by Lucy Leroux
“Aren’t you going to talk to me?” she finally asked when he parked in front of her apartment building.
“I…yes. But not now,” he said in a gravelly voice.
Slowly, he reached across the seat and tugged her towards him. He took her face in his hands and pressed a brief kiss to her lips. Elynn was relieved, but also unsure what to say.
When she finally opened her mouth to speak, he cut her off. “I have to go out of town tomorrow. Business in New York that I can’t reschedule. And after, I have to go to Hong Kong.”
“Oh. Okay. Will you be back in time for my degree ceremony?” she asked, suddenly afraid that these trips were an excuse to get as far away from her as possible.
Maybe that soft kiss was an apology.
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world. I promise I’ll be there.”
****
Elynn spent the next few weeks in a daze. She tried to focus on wrapping up her thesis and on her final exams. Fortunately, she only had two of the latter, or she would have failed them. But at least the tests distracted her from the developing situation with Alex.
She wanted to talk to someone about what had happened, but she couldn’t tell anyone, especially Eric. Now that he’d met him, he was dying to gossip about her stepbrother. And his choice of topic was starting to wear thin.
“I mean can you just imagine how many supermodels and A-list actresses he’s slept with? It must be a who’s who of the gorgeous elite,” Eric said, playing with a pipette as he leaned next to her desk at work.
“I’d rather not speculate. Alex hates gossip,” she said repressively.
“But he’s not going to find out about it. And if he did, he wouldn’t get mad at you. You’re like his kid sister.”
“We are not related,” Elynn said with a force that surprised him.
Eric widened his eyes at her before laughing it off. “Doesn’t matter. Me and Fred could tell that he just adores you. We talked all about it. Alex must have regretted not having any siblings. He obviously sees you as the sister he never had.”
Elynn was acutely uncomfortable. Clearly that was not the case. And she definitely didn’t want to discuss all of Alex’s girlfriends. His reputation as a womanizer had faded in recent years, but she herself had seen that pneumatic blonde leaving his bedroom. Just a few weeks ago in fact.
Suddenly that memory hurt. And that was totally unreasonable. But she didn’t care if it was reasonable or not when Eric surprised her with another tabloid picture. There was Alex in a business suit with Sonia Steele plastered to his side. She was giving him a kiss on the cheek for the paparazzi. Alex looked stiff and uncomfortable in the picture, but she found little consolation in that.
“When was that taken?” she asked Eric in a low voice.
He inspected the caption more closely. “A few weeks ago in Rome,” he sighed. “I’ve always wanted to go there,” he said wistfully.
Rome. Then the picture had been taken before she had stayed over at Alex’s house. But not much before. Elynn tamped down a surge of anger. Dropping her head, she tried to hide her reaction from Eric. It happened before our first kiss, she told herself firmly.
What happens next is all that matters.
Truthfully, she had always been secretly amused by Alex’s playboy image. Her girlfriends in school had always swooned over him. When they got too persistent about meeting him or gossiping about his girlfriends, she would distance herself, preferring to make friends who were more interested in her than her gorgeous, rich stepbrother.
As for all the women he’d been associated with in the past, she’d rarely thought about them. Since she didn’t follow fashion or celebrities, she’d never been that curious about them. And Alex had always been discreet—he’d kept all his girlfriends and liaisons far from the family circle.
In the past, she had wondered how she would feel when Alex got serious about someone. His friendship, such as it was, meant a lot to her. It made her feel special that such an illustrious man had made room in his life for her. Especially with the way he’d reacted to his father’s remarriage in the beginning.
According to Mary, Alex had been extremely contemptuous and cold with her when his father first introduced them. He’d been dead set against his father marrying again and had argued against it at every turn.
It wasn’t till after the honeymoon that Costas managed to persuade Alex to come to a family brunch. Both she and her mother had been anxious over it. But it had gone better than they had expected. Though he’d been gruff, Alex hadn’t gone on the attack.
Not even when he thought you poisoned him, she reflected with a smile.
After that visit, her stepbrother had warmed up little by little. He went from being forbidding and cold to reserved and polite. It took a few months, but he’d eventually welcomed Mary into the family, much to everyone’s relief. She had heard her mother tell Costas that Alex’s acceptance had little to do with her and everything to do with her daughter. And maybe that was true.
Elynn didn’t know how much Costas had told Alex about what had happened to her, but she’d realized long ago that he knew enough. He never brought up the time when she threw her phone away…but he was very careful with her and made a special effort to be kind. For a man used to shouting orders, Alex never raised his voice around her, and he scrupulously avoided sneaking up on her. He protected her, too, never letting strange men near her at their parent’s parties. And he had always been careful not to touch her.
Until recently.
Other than Costas and her carefully chosen friends from school, Alex was the only man in her life. And now he was changing the nature of their relationship. She didn’t think he would do that lightly. He wouldn’t toy with her emotions when he’d spent the past few years looking out for her.
But she wasn’t sure what he wanted or what he was thinking. Maybe he wasn’t thinking about anything at all. Perhaps he’d done something impulsive because he was horny. Which was extremely stupid under the circumstances. Costas would never approve of a casual relationship between his son and stepdaughter. If he ever found out, he would rain down hell until Alex ‘did the right thing’. She honestly couldn’t think of a worse development.
In the two weeks leading up to her degree ceremony, Alex didn’t call her once. She only got a few innocuous texts updating her on his schedule. He was definitely avoiding speaking with her, but he continued to send her things. More meals were sent to her apartment when she was home as well as flowers and candy. Elynn couldn’t decide if he was trying to woo her, or if he thought their encounter was a mistake and was apologizing.
The whole situation had her tied up in knots. On the one hand, she was grateful that things would go back to normal. But a part of her, one she didn’t openly acknowledge, was terribly sad.
The day of her degree ceremony was overcast. Urgent business and bad weather had prevented Alex from arriving before the commencement exercises began. He was so late that Elynn doubted he was going to make it at all. She took her place with the other students and accepted her diploma with a smile, unsure if Alex was there to see it.
It wasn’t until after the whole thing was over that she saw him standing with their parents. “Congratulations,” he said quietly as he bent to kiss her cheek, sending her heart racing, before handing her a huge bouquet of white roses.
White roses were her favorite and there were at least two dozen blooms. The bouquet was so large that when she was carrying it she had a hard time seeing over the silky petals. The day became a blur after that, with their parents hustling her from place to place, several friends joining them for dinner at an exclusive restaurant.
To her relief, Alex stayed for the meal. Elynn was incredibly conscious of every move he made. Her eyes followed every forkful he ate; she couldn’t seem to help herself. She desperately wanted to talk to him, but he disappeared shortly after dinner. Upset that she hadn’t been able to find a moment alone with him before he went back to London, she was quiet
on the car ride back to her apartment.
Her parents dropped her off at her building shortly before midnight. They had spent most of the evening trying to persuade her to join them on their extended tour of Italy.
“Mom, I have a lot to take care of before I can leave,” she repeated for the fourth time. Elynn had earned a spot in the University’s graduate program. She planned on getting a head start on experiments over the summer with her supervisor’s blessing. “I promise to join you in Venice at the end of your trip,” she added, kissing them both before she dragged herself up the stairs to her flat, completely exhausted.
She closed the door and leaned against it, her eyes closed, Alex’s roses clutched in her hand.
“Elynn.”
She opened her eyes with a start. Alex was sitting in her armchair, tablet in hand. He set it aside and stood up. When she didn’t move, he rose and took the flowers from her.
“Did the super let you in?” she asked with a little frown.
He didn’t answer as he turned to make his way into her kitchen. “It probably won’t do much good, but I’ll put these in water anyway,” he said, examining the wilted blooms before digging around for a vase.
She drifted towards the kitchen after him. “What are you doing here?”
He turned around just enough for her to see his slightly sardonic smile. It was not reassuring.
“I thought we should have some time alone. Did the parents manage to talk you into joining them on the Italian tour?”
“No. I was planning on spending most of the summer here, working. I thought I would do some experiments to get an idea if what I have planned is an appropriate topic for a Ph.D. dissertation.”
Alex’s head drew back. “You really should take some time off if you don’t want to burn out,” he said as he walked to the living room and sat down on the couch.
“Yeah, that’s what my supervisor said, but I don’t have anything better to do,” Elynn admitted with a shrug as she hovered, trying to decide if she should sit next to him.
Alex smiled. “Only you would think that toiling the summer away in a lab is a better prospect than an all-expense paid trip to Italy,” he said, before pulling her down next to him.
Flushed, Elynn grabbed a pillow to hug in a nervous defensive move. With a predatory grin, he took it from her unresisting hands and tossed it away. He pulled her onto his lap and kissed her hungrily. But all too soon, he backed away to study her features with a serious expression.
The silence stretched into expectation. He was waiting for her to make a move. Elynn’s breathing stuttered. Heart pounding, she put her hands on his shoulders and slowly leaned in to kiss his full lower lip.
Having received the permission he’d been seeking, Alex’s arms tightened around her. His tongue plunged into her mouth before he withdrew it to nip her lip. She gave a little squeal of surprise, but he didn’t let her go.
It was like liquid heat was pouring out of his mouth. It filled her up, melting her from the inside until she was boneless in his arms. He pulled away to study her dazed eyes, laughing softly when she slumped against him, completely enervated by his touch. One hand moved into her hair, gently closing it into a fist. Tugging her head to one side with a little pull, his mouth moved up and down her neck while his fingers made easy work of the buttons on her blouse.
His mouth flamed over her throat as he slowly undid each one. She didn’t even notice until he parted the sides of her blouse and his lips moved down to her collarbone. Surprised, she looked down at her chest to see his hands cupping her breasts over her plain cotton bra. His fingers stroked her nipples over the cups until they peaked into hard nubs under the fabric. Reflexively, she grabbed one of his hands. He murmured something she didn’t understand, plunging his hands back into her hair to pull her back for another devastating kiss.
Elynn could feel her panties growing wet. She squirmed in his lap, trying to ease the sudden ache between her legs. Alex sucked in a sharp breath.
“Careful, agape mou,” he said in an undertone and she finally noticed the steel hardness against her thigh.
His kisses had distracted her to the point that she hadn’t registered where she ended and he started.
“Oh,” she said staring down at his lap.
“Oh,” he repeated before stealing another kiss.
Soon she was unaware of anything but the heat crawling through her—up until the moment his hand moved up her bare thigh and his fingers trailed up under her skirt. Startled, she looked down and stared as if she could see through the dark fabric. He paused, resting his hand on her mound until she relaxed in his hold and collapsed on his broad chest with a sigh. He kissed the tip of her nose.
“Thank you,” he said.
“Why?” she murmured.
“For trusting me.”
Alex took her lips again and slid his hand further up, stroking her over her panties. He hissed slightly when he grazed over the moist fabric. His fingers slipped underneath the elastic at her thighs, deftly working over her clit while he pressed his palm against her opening.
Shivering and moaning aloud, Elynn ground her hips against his hand. He continued to stroke the dampened lips of her sex before pushing the tip of his middle finger inside her.
“You’re so small and tight around my finger,” he whispered, before kissing her earlobe and sucking it into his mouth.
With effort, she reached up to trace Alex’s firm jawline. He had one of those sexy five o’clock shadows. She loved the way the stubble felt against her palms. Eyes closed, he turned to kiss her fingers. When he bit one, the sharp ringing of a phone startled her out of her sensual reverie.
Alex withdrew his hand and shifted her off his lap with regret. He stood up and picked up his phone.
“I’ll be right down,” he said before hanging up. He looked down at her flushed face. “I told them to only give me a half hour after you came in.”
“Told who?”
“My driver and bodyguard.”
“Why? And you didn’t answer me earlier. Did the super let you in?”
He stiffened and stayed quiet. She thought he wasn’t going to answer when he finally said, “No. I have a key.”
Elynn stood up, “What do you mean, you have a key?”
“I…I have one because as soon as you moved in, I bought the building,” he said slowly.
“What? You can’t have done that. I mean, what would be the point?”
Alex put his hands on his hips. “Look, I wasn’t about to let you live someplace I hadn’t secured first,” he said firmly.
Elynn thought back to the security enhancements that had been made after she moved in. The doorman at the reception was new, as were the hallway security cameras. New locks had been placed on all the windows and the lock on her front door had been upgraded to a deadbolt.
A weird thought occurred to her. “Do you have access to the security camera footage?” she asked slowly.
“I haven’t been spying on you.” His voice had an edge now.
Elynn put her hands on her hips. “So the over-attentive doorman doesn’t report to you?”
Alex looked away and her mouth firmed. She was onto something. Mike the doorman was a big friendly man. A former cop, in fact. Elynn shook her head in realization. Of course Alex had hired him to keep an eye on her. It actually seemed like something Costas would do. They probably had a pact to keep an eye on her.
It made you feel safer knowing Mike was retired law enforcement.
She sighed in resignation. “And why do you only have a half hour?”
“So I won’t do anything stupid,” he said softly, pulling her to him.
He kissed her again before taking her hand and leading her to the door.
“We didn’t talk,” she said suddenly, tightening the grip on his hand.
“We don’t need to. I’ll see you at the parent’s party. Wear the blue silk gown. The floor length one. I want to see you in it.”
“The blue silk?�
�� she asked confused. “Did you choose all of that stuff yourself? All the clothes? It was you and not your staff?”
“I selected and approved everything from pictures,” he said as he opened the door.
Elynn blushed. She had assumed his staff had selected things at random. Some of the lingerie had been rather daring. Alex turned back with his hand on the door to run a finger over her hot cheek before he kissed her again. Then he walked out, leaving her alone and still aching.
Without stopping to think about it, she put one hand on the door and moved the other one between her legs. Putting her fingers where his had been, she squeezed and stroked until she brought herself to a mild climax.
Stunned at her own behavior, she took a shower and went to bed. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
Chapter 8
As a rule, Costas and Mary never invited large numbers of people to their parties, but tonight they made an exception. The house hadn’t seen such a crowd since before they married. Even their wedding reception had been small and intimate.
Elynn smiled politely whenever she had to make small talk with her parents’ friends while she kept a surreptitious eye out for Alex. Hiding the strain she felt, she moved through the crowd, trying not to get trapped in one place for long. She was no longer uncomfortable in large crowds, but tonight she was getting a lot more male attention than she was used to.
She blamed the dress. It was the most daring thing she’d ever worn in public. The dusky blue silk was fitted at the waist and hips, flattering her figure as if it had been made for her. The square neck was modestly cut by current standards, exposing only a hint of cleavage at the top, but she still felt exposed. She couldn’t remember ever showing that much skin.
When she couldn’t shake off a socialite’s overeager son, she dived back into the group of guests, hoping that he would get bored if she kept moving.
****
Alex arrived half an hour late to his father’s house, swearing under his breath as he went up the steps. When he joined the party, it was in full swing. He swore again, not realizing how many guests his father and Mary had invited.