Page 40 of Bad Duke

“Now, get out of my house, and if you so much as put your fucking eyes on her ever again, I’ll fucking finish you!” He grips the front of Lewis’s sweater and raises him to his feet, then gives him a hard shove towards the exit where Levi is waiting.

He waits a few seconds and when he turns back to face me, he looks perfectly calm.

“What was that?” I stare at him, stunned.

“That was the apology you deserved.” He casually sits down beside me, dragging my legs onto his lap and picking up the book I was reading.

“This is a classic, it was one of my mother's favourites.” He smiles when he sees that I’m reading Tess of the d’Urbervilles.

“I got it from the library room, there are thousands of books in there, first editions too,” I tell him. Alex doesn’t make use of the house the way he should. He only uses the gym and his office. There's so much of it I’ve left to explore but the library is, without doubt, my favourite room.

“My mother loved to read, she spent most of her time there,” he tells me stroking his thumb over my thigh and looking deep in thought.

‘“Alex.” I place my hand over his, to still it. “You can’t beat up a guy because he’s upset me, and then just act as if everything’s normal.” I look up at him and wonder what it’s like to have his mentality.

“Why not?” He shrugs, seeming completely tuned out to the real world.

“Because he’ll probably go to the police and you’ll be arrested. And then….” I can’t think about how much it would hurt to not have him with me.

“He won’t go to the police, I saw the look on his mother’s face when I mentioned the way he behaves around women. That woman is very aware of what her son is,” he assures me.

“I just…” I sigh when I’m all out of words, today has been one crazy day and I’m feeling completely shattered from it.

“Don’t worry about it, it's over.” Alex wraps his arm around my shoulder and places the book back in my hands.

“It’s not over. I haven’t got a job,” I remind him. There's no way I could ever go back to the studios after what Lewis did, but I really loved what I did and with my lack of experience, it’s going to be tough to find another job.

“You don’t need a job.” Alex tucks my head into his chest so he can kiss the top of my head the way he always does when he wants to comfort me.

“Yes, I do.” I pull away. “I can’t just be a duchess. I want to teach.”

“Okay, then, you look for another job.” He makes it all sound so simple, and when he takes my face in his hands, I ignore the fact I can smell Lewis’s blood on them and let him kiss me.

* * *

“Shouldn’t you have come on your period, by now?” Alex asks as we lie on our bed with his cock still buried inside me.

“Oh, it’s coming, I can feel it,” I tell him, knowing how much it’s going to disappoint him.

“What do you mean, you can feel it?” He stares back at me confused.

“A woman just knows these things, I’ve been getting the cramps for a few days now and my chest is sore.” I smile back at him.

“So, when should you have got it?” He slides out of me and rolls onto his side, taking a pillow from behind his head to prop up my hips, the same way he’s been doing for the past few weeks.

“I don’t know, I never really kept track of it before. I guess the last time I was on was the weekend that I stayed at Elsie’s place. Jamie was away and I wanted some company.” It reminds me to ask him how he’s getting on in finding my brother. I still haven’t heard anything from him.

“So, when was that?” Alex is still busy concerning himself with my menstrual cycle.

“I don't know, a few weeks before you insisted that I move in here.” I laugh.

“Liv, do you realise that you’ve been here well over three weeks now? Your period is late.” His lips start to raise into a smile and suddenly my whole body turns hot.

“Well, even if it is, like I said, it's coming. I know my body,” I assure him, ignoring that niggle in my gut that’s making me doubt myself.

“My body,” Alex corrects me, creeping his fingers across my thigh and pushing some of the cum, that’s leaked onto them, back inside me.

“I think you should take a test.” He teases me with his finger. Circling my entrance and making me needy again.

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