Page 69 of Behind the Scenes

He couldn’t stop even if he wanted to. With her, he had no choice. Making her happy made him happy.

Her body clenched around his cock, and Alexis pitched forward, pressing her face into the couch cushion. Her fingernails dragged from his shoulders to his biceps, raking the skin, but no amount of pain could take away the feeling of pure pleasure as she began to milk him, her orgasm taking him to his release.

He thrust hard into her over and over until the two of them couldn’t move anymore. Exhausted from their lovemaking, they sat there silently, the tremors from sex still pulsing through their bodies.

Hunter ran his palm down her back and felt the thin glaze of sweat on her skin. “That was quite a workout. I think round two could be ready any minute.”

She leaned back and looked down at him, smiling as she shook her head. “You’re always about the round two, aren’t you?”

“Two, three, four…I’m up for as much as you want.”

“I guess I haven’t been with anyone who knows how to treat a woman because I’m used to one and done.”

“One’s just a start,” Hunter said with a grin. “I don’t even want to think about the sex you’ve had if it’s been one and done.”

He didn’t want to think about her sleeping with any other man, before him or after. And there was the problem. There would have to be an after him. He and Alexis weren’t like Roman and Kate. She would always be in the public eye, so they could never hope for that little house in the country where he could continue to work for Project Artemis.

“Hey, what’s wrong? You looked like you were a million miles away, and then you got a look on your face like you were unhappy,” she said quietly as she wove her fingers through his.

He shook the thought of what would happen later out of his head and forced himself to smile. Looking up at her, he didn’t want to ruin what they’d just had with reality and bring sadness to those beautiful dark eyes.

“I thought I heard a noise outside. Maybe we should get dressed before one of the people I work with comes barging in. Trust me. They’d kill to see you even half dressed. Literally, I mean kill.”

Alexis giggled and kissed him. “You’re crazy, but…” She stopped and shrugged. “Guess it’s time to get up and into some clothes, huh?”

He wanted to hold her there with him for a little longer, but he knew he couldn’t. Or more truthfully, he shouldn’t.

“Just until round two,” he said, hating that his words might be a lie.

She smiled and climbed off him before grabbing her clothes and hurrying off to the bathroom. “I’ll be right back. I have a feeling I should fix my hair after that little rendezvous,” she yelled out to him. “I must look like a banshee.”

His first instinct was to tell her she looked as beautiful as always. That no matter how tangled her hair got, she still took his breath away every time he laid his eyes on her.

But he said nothing and simply got dressed again. As he slipped his pants back on, he caught a glimpse of Persephone and a man walking across the grass toward the cottage. Straining to see if it was Nick with her, he instead saw Paul by her side.

Alarm bells went off in his head, and he hurried to the door to head them off before they walked in. Through the window, he saw Paul’s expression and knew what he’d come to do.

He planned to take Alexis back to New York with him.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Staring into themirror, Alexis tried not to cringe at how she looked after a five hour drive, too much fried chicken at a rest stop, and another round of incredible sex with Hunter. Eyeliner sat below her eyes, making her look like some blond version of a raccoon, and her hair looked ratty, like she hadn’t brushed it in days.

God, she’d looked like that the whole time she and Hunter were making love. No wonder the man didn’t want to go for round two yet.

She heard a noise out in the living room and hoped he wasn’t coming in. After waiting a few seconds, she returned her focus to cleaning herself up, mumbling, “No man wants a woman who looks like a train wreck, even if she is in love with him.”

And there, for the first time, she admitted the truth. She loved Hunter. She stared at her reflection in the mirror and wondered when that had happened. One day she was living her life and wishing she could find the happiness that had eluded her, and the next he walked in and a few days later she couldn’t imagine her world without him.

He’d let her be her. No scolding her when she did something stupid like run off and endanger both her and Lauren’s life. No lecturing her she couldn’t when she wanted to try to live a normal life.

And because he did that, she finally saw that she didn’t want to be a person who spent her time throwing tantrums or running away. He gave her that freedom, and she never wanted to give it up again.

She knew what the world would think. They were rushing things. They barely knew each other, so how could it truly be love? This relationship would end like all her others had.

But she didn’t care what anyone else thought. For the first time since Jackson, she felt love and didn’t want to be afraid to admit it.

With one last glance at the mirror, she turned off the light and headed back out to the living room. She didn’t get halfway down the hall before she saw they weren’t alone anymore.

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