Saving Alexander (11 page)

Chapter 12

Sage finally got back to his and Dan’s apartment feeling tired, fractious, horny and terribly confused. His black mood had risen, determined to take him over. It was like a fire blanket and he embraced its cold caress.

The mixed signals he kept getting from Alex were hard to figure out. When Alex had been saying goodbye in the cab Sage had wanted nothing more than to pull him close and kiss him.

He let himself into Dan’s apartment and came face to face with a woman, barely twenty-five years old he guessed, clad in nothing but a blue bra and a thong. She was extremely pretty, very curvy with long blonde hair, a pert nose and even perkier breasts.

He stared at her, a little nonplussed. “Hi.” He watched her warily. “I’m Sage. I live here with Dan.”

Her face cleared. “Oh. You’re his gay roommate. I’m Cherry.” She smiled. “My God, what a waste. But Bri is just going to love you.” Her eyes looked at him hungrily. Sage gazed at her in confusion.

Who the hell was Bri?

Sage simply nodded, skirting her carefully, moving over to his room. As he was about to go in, Dan came out of his own bedroom wearing just his boxers, with yet another woman on his arm. This one was totally naked, with dark, lustrous skin, long black hair and an oriental slant to her eyes. Dan saw Sage and waved an introduction.

“Sage! Meet Akira and Cherry. They’re from the hotel down the road. They’re receptionists.” He drawled the word out languorously. “I’m glad you’re home. You’re later than I expected and your present is waiting in the lounge.” He chuckled, pulling Cherry closer to him.

Sage shook his head, even more perplexed. “Dan, I’m very appreciative of the offer but I’ve had a crap evening. I’ve been at the hospital all night and I just want to get into bed. I’m not in the best of tempers I’m afraid, so I’d really be no fun.” He wondered with trepidation what the hell the present was in the lounge.

Dan moved over to his friend. “God, I’m sorry. What happened?”

Sage shook his head tiredly. “One of the cast—Dianne Cunningham—had an accident. She’s fine but it’s been a little stressful. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow. I don’t want to put a downer on whatever you had planned.”

He turned, forcing a smile at the two women. “Ladies, it’s been lovely meeting you both. Look after him and make sure he doesn’t eat after midnight. It drives him crazy.”

He went into his bedroom. He undressed, dropping his clothes by the bed, going into his en-suite bathroom to shower. When he came out, he was once again on the back foot. Naked in his own room, Sage found himself with a long-limbed, highly aroused and very naked man curled up on his bed, eyes watching him. From the grin on his face, he was liking what he saw. The man—who was probably in his early thirties himself—smiled, stretching like a cat, his cock bobbing as he did so, looking very inviting.

Sage was drawn to it and the lean lines of the other man’s body, the hair on his sculptured chest and the sexy come-hither look in the brown eyes. A strand of long, dark hair fell across his forehead.

Sage’s feeling of extreme exposure lingered as his cock hardened and came to life but he was damned if he was going to go all girly and cover his naughty bits with his hands. Instead he stood there, getting slowly bigger and harder with every lick the other man made of his rather luscious lips. Sage looked back at him, feeling his heart beat a little faster with his sudden desire to get physical despite his bad mood.

“My name’s Brian. I’ve been waiting for you for ages.” The man pouted. “Dan thought you might be a bit tense and he asked me to take a look and see if I could relax you.” He chuckled softly, moving off the bed and over to Sage. “I told him that I liked my men tense, at least in certain places, but I’d certainly see what I can do for the rest.”

Brian reached out, teasingly drawing his fingers down Sage’s chest toward his groin. He leaned in, kissing Sage, his mouth warm and hungry, his tongue darting into Sage’s mouth as his warm, firm hand gripped Sage’s very needy member, sliding down the length of him, causing Sage to gasp with the sensation.

“Wow. You’re a really big boy, aren’t you?”
Bri
murmured huskily. “I like it when a man fills me up.”

Sage felt a perverse need to show both himself and Alex he wasn’t above getting his own action and using the tools he had at his disposal. He was at full attention now as Brian’s mouth moved lower toward his belly and his accomplished hands continued their artful stroking. As Brian took him into his hungry mouth, Sage thought that perhaps the evening might not be such a loss. After all, it was rude to refuse a present and it had been a while. And it may just be the very thing he needed to lift his spirits.

* * *

The following morning Sage woke up in a far better mood that the one he’d been in the night before. He showered again and changed, getting into the studio around ten o’clock. He’d even spoken to the paparazzi camping outside the studio and managed to be courteous, which he thought was quite a coup for him.

His evening had certainly been memorable as Brian had proven himself to be a very talented and extremely lusty young man. Sage had finally got to sleep around two A.M. but he’d been woken up around seven by Brian for a quick morning shag and a fairly mind-blowing blow job. He’d left Brain curled up languidly in his bed like a cat. On his way in, Sage realised he’d left his annotated script at home. He’d called Dan, who’d promised to bring it in on his way into work. Sage saw Luke and Janine sitting at the studio table and he sauntered over, whistling.

Janine peered at him from over his bifocals. “Good morning, Sage. You look fairly pleased with yourself today. Anything we should know about?”

Sage grinned. “Nothing that a gentleman would talk about. Have you heard from Thomas this morning? How’s Dianne?”

Luke smiled. “She’s doing well. She’ll be coming home later today and Thomas is going to take a couple of days off with her until Monday. We’ll reschedule Dianne’s scenes for then. So I’m afraid the pressure is going to be all yours for the next few days.” He smiled slyly. “From the glow you have I have to ask—did someone get lucky last night?”

Sage chuckled. “Stop fishing. I have nothing to tell either of you.” He turned as a voice echoed across the studio floor. Dan stood there, waving a sheaf of papers.

“Got to go, Dan’s brought my notes in.” He turned and sauntered over to where his friend stood. Dan had a wide grin on his face and Sage laughed at the knowing glint in his eyes. He held up his hands in supplication. “I agree I was uptight and I needed to release some pressure. Thanks for looking out for me. It was definitely fun.”

Dan chuckled. “They’re all friends and came as a package deal and I couldn’t refuse. Brian really liked you. He said, and I quote, ‘He was so hot and needy.’ Unquote. Suffice it to say he was impressed with your large manhood and your sucking skills. That’s as much as I’m telling you or else you’ll go all red and ‘Aw, shucks’ and I can’t stand that at this time of the morning. I’m telling you, Sage, you should see him again. He’s very into you. You need to fuck him again.”

Sage chuckled. “Jesus, Dan, he told what we did? Hell, we’re not eighteen any more. Have
some
decorum and stop broadcasting my bloody sexploits all over the studio.”

Dan’s eyes widened at something behind him. Sage glanced back, seeing Alex standing there. His face was pale and he looked ill. Sage groaned silently, wondering if he’d heard any of their conversation. He fervently hoped not. Despite his irrational need to get back at him last night, in the cold light of morning it was something he’d rather have him not know about.

“Alex, hi. Let me introduce you to Dan. You remember I told you about him.”

Alex nodded, holding out his hand to Dan who shook it. Dan smiled at him. “So you’re the mysterious Alex this bugger keeps talking about. Glad to meet you at last. Sage tells me you’re a very gifted writer and that you’re busy with another book? I haven’t read them yet myself but Sage here is very taken with them.”

“I’m glad he enjoys them.” Alex turned and looked at Sage. “Luke asked if you could see him when you have a moment. Apparently there’s been a bit of a mix-up with some of the scene sequences and he needed to run something by you.”

Alex turned to Dan. “Lovely to meet you, Dan.” He walked away.

Dan whistled. “Jesus, Sage, if I wasn’t straight, I’d fancy him. Those eyes are just something else.”

Sage watched after Alex with a sick feeling in his stomach. He knew he had nothing to feel ashamed about. He and Alex weren’t an item, even though in his wild fantasies he’d thought they could be if he tried hard enough.

But the man was such bloody hard work! So why did he feel like such a heel?

He said a distracted goodbye to Dan, citing the fact he needed to get to work. He went in search of Alex, finding him in the office in front of his PC. Alex glanced up at him as he came in.

“Alex, can I have a word?” Sage didn’t quite know what he was going to say.

Alex shrugged, looking relaxed. “I have time. What’s up?”

Sage cleared his throat. “I wasn’t sure how much you’d heard about what Dan said. I didn’t want you to get the wrong impression. Dan has a certain way of saying things which can be—misconstrued if you don’t know him.”

Alex cocked his head in amusement. “Oh, I don’t know about that. He was very clear from what I heard. You banged someone called Brian last night who thought you were hot and apparently your oral skills are really good. What’s to misconstrue?”

Sage’s face flooded with heat. If the room had been any darker he’d have been a beacon lighting the way home.

Alex carried on. “You’re a grown man, Sage. You can do what you like. I’m glad you pulled. That at least makes one of us.” He looked at Sage. “Is that all you wanted to say? Not that I’m rushing you or anything, but I have some feedback to give for a proposed scene change and Janine will kick my arse if I don’t get it to her soon.”

“That’s all,” Sage said quietly. “Sorry to disturb you.” He turned, leaving the room, hearing the click of the keyboard as he did. He didn’t know what he’d expected. In hindsight it had probably been a stupid thing to try and explain. Alex obviously didn’t really care one way or another, so that should actually make him feel better.

So, why didn’t he?

“Bloody man,” he muttered fiercely. “He’s got under your skin, Sage, and you need to dig him out.”

Sage scowled fiercely, muttering to himself as he made his way to the dressing room to change. “You promised yourself you weren’t going to get involved with someone for a while. Best keep that bloody promise.”

* * *

Back in the office, Alex stopped typing, heaving a shuddering sigh. His hands were cold and wouldn’t stop trembling. He’d had to use every acting skill he’d got to pretend he didn’t care about Sage’s little fuck session last night.

It had driven a nail through his chest hearing Dan’s casual words and knowing Sage had been intimate with another man—
very
intimate based on what he’d heard. Some other man had gotten the chance to do what so far Alex had only fantasised about doing. Alex knew he’d no right to judge because he’d done nothing to make Sage feel he had a real chance with him; in fact, he’d done everything he could to do the opposite and he couldn’t expect the man to wait forever.

Alex reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out his mobile, scrolling down the favourites contact list until he hit the familiar number.

Time to stop kidding himself that he could have a normal life and go back to what he was used to, what he deserved. No holds barred this time—he’d tell Madame Duchaine it was business as usual.

Chapter 13

Dianne Cunningham came back to work two weeks after the incident. Sage sat talking to her after filming late one evening. They’d had a lot of catching up to do and Dianne had insisted they work extra hours to make up the lost time. Her facial cuts were healing and with makeup and the right camera angles, one could hardly notice the faint scars.

“I was petrified, Sage,” she said softly as they sat on the sofa in the staff room. “I was walking away from the beauty salon to get to my car. Some young man came up and handed me an envelope. He said it was very important news and I had to open it now. I just laughed and said I’d open it when I got home because I needed to be somewhere. The next thing I knew, he had a knife to my side, telling me I’d better ‘fucking open it right now.’ I had no choice. I slit it open with my nail and the next thing I remember there was an almighty flash, and everything went black.” She shivered. “I’d had a split second to wonder when I was opening it why he moved away so fast, but I had no idea anyone would do that to me.”

She swallowed, her eyes full of tears. “The next I knew, I woke up lying in that doorway covered in blood with the police and everyone bent over me. My bag was gone so no one had any contact numbers to call Thomas. They took me to the hospital and I asked one of nurses to call the studio.”

Sage leaned forward, clasping her icy hands in his warm ones. “It seems like a very elaborate hoax and the police still don’t know much about it. I’m just glad you weren’t hurt even more. It was a terrible thing to put someone through and if I ever find out who did it, I’ll bloody thrash them myself.”

His voice was fierce and Dianne smiled as she shivered, drawing her cardigan closer around her shoulders. Her voice trembled. “It must be a bloody psycho. What if they do it again? If they are trying to copy the scenes in the book, like Alex mentioned, the next big scene is the one where Carter’s brother is injured in a hit-and-run. What the hell will that mean to this crazy person?”

Sage leaned forward. “Dianne, the police don’t seem to think that they’re following the book. The ones Thomas spoke to seemed to think this was an isolated incident drummed up by someone who wanted publicity for the series. It’s a sick way of going about it but it’s definitely had the result they expected. The papers are full of it. And we have extra security for you now to keep the reporters and anyone else out.”

Dianne looked at him hopefully. “Do you think so? I hope you’re right. I don’t want to have to look over my shoulder all the time in case someone’s trying to blow me up again.” She smiled wanly. “Once is enough.”