Page 17 of X: Command Me through Alexander’s Eyes

Chapter Five

Iplay it safe and book my favorite suite at my favorite hotel. Then, I have a fresh suit delivered. The last thing I want is to return to the palace and the sham of a life being forced on me. It’s easy to sleep. Tomorrow Clara won’t merely exist in my dreams. She’ll be in my arms.

When Norris phones to say he’s on the way the following morning, I head down to meet her. It’s best to do it like this before I can talk myself out of it. Because as much as I want to take her to bed, I know this is a mistake. Even with all my precautions, we might get caught. The lift doors slide open, revealing her and erasing my doubts. She’s wearing a long, blue dress that covers too much of her body while also clinging to her perfect curves. She’s a walking wet dream, and I wonder what I’ll find when I strip away the veneer of propriety she’s worn since we met. I’ve seen glimpses of something primal and responsive when I touched her before. She submitted naturally to my kiss.

And then she said no.

Clara Bishop is a mystery I want to solve if only to make her unravel.

With my mouth.

With my hands.

With my cock.

I know she wants that, too, because she stares at me with wide, innocent eyes that dare me to show her a world she’s never known.

“Clara.” Holding out my hand, I wait for her to cross a line she hasn’t strayed past. She’s not the type to sleep with a man she barely knows. Maybe that’s why I want to fuck her so badly. I have to stop myself from licking my lips, and when she takes my hand, I want to drag her into the lift so I can do just that.

Instead, she follows me to it with a trust I don’t deserve. The moment the doors shut behind her—the moment I finally have her to myself—she whips around like a wild animal who’s fallen into a trap.

“Is something wrong?” Have I misread the situation? A moment ago, she seemed so willing, as certain of this as I am. Now, she’s staring at those doors like she made a terrible mistake.

“I should have said thank you to Norris. It was rude of me.”

Her horror steals a smile from me because it’s the last thing I expect her to say, and somehow it proves that she’s as civilized as I imagined. But Clara is different than the false friends I’ve known my whole life. She seems genuinely upset with herself.

Norris is my friend more than most who boast about it publicly. It means something that she sees him—that she remembers his name. Still, I’m not about to let her obsess over it, not when we’re finally alone.

“I’m sure the salary I pay him makes up for any perceived impoliteness on your part.”

“It was still rude.” She frowns before determination sets in. “Please give him my apologies for my behavior as well as my thanks.”

I make a note to do just that. For some reason, I want Norris to like her. Probably, since he’ll be shuttling her around. I don’t think one day with Clara is going to get her out of my system.

Her frown fades into that artless vulnerability that drew me to her that day at the club. She’s overthinking things like she did when she told me no at Brimstone. “I thought perhaps you’d come to your senses.”

I don’t mean to say it. Somehow I keep warning her, but like last time, it only pulls her closer. In the enclosed space, the scent of roses dances across the air. “Have you come to yours?”

“You’re not the dangerous one.” I take a step toward her, wanting to breathe her in deeper, but she’s the one that inhales sharply.

“Maybe I’m a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

I think I want that as much as I want her to be the innocent lamb. I want to see every side that she hides from the world. “I guess I’ll have to strip you and find out.”

“Where are we?” she asks, looking around the lift for clues. It’s a charmingly naive question.

Where does she think we are? I thought I’d been clear about my intentions to fuck her until she could barely stand. Or maybe she knows where we are but is clinging to modesty I’ll have to spend the next few hours destroying.

“The Westminster Royal,” I tell her.

“Swanky hotel.” She sounds impressed, which pleases me. Partially because I rather like the suite, but mostly because I want to rip her knickers off.

“They appreciate their guests’ privacy, which is something I appreciate.”

“Do you check-in under a false identity and leave under the cover of night?” There’s laughter in her question that she doesn’t let loose, so I laugh instead.

“It’s not quite so clandestine as that. Although most of the staff only knows me as Mr. X.”