something then go ahead, but don’t expect anymore favors from me.”
“Rick, do you honestly think I would have even asked if...”
“Tisa’s your baggage,” Rick interrupted, “not mine. You can deal with her. I wined and dined her, persuaded her to come with me to Montego. Next thing I know I’m on a helicopter puking my guts out till I thought I was going to die.” He paused at the sound of the increasing beep of one of the monitors.
Alex glanced at it in alarm and realized it was a blood pressure monitor. “Easy, Rick. I don’t want you stressing over this. It’s all my fault, I know that. I’ve been selfish and I’m really sorry man. Really.”
Rick’s eyes began to flutter from fatigue. “I’m done, Alex. I’ve paid my dues. When I’m out of here I’m heading to Seattle to stay with my uncle for a while. Just need to clear my system and get back on track. You fucking owe me big time.”
“You got it, buddy,” Alex said. “Anything you need.”
Rick slowly closed his eyes and drifted off the sleep. Alex watched him, his thoughts reeling from hurt, confusion and most of all, self-loathing. “Get well soon, old friend.”
Feeling like his heart was about to explode from his chest, Alex blinked back tears and hurried from the room. Overwhelmed by his turbulent emotions, he didn’t initially notice the rapidly retreating click of heels ahead of him until he arrived at the elevators.
Glancing toward them, he glimpsed a dark-haired figure staring a moment before the doors slid shut. Only then did he realize it had been Tisa.
*
“You’ve reached Tisa. Leave me and message and I’ll call you back.”
“Dammit, Tisa!” Alex cried toward the Bluetooth speaker after he heard the beep. “I know you’re there. Please pick up. I’m sorry about what happened. Can we talk about this?”
He listened hopefully for a moment before hanging up in frustration. Five attempts in five minutes ... and in his mind, the endless loop of the image of her face glimpsed a moment before the elevator doors closed. Though his calls went straight to voicemail, even from a distance he could feel Tisa’s energy like a brewing thunderstorm.
Scores of other texts and voicemails stacked up like aircraft queuing to land, but Alex ignored them. Many were messages from his father and Nora, no doubt wondering where he had disappeared. He hadn’t told anyone about the visit, which even now, seemed like a surreal nightmare.
Blinking back tears, he struggled to keep his attention on the road. Traffic
was a nightmare due to a broken water main, and every honk and blare of a siren rattled his already shattered nerves. He thought about Nora, and the thought of how he could even face her stirred his anxiety even more. It would have been one thing to return to his empty penthouse ... at least he could have licked his wounds in the quiet darkness, but to see her, hear her voice.
Eventually, Alex wove his way through the traffic using a network of shortcuts and side streets, his constant attempts to reach Tisa achieving little more than hitting an emotional brick wall. Exhausted and discouraged, he pulled into the underground garage of his building shortly after midnight.
Sitting in his car, he stared at the sea of parked vehicles. His temples throbbed from stress, his heart a drumbeat in his chest. He realized he was scared, a little boy too frightened to own up that it was his baseball that had shattered the living room window. Glancing at the glowing face of his watch, he observed the seconds ticking by ... the seconds of life hurled into chaos.
By the time he reached the penthouse, a curious numbness had set in. Perhaps it was the mind’s reaction to psychological pain much the way the body produced endorphins to relieve physical pain. He stepped through the door like an automaton, the silent, darkened rooms confirming that he would at least not have to face Nora.
Catching a glimpse of himself in a decorative mirror, Alex flinched and looked away. He couldn’t bear to look at his face, especially his eyes. They were nothing but props, his persona as ephemeral as stage makeup easily wiped off until the next performance. He wondered what he would find beyond the empty canvas of his soul.
He stood listening to the silence and stared at the view beyond. Though his stomach rumbled hungrily, he ignored it as penance. Looking at his phone, he dialed Tisa’s number once again, but it went straight into voicemail.
Swallowing the lump in his throat, he ascended the stairs. He glanced toward Nora’s room and hesitated, wanting her, needing her more badly than he had ever needed anything in his life, but he was too afraid. Maybe ... maybe when he could face himself without cringing he could look her in the eye as well, but for now he didn’t have the strength to tie his shoes.
Alex turned toward his room at the opposite end of the hall. The soft click of a door snared him. He stopped in mid-stride, unable to will himself to do anything but wait.
Soft footsteps approached, followed by the feel of Nora’s arms gathering him into an embrace. Saying nothing, she merely rested her head against his shoulders and quietly held him.
By now, tears beyond Alex’s ability to control flowed down his face, and his body convulsed into wracking sobs. Nora gripped him tightly, willing her strength into him.
“Just let it out,” she said. “Whatever your pain is, release it.”
It seemed forever before his sobs subsided. Doubled over, his sides aching, Alex finally managed to gulp air into his parched lungs. Slowly, Nora turned him to face her.
“Come to bed,” she said, gazing into his bloodshot eyes. “You need to sleep before you collapse.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” Alex said.
“Your body may have other ideas,” she said.
Alex initially resisted, but his fatigued body soon surrendered to Nora’s firm grip. He said nothing as she led him back to her room and sat him on the bed. He collapsed onto it like a broken puppet and lay staring at the ceiling. Nora sat beside him and gently caressed his face.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked. “I was worried about you. You disappeared after work without a word.”
Alex blinked a few times and finally turned to Nora.
“Just stay here with me, Nora. Please. I need you right now.”
Nora smiled and brushed a few damp strands of hair from his face. Stretching out beside him, she molded her body against his. Feeling her supple warmth pressed tightly against him, Alex turned toward her and met her embrace. He inhaled her soft fragrance, the silky peach nightdress she wore clinging to her body like a second skin.
Running his hands against the fabric clinging to her sensuous curves, he felt a tingling sensation in his fingers that gradually infused his body. Alex gazed into her eyes, their lips melting into a gentle kiss. Uttering a muffled sob, he sought the refuge of her breasts and rested his head against them.
Now a different need course through his body, but it was nothing like the sexual hunger he was so accustomed to. It was a primal need for comfort and closeness, the feeling of another human to cling to in a dark hour he had never before experienced, which left him feeling adrift and helpless.
Sensing his need, Nora sat up and slipped off her gown. Alex gazed at the perfection of her body veiled by the light and shadows of the room. Compelled by a mounting urgency, his hands moved feverishly along the satiny planes of her flesh. His mouth engulfed her rigid nipples and circled her rosy aureolas, eliciting a soft moan from Nora.
Now he felt the heat of her mouth, and the probing of her tongue. Uttering a guttural cry, she pushed Alex onto his back and stripped off his clothes, her hands aggressively caressing him in time with her mouth. Watching her and the seductive movement of her body, Alex’s resistance drained away, and he surrendered to her.
Noticing his eyes grow heavy and flutter, Nora continued her journey down Alex’s body with her eager mouth and hands. Her fingers lingered on his belly, then flickered toward his rising cock. It jerked at her touch, his balls growing taut. She lovingly caressed the length of his shaft and tickled his balls.
Brushing her lips against the tip of his cock, Nora gently lapped at the pre-cum beading at the tip. Alex moaned and sighed, his body finally relaxing. She rose and straddled Alex’s thighs, then looked at him before gripping his cock and lowering her mouth to its engorged head. Flicking her tongue on and around it with feathery strokes, she toyed with it before slowly slipping it into her mouth.
Alex’s eyes flew open, and he gazed at her with a look of pain and yearning. He writhed beneath the sensation of her scorching wet mouth engulfing him to the hilt, then at the friction of her tongue furiously licking and sucking. Her free hand moved to both stroke his cock and massage his balls, now as tight as an orange, eliciting a fiery surge of pleasure resonating like a tuning fork throughout his sensitized body. Nora’s pendulous breasts slapped against his thighs in synchronous motion with her pumping mouth, her hair a wildly tousled veil.
An intense, aching pressure rose from Alex’s groin, ushering the first waves of his impending orgasm course through his body. For a moment, the world retreated as he submitted to blissful release. But it was almost too soon, too fast. He wanted more than just physical release, he wanted to feel himself inside of Nora while their bodies were pressed together in an embrace; he wanted to experience a joining of hearts and souls, not like...
But even as the thought entered his mind, Alex felt his cock explode into a violent spasm that seemed to release an endless torrent of semen into Nora’s eagerly swallowing mouth. Her tongue hungrily lapped every drop of the fountaining cum until his flexing cock finally drained. With a deep, shuddering sigh, Alex felt his body ease into a state of semi consciousness.
Rising above him, Nora gazed into his eyes and gently caressed his face. Her fingers trailed to his lips to ease the frown that had etched lines around his mouth.
“Sleep, Alex,” she whispered, massaging his earlobes.
Within a few moments, Alex’s eyes fluttered, then shut as he fell into the dreamless sleep of exhaustion.
*
Leaning back in his chair, his eyes fixed unseeingly on a view that had until only recently begun to inspire him, Alex stared at the cityscape beyond. He had awakened after ten to an empty bed, a pot of coffee waiting on the night table and a note from Nora. Remembering her tender ministrations, her own pleasure abandoned to his needs, Alex felt a surge of gratitude mixed with shame. He felt unworthy of her unselfish actions.
He reached for his phone and redialed Tisa’s number, the action like a nervous tic that never qui
te went away. This time, a recorded message announced that the number was no longer in service. Alex stared at his phone in shock, barely noticing a soft knock at the door.
“Come in,” he said, quickly hanging up.
The sight of Nora instantly warmed Alex. Dressed in a creamy lace dress that complemented her complexion, her hair upswept into a charming spray of ringlets, he was reminded how beautiful she looked at his uncle’s wedding. His heart ached, the memories seemingly a lifetime ago.
Noticing his distant expression, Nora approached and gave him a quick hug.
“You okay?”
Alex merely nodded.
“You looked so exhausted. I didn’t want to wake you.” She hesitated, as if expecting or hoping that he would say something. “I was down in legal. What time did you get in?”
“Maybe half an hour ago,” he said. Alex gazed at her a moment. “I wanted ... I wanted to thank you, Nora. I...” His words trailed into silence. Even if he wanted to say something more, he wasn’t sure he knew how. “Did Dad mention anything?”
“He’s been with Miles Langley all morning at the country club, but he did call me briefly to ask if you’d come in. He was concerned that you never returned his calls last night ... as was I.”
“What did you tell him?” Alex asked.
Nora paused to squeeze Alex’s hand. “I told him you weren’t feeling too well and just had an early night. He’s very excited about Miles. We’re meeting him for lunch to discuss his updated plans for the Langley Luxe campaign.”
It took a few moments before Nora’s words sunk in.
“Updated plans?” Alex asked.
“I’m assuming you haven’t checked your email,” Nora said.
Alex glanced at his computer. He had logged on but had gone no farther.
Nora pulled up and chair and sat close beside him. A gentle waft of jasmine caressed Alex. He inhaled it and felt a moment of calmness.
“Is there anything you’d like to talk about?” she asked, carefully watching his eyes. “When you disappeared last night you got us all worried.”
The Alpha's Touch Boxed Set (14 Book Bundle) Page 140