Alex never respected any human being more than he respected Kari. No matter what, and at what cost, she always stood up for what she believed. He stared into her eyes with a look that bordered on wonderment. And he knew she was right. He had to get his shit in order or he was going to regret it. He was going to be the fool who gained the whole world, but he lost the most important person in this world to him.
He pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her even tighter. And for the longest time they did nothing, and said nothing, but just sat there.
But the longer they sat, the more they felt each other’s presence in ways that went beyond mere recognition. Alex’s penis, for one, began to throb as soon as Kari’s ass had touched it, and Kari’s vagina was pulsating from the feel of that same penis. And as they sat there, and both of them began to feel the heat of the moment and the sadness that they soon would depart yet again, they both felt a need for another release. And Alex didn’t hesitate. He was about to leave Kari again for even he didn’t know how long. He needed it most of all. He unzipped his pants, and he pulled it out.
Kari wore a skirt that flared out around her, and he was able to reach beneath it, rip the seat of her panties, and began rubbing his dick against her vagina until she got wet. She leaned back further against him, with her head against his shoulder, and enjoyed the rub.
Alex watched her carefully. She had just told him something that rocked him, and hurt him to his heart, and a part of that heart wanted to put that dick deep inside of her and punish her for going there with him. But he could never punish Kari for speaking truth. She was only telling him the truth! He watched her, not with angry eyes, but with loving eyes as her own eyes became more and more sensual the harder his dick rubbed her.
And when she was sufficiently wet, and he put it inside of her, she moved against him in such a way that it took him over too. And he rammed it all the way, deep, inside of her.
But he controlled himself enough to fuck her with gentle strokes. She lifted her feet onto his knees, and he pushed in and out of her in a way that made them both feel sensually drowsy and filled with anticipation.
Alex stared at Kari as he fucked her. She’d never know how much he hated leaving her even for a second. But duty to his businesses had always been his priority. Now he had Kari and Jordan to think about, and his duty, his priorities, had to change.
“Our marriage will not be postponed,” he said as he fucked her. “You hear me?”
Kari, at first, was so overcome with lust that she could only nod her head. Then she was able to speak. “Yes,” she said as she kept her eyes closed and enjoyed every second of their time together.
“When we set the date and make all the arrangements,” he continued, “we will stick to that date.”
She continued to nod.
“I don’t want to ever hear you talking about postponing shit. You hear me, Karena?” He rammed her harder as he fucked her, as if to make sure she heard him.
She heard him loud and clear. “Oh, Alex,” she said as he began to pound her. “I hear you. I hear you!”
And she couldn’t hold out a moment longer. She went over. He fucked her so hard that she began to take over the ride. Alex could do nothing but sit still and love her as her pussy pushed down along his cock and rode him like she was as expert as he was.
And she was. “Baby,” was all Alex could say as he closed his eyes and allowed her to take over. The veins on his dick were throbbing as she rubbed her sweetness up and down that rod in that slow prodding way he loved, and he felt every glide she made.
She came with happiness and sadness, and he let her continue to have the reins.
But only for a moment. Because as soon as it got too good for Alex, and his ability to go along for the ride broke, it broke hard. And then he took over again and thrashed into her with strokes meant to pound. And he pounded her. He pushed in deeper and deeper until he was in so deep he couldn’t go back out!
He came.
Hard.
And poured into Kari again.
And even after he had poured into her until there was nothing left to leak, his dick continued to pulsate with sensations that made him lean his head against hers and experience just having her with him. He wasn’t losing her. There was no way!
“I’ll slow down, Kari,” he said to her in a breathless voice.
But Kari didn’t say anything. That was one promise she was not going to take his word for. Putting her and Jordan on his backburner wasn’t a reality she was willing to face. And because of it, he could say he was going to slow down all he cared to say it. But that was one promise he was going to have to prove.
He knew it too as he pulled out his dick, and then pulled out his handkerchief. And as he wiped Kari’s vagina, and then his penis, he knew she was expecting action this time. His actions were going to have to speak for him. And Alex understood that.
Then his cell phone rang. “Shit,” he said. But when he looked at the Caller ID and saw that it was Matthew Scribner again, he answered. The Oligarchs, Matt said, were angry now and had pulled out altogether. They were threatening to walk and never to return to the table again unless Alex got there and got there asap. He could delay no longer.
But Alex was watching Kari’s face as she listened to the call he had placed on Speaker. And although she was being a trooper about it, he could see the pain his lack of attention was causing her. If something didn’t change now, it would never change was what she feared. And she might have been right.
He ended the call, and then told her to look at him. She did. “I want you to come with me, Karena,” he said.
Kari stared at him. “Come with you? To Moscow?”
Alex nodded. “Yes. We will be gone two days tops. I’ll see to that.”
“But what about Jordan?” Kari asked. “He’s got to get back to school. I have to get back to work!”
“Jordan can miss a few more days. You know he can. He will remain here, in New York, with my brother. They both will stay here and bond. Odysseus is a lot of crazy things, but you know he will look out for your son as if he was his own son.”
Kari nodded. He knew he would too.
“And when we return,” Alex said, “we can take that road trip to Florida. You will get a chance to drive your brand-new car long distance I promise you. But this is a trip I have to make. There is no debating that. But I want you with me.”
For Alex to take her with him on any business trip was major for Alex, and Kari knew it. And normally she would hem and haw and find every reason in the book not to go with him. Jordan’s school, her job, anything and everything. But not this time. If Alex was willing to compromise and try something different, so was she.
She smiled. “I’m already packed. For Florida, yes, but plans can change. Then I guess we’re going to Moscow!”
Alex smiled, too, and pulled her into his arms.
CHAPTER EIGHT
It still felt surreal to Kari each and every time she stepped onto Alex’s Boeing 787-8 BBJ massive plane. It was like no other private plane she could have ever imagined. Most private planes on TV looked like small little single-engine get-ups that sounded like toys. But Alex’s plane was far bigger than those Spirit and JetBlue commercial planes she used to travel on, and substantially nicer! But then again, she thought with a smile, a plane with all Alex had onboard had to be unique.
Alex was walking behind her as they boarded, and although he was relaxed and his flight crew seemed relaxed too, Kari was waiting for it to happen. Because his personal staff was on board too: from his male secretary to his personal assistant Priska Rahm to his travel manager, they all were onboard with iPads and iPhones and old-fashioned pen and paper ready to dictate, suggest, inquire: ready to work. Which meant, Kari knew, she just had to wait for it.
It came almost immediately after the plane began taxing the runway for takeoff. She and Alex had just sat down in the comfortable leather seats in his private cabin, and Alex had buckled her i
n for takeoff, removed his suitcoat, and buckled himself in. Then he placed his hand on her thigh and asked if she was okay.
Still remembering their poolside ride, she smiled. “I’m great,” she said. “You?”
Alex laughed. “I’m great, too, baby,” he said.
But then knocks were heard on the cabin door. Kari smiled. Alex leaned his head back.
It was Kari who gave the permission. “Come in!” she said.
And Priska Rahm walked in. “New York is requesting a videoconference, sir,” she said. She glanced down at the hand Alex still had on Kari’s thigh, as if she was expecting him to remove it out of respect for a third party in the room. But he didn’t.
He didn’t because he didn’t want to, but also because, as Kari and Priska both could tell, he was peeved by the interruption. “Why do they need to conference me?” he asked his longtime aide.
“They didn’t say, sir.”
“Did you ask?”
She hesitated. “Well, no, sir, I did not.”
“Ask them,” Alex ordered.
Priska glanced at Kari. Kari tried to smile away the obvious tension. And Priska, who liked Kari, smiled too. But it didn’t ease the tension one bit. They both knew Alex’s good side, but they knew his rough side too, Priska felt. “Yes, sir,” she said, and walked back out of the cabin, closing the door behind her.
Kari decided to speak up for Priss, mainly because, as Alex’s PA she was always on the receiving end of his sometimes-blistering attacks, but also because Priss was only doing her job. “It’s not her fault they asked for that video chat,” Kari said. “Those guys are senior management. They’re light years beyond her pay grade.”
“It’s her fault, however,” Alex responded, “that she didn’t ask what that chat was about. I don’t care what paygrade they’re on. It’s her fault she didn’t question their need to meet with me to begin with. I have nearly a thousand people beneath me on the chain of command in my New York office alone, and none of those people can handle it?”
“Now that’s true too,” Kari agreed. “They act as if nobody can do it but you, which is ridiculous. But,” Kari added with a smile.
Alex looked at her. “But what?”
“But it’s an atmosphere that you created, Alex. Real talk. You’ve created that monster by always acting as if you’re the only one who can figure it out. So, when trouble comes, what do they do? Turn it over to Alex, that’s what!”
Alex smiled and leaned his head back. “Thanks for your support,” he said jokingly.
Kari laughed. “You get no support from me when you’re wrong, Mr. Drakos,” she said. “Not when you’re wrong!”
And Alex looked at her with joy in his eyes too. She looked radiant to him, in the sky-blue pantsuit she changed into, and he began rubbing her thigh and leaned his big body against her small one. He could smell her fresh scent, and sweet perfume. “I’ve got a lot of changes to make,” he said. “Don’t I?”
Kari smiled. “Yes, you do.”
Alex’s look became less playful and more hooded the longer he looked at her, and his hand moved further down, between her legs. “I wanted to fuck you again before we got on this blasted plane,” he said. “Did you realize that?”
Kari looked at him. “Newsflash: you have a bedroom onboard.”
“Newsflash: I have a staff on board, too, and a business that always seems to interfere with our business.” Then he exhaled as he continued to stare at her, and to rub her. “But soon, no more,” he added.
But when Priska returned and said the videoconference was about a cyberattack on one of his largest overseas conglomerates, in Germany, there was no getting around it. Alex had to be involved, and he was needed urgently.
He didn’t like it, but that was too bad. “I’ll be back, babe,” he said to Kari, kissed her on the lips, and then left the cabin. They both knew a crisis that major could take hours.
“I’m sorry about this, Kari,” Priska said. “It couldn’t be helped.”
“Girl, I know. A cyberattack? That I understand is a big-ass deal.”
“But this is, if I am not mistaken, your first business trip with him. And he’s called to the conference room. On that I apologize.”
“Yeah, it’s tough, but there’s no need to apologize. Every time I get on this plane he has to take some call or another. I’m used to it.”
But as Priska smiled and left the cabin too, Kari scrunched-up her face. She was used to it already? And they weren’t even married yet, and hadn’t even set a date? Not once had he ever gone on a plane ride with her work-free. Not once. That, to Kari, didn’t bode well for their future. That, to Kari, didn’t bode well for their present!
But she knew it was what it was, and it wasn’t going to change overnight. She’d better be grateful he understood there was a problem, and was working on it, rather than declaring all was well and there was nothing to change. Alex never declared anything like that.
She was also pleased he had invited her along to Russia. He never invited her along on any business trip before she became his fiancée. It was a compromise for him, and she knew it. And she also knew she needed to get with the program, sit back, relax, and just enjoy the ride.
The trip to Moscow took just over nine hours, and Alex was on videoconference the entire time. By the time he finally returned to their cabin, exhausted, Kari had fallen asleep for the third time. She was reclined in her seat and covered with his suit coat jacket he had left in the chair, as he touched her on the shoulder. She woke with a start, until she saw who it was.
She smiled, yarned, and stretched. “What time is it?” she asked.
“We’re in Moscow.”
“I woke up three different times, and walked around, but you were still in your meeting.”
Alex nodded. He knew. And was sorry it had to be that way. But Kari could see the concern in his eyes. “Everything okay?”
“Ah, so-so,” he said. “We had to take everything offline, which is far more complicated than it sounds, and then put everything back to default, with prompters, so that it doesn’t happen again.” Then he smiled that charming smile she loved. “I truly apologize that it took so long.”
“It’s okay,” Kari said and yarned and stretched again. “I got some good rest.”
Alex glanced down at her chest as she stretched. He wanted to take her in his bedroom right then and there, but they’d already been on the tarmac too long. “We’d better get out of here,” he said, taking her by the hand and helping her up, “before they boot my plane.”
Kari laughed. Yeah, right, she thought. No airline in the world would boot any plane owned by Alex Drakos!
CHAPTER NINE
The President of Hotel Operations grabbed his suit coat off of the back of his chair and hurried out into the corridor, through the lobby, and out under the pergola set up at their VIP entrance into the hotel. The limousine rode to a stop, the bodyguard got out and opened the back-passenger door, and a black woman the president didn’t know stepped out. He was about to ask who she was, but then Alex Drakos stepped out behind her. And he relaxed.
But he also knew protocol. He knew he could not approach his guest without begin accosted by the men hired to protect Alex Drakos. So, he waited as the entourage of bodyguards and aides had gotten out of two SUVs behind the limousine and quickly provided a buffer to their boss and the lady with him. The president had to wait his turn at the head of the pergola.
Tino was in charge of security for the couple, and he quickly took the lead just behind the couple, while Priska Rahm and Alex’s other assistants fell in line behind the wall of bodyguards. But as soon as the shield of protection was in place and Alex buttoned his tailored suit coat, placed his hand on the small of Kari’s back, and began making his way under the pergola toward the entrance, the president stepped forward with his hand already extended. “Mr. Drakos, welcome!” he said in his heavy Russian accent. “I am Vladislav Zavrazin, the president of hotel operations, sir. We are
very pleased to have you as our guest!”
Alex smiled as they shook hands. “Thank you,” he said. “And may I introduce my fiancée, Karena Grant.”
Kari could tell the man was surprised to hear that the billionaire playboy, as Alex was known worldwide, had a fiancée, but he was a pro. He quickly regrouped. “Very nice to meet you madam,” Vladislav said with a bow. “Very nice indeed! And I welcome you, as well, to our grand hotel.”
“Thank you so much,” Kari said with a smile and a slight head bow of her own. She took her cues from Alex whenever she found herself dealing with people of “high” society. If he kept it short and sweet, so did she.
“Right this way, sir, madam,” Vladislav said, and began escorting them, and their entourage, into the lobby.
Once inside, Vladislav began asking if Alex planned to take in any of the sights and sounds around Moscow. “Haven’t decided,” Alex replied, which was his usual reply. He never discussed his itinerary in small talk, nor with people who did not have a vested interest in knowing.
“Should you so decide,” Vladislav said, “then I would strongly recommend the Tretyakov Gallery with their latest showings, if you have not yet been. The Alexander Gardens would be another delightful place, if you are so inclined.” And he continued volunteering names and places Kari had never heard of, but she would bet Alex, given his world travels, had already visited many times over.
But Kari mainly wasn’t listening hardly at all. She was too taken by the beautiful architectural designs of the massive lobby as they walked through. And Alex, who was still drained from that nine-hour conference call he had to endure, was only mildly listening. The last thing on his mind were tours of Moscow.
But when he glanced toward the hotel’s reception area and saw who he thought was a familiar figure out of his peripheral vision, he quickly did a double take. Because it couldn’t be. It couldn’t!
Alex Drakos: His Dangerous Affair (The Alex Drakos Romantic Suspense Series Book 4) Page 5
