“I want you,” I whisper into her ear.
“Really?” she whispers back. “Are you sure you just don’t want anyone else to want me?” her icy response somewhat sulky.
Confused as to what she is implying—because yes, I sure as hell ‘don’t want anyone else to want her’—I ask her what’s wrong. “Want to tell me why you sound pissed off?”
She tries to shrug out of my arms—which are still firmly wrapped around her waist—I tighten my grip, she isn’t going anywhere.
“The only reason you kissed me before in front of everyone was because you didn’t want people accidently seeing a little bit of my skin. And just for your information, I’m wearing Hollywood Fashion Tape, so my ‘tits’ will remain within my dress.”
Not allowing her to dwell on her ridiculousness any further, I spin her around and get right up into her beautiful face. “Let’s get one thing straight. I kiss you because I want to fucking kiss you, because I like it and because you taste good. So don’t think for one second that I have an ulterior motive,” I growl on a whisper, as I lean in and get just that bit closer to taste the lips that are warranting this explanation in the first place. “And, as for your tits, yes, I want them to remain in that dress of yours. They are for my eyes only, Hunny...unless...you have a problem with that?”
Her expression softens, and I feel from within my hold—as her body becomes less rigid—that her resolve is melting away. Leaning in, I remove that final torturous centimetre between us and press my lips to hers, kissing her with as much passion as I’m capable of and holding her head to mine while dipping her in my arms.
When Alexis is secured to me, wrapped around me, completely encompassing everything I possess and breathe, I feel nothing but total satisfaction—she absolutely fulfills me.
“Will you two just get a room,” someone complains, that someone sounding a bit like Lil. “You have many rooms; hotels full of rooms in fact, go and use one of those for God’s sake.”
“Shut up, Lil. Leave them alone. They are getting married soon. Plus, watching them is hot!”
Alexis giggles against my mouth at Jade’s argument with Lil then locks eyes with me and smiles. “They are right,” she says a little louder. “We should get a room. Actually, we should get one now.” She pulls away from me and straightens her dress before threading her fingers through mine. “Okay, ladies, thanks for everything. We are calling it a night.”
“Oh no you’re not,” Carly interjects with determination not to be argued with. She storms over to Alexis and prises her hand from mine.
Now, if I really wanted to, I could foil her attempts. The thing is, I have a little something up my sleeve, and his name is Joey. So allowing Alexis to go with her friends is no longer an issue. I know he will protect her and report to me as often as I want him to.
“Fine! Fine! I’m coming,” she groans before turning back and giving me one last kiss. “Be good.”
I shoot her a half-grin as she’s tugged away. “I’m always good.”
“Where are you taking me?” Alexis complains to Carly and Jen as they link their arms through hers.
“Upstairs, we have a surprise for you,” Jen giggles.
I turn to Derek while watching them skip off. “What surprise?”
“Want a drink?” he asks, ignoring my question and heading toward the bar.
As I wait for him to come back, I can’t help but feel uneasy about Alexis’ ‘surprise’. I hate not fucking knowing what is going on.
A well-built—and if I’m completely honest—good looking bloke in a cop’s uniform, holding a duffle bag, walks past. His shady appearance is distracting and only adds to my already unsettled frame of mind. Derek returns and sets my beer down on the bar table, and we both follow the cop with our eyes as he disappears from the club.
Confusion settles in as I wonder why a police officer has just strolled through my nightclub, a police office that looks far too pretty to be a cop. Hearing my phone ring from within my pocket, I pull it out and answer it, not even bothering to look who it is, my bewildered state of mind controlling my actions.
“Sir, Alexis has just entered a suite with her friends. Do you want me to wait outside?” Joey asks.
Agitated and not really paying attention, I tell him he can leave, and then disconnect the call. Moments later, the fog covering my mind appears to lift, and I begin to comprehend why I suddenly feel slightly ill.
“Derek, what fucking surprise have they got for Alexis?” I ask again, hoping to God that cop wasn’t what I thought he was.
The fucker shrugs his shoulders but clearly knows what the hell is going to happen upstairs.
“That better not have been some cockhead, wannabe dancer, pretending to be a cop who wants nothing more than to handcuff my fiancé and place her hands all over his spray-tanned, oily body,” I furiously spit out.
Feeling utterly murderous at the thought of another man forcing her to touch him and touching her in return, I begin to follow in the direction the girls headed.
“No you don’t,” Derek says while restraining me.
“Derek, fuck off! Let me go.”
“Dude, it’s just for one night. And anyway, Miss Nude Australia awaits you in Villa four,” he says as he releases one hand and waves a room key in my face.
“You’re an idiot, a dead set idiot. If you think for one second I am going to choose some stripper over rescuing Alexis from some slimy creep, you are dumber than dog shit. Let me go, now!”
“What’s goin’ on?” Will asks as he steps up to the both of us, assessing Derek’s armlock hold.
“Pansy here, wants to ditch Nude Australia and act all caveman in front of Alexis.”
“Speak fucking English,” Will complains.
“Carly has arranged a stripper for Alexis. I’ve arranged one for Bryce. Bryce doesn’t want to go. The dickhead doesn’t want Alexis to go either. I am currently stopping him from ruining everything. Wanna help me out?”
I apply a compression poke to Derek’s L11 pressure point, right in the crook of his elbow joint. This is my warning. If he doesn’t let me go in the next second, I will do some serious damage.
“Argh! Fuck, Bryce. Will, a little help please.”
Will steps in and restrains my hands.
“You arseholes! That dancer pretty-boy cop is about to rub his cock all over our women. How you can be alright with that is beyond me.”
“What pretty-boy cop?” Will queries, stepping back and looking confused. “You mean that one who walked past just before, that big, dark, handsome, police officer is a stripper?”
Derek tilts his head to the side in an assessment of Will. “Are you gay, Man? I don’t care if you are, each to their own.”
“No, I’m not gay. I’m actually this close...” he says holding up his thumb and pointer finger in Derek’s face, “...this bloody close to having Libby touch my cock. And I’ll be damned if that dancing cop-bloke gets his touched before mine. Let him go, Derek.”
“You’re weak. Both of you are fucking weak,” Derek spits out as he lets me go.
“What room are they in?” I ask, picking up my pace and heading for the exit.
“Don’t know,” Derek calls back with a shit-eating grin.
I stop, turn fully around, and start for him. “Tell me what room they are in or you’ll have no teeth left. And I can tell you, a lead singer without teeth will sound pretty fucking hilarious.”
He studies my face for a second. “You’re joking.”
“Am I? Let me ask you something. You’ve seen how Carly reacts to men, men with big muscles in particular. Imagine how she is going to react to body-builder, stripper-jerk. You sure you’re alright with that, alright with her dragging her hands across his chest, clenching his biceps, his arse, and feeling his sweaty junk?”
“She won’t touch his junk,” he affirms with not much conviction.
“You sure? Perhaps she likes Police Officers more than Firemen.”
I w
atch him lose a battle of cockiness. “Shit! Motherfucking Shit!”
“Which room?” I ask for the last time.
“Presidential suite two,” he surrenders.
Not wasting a second longer, I sprint for the elevator, Derek and Will not far behind me.
* * *
“If I walk in and see that naked fucker at full mast, thrusting it in Alexis’ face, I will kill you,” I glare at Derek as I swipe my card through the security lock on the Presidential Suite’s door.
Will laughs “You’re a fool, Man,” he says sympathetically as he pats Derek on the back. “I can’t believe you thought you’d get away with this.”
“I’m glad you find this funny, Will. You just wait until you find a woman that you can’t get out of your head. A woman you will go to the ends of the earth to be with and protect. A woman that becomes your sole reason for breathing. You just wait, Mate. Your day will come, and when it does, I will laugh right back at you,” I say as I open the door.
“You’re a poetic fucker, aren’t you?” Derek teases.
I’m at the point of performing my own chokehold on my best friend, just to knock him out and shut him the hell up, when the sound of “SexyBack” by Justin Timberlake sounds from within the suite.
“Fuck!” I growl, turning to my idiot best friend. Before taking off in the direction of the music and squealing women, I shove Derek so hard that his back hits the wall.
He laughs at me and starts singing along with JT.
With my heart thumping in my chest over what horrid sight I think I’m about to see, I reluctantly turn the corner. Firstly, I lay my eyes on the massive oily bastard, who is straddling Alexis’ lap as if he is some fucking rodeo star. She is sitting on a single chair in the middle of the room with her friends standing around in a circle, clapping, dancing, and raising their champagne filled glasses in the air. It really is quite ridiculous and bloody nauseating.
My vision goes back to Alexis who—thank God—has her eyes closed and her hands covering her face, clearly not wanting the dickhead treating her like a horse. My heartbeat calms a little, and all I want to do now is rescue her from her apparent distress.
“Hey! Get out!” Carly yells, pointing in my direction. “No grooms allowed...unless...” she wiggles playfully, “...you want to start removing your clothes.”
“You...” I point to her, “...You and I are gonna have some words later. “And you...” I point to the hairless, Chippendale wannabe. “Back the fuck off.”
He steps aside with a knowing expression as though this is not the first time an irate partner has stormed into the room. Alexis sits frozen with a terrified expression on her face as I stop right beside her chair and tower over her.
She starts to speak, seemingly to defend herself. “I didn’t know—“
Cutting off her unnecessary apology, I reach forward and take hold of her hand, pulling her up to my chest and pressing my lips to hers in a forceful show of ownership. My intention is to make a clear point that she is mine.
Keeping the kiss brutally short, I pull away. “Want to go home?”
She smiles and nods.
Not wanting to stay any longer and listen to JT sing about being someone’s slave, I bend down, throw her over my shoulder—making sure I cover her arse with her dress—and walk us out of the room.
* * *
When we get back to the apartment, I take the elevator all the way to the second floor, not uttering a word until we are beside the bed.
Before I place her down, I feel her fingers playing with the waistband of my jeans from behind my back.
“Are you mad?” she asks almost timidly.
“Yep,” I honestly reply, closing my eyes while trying to calm my raging fury together with my raging hard-on which is a result from her teasing touch.
She dips her finger into my jeans, along the crevice of my arse. “Are you angry with me?”
“No, not with you,” I sigh. “...with our ex-best friends.”
Straightening her back, she encourages me to slide her down my front. “Good...” she replies with a promising grin, continuing to slide all the way down to her knees. Then, unlatching my belt buckle, she doesn’t hesitate in taking me in her hands. “...because the only man I want dancing around me is you. The only man I want, period, is you.”
Smirking down at her, I caress her stunning face. “I’m all yours, Hunny.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
My breath catches when I spot her walk out onto the balcony. I can’t see her in detail as I am too far away, but her presence adorned in an ivory gown is unmistakeable. I know they say seeing the bride before the wedding is bad luck, but technically I can’t see her entirely, she is several hundred meters away in the distance.
Hoping that she has her phone with her, I pull out my mobile and send her a text:
29 minutes and 13 seconds - Bryce
I’m desperate and not able to help myself, needing some form of contact. Spending last night without her was agony, so much so, that I was highly fucking tempted to sneak into our apartment and surprise her in the middle of the night. I’m sure she wouldn’t have minded. Maryann, however, would have. My soon to be mother-in law would no doubt have physically removed me from the premises—or at least, tried.
Watching and waiting for Alexis to answer my message, I notice who looks to be Lucy join her on the balcony. She hands her what I assume is her phone, which makes me smile boldly. Damn, I adore my sister. She has been the perfect accomplice in my quest for ultimate attainment.
Lucy heads back inside, so I take the opportunity to send another text:
28 minutes, 19 seconds and counting
until you make me the happiest man alive - Bryce
I wait knowing that she is now reading it, and the fact I am watching her without her knowledge leaves me feeling somewhat cocky and powerful at the same time.
My phone beeps indicating her response:
27 minutes and 21 seconds until I become
Mrs. Alexis Clark - Alexis
As I read her reply, the smile that covers my face is enormous. Mrs. Alexis Clark. It sounds perfect.
I can’t wait. - Bryce
Neither can I - Alexis
Smiling like an impish fool, I figure I’ll play with her a little longer, loving to wind her up and watch her unleash. The fight she puts up when returning my challenges always ignites a fiery passion within me.
Well then hurry up - Bryce
I love you, you know. - Alexis
I do. - Bryce
Aren’t you supposed to say that in
25 minutes and 33 seconds. - Alexis
I laugh out loud. She never fails to amaze me with her wit and responses.
“What are you laughing at, Dick?” Derek says from behind as he steps up beside me.
“None of your business,” I reply as I send another message, this one sure to get her excited.
That’s it! I’m coming up there to get you. - Bryce
“Is that Alexis? Up there on your balcony?”
I look up to my penthouse, still smiling, captivated by her angelic form. “Sure is.”
“You’re unfuckingbelievable. You’re not supposed to see her before the ceremony.”
“I can’t really see her, not closely enough anyway.”
“Sure, keep tellin’ yourself that.”
My phone beeps once more:
Okay, okay. I’m on my way. ♥ - Alexis
“Are you texting her?” Derek asks, incredulously.
A sly grin replaces my smile as I continue to type. “Yep,” I answer with nonchalance.
You better be ♥ - Bryce
“Does she know you are watching her?”
“Of course not.”
“You’re a dog, Bryce,” he says as he turns to face me with his back against the railing, trying to block my view.
I raise an eyebrow at the cocky fucker I call my best friend. “I’m not a dog. I just like to know what she’s doing. Get out
of the way.” I move him aside and smile once again. “And anyway, you can’t stand there and tell me you aren’t well and truly under Carly’s thumb.”
“I’m under no one’s thumb.”
“Bullshit! Carly owns you.”
“Carly’s not like that.”
“It doesn’t matter if she’s like that or not. You’re thumbed...whipped...you belong to her. You might as well man the fuck up and admit it.”
“Never, that will never happen.”
“Brayden, come here! Uncle Snakey needs to put your shoes on,” Jake bellows from inside the suite.
I hear Brayden squeal then crack the shits. “No shoes!”
‘Uncle Snakey?’ Derek mouths, amusement on his face.
I smile and nod. “Yep, but don’t ask.”
Derek pushes off the railing and heads back inside. “Come on, man. Let’s get you married.”
Taking one last look up at Alexis who is now hugging her father, I lift my phone and snap a photo—my creepy research still very much operational.
* * *
Impatiently waiting at the altar for Alexis, my palms are sweaty and my body tense. I seriously need to rein my shit in, having no doubt I must look like a nervous wreck. It wouldn’t surprise me if I’ve cracked my neck and clenched my fists more times than a pro boxer would before a fight.
Taking a deep breath, I calm my nerves and watch with amusement as Nate follows Brayden around, making sure he doesn’t untie anymore of the ivory ribboned bows decorating the large bunches of roses. Seriously, the amount of destruction my son can get up to in the blink of an eye still confounds me.
“Nervous?” Jessica enquires as she steps up to my side. Nervous? Yeah, if my damp friggin’ hands are anything to go by, I’m very bloody nervous.
“No, not at all,” I lie, leaning forward and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.
“Hmm,” she responds with a knowing smile. “Listen, Dear. I just want to let you know that your parents and Lauchie...even Gareth, are all here in spirit. They are proud of you. We all are.”
Attainment (temptation) Page 15