False Pretences Page 11

He gathered her up in his arms and he carried her to his bedroom. Lara was far from a blushing bride, but she couldn’t help but enjoy how it felt to be held like that.

  Crossing the threshold, he knelt down and gently deposited her on the bed, looking down at her like she was the most sacred thing in the world. Lara pushed herself up onto her elbows and stared up at him, wondering why it was such a bad thing to oblige him.

  He crawled on top of her slowly, his hands running up her thighs before his mouth fused with hers again. Lara closed her eyes, enjoying every sensation he uncovered within her. They pressed into one another, their mutual passion building. She cradled his face as their tongues entwined in a passionate dance for dominance and he let out a choked groan when her fingers then buried themselves in his soft tresses.

  They both sat up, bolt upright and his arms embraced her tightly as he continued kissing her. Lara felt she was drowning in emotion and only Alexander could save her.

  Soon, he pulled away to look at her, his ocean blue eyes now eclipsed in the black of his dilated pupils. Lara exhaled, her own eyes filled with lust and longing for the man before her.

  “I don’t want to take advantage of you, Lara.” He breathed, caressing her cheek with his thumb as he held her face. “I don’t want to take anything further until you are ready. I can tell you are still afraid and I don’t blame you. I’m a patient man…I can wait.”

  “Alexander.” Was all that fell from her lips as he looked at her with earnest.

  “I can tell we have something special between us and I don’t want anything to ruin it, not even impatience.” He breathed again, his voice ragged with need and lust. “Just promise me that I will hold a place in your heart…because you already do in mine.”

  ‘Was my indecision that obvious?’ Lara thought as they looked into each other’s eyes. ‘I thought I made it very clear how much I wanted to be with him.’

  “I am not out there to hurt you, Lara.” Alexander whispered, drawing her into a full blown loving embrace. “I just want to be with you…and only you. I don’t care about your career or your fame.”

  ‘Is this what you needed?’ her subconscious niggled at her, making feel terrible for having a single doubt in the first place. ‘The man is laying his heart at your feet. Are you going to let him suffer by your hand because you can’t make up your mind?’

  “Oh Alexander…” she breathed, embracing him just as tightly as he did her. “You have no idea what those words mean to me…what you mean to me. You have such power over me that it’s frightening.”

  Alexander sucked in a breath, going rigid in their embrace. They stayed that way for several long moments, a circuit completed as she rested her head against his chest…fear coursed through her veins at her admission to him. She wasn’t sure if she made a mistake or acted for the better.

  So much doubt and indecision swirled within her as they embraced and she wondered if she just shot herself in the foot. Many questions surrounded her as she remained there, her arms tightly wrapped around him, desperate not to let him go.

  ‘Stop looking in the past!’ her subconscious added, as she trembled in his arms. ‘This is the present and he is right there before you, telling you how he feels. There shouldn’t be any doubt, Venessa’s advice be damned. It’s plain and simple…stop complicating it.’

  He was a hired man, fact.

  He was also a sincere, honest man…also a fact.

  He wanted to spend time with her and make her happy…the ultimate fact of it all.

  She kept her head firmly against his chest, but he was having none of that. He grabbed her chin with his fingers and gently forced her to look at him. The clarity in his eyes was overwhelming and Lara found that all of her overthinking was ruining what was right in front of her. He leaned in closer, until she could feel his breath caressing her face.

  His lips brushed hers again and they both fell into one another.

  ‘We can make it work.’ She thought, giving herself in to him as they kissed again. ‘Consequences be damned. We can make it work. I can’t keep lying to myself and I can’t run away.’

  At that moment, she made her decision. Her career was her present, but he was her future…and she couldn’t think of any sort of future without him…without his love and attention. She knew she would rather die a thousand deaths than to abandon him.

  “I want to be with you, Alexander!” she whispered as they pulled away from each other. “I can’t stay away from you!”

  “Oh Lara…” he whispered in return, stroking her cheek.

  She leaned into his touch and pressed a kiss on the palm of his hand. All was said and done and she knew she was making the right decision. Venessa would just have to understand. This was her one chance of happiness and she wasn’t going to ruin it anymore with her uncertainty and her insecurities.

  Alexander drew her face closer until their lips met again feverishly. Tongues entwined and their teeth clashed together in a symphony of desire. His hands slipped underneath the midnight satin camisole she had been wearing underneath the polar fleece pullover which was discarded somewhere in his living room.

  Lara moaned softly, feeling his fingertips graze her sensitive flesh. Their passionate embrace was unlike anything she’d ever experienced with Andrew…it was like Alexander’s light touch was something selected just for her. His lips mapped out a trail from her mouth…to her jaw…and at the sweet juncture of her neck and shoulder. He bit lightly on that particular area and shockwaves of pleasure consumed Lara.

  He took her hands and placed them on his charcoal button-down shirt. Understanding his silent request, she swiftly undid the buttons while he hungrily nibbled a trail from the juncture of her neck and shoulder to the tops of her breasts.

  His chest was slowly revealed to her and she pulled away, yearning to kiss and lick a trail from the opened collar to the patch of skin below his navel. While he wasn’t incredibly muscular, he was reasonably well built. Her eyes trailed from the top of his chest, all the way down to his indented navel. It would have been a gross understatement to say that she liked the way he looked.

  “Lara, look at me” he whispered, his voice full of need and lust.

  Lara immediately looked up into his eyes, entranced by the eclipsed ocean waiting for her.

  “I see you” she whispered, palming his cheek with her hand.

  His eyes closed at her touch momentarily, but opened quickly as he tugged at the hem of her camisole, lifting the satiny fabric over her head before discarding it quickly. Her lacy midnight blue bra soon joined the discarded top, a companion to the shirt he quickly shed as well.

  He was nothing more than just a man…the man put on this earth to be her soulmate. He wrapped his arms around her and her hardened nipples rasped enticingly against his firm chest.

  “So beautiful” he whispered, his mouth brushing the shell of her ear as he held her close.

  Lara was undone by his tenderness and they remained, locked in their embrace for a long while. It mattered very little to the both of them that they didn’t progress beyond that. She enjoyed feeling his heart beat against hers in tandem. They were joined together, the energy of love surging between them as neither one moved.

  Soon, Alexander broke away from the embrace, his fingers hooking into the waistband of her jeans, deftly unfastening them. He slowly peeled them back and did the same with her lacy panties before they joined the rest of the discarded clothes in a heap on the floor.

  She was now completely nude and he looked upon her as if she was the most magnificent secret in the entire universe. Everything she was feeling was mirrored in Alexander’s eyes as he looked down at her, his eyes a tempestuous and heady mix of desire and need.

  They locked gazes for quite a while until his hands retreated to his own remaining clothing, his pants. He quickly and deftly unfastened them before slowly peeling them off, revealing delectable bits of skin that made Lara’s eyes widen with rapture.

  Soon, he was stripped as b
are as she was and he fluidly crawled upon her body again. His knee nudged her legs apart and his hips nestled in the cradle of her thighs.

  He bent down and reverently kissed her navel, making an upward trail of tiny love bites across her torso until his lips brushed her peaked nipples. Lara felt the heat pooling into her body with every as his mouth slanted across the sensitive nipple. He took turns sucking hard and soothing with the swipe of his clever tongue. He grinned against her skin as he caught a glimpse of her head turning violently back and forth in pleasure.

  “No retreat” he murmured, pausing to nip just below her collarbone, making her want to curl her toes in ardent passion.

  He looked upon her glistening, flushed skin…licking his lips at the sight of the indents his hungry mouth imprinted upon her chest. Lara looked down, knowing that she would never forget this moment…nor would she forget the kindled passion that erupted from their souls to be united as one.

  “No surrender!” she replied, panting slightly as their gazes met and right then and there, she knew they belonged together.

  Alexander remained rigid, staring at her like a predator waiting to strike. Before Lara could react, he immediately crawled up her body and canted his hips so that the pulsing, straining length of him brushed against the entrance of her moist core.

  Taking her gasp of pleasure as his cue to begin, he let out a guttural snarl, thrusting into her warm, wet heat. His jaw dropped at the feel of her tight cavern stretching for him and he reveled in how perfectly they molded to each other…like hand to glove.

  Almost immediately, he began to move…his pistoning hips bringing instant pleasure to Lara. He was in mild disbelief at how well they melded together but he knew he could never be with anyone else.

  Leaning down, he kissed her tenderly, absorbing any stray cries escaping from her mouth. Their hands found each other, fingers curled and clutched like lattice…neither daring to break the hold as they thrashed the lust and passion out of one another’s flesh.

  The two lovers swallowed one another’s breath as Alexander quickened his pace, pumping harder and more desperately into her like a man on death row about to meet his maker. Lara responded spectacularly, meeting him thrust for thrust with equal fervor as his free hand slipped between their melded bodies to find the throbbing nub between her legs.

  Unerringly finding that one spot, he stroked her in time with his thrusts and Lara felt herself soaring upwards in a whirlwind of building pleasure. He was lifting her high up to the heavens with every stroke, undulating against her like a great tidal wave until she felt herself reach the highest point of the precipice of pleasure.

  Alexander too could sense his approaching completion. They had both been far too gone on anticipation to make the moment last but they both knew that it would not be the last time they would give into their ardent feelings for one another. All the time in the world was theirs for the taking and neither of them would squander those precious moments that united them.

  Almost immediately, Lara cried out as she toppled over that precipice, pleasure exploding throughout her body in a symphony of heady sensation. As she cried out her lover’s name, Alexander found his own release as well, spilling into her with a cry so broken that it sounded like he lost a piece of his soul to her.

  Then, everything went still and Alexander collapsed against Lara, exhausted. Lara cradled his flushed face in her hands as he rested against her chest and smiled in satisfaction.

  “Words cannot describe how amazing that was” Alexander murmured, his voice muffled by her skin.

  Lara remained quiet, letting out a tiny sigh of contentment before Alexander raised his head to look at her. Noticing the satisfied smile upon her face, he smiled in return as he pulled away to lie on his back.

  Neither of them knew that such a moment could be so impeccable.

  Alexander took Lara’s hand as he drew her close. Tucking her head with care so she could rest hers against his chest, he nuzzled her hairline and planted tiny kisses on the top of her forehead.

  “You are divine, Lara” he murmured, feeling content and complete at the same time.

  “As are you” Lara replied, sighing again in contentment. “I thank my lucky stars every day that you came into my life. Are you my angel? Are you my Islington?”

  Alexander let out a little laugh at her reference.

  “Perhaps, darling!” he stated, his mouth brushing against her temple lovingly. “Are you my Lady Door come to rescue me from my citadel?”

  “I definitely hope so!” she murmured, snuggling further into him.

  No more words were spoken and no more retreat was necessary. They were together now, in mind, body and soul…and nothing was going to change that. Wild horses could not tear the destined lovers apart.

  They soon fell asleep in each other’s arms, their fate finally sealed. Lara belonged to Alexander now, and he belonged to her. No other union of love could compare.

  From now on, they were joined together and would be inseparable…in the public eye, and in the eyes of each other.

  Venessa dialed Lara’s number, hoping to get a hold of her. Christian had left several urgent messages on her voicemail, demanding to know who Alexander was. When Lara’s voicemail came on after four rings, Venessa slammed down the phone and rubbed her temples.

  She dialed Lara’s number again, and, upon achieving the same result, she slammed down the phone again. Of all the times for Lara to be away from her phone, it had to be when a major development came to light.

  In the couple of years she’d known Christian, he had never expressed any interest in Lara or her romantic pursuits. When Lara was with Andrew, Christian barely batted an eyelash. Things seemed to be different now. As of late, he had been hounding her about Alexander’s identity and his intentions towards Lara.

  Why would a patron be so concerned about a love interest so suddenly and so intensely? There was only one answer…Christian was in love with Lara. He had kept it hidden for so long that even Lara wasn’t aware.

  Although she was confused and unnerved by Christian’s insistence, she felt that he was the prince charming Lara was looking for. A romantic relationship between a patron and an artist would garner a lot of publicity and the humiliation caused by Andrew’s indiscretions would be eradicated from existence.

  She groaned, remembering Alexander. He was the solution that solved all of Lara’s public relations woes in the aftermath of “Hurricane” Andrew. They couldn’t just thank him and send him on his merry way…especially when he was showing signs of being in love with Lara himself.

  Christian’s intentions towards Lara were still unclear. Was it true love or was Lara just a conquest in his eyes? What did he have to gain by a relationship with Lara?

  So many questions…so little time to find answers.

  Venessa quickly decided to leave things alone until she could figure out what was going on with Christian. In the meantime, she had to get a hold of Lara and tell her what she suspected.

  Glancing at her watch, she realized it was a quarter past ten. Perhaps Lara had went to bed.

  Sighing, she got up from her desk and decided to try and get a hold of Lara in the morning.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Lara awoke in Alexander’s arms the next morning, happily sated and content. It had never been like that with Andrew or any of the few men she’d been with. She felt as though her body had exploded into a gentle shower of comets. His presence was a balm to her fears…it banished away her doubts and insecurities of the future.

  Never did it occur to her to move from her comfortable position or even consider leaving the bed for anything. He was her security blanket…her totem against nightmares and turmoil. His warmth was a welcome feeling and it was far from suffocating.

  “Good morning” she heard him say softly, as his hand caressed her cheek. She smiled and turned closer into his touch.

  “Morning” she replied, pressing a kiss into his palm before turning to look at him.
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  He look adorably rumpled, his sleepy eyes sparkling as he smiled. It was a very compelling sight.

  “Did you sleep well?” He asked, as she shifted in his arms and nestled her head against his chest.

  “Mmm definitely” was her reply as he nuzzled her hairline.

  “I’m glad”

  Lara let out a contented sigh, enjoying the affection he was lavishing upon her. This felt right. No matter what anyone else said. Lara knew she and Alexander belonged together.

  “Penny for your thoughts” his voice broke into her subconscious.

  Lara smiled.

  “I was just thinking about how right everything feels!” She murmured, letting out another contented sigh. “I feel I belong here…with you!”

  She felt him shudder against her before he splayed his hand against her cheek so his lips could meet hers.

  “I feel the same way” he whispered against her lips before pressing a light kiss.

  That night, they went on their first official date as a couple…a double date with Adam and Charlotte at Clos Maggiore. Lara knew the restaurant had a reputation for being the most romantic place in London and she was touched that Alexander would proudly take her there.

  She had tried in vain to get Andrew to take her but he was never interested. Perhaps he lacked something that Alex seemed to have an abundance of.

  “We are thrilled that you joined us for dinner tonight!” Charlotte gushed, smiling at Alex and Lara. “We were hoping to see more of you!”

  “Tonight is a night for celebration!” Alex revealed, grinning broadly as he put an arm around Lara. “We are officially a couple now!”

  “That’s amazing!” Charlotte exclaimed, clapping her hands in delight. “I knew you guys would make a cute couple!”

  Lara blushed as Alex took her hand and squeezed it affectionately.

  “So, now that you guys are inseparable, I expect to see much more of you!” Adam stated, winking at Alex. “It’s been so long since we’ve double dated with Alex.”

  “Tell me about it!” Alex mock grumbled, pretending to glare at Adam.