Seduction (Club Destiny) (21 page)

Oh, God. She was
going to be sick.

“Alex.” She
warned him, but then thankfully he pulled over to the side of the road
immediately, and she pushed open the door and vomited right there in the grass.
Her stomach heaved, the alcohol pulsing through her blood until she was puking
again, then dry heaving when there was nothing left.

Alex, bless him,
had come around to her side of the truck and managed to help her back in; got
her resituated before once again climbing behind the wheel. “We’ll be home in a
few minutes, baby. It’ll be ok.”

With that,
Ashleigh did close her eyes, and she willed sleep upon her. There was no way
she would live this down.

The sun crept
through the slats in the mini blinds, teasing the edges of Ashleigh’s vision
and making her want to cover her head with a pillow. Reaching out, she felt the
bed beside her and thankfully she was alone.

That would be
the last time she drank. Ever. Well, the last time she indulged in hard liquor
anyway.

At least Alex
wasn’t there to watch her relive it. Her head was throbbing, but not as bad as it
would have if she hadn’t choked down the aspirin he insisted she take before
she passed out in her bed.

And now, she had
to go to the bathroom and that was going to be hell in and of itself. Pushing
up from the bed, she walked lightly across the cold, wood floor to the bathroom
before closing herself inside. Maybe a shower would help.

Fifteen minutes
later, she felt like a different person. Before she had gotten in, she’d downed
some ibuprofen, and that had taken some of the heat from her headache. The next
item on her agenda was coffee.

When she walked
into the living room, she stopped dead in her tracks.

There on her
couch was Alex, sound asleep. His bare chest drew her eye, the sleek, tanned
muscle teasing her. No matter how angry she was at him, he was still the
sexiest man she’d ever seen. Taking advantage of him sleeping, she took a
minute to look her fill.

“Keep looking at
me like that and I can’t promise you I’ll keep my distance.”

His smooth voice
drifted from across the room, sending chills down her spine and jolting her
into action. She turned abruptly and headed to the kitchen. She could not
handle him this morning. Not even if her headache was subsiding.

A few minutes
later, armed with her blessed morning coffee, Ashleigh took her laptop and went
out onto the back porch. Hoping if she acted as though she needed space, Alex
would take a hint and go home.

Not that she
wanted him to, but she should have. After all he’d put her through and
everything she didn’t know about him, having him there was too much of a
distraction.

“Morning.” He
whispered when he came up behind her, wrapping those strong, warm arms around
her. She stiffened, his action reminding her of the last time he’d approached
her on the back deck. Despite the hurt that still pulsed in her heart, she
secretly enjoyed the seductive scent of him as it drifted through her senses.

“Ashleigh, we
need to talk.” He told her when he took a step back.

“No talking.
I’ve got to work.” She insisted, pretending to be doing something on her
computer. Her fingers wouldn’t work because from her peripheral vision, she
could see he was still absent a shirt, and all of that gloriously tan skin was
still there, still beckoning her to look.

She couldn’t.

“Call me later.”
She told him, trying to brush him off.

It didn’t work.

“Now. It can’t
wait until later. I have some things I want to tell you.”

Alex was as
relentless as they came; she knew that much about him. If she didn’t give him a
chance to talk, he’d never let up, and she’d never get him out of there.

“Talk.” Ashleigh
said, daring to look up at him.

Mistake.

Taking a seat in
the chair across from her, Alex waited patiently until she closed the laptop
and gave him her full attention. As if she had any other choice. Couldn’t he
have at least gotten dressed?

“I was married
once.” He began.

She knew that
much. She’d known when she met him, which was one of the reasons she kept her
distance. At such a young age, he’d already been divorced. “I know.”

“But you don’t
know the circumstances.”

She wondered
what this had to do with anything. If he had been married, past tense, then why
was his ex-wife at his house?

“I met Jessie
when I was twenty-one years old. She had only been seventeen at the time, but
she was working in a strip club because she lied about her age. It didn’t take
long to realize she’d come from a very abusive home, and for some reason, I
couldn’t sit back and watch her continue to suffer. After some coaxing, I
managed to convince her father to let her marry me. That, or he was going to go
to jail because I was going to turn him in.”

Ashleigh was
dumbfounded. She couldn’t have said a word even if she had to.

“So, I married
her. Only it didn’t take long to realize that she had just wanted out of her father’s
house as much as I had wanted her out. She wasn’t faithful, not that she and I
were having sex, but she wasn’t happy with me either. So, needless to say, we
had the marriage annulled.” Alex said, pausing before glancing out at the
water. “It should’ve been done and over, except Jessie kept finding herself in
these situations, and when she called, I came running because I didn’t want to
see her hurt.”

“Why?” The word
blurted out before Ashleigh could think better of it. “Why did you keep going
back?”

“Hell if I know.
I’ve always had a problem with a man who put his hands on a woman in anger.
Jessie seemed to be a magnet for men like that. Instead of turning my back on
her, letting her finally grow up and take some responsibility for her own
actions, I kept coming to her rescue.”

Another pause
and Alex’s gaze returned to hers. “That’s what happened last week. She called.
Said she needed me and I came running. Not because I have any feelings for her,
but because I knew she couldn’t take care of it on her own. When I showed up,
her boyfriend was there and they’d gotten into it. I found her beaten and
battered, her wrist broken, and the bastard was drunk and still in the house.
So I called the police.”

“So why is she
at your house?” That was the part Ashleigh couldn’t wrap her mind around. So
maybe Alex was a decent guy, with a heart of gold, apparently. That didn’t
explain why this woman was at his house, answering his phone while he was in
the shower.

“I brought her
home from the hospital, and she said she was too scared to go back to her
house. I fell for it, and I took her to mine.”

Made sense even
if Ashleigh didn’t want it to. A little.

“I didn’t
realize what she was doing until I confronted her about answering my phone. She
won’t admit it, and she keeps playing up the scared card, but I think she’s
just playing me.”

“So why don’t
you kick her out?”

“I told her she
needed to leave this morning. I’m supposed to drive her back to her house.”

Ashleigh
wondered where her anger was. Where was the disbelief? The hatred for her man
seeing another woman? But he wasn’t, was he? Alex didn’t belong to her, and
from what he said, he wasn’t seeing anyone else.

At least not
according to the story he’d just given her. No, if that was the truth, and she
feared it was, Alex was just too kind hearted for his own good. She didn’t know
Jessie at all, but she was inclined to agree with him. The woman had a hidden
agenda. And her guess was the agenda was Alex himself.

Ashleigh went to
take a sip of her coffee, but realized the cup was empty. More caffeine was
needed to deal with this situation. Grabbing her empty mug, she got up from her
chair and went inside, not saying another word. First of all, she was stunned.
What was she supposed to say?

By the time she
got to the kitchen, Alex was directly behind her. “Talk to me, Ash.” He
sounded... worried.

“What do you
want me to say?” She asked as she poured another cup. “You’re a saint, Alex.
You’re out to save the world, and I don’t know how I fit in with those plans.”

That was the
honest truth.

But when he took
her arm and turned her around to face him, effectively backing her up against
the cabinet, Ashleigh’s breath lodged in her chest.

“I don’t care
about the world. I care about you.”

It sure didn’t
sound like it from where she was standing. He couldn’t seem to let go of his
past. What did that say about him?

“I need you.” He
whispered, not an inch between them and yes, having his body pressed against
hers made her forget. About everything.

Her headache.

Her heartache.

Some jealous
woman from Alex’s past.

All of it. The
only thing that mattered was his warm body pressed against hers, chasing away
the cold loneliness that had infused her since the moment that other woman
answered his cell phone.

“Let me feel
you.” He said, pressing his mouth against the sensitive skin of her neck. “I
need to touch you, baby.”

And damn it, she
wanted him to touch her. Everywhere. For the first time that morning, Ashleigh
put her hands on him, and the electrical current sizzled between them once
again.

His smooth skin
was warm, and he smelled so damn good. That sultry cologne he favored and the
unique scent of Alex. Mixed together it was a heady combination, and she was
defenseless against him.

When his lips
landed on hers, she tasted his hunger, the urgency in his kiss. And then it all
came flooding back. The ache she fought to bury, but lost every time. The need
for him to take her – roughly and in spite of everything going on.

But when he started
to pull her away, she planted her feet firmly on the tile and resisted going
anywhere with him. “What are you doing?” She asked, still rubbing her hands
through the spattering of hair on his chest.

“Taking you to
the bedroom.” He said, kissing her neck.

“No.” She said,
and the warmth he’d infused her with moments before was suddenly stolen from
her when he stepped back.

The question in
his eyes deserved an answer, and she fought to scrounge up the courage to tell
him what she wanted.

“Not the bedroom.”
She said, staring into those brilliant emerald green eyes filled with a driving
hunger she knew he battled with. “Right here. Right now.”

His left eyebrow
cocked as though he were trying to understand what she was telling him, and
Ashleigh took the opportunity to get it out in the open. “I won’t break. I
think I’ve proven that.” She whispered. “I don’t want gentle and easy all the
time, Alex. I see the hunger, and you forget, I know you. I know the real you.
The dominant side. Don’t treat me like I’m fine china.”

He still didn’t
seem to understand what she was saying, or he was just letting her talk. Either
way, she knew she was on a roll, so she kept going. “You’ve read my books; you
know what I write about. Those are the things I dream about. I want hard. Fast.
Dirty. Not gentle and loving all the time.”

The growl he let
loose said he understood.

“Right here.”
She repeated as she put her hands on the waistband of his jeans, feeling daring
and bold, maybe more so than ever before.

Unhooking the
button, she turned them until he was against the counter and she had more room
to move. Easing to her knees, right there in the middle of her kitchen,
Ashleigh made quick work of pushing his jeans and underwear down over his
magnificent hips until they were around his ankles.

She slid her
hands up his thighs, letting the course hair tease her fingertips, his cock
standing proud and tall not far from her lips.

The first time
she had done this, they’d been in his shower and she’d been nervous.
Intimidated by the newness. Now, just like every time since, Ashleigh wanted to
explore. Chancing a glance up at him, she was awash with the heat in his eyes.

“Right here.”
She told him again.

***
~~ *** ~~ *** ~~ ***

Alex couldn’t
have moved if the house was on fire. With Ashleigh on her knees in front of
him, undressing him like she couldn’t wait another second, he couldn’t control
the burning need that welled up inside of him.

Gripping her
head with one hand, his cock with the other, he pulled her closer until the
head of his cock brushed the soft, fullness of her lips. “Open.”

She’d tapped
into the part of him that Alex fought to keep buried when she was around,
although, in recent days, he’d been unable to hold himself back. Which was why
he continued to worry that he’d push her too far, and he found himself hiding
that part of him, reverting back to the first time he’d taken her and the
realization that she had been a virgin.