“Don’t worry.” He took her shampoo from one of the shelves. “No hanky-panky. I just want to shampoo your hair.”
Caro mumbled a barely intelligible word of consent as he pushed her head forward to rest on his chest. He poured the rosemary-scented shampoo into his hands and then began to rub it into her scalp, massaging gently from her forehead to her neck and then rubbing his fingers more roughly against her temples.
Caro moaned in pleasure, leaning all her weight into his body. She wondered if it were possible to keep Alex’s hands without having to deal with the rest of him.
As if he heard her thoughts, he smacked her bottom and pushed her back under the showerhead. “All done,” he said. “Now rinse.”
He poured shower gel onto one of the spa sponges resting on the shelf and handed it to her. She quickly soaped her body and then stepped back to rinse. Her hip brushed against something long and stiff. He apparently sensed her dismay because he turned away, casually dispensed more shampoo and said, “Don’t worry. It’s a completely innocent reaction to your undeniable appeal.”
Ha. Alex had never been innocent. He’d probably been trouble when he was in the womb, for God’s sake. She stepped out of the shower and went to find her robe.
He came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was wildly tousled. He looked fabulous and clean and sexy. She wanted to lick him all over. Instead she said, “There’s a comb in my bag by the sink.” As he sat down next to her on the bed and picked up her bottle of moisturizer, she caught a whiff of rosemary and lavender. Smelled kind of cute on him, she thought with a little smile.
“Okay,” he said, but didn’t get up. “Lie back and I’ll put some of this on you.”
She sighed silently and then shrugged. What could it hurt? He’d just made her come three times. It was too late to avoid intimacy.
She rested her head on a pillow, watching as he poured a blob of moisturizer onto the top of each of her feet. He rubbed the cream slowly downward, using his thumbs to work the aching muscles of her arches. This time her sigh was quite audible.
“Jack wants us to meet him for a late dinner,” he said, his brow furrowed in concentration. “Some new place in River North. What do you think?” He stroked the balls of her feet and looked up at her. “Do you want to go?”
“Is anyone else going to be there?”
“I think he’s been trying to get Len on his cell but apparently can’t get through,” he paused to waggle his eyebrows, “and maybe a couple of other people.”
“I suppose I ought to go. It’s not every day that you win a major corporate account. I don’t want to screw things up already.”
He was working her toes now and she thought about how people say foot massages were as good as sex. Then she thought about the last hour. Nope. It was a hard call but she couldn’t agree.
“You are so good at this stuff,” she said. “I always thought you should open a spa.”
“Only Caro’s personal spa. Remember, princess, I am your sworn vassal for life.”
She smiled a little at the joke they’d shared for so long. But the poignant memory of their first time together always made her melancholy. If only they’d been able to keep those sweet promises.
“You shouldn’t wear such outrageous shoes all the time. But I’m glad you do…” He brought one foot up to his mouth and kissed the ridge of delicate bones. “Because they are so sinfully sexy,” he drawled. He moved his hand up her calf and stopped just above her knee. He began to rub there but she shook him off when his thumb moved higher.
“Did you tell Jack what you’ve been doing for the last hour?” She kept her gaze fixed on his hands.
“No,” he said evenly. “Should I have?”
“I don’t know. I guess I don’t really know what kind of relationship you two have.”
“Do you want to know?”
“Yes. No, wait…I regretted it the last time I answered yes to that question.”
“The truth is always a good thing. I learned that from you.” He smiled and stroked his finger down her cheek.
She rolled her eyes and swung her legs down to the floor.
“I know. I deserve all your doubts…all your skepticism.” He sighed. “I’d like to talk to you about Jack, though. And Sherene.”
“Okay. If you want to.” She stood up, walked over to her suitcase and started rifling through it. This seemed like the type of conversation she should be dressed for.
“Maybe I’ll have a drink. Do you want some champagne?”
“Just a water, please.” Champagne was the last thing she needed—Alex made her heady enough.
After retrieving a whisky for himself and a fizzy water for her, he strolled up to hand her the glass, eyeing her lingerie with the astute, highly analytical gaze of a connoisseur.
“Hmm…can I help you pick?”
She gave him a look.
“Just kidding.” Smiling sheepishly, he sat down on the edge of the bed. “I know I don’t have any way to prove it to you, but Sherene is actually the first creature, mortal or immortal, that I’ve fucked—and I mean in any way—in almost two years. And I’ve never fucked Jack. Not that he hasn’t spent a lot of energy trying to change my mind.”
Caro turned to stare at him. He stared back and then lifted a shoulder.
“Why are you looking at me like that? It’s true.” He expelled a self-conscious burst of laughter. “I got tired of my…how should I say it? My hedonistic lifestyle. I’d been working for my dad for a few years and we’d been having major disagreements about every other week. You were gone for good. I was pissed off and depressed all the time. My friends suddenly seemed like moochers or morons. So I took off. I traveled extensively for over a year and learned a bunch of things, tried to figure out my state of mind. Then I decided to take a permanent vacation from my usual choices in life.”
Still looking at him, she stood silently holding a pair of white lace panties, clenching them tightly, not daring to believe Alex had actually done what she’d begged him to do for years.
“If you don’t believe me you can ask my sister. She arranged for me to meet some of the folks at the retreats I went on. Most of my friends—both vamp and mortal—thought I had totally flaked out, and they were probably right. But I ended up realizing that I was being a flake in my old life too. Just a different kind.”
She walked over to the bed and sat down. “A flake.”
Alex laughed. “Yeah. Is this freaking you out or something?”
“Yeah. You could say it’s kind of freaking me out.”
Alex sloshed around the ice in his drink before taking a big sip. “I didn’t want to go back to work with my dad, I didn’t want to get caught up in the destructive routines again. I did some advertising work for a friend who was starting a new label at her winery. She got me a few more gigs and introduced me to Sherene. She had just left a very reputable PR company and was looking for financial backing for her own venture in Chicago. We hit it off. Personally and professionally. But just as friends. She knew I was bloodmated, knew I would never get serious with her about anything other than work.” He stood up and dropped his towel on the floor before walking across the suite to refill his drink.
“I’ve been seeing her exclusively for the last year. No one else. That is, until last night when you attacked me in that bathroom.”
Caro had been listening silently, her mouth slightly open. She snapped it shut. “I attacked you—!”
He held his hand up, smiling. “Just seeing if you were paying attention. You haven’t said anything and I thought maybe I was boring you.”
“Oh no,” she said. She finally put on the panties she’d been holding for the last several minutes. “I’m fascinated. Honestly.”
“Yeah, well. I’ve always been a fascinating guy, I’m told.” His tone was light but she could see the vulnerability in his eyes. He turned to refill his drink.
Caro came over and reached for hi
s hand. “No, I’m really, really thankful you told me all of that, Alex. It makes me glad to know that you found some happiness, some peace. Because before we…before I broke things off, I was kind of worried about you. No, a lot worried about you.”
“I know, princess.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Everyone who really loved me was worried. Juna, my very oldest friends…I think it finally started to sink in that I needed to do something after you left. I’m just sorry I hurt you so much.”
“Yeah, well you were pretty much an ass, but I was the rube who kept coming back for more.” She released his hand and walked over to the closet, shaking her head as she recognized her crazy need to believe another one of his apologies. “What was it your friend Demo called me…that stupid mortal chick?”
“You weren’t a rube. Or stupid.” He came up behind her and unwrapped the towel from around her head. He shook the long, damp tangle of hair down her back and she shivered when he placed a kiss on her shoulder. “You were sweet, warm, beautiful…” He accentuated each word with a kiss along her neck. “Are you sure you want to go out to dinner?” he asked, teasing the tendon under her ear with his teeth.
No, she thought, as every erogenous zone in her body fired up. She was one-hundred-percent sure she wanted to spend the rest of her life in this room with Alex. She clenched her jaw and cursed her weakness. Damn, damn, damn.
Okay, one step at a time. She could do this. She could fuck Alex and still have a life. First, get dressed. Second…
“Alex, get dressed.” She turned and placed a hand on his chest, firmly pushing him out of her space.
Frowning, he looked down at his fully erect penis. “Damn. This guy seems to be in the way.”
“And that, my friend, is a suitable epitaph for the story of your life.”
Alex laughed and started searching for his clothes.
Chapter Seven
Alex and Caro were the first to arrive at the lively little bistro just north of downtown. They walked into the crowded lounge to wait for the others.
“I can’t believe Jack managed reservations at this place,” Alex said after they sidled up to the bar and order drinks.
With a professional eye, Caro looked around the busy restaurant, checking out the details of the décor. Simple furniture and flooring met with lushly abstract art and lighting. The food looked trendy but satisfying, the clientele hip but not pretentious. A good mixture of tastes and persuasions.
She felt a buzz of excitement when she realized she was going to be working and living in this eclectic environment. Just on this single street of restaurants and clubs, you could find something to suit any taste—hip and casual, upscale and swanky, old school and elegant—and mortals and immortals who were eager to try it all.
Alex took her hand as he leaned back in his stool and watched the jazz trio playing on a small stage toward the back of the bar. Caro found herself smiling as she watched him. If she squinted her eyes and squelched her brain cells she could almost pretend they were on a date. Looking around at the other couples milling around the bar and tables, she wondered if any of their histories were as twisted as hers and Alex’s. He kissed her fingertips and she let herself sink into the music.
He gave her a nudge and pointed to the window. She saw Jack walking by on the sidewalk with Len and another guy she didn’t recognize. Wait. Yes, she did. It was one of Stoked’s marketing guys, Mike Powers. The one who had wanted to take her out to dinner tonight.
“Oh shit,” she mumbled.
“What?”
“That guy with Len and Jack…”
“Mike Powers? He’s one of Jack’s marketing dudes. Didn’t you meet him earlier?”
“Yep. He wanted to take me out to dinner tonight. I kinda blew him off.”
“Oh.” Alex’s fingers tightened on hers briefly but the smile he flashed was casual. “Don’t worry. I’ll come up with a good excuse. Like you and I desperately needed to get together for an impromptu consultation about…” His eyes lingered on her throat. “Something that I’ll think of in a minute.”
Caro took a big gulp of her drink as Jack spotted them and corralled the other men over to the bar.
Alex stood up and shook hands. They each reached down to buss Caro on the cheek.
While Jack made space at the bar, elbowing his way through the crowd with party-boy skill and precision, Len sidled up to Caro and whispered in her ear, “And what, pray tell, have you and Alex been up to?”
Smiling sweetly, Caro whispered back, “The same thing you and Merrell were up to. Except nobody took it up the ass.”
Len snorted a blast of laughter. “Like you wouldn’t love Alex to send his royal cock straight up your—”
“Len!” She punched him in the arm. Hard.
“What?” Jack handed Len his drink and winked. Caro picked up on some decidedly sexual undercurrents as Jack’s deep blue eyes twinkled into Len’s mischievous light brown.
“Nothing, I was just offering Caro my personal congratulations on time well spent.” Len’s face was all innocence.
“Let me add mine too.” Jack grinned. “You guys put on one of the best proposals I’ve ever seen in this line of work.”
“I second that,” Mike Powers chimed in. He put his drink down on the bar, deliberately placing his big, linebacker-esque physique between Caro and Alex.
Caro wanted to roll her eyes. Oh Lord. This was going to be an interesting dinner.
As Mike leaned an elbow back on the bar, obviously angling to get closer to her, Caro met his too-friendly hazel eyes and politely returned his smile. He was very attractive but definitely not her type. He had a ruddily handsome face, cropped blond hair and the buff build of a former athlete. Caro guessed he’d been a high school and maybe a college star—his gung-ho arrogance indicated he was used to being a leader of like-minded individuals.
“I was afraid I wasn’t going to get to see you tonight.” He placed a big paw of a hand on her forearm. “I tried your cell, but you didn’t answer—”
Alex shoved a cocktail plate in front of Mike when the cocktail waitress came by with a steaming dish of calamari. Caro suppressed a smile. Alex was no lightweight when it came to oneupmanship.
“Caro had a few questions about where we could warehouse supplies for the product launches,” Alex explained in a light tone. “I checked out quite a few facilities when I was looking for a place to live last year, so we drove by a few to see if any would be suitable.” Alex washed down a piece of calamari with a swig of whiskey. His smile was smooth but not the slightest bit slimy. Lying was one of his fortes.
“So did the facilities meet up to your expectations, Caro?” Len asked. Caro wanted to kick him.
“Why yes, Len. They were very accommodating. Very large. Just the right size for my—I mean, our—needs.”
Caro saw a smirk through Alex’s raised whiskey glass. He’d asked for another refill. Shit. He was going to get drunk if he didn’t watch out. Alcohol tended to bolster his vamp side and drown out his human side.
Mike leaned forward again, hazel eyes looking way too eager to please. “Well, if you’d like, Caro, I could drive you out to our suburban offices tomorrow. I think there might be some additional space out there you might like to see. Oh, and you too, Len.”
“Well, thanks, Mike.” The sarcasm in Len’s voice was barely detectable. “But Caro’s going back to Cleveland tomorrow.”
Caro flicked a quick glance at Alex. She’d neglected to mention she was returning home the next day and, as predicted, he didn’t look too pleased about the news.
“When you come back next week then,” said Mike. “Oh, and Caro, about what we’d discussed earlier, I have some suggestions for people you can talk to about lighting…”
Mike launched into a ten-minute monologue about all the mortal contractors he thought Caro should confer with right away. He looked rather disgruntled when Jack jokingly reminded him that this was supposed to be a celebration dinner and that they could leave the deta
iled business discussions for later.
Luckily, the hostess called out Jack’s name and they had to leave the bar to find their table. Caro felt Mike place his hand on the small of her back. Oh boy.
When they arrived at the table, she tried to outmaneuver him and sit between Len and Alex, but Mike had already pulled a chair out for her. Damn it. And it wouldn’t do to be rude to one of her new bosses.
By the time the entrée arrived, Mike had totally moved in on her space and Alex had moved into protective boyfriend mode. Mike put a possessive arm around her chair and blathered about his new SUV. Alex, who had been stroking her arm at various intervals, began playing with her hair.
Jack and Len watched the whole thing with barely contained amusement. Thanks a lot, guys, she silently mouthed across the table to them. Jack grinned and Len toasted her with his empty champagne glass.
Mike began drawing little circles on her shoulder with his thumb and she bit off a groan of frustration. She knew Stoked was a liberal organization when it came to fraternization, and she was happy about it. But Mike wasn’t picking up on any of her hands-off signals.
Thinking that it was definitely time for more blatant no-thanks tactics, she grabbed his offending hand and deliberately let it drop. If he tried anything else, she’d have to get verbal. Which meant Alex would get physical. And then everyone in the restaurant would have to save their asses from an angry vamp.
As if sensing her agitation, Alex placed his hand on her knee and squeezed—but his touch was anything but comforting. His hand was creeping up her thigh and now she could feel his fingertips tracing the intersection of the seams of her jeans. Yeah, the intersection right over her…
Sweet, creamy pussy…mm, God…I know exactly what I want for dessert…
Goddamn it, Alex. Stay out of my head!
I’ll be happy to stay out of your head. Just as soon as you let me into your—
She gasped as he pressed harder, scraping his fingernails along the grooves of cotton. Her lips flattened. She gripped her butter knife with sweaty fingers. Oh man. Maintain. Normal. Expression.
She reached beneath the tablecloth and clamped down hard on his crotch. Easy to find because it was marked by his flagpole of a cock.
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