ALEXANDER: A Billionaire Romance (NIGHT OF THE KINGS SERIES Book 4)

by Shayne Ford

It’s stupid anyway. Who cares if some dicks think I’m nothing more than a skirt plowed by her boss? I don’t give a shit anyway. At least, if they think I’m off limits, they’ll keep their paws away from me.

  And what if I were?

  If they truly believed Lex Harrington was fucking me, so be it. I wish he were if I’m honest. Why the hell not?

  He might teach me a thing or two.

  “We’re not leaving until you tell me,” he says, stating the obvious. “You were only gone for a few minutes. When you came back, you were barely breathing. Why? What happened in that hallway?”

  “It was nothing,” I say, and he turns off the ignition.

  Clearly, we’re not leaving.

  “I’m listening,” he says, his hand still wrapped around the steering wheel, the cuffs of his white shirt rolled up to his elbows, a bright contrast to his tanned forearms.

  He loosens his tie knot–– the second time today, and I have to suppress the impulse to help him.

  “I don’t want anyone to get reprimanded because of a few stupid words.”

  He smiles. Not a good smile. Not for them anyway.

  “That’s touching,” he says as if he talks to a kid. “But that’s not your call.”

  “That’s why I don’t want to say it.”

  He tilts his head to the side, his stern gaze giving me no other choice but to spill it out.

  “They think I’m sleeping with you.”

  A shadow slides over his face, darkening his eyes.

  “Who’s they?”

  “The male associates. I overheard them on my way to the restroom.”

  He smiles and shakes his head before he looks away and restarts the ignition.

  It’s all slow motion as if the seconds expand and the time crawls instead of ticking away.

  “I’m not a snitch.”

  “This is not about being a snitch,” he says.

  “If anything surfaces, they’ll know it was me. It was nothing but silly talk.”

  “Why are you so affected by it then?” he asks, slowly pulling the car out of the parking lot.

  I shrug and glance away.

  “Because it wasn’t even true,” I say, looking out the window.

  I don’t even realize how disappointed I sounded until the tires cry as he jolts the car to a sudden stop.

  Horrified, I clamp a hand over my mouth.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that...” I mumble, shifting my gaze to him while frantically spinning my mind for an explanation.

  Surprisingly, his eyes glint with amusement.

  “What I meant was... It wasn’t even true, and yet they made the assumption, just because... I don’t even know why they did it?”

  “Because you’re young?”

  I nod.

  “That’s possible,” I mutter.

  “And beautiful?”

  My thoughts screech to a halt.

  Did he just say that?

  Barely containing his amusement, he studies my reaction. Admittedly, I’ve never seen him so entertained.

  “You think so?”

  He tilts his chin down.

  The silence stays with us for a few more moments as I talk myself into breathing again.

  “Where do you live?” he asks, not peeling his eyes away from mine.

  “Live?”

  “It’s too late to go back to the office. I’m dropping you home,” he says, a smile gleaming in his eyes.

  “Oh, home...Yes, sure.”

  It takes a bit more mumbling before I finally give him the directions, and we pull onto the road.

  “I’ll ask Wells to remove them from my team,” he says bluntly, and cold, without leaving room for debate.

  I swing my gaze to him.

  “Those attorneys.”

  “There’s no need to.”

  “As I said, it’s not your call. I choose who I work with,” he says, and that’s that.

  The car pulls in front of my building minutes later. I rush to collect my purse and exit. The last thing I need right now is some nosy neighbor peering out the window, and making a note of his car.

  Rushed, I glance at him.

  One last time, I say to myself.

  “Thank you,” I say. “I’ll see you on Monday, then,” I mutter, a stream of emotions coursing through me.

  Why does this feel as if we’re on a date?

  “I’ll call you,” he says with a soft voice, and my insides crumble.

  If he keeps talking to me like that and smiling, and examining me, it would take an orchestrated effort to keep my hands off him.

  “Um... Yes. Okay. Bye, then,” I say, sounding all girlish and sixteen.

  Swiveling in my seat, I extract myself out of the chair and step out, the door smoothly closing behind me.

  Don’t turn. Don’t turn, stupid.

  I hear the soft whisper of the window rolling down. Of course, I turn. We lock eyes as I lift my hand and wave him goodbye.

  Totally sixteen.

  Crushing a curse between my teeth, I run upstairs.

  10

  LEX

  My eyes follow her all the way to the entrance of a dark gray building. She pushes through the door, and moments later, her svelte silhouette disappears in the poorly lit lobby.

  Eyes trained on that door, I pull the tie off my neck and flick a couple of buttons opens. Finally, I swing my gaze away and take a breath.

  The windows roll all the way down as I veer the car onto the open road. The sun is about to set over the hills, washing the fields with a golden light.

  June is almost over, and now summer reigns supreme. The days are hot and the evenings are warm, the vegetation thick, exploding with life. The flowers are blooming.

  I prop my elbow on the door, and root my eyes on the road, the wind blowing in my hair.

  I take the longest route to town, cruising through beautiful meadows, driving past nice homes with children and dogs playing on the lawns.

  The soft breeze brushes my face. I feel good.

  It’s been a while since I’ve felt that way.

  As the car rolls down the road, I take in the hills and the wild shrubbery. Gravel groans beneath the tires as I pass through the crossroads and the old barn hedge comes into view.

  I take a turn and the old, worn out benches fill my sight, scattered on one side of the road. The old trees raise their branches to the sky, fluttering their brand new leaves, the golden-red sunset filtering through their crowns.

  I slow down as memories come to me from a not so distant past. I take in the bench where Rain sat, years ago, that very first day we saw her. James and I. And Ed.

  She was just a girl. Not yet a woman. Barely eighteen. So different than the woman she is now.

  A bittersweet smile brushes my lips as the memory of her flashes in front of my eyes as if she’s real. As if somehow, I can peek through the fabric of time and get a glimpse of those long gone days.

  I see her face glowing with a smile, and her hair looking like the sun. Her eyes burning with so much hunger for life.

  Her friend was just as beautiful. Dark wavy hair framing her beautiful blue eyes. Both tall and slender. Both playful, innocent and curious. Their hearts not broken. Yet.

  I wonder...

  Is life really getting better as we go?

  The road is empty now, the bench deserted. The girls no longer girls, no longer there, as if they pulled away with them the world I’d known back then the moment they had vanished.

  As if we never traveled down this road before, and never lived that moment. As if the girls were just a dream, the summer nothing but a tease, and James was never pulled away with them.

  Is life really getting better as we go?

  Hard to tell.

  We grew wiser, lived emotions, and stocked our minds with memories.

  But does it?

  Or were we missing little bits and pieces with every shred of innocence we lost? I didn’t even realize it… And here I am, living the
day when everything I once loved is long gone.

  And yet...

  Everything looks the same. The trees, the sun, the road and the shadows. The rundown brick wall and the tarnished benches.

  The girls are gone. So are the men.

  I’m not so sure... it does get better.

  LEX

  The phone starts humming on the seat next to me. I pick it up.

  Ed’s voice rolls in my ear.

  “Hey. Are you done?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How was it?”

  “We’ll have the offer drawn by the end of next week. If things go well, we can seal the deal in two weeks.”

  “Sounds good,” he says evenly. “We should celebrate.”

  “I am,” I say dryly as the town comes into view.

  “Really?”

  His interest picks up.

  “Where are you?”

  “On my way to Red’s.”

  He starts laughing.

  “Red’s?”

  “Uh-huh,” I mumble, taking a turn.

  “What are you doing there?”

  “What kind of question is that?”

  “So early?” he asks, a sly smile sneaking in his voice.

  “Yeah... I’m not going there to dance.”

  “Oh... Someone’s in a good mood. How far are you?”

  “Downtown. I’ll be there for a while,” I say.

  I hear him cheering at the other end.

  “I’ll see you there,” I mutter as I roll the car through a gate and pull to a stop in a private parking lot.

  A half hour later, he joins me for dinner, the venue getting packed by nine o’clock. We sip drinks when my phone rings.

  My eyes peel wide.

  “No fucking way,” I say. A raspy laughter resonates at the other end, filling my ear. “Don’t you fucking tell me. Are you already here, man?”

  “Yup. I’m fucking here. How’s life at Red’s?”

  I flick my gaze up. Ed watches me over the edge of his phone, pretending he’s texting or whatever the hell is he usually doing.

  “You, jerk. Why didn’t you tell me?” I mouth at him.

  Ed chuckles.

  “Is he there?” James asks.

  “Yeah, he is. Licking the virtual clit of his girlfriend,” I say and James bursts into laughter.

  Ed frowns at me.

  I lift my middle finger, and he shifts his focus back to his phone.

  “Are you here for good?”

  “Yeah. I told you we’re spending the summer here.”

  “Where’s Rain?”

  “She’s still in New York. She flies to Italy this weekend.”

  “Alone?”

  “With Eve Malone. She’ll be back in a week.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in a few,” he says and ends the call.

  “Why the hell can’t you talk, man?” I ask, throwing a glance in Ed’s direction.

  “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “When did he come back?”

  “This afternoon.”

  “So you knew?”

  His eyebrows tilt up.

  “That’s why I told you to take a few days off.”

  “Do I look like I need a fucking intervention?”

  Smiling, he tilts his chin down and nods a few times.

  “I wanted to lift your spirits,” he says mockingly.

  “Keep pushing me, and I might lift my fist in your face Preston,” I say.

  “So, are we fucking something tonight or what?” he asks, finally tossing his phone on the table.

  I motion for another round of drinks.

  “What is it?” I say, glancing at his phone. “Your dick can’t get wet enough from all your sexting?”

  “Ha ha. You’re just envious,” he says, waving me off.

  “Oh, yeah. You got me, Preston. Why the hell would I be?”

  I take a gulp of scotch, my eyes skimming the crowd.

  “Is that girl still on?” I ask, motioning to the phone.

  “Oh, yeah. Very much so.”

  “Don’t you ever get bored?”

  “Would you?”

  He slides his phone to me and swipes the screen with his thumb.

  My eyes drop to the screen. I do a double take and pick it up. I flip it, trying to figure out the best view.

  “Damn...What the hell did you do to her?”

  Forget the arching of her back and teasing glimpses of her body.

  Wide open to the camera, her parted legs offer a complete viewing of her clit and lower lips. It’s black and white footage, but even so, I can tell, she’s wet. As in, I see the drops of her arousal trickling toward her entrance.

  She rubs her clit slowly.

  Again. And again. The damn clip plays on a loop. And I watch it like a fool.

  My cock gets hard and twitching, pushing vigorously against my fly.

  “Damn you, Preston...” I murmur, unable to peel my eyes away.

  I need to get laid. Badly. But in the meantime, I ogle the wet pussy of some faceless woman who’s generously sharing it on the Internet.

  Her clit glistens, a second drop of wetness following the first one to her entrance. I spot a couple of cute birthmarks at the base of her clean shaven folds.

  I run the heel of my palm down my hard length, intending to adjust myself. Instead, I do it twice, stroking the ridge of my erection.

  “Take your damn phone back. I’m hard as fuck.”

  I toss it back on the table.

  Laughing, he flips it back at me, and slides his finger on the screen, again. He’s fucking with me.

  “What about this one?”

  “How does she even take this clips?”

  He shrugs.

  “I don’t know. Timer, I guess.”

  On her all fours, the woman has the camera pointed at her ass, the angle catching her pussy. Her legs are open, of course, her ass pushing out, her glistening hole on full display. She rubs herself, and that’s another gif, the loop playing on and on, until the tip of my cock, drips wet.

  “You’re fucking sick,” I say, chuckling, yet admitting to myself that I have a problem. “And she’s no better than you,” I say, pushing the phone back to him.

  “What did you tell her to make her send those clips to you?”

  “Nothing really,” he says, swiping the screen, scrolling casually through pictures. “The dirty talk does the trick.”

  “That’s it?” I say, shifting in my seat to ease some of the pressure between my legs.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “What about you? Doesn’t she want to see your dick?”

  “She does, but I didn’t put out, so she tried to sweeten the deal, and sent me her pictures and the clips.”

  I laugh wolfishly.

  “That’s my boy... Knows how to make a fucking deal. So what’s the plan with her?”

  “I don’t know. Having fun. Maybe I’m gonna see her one day... We’ll see.”

  “Where does she live?”

  “I don’t know. West Coast, I think.”

  “Still, she may be butt ugly.”

  He stretches a secret smile.

  “She may, although I don’t think so.”

  He flips the screen to me again, and a close up of her face fills my view. She’s blindfolded, the oval shape of her face and chiseled cheekbones speaking of beautiful features.

  A cascade of dark hair rolls down her shoulders. Lips parted, she’s sucking on her fingers. Of course, she is, and I feel that twitch again.

  Unless she has rainbow eyes or something, there’s no way she’s not attractive.

  “That’s what makes her so determined,” I mutter, and he slides the phone down.

  “What?”

  “She’s probably a looker, and has a lot of suckers in tow, and you dare not to slobber over her. That’s why she’s a little bit obsessed with you.”

  “Yeah... It could be.”

  “T
he wonders of the Internet,” I murmur, just as I get a glimpse of James, cutting his way through the crowd.

  He stops along the way, chatting with some of our clients.

  “I hope he moves back here,” I say, thinking aloud.

  “You mean, I’m not enough?” he asks jokingly.

  “I mean, once in a while, I need the company of grown ups.”

  He laughs in his throat.

  “Not a laughing matter, Preston.”

  “How’s your girlfriend doing?” he tosses at me.

  I cut my eyes at him.

  “What girlfriend?”

  He smirks behind his glass.

  “Your work wife.”

  My smile dies out.

  “She’s not my work wife.”

  “She fucking is. Every time I see her she’s more in love with you than the last time.”

  “She’s a good kid.”

  “I’ve seen good kids turning bad,” he mutters, and I flick my finger up.

  “That topic is closed. I’m no longer thinking about her.”

  “Exactly. That’s why I’m asking about your work wife.”

  “She’s... I don’t think she’s gone out much...” I say and tilt my drink back. I swallow, looking away. “That’s why she reacts the way she does. It’s not her fault.”

  “I didn’t say it was. She’s beautiful, though.”

  “Yes, she is. People have already started to spread rumors about us. Men, of course. Larry’s associates. She overheard a conversation today. They think I fuck her.”

  A lopsided smile tilts his lips.

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “And how did she take it?”

  “She was devastated.”

  “Why?”

  “Because she wanted to be true,” I say, deadpan, and he latches his gaze onto me for a moment before he starts laughing.

  I grin.

  “Good thing you got your spunk back,” he says as James approaches our table.

  11

  DAHLIA

  My heart drums in my chest as I run up the stairs.

  I push the apartment door open, the smell of freshly cooked food greeting me in the hallway.

  Sporting shorts, a T-shirt and an apron, Elsa pops in the kitchen door.

  She smiles, and then concern claims her face.

  “What happened to you?” she asks.

  I have a hard time catching my breath.