Limits of Destiny (Volume 1)

by Sharlyn G. Branson

  When the Leona Lewis song “A Moment Like This” came on, Alexander gallantly invited me to a dance. We went to the dance floor. Our bodies touched and I felt the heat radiating from his body being absorbed into me, creating a highly electrified aura around us. This incredible magic between us was always present.

  “I love this song,” I whispered, enjoying the tender rhythm of the music.

  Alexander held me tight against him. I pressed the side of my face to his. I always felt so relaxed and happy in his arms. Sensing his scent, the touch of his fingers, and his hot breath had become a source of life force for me. I loved this man so much, with all my heart.

  “My mother isn’t to be underestimated—it was very calculating to seat me right next to Rahel Tresch.”

  “Alexander, she had put Vanessa next to you. But having seen I didn’t like her, she took me here and swapped the name cards in front me,” I told him.

  “Really?” he said, surprised. “Well, my mother has proven yet again that she is very observant. I think it’s a good idea for you to give an interview. This way people will get the lowdown directly from the horse’s mouth.” His lips gently touched that oh-so-sensitive area under my ear and sent a surge of lava through my veins.

  “I also believe the idea of my giving an interview isn’t bad at all, but first I have to give some serious thought to how I’ll answer the questions.”

  “Don’t worry, baby. Take as much time as you need to think on them.”

  When the song finished, he pulled away, put his hand in his pocket, and took out his cell phone, which was vibrating intensely.

  “Sorry, babe, I have to get this,” he said and tenderly kissed my hand before letting it go. “I’ll be back soon.” He walked away from the dance floor to talk in peace.

  I decided to go to the toilet and freshen up in the meantime. I touched up my makeup and, as I was coming out, I almost ran into Vanessa at the door.

  “Alexia, can you spare a couple minutes?” she asked.

  Was she following me? No, I wouldn’t spare even a second for you, I thought but wasn’t brave enough to say it to her face.

  I didn’t want to talk to her. I had noticed the enamored looks she was giving Alexander and I didn’t like it at all. And the fact that she and her husband Bert both went to that damn club… I couldn’t get my head around how they did it. I didn’t understand how such marriages could exist, but, clearly, everything was possible if there were two willing parties.

  “What for, Vanessa?” I didn’t try to hide my hostility.

  She took me by the elbow and we walked away from the crowd. “You don’t actually think you can give Alexander everything he needs in bed, do you?” Her eyes gave me a mocking look. She was far too blunt with me, but this didn’t surprise me. My inner voice hinted to me that I couldn’t expect anything nice from this woman.

  “The fact that he’s with you now doesn’t mean that next week he won’t decide again to satisfy his huge sexual appetite somewhere else. Where there are no barriers for anyone and everyone can satisfy their sexual fantasies with one or more partners.” She took a drag on her cigarette and blew out a smoke ring through her open lips.

  “Well, as far as I know, he didn’t want to repeat his experience with you, in spite of your skills. Now, would you excuse me? Alexander is waiting for me.” I looked at her through hooded eyes and walked toward the marquee.

  “I give him one week, darling, no more,” she shouted after me.

  To put it mildly, I hit rock bottom. Vanessa had verbalized my fears, which made me capitulate completely.

  I sat at the table next to Francesco.

  “Hey, are you okay? You’re as white as a sheet,” he asked, concerned.

  “No… I’m not okay. Vanessa managed to achieve her goal of making me mad,” I whispered in his ear.

  “Alexia, she’s just jealous. Even a blind man could see that,” he said, trying to calm me.

  “Does she have no feelings for her husband?”

  “No, their marriage is a complete farce. Bert married her only for her money. And she did it to make Alexander jealous. Don’t let her ruin your evening.”

  Someone placed a warm hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw it was Alexander. He kissed me on the cheek and turned to Francesco. “We have to talk.”

  Francesco stood and they both abandoned me.

  Great, exactly what I needed… The evening started off so well, and now I feel… awful. Vanessa, you damn bitch…

  I raised my champagne glass and drank the contents. The alcohol pleasantly warmed my stomach. I pondered everything that had happened so far. Alexander, unfortunately, remained a mystery to me. He wanted me to work in his company, but at the same time, there were things he hid from me. Who called him? What had happened? Why did he not want me to know? All these questions bounced around my head like a pool ball and wouldn’t give me peace of mind.

  “May I have a dance?” I turned and looked up. Bert Gras was standing behind me.

  Huh, that’s all I need… And how do I refuse him now? Well, I’ll endure one dance somehow, but no more.

  Gras danced surprisingly well, but I still felt apprehensive being so close to him. He put one of his hands below my waist, so I had to lift it higher.

  “Mr. Gras, let’s keep the decorum.” I glared at him angrily.

  “Of course, Alexia, but why all the formalities? Let’s address each other by our first names. I’m Bert.” After a brief pause, he continued. “It was painful to see how your companions abandoned you,” he said, feigning concern.

  Well, he and Vanessa certainly have one thing in common—they know how to touch a sore spot…

  “Alexander and Francesco have to discuss company matters, and I don’t work there. So whatever happens there doesn’t concern me, either directly or indirectly.”

  “Alexia, you’d make me very happy if you accepted my invitation to lunch. Shall we say Monday?”

  Pardon? Never.

  “I won’t be in Zurich next week.”

  “Oh, that’s a shame.” He sighed and pulled me closer to him.

  I thanked God the song was over and, when I saw Alexander was coming over, I started to breathe more easily.

  “Bert, the lady is mine!” he told him and possessively pulled me to him.

  “Of course, Kraftberg, I just didn’t want to her to get bored,” he said and withdrew.

  Visibly I relaxed, but at the same time, I felt troubled on the inside, worried by my own fears—as spoken aloud by Vanessa—and by the secrets Alexander was hiding. I knew he had things he didn’t want to talk about with me, such as his brother and now this covert phone conversation…

  It was clear he didn’t trust me. I almost regretted telling him everything about me, but he felt no need to share with me.

  “Dance with me, baby,” whispered Alexander when James Arthur started singing “Recovery.”

  I hugged him, rested my cheek against his, and closed my eyes. We danced without saying a word, both of us lost in thought.

  “You seem quiet. Has something happened?” He lowered his eyes toward me.

  “Everything is fine,” I lied.

  “Do you really think I believe that?” he whispered in my ear, and his hot breath sent a wave of tingles throughout my body. I loved him a lot… but did he love me just as much? I started to feel that uncertainty that eats at you on the inside, making you crazy. The secrets he kept from me were building a barrier between us. And I didn’t know whether this barrier would destroy our relationship.

  “What do you want me to say? That while you weren’t here, I had to endure Bert’s company and listen to Vanessa’s veiled warnings?” I sighed.

  “What did Vanessa want from you?” He scowled.

  “I don’t think this is the time to discuss it.”

  The song finished, and he said, “Come on. Let’s try the dessert.”

  “Are you trying to placate me with chocolate?”

  “The dessert my m
other has ordered isn’t to be missed. Believe me.”

  He was, of course, completely right. My mouth literally started watering when I saw the Luxemburgerli from the Sprüngli patisserie, as well as the small cakes and chocolates. I had a few bites and immediately felt better.

  After I was finished, Alexander took my hand and said, “I want us to go.”

  “Why are you in such a hurry?”

  “There’s something I want to discuss with you and it really can’t wait. Let’s say good-bye to my parents.”

  24

  While travelling in the Rolls Royce, we didn’t say a word to each other. Both of us were deep in thought about our personal problems. I could not stand this aloofness of his. I felt like it was killing me.

  We got back to his house, and Alexander went into his study to discuss something with Henry. I took a glass, poured myself a martini, and had a few sips, but the drink didn’t make me feel better. I went up to the bedroom, sat on the comfy chair by the windows, and started to think on the evening’s events.

  Outside, the moon shone brightly, there were no clouds, and countless stars sparkled like diamonds in the sky.

  The door opened and Alexander entered. He came over to me, sat on the floor, and placed his head in my lap. I couldn’t resist the urge to caress him. His hair was soft like velvet. I leaned over him and kissed him on the cheek.

  He raised his head and looked at me—his face was sad. “A bomb has gone off in my hotel in Dubai. The bomb was left in the lobby—many of my employees were there and have been mortally injured.”

  I instinctively covered my mouth with my hand to stop myself from crying out. Why was all this happening? Who wanted to harm him?

  My life flashed before my eyes. My entire life. The pain from the loss of my mother and my father’s struggle to give me the strength to move forward. His attempts to make me smile and have fun again, to hope and believe, to believe in what is good and dream. And now that I had realized my dream of falling in love, of loving someone and being loved, all this was happening. Fate couldn’t be so cruel to me. God had to protect my love. God had to help me. I loved Alexander so much, too much. He was the sun that lit up my life and gave me the warmth I’d craved for so many years. I could not and did not want to imagine how I would continue living if something were to happen to him.

  I threw myself in his arms and started to cry. The tears streamed down my cheeks and wouldn’t stop. The pain was too great. “God… I don’t want to suffer anymore. I don’t want… If something happens to you, Alexander, I… Why, why…? Who wants to harm you?” I was talking incoherently, unable to control myself. I was afraid for him, afraid of losing him.

  “Shush… Calm down, sweetie. I’m here.” He gently stroked my hair.

  “I can’t imagine life without you. I don’t want to, goddammit.” I held him tightly in my arms.

  “Calm down, Alexia. I can’t watch you cry. It makes my heart break. Nothing will happen to me. Don’t worry. Don’t think of bad things.”

  “Don’t underestimate the situation, Alexander, please. If they don’t stop at this, if—”

  He interrupted me. “The police will find out who ordered the bombing. Most likely, it was the competition. Tourism in Dubai is growing with each passing day and so is the number of people who want to own hotels there. One of the workers who survived apparently said earlier in the day, he’d seen a suspicious man coming out of the hotel. The good thing is a camera captured him, and now an investigation is being conducted. I think it would better if you stayed here.”

  “Alexander, please, I want to come with you.”

  Wiping my tears with his thumbs, he said, “Alexia, you have to understand it’s dangerous. I don’t want to risk it.” Nervously, he ran his fingers through his hair. “Still, whoever did this has definitely looked into me and knows about you.” He pondered and continued. “In fact, I’d be less worried if I had my eyes on you constantly than if I were to leave you here. Right, you’re coming with me. I’ll arrange protection for you.”

  “When do we leave?”

  “Tomorrow afternoon. Do you need to pick anything up from your apartment?”

  “Yes, I’d like to take some clothes, but we don’t have to go if there’s no time.”

  “We’ll go. We have more than enough time.”

  “Alexander, I’m afraid for you… I love you so much.”

  “Don’t worry, baby. The guy who did this just wanted to give me a scare. Don’t let such dark thoughts go through your head… Now tell me what Vanessa wanted from you.”

  I took the hankie from my bag and wiped my tears. “She meant to warn me. She said she gives you a week before you get bored of me and go back to the club, where you can satisfy all your sexual fantasies with one or more women.”

  “She said that to you?” he asked and carefully examined my face.

  “Yes, and she managed to land her poisonous arrow right on my heart. It was like she’d read my mind and knew my fears.”

  “Baby, what you give me no other woman has managed to give me in the last fifteen years.”

  I gazed into his sea-blue eyes. Feeling cold, I wrapped my arms around myself. “If you want to have sex with two women, I can’t give you that. I’d never agree to something like that. I… can’t. Just the thought of you being with someone else makes me mad.”

  “Stop it,” he scolded. “Why the hell don’t you trust me at all?”

  “Because I can’t give you any of those things. I can’t go there with you, pretending it doesn’t bother me and—”

  He interrupted me. “And that’s one of the many things I like about you.”

  Alexander put his palms on my face, wiped the streaming tears with his thumbs, and showered me with kisses—on the forehead, temple, cheeks, nose, chin, and lips. “Baby, I need you so much.”

  His hot tongue slid into my mouth and quickly found mine. My body felt as if it were on fire. I tangled my fingers into his hair. I had a never-ending need to feel his touch. His hands started to caress my neck, shoulders, and back. They found the zip of my dress and undid it. Alexander rose and helped me stand up too, at which point the dress slid down and fell around my ankles.

  “How can you not realize how beautiful you are?” He scanned my body in a way that awakened every fiber of my being.

  Slightly he raised my chin, making me look into his eyes. “You’re the only one I want, Alexia. See how quickly you affect me?” He put my hand on his member. “I just think of you and get hard.” Then he pulled me toward the bedroom and made me lie on my back.

  Oh, dear God… this wonderful man makes me feel so special.

  Alexander slowly took off my panties, knelt down, and settled between my legs. He dug his nose into my belly and inhaled deeply. “You’re intoxicating.”

  I put an arm around his shoulders and pressed him tightly against me. The sensation as he entered me was amazing. Nobody else could elicit such bliss in me and make me lose myself so deeply in the sea of pleasure. Our bodies writhed, limbs tangled, driven into a frenzy by the supreme pleasure. I was naked, with just the diamond necklace heavily swinging from my neck, which made me feel like a goddess.

  My vaginal muscles contracted and tightly gripped his cock, sensing the melting pleasure. His hips rubbed against mine and his thrusts swept me away to other worlds. It was as if the whole world disappeared when we made love and twisted our bodies into one. The heat emanating from his body and the tightening of his chest and abdominal muscles made me shudder with every touch. My nipples were painfully erect. His skin caressed them while he showered my neck with kisses, gently nibbled the bottom of my ear, and tenderly stroked my butt with his palms.

  I desperately dug my nails into the skin of his back and wrapped my legs around him when the fear of losing him reappeared and tears started to run down my temples. Alexander watched me in a way that melted my heart even further, the heart he’d already melted. I pressed him even more tightly against my hypersensitive and
aroused body and started to kiss him passionately. I wanted to erase his memories of other women’s kisses and be the only one whose kisses he could remember. The passion shook my entire body. My soul was aflame, kindled by his rhythmic thrusts.

  “Feel me, baby, feel how much we need each other,” he whispered, touching me everywhere.

  It was nice to know I had the same effect on him. My body was now his, fully devoted to him. The muscles of my thighs and belly started to contract and relax, sensing the imminent ecstasy. And seeing how he lost himself in me, I came at the same time as him.

  I lay on the bed, drained of energy and feeling the blood course through my veins like a torrent. My pulse was so fast I could feel it throbbing in my ears.

  Alexander rested his full weight on top of me and dug his face into my neck. Both of us were breathing heavily, drenched in sweat. “Sex with you is incredible, Alexia, simply incredible.”

  “Because it’s an experience shared with you.” I lifted my head and kissed him tenderly, expressing all my love in the kiss.

  “Oh, baby,” moaned Alexander. “You’re mine, just MINE.”

  “Yes, just yours.”

  A thought ran through my mind, which made me open my eyes wide.

  Alexander’s life used to consist just of work, and his only entertainment was sex with no feelings. Now he’s enjoying all these things, which are new to him… with me. Perhaps there is a future for our relationship after all. Perhaps.

  Author’s note

  Thank you for purchasing Limits of Destiny – Volume 1.

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  I would appreciate it!

  Limits of Destiny – Volume 2 can be found soon at all major retailers.

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