Page 5 of Vienna Bliss

“What are sleep shorts?” Alexander guided her down the hall, past the opening of the alcove where the massive bed waited, the comforter a beautiful shade of moss green, the pillows creamy white.

A recessed door opened into a large combination closet and dressing room. Most of the hanging space was bare, but there were a few zipped garment bags near the back. His suitcase, the one he’d brought from Vienna, was tucked into a corner.

Alexander opened a few drawers. Everything inside was tidy, and Alena felt weirdly jealous. Who had folded and put away his clothes?

He kept going, until he found a drawer which contained items still wrapped in tissue. He passed her a dove gray shirt so soft that it felt like silk, and a pair of black boxers, which actually were silk.

“Alexander, I know you’re wealthy, but please tell me you don’t buy designer underwear and t-shirts.” She pointed to the small circular sticker bearing the distinctive LV that had held the tissue around the boxers closed.

“I don’t. But my valet, who buys all my clothes, might.”

He closed the drawers, then turned to her. “I will give you…But I think I. I.”

Alena waited quietly, though inside she was anxious to change and crawl into that bed.

Alexander paused, then said, “I will give you privacy to get changed but I’d like to check on your bruises.”

“Admire your handiwork?” she asked with a wink.

He flinched, even fell back a step.

“It was a joke, suga’.”

“I, I will, um, go.” Alexander walked to the closet door and let himself out.

Shit.

Alena stripped and avoided looking at her ass in the mirror, since sometimes seeing the marks made them hurt more. She hung her clothes over the hanging rod, since there were no extra hangers, and then padded, barefoot, out into the suite.

“I’m using your toothbrush,” Alena declared as she walked by him. Alexander was standing at the sideboard, drinking something amber colored from a short glass.

“Sometimes there are extra supplies—”

“Don’t care, using yours.”

He snorted in laughter as she walked away.

She didn’t actually use his toothbrush. She found the extras—an expensive electric still in its box. She plugged it in to charge while she washed her face and brushed her hair—there was a beautiful boar bristle brush also still in its box that she opened, which did a good job smoothing down all the flyaway bits. She brushed her teeth.

The collar was still around her neck. She’d gotten rid of the scarf, leaving it with her clothes, so the leather was visible. She turned it around so the lock was at the front, then opened the bathroom door.

He’d turned off most of the lights in the room, so the space was instead lit by the glow of the moon that spilled in the windows. From where she stood, she could see out one window and in another to the bed alcove, which was lit with a pale glow.

On bare feet, Alena made her way over.

Alexander was standing beside the bed and looking at his phone in nothing but low-slung black pajama pants. He looked almost gilded in this light, and she couldn’t help herself.

Alena walked up behind him and slid her arms around his waist, laying her cheek on his bare back. Alexander put down his phone and lay his hands over hers. His thumbs rubbed the back of her hands and she closed her eyes.

“I know we should talk,” she murmured.

“You need sleep more than I need answers.”

If their positions had been reversed, she wasn’t sure she would have had the patience he was showing.

Alexander pulled back the covers for her.

Alena climbed in, then gingerly lay on her stomach. Her ass had stopped throbbing thanks to the pills, but she still felt rather battered and fragile. The source of that feeling could have been either physical or emotional. Either way, the feeling persisted, at least until Alexander circled the bed and climbed in.