Winning Alex: The Cameron Family Saga

by Shirley Larson

  “I like you like this…like you’re a painting by Goya. Are you feeling self-conscious?” he asked me.

  It seemed an odd thing to ask me. “No,” I said. “I don‘t think I could ever be self-conscious with you.”

  “Undress me.” When I stood there wondering which delicious part of him I would start on first, he said, “That’s an order…from your boss.” His eyes sparkled with humor. I couldn’t believe he was joking about the barrier that had kept us apart for so long. He held out his arm for me to undo his cuff links. While I worked at flipping the little catch, he touched my breast so tenderly, as if my nipple were the finest work of art. My fingers fumbled at that bit of gold in his sleeve. “Are you having trouble concentrating?” he asked in that smooth, self-assured voice.

  “I’m having trouble breathing,” I said, in a burst of honesty.

  “So truthful. And here’s your reward.” He leaned over and kissed me, then took me in his mouth.

  At last the cuff link came free and because Alex held me in place, loving my breast as it had never been loved before, I tossed the jewelry on my dresser. It hit the mirror with a little plink, but the mirror didn’t break.

  “Alex, I…need your other arm.”

  He raised his head, his face dark with sexual hunger. I almost had another orgasm just looking at him. He bent as if to favor my other breast with the same attention he’d given the first but I blocked him with my arm, much as I hated to. “No,” I said. “I can get this done faster if you don’t…”

  More skilled now with the second cuff link, I slipped it out of the buttonhole and tossed it to join the first one. It too, hit the mirror.

  “You break the mirror, you’ll have seven years of bad luck.”

  “That’s an old wives’ tale.”

  “I’ve often wondered who these old wives are, haven’t you?”

  “Alex, I really don’t care.” Before he could touch me, I grabbed the shoulders of his shirt to tug it off and then realized I could effectively pin his arms to his sides. Holding him prisoner, l found his nipple and licked first one and then the other.

  “Enjoying yourself?” he asked in the deep voice that held a touch of edginess in it, not making any move to free his arms.

  “Immensely,” I said. “You?” Still holding him captive, I licked my way down his chest to his navel and twirled my tongue in the cavity. He tasted salty.

  “I’m quite…engaged in the proceedings.”

  Honestly. Did this man have to be erudite even while he was being sexually assaulted? I wondered if there was any way I could hold the shirt in place and unzip his pants to free him. I found I could, especially since he made no move to free himself. His member sprang free, hard and full. My insides clutched at the sight of it.

  “Yes,” I said. “I can see how “engaged” you are.”

  “Fully, you might say.” He stood waiting, his arms still captured.

  I bent to him. This man deserved to be tortured, and I was determined to do my best. I sent my tongue over the top of his member, just barely touching him. His groan was music to my ears. I licked a tad bit harder, circling the tip, lapping underneath it.

  “Remind me to fire you in the morning,” he groaned.

  “You can’t. I already quit.”

  “Don’t…quit.”

  I knew he wasn’t talking about work. I sucked the tip lightly, just barely taking it in my mouth. He didn’t move, although I could feel the tension in his body as he fought not to push himself deeply in my mouth. I rewarded his restraint by taking him in more fully. I loved the taste of him, salty, male. I reveled in loving him with my tongue and my lips. I used my other hand to extend my capture of him. I had the entire length of him in my hand and my mouth. I could feel him struggling to hold back, but that only made me increase my sucking out his full length and then relaxing back. I found a rhythm, and before I could really take as much of him as I wanted, he grabbed my head and tried to pull me up. I resisted. He could no longer hold the storm back. He came in my mouth and I swallowed his cum.

  He shrugged out of his shirt, undid his belt and shimmied out of his pants. He sat down on the bed and dispensed with his shoes and socks and was lying flat on his back in bed and pulling me down on top of him almost before I realized what was happening. “Damn.” He rolled me off him to one side.

  “What is it?”

  “Condom’s in my pants pocket.”

  “We won’t need it right away, will we?”

  “Don’t bet on it,” he said.

  He lay down beside me, the packet in his hand. I took his other hand and brought it to my mouth. “You have beautiful hands,” I said, and I sucked his index finger.

  “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Loving you,” I said. “Haven’t you ever had anyone love you like this, no holds barred, every part of your body accessible?”

  “No,” he said in a low husky voice. “No woman has ever been interested in my hands before.”

  “Ah,” I said. “Then this is a new experience for you.” I sucked his middle finger, gave it lots of nice laps.

  “Susan. You…”

  I crawled on top of him and held both his hands together over his head. “I used to imagine you were a pirate.”

  “Some pirate to allow himself to be captured like this. Not once, but twice.”

  I leaned forward and rubbed my breasts against his chest. “Are you ready to do my bidding?”

  “Oh, yeah.”

  I let go of his hands and plucked the packet off his chest. He had to help me but together we got him sheathed. I’d put on a big act with all my play capturing of him, but now I was trembling. After an eternity of waiting, I was finally going to have Alex inside me. Where he belonged. Where he had always belonged.

  It seemed odd that for our first time, Alex was going to let me remain on top of him and control how fast or slow I took him in. I tried for slow, I really did. But when I felt him inside me, so big, giving me that longed for fullness I’d wanted for an eternity, I couldn’t hold back. I took him in to the hilt. And I did it again. And again. I arched above him and he clasped my breasts. I took him more and faster. The explosion came all at once, and I shattered. The ecstasy was more intense, more all-consuming than I had ever imagined it could be. Alex, too, was in the throes of his orgasm and his face was beautiful in his absorption with his complete pleasure. It increased my pleasure a thousand fold to know I had done that for him. Suddenly he rolled, putting me underneath him. He was lengthening his orgasm by taking control of our rhythm. I clutched his shoulders, wanting this moment to go on forever. We reached our peak together. In the aftermath of the storm, Alex lay on top of me. I realized this might be the awkward part. He leaned over and kissed me on the nose. Then he rose and went into the bathroom to dispose of his condom. I lay there, not wanting to pull the sheet up, not wanting anything to touch my body but Alex

  Chapter 11

  Alex came out and lay down beside me, propping his head up on his elbow so he could see me. “I don’t want you to quit, Susan.”

  I didn’t know whether to be hurt or happy. Why did his first thought have to be about our business relationship?

  “So you want me to come to work and pretend this never happened?”

  “Of course not. I’m not an idiot. I’m just saying that I want you to continue to be my assistant. “

  “And what about this?” I was upset, I couldn’t help it. If he thought I could go back to work and never think about how it was between us, he was an idiot.

  “This,” he leaned over and kissed my breast, “shouldn’t be a problem. We’ll fit it into our schedules whenever we can.”

  “I don’t want to be ‘fit into your schedule.’ I want to be…” I was going to say everything to you, but he stopped me.

  “My wife?” He shook his head. “Not possible.”

  Quick as a cat, I straddled him. “Why isn’t it possible?”

  “It just

  “I’m
not good enough for you, is that it?”

  He grabbed my arms. “Where did that stupid idea come from? As it happens, you’re far too good for me. You‘re beautiful and intelligent…” He shook his head. “I tried to let you go. I couldn’t do it.”

  “I am not going to let you up until you tell me why we can’t marry.”

  Feeling very audacious, I leaned over and licked him. He was still sticky from his cum and he tasted salty and sweet. In response to my onslaught, his muscles clenched.

  He could over power me in a minute and throw me off, we both knew that.

  “I won’t die and live you a widow.”

  It was so far from what I expected him to say that I sat up and stared at him. “What do you mean, you won’t die and leave me a widow?”

  “Just what I said.”

  I was going to drag the truth out of him if I had to sit on him all night. “I appreciate the thought, but why should it be set in stone that you’ll die first? I might catch some horrible disease…”

  He grabbed my arms. “Don’t say that. I couldn’t bear to see you suffer.”

  “Well, I’m suffering now, trying to figure you out. I always had the feeling you were hiding something, not only from me but from your family. What is it, Alex? Are you ill?”

  “No,” he said, “not yet.”

  That set my heart beating in quick time. “What do you mean not yet?”

  He just looked at me. I could see I wasn’t going to get it out of him. Suddenly an idea clicked in my brain. His father. His father had died at the age of forty-nine and left his family destitute.

  “You have the same thing your father had.”

  “Sudden death syndrome. Lovely name, eh? Jane assures me that as long as I take my medication faithfully, I have a seventy percent chance of living a long and productive life. Those aren’t good enough odds for me. If we had children…”

  I wanted to slap him upside the head. “Do you love me, Alex?”

  “Damn it to hell. What has love got to do with it?”

  “I’ll take that as a yes. Love has everything to do with it. If you love me and I’m willing to take that risk with you, then what’s the problem?”

  “The problem is I refuse to leave you devastated like my mother was.”

  “So what was your grand plan? That we just go on having sex together? What if something happened and I got pregnant? Condoms break, birth control pills fail. How about this? I become pregnant, we aren’t married and you die? How does that sound? Really peachy, huh?”

  “You’re being ridiculous.”

  “No, I’m being realistic, that quality that you’re so enamored of.” I climbed off of him and stood by the bed. “I always thought you Cameron brothers were the most down to earth, realistic men I’d ever seen. Now I see I was wrong, at least about you. You’re trying to play God, Alex. God won’t like it. And neither do I.” I went into the bathroom and shrugged into a robe. I damped down every objection I had to shutting Alex out of my life and came out of the bathroom, still in full spate. He‘d started to dress and had his boxers on. I ignored his beautiful body and kept at it. “I can’t go on seeing you every day, loving you the way I do and knowing there is nothing in the future for us but an occasional toss in the hay. I won’t be in tomorrow. I’m going back to the coffee shop, if Bob will have me. You can see yourself out.”

  I went out to my kitchen and starting banging pots around. I wasn’t going to cook anything, but the clanging sound made me feel better.

  Alex came out of the room fully dressed except for his flapping shirt sleeves. He’d gathered up his cuff links and held them in his hand. He stepped up into the raised floor that delineated the kitchen. “Susan…you can’t mean it.”

  “I do mean it. I’m through, Alex. I love you and I’m through. There. I‘ve said everything there is to say.”

  “And quite a bit more,” he murmured.

  “Just…leave, Alex.”

  He turned his back to me, stepped down off the kitchen floor and went out the door. It was over. I’d never see him again.

  The next day was Sunday. My cell phone started ringing while I was still in bed. Alex’s name came up on the screen. I clicked the phone off and went in for a shower.

  Feeling like a complete ass, I called Bob. He said he’d be glad to have me back and I could start tomorrow. That off my list, I was restless. It felt odd to dress in jeans and know that there was nothing really to do that day. In the first throes of my infatuation for Alex, I’d bought that book by Immanuel Kant. I tried to concentrate on the words, but it wasn’t exactly gripping reading. My cell phone rang continuously. I finally turned it off.

  A knock sounded at the door. Damn it all. I’d have to kick Alex out of my apartment again.

  But when I opened the door, it was Betsy standing there.

  “I tried to call you, but the calls all went to voice mail.”

  I hugged her so hard. I couldn’t believe she’d come to see me before leaving on her honeymoon. She looked wonderful in her going away outfit, a lovely taupe dress and a glitzy scarf in rust and black. “I didn’t want to leave without telling you how much I appreciated you having the bachelor party here. Everyone said they had a great time. I had a great time, too…I think.”

  “Come in, come in, and sit for a minute.”

  She shook her head. “I can’t stay. Sam was a little upset with me when I told him I wanted to stop here. I just wanted to say thank you, and I’ll miss you. I don’t think we have cell reception out there, but maybe I can write…if I remember how,” she said smiling.

  “Do whatever you can to keep in touch.”

  “I will. Did you get things straightened out with the gorgeous Alex?”

  “All straightened out,” I said, not wanting to intrude on her happiness. And it wasn’t a lie. I did have things straightened out with Alex. “Betsy, take care of yourself.”

  She flashed a smile at me. “Oh, I’m going to take care of myself all right. Susan, I just found out this morning. I’m having a baby.”

  “Oh, Betsy.” I hugged her again. “Congratulations. I guess this must have happened before the wedding night.”

  “Afraid so. Sam is ecstatic. He wanted to start a family right away, even if we are going off to live in a hole in the desert.”

  “I’m very happy for you. Tell Sam congratulations.”

  “I will,” she said, and then she kissed my cheek and left.

  I closed the door, my heart in my throat. Here was Betsy, going off to live in the weirdest, hottest, most uncivilized place on the planet and already pregnant. Talk about brave.

  And here was I skulking around my apartment, obsessing about a man who was afraid to take a chance on life. I turned my cell phone on and called Alex.

  “Where are you?” I pretty much knew where he was. If we weren’t working, he tried to spend Sundays at the family home.

  “I’m here at Mother’s.”

  “I need to come and see you. Can you give me a few moments of your precious time?” I supposed that being snippy with Alex wasn’t the thing to do, but I couldn’t help it.

  “I can spare you a minute or two,” he drawled.

  I pulled up in the circular driveway. Oh, swell, There was Justin’s SUV, Hunter’s Jaguar, and Lynne’s sporty muscle car. And of course Alex’s Jeep. It was hail, hail, the gang’s all here. I should have waited. Nuts to that. I was going to have it out with him one more time.

  He met me in the door and escorted me past the entire family seated in the living room. We went into the library and Alex shut the door. He leaned back against it and folded his arms. “Well?”

  I knew it wouldn’t be easy to stick to my resolve, especially after we’d just run the gauntlet of his family’s lively, curious eyes.

  “Betsy is having a baby.”

  “Good for her,” Alex said. He straightened away from the door and started toward me with a look in his eye that made it difficult for me to keep my train of thought.

/>   “She’s going to live in Cobber Pedy. Ever heard of it?”

  He came closer. “Actually, I have. Opal mine in the desert, I believe.”

  “With temperatures averaging over a hundred degrees. Hardly any amenities.”

  He was so close I could see the deep blueness of his eyes.

  “She’s taking a terrible chance.”’

  “That’s her choice,” he said, not moving just…looking at me.

  I pounced. “Exactly. That’s her choice. And it’s my choice to take a chance on a life with you. Not your choice. Mine.”

  “I do see the logic in what you’re saying.”

  “Being the logical man that you are, I thought you would.”

  His arms came around me and he pulled me in to him. “I tried to call you this morning.”

  “I know. I didn’t feel like talking to you…this morning.”

  “I have something I want to say to you.”

  “Well? I’m here now and I’m listening.” If this was going to be another plea for me to come and work for him, I would have to walk away. And this time, there would be no going back.

  He pulled me in until we were nose to nose. I hated it when he did this. He only had to be a hairsbreadth away and I got that signal from my body that this was my mate and I should be mating.

  “If you hadn’t come to me, I was going to come to you.”

  Still suspicious, I said, “And say what?”

  “I wanted to ask…if you would marry me.” He reached in his pocket and brought out a small case. He flipped it open to display a gorgeous ruby ring. “This belonged to my mother. If you’d rather have a traditional diamond…”

  “No,” I said, knowing that never in my life had I seen anything so beautiful. It was an old-fashioned marquise cut ruby set in a border of diamonds.

  “I remembered that you look good in red.” He slipped it on my finger. It fit perfectly. “I was right. You do look good in red.” His eyes sparkled with pleasure at my delight in having it. I kissed him long and deep. When I felt him walk me backward, knowing he was going to take me down on the couch and do more to seal our engagement than kiss me, the door opened and all the members of the Cameron clan poured in, clapping. Quickly, I pushed Alex away and tried to look like I hadn’t been thinking of doing unspeakable things on that bronze leather couch.