Fated: An Alpha Male Romance (14 page)

She pointed to the man by the coffee table. “Same here. By the way, that lump on the floor is Kellen. One-half of the hazardous duo.”

An attractive, yet flushed face looked up at me. His hazel eyes looked nearly lime green due to his drunken state, along with the last bit of evening light filtering through the picture windows that opened to the backyard.

“Ah, I remember you,” I said with a slight laugh.

“And I remember you,” he mimicked, pointing. “You broke my heart…‘cause I couldn’t dance —”

“Who needs kids when you have these two?” Taylor asked, shaking her head and covering her face.

I pointed between her and Kellen. “Are you two…?”

“Oh no.” She frantically shook her head to cement her point. “I see him more as a little brother even though we’re only a couple of months apart.”

“Oh, okay. So, where’s my little one?”

She caught her locs in a ponytail and her eyes roamed over Kellen on the floor in a motherly fashion. “Ethan’s upstairs. I actually got him to go up there because I promised him that you were coming. He’s pretty vulnerable so if you have any personal questions, I’d ask them now.”

I laughed. “Got it.”

I rushed up the stairs and found Ethan lying on the bed face down with his hands extended over his head. His bedroom was masculine with dark colors, floor to ceiling window dressings, a seating area beneath the window, a king-sized bed, and a padded leather headboard. It had taken me a while to notice any of the furnishings as each time we’d ended up in the room, we’d been completely preoccupied with each other.

I set my things down, climbed onto the bed next to him, and he rolled onto his back when he felt my impression.

“Hey you,” I greeted, kissing his temple.

“I don’t know what made me think that I could do that many shots,” he groaned. “I’m never drinking again.”

“You’ll drink again, baby,” I assured. “Trust me.”

“Nope.” He made a twisting key motion over his lips. “Never. Never again.” He then tossed away his imaginary key.

I stifled a laugh. “Okay. Let me help you get out of your clothes.”

I stripped him, bit back the urge to kiss every ridge and valley outlining his abs, helped him into a pair of shorts and black tee, and then pressed my back against the headboard. I pulled his head into my lap and kissed his forehead while playing in his hair. I’d learned in Colorado that it was a foolproof way to set him to sleep.

“I missed you, baby,” he said, eyes closed. “Today, when I was at the restaurant, I missed you.”

“I missed you too, sweetie,” I replied.

“I told my friends about you.”

“Did you, now?”

“Yep.”

“And what did you tell them about me?”

“That you’re beautiful. And amazing. And awesome.”

I chuckled. “Wow? All of that?”

“And that I’m in love with you.”

Dynamite had nothing on the explosion that blasted in my chest. I was pretty sure that pieces of my heart were now stuck to my rib cage. “Come again?”

“I’m in love with you, Alle,” he repeated. “I love you to Neptune. I would say the moon, but Neptune’s further and Pluto got jacked of its planetary status, which is pretty fucked up if you ask me.”

I laughed and pressed kisses all over his handsome, intoxicated face. But, as I tried for the words to respond to his declaration, they never came. Literally, as I opened my mouth to say “I love you too”…because I, in fact, did love him, my throat seized like I was having an allergic reaction to my own feelings. How could I tell him that I loved him if I didn’t even have the courage to leave Roderick?

“I want to have your babies,” he went on.

“We can talk about that in the morning,” I replied, clearing my throat and thankful he was too far gone to catch my faux pas. “How about you get some sleep?”

“Will you still be here in the morning?”

“I’ll be here. Always. Go to sleep.”

That seemed to satisfy him, and he quieted while I continued to stroke his hair until he fell asleep.

-----

Roderick Q. Hamilton

The person that James had contacted to follow Alexandra had actually been a retired private investigator that owed the older man a favor. Although the investigator never gave me his name, I’d dubbed him “Stubbs” due to his short stature and overall puffiness. His complexion was extremely pale, even more so when you added in his white hair, and he wasn’t dressed in the traditional khaki trench coat with a pipe and detective hat like I’d been expecting. Instead, he wore a washed out baseball T-shirt and faded jeans that had hit their peak in the nineties.

“What have you got for me today on the Ethan and Alexandra story?” I asked, running frustrated fingers through my hair. On top of my campaign, I now had to deal with my girlfriend’s infidelity. It was the very last thing that I would have expected to see coming.

He pulled up the file on his tablet and swiped through dozens of pictures of Alexandra with Dr. Stewart holding hands, gazing into each other’s eyes, kissing, leaning towards each other in deep conversation, and many more. They’d even had the nerve to look extremely happy when they were together. She looked at him in a way that she’d never looked at me, not even when we’d first met.

“Have you found out if they’re sleeping together?” I forced out.

“I haven’t been able to get inside the house,” he answered. “But, I suspect that they are.”

“And why’s that?”

“Their level of intimacy. It just speaks to them sleeping together. But if they have, I can assure you that it hasn’t been in the house you two share.”

That reassurance offered no relief. Although Alexandra and I didn’t have what one would call an “active” sex life, for us to have gone this long without it meant that she had to be sleeping with him and that she’d been enjoying it.

I was not the one for lewd sex. At least, not with my future wife. Wives were there for companionship, to be the mothers of our children, to ensure the succession of our lineage, and to have at our sides when out in public. A bachelor represented an immature man that could not be trusted to commit; marriage dispelled that image. Though I’d never stepped outside of our relationship, mistresses were those deemed for enjoyment. A silent partner of sorts. So, with Alexandra, it was always going to be missionary, chaste, and quick until we got married and I stepped into the world of extramarital sex. That was just how it worked. Even Alexandra’s own father had reinforced that notion. My relationship with her had nothing to do with love.

But it would make no sense for her to step outside of our relationship for sex if this man was giving her more of the same. Whatever he was offering, she was lapping up like a thirsty dog.

I glanced up at the monitor displaying the departing flights, none of which I would be on. I’d led Alexandra to believe that I was going out of town merely to see how it would escalate her relationship with Dr. Stewart and eventually lead to a major slip-up. My father was fine; my mother’s message had simply been to tell me that a great uncle of mine, one that I had no particular attachment to, was on his death bed. I’d assumed that Alexandra would have jumped at the chance to have me leave, but instead, she’d offered to come. Looking at the pictures and the way she eyed Dr. Stewart, it made no sense why she would still offer to be by my side. On the other hand, it also meant that I hadn’t yet lost to the doctor.

“Does her father know?” I asked.

“I haven’t reported it back to him yet.”

“Hold off on that,” I requested.

“Do you want me to keep following her?”

“Yes.” I nodded to confirm. “This man, as low as his actions might be, is still very pivotal to the success of the juvenile diabetes fundraiser that’s coming up in a few weeks. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize that opportunity.”

Stubbs cocked his head to the side. “Really? You’d sacrifice your relationship for the sake of your career?”

I stilled. “Do you really think she could leave me for him?”

“Well, from what I’ve seen, this is a woman enamored. It’s very possible.”

I shook my head. There was no way that Alexandra would even consider leaving me for a man like this. Dr. Stewart, in his own right, deserved credit for the ability to pull himself up by his bootstraps to get to his level of success. As a man, I could respect him for that. However, he and Alexandra were from two completely different societal backgrounds. They were grossly mismatched and unsuited for each other. The fact that this affair even began in the first place felt unusual and out of place.

“I need you to do something for me,” I said, taking another glance at the flight monitor. “I need you to find out how this started.”

“And how do you expect me to do that?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Use your skills. Look, here’s what I can tell you. Alexandra had the utmost perfect behavior up until the days leading up to Christmas Eve. The night before the Christmas Eve banquet was the first time I’d called her and couldn’t reach her, and she’d had her sister call me back. Do you think that you could start there to find out how this happened?”

“What you’re asking me is next to impossible,” Stubbs replied.

“I’ll increase your retainer.”

“I can’t make any promises.”

“I’m not asking you to. Just look into it and see what you can find. My gut is telling me that there’s a story here. You’ve done all this already. I’m pretty sure you can find it.”

He sighed. His pale cheeks tinted by rosacea reminded me of a cherub.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

“Thank you.” I shook his hand. “Call me if anything pops up.”

He agreed and I walked off, a mixture of anger, confusion, and even jealousy powering each step. There was no way that I was going to allow Alexandra to leave me, and I didn’t care what the circumstances were between her and the doctor. I hadn’t wasted two years vetting her to be my wife to lose her to some pompous asshole just because he’d been able to navigate his way around her clitoris. If sweet and considerate was what she wanted, then that was what she was going to keep getting. There was no way that I was going to allow Ethan Stewart to commandeer what I’d taken two years to cultivate.

Ethan

I wasn’t as hungover as I’d assumed that I would be, which was perfect because when my eyes opened, Alexandra was in bed next to me. The sunlight was hitting her skin in just the right way and she was sleeping peacefully. Comfortably. In my bed.

I spooned her into my body and kissed the back of her head. Then, I pressed a kiss behind her ear. I was being powered by a faint recollection of a conversation that we’d had the night before. If my memory served me correctly, the woman now tucked into my body had said that she would always be there for me, which could only mean that she was finally mine, and mine alone. Now, her love for me was the only missing piece of the puzzle.

I ran my hands up her shirt and over her back, then moved lower and kissed the sensitive spot on her neck. She moaned and rubbed her legs together, which she always did whenever she was beginning to get aroused. I’d even started calling it “the cricket.”

“No, babe, you have a hangover,” she said, although she arched her neck to give me better access.

“I really don’t.” I kissed the spot again and slid my hand around to the front of her body. I vaguely remembered her in a pair of jeans, but now she was wearing one of my t-shirts with only a pair of panties underneath. No bra. A woman in her man’s t-shirt was more of a turn-on than some of the raunchiest lingerie.

“Besides, you want me,” I teased. “You’re doing the cricket.”

She laughed and I flitted my fingers over her nipple while placing another series of kisses against her neck.

“Are you sure you’re up for this?” she asked between breaths, as my hands palmed her breasts. I pressed my pelvis into her ass to answer her question. My dick had a mind of its own that took over all functioning whenever Alexandra was around. I began to understand that when people said caring about someone made sex much better, it wasn’t just utter bullshit. I wanted to fall asleep inside this woman. When I was inside of her, she had me. She was the strength to my grip.

I slid my hands down her body to the top of her panties. I tugged on them, and she shifted so that I could pull them over her legs. My fingers went to her slit and she was already soaking wet, waiting for me. I slipped out of my shorts in record time and with some pretty impressive acrobatics, and then her hands wrapped around my dick. Pleasure pulsed through my entire shaft.

“You were pretty drunk last night,” she said, her legs parting slightly to give my fingers better access. “You said some interesting things.”

I nipped her shoulder. “Like what?”

“Like the fact that you told your friends about me.”

“I did.” I rubbed the head of my cock over her bare ass. “What else did I say?”

Her hands continued to stroke me and I pulled her hips back, positioning her.

“You, uh, also kinda mentioned that you were in love with me,” she answered.

It took all of my human strength to gently pull her hands away from my dick. As much I loved the erotic stroking of her palms, I knew that she was ready for me. Her clit was slick against my fingers.

“And?” I moved the head of my cock to her opening, teasing the crevice until my head glistened from her moisture. She ground her hips against me and it dawned on me that the box of condoms was clear across the room. It also dawned on me that I had no intention of getting them. She was mine now and I wanted to feel every aching inch of my
pussy.

“I wasn’t that drunk, Alle,” I added. “I know what I said.”

My head parted her lips and she made a low, sexy noise that echoed all around us as I eased into her body. I was losing myself inside this woman, which I didn’t think was possible since I was already so far gone.

“I love you, Alle,” I said, pulling out just as slowly before stroking deep again. My dick was saturated and I groaned as I felt her warmth over every sensitive inch. “I’m in love with you.”

Now, when I say I fucked my woman, I mean I
fucked
my woman. I fucked her to the point of speechlessness. She didn’t even moan or cry out; our breaths in the air were joined only by the sound of the sheets ruffling beneath us. It was as though I was trying to resurface her pussy, claiming it so that she knew who it belonged to. Who
she
belonged to. Fuck, so she knew who I belonged to. I was hers in every aspect of the word. In the competition between retaining a little bit of myself and giving myself up to her completely, I conceded to her victory. She had me by every organ that I owned. She held me in the palm of her hand, which meant that she could easily crush me with a closed fist.

Now that the gate had been opened, everything came flooding out. I couldn’t believe the way that I felt about this woman; I’d had no idea that feelings like this were even possible. I was open, completely open, for the first time in my life.

Do you know how terrifying that is? It’s like crossing over an intersection and looking up into the grill of a runaway semi-truck. There was nothing that I or anyone could do at that moment to pull me back. She was made for me. She’d always been made for me.

Her breaths quickened and her hips began to rock. I was nowhere near climax; I wanted to make her come several times over before I even thought about release. I rubbed my finger over her clit and nipped the spot on her neck. Her moans finally broke through, quick and unapologetically loud, and she came with a cry that I was sure, if they were still at my place, Kellen and Tayler clearly heard.

Ask me if I cared.

I slowed so that she could ride out the waves and then moved to my knees behind her, pulling her up with me. I trailed my hands over her hips before I was moving inside of her again. I felt like a man gone mad with how much I still wanted her despite already being inside of her.

She buried her face in a pillow and cried out as orgasm number two began to build. When I knew that she was right on the edge, I pulled out and lowered to flick my tongue over her clit. Another loud cry, which also came with a moaning, “Oh my God,” rang from her throat as she came all over my tongue. I didn’t stop licking until she shuddered, then used my fingers to stroke her inside until she floated back down to Earth.

She was shaking her head, but her words were muffled by the pillow.

“What’s that baby?” I asked, trailing my fingers over her moisture.

“I want –”

I flipped her over and raised her hips. What they didn’t teach in med school was that the nerve endings from a woman’s clit extended into her walls. Angling her just right meant hitting the area that would slowly drive her into sexual bliss.

I pressed my cockhead against her opening. “You want…what?”

I slid inside of her and bit back a groan as her pussy tightened around my shaft. I started to pull out slowly, but she used her legs to pull me back inside.

“Please, Ethan.” Her lids flew open and I challenged her with my eyes. She knew what I wanted to hear. “Fuck me, Ethan.”

I slid in and out of her body slowly for what was probably the next couple of seconds, but the heat of her flesh against mine went straight to my head. I pushed myself deep into her body and watched her eyes to make sure that I wasn’t hurting her by giving her all of my length. She continued to use her legs to pull me deeper, and I gave up on trying to remain in control.

My dick was saturated by her excitement. Her moans were now coming in loudly as though she also decided to no longer care if our guests downstairs heard what was going on. I grew harder with each thrust and she continued to moan my name, breathlessly, which only made me fuck her like we hadn’t seen each other in years. I wanted to come, but I wanted to feel the grips of her third orgasm on my dick. I wanted to give her even more, but her pussy was made just for me: tight, wet, and warm. I wouldn’t be able to handle much more of her sweet torture.

She screamed my name as she exploded, and I couldn’t hold out any longer. I released inside of her body, almost roaring at the intense surge of pleasure that tore through me.

I hovered over her as our bodies descended, beads of sweat from my body dripping onto her stomach in a way that was almost erotic. Then, I lost the next few seconds in her irises before brushing my lips over her eyelids.

When she seemed to gather her bearings, she looked down to where our bodies were still joined. Her eyes suddenly widened and she pushed at my chest until I moved, hopped off the bed, and dashed to the bathroom, leaving me in the middle of sheets just as rumpled as my comprehension.

I walked to the bathroom door and knocked. “Alle?”

“I’m fine,” she called out, her voice thick.

“Are you crying?” I tugged on the door. “Alle, what’s going on? What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

Silence.

“Alle, open the door.”

She still made no effort to unlock the bathroom door, and I searched my mind to try to piece everything together to determine what had happened. It wasn’t an easy to do when dealing with women, however.

“I’m sorry about the condom thing,” I said. “I should’ve asked you first, but I figured that since you’re on the pill…” My words then slowly trailed off. I’d told Alexandra that I loved her, and that I was in love with her, and had yet to receive a response. Now, she was locked inside my bathroom, crying after sex.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” I growled. “Alexandra, open this door.”

I stomped across the room, pulled on my shorts and sat on the bed. A few seconds later, the door opened. Her eyes were puffy, red and moist.

“Ethan, I’m sor—”

“What do you think this is? That I’m just some dude that you’re fucking on the side? Is that what this is? Because let me know now and all of this shit, I’ll forget it.”

“I was going to—”

“I don’t even know what I’m doing.” I treaded my fingers through my hair. “I must be fucking crazy. You’re another man’s woman.”

“Ethan, you know that’s not the case.”

“I can’t believe that I was so stupid.”

I rose from the bed and brushed past her into the walk-in closet. My car was still at Chophouse and if Tayler or Kellen were still here, I’d just bum a ride off of one of them to get it.

“You might want to get dressed,” I barked.

She flinched and my chest tugged, but my pride wouldn’t let me buckle.

“I was going to talk to him, but then he hired a dance instructor for us to learn how to rumba,” she tried to explain. “Then, his mother called and said that his father had a heart attack. There was just too much going on and it didn’t feel right.”

I stopped. “Let me guess, couple shit?”

She flinched again. My pain was showing and I made no effort to try to hide it. But, I wasn’t only upset with her. I was pissed at myself. I was never supposed to be the man in this situation. I’d never before gone near an attached woman, but with Alexandra, I had no choice. I just acted. I was drawn to this woman and even in her betrayal, looking at her tear-stained face in my closet entryway still made me want to do whatever I could to make
her
pain go away. A painful erosion was causing a crater-sized hole in my chest and I was nearly buckling at the sight of her tears. A man like me was never supposed to fall in love. Love was turning me into a fucking psycho.

“Ethan, what do you want me to do?” she asked.

I shrugged. “Nothing. Get dressed.”

“So I can take you to get your car?”

“No. I’m going to ask Tayler. I think Kel needs to get his car too anyhow.”

A fresh set of tears made splotches on her cheeks. “So then, you’re asking me to leave?”

I made the mistake of glancing at her from the corner of my eye.

My defenses melted.

I couldn’t place all of this on her. My assumption was that I was asking her just to be with me, but it was much more than that. She had way more to give up than I did, but I was sick of waiting. I just wasn’t this man. I’d even had sharing problems in grade school. But, I needed reassurance that her words were more than just words.

“Alexandra, I don’t know what to tell you,” I said, defeated.

“I just need time.”

“I’m tapped out, Alexandra.”

I walked past her and back to the front room. I found her clothes folded on the chair near the window and brought them to her. She looked down at them and more tears formed.

“Don’t do this, Ethan,” she pleaded. “I just need time.”

“You’ll need these after your shower,” I told her. “When you’re done, I’ll hop in, we’ll have breakfast and then we’ll go visit my grandfather.”

Her beautiful eyes glistened and she rushed at me for a hug. I kissed the top of her head and an exhale treacherously spilled forth when her arms tightened around me. Like I said, she had me in the palm of her hands, but I was beginning to hate this shit. I wanted her to fall asleep and wake up with me. She’d already met my friends, was about to meet my grandfather, and I’d even considered driving to the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women to tell my mother that I’d found someone who chose me. To understand exactly how big of a deal that was, I hadn’t seen my mother in the twenty-eight years since I left Baton Rouge.

“Just remember that, in all of the effort not to do something because it didn’t ‘feel right,’ this doesn’t feel right either,” I told her. “I don’t know how you feel about me, but I’ve told you as much. I won’t wait forever.”