Lost Heartbeats (Alexander & Maya Book 2) (16 page)

“What’s wrong, Maya?” he asked, his hand dropping to my thigh. It wasn’t the same warm touch. It didn’t make my skin tingle.

“Nothing.” I forced a smile on my lips that didn’t reach my eyes. “I must be more tired than I realized.”

Something in my voice must have reached through his own worries because his voice was gentle when he said, “I’ll take care of you when we get back.”

Was that all he saw when he looked at me? Someone he needed to take care of?

There was still a frown on my face when he parked the car in the garage under his hotel a few minutes later.

“It’s still early,” he said, checking his watch while we waited for the elevator. “Would you like to go to the restaurant for dinner?”

“Would it be okay if we just ordered a quick bite like last night? I don’t feel like being around people.”

“Are you okay, Maya?” he asked, his hand touching the small of my back as he ushered us into the elevator.

“Yes. Like I said, just tired. I’m sure I’ll feel much better tomorrow.”

“Ok. I’m sorry, I left you alone back there. My mind is just too chaotic right now. I can’t seem to think straight.” He moved his hand up and down soothingly against my rigid back. “We’ll order up so you can go to bed. Today didn’t go exactly as I planned. Tomorrow I’ll take you out to dinner. It’ll be just the two of us,” he murmured, his lips brushing a soft kiss against my hair.

Relaxing into him for the first time in hours, I murmured, “Okay.”

***

I was intoxicated by the smell of his skin as he drove into me.

It was hours after we had returned to the hotel. I had already fallen asleep around ten o’clock and then had been woken up some time later by Alexander’s warm, wet mouth against my skin.

“You make me crazy,” he growled against my ear, making my eyes roll into the back of my head.

“Keep your hands over your head,” he warned when I moved to circle them around his neck to hold on to him.

“I’m so close,” I gasped as he pushed my knees higher.

Whimpering under his relentless thrusts, I gave my body completely to him, as I had done with my heart.

“It feels good when I’m driving so deep into you, doesn’t it?” he asked. My only response was a deep moan. “I know how much you love it, baby.”

He sucked and nibbled his way down from my neck to my nipples. I took a deep breath and held it in as his warm tongue circled around the puckered tip, driving me out of my mind.

My inner muscles deliciously clenched around him, my orgasm imminent with his quick thrusts.

He groaned against my feverish skin. “Do you want to come, Maya?” he asked, as he slowed his thrusts. Arching my neck, I bit down on my lip to hold in a loud growl. His mouth came down on my lips and he kissed me in renewed hunger.

I was lost and found at the same time with Alexander Ross.

I was free.

Our teeth and tongues crushed together as I released everything I was trying to hold inside into his mouth.

His hips lost the rhythm he had on me and his cock felt even larger inside me. He was tearing me up.

Cutting me open.

“Please,” I begged when what I needed stayed just out of my reach.

“What do you need sweetheart? Tell me and it’s yours,” he panted, his thrusts painfully slow.

I groaned. “Harder, please,” I gasped. “I’m so close.”

My whole body was tingling with my need for him.

He straightened over me, his intense gaze locked onto my eyes. Drawing his hips back until only the tip of his cock remained inside me, he asked “Like, this?” and rammed into me.

My hands gripped the sheets over my head tighter.

“Yes,” I moaned, feeling him almost touch my cervix as he found the perfect spot. “Yes. Yes. Yes,” I chanted, loving what he was doing to me.

“Maya,” he rasped. “You are squeezing my dick, I can’t hold it off anymore, sweetheart. Come with me.”

I was already falling down that hole as his voice tipped me over. My entire body tensing, I let my orgasm wash over me with an overload of sensation.

As he drove his hard cock into me, I was aware of whispering his name over and over again. When he grunted and threw his head back I could do nothing but watch his face, mesmerized as we took such pleasure from each other.

“Oh, Maya,” he said, dropping his face on my shoulder.

I circled my hands around him and softly ran my fingers through his hair. When his cock jerked inside me, still hard as steel, my legs shook with small aftershocks of pleasure.

He rewarded me with slow, shallow thrusts as I trembled all over.

“I crave your body,” he whispered, meeting my half-closed eyes. “I wake up from my sleep craving your touch.”

“So do I,” I said, lifting my lips to his.

Our kiss was just as wonderful as it had been when he’d first woken me up from my sleep. His hands found their way into my hair and his grip tightened, holding me in place—as if I would go anywhere.

After the evening we’d had, it was the first time I had felt right in his arms again.

I didn’t go to sleep until he got rid of the condom and came back to bed to wrap me up in his arms.

Then I let myself fall into a deep sleep as I listened to his steady heartbeats.

“Mr. Ross, your brother just came in. He is in his office. Do you still want to see him?” Mandy’s voice trickled into my room through the speaker on my desk.

It was 11 AM and Jackson was two hours late for the conference call I had taken in his place.

“Yes, Mandy. Please let him know that I’m waiting for him.”

Talking to Jackson was the last thing I wanted to do, but I couldn’t have him going off like that when we had so many things to finalize and I needed him to prove himself.

I still vividly remembered the day my father had forced me to work with Jackson.

***

“It is only for a few years, Alexander. Surely you can do at least that much for your brother, for your own family. After his years of experience with you, I want him as head of the company I have my eye on. It’s a small one, but it’ll be easier for him to handle.”

My father always did love buying companies and demolishing them for his own profit. I’d never wanted anything to do with his business. After so many years, the feeling had never changed.

“I don’t think Jackson himself wants to work with me. Are you sure you ran this by him first?”

“I don’t need to run anything by any of you,” he said with his cold eyes pinning me in place in his office. “Get it done. He is your brother.”

He was the one who always liked to have the last word in our family.

It was just one of the reasons why my mother had chosen to leave us in the middle of the night, without a word.

If it had been any other time—say when I wasn’t in a constant fighting mode with Claire—I would’ve fought him not to force his son on me, but as he had said, half-brother or not, Jackson was family.

***

“I hear from our beautiful Mandy that you wanted to see me, big brother,” Jackson said, barging into my room without knocking.

“Close the door, please.”

“Of course, your highness,” he said in a mocking tone.

“Jackson,” I started and took a deep breath. “I don’t have time for your antics today. Please tell me why you were late for your conference call with the Vegas people this morning.”

He rubbed his hands together, his eyes gleaming. “So, tell me, is the construction phase done? Man, I can’t wait to take all this to Sin City.”

“If you had come in on time for the meeting, you would’ve learned more about the process. I didn’t call you here to give you updates on the work you were responsible for.”

“Chill, man,” he said casually, leaning back in his chair. “I hear you brought back the beauty that was here a few months ago. What was her name, again? Madeline? No, no, wait, that wasn’t it. Oh, I got it. It was Maya, wasn’t it? Maya with that sweet accent.”

My eyes hardened on him, but he wasn’t smart enough to see how dangerously close he was to being thrown out the damn window.

“Can’t wait to see her around. Did you find gold in her pussy or something? If so, I want a taste, too. Sharing is caring after all,” he laughed, causing the hold I had on myself to snap.

Barely restraining my anger, I got up from my seat and stalked toward him, my steps slow.

His ugly grin widened.

“Relax, big brother. Just joking around. I’ll be on my best behavior when I’m around her. Scouts honor.”

Grabbing the collar of his shirt, I fisted it in my hand tightly and yanked his sorry ass out of the chair.

“You don’t go near her, Jackson,” I said as calmly as I could manage. “I know you are stupid enough to try to get a rise out of me, but consider this your fair warning. If you see her, you walk away. If she sees you, you turn around and again,”—I jerked him forward just for good measure—“
you walk away
. If I hear even one sly comment about Maya pass from your lips, you won’t like what happens next.”

The grin was long gone from his twisted face.

I let my hand drop from his shirt and took a step back.

“Don’t worry, I was just trying to get a rise out of you. Glad to see it worked, I’m not interested in your sloppy seconds, Alex. I couldn’t care less about your slut of the month.”

When my fist connected with his nose and he found himself kissing the floor, I had to admit, I enjoyed the shock that crossed his eyes.

Jackson was nothing to me. Him being my family meant nothing.

“I don’t care who the fuck you are, Jackson. I see you anywhere near her, I see you even look at her the wrong way—I’ll make you regret the day you were born,” I threatened, looking straight into his eyes as his nose kept bleeding into his hands.

“You son of a bitch,” he moaned, his words muffled by his hands holding his nose as he struggled to get off the floor.

“Jackson, I suggest you get out of here before you say something you’ll regret and I decide to break your neck instead of your nose.”

Giving me his version of a dirty look, he scrambled to his feet and stumbled out the door.

Rubbing my forehead, I tried to slow down my heartbeat. As much as it sounded like a good idea to go after Jackson and drill it into his head how much I wanted him to stay away from my Maya, I decided against it.

“Mandy,” I said, walking out of my office.

With big surprised eyes and a squeal, she jumped up to her feet, and then sat back down.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Mr. Ross. How can I help you?”

“I need to change my shirt,” I explained with a sigh, looking down at the barely noticeable blood spatter in disgust. “I’ll go straight to my lunch meeting after I change. Can you text me the address again?”

“Of course. I already made the reservations; they’ll be waiting for you. Would you like me to call ahead and let them know you’ll be running late?”

“What time is it?” I asked absently, checking my watch.

Fuck.
My knuckles were all red and angry already; I needed to take care of it before the meeting.

I had time.

Just enough.

“Don’t bother. I won’t be long; I’ll make it in time.”

I turned around to walk away, but Mandy’s voice stopped me.

“Sir?”

“Yes, Mandy,” I answered, exasperated.

“While you were, um, in a meeting with Mr. Jackson, Ms. Natalie called. She didn’t want me to put the call through since you were busy, but she said she’d be waiting for you to get back to her as soon as possible.”

Shit
.

“Is there anything I can do to help, sir?” she asked, wringing her hands in a nervous way.

“I got it, Mandy. Thank you.”

I would call Natalie to check on her, but first I needed to see Maya.

I needed to feel her touch on me to feel balanced again.

***

“Alexander?”

I heard Maya’s voice before I saw her naked thighs peeking from upstairs.

Enticing me.

I stayed silent, amused that she was tiptoeing around. This was her place now.

She
was mine now.

When she took a few steps down and I saw her wearing my blue shirt that dropped to her mid-thigh, a deep growl rose from my throat.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said when her eyes met mine, her steps more relaxed.

“Who else could it be?” I asked as she got near enough for me to slip my arms around her waist and haul her ass up on the counter.

Her eyes got all big and beautiful, and I kissed her hard, swallowing her surprised gasp.

She tasted of mint, apples, and my Maya.

Gripping my shirt, she held me to herself and wrapped her legs around me.

Melting under my touch.

Always so goddamned sweet.

“Are you being lazy, Ms. Hart?” I asked, nipping her red lips.

“Am I gonna get punished if I am?”

“Do you want to be punished?” I asked, quirking my eyebrow.

That could be fun.

Cupping my cheek, she laughed. “No, I’m good.
You
are good. I don’t think I could take more than you already give.”

Leaning toward me, she gave my lips a sweet, small kiss. I had to grab the edge of the counter to stop myself from taking her. I was already behind on my meetings.

Sighing, I brushed her hair away from her face.

“I miss you,” I said.

“I’m right here,” she whispered.

“Good. I need you to be right here,” I said, one of my hands caressing her back.

Her fingers ran through my hair and she pressed her forehead to mine.

“Are you okay? Is there anything I can help with?

“You are. You are helping right now.” My fingers tightened around her neck, then I let her go and reached to the freezer next to her, taking care not to move away from my spot between her legs.

“I wish I could stay longer, but I have a lunch meeting I need to get to. I want you to relax today, but tonight you are mine. We’re going out.”

“What are you doing?” she asked as she watched me wrap a kitchen towel around the ice pack. “Alexander what happened?”

Her voice was worried.

“Nothing you need to worry about.”

“Alexander.” This time her voice was hard. “What happened? Don’t brush me off. It doesn’t work like that.”

Gently she lifted the ice pack from my hand and examined my knuckles. When she was satisfied, she placed the cold towel back. “Who did you hit?” she asked, her mouth in a tight line. Before I could answer, she asked, “Does it have anything to do with Natalie?”

I frowned. “Natalie? What do you mean? Why would I hit someone because of her?”

When she didn’t answer, I lifted her chin up so I could look her in the eyes. “Maya?”

“I’m sorry.” She let out a big breath. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m sorry. Tell me what happened.”

“Nothing important. I had a talk with Jackson and didn’t like what he had to say, that’s all.”

“I don’t like him.”

“I don’t like him either, beautiful.”

Her eyes warmed a little.

“Should I be worried?”

“I would never let him touch you, Maya,” I said, the anger I had for the son of a bitch still burning steady in my chest.

“Relax,” she murmured, placing her little palm over my chest. “I didn’t mean, should I be worried for myself. I meant for you. Should I be worrying about you guys hurting each other?”

Holding my chin between her fingers just as I had done to her seconds before, she turned my head left and then right to inspect my face, looking for injuries.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. He didn’t touch me. And to answer your question, you have nothing to worry about.”

“Keep it that way please.”

“Your wish is my command, Ms. Hart,” I said, a teasing smile on my lips.

“Good.”

Seeing the worry in her eyes, I muttered, “Hey, it was nothing. You trust me, don’t you?”

She nodded.

I threw the cold towel into the sink and grabbed her thighs as I said, “I need to change my shirt and leave, baby.”

She nodded again.

I was going to be late, but I didn’t have the strength to let go of her.

Not when she was looking at me so sweetly.

“You took me by surprise, Maya,” I said against her skin after I kissed her neck.

The way she shivered in my arms…

She was killing me. Since the day I’d first seen her, she’d been killing me.

“Tonight. Tonight, I’m going to take you by surprise too. And then I’m going to keep taking you. Day after day after day. There won’t be anyone else for you. Only the two of us.” I whispered every word with a kiss.

When I said ‘take her’, I didn’t think she knew what I meant, but I still enjoyed the way her eyes dropped to my lips as she licked her own.

“We’ll leave at 7:30 for dinner,” I murmured right before I took her wet lips in a hot, urgent kiss.