Page 17 of Bad Duke

“I’m just going back to bed.” I fake him a smile, continuing to head up the stairs.

“Wait up.” He follows me and I keep my hands firm around Pico and Vinci’s collars as I keep moving towards my bedroom door.

“I think Alex is cruel keeping you up here away from all the fun,” he tells me, and I quickly open my door, shooing the boys inside before I close it and turn to face him.

“I don’t think the kind of fun you're having down there is for me,” I assure him politely, before turning around to reopen the door and let myself inside. I gasp when he grabs my shoulder and forces me to face him again, his tall frame overpowering my small one as he pins me to the wall. It feels different to the way Alex did it to me earlier, there’s no thrill in this, just fear.

“I think you’d be surprised at how much fun we could have.” He lowers his head so his lips are close to mine and I manage to turn my face just in time to avoid his mouth touching me.

“Come on.” He grabs my chin and forces me to look at him. “Why don’t you put something pretty on and come downstairs to play?” he taunts.

“Because I don’t want to,” I whisper, fully aware of how scared I sound. Suddenly I’m feeling very vulnerable and very stupid. I should never have put a barrier between me and the dogs. His hand starts to slide under my hoodie and I reach behind me, desperately trying to feel for the handle of the door. I don’t care about this fucker getting set on by the dogs anymore, in fact, I quite like the idea of them ripping the smarmy smile off his face. I manage to locate the handle and just as I’m about to make my move, the floorboards beneath my feet start to pound, and when I look to my left, Alex is marching down the hall. He’s naked from the waist up, his body is covered in sweat and his eyes are set on the man who’s touching me. The way he’s breathing through his nostrils, as he charges towards us, shows how angry he is and I scream when his fist flies in front of me, connecting with the guy's cheek and sending him to the floor. All my breath gets caught in my throat as I watch Alex continue his assault, his body crouching over the man beneath him and smashing punch after punch into his face.

“Stop!” I scream when I notice all the blood on his fists. There's so much of it, that it starts to splatter on the walls and spill on the carpet. The man beneath him is making no attempt to fight back and Alex seems in some kind of trance, making me fear that nothing will stop him until he’s dead.

“Alex!” I scream his name, bending down and grabbing his shoulder to try to pull him away. The man on the floor isn’t moving and despite the fact he’s an asshole, I don’t want him to die.

“Alex, please.” I use all the strength I have to pull him back. “Alex, you're scaring me!” I scream. Suddenly he stops and spins his head around then seeing that I’m crying, he stands back on his feet again.

Now it’s me who gets the full force of the anger and aggression in his eyes when he pins them onto mine. I back myself up against the door, noting how his chest is heaving up and down wildly, and I hold my breath when his bloody fingers suddenly wrap around my throat and pin me to the door, much rougher than the man before him did. I open my mouth to scream, but no sound comes out. Then shock, and thrill, attacks me all at once when he covers my mouth with his and kisses me. It’s not soft and gentle like a first kiss should be. It’s brutal and possessive, his lips feel as if they’re leaving his mark and bruising me and when his tongue invades my mouth it feels as if he’s consuming my entire body because every single part of it reacts.

His fingers are set deep into my skin, cradling me and bruising me at the same time. I don’t know how long it lasts for but when I hear another male voice calling his name he quickly pulls himself away. He doesn’t even look to see who it is, just keeps staring into my eyes with his chest still lifting like he’s out of control. There's a silence between us, but no awkwardness like there was before. This feels much more like a realisation, one that petrifies us both.

“Get him out of here,” he speaks to whoever it is that's joined us, without pulling his eyes from mine.

“You should get back to your room. Lock the door,” he growls at me, sliding his hand down the front of my hoodie as he slowly backs away from me. He continues to stare at me with hooded eyes as a huge man in a suit, grabs the guy on the floor by his ankles and starts to drag him down the hall towards the stairs. I nod my head back, completely speechless, as I feel for the door handle again and obey his command.

Once I’m inside my room I stand flat against the door and breathe a sigh of relief. Rushing past the dogs, I head to my bathroom so I can splash some water on my face. I see his bloody fingerprints, staining the skin on my neck when I look in the mirror, and as I touch my hand to them it’s not the fact they’re there that scares me. It’s the fact I like it.

ALEX

I finish scrubbing that fucker’s blood off my hands in my bathroom then charge back downstairs to find Trent.

“Get everyone out of here!” I yell at him, not giving a fuck that he’s got some random slut grinding on his dick, as I move past him and head to my office. I don’t know who I’m more mad at, right now. The cunt upstairs who had his hands on her, or myself for my lack of control. I’ve fucked up. I’ve let her see what kind of person I am, far too soon. I scared her and then I lost control again and fucking kissed her.

“Come on, don't you want to finish our fight? I was going to let you win.” I turn back around and see that Trent has followed me and is already bouncing on his toes.

“Go home, Trent.” I enter my office and slam the door. Pouring myself a drink, I pace while I attempt to find some calm.

I know I’m a fucking asshole. I’ve never claimed to be anything else. I’ve never wanted to be anything else. But tonight, in a house full of people having fun and being reckless, for the first time I felt lost. There was only one person who I wanted to be with and I’d banished her to her room.

Olivia being here has got me all kinds of confused. I’m Alex-fucking-Stanley. I’m used to taking what I want. And I want her. Right now, I have her in a position where she has to give me whatever I want. I could go upstairs right now and take her virginity. But a weak, unfamiliar part of me needs her to want to give it to me.

I suggested the fight I was having with Trent, before all this started, in the hope it would knock some sense into me. I own the fighting gym he manages in the city. It was as I was ready to take a pounding to stop me wanting to go upstairs to be with her, that I caught a glimpse of her in the mirror. I saw her heading up the stairs with that bastard going after her, and there was no way I wasn’t going to follow.

I’m gripping the edge of my desk trying to breathe myself calm when I hear the door.

“Fuck off!” I shout out. I want everyone gone, this party was a stupid idea. I was trying to cling to something I can’t have anymore, trying to give myself something familiar, but all it’s made me realise is that this isn’t what I’m missing out on. It’s not what I want. I want her, obsessively and uncontrollably.

“Sorry.” I barely hear the timid voice that responds, but I know it belongs to her and I quickly march towards the door and swing it open.

She looks startled when she sees me and when her eyes immediately drop to my bare chest, it makes my dick instantly harden.

“Everyone left,” she whispers, keeping her eyes focused on me. “I thought I’d come and check you were okay.” She sinks her teeth into the awkward smile she’s making and makes me grip the door a little tighter. I’ve questioned before if this girl is fucking real but she can’t be. I nearly kill a man in front of her, and yet here she is at my office door making sure I’m okay.

“He shouldn't have touched you,” I tell her and the way she shakes her head and lowers her eyes to the floor suggests she’s the one who’s embarrassed.

“Maybe I should have stayed in my room like you told me to.” She shrugs and smiles in that way she does when she’s trying to make things lighter.

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