LAURAI really didn’t understand how it was possible that I had seen this man countless times and yet every single time I saw him, my heart slammed against my ribcage. At first, it stopped beating, then started all over again with a vengeance, racing so fast in my chest, that I wouldn’t be surprised if it just ran itself into a heart attack. It was like I was seeing him for the first time all over again. Was that even normal? I would ask Balery if it was, but she would only see that as an opportunity to blow things out of proportions and, God forbid, tell me that I had feelings for him. He was lying on his bed with his back to the headboard, a laptop on his thighs, and eyes narrowed in concentration as he typed away. When I closed the door, his head lifted and his eyes landed on me. My breath caught when they lingered for all but three seconds, then I exhaled when he looked away, going back to what he was doing. That little action hurt more than it should have and I hated it. Squ
LAURAOver the past few days, I had launched an operation. OPERATION SEDUCE ALEX Aim: To get him to open his eyes, pull his head out of his ass—or whichever idiom best suited the situation—and face the truth that he still wanted me. I was right there for the taking; all he had to do was take. I’ll tell you how it’s been so far. Day 1: Short sundress with nothing underneath. Alex spent a huge part of his day in the kitchen—it wasn’t news that he ate alot—and a lot of people might find it weird that I had already showered as early as 6am—believe me, I did too—but I have never found it in me to give a quarter of a fuck about what people had to say, which was exactly why I was bold enough to walk into the kitchen in my short sundress, making it very obvious that I’d had my bath, and sat at the island to have my breakfast. I didn’t need to have eyes at the back of my head to know that Alex did a double-take when he saw me, eyes lingering on specific areas of my body. And by specific
LAURA It was a date. And he’d gone all out.I couldn’t explain my reaction when I stepped out of the house and saw a limousine waiting for us. First thing I did was was give Alex a long look. I mean, there was no mistaking it—the limo was there for us. The driver had tipped his hat in a salute when we came out, a smile on his face and, hell, who else would have a limo waiting outside for them other than this magnificent man who apparently went all out when he took his women out? A frown settled on my face at that. His women. I didn’t like the sound of it. Saying that the little clench my heart gave at the image that accompanied those words was uncalled for and so bloody stupid, would be a huge fucking understatement. I’d literally told him that there could be nothing between us, in other words, telling him that it was okay for him to do whatever he wanted with other women, and it was a given that he would take me up on that offer. He was a man. A gorgeous, out-of-this-world, ho
LAURA Ironically, I was the one that descended on him the minute we got into the car.I couldn’t climb him fast enough. His back had barely touched the seat before I turned towards him and caught his lips with my mine. He was quite surprised by that, I could tell, and he just held himself stiffly, shocked, for all of three seconds before his brain caught up with what was happening—that this was real—then he wrapped his fingers around my waist and pulled me into him. The move was rough and I ended up stumbling into him, my chest pressed to his. He shoved his other hand into my hair, gripping my head and holding it in place so that he could angle it the way that he wanted. Tilting my head to the right, he pushed his tongue against the seam of my lips and I opened up for him, at the same time, gulping in much needed air. His tongue slipped into my mouth, hot and wet, and a moan escaped my lips when it flicked against mine. His hand on my waist made it impossible for me to move back a
LAURA I blinked at him. “We’re making out, aren’t we?”“Yes, but what are you doing?”Almost like he couldn’t help himself, he flicked my nipple with his thumb through my dress. My lips parted as pleasure shot through me, and his eyes locked on them before he leaned forward with a groan and sucked my bottom lip into his mouth. When he pulled away, I followed, cupping his jaws and kissing him.His big body shuddered under mine and I thought maybe it had to do with our kiss. It was a slow, drugging kiss, and if I could think properly, I would be concerned that I was kissing him like that, but I wasn’t and that was why I pushed my hands under the lapels of his tux, seeking more contact. I wanted to feel his skin on mine with nothing between us. He wrenched his lips away from mine, his chest flying up and down with his harsh breathing. Removing my hands from his face, he dropped them on my thigh and held them there, pinning me in place with just his hands—and the intensity of his too-gr
LAURAI could’ve bet my last dollar that I heard the sound of a door closing in hurry—and a huge part of me believed that it was Balery who must have been spying on us since the moment we arrived—but thankfully, as Alex walked up the stairs with me in his arms, we didn’t run into anyone. Not even Drew or Jake. At least I didn’t have to worry about explaining to anyone why I had my limbs wrapped around him like a fucking octopus. “What are you thinking?”I looked up and saw that Alex had his eyes straight ahead as he climbed up the stairs, as they had been since we entered the house, so how was it possible that he’d managed to know that I was thinking? “I’m not,” I lied.“You are,” he countered, and I could see us going on like this if I didn’t do something about it.Plus, were we even supposed to be talking when we should be fucking instead?“How do you know that I’m thinking?”“I can literally hear you,” he purred and an involuntary shiver swept through me. His voice was deep and
LAURAHe jerked up from the bed when I took him into my mouth, and I pushed him back down, pressing my palm flat against his stomach. It quivered under my hand, a testament to the fact that he loved what I was doing to him. That his grip on control was slipping fast and right through his fingers and there was nothing he could do about it, but watch as I wrecked him. Letting him out of my mouth, I dragged my tongue along the side of him, tonguing those thick, prominent veins that ran down his length. “Fuck,” he breathed as his head fell back on the bed. I dragged the hand on his stomach slowly downward, scratching him lightly with my nails and moaning when he shivered. Cupping his sac in my palm, I massaged them, squeezing lightly then releasing as I worked his cock. I bobbed my head up and down on him in quick successions, then slipped him out until it was remaining just the tip, before I tightened my lips around him and sucked. My name was a steady cry on his lips at this point, a
LAURAI slept in his room that night. It wasn’t something that I’d consciously done; By the time he was done with me, the only thing that had been on my mind was sleep and I’d slipped right into it without giving a damn whose bed—or room—it was. Then I’d woken up the next morning, sat up on the bed, blinked at the strangeness of the place, then I’d turned, taken one look at the sexy hunk of a man lying beside me—the same one who’d had his hands firmly around me like he hadn’t wanted to let go even in his sleep—at the tattoos bared with the sheets around his waist, and I hadn’t felt so bad about not waking up in my own room. So what had I done?I’d woken him up with a blowjob, alternating between sucking his dick and tracing his tattoos with my tongue. Then after quite some time of lazing there like a king, simply enjoying my attentions on him, he’d flipped us around and fucked the shit out of me—with me facing away from him. I was shitting all over my rules and it wasn’t half as b
LAURA One second Derrick had a blade to my face and the next, his body was flying backwards and slamming into the bathroom door. There was an audible thud and a loud pained grunt as he landed on his ass on the ground, the knife skidding on the floor until it stopped a few feet away from him. My breaths sawing in and out of my chest, I almost burst into tears when I saw the person who’d burst into the room.Hunter. Standing in the center of the room, he was big, intimidating, and he looked so royally pissed, even I shrank back against the chair I was sitting on. I’d never appreciated his size more than I did in that moment because seeing Derrick’s slumped form and then Hunter’s, I knew there was no way the former could face off against the latter. Which meant my unborn baby and I were going to get out of here alive. His eyes made one quick sweep of me. After confirming that I was unscathed—at least physically, he tu
ALEXWhen I entered the restaurant, my eyes scanned the tables for the woman I was supposed to be meeting here. I found her sitting at one of the tables to the right, going through the menu. Margaret Keaton was a beautiful woman. With dark brown hair peppered with streaks of silver, a round face bared, thanks to her hair pulled back in a ponytail, lips pulled up in a smile and green eyes bright and happy, she turned the eyes of both men and women. At fifty, she appeared far younger than her age. Had it not been for her rapidly greying hair, she would have been able to pass for mid-thirties. Making my way over to her, I ignored the curious glances thrown at me by a number of people. “Hi, Mom.”Eyes so similar to mine flew up in surprise. “Alex, I didn’t hear you come in!” Rising to her feet, she hugged me. I didn’t even have it in me to fake a smile as I hugged her back, kissing her cheek. As we sat down, mom’s too-knowing eyes coasted over me. “How have you been?”“Good. I’ve
LAURAI opened my mouth to speak but no word came out. I tried again. Nothing. My fingers started trembling and soon, my whole body was shaking. Oh my God. Derrick, the man who lived in my apartment building, who smiled and waved when he saw me, whom I’d given my phone number simply because I thought he was nice, was my stalker. Jesus Christ. Now I could see it. The soft tone of his messages one day then the next, he was being aggressive and forceful, just like how he’d gone from calm to livid right in front of me a while back. No wonder my building cameras hadn’t been able to find anyone strange coming and going. Because there was absolutely nothing strange about a tenant leaving his house and returning at the end of the day. My stalker had been living with me all along. So fucking close, and I’d been none the wiser. My shaking intensified when I remembered the things he’d said in some of his l
LAURAThe next time I opened my eyes, I was in a…room?I was sitting on a chair, which, along with a bed, bedside table and wardrobe, were the only things in the otherwise empty room.One minute I’d been walking at the beach and the next, I was in a room I couldn’t remember ever entering. How the hell had I ended up in this unfamiliar room? Squinting, I struggled to remember. Then I did. The masculine hand that had grabbed me from behind, pressing a cloth to my face, and that foul smell. My God, it had been so bad, I’d passed out from it. Wait. I’d passed out. Heart slamming against my rib-cage, I jerked up from the chair I was sitting on, but was pulled back down by a weight on my hands. I realized that both of my hands were handcuffed to the arms of the chair at the same moment what I assumed was the bathroom door opened and a big form stepped out. The shock that gripped me at the person standing in
LAURAIt was my third day at my mother’s house and she hadn’t smoked a single thing. She’d probably decided that she didn’t want to add any more to my suffering. Maybe she was abstaining simply because I was here, and for all the world, she could go back to smoking soon as I left. I’d take it. A win is a win. Speak of the devil. She appeared in the hallway, looking rather fresh in a bright short sleeved t-shirt paired with black leggings. It might sound like an exaggeration but to be honest, the dark circles under her eyes weren’t as obvious as they used to be. “Why, you’re positively radiant this morning!” She exclaimed, sitting on the arm of the couch I occupied. Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the remote, pausing the show I’d been watching. “Look who’s talking. Have you had a look in the mirror this morning?”“You’re just teasing me.”“Am not.” Just then, Jo walked into the house beaming, and I grinned a
ALEXShe blinked. “You can’t be serious.”I said nothing. The fact that I wanted to call the engagement off shouldn’t surprise her so much because I hadn’t wanted it in the first place. I’d only agreed to this insane idea because it had seemed appealing to my mother. Claire and I had dated for a few months in college before I’d caught her cheating. The thing was, during that short time, she’d somehow managed to worm her way into my family. Imagine my surprise when my mother had sent me a photo of the two shopping in Paris. Together. What my mother saw in her, I didn’t know—and didn’t care to.I admit that part of that was my fault because I hadn’t told my mother that I’d caught her cheating. Instead, I’d lied to her that the relationship simply hadn’t worked out so my mother had made it her life’s mission to make it work. Why didn’t I just tell my mother the truth, one might ask. Thing was, after the death
ALEXDarkness. That was the icy cold, unwelcome blanket that enveloped me when Laura left. I wasn’t sure if that was correct—or even possible—but I couldn’t explain it any better than that. With her gone, it felt like the very ground I walked on had been swept from right under my fucking feet and I’d been plunged into a bottomless, pitch-black pit, one where I’d been falling for the past hour. Still kneeling in the same spot I’d been when she walked out of the room and out of my life, I’d lost track of time. I couldn’t tell how long it had been, only that it had to have been a while because the hard floor was beginning to dig into my knees through the fabric of my pants. Saying that I didn’t have the strength to stand sounded like an exaggeration, but in truth, I had to muster every single atom of strength in my body to push to my feet, staggering to sit on the foot bench, bracing my elbows on my knees and dropping my face into my palms.Fuck. When we’d gone out to the doctor’s o
LAURA “No one dies from a broken heart.”That was my best friend’s attempt at reassuring me that I was, in fact, not going to die from this pain I felt. I doubted it, but I mustered a small smile at her and went back to what I’d been doing for the past hour—staring at the blank wall. I wasn’t sure why I’d even bothered to ask her when I knew the answer was a big fat yes.I firmly believed that I could very well die from the sheer amount of pain I was feeling. Everything on the inside of my body hurt. Every. Single. Thing. Hell, even breathing hurt. And for the first time in forever, I think I finally understood my mother and why she used. There was little I wouldn’t do to stop feeling like this. Balery sighed, placing the food tray she was carrying on the bedside table before sliding onto the bed, right next to me. “You have to eat something.”“I will,” I told her. “Now,” she ordered. “You haven’t eaten anything all day.”Rolling onto my back, I exhaled at the ceiling, regretti
LAURA “Fiancée,” I murmured, monotone, almost five minutes later. It was like an out of body experience when Alex had taken my arm and gently led me inside to sit on the couch. It was a good thing, because a few more seconds standing and my legs would have probably given out from the magnitude of the shock. “Oh dear,” I heard the woman murmur. The one who claimed she was Alex’s fiancée, that is. “Why does she look like she’s seen a ghost?” Alex didn’t respond. He lowered to his haunches in front of me and took my hands in his. “Baby, this isn’t what it looks like—”“What do you mean it’s not what it looks like?” The woman cut in. “Didn’t you tell her you’re engaged?” “When she leaves, I’ll explain everything to you. Please,” Alex continued, ignoring her. My vision was blurry so I couldn’t see the expression on his face clearly but he sounded panicked. Scared even. If this wasn’t what it looked like, then why was he scared? Why did he look so fucking guilty? Why wasn’t he denyin