“He’s almost ten years older than me, but when we were little he would play with me like a brother would. He was an only child and I think he missed out on having siblings, so I became his adoptive sister of sorts. I remember thinking I had a crush on him when I was probably seven or eight, but then he went away until I was, um, probably seventeen.
“I remember it was Christmas, and I came home with my friend Sebastian from high school and we both stopped dead in our tracks when we saw him in the living room. I didn’t know who he was. He came up and grabbed me into a big hug and said ‘I missed you, Ari.’ He’s one of the only people to use that nickname for me. When I put two and two together I was shocked at how amazing he looked.
“Aleks would always take me out, a lot of time to fights, or we would spend time like we did when we were younger. We fell right back into our old ways, teasing each other, helping each other when we needed it. We just have this bond, I guess.”
“A bond, huh?” Cynthia winked at her.
“Yes, a bond. Not a bone. It would be weird. I can’t have my first time be with my pseudo-brother.”
Belle was touched at hearing about this gentle, caring side of Aleks. From what she read online he was an ill-tempered, prideful, selfish manipulator with no concern for anyone other than himself. Hearing Sirena speak highly of him, especially as a woman who knew everything — good and bad — about his personality, made Belle question how she perceived him.
“So your dad’s in real estate?” Belle asked, wanting to change the subject off of Aleks.
Sirena winced. “Partly. He still plays around with shipyards and some oceanfront rental properties. He bought into a line of cruise ships and we own our own company.”
“Which one?” Cynthia inquired.
“Poseidon Cruise Lines,” she mumbled into her martini.
“Poseidon Cruise Lines? You mean your father is the ‘Master of the Seas’?” Both Cynthia and Belle were astonished. Poseidon is a top notch, multi-billion-dollar company; the premiere cruise line touring virtually everywhere in the world.
“Yup, that’s my dad. The booze cruise we’re doing tonight is one of our boats. He always loved the ocean and bought the first boat at the right time. The hard work paid off for him.”
“So, there’s a ship named Sirena somewhere?” Cynthia wondered, alluding to the reports all of the major cruise ships were named after his daughters.
“No. Mine’s ‘The Ariella’,” Sirena stated, silencing them both for a few moments. Belle knew, from research on a term paper regarding maritime legal contracts, the Ariella was the most expensive, and exclusive, ship the company owned. The cheapest room was 5k a night. She of course had shared this information with Cynthia one night when they were imagining dream vacation destinations, and the news their new friend owned the very ship they dreamed about was astonishing.
“Why isn’t it the Sirena?” Belle asked, curious.
“Sirena’s my middle name. Only my family calls me Ariella, or Ari.” Belle and Cynthia exchanged looks, well aware of how well-off their new friend must be. One would never have a clue.
“Wait a second,” Cynthia asked, “why are you working as a secretary?”
Sirena shrugged her shoulders as she answered. “I always loved singing and dancing growing up, but my father wouldn’t let me pursue either of those as a career. I didn’t know what else I wanted to do, but I hated just staying home. Viktor was like my second father, and he offered me the job until I decided my future. I never minded the work. When he died and Aleks took over, I stayed on to help Aleks adjust. I just never left.”
The whistle to board blew, interrupting their conversation, and the girls quickly downed their drinks as they hurried to the ship. The 180-foot “singles cruise” fit about 200 people and had three total floors: the bottom deck housed a DJ playing house music, an open bar, and access to the outside deck. The middle deck held another open bar, a buffet, and a good number of tables and chairs to sit and talk. The top deck offered a private room, furnished with a couch, sofa, and unmanned full bar. Sirena gave them a tour of the upstairs and informed the captain and crew if either Belle or Cynthia wanted use of the top deck they had privilege.
The girls drank, danced, and laughed for hours, enjoying the music and ignoring most of the buffet options. Belle couldn’t remember the last time she’d had as much fun. With about an hour left, and overheated from the amount of alcohol, dancing, and people, they decided to walk out onto the deck.
“This is fun; we need to do this more. Like every weekend. Every weekend night. Forever,” Belle said, swaying with the boat.
“The guy with you before, with the black hair? He is H.O.T. … you need to go back in there,” Sirena said to Cynthia, speaking of her second to last dancing partner.
“He kissssed me. Not so good.” She gave a thumbs down. “I’ll find another — don’t you worry,” she continued, slurring. A slow smile formed on her face as she caught their reflection in the polished mirrored decking. “I must s-say, we are a good-looking group.”
“I second that!” Belle exclaimed.
“I bet Aleks would tell you that you looked good enough to eat,” Sirena commented to Belle, causing Cynthia to burst out laughing. Sirena nudged Cynthia’s arm.
“You’re right, Sirena, I bet he would. How would you respond, missy? Hmmm?” Cynthia continued, trying to hold in her laughter.
Belle leaned against the side rail, facing Cynthia and Sirena, drink in hand. Carefree, and drunk, she admitted, “If he said that to me,” pointing at the girls and tipping her drink as she did, “if he said that to me, I would tell him — I would…”
She took a deep breath, alcohol making her fuzzy. Taking a sip, she laughed. “Screw it. I would tell him to go ’head. Go for it.”
The voice came from close behind. “Your place or mine?”
Belle spun around and in her surprise, she slipped forward — right into Aleksandr’s firm arms. “Are you kidding me?!” she cried out as she tried to stop her head from spinning.
“Need another drink, see you soon. Have fun!” she heard her friends exclaim as they left her alone with him.
“What are you doing here? Are you — did you follow me?” Her mind raced and she couldn’t think straight.
“Sirena might have mentioned you had plans with her tonight and I happened to decide it was a good night for a cruise. Turned out to be a happy coincidence.” He gave her a wolfish smile.
“Coincidence my ass — you two are in cahoots,” she muttered.
“How much did you drink tonight?” he looked at her with amusement on his face.
“Little bit of this, little bit of that.” He still held her close to him, yet she couldn’t find it in herself to move away.
She thought back to the videos from last night; his chiseled physique, the sweat pouring off of him, the strength behind his hits. She breathed in the earthy musk of him and her entire body screamed at her to get even closer.
She was drunk enough to not care about the consequences of sleeping with her boss. He was the most attractive man she had ever laid eyes on — and he wanted her back. Screw it. Let’s do this. Now or never.
“Are you going to reprimand me for drinking, Mr. Wolfe?” She tried to sound sexy.
His grip tightened as his look heated her core. “I thought you were going to call me Aleks.”
“I thought you were going to choose another option for me,” she smiled, wickedly.
Aleksandr allowed Belle to lead him up to the top deck. She was drunk, but incredibly tempting. He found himself helpless to say no to her.
He opened the door for her and followed as she led him to the couch. He watched the sway of her ass, barely hidden by her shorts. Her taut, tanned legs looked a mile long, compliments of the stilettos she wore. He imagined kissing from her ankle up to the center of her thighs. His stifled a groan as he imagined licking her sweet center. The girls were right; she’s definitely good enough to eat.
S
he turned towards him with a sultry smile as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She looked up at him from under her lashes as she teased, “Ready to prove to me how good you are?”
Aleks strained against his jeans. Her chest pressed against his and he wondered what he would find underneath her shirt. He imagined their naked bodies, sliding together as he laid her down and thrust into her supple, waiting warmth.
“Belle, you’re drunk,” he whispered to her as he gently pulled her off of him, taking a step back to distance himself from her entrancing beauty. He swallowed, every cell in his body screaming at his response.
“I’m not drunk. I want you.” She pouted, going to reach for him again. With two fingers he pushed against her shoulder, causing her to sway and fall back onto the couch with an “oof.”
“Yes, you are. You can’t even stand.” Can’t stand. She’s too drunk to even stand.
“You pushed me!”
“I nudged you.” He sat down next to her, running his hand through his hair, silently pleading with his erection to wane.
She sat up on the couch, turning slightly to face him. “So let me get this straight,” she started, slurring, “Mr. I-win-at-all-costs is refusing a challenge?”
“Taking advantage of a drunken girl isn’t a challenge.”
“Oh, please, like you’ve never done it before…”
She was right; he had slept with women who were intoxicated. Most times he was inebriated along with them, but unless she was completely out cold, he would think with his cock before his brain. Why is this different?
“I can’t win a bet when the cards are stacked in my favor. It’s cheating.”
Belle crawled over to him, hooking one leg over his lap, straddling him. Hands beside his head, she lowered herself on top of his now rejuvenated hard-on.
“So, if I moved like this,” she paused to allow her hips to move forwards and back, stroking him, “you would push me off?”
As she moved, her breasts grazed his face. He looked down at the curves of her full mounds. The heat between her legs scorched his crotch as she began to circle on top of him. His skin felt alive with sensations of her; her scent — air and summer — entranced him as her hair brushed his shoulders.
The pressure against him was surreal. Blood rushed to his already engorged shaft, almost hurting now from the need to be inside of her. Against his better judgment, he grabbed onto her ass, pulling her harder against him as she moved.
She moaned low, and bent her head as she laid the first kiss on his neck. Her mouth, warm and wet, sent an image of how her cunt would feel, and he guided her over his cock faster at the thought. She opened her kiss wider as her tongue darted out and licked from his neck up to his ear. A shiver went up his back as she moaned, “Please.”
Abso-fucking-lutely.
He held tightly to her ass-cheeks as he lifted them up and turned to lie her down. He kissed her hard, allowing her lips to glide over his, her tongue to move against him. He let his hand travel down her thigh, amazed at the smoothness of it. His shaft pulsed against his zipper as she wrapped her leg around his waist to pull him into her. As he was about to reach down and free himself, he had a moment of clarity. She’s drunk. Can’t even stand. This is wrong.
With a groan of frustration, he moved away from her, allowing her to fall back onto the couch. He moved down to the opposite end, putting as much distance between them as he could. Her facial expression was a mixture of disappointment and embarrassment.
His mind battled itself, torn between wanting to plunge into her, and not wanting to take advantage of her. Distract yourself. He focused on his breathing, trying to slow his heart rate — a technique he often used during fighting to think more clearly — and willed his blood to return to other parts of his body.
He looked at her, hair fanned against the pillow, full pink lips, cheeks and chest flushed, and his heart clenched at how beautiful she looked.
“Are you … what … did I do something wrong?” she stammered, looking despondent.
“No, you didn’t. But, I almost did.” He was ashamed he had let himself touch her in her state. “Belle, we can’t do this. Not like this. Not here.”
“You don’t want me?” Her voice was thick with emotion.
Aleks reached over and caressed her calf, then removed her shoe. Taking her foot in his hand, he placed it against his still throbbing shaft. “This should tell you how badly I want you. Feel how hard you make me.”
She moved her foot, creating friction again against him. Still too wound up to trust himself, he lifted her foot and laid a kiss on her ankle.
“Make no mistake, Belle, I want to fuck you. I’m going to fuck you. The way you moved on top of me; I need to be inside of you … just not tonight. Not while you can’t think straight.”
Aleks knew he would be thinking of her rubbing against him, licking him, when pleasuring himself in the foreseeable future.
Belle inhaled sharply. “Don’t talk like that,” she murmured, as she took her bottom lip in between her teeth. Aleks was glad he had moved her foot, as her gesture caused a jolt in his groin.
“Talk like what?” he urged her on, still watching her mouth.
“All of that, what you just said. Like what you said in the elevator, and your office. You shouldn’t talk like that to me. ’S not fair.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just … nevermi—” Belle had stopped mid-word as Aleks began to massage her foot, still in his hand. Belle closed her eyes and made a quiet sound of contentment, head turning to the side. Goose bumps rose on her skin and he realized she was still turned on.
“What’s not fair, is you never answering my questions. Do you not like when I talk like that to you?”
“I like it very much, that’s why it’s not fair.”
Aleks could tell her guard was down. She was drunk, horny, and getting her foot rubbed. She would tell him anything he wanted to know. He wouldn’t sleep with her while she was drunk, but he wasn’t above plying her for the details that would help him learn how she ticked.
“You like when I talk dirty?” He lifted her other foot from the floor, removing the shoe as well. He began to rub her feet in circles, noticing how tiny they were compared to his hands.
“Very much so. But I’ve decided to stay away from you so it won’t matter,” she said lazily.
“Could have fooled me,” he laughed kindly at her, wondering if she had already forgotten trying to ride him only moments ago.
“I decided just now. Just this minute. I thought — I thought maybe you were right and I needed to get you out of my mind. But you said no, so my mind changed — just like that.” She tried to snap her fingers but missed, causing her to giggle at herself. “You lost your chance, hot-shot.”
“I’ll change your mind.” He pressed harder into the center of her foot, eliciting another soft moan as her head rolled back.
“Keep doing that. It feels amazing.”
Sensing her openness, he decided to push. “Tell me about Gabriel and I will.”
“I hate him.” She shocked him with how quickly she answered. She was in her own world, lost in physical sensations.
“What did he do to you?” He remembered how intimidated — no, afraid — of the man she had looked that first day in his office. Knowing what he knew about her now, he was more than a little surprised. With him, she always stood her ground.
Belle hesitated. He kept massaging, giving her time to decide to speak. Suddenly she sat up, pulling her knees under her. She bit her lip again, not looking at him.
“It was a mistake.”
She slept with him.
Aleks didn’t know why the idea bothered him. He never cared about a woman’s past — he was in and out, and moved on. Thinking about Gabriel holding her, kissing her, touching her as he hadn’t, a ball formed in the pit of his stomach.
“I didn’t want him to,” she breathed, more to herself than to him.
He looked at her,
eyes narrowed, convinced he didn’t hear her correctly, “What did you say?”
She looked up at him, eyes glossy. “It was a mistake.”
“No, after that.”
She swallowed and wiggled her feet. He could see the tears welling in her eyes.
“Did you say ‘you didn’t want him to’?”
Belle turned away from him. “Why does it even matter to you? All you want is to sleep with me to ‘get it out of the way’. It’s not like you really care.”
While he would normally agree with a statement like that, with her, in that moment, nothing could have been further from the truth. Why do I care? “You work for me. I care about all of my employees.”
“Liar. You told me before you didn’t care about your employees.”
How does she remember this stuff while drunk? “Belle, tell me, or I swear I’ll drive to his house right now and ask him myself what you’re talking about.”
He thought about the morning in his office — she was practically shaking. He knew something had been wrong, yet he just hoped he was misreading her reaction. Now hearing her words, and remembering she hadn’t seemed scared the night he met her in the bar, he had an inkling of when whatever it was that happened, happened. He just needed to know what. His anger rose, fists clenching.
She paused for a moment, then challenged him. “You don’t know where he lives.”
“I have his address at the office. I’ll get the captain to dock this boat immediately.” He stood to make his point; ready to run out this door at any moment.
“He — he just—” Belle looked down at her hands as she spoke. “Last Friday, he came into the bar when I was alone.”
Aleks sat back down next to her and nodded for her to continue.
“I was tipsy and he was pissed at me. He, um, he,” Belle paused for a moment to take a deep breath. She continued, getting more emotional as she spoke, “he grabbed my hair and kissed me, and I should have stopped him right there, but I didn’t. And um, he … when his fingers were inside me I realized I made a huge mistake and asked him to s-stop, I tried to push him off but I couldn’t.” She took a deep breath to continue.
Stealing Beauty (Fairy Tales After Dark Book 1) Page 8