He's Captured My Heart (Captured Series Book 1) (26 page)

“I’m just sorry I couldn’t protect you from the media and Jeff. I can always try to control the paparazzi…” He sees my raised eyebrows asking a silent question. “Baby, there’s
always
a way to at least try to manage the media, and for you I would be willing to try anything. But as for Jeff, that’s not so easy. I hope our paths don’t cross again, because he’ll get no second chances with me.”

“As far as I’m concerned, you did protect me from Jeff. You’re my very own knight in shining armour,” I say. “But I can’t guarantee you won’t run into him again during your visit.” I lift my glass of champagne and take a drink. “Your paths are bound to cross again if you do business with his boss. He could be here tomorrow with Simon.”

“Well, if so, I hope he behaves better than he did today,” Alex says sharply. He kisses my cheek all too quickly. I sigh. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing at all.”

“Libby, don’t give me that.” His eyes lock with mine. The gaze we share is intense. I’m beginning to understand that look. He shakes his head at me. “No. Well, not yet anyway. I’m enjoying sitting here with you just talking.”

“Okay. What do you want to talk about?”

“Anything at all.”

“I have a question,” I say, grinning at him. “When am I going to America? And why?”

“Libby, that’s two questions. Okay, I’ll answer,” he says. “I would love you to come home with me when I am finished with my work here. There are so many places I’d love to take you, but what I really want is for you to meet my family. My mom is looking forward to meeting you. She’s been on the phone a few times since the story broke.”

God, I wasn’t expecting that. He spoke to his mum about me? He wants me to meet her? God,
this is moving fast. How will I find the time between running the hotel and the trial in a few weeks. Ethan will need me for that. There’s absolutely no way I can leave him to deal with that without me. I take a deep breath.

“I don’t think that’s possible—at least not right away.” Alex looks puzzled and hurt. “I would love to… honestly, I would. But Ethan needs me here. The trial starts in a few weeks.” He looks puzzled. “The man who caused the car accident in which Lindsay died—there is a plea hearing this coming week, and if he pleads not guilty, there will be a trial. I don’t know much about the legalities of it all, but I do know that no matter what, I want to be here for Ethan.”

“Is that the only reason you are saying no?” He can’t hide his disappointment.

“Yes. No. There’s this place as well, I suppose.”

“Libby, I would never ask you to make a choice. Ethan needs you here, and I understand that. But what about
after
the trial? You must have some holidays you can take? I do know how to compromise.”

“Of course I do. I could probably take a few weeks off. I would need to make sure Kieran is fine for cover. And of course, there’s my father.”

“I’m sure both your parents would be happy. They seem very focused on wanting both you and Ethan to be happy. And at the moment that’s all I really care about—making you happy.” He traces his thumb along my lips.

Happy. At this moment I am deliriously happy, but for how long? I am falling way over my head, and there’s not a thing I can do to stop the smash that is bound to happen sooner or later.
Why am I always waiting on bad things to happen? Why can I not just focus on here and now?
Alex pours some more champagne into both our glasses.

“A toast then,” he says, handing me my glass.

“To what?”

“To happiness.” Our glasses clink together before we each take a drink. “And to one of the most beautiful, thoughtful, and caring women I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.”

I flush. I don’t take compliments well. He is full of surprises.

“So anything else you want to talk about? I’ve told you about my family. We are all pretty close, much like yours. But I presume it’s more the business you want to know?”

“Well, I suppose I am interested to learn more about you and your business. I want all the details, so don’t leave anything out.”

“As I said last night, the law never really appealed to me, and I think my parents felt let down in a way. Not that that’s how they feel now; I know they are proud of me. But I was a bit rebellious, as my mom would put it.”

“So why casinos?”

“Because it was a gamble, pure and simple. I thrive on the rush, the adrenaline. The casinos I’ve kept—that’s my business—but the other businesses that I’ve bought and turned round before selling on, they all gave me the same feelings. There are always risks in what I do. Some have worked out extremely beneficially for me, and someday I might not be so lucky, but I’ve managed to invest money wisely, so I don’t think there will be a time when I am broke. But even if that happens, I think I will still be happy.”

“So that explains some things. But how did you first start out? Where did the money first come from?”

“You really want to know? Well, my grandfather left all his grandchildren some money, and let’s just say I invested some wisely and some not so wisely, although the unwise investments actually paid off. The casino rewarded me well.”

“So you are telling me you made your fortune through gambling. Surely not.”

“
Afraid so. I don’t mean I have gambled my money away on the tables, personally. Well, let’s just say I have done extremely well out of a business deal that looked like I would lose a lot That’s the reason I was so interested in this group when it went into administration.”

“What about your hotel,” I ask curiously.

“I only acquired that recently. It wasn’t doing so well and I got it at a good price. I wasn’t intending
keeping it, but you never know. Now I am sure we are not going to sit all night and talk business, are we?”

No, I don’t suppose we will.

“Strawberry?” he asks, holding the red fruit just in front of my lips. I nod and open my mouth, but he pulls it playfully away from me and puts in in his own mouth instead.

So he’s in a playful mood. I put my glass down on the table and turn around. I take his glass from his hand and put it down as well. I position myself so that I am straddling him and pick up the bowl of strawberries. I make a big deal of inspecting them for the perfect one to feed him. He opens his mouth, and I tease it onto his tongue slowly. He starts to close his lips over it, but I pull it back out and pop it in my own mouth.

“Hey, that’s not fair!”

“What? You did the very same to me.” I laugh as I take another from the bowl. I slide it into his mouth, but I let him eat it this time.

“Mmm, these are good,” he says.

I take another strawberry and place it between my teeth, leaning close. He leans down, mouth open.
This has possibilities
. His mouth closes round mine. His lips are soft. He bites and pulls back quickly, eating his half of the strawberry.

I need to kiss him. I’ve spent the whole day with him, and now I need more. A lot more. I kiss him as if my life depended on it. I close my eyes, lost in the
moment. My arms go round his neck. He has one arm on my back and the other hand wrapped in my hair. His tongue invades my mouth, coaxing me, but I really don’t need much coaxing. Heat surges through my body.

He pulls my hips down onto him. I grind against him, trying to work myself into a pleasurable position, but the feeling just intensifies. I moan as I hug him tighter. He pulls back. No, I need this. I need this connection between us. And I am sure he needs it too. I open my eyes.

His eyes meet mine. He is so hot. I want him. I move my arms from his neck, at the same time placing small kisses on his face. My hands stop at his shirt, and I slowly start to unbutton it. I pause after each button and place a kiss on his skin.

“Libby…what are you doing?”

“You can’t tell?”

“I think I’ve figured it out.”

Soon I have all the buttons undone, and I slide his shirt off, tossing it on the floor. My hands do a bit of roaming from his strong back to his muscular chest and down to the waist of his trousers. This is all about his pleasure, not mine. I slide off his lap and undo his trousers, sliding them and his boxers off and tossing them onto the floor beside his shirt.

“Libby, I feel a little…exposed here in my birthday suit. Why do you still have all your clothes on?”

“Well, if you must know, I am admiring you in all your glory,” I say. “It’s a very impressive suit, Mr. Mathews.”

“You are easily impressed, then, Miss Stewart,” he whispers. I giggle.

I take a slow sip of champagne, then position myself on my knees on the couch. I touch my lips to him, running my tongue over the smooth tip, feeling the tiny bubbles pop on my tongue. He inhales sharply and closes his eyes. He’s hard. He groans. I glance up at him through my eyelashes. His eyes are still closed.

“Fuck,” he moans softly.

I take him farther into my mouth, deeper, sucking him in, working my tongue against him. I pull back slowly and run my tongue over and round the tip, teasing him. I’m still watching him. He opens his eyes, which are blazing with fire, and I open my mouth wider to take him in deeper until he’s pressing the back of my throat, filling my mouth completely with his hardness. He reaches down and takes a tight hold of my shoulders, and I can tell he’s fighting the urge to move his hips.

“Libby, that feels so good. Don’t stop. Please.” It sounds more like a whimper coming from him.

I slide him out, then thrust down, deep, then pull back again, sucking him, and at the same time, massaging the base of his shaft with my hands. I’m not sure how much longer he’ll be able to take it. Christ,
I don’t know how much longer
I
can take it; I am so turned on by the sounds he’s making, by the way he’s writhing and trying not to control me. He starts to move, thrusting with me. I push him all the way to the back of my mouth and pull back. Again. Again. It won’t be long. Harder and deeper. Again and again, pushing him to the edge.

“Libby” he cries out.

I can feel the warm, salty fluid bursting from him. I swallow quickly as his thrusts slow until he comes to a stop. His rapid breathing starts to slow down.

“Libby, that was amazing. I don’t know what to say. You completely took my breath away.”

Good. Mission complete. He pulls me back up towards him. The grin on his face is wicked. He pulls me into his arms tightly and kisses me hard, his tongue pushing into my mouth, exploring, tasting. My tongue meets his with the same passion. He slowly pulls back and stares intently into my eyes. His eyes are smouldering. I break the spell by turning and lifting one of the glasses of champagne. I take a sip first before lifting the glass to his mouth. He takes a long, slow drink. The look on his face tells me he is purposely drawing this out. I pull the glass away and put it back down.

His eyes run over my body. He has a mischievous look in those beautiful, brown eyes. He is up to no good.

“Miss Stewart, as I said earlier, you are wearing way too much clothing,” he says. “I think we should get rid of that shirt, don’t you?”

“I don’t know. I’ve always really liked this colour on me,” I say with a giggle.

“Arms.” His voice sounds authoritative. He pulls my vest top over my head. “Now we’re nearly even.”

As he runs his hands lightly over my breasts, I try to focus on his face rather than the sensation that is sweeping through my entire body. But that doesn’t help me. His expression is full of desire, and his eyes are full of fire.

“Now the shorts,” he whispers. He quickly removes my shorts and panties in the one go. “Much better.”

He’s hovering above me, watching me, his deep, brown eyes hypnotizing me. I could stay under his spell forever. He leans down and places a soft kiss on my lips. I wish I could read his mind. His lips move slowly to my throat, kissing me.

“I want to kiss you all over. Every single inch of your body. And when I finish, I’m going to start all over again,” he says softly.

I am breathless with his words. He trails small kisses up and down each of my arms. He stops at my breasts, and the kissing gets deeper. Kissing and sucking. He sucks and pulls on my nipples with precise care and attention. My already too-sensitive skin reacts to his touch, shivering and burning at the
same time. I’m not sure how long my body will hold up with this continued teasing. It’s already showing signs of letting me down.

“Please try and keep still, baby.”

“I can’t. I need you,” I whimper.

“Libby, you have me. I’m right here with you.” He’s smiling.

“Alex, please…”

He shakes his head and continues his travels down my body. His lips glide over my belly. It won’t be long until the fire that’s slowly burning within me is out of control.

I close my eyes as I feel him between my legs, pressing them farther apart. Then he’s right there, licking and sucking, softly. My body moves.

“Libby, I asked you to keep still.”

“I can’t,” I say. “I don’t want to. I just want you. I need you.”

“I know you do.”

He continues licking and sucking. Again and again. His tongue dances slowly over my clitoris. I am so close to losing my self-control. No, I lost that self-control when I first clapped eyes on him. He slides one finger inside me, then another. He moves them round, stretching me, and at the same time, his tongue moves around and around. I can’t take much more. I am so close to the edge.

“Alex, please,” I whimper.

“Not yet, baby.”

Not yet? Is he serious? The licking and sucking. Deeper and deeper. Dizzy. My head is spinning out of control. The mist descends. My body needs the release. I can no longer hang on. I let go, calling his name. It takes a few minutes for everything to come back into focus. The mist has lifted. I am still panting when he crawls slowly up my body.

I open my eyes as his lips descend on mine with a consuming passion. I can still taste him, and as he pushes his tongue into my mouth, I can taste myself.

“Libby, you know we’re not done yet.”

I can only nod my head. I don’t think I have the ability to speak yet. He stares at me, maybe trying to second-guess me.

“Turn over,” he commands.