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TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 18
ALEX POV:I was on a warpath,and everyone gave me wide berth as I stalked down the hall toward the elevators. My new assistant, who I’d hired after firing the congressman’s insipid daughter for leaking my cell number to the Gruppmann CEO, pretended to be on the phone when I passed, and the rest of the staff kept their eyes glued to their computer screens like their lives depended on it.I didn’t blame them. I’d been biting people’s heads off left and right for the past weekIncompetent, every single one of them.I refused to entertain any other reason I’d been so cranky since my birthday, especially if that “other reason” happened to be five-five with black hair and lips that tasted sweeter than sin.I ignored the two people who scrambled off the elevator when they saw me enter, and jabbed the button for the lobby.That fucking kiss. It’d tattooed itself onto my mind, and I found myself thinking about it—about the way Ava tasted and felt in my arms—far more than I should. Thanks to t
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 19
AVA POV:The day had finally come.I stood five feet away from the pool, my skin etched with goosebumps even though the temperature hovered at a toasty eighty-four degrees thanks to the hotel’s state-of-the-art heating system.I wore a one-piece Eres swimsuit, courtesy of Alex, who’d handed me the shopping bag without a word when he picked me up for our lesson today.After weeks of learning relaxation techniques and acclimating myself to the thought of being in water, it was time for me to get in the water.I wanted to throw up. Panic gripped me, its icy claws digging into my sweat-slicked skin and drawing invisible blood. My stomach pumped in rhythm with my wild heart, causing my breakfast to slosh around like rubber ducks in a bath.“Breathe.” Alex’s calm voice steadied me somewhat. “Remember our lessons.”“Okay.” I dragged in a lungful of air and almost gagged at the smell of chlorine. “I can do this, I can do this,” I chanted.“I’ll go in firs
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 20
ALEX POV:It didn’t take long for me to secure the penthouse and all but drag Ava into the luxurious suite. I was so fucking hard my cock almost punched a hole through my pants, and the images I had running through my mind…Fuck. I was going to destroy her, but any remaining shred of conscience I possessed had disappeared the moment she’d uttered those words.Maybe I like those things too.My blood roared at the memory.Baby, you have no idea what you got yourself into, I thought, shutting the door behind me.Ava stood in the middle of the bedroom, wearing a dress over her swimsuit and a half-nervous expression. With her doe eyes and innocent features, she resembled a sacrificial virgin awaiting defilement.My cock throbbed harder.“Take off your clothes,” I said, my soft voice a whip crack in the silence.Part of me wanted to bury myself deep inside her as soon as possible; the other part wanted to savor every moment.Despite a slight shake in her
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 21
AVA POV:By the time Alex and I finished, I was exhausted and wrung out, and I would wake up sore as hell tomorrow, but I didn’t care. Alex hadn’t held back, and that was what I’d wanted. Needed.Somehow, in choosing to let go, I’d never felt more powerful. Strength in weakness, control in submission.“Aren’t you tired?” I yawned, watching Alex through half-droopy eyes. We’d gone at it for what must’ve been hours, but whereas I was ready to pass out, he looked alert and awake as ever.“If by ‘tired’ you mean you wore me out, perhaps,” he said in an uncharacteristically teasing tone. “But if you’re asking whether I’m sleepy, no.”“How is that possible?” I mumbled into my pillow.“Insomnia, Sunshine. I sleep a few hours a night—if I’m lucky.”I frowned. “But that’s…” Another huge yawn. “Not good.”Humans need sleep. How had Alex survived all this time on only a few hours a night? “We should fix that. Chamomile tea. Meditation. Melatonin…” My voice drift
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 22
AVA POV:Alex and I spent the rest of the weekend locked in our suite, subsisting on room service and orgasms and christening every surface—though I’m not sure “christening” was the right word to use, considering how filthy our activities were.Sex with Alex was sex like I’d never known it. Raw. Animalistic. Soul-destroying in the best possible way. It shattered every preconceived notion of who I was and molded me into something darker, more depraved. He called me Sunshine one moment and his whore the next.And I loved it.Even at his coldest, Alex had always treated me with respect outside the bedroom, but inside the bedroom, I was his toy. His to fuck and use—in the shower, pressed against the window, bent over the desk—and I craved it as much as he did.I screamed, my core clenching around his cock for what must’ve been the thousandth time as another orgasm ripped through and broke me into a million pieces of ecstatic agony.When the fog of pleasure finally faded, I found Alex sta
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 23
AVA POV:My friends had mixed reactions to Alex’s and my new relationship status. Jules was ecstatic, claiming she knew Alex had a thing for me and demanding to know what he was like in bed. I refused to answer but flushed a deep crimson, and that had told her all she needed to know. I think Jules would have died of disappointment had Alex’s bedroom skills not lived up to the promise of his devastating looks and intimidating presence. Luckily for me, they did.Stella, meanwhile, was worried. Happy for me, but worried. She warned me to take things slow and not fall too hard, too fast. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that train had left the station ages ago. Maybe not the “too fast” part, as Alex Volkov had stolen my heart, bit by bit, over the years, even before I thought I liked him, but the “too hard?” Heart, meet free fall.Bridget was neutral. I supposed princesses were inherently more diplomatic, which was why she said nothing other than if I was happy, she was happy.The spe
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 24
AVA POV:“It’s not safe.”Bridget drew herself up to her full five feet, nine inches and leveled an icy glare at the dark-haired man glowering right back at her. Ballsy, considering she was the princess and he was the bodyguard, but Rhys Larsen wasn’t Booth. That much was clear in the week since he’d arrived in Hazelburg to take over Booth’s protection duties.We’d thrown a big going away celebration for Booth at The Crypt and sent quick prayers that Bridget’s new bodyguard would be as cool as Booth.Prayers not answered.Rhys was gruff, surly, and arrogant. He drove Bridget mad, which was quite something, since she never lost her temper. In the past seven days, however, I’d seen her on the verge of yelling. I’d been so shocked I almost dropped my camera.“Fall Fest is an annual tradition,” she said in a regal voice. “I’ve attended every year for the past three years, and I don’t intend to stop now.”Rhys’s gray eyes flickered. He was a little younger than Booth—maybe early thirties,
TWISTED STUBBORN LOVE 25
AVA POV:Every year,my family celebrated Thanksgiving with a Chinese twist. Instead of turkey and mashed potatoes, we ate roast duck, rice, dumplings, and fish cake soup. Food-wise, this year was the same, but without Josh, the dinner had been two hours of silence and awkwardness. Alex and my dad held a few brief conversations about football and work, and that was it. I think my dad was stressed about something at his office. He seemed more irritated than usual.I also suspected my dad didn’t like Alex much. It was a surprise, considering he had a soft spot for smart, accomplished people, and Alex was as smart and accomplished as they came. I’d always chalked it up to the fact that Alex didn’t kiss ass as much as Chinese parents liked—he wasn’t one for flattering words. Plus, I was ninety percent sure my dad knew something was up with me and Alex, though he didn’t say anything.“He knows,” I whispered when my dad excused himself to use the restroom. “I swear, he knows.”“No, he doesn
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