A Love Like No Other (8 page)

She was extremely efficient. Raith smiled. “Thank you.”

This time, instead of taking up place behind her desk where he could touch every inch of her body if he chose to, Raith sat across the table from Alexandra. So much for giving her time and space, he thought as he asked, “Anything you want to talk about?”

She appeared taken aback by his question. “Such as?”

Raith leaned back in the chair, crossing one ankle over the opposite knee. The position seemed relaxed. The man was anything but. “I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me?”

The light faded slightly from her eyes even as her chin came up at an angle full of attitude. “Have I done something wrong?”

The sigh that left his lips was loud and long in the otherwise quiet room. “No, baby. You didn’t do anything wrong.” So maybe pushing wasn’t such a good idea after all. Instead of continuing along the same lines, Raith decided to talk about the house he hoped to purchase.

“I want you to start looking for a house for me here in Tahoe. Something with lots of space and detached pool house or something similar for Larry to occupy.” Raith far preferred to have his assistant close but not so close he had to worry he and Alexandra would be walked in on during times where privacy was necessary.

Three things happened nearly at once. A look of pure elation crossed her features only to be wiped away by that of despair and then she asked in a voice that trembled. “You’re hiring me to work for you again?”

It didn’t take more than a second for him to get the gist of where she was going. Her and her fucking moral work ethics.

“Oh hell no. Don’t even think it, Xandra!” If the crazy woman thought for one second that working for him meant they could no longer be in a relationship she had another thing coming. “If you tell me you won’t sleep with me,
be
with me because you are working for me I will put you over my knee and blister your ass right here and now.” Raith meant every word that came out of his mouth and dared her with his gaze to even try it.

“But you know my rules, Raith. It doesn’t look professional. What will people say?” She threw her arms wide then just let them drop to her sides. “If rumors started I might lose clients or worse. What if any man who came in here assumed I would sleep with him as well?”

Raith could completely understand the need to remain professional and respectable, but she was a little overboard about the whole thing in his opinion. Besides, if another man made such an erroneous assumption he would die a slow death. Alexandra Aimon was his woman and Raith had no plans to share. Ever. He said as much, causing Alexandra’s eyes to widen until they appeared like saucers against her pale skin and long, dark lashes.

“I’m not letting you go, baby, so you might as well get that thought out of your mind.” He pushed his chair back from her desk. “Now come here.”

She eyed him warily as if completely unsure of who he was or what he wanted with her, but she did as told. He almost laughed at how long it took her to stand and circle the desk. At first he’d thought to set her in his lap and comfort her, soothe her troubled body with his hands and let her know just how much she meant to him.

As she moved closer though, Raith realized he needed to see her face and so he motioned for her to kneel before him. Alexandra didn’t balk one bit as she lowered herself before him. The floral-patterned material of her skirt pooled around her knees and not for the first time he realized just how much he loved her in the long skirts she seemed to favor.

“I want you to find my house, Xandra. You know me well enough to know what I like.” Raith stared deep into her eyes.

Her body melted against him but he could still see the resolve in her gaze. She placed her hands on his thighs as she knelt up. Her back was straight. She was such a proud woman. Raith felt her tense before she opened her mouth to speak.

“I don’t know if I can.”

He was giving no quarter. She belonged to him whether she wanted to believe it or not. “I’m not giving you a choice in the matter.”

There was nothing soft or sensual about the kiss to follow. He slanted his mouth over hers, punishing her with his lips and teeth. Raith knew she had feelings for him. They were written in her gaze, in the way she looked at him, talked to him. He could feel her emotions in the way her body moved against his, flesh on flesh. There was no way in fucking hell he was going to allow her to pretend otherwise.

Alexandra knew she was being silly. There really wasn’t a whole lot of reason to stop seeing Raith just because he was once again going to be her client, but for some reason she felt the need to argue the point.

His moving to Tahoe scared her almost as much as the thought of him heading back to New York. She couldn’t quite figure it out. There was something about him, something about the way they interacted with one another that made her feel so very different than she had in any other relationship.

He didn’t boss her around, although he was definitely bossy, or treat her as if she was an object. But he could be physically rough and was definitely starting to show signs of possessiveness toward her. Several times over the last week she’d had to remind herself his actions did not mean he was becoming as emotionally attached to her as she was him.

Raith listened if she had something to say but he also had high expectations and expected her obedience. She had read much over the last couple of weeks about D/s relationships and in some ways theirs resembled one, but in many ways it did not. Although they had defined roles there was not a lot in the way of specific protocol or rules.

It was more like over the span of a short amount of time Alexandra had worked hard to learn Raith’s likes and dislikes and used what she had found to please the both of them. She thoroughly enjoyed helping him and serving him, both in the bedroom and out. If she had to pick a name for their brand of relationship it would be more along the lines of a 1950s, old-fashioned, father-knows-best type of relationship with rope and floggers added in to spice things up.

Alexandra chuckled at the thought.

“Something funny, baby?”

Alexandra gazed up at him and smiled. “No, nothing. Just thinking about how bossy you are.”

He buried his hands in the hair at her temples and arched her head back at the same time he lowered his face until they were mouth to mouth. “Don’t forget uberly dominant and good looking as well.”

He pecked her lips lightly as she choked back a laugh.

“Modest too,” she mumbled against his mouth.

“Ummm hmmm.” He deepened the kiss, taking it to a point Alexandra had a hard time catching her breath. The man kissed with his whole body, incorporating all of her senses to a point where she was content to stay exactly where he put her and leave the decisions up to him.

“When will you start looking for my house?”

Silently, she grumbled about his abrupt change in topics. She had been enjoying herself too much to make such a quick change to business talk. It took a minute before Alexandra was able to answer. “When do you want me to start looking?” Right now she wanted to feel the weight of his body on top of hers. Her mind refused to focus on much else.

“I think tomorrow will be soon enough.”

“Okay then.” Hell, she would have agreed to just about anything if he’d only give her his mouth again.

“Baby?”

She’d been going in, lips puckered, when his quiet call had reached her ears. It took everything in Alexandra to open her eyes and focus on him. “Huh?”

“Is there any way you can leave for the rest of the day?”

Her whole body sat up and took notice at his question. Her nipples instantly beaded against the white lace of the bra she’d decided to wear. Her panties were already damp with proof of her desire. Something about his tone made her inner walls spasm in waves of anticipation. She looked out to the outer office. “My assistant will be in after lunch and I don’t have any appointments this afternoon, so I think it would be all right.”

It was so freaking okay Alexandra was ready to leap to her feet and race Raith to the car. He must have felt her muscles bunch in anticipation of rising. Stopping her with a hand on her shoulder, he shook his head.

“It’s still an hour until lunch.”

“It’s—”

She didn’t get to finish before he placed a finger over her lips to quiet her. Raith stood, putting the hard bulge of his cloth-covered cock at face level. Alexandra was just about to start to work toward freeing his shaft when she was pulled to her feet and crushed into a tight bear hug.

“Meet me at the timeshare in an hour, Xandra.”

But she wanted to go with him
now
. Arguing with him would only be counterproductive though. This she knew from experience. Raith smiled when she snapped her jaw closed without doing so.

“You’re a fast learner.” His laughter followed him to the outer door where he turned and pierced her with a heated stare.

“The door will be unlocked. I want your clothes off the minute you come through it. When you’re nude come and find me.”

With those parting words to keep her on edge for the next hour, Raith walked out the door.

Alexandra wasn’t sure how she’d managed to keep her cool for a whole hour, but she had. Just barely. Never before had she been so excited to leave for lunch.
And so nervous
, she thought as she walked up to the door of the timeshare Raith occupied.

She stepped stealthily through the threshold without bothering to knock, then began removing her clothes. The desire to rip the garments from her body and throw them on the floor as she ran to find him were nearly overwhelming, but she didn’t allow herself to do so. Instead, she folded each article of clothing as she removed it, then set them on the arm of the couch before departing the living room in search of Raith.

Everything was quiet except for the sound of the shower coming from the master bedroom. Excitement coursed through her veins as she approached the glass enclosure.

“Come on in, beautiful.”

She was so unprepared to hear his voice, Alexandra nearly tripped when he spoke. When had he noticed her approach? He hadn’t even turned to look her way. Shaking her head since it didn’t really matter, Alexandra opened the door and stepped into the warm spray of water.

“You’re just in time to wash my back.”

Raith turned the wide expanse of his shoulders to her and placed his hands high on the wall, waiting. Alexandra soaped up a wash cloth then diligently ran it in sudsy circles over every inch of flesh she could get her hands on. She knelt low in order to get the backs of his legs, taking extra time on his taut, muscled ass. He was a sculpted work of art and she felt blessed to be able to touch him in such a way.

Instead of rising to her feet, Alexandra remained on her knees behind him. It only took the loss of her fingers moving over his body to get Raith to turn around. The new position put him exactly where she wanted him. Or more aptly described, put his cock in the perfect position. She peered up at Raith through the shower spray.

“Wash me first, baby.”

He could be so mean when he wanted to be. Why his teasing her, his making her wait, heightened her arousal Alexandra had no idea. She did as he bid, washing first his feet, then the front of his legs, his shaft and then continued working her way up until she finally finished with his chest and arms. He removed the shower head from the wall and handed it to her.

Alexandra didn’t need to be told what to do next. She rinsed him as diligently as she’d washed him, waiting excitedly to see what came next. When she was done he took the shower head from her and returned it to its mooring on the wall. Then, with a hand on her shoulder he lowered her back to her knees in front of him.

Alexandra took Raith into her mouth. He felt hot and heavy. His taste burst on her tongue, but she wasn’t given time to enjoy his essence or feel his hands in her hair as he fucked her face the way she loved. Almost before she’d started, Raith tugged her to her feet.

“Time to get out,” he said after quickly washing her from head to toe. He then turned her to the door and gave her ass a pat.

Alexandra pulled a towel from the rack on the wall and quickly wrapped it around herself so she didn’t drip so much on the floor before handing one to Raith. His smile was more thanks than actual words ever would be.

She was about to head into the bedroom when she was struck dumb and stopped dead in her tracks. When had she fallen in love with him? She’d known almost since day one there was a strong connection between the two of them, but love? Actual emotional throw-myself-in-front-of-a-train-for-him love? How had that happened?

“Everything okay?”

He was right beside her, his gaze searching. The furrow between his eyes told of his worry.

Alexandra smiled. She was in love. “I’m not sure, but it will be.”

It was obvious he had no clue what she was talking about. Instead of insisting she talk to him while standing in the doorway of the bathroom wrapped in a bath towel, he nudged her forward. They dried one another off in companionable silence. At least outwardly she was silent. Inside she was purring like a cat at the way he took his time rubbing the terrycloth towel briskly across her nipples then taking extra time to make sure her pussy and the cleft of her ass were as thoroughly dry.

She couldn’t help but snicker. If he was trying to make sure no moisture clung to the folds of her pussy he was going to be there for quite a while.

“On the bed, on your stomach.”

Alexandra jumped to do his bidding. Being sure to give him a show as she knew he would like. She climbed onto the bed, looking over her shoulder at him as she crawled up its length, swaying her hips in a way she hoped was enticing.

“Minx.” He laughed. It seemed like an eternity before he joined her, moving up the length of her body, pressing her down into the mattress with his weight.

When he bit the back of her neck, sinking his teeth deep, she whimpered in painful delight. Alexandra arched her spine, grinding her ass against his erection. His rebuke was instantaneous as he bore more weight onto her.