52

ALEXANDER

She moaned into my mouth.

The sound burned and threaded through every nerve and curled my fists into the mattress on either side of her head. I could’ve kissed her harder, could’ve swallowed that noise whole, but I didn’t. I wanted to hear it again. Clearer. Louder.

So I pulled back.

Her lips chased mine before she caught herself. Her eyes opened slowly, dazed and a little confused. Pink flooded her cheeks like she hadn’t meant to give that away.

I smiled.

“Don’t stop now,” I murmured, brushing my nose against hers. “You were just getting into it.”

Her breath hitched.

I ran a thumb across her lower lip. It was soft, parted slightly, and trembling just the way I liked. My free hand trailed down, over her collarbone, then lower, ghosting the top of her hoodie. My hoodie.

That made all my blood run south, my pants feeling even tighter.

“What were you imagining when you moaned like that?” I asked quietly.

Her lashes fluttered. “I wasn’t—”

“Lying’s a sin, sweetheart.”

Her legs shifted beneath me. I could feel the tension in her thighs. The heat building between them. And I hadn’t even touched her properly yet.

Not the way I wanted to.

I sat back on my heels, pulling her with me by the waist until she was straddling my lap. She gasped, hands flying to my shoulders for balance.

God, she was warm.

And she fit so damn perfectly.

Her eyes dropped to where our bodies aligned, and I knew she could feel how hard I was through the fabric. Still, she stayed. Chest rising and falling a little faster, but she didn’t pull away.

She bit her lip. I've seen her doing quite a few times when she was nervous.

“You read all of it?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“How far did you get?”

She hesitated, eyes darting away.

I tilted my head. “Did you get to the part where he tied her wrists?”

Her eyes snapped to mine.

Ah. So she had.

“And did you imagine it?” I murmured, voice lower now, lips brushing the shell of her ear. “Did you think about me doing that to you?”

Her breath hitched again. So sensitive. So reactive.

I reached behind her and slowly tugged the hoodie up, watching her arms rise as I pulled it over her head. Her hair stuck to her neck and cheeks, still damp. She was wearing nothing underneath it except the same sports bra and sweatpants I’d given her.

“You’re blushing again,” I said softly.

Her mouth opened, but no words came out.

I traced her waist with both hands, dragging my palms over the dip of her back until she arched, pressing her chest closer to mine.

“I think you like when I talk to you like this.”

She whimpered. And it undid me.

I leaned in again and claimed her lips, this time rougher, deeper. She melted into it, fingers digging into my hair like she couldn’t help it. Like she needed something to hold on to.

Her hips shifted over mine, tentative at first, like she was testing the friction. I groaned into her mouth. My hands slid down, gripping her ass through the sweatpants, guiding her rhythm.

Slow. Deliberate.

“You feel what you’re doing to me?” I asked, my voice strained.

She nodded.

“Use your words, Alina.”

“I—yes,” she breathed.

I kissed her again, swallowing the whimper that followed. She was trembling now. Her thighs tightening around me. My thumbs dipped under the waistband of her sweatpants, but I didn’t push them down. Not yet. Just enough for her to feel how close I was to it. To what she wanted.

And she did want it.

Her hands roamed over my chest, clutching the fabric of my shirt like it was keeping her grounded. Every movement, every little rock of her hips made her eyes flutter shut.

It was addictive, watching her lose herself on top of me.

I pressed my mouth to her neck, just beneath her jaw. Her pulse beat wildly against my lips. I didn’t bite, didn’t suck. Just kissed. Over and over. Soft and slow.

She whimpered again, and this time it wasn’t quiet.

“You’re doing so good,” I whispered against her skin.

“I—I don’t know what I’m doing,” she breathed.

“You don’t have to. That’s my job.”

I kissed lower, dragging my lips across her collarbone, then down between her breasts, still caged by the bra. She gasped when I tugged it down just enough to expose her nipple.

“Alexander—”

I paused. Looked up.

Her chest was heaving. Her lips parted. There was hesitation in her eyes. Just a flicker but I saw it.

And I stopped.

I cupped her cheek with one hand, steadying her. “Too much?”

She hesitated… then shook her head.

“You sure?”

Another pause. Then, quieter than before: “I want more.”

I smiled. Not because I’d won. But because she trusted me enough to ask for it.

I reached for her waistband again, but this time I only dipped my fingers in just an inch.

“I’ll give you more,” I said, kissing the corner of her mouth. “But only when you beg for it.”

Her breath stuttered.

She didn’t know it yet, but I would keep her on this edge all night if I had to. Just to hear that word from her lips.

Because I wasn’t done with her.

Not even close.

She was breathless beneath me, lips swollen, eyes glazed, and every part of her body calling to mine.

I knew I should stop. I always knew.

But knowing had never made it easier.

Her moan was still ringing in my ears, sweet, and sinful. It echoed through me like it had a place inside my bones.

My thumb brushed the corner of her mouth, catching the wetness there, and I watched her pupils dilate. She wasn’t afraid.

“You drive me insane,” I muttered.

She swallowed, her eyes flicking to my mouth again like she was already thinking of what more it could do.

I tilted my head, kissed the corner of her jaw, then her throat, leaving open-mouthed kisses all over her skin. She trembled beneath me.

“Say something,” I whispered. “Anything.”

“I—I don’t know what to say,” she breathed.

“Good.” I grazed my teeth over her skin, just enough to make her jolt. “I don’t want you thinking. Just feel.”

My hand moved lower, splaying over her waist, her hip, the dip just above her thigh. Her breath hitched. She arched instinctively, chasing friction, heat. Me.

We’d done this before. Enough that my body remembered the exact way hers reacted. The way she gasped when I kissed a certain spot. The way she held her breath right before she begged me not to stop.

I’d promised myself I wouldn’t cross a line again. Not until I was sure she understood what she was doing. What this meant.

But every time I touched her, reason dissolved.

My fingers slipped beneath the hem of her shirt. Her skin burned against mine, warm and impossibly addicting. I traced a slow line up her stomach, dragging the fabric with me.

“You shouldn’t let me touch you like this,” I said hoarsely, eyes locked on hers.

She didn’t speak. Just bit her lip and stared at me like I was already too far gone.

She was right.

I pushed the shirt higher until it bunched beneath her arms. She raised them automatically, and I pulled it over her head, tossing it aside. Exposing her naked breasts and hard nipples.

She was driving me insane.

“Are you trying to kill me?” I growled, voice low, rough.

“I didn’t know you were coming in.”

That wasn’t the answer I wanted.

I kissed her again, harder this time. Less control, more need. My hand cupped one breast while my mouth moved to the other, tongue circling slowly before I sucked.

She whimpered.

My favorite sound.

“I want to ruin you,” I whispered against her skin. “Every time I look at you, all I can think about is how sweet you’d sound if I kept you like this for hours, begging.”

I moved back to her mouth, kissed her deeply, slowly. She clung to me, her fingers digging into my back.

She pulled back slightly, just enough to breathe. “You already ruined me.”

My chest clenched at that. At the honesty in her voice. At the way she looked at me like I was the only one who could break her and put her back together.

I didn’t deserve it.

Didn’t deserve her.

But I wasn’t strong enough to let her go.

My hand moved lower, between her thighs. I pressed down lightly, and she gasped, hips jerking up to meet my palm.

“Think that book was better than the real thing?” I asked.

She shook her head instantly. “No.”

“You sure?”

“Yes,” she whispered. “God, yes.”

I grinned, teeth grazing her lower lip. “Good girl.”