He narrowed his eyes and stopped rubbing himself against me. “Are you trying to offend me, sweetie?”
“No, I’m trying to explain to you there’s no point in our rushing into things.”
A vibration interrupted us.
“For fuck’s sake,” he swore. He picked up his cell from his night table and said in a serious voice, “Kraftberg.”
I heard a woman’s voice but couldn’t understand what she said.
“Who gave you my number?” he growled at his iPhone. “Excuse me… Well, now we have a problem.” Pushing himself up, he looked me in the eyes. “Don’t you dare ever call me again. Do we understand each other?”
He spoke to the female caller so angrily even I trembled, never mind how she must have felt.
“This doesn’t give you the right to call me… I won’t get mad if you don’t take such liberties again… No… Do you hear me?” he shouted and hung up. Then he dialed some number and went into the other room.
Alexander started to tear into someone, but I had no idea who. God, when he was furious, it was best to stay out of his sight.
Who is he talking with? Is it someone from his company? No. He wouldn’t speak like that to any of his subordinates. Damn… Of course. It must be one of his exes. And how he was shouting…
The door opened and in came Alexander, which interrupted my musings. He put his phone down on the night table and got back into bed. Turning to me, he propped himself on his elbow to see me better.
I stayed silent, as I didn’t know how to ask him. He went first.
“Of course you’re now wondering about those phone calls.” He gave me a deadpan look so I was unable to tell if he was still furious. Sometimes he was quite good at hiding his emotions.
“And whom you gave a good talking to,” I added softly.
“Silvia called,” he said, his eyes locked on mine. I decided to stare back at him. After all, it was no skin off my back.
“Who’s Silvia?
“I knew you’d ask, and you have the full right to know. A woman I was with at the club.”
“Who you fucked at the club,” I clarified. My heartbeat quickened.
“Yes,” he replied.
“So what did she want from you?”
“She asked me when I would go there again.”
I felt like I was suffocating, as if the air in the room weren’t enough.
“And what was your answer?” I asked quietly. I barely heard my own voice.
“I told her I’d never set foot in there again.”
Oh heavens… How did we get on the subject of that damn club again? I didn’t want to think about it and torture myself. It was a part of his past and I had to accept it. But I didn’t want us to discuss it. All these talks only hurt me and made me despair.
“And who did you call a minute ago?” I couldn’t fail to ask.
“Vanessa.”
I closed my eyes for a second, opened them, and then looked at him bitterly. “Why Vanessa?”
Can’t this snake just disappear from our lives?
“Because she gave her my cell phone number without my permission. I’ll have a serious chat with her when I’m back.”
Yes, this snake really is trying to split us up. There could be no doubt.
“I don’t want you to talk to her,” I said quickly without thinking. The words simply slipped out, but I had no right to tell him with whom he could and could not talk… After all, I was going to work in the bank with my former boyfriend for three months.
“You don’t like me talking to her. You get jealous.” He tenderly stroked my shoulder.
“Yes, I don’t like it, but I can’t forbid you to see her. She’s your friend, after all. By the way, how does Vanessa know your ex?”
What kind of question did you just ask him? From the sex club, of course.
“She’s not my ex. You have exes. I don’t.”
“Oh, are we going to change the subject now?” I snapped.
“No. Silvia and I fucked a few times and that was it. Vanessa has also been with her.”
What?
“Is she bisexual?” I was quite surprised.
Ah, Alexia. What planet are you living on? I added silently and shook my head. How could I be so prudish and hold the mistaken belief that all people are like me?
“No. They had a threesome.” He watched me carefully.
“With whom?” I felt disgusted talking about this, but I couldn’t stop digging. I just couldn’t… I wanted to know everything.
“Not with me. With another guy.”
“Of course. How could I forget you’ve been in a ménage à trois too? How naïve I am.” I covered my eyes with my hand.
God, I felt nauseous when I remembered this was what Alexander’s life used to consist of—orgies in sex clubs. I knew I should stop asking questions, since I wouldn’t like the answers. They would knock me even further off balance. But it was as if the devil were goading me to step over the edge.
“Um… When you did it with this Silvia, was anyone else involved—man or woman?”
“Do you really want to know? There’s no point.”
I looked at him and he stared back through narrowed eyes.
“You didn’t answer my question.” I wouldn’t give up.
He took a deep breath. Naturally, this entire interrogation wasn’t at all to his liking.
“Yes, another woman was involved. I would never do a threesome involving another man.”
It was as if my heart stopped beating. I felt sick. I got the feeling the room was spinning. I closed my eyes and again hid my face with my hand.
“Have you only ever had this kind of sex? Have you not had normal sex?” My voice sounded quite hostile.
“Alexia, why do you want to know? It’s only hurting you.”
“Have you done it with just one woman?” I licked my lips. They’d gone painfully dry.
“Of course I have.” Then he added softly, “Hey, baby, I love you. Why do we have to delve into the past?”
“Look, all this is making me feel sick. I don’t want to talk anymore. I want to go to sleep.” I turned my back to him, switched off the lamp on my side of the bed, and then tightly hugged my pillow.
Oh God, this is hopeless. Our relationship has no future. It’s just not possible. He will not be able to continue satisfying his desires with just me.
My eyes filled with tears. I shut them tight. Alexander was holding me, and I felt his powerful chest muscles on my back. “It pains me when I see you looking so sad.” His warm breath gently caressed my hair.
“Why do you want to be with me, Alexander? You can have any woman, one who is far more open to sexual experimentation than me, who can satisfy you in countless ways. I… I’m not that liberated in bed. And I never will be. All this isn’t me… I don’t get it.”
He turned me on my back and used his fingers to wipe the tears off my face. “Don’t cry. I beg you. My heart breaks when I see you so upset,” he said, showering my face with light kisses. “You give me everything I need, Alexia. Everything. Since I met you, I knew I’d been searching for you my whole life. And now that I’ve met you, I won’t let you leave me. Alexia Welson, I am madly and deeply in love with you.”
The fire in his eyes made me shiver.
God, do we actually have a future together? Could we make it work?
I felt relief for a fraction of second, but the relief was quickly pushed aside by the merciless thoughts about all those other women. “I’m scared if you meet a woman ready to do anything in bed, you’ll lose interest in me. You’ll find me boring.” Treacherous tears streamed down my cheeks. I was so afraid of losing him, of being dumped by him. I wanted to forever keep him just for myself. But would I succeed?
“Oh, baby. How could I find you boring? What are you thinking? You give me everything I want in bed. Normal sex, oral, anal. You give me whatever I ask for.”
“But I couldn’t take part in orgies and I would never agree
to it. I don’t want to do it.”
“I don’t want to share you with anyone. Neither man nor woman. I want you just for myself. How have you not understood this already…? After all, I get so jealous over you. Remember how I got mad earlier today because you went out without wearing a bra?” He turned me on my chest and started to tenderly caress my hair.
“That doesn’t mean one day you won’t get the urge to go back to the club.” My tears started running again. Dammit.
“I don’t want to go there. I wouldn’t risk losing you.”
“Just so you don’t lose me. So you’re not denying you miss it.” My heart skipped a beat.
“I don’t miss it. It’s nice being with you. I only want you.” He propped himself up to kiss me on the forehead.
“I’m scared.” My voice was very quiet. “I’m scared you’ll do it one day and I’ll be so weak that I’ll grin and bear it just so I can be with you. But something like that would kill me. Even if I stayed with you, I’d be a shadow of my former self. Spiritually, the real Alexia will have gone.”
“I know, sunshine… Why do you refuse to believe me? Come here so I can cuddle you.” He took me by the underarms and pulled me up. He held me tightly, my face pressed against his neck. “I want to you to be happy with me, and I don’t want to see you cry. Which is why those two infuriated me so much… I knew you’d start digging and end up really upset.”
“I…” I tried to say I hadn’t wanted to cry, but I couldn’t get the words out.
“Shush, relax. Stop thinking about that stuff and try to sleep. It’s late.” Alexander reached over and turned off his lamp.
Exhausted by the crying, I drifted off and slept like a baby.
* * *
In the morning, I woke from the sweet arousal I felt between my legs. I opened my eyes and realized Alexander was under the covers with his hot tongue on my clit.
What a way to wake up… Oh, it feels so nice.
“Alexander,” I whispered.
He came up near my head and said with a smile on his face, “Good morning, sweetie. We have to get up. We’re going back to Dubai today, and I thought, What could be a better way to wake you up than this?” He smiled boyishly. “And I rushed to see how my tiny pearl is doing.”
Positioning himself between my legs, he stared at me… down there, with deep concentration. Oh God. I covered my face with my hand. “Darling, what are you doing?”
“I’m enjoying the view.”
“Of what?”
“Of you. You’re simply perfect, even down here… You’re so soft and smooth, like silk. I like when you waxed it, you left this small blond triangle.”
“Are you pulling my leg?” I couldn’t believe what he was saying.
“Alexia, I don’t think I need to remind you how many nude women I’ve seen,” he remarked sharply.
“Yes, I certainly don’t like being reminded of that.” I frowned.
Alexander looked at me through narrowed eyes. “Don’t make me do it, then. If I say you’re perfect down here, you are. Period.” He pressed his nose against my clit and lightly blew on it. “Oh, baby, you have no idea how good you look.” He outlined a few circles with his tongue.
Mmm… It feels so nice, but I need to…
“It feels really good, but I can’t.” I propped myself up on my elbows.
“What do you mean you can’t?” He looked at me in astonishment.
Well, what the hell? I have to tell him.
“You’re putting pressure on my bladder, and I need to pee—right now.” I bit my lower lip.
He pulled away from me. “Hold it in. It won’t take long.”
“I can’t. I don’t want to piss myself. I have to get up,” I said, and he looked at me sullenly.
“Can you really not hold it in?” He looked irritated, like a child whose toy had been taken away.
“Back in a sec.” I gave him a quick peck on the lips.
After I’d finished my business and freshened up in the bidet with some shower gel, I came out of the bathroom. Alexander was waiting for me, lying lazily on his stomach, his hands stuck under the pillow.
Lying next to him, I hugged him. “Don’t pout. It was urgent.” I started showering his muscular back with kisses. His body radiated divine heat.
My handsome Alexander. Will I ever get enough of him?
I sucked in patches of his skin and bit them gently, moving down to his waist and farther down to his wonderfully tight butt cheeks. “I like your butt, honey. It’s very sexy.” I pinched them.
“Oh, if you keep doing this, I’ll want to fuck you straightaway, and you cut short my date with my tiny girlfriend. So lie back and spread those lovely hips. I want your thighs on my shoulders,” he ordered, turning himself over, and I found myself lying on my back on the bed.
13
The sun shone through the windows and invited us to come outside. It gave light and charged us with energy without us even realizing it.
While we were having pancakes with ham and cheese for breakfast, Alexander wouldn’t tear his eyes away from the laptop. He was swamped with work. His phone was constantly ringing. Someone was always looking for him to tell him about yet another problem. I watched him and couldn’t understand how he endured all this constant stress. Managing so many projects wasn’t easy, and to top it all off, he had to deal with the hotel repairs and the police.
I was taking a sip from my glass of juice when he asked me, “Alexia, I want to know your opinion. Take a look at this and tell me which one you like best. You may change anything.”
He showed me some interior design program. The display showed how he’d decided to design the suites and rooms of his hotel.
“Are we talking about your hotel in Dubai or another?”
“The one in Dubai,” he said and put a piece of his pancake in his mouth.
“I ask because I got the impression bright colors are quite popular here. Whereas, this isn’t the case in Europe and the States. People there prefer neutral colors,” I explained.
“Yes, that’s precisely what I’m having trouble with—the bright hues. They’re not to my taste, but at the same time, I want the rooms’ interiors to match the tastes and standards here.”
“I believe Arab tastes are focused on red and turquoise. I personally like… Do I change the colors and samples from here?” I pointed to an icon in the side panel.
“Yes, that’s the one,” he confirmed.
“And you’ve stopped at this type of chair.”
“Change everything if you like.”
“Okay, but no problem if you don’t approve. You’re the expert and you know better than me. Don’t think you’ll offend me. Quite the opposite. I’d be happy to learn something from you.”
I swapped out a few designs and colors.
“Okay. Tell me what you think now.”
He scratched his stubble.
I stopped at a turquoise sofa for the lounge, which I decorated with small square and round cushions with tassels. I placed a golden glass table in front of the sofa. I picked a magenta carpet with dark-blue and yellow Arabian shapes. It looked a bit kitsch to me but also quite chic—exactly like their tastes. The side tables I chose to be made of dark wood and have golden legs. I designed the bed from the same dark wood and added fine carvings to it. A magenta and yellow canopy regally hung above the bed.
I showed him and then we moved on to my proposals for the bathroom and the kitchen. He suggested some improvements, and they came out looking really good. In my opinion, the interior turned out magnificently.
“See, baby, what a great team we make,” he said, sounding very pleased.
“Yes, I’m also quite surprised we managed to work together so well, Mr. Kraftberg,” I replied coquettishly.
But will it be like this when we start working together in his company? Will we fight when we disagree and take our problems home? I shook my head. I had to trust him that everything would be fine.
“I wa
nt to use your knowledge in my finance department too. I’d also like you to help out with the foundation,” he said commandingly, but his eyes gleamed.
“It looks like the work will be quite interesting. I certainly won’t get bored.”
“My inner voice tells me we’ll get on just fine. However much we fight, baby, we always find a way to make up. And that’s what matters most.” He took my hand and kissed it.
I voiced my thoughts, “The company is yours, and whatever suggestions I make, ultimately, the buck stops with you. And that’s how it should be. My coworkers might be problematic, though. They’ll all see me as the girlfriend who landed a job without even sitting an interview.”
“As you said, the company is mine, and I can hire whomever I want. Francesco didn’t have an interview either. Why bother when I’d deemed I needed him and his knowledge would come in very handy? You’re not coming from just anywhere, but UBS. You’ve graduated from an elite college. You’re smart, and I’m convinced you’ll do great. I haven’t even the tiniest bit of doubt.”
“If you say so.” I raised my coffee cup and took a sip.
“I’m not just saying—I’m certain. You’ll see.” He took my hand and kissed my knuckles. “All that remains is for you to say yes and move in with me.”
“Let’s not start this conversation again.” I frowned.
This man never gave up until he got his way.
I stood and went over to the windows, staring at the endless expanse of sand in front of me. It looked majestic. The wind had formed small waves on the surface of the dunes, and the grains of sand, lit by the sun, glittered like crystals. It was as if I were in some ancient fairytale.
Alexander came over and embraced me. He crossed his arms in front of my belly and rested his cheek against mine.
“Don’t you like waking up next to me?” he asked and pressed his lips against my neck. He kissed me softly. I couldn’t see his smile, but I sensed it. I knew what he was referring to. The way he’d woken me up this morning under the covers.
Ah, yes… It was amazing. I want to be woken up like that.
Sex was of paramount importance to a relationship, and we couldn’t complain in this regard. There was a powerful sexual attraction between us, the kind very few couples could boast about. But I was still afraid if we were to live together, Alexander would quickly tire of me.