Making Her His

by Lucy Leroux

  Elynn blossomed in the warmth of Alex’s unreserved affection. He showered her with gifts, spoiling her, because as he put it, her mother had clearly failed to do so. She explained that this was a good thing, but he waved off her assurances and protests before presenting her with yet another gift.

  He was also teaching her how to sail. One morning, he took her down to the dock to surprise her with a brand new twenty-foot sailboat. The name on the hull was the Elynn2. After getting over her shock and surprise, Elynn scratched her head.

  “Why is it the Elynn two?” she asked puzzled.

  “That’s the Elynn squared,” he corrected with a grin before shaking his head at her. “And you thought you were so much better at math than me.”

  “I am,” she said, hands on her hips.

  “Yeah, yeah. But it’s squared, because I’m decided to rechristen the yacht the Elynn,” he announced.

  “What! You can’t do that. Isn’t it Costas’ boat? Shouldn’t we name it the Mary?”

  “I bought the boat, actually. Costas doesn’t mind cruising around occasionally, but he’s not into it enough to buy a yacht,” he explained as they made their way back to the house. “But in my early twenties, I wanted a way to escape, so I got the first one back then. It was a convenient way of getting away while protecting my privacy.”

  “Uh huh. It had nothing to do with having a place to hold wild parties away from the prying eyes of the paparazzi.”

  Alex wagged a finger at her. “You know perfectly well that there have been no wild parties on our yacht. Those days were long over when I got the current one. Do you think Dad would have consented to sail around on a boat that had hosted one of…those parties?”

  Elynn narrowed her eyes at him. “Those parties,” she repeated. “You were going to say orgies weren’t you?”

  He scowled at her. “I have never participated in an orgy. I would never be that indiscriminate.”

  “Right,” she said, laughing it off before heading to the pool for a swim.

  Despite their little talk about boundaries, Alex was a complete dictator about one thing: her safety. He never let her swim in the ocean, saying the surf near the house was too harsh. When she pointed out she could swim off the boat, he hummed the Jaws theme until she gave up the idea. He also wouldn’t let her go swimming in the pool until an hour after she’d eaten. It would have been ridiculous if he wasn’t so genuinely concerned about her.

  Alex was also still cautious about their intimate relationship. When they were together he would observe her carefully, especially after they had sex, even though she no longer froze up on him. She would tell him over and over again that she was fine, but he would just smile and nod and go back to watching her like a hawk, searching for minute signs of anxiety or discomfort.

  He must have been satisfied with what he saw, because he didn’t bring up the ‘bathroom incident’, nor did he mention therapy again. Instead, he made plans for the rest of the summer and when they should tell their parents. He wanted to do it soon, but she wanted to wait. She won that argument, but he punished her for it later in bed…and she loved it.

  Alex hadn’t actually restrained her as she had done to him, but he took full advantage of her box of gifts. He used the toys with great enthusiasm, even though he continued to swear that he’d never used that kind of thing before. But he was a quick study, and an expert in every other possible respect.

  He introduced her to a wide variety of sexual experiences, things that made her blush when she was thinking about them later. He was intrigued when she confessed about the ‘research’ she had done and insisted they do some together. He got very enthusiastic about the project and insisted on trying several extremely daring and acrobatic positions. A few were so undignified that she broke down in hysterical giggles when they attempted them. They laughed a lot together.

  After two weeks of uninterrupted bliss, Alex announced that he needed to resume work and they started traveling. They went to New York, Munich, Rome, and Hong Kong. She had assumed he wouldn’t want to take her near his work in order to keep their affair quiet, but she was wrong.

  He took her everywhere he went, to work functions and dinner meetings. When they visited cities where Hanas Industries had an office, he took her with him, insisting on getting her up at ungodly hours of the morning so he could have her at arm’s reach all day. She would work on her laptop doing research from the couch in his office while he made calls or read reports.

  Seeing Alex at work first hand was an eye-opening experience. His reputation as a slave driver was well-earned. He was so demanding of his employees that she often felt sorry for them, but she worried most about him. He was hardest on himself. Though he was a born multitasker, Elynn thought he tried to do too much.

  “Alex, you have to trust your employees,” she said one night after a long day at the office.

  He looked up from his desk with a puzzled frown. “I trust them,” he protested.

  “Not enough,” she said firmly. “You hired the best people in the world to work for you, but you don’t trust them enough to do your bidding. If you think something is important, you insist on doing it yourself. Which would be fine, but you think everything’s important. You need to delegate more.”

  Alex broke out into a wry, but tired grin. “Elynn, no one has ever accused me of going easy on my staff.”

  “I know that. Believe me. It’s obvious why so many of them quit. But I’m not talking about your personal team. I’m talking about the management and personnel in your local offices. Like today with the deal your VP brokered. You insisted on taking over the negotiations in the final step.”

  He frowned. “Those were sensitive talks.”

  Elynn rolled her eyes. “I know, but your man here knew the deal inside and out. He didn’t need you to come in and finish for him. He was capable of doing it himself—but you can’t help yourself. It’s not a criticism. I’m a perfectionist, too. But that’s why we’re still here at ten PM at night.”

  Guilt flashed across his face. “Oh, I didn’t realize it was so late,” he said. “Shit. I forgot about dinner.”

  She smiled benignly. “Alex, we ate. You had dinner brought in, remember?”

  Guilt was briefly replaced with confusion. “Oh, yeah. Chinese.”

  “We are in China,” she laughed.

  There was a flash of surprise before he rubbed a hand over his face. “Okay. Maybe I see your point.”

  She cocked her head at him. “You forgot where we were, didn’t you?”

  “Guilty. Sorry. Why don’t we get out of here?” he said, dropping his pen.

  Elynn stood up quickly. “Wait,” she said, walking over to him and pushing his papers to the side of the desk and hopping onto the surface in front of him. “We are here all alone with this big ol’ desk. May as well take advantage,” she said huskily before grabbing his tie and using it to drag him to her.

  Chapter 16

  Things between Alex and Elynn were going so well their first real argument blindsided them both.

  He had surprised her with tickets to a masked ball in a real palace in Prague. Excited by the idea of being anonymous, she decided to wear the most revealing dress in her closet, the one Alex had taken one look at and said she couldn’t wear in public.

  Feeling daring, she met him at the ball in the wine-colored satin gown. It molded to her hips in a sensuous fall of fabric and revealed her cleavage with plunging neckline fit for a red carpet. She had never worn anything resembling it, but under the anonymity of the mask she was a different person. A braver one.

  Alex was also feeling brave. He wasn’t normally one for public displays of affection, but tonight he was different. He caressed her in a way that made their status as lovers clear to everyone. Unfortunately, that only seemed to bring out a competitive streak in other men.

  The first time Alex stepped away to refresh her drink, a tall, dark-haired man approached her and asked her to dance. It was a fairly benign exchange,
but when it happened a second time, Alex refused to let her out of his sight.

  “We’re burning that dress when we get home,” he growled as he swept her onto the dance floor.

  Elynn laughed it off and all was well for a while, until another foolishly brave, or incredibly stupid, man tried to cut in. Before she could turn him down herself, Alex growled something in another language at the offender before ushering her up a cordoned off staircase with a prominent ‘No Visitors Beyond This Point’ sign.

  “I don’t think we’re supposed to be in here,” she whispered as he led her deeper into the darkened rooms upstairs.

  But Alex didn’t stop moving. He’d snuck them past the velvet rope as if he knew where he was going.

  “Have you been here before?” she asked as he continued to lead her through room after room filled with priceless treasures from the royal family.

  “Once when I was twelve. And there’s somewhere I’ve been fantasizing about taking you for years,” he said. “Here we are,” he said when they reached an imposing archway.

  Curious, Elynn looked around him. Her breath caught. It was one of the loveliest spaces she had ever seen. Delicate antique tables and sofas littered a room lined with stained glass windows on one side. The ceiling above was one huge skylight.

  “It’s a conservatory,” she breathed, but anything else she was going to say was lost when Alex picked her up and carried her inside the room.

  He set her down near the far wall and reached for the zipper of her dress. It dropped to the floor with the kind of rustle only expensive fabrics make. Breathing fast, Alex pulled at her panties, but his hands were shaking so bad she had to help him remove them. Her hands went to his zipper, but he took both her wrists in one hand and tore his pants open with the other.

  Elynn shivered. There was something feverish and dark swirling in the atmosphere around them. Alex’s possessive nature had been pushed into overload by those other men downstairs, and now he seemed determined to brand her with his touch. And she wanted him to do it.

  Without a word, he pushed her against the wall next to one of the stained glass windows. Moving a hand down, he stroked between her legs. He didn’t need to test her though. She was more than ready. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she pulled him closer, unwilling to break the spell by speaking.

  He pinned her high up on the wall, bracing her with his hands as he entered her in one rough motion. Elynn gasped as he filled her. For a split second, she felt like a butterfly pinned to a board, but the incongruous image faded when he began thrusting hard, rocking her into the wall with each move. His hand moved up to fist in her hair, tugging her head to the side so he could suck on her neck as he fucked her.

  Helpless to stop it or slow down, Elynn came so hard her vision blurred. She cried out as the blistering orgasm took hold of her. Out of control, she clawed at Alex’s back while he slammed into her. Her pussy fluttered and tightened around him, milking him for all he was worth. He wasn’t able to hold on, and he emptied himself into her with a hoarse cry of his own.

  Alex held her for a few minutes until he recovered enough to withdraw. He slid to the floor with her in his lap, stroking her hair until they were able to get dressed.

  Elynn was quiet on the way back to the hotel. Alex’s aggressive claiming had been spurred by his jealousy, but there wasn’t any need to be that way over her. There was no one else for her, no one in the world.

  The reality of what that meant was starting to sink in. Feeling overwhelmed, she sat, playing with the folds of her dress as she leaned against his chest.

  “Elynn?” Alex sounded worried.

  “Hmm,” she murmured, looking over her shoulder at him.

  His guilt was all over his face. It radiated off of him in waves. “Elynn, was I too rough? I don’t want to trigger another panic attack.”

  Startled, she leaned back. “I’m fine.”

  He didn’t look convinced. Reaching out, she took his hand and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  “Alex, I think you should know something,” she said.

  “What?”

  “That thing that happened with Stephen…it wasn’t about sex. It was about power. Stephen wanted to hurt me because I didn’t worship him the way everyone else did. I don’t remember everything that happened all those years ago, but I remember enough. He was obsessed, but it wasn’t over me. It was never about me. All the things he claimed to admire about me weren’t real. He didn’t know me at all. But you do. You’re not like him. Not in any way. I know you’re possessive, but it’s because you’re protective. You would never hurt me. Not on purpose.”

  Alex absorbed that in silence. “But you freaked out on me once,” he said eventually.

  She shrugged and grimaced slightly. “And I may again. Sometimes I’m just going to react. But it won’t be because of you.”

  “I still think I was too rough.”

  She shook her head. “Alex, you’re not doing anything I don’t want you to do. And the rough handling—well, it’s exciting. I like being taken.”

  He let out a harsh breath. “If you ever start to change your mind about that, I want to know. Don’t be afraid to tell me. We’ll adapt.”

  “Deal,” she whispered, leaning against him to cuddle for the rest of the drive.

  Quiet and relaxed the whole way home, they were back in their hotel suite when Alex went to the closet to retrieve something.

  “There’s something I want to give you,” he said, presenting her with a square velvet box.

  He opened it to reveal an elaborate diamond and emerald necklace.

  “What is this?” she asked in a mystified tone.

  “Just a token of my appreciation,” he said, moving around her to hug her from behind.

  Elynn felt the floor underneath her give way. “Your what?” she asked aghast, her contentment slipping away like water.

  Finally registering that things were not going exactly as he’d expected, Alex took a step back. “What’s wrong?”

  “How could you ask me that?” she asked in disbelief.

  He’d just given her a ridiculously expensive piece of jewelry as if she were his mistress. After the conversation they’d just had, this was grossly inappropriate. He knew she didn’t believe in jewelry or the worth of diamonds. It was her fervent belief that the overinflated price of such things led to greed and exploitation. And even if the diamonds were no-conflict, as a scientist, she knew that they were overestimated in value.

  Diamonds weren’t actually that rare. But all Alex wanted was to present her with a costly bauble the way he had reportedly done for all of his former mistresses. But she thought of herself as his girlfriend, not his mistress. When she told him that, he was both mystified and angry.

  “What do you mean I’m treating you like a mistress? I just gave you a beautiful gift worth tens of thousands of pounds, and you’re throwing it back in my face?”

  “You know how I feel about diamonds and jewelry,” she protested.

  “I didn’t think you were serious,” he threw back, gesturing wildly. “I just wanted to give you a gift. A nice one. Most women would trample over each other to get their hands on something like this.”

  “I thought you wanted me because I was different from most women,” she said quietly, crossing her arms and looking at the floor.

  “I don’t believe this,” he mumbled as he left the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

  ****

  Elynn waited for him to come back, but an hour came and went. She showered and dressed in a numb haze. She wished she’d kept her mouth shut about the necklace. She could have just shoved it in a drawer and never mentioned it.

  But he probably wouldn’t have stood for that. The thing looked as if belonged in a museum, and he probably would have insisted on seeing it on her. The thought of wearing it gave her an unpleasant sensation in the pit of her stomach.

  She remembered all too clearly the tabloid article about Alex that she’d read a
s a teenager. It had been entirely devoted to the lavish gifts he had given to his mistresses. Costas had despaired over it during his courtship of her mother. Such an elaborate necklace hadn’t featured, but plenty of other jewelry had been mentioned, in addition to fur coats and exclusive designer clothing.

  Just like the clothes hanging in your closet.

  Elynn sighed. It had been uncomfortable at first, but she’d accepted the new wardrobe as a necessity of being with Alex. When she was at his side, she was scrutinized as if she were a bug under a microscope. And really what was the big difference between Alex buying her clothes and her own mother? It all got paid for by the Hanas family coffers.

  It wasn’t a big surprise that he thought she would want such a gift. She should have spoken to him about it more calmly. But his choice of that phrase made her doubt the strength of his feelings for her. Perhaps she had read too much into his desire for a relationship with her. She was completely in love with him, but he just appreciated her.

  Oh crap. Where did that come from? Did she love him? Was she already in so deep? Yes. Yes, she was. Shit. She was in love with Alexandros the Great. Well, she’d known that was probably going to happen when she got involved with him. And Alex cared about her. But his reputation as a womanizer who callously cut off his lovers when he got bored with them came back to haunt her.

  I’m different, she told herself. She had to be… Yeah, and how many of his exes had said the exact same thing?

  After a few more minutes, she went looking for Alex, only to discover he’d left their suite. Depressed, she got into bed. Eventually, she drifted off after having a good cry.

  Chapter 17

  Alex slipped back into their hotel suite well after two in the morning. He’d been downstairs in the bar, trying to get drunk.

  He’d sat there alone, despite the offer of one or two very questionable young woman to keep him company. He’d repulsed them with a harsh word and proceeded to drink his anger and annoyance away. It didn’t take long, and soon he was completely ashamed of himself.