Groaning in frustration, I flop onto my back and kick my feet. And then, surprising myself, I reach for my phone and type out a message.
I can’t sleep.
And before he can even respond, before I can second-guess myself, I send another.
I can’t stop thinking about the way you touched me the other night.
Three dots appear and disappear.
Silence.
Maybe that was too bold? My heart sinks a little. I did just tell him I wanted to take it slow. Maybe I shouldn’t have…
My phone vibrates violently in my hand, the screen lighting up with an incoming call from The Boss.
Hesitantly, I answer.
“Hi,” I say.
“Hi.” Alec’s voice is a growl. I hear a door click closed, followed by the thud of a lock. “I needed to get somewhere private,” he tells me.
Oh. I wriggle under my covers.
“Tell me why you can’t sleep, darling,” Alec says. He has this way of speaking sometimes where he demands rather than asks. I think I like it.
“I… I’m lonely,” I say in a voice barely above a whisper.
“I can help with that, Sydney,” he says in a dark purr. “Would you like me to help?”
My thighs clench together.
“How?” I ask, a little breathless.
“Can you turn on your video for me? I want to see you.”
I do, switching to video calling. A moment later, it connects, and I can see him, sitting in a dark room, lounging in a chair with his shirt partially unbuttoned.
“Hi,” I say, nervously.
Alec smirks.
“Is there somewhere you can put your phone down so I can still see you? I want your hands free for this,” he says.
I nod, a little nervous, and set my phone on the table beside my bed, angling it so he can see almost all of me, including the tops of my bare legs.
His jaw tightens.
“What are you wearing under that shirt?” he asks in a gravelly voice.
“Just my underwear,” I tell him.
He swears in a low voice, running a hand over his face and hair. And that small moment of him losing his composure makes me feel strangely powerful.
“Show me,” Alec demands.
My hands are shaking a little as I peel the shirt up over my hips, spreading my legs just a bit to show him. I’m wearing a pair of bikini cut panties, not the sexiest underwear by any stretch of the imagination, but the way his eyes devour me makes me feel like I’m the sexiest thing he’s ever seen.
“Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he breathes. His hand goes up to his own shirt, unbuttoning it further. Bit by bit, he reveals that toned chest, and by the time his shirt is fully open, I’m practically drooling.