Page 34 of The Redemption of Alex Cade
“Sorry. What…?” Whatever Alex had said I’d not heard and I felt my face heat as he smirked at me. But his smirk was quickly replaced by a deep frown.
“There’s no reason why you shouldn’t ask. Mehmet Aksoy is also involved in the night time economy. He owns a couple of clubs, but his business interests are… more diverse than ours are.”
Diverse.That could mean anything, and for a split second I wondered if I really wanted to know, but with Alex’s gaze pinning me down, any questions I had withered and died on my tongue.
“He’s keen to work with us. With me and Kelvin. I don’t want anything to do with him because I don’t like him or trust him, and I’ve no interest in…” He paused, seeming to chase down the words, “in forming an alliance, of any kind. Kelvin, however, thinks differently.”
Ah…There was clearly friction between Alex and Kelvin, a difference in their view of their business and the direction it might take. But there was more going on. Alex’s reaction to Aksoy had been almost primal, instinctive, something that came from the gut. Even if Alex hadn’t said anything, I couldn’t see him and Aksoy being business bed fellows but as for Kelvin… My experience of the man so far had been short and not at all sweet, yet I could imagine him being allied to Aksoy.
Our food arrived, the signal for the matter to be dropped. We kept up a flow of chat, about what I had no idea, because only part of my brain was engaged. The other part kept going over what had happened in the bar, Alex’s reaction, and what he’d said which, in truth, hadn’t been very much. I couldn’t helpwondering what these diverse interests were. Perhaps Aksoy was involved in some shady stuff, which Alex wanted no part of. It would certainly explain any tension between Alex and Kelvin.
“You’ve gone quiet.”
I jumped, not realising I’d retreated so far into my thoughts. Glancing down, there was a barely touched plate of tiramisu which had replaced the pasta dish I had no recollection of eating.
“You’re dwelling on what I said earlier.”
It was a statement, not a question. He could see through me and there was no point in pretending.
“He was slimy, and it’s hard to warm to a man with a damp handshake,” I said, in a feeble attempt to keep my tone light. “But your reaction to him seemed, I don’t know, visceral.” It sounded a bit over the top when I said it out loud.
“It’s a good way of describing it. He likes me as much as I like him, but liking somebody and forming a business relationship aren’t the same thing. There are aspects to the man’s business I can’t reconcile myself to and never will. Kel knows that. He can push and push, but there’s no way I would ever willingly partner up with Aksoy, and he knows it. You going to eat that?” He nodded at my abandoned dessert, and I shook my head. “Then let’s go back to my place.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
KIT
As we made our way back to the flat, Alex’s tension felt like a live wire sparking in the air. His jaw was clenched, his shoulders tight, every movement controlled, everything held in check and locked down against the mounting explosion. Mehmet’s sudden appearance at the bar hadn’t just cast a shadow over the evening, it had shaken something loose in Alex, something raw and dangerous that simmered just beneath the surface.
There were business tensions, sure. Mehmet’s diverse interests. The ones Kelvin wanted in on but Alex didn’t. There was more to it than just business, more than Alex was willing to tell me, at least for now. I wasn’t going to push it, but I could feel the dark energy radiating off him, the way his hands flexed and curled as he unlocked the door, his silence louder than anything he could have said.
The door clicked shut behind us, and before I could takeanother step, Alex spun around, catching my wrist in a grip that wasn’t rough but was firm enough to stop me in my tracks. His eyes locked onto mine, dark and intense.
“Alex—” I started, but the word barely made it out before his mouth was on mine.
It wasn’t a kiss it was a collision, all heat and teeth and desperation. His hands were on me, rough and unrelenting, one sliding up my back to fist in my hair, the other gripping my hip hard enough to bruise. I gasped against his lips, and he deepened the kiss, his tongue sweeping into my mouth with a hunger that left me dizzy.
I barely registered my coat slipping from my shoulders, falling to the floor, or the way he manoeuvred us across the room until my back hit the cool, smooth surface of the glass wall. The city lights stretched out behind me, glittering pinpoints of light in the dark room.
His hands were everywhere—gripping my waist, sliding up my chest, his fingers digging in like he needed to anchor himself. I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe, could only feel as his mouth moved to my jaw, his stubble scraping against my skin.
“You drive me fucking insane,” he muttered, his voice low, rough, guttural, vibrating against my neck.
I shivered, my head tipping back against the glass as his teeth grazed the nervy little spot just below my ear. The tension in him, that had been there since Aksoy had made his appearance, was a live wire buzzing beneath Alex’s skin. I could feel it in his grip, in the way his body pressed into mine, hard and unrelenting.
His hands moved with a mission, sliding under my shirt and pushing it up, his fingertips skimming over my ribs, my stomach. I shivered at his touch, arching into him.
“Turn around.” His voice, low and rough, sent a shiverstraight down my spine and heat to my already straining, aching cock.
I did as he said. No resistance. No taking a breath. No slowing things down. Because I wanted this as much as Alex did. Below us, London sprawled in a dizzying panorama of light and darkness. I was exposed, vulnerable, on display for the city’s teeming millions, who only had to look up to see… My stomach flipped as the thrill ripped through me.
Alex pressed against my back, solid and unyielding. My breath came hot and hard, fogging the glass. I could feel every inch of him, the hard planes of his chest, the unmistakable evidence of his arousal against me. His hands moved to my hips, fingers digging in hard enough that I'd carry the marks into tomorrow. I moaned as I closed my eyes. He was claiming me. Every touch, every suck, every nip, every graze across my skin was a marker of his possession. I was his. It was what I wanted, craved, needed. A fresh wave of heat seared through me. My head fall back, exposing and offering up my throat for him to feed upon.
His hands grabbed at my shirt, impatient fingers pulling the buttons free, tugging it from my back. I gasped, and shivered, as my chest and stomach pressed against the cool glass, but I didn’t have time to think about the chill against my skin, not when Alex’s hands moved to my belt, making quick work of it. The leather rasped as he pulled it free, the buckle clinking as he let it drop. My trousers followed, pushed roughly down my thighs along with my underwear, the cool air a shock against my exposed skin.
I pressed my palms flat against the glass, the surface clouding around my heated flesh. My heartbeat thundered in my ears, drowning out everything but the sound of Alex's ragged breathing and the rustle of clothing as he freed himself. His hands gripped hard on my hips, fingers pressinginto my naked flesh. My tattered, shredded breath hitched as he ground his hips against me, his cock iron hard against my naked arse.
“Fuck. Jesus, Alex,” I moaned, my hands against the glass wall curling into fists. His answering laugh was rough and dark as he licked a long, wide stripe up the side of my neck; my eyes fluttered to a close. Clamping down on the lobe, he stretched it out tight, to the edge of pain, before letting go. His lips ghosted against my ear.
