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I only wore them for your benefit!

I rolled my eyes and almost said the words aloud, but the car came to a halt just then, signaling our arrival.

I glanced out the window to see a towering condominium complex. Hale came around to the side of the car and opened the door for Alexander and me. When we stepped out of the vehicle, a brisk wind slapped me in the face, and I shivered from the assault. I could smell rain in the air, and I knew it wouldn’t be long before Mother Nature replaced her generously warm October temperatures with harsh winter winds. Alexander and I hurried into the building.

The lobby was very swank-looking, with marble floors and gold embellishments throughout. A young man wearing a bellhop uniform was changing the bag of a garbage can in a nearby corner. When he glanced up and saw us approaching, he immediately dropped the bag and scrambled over.

“Mr. Stone! I’m so sorry, sir! I didn’t know you’d pulled up, or else I would have—” he began, but Alexander interrupted him.

“Don’t worry, Jeffrey. Finish what you were doing,” Alexander assured and waved him away. Jeffrey anxiously began fumbling in his pockets.

“At least let me get the elevator for you and your guest! I have your key card somewhere…” he trailed off, still frantically searching. Alexander watched him patiently for a moment or two before flashing his own keycard for Jeffrey to see. The frazzled young man paled. “Oh, no. If my boss finds out about this, he’ll kill me!”

“Your boss is on my payroll. I assure you, your secret is safe with me.”

“Thank you, Mr. Stone,” Jeffrey said, seeming somewhat doubtful. He hesitantly nodded his appreciation, then returned to his task of taking out the trash.

Alexander led me over to a bank of elevators. I raised my eyebrows in surprise when he swiped his keycard through a slot labeled “Penthouse.” Although, I shouldn’t have been shocked in the least bit.

Like he would actually live in anything other than a penthouse.

“You’re not going to tell his boss, are you?” I asked, glancing back at the very distraught Jeffrey. From the way he had panicked, it was quite apparent Alexander was a force to be reckoned with around here.

“Of course not. Jeffrey’s a little overzealous sometimes, but he means well.” Alexander paused and gestured me into the elevator to his private residence. “After you.”

When the doors closed quietly behind us, all thoughts of the eager Jeffrey left me, and I was immediately overcome with tension once again. However, this time, it was for an entirely different reason than in the car ride over. In the enclosed space with Alexander, I could almost see tiny molecules of sexual tension colliding and rupturing in the air between us.

I clasped my hands together to stop them from fidgeting, but the effort only seemed to increase my awareness. My breathing became irregular, coming out in short bursts. Vivid images of our kiss the previous night in the restaurant filled my head, causing my imagination to run rampant. To my mortification, my panties began to feel damp, clinging to the sensitive flesh between my legs, heightening the completely unexpected burst of arousal.

We’re only two people in an elevator, for Christ’s sake!

I wanted to reach out to him so badly, to run my hands up his torso, over his shoulders, and into his hair. All I had to do was step slightly to my left, and he would be within my reach.

Just do it.

The devil on my shoulder was taunting me, pushing me to take what I wanted without regard.

I looked up at Alexander. His heated gaze bored into me, causing my face to turn ten different shades of magenta. I could swear he knew what I was thinking.

He reached over and pressed a button on the panel in the elevator. The lift suddenly came to a halt.

“Alex, what are you⁠—?”

I was silenced as he pushed me roughly against the back wall. He pinned me there with his powerful arms, his hard body pressed against mine. There was a fierce look in his eyes, almost dangerous. I began to panic over the lack of mobility. I couldn’t move if I tried.

And I was terrified.

Alexander

I crushed my mouth onto hers. Fueled by absolute lust, I devoured Krystina with the intent of kissing her senseless. I don’t know what possessed me to do it. Maybe it was her cheeks that flushed scarlet when I looked at her. Perhaps it was those fidgeting hands. Or perhaps it was the way she rolled her eyes at me when I lectured her about the insensible fuck-me shoes—shoes I wanted to see her wearing without any other stitch of clothing.

She thought I hadn’t noticed when she’d pulled her hand from mine in the park. But I knew what she was doing, and I wasn’t going to let her push me away again. I shoved my tongue through the seam of her lips, my urgency to taste her completely unleashed. I didn’t allow for a slow build-up like I had the night before. Instead, I refused her any sort of finesse and took her mouth fully. Like an assault. Hard. Powerful. Needy.

I allowed my teeth to graze over her lips, nipping at her pouty lower lip before moving down her jawline to her neck. I breathed in her scent.

Mother of God, she smells divine.

She was a sultry combination of red plums and jasmine, making her ripe for the picking. I tugged on her earlobe, and she let out a small gasp. I groaned from her sudden intake of breath, her response like a lightning bolt to my groin. Gathering her mass of curls in my hand, I kept her pinned against the wall and attacked her mouth again. I pressed the full force of my weight against her, holding her firmly in place, making her boneless in my grasp.