Chapter 171


    I’m groggy and sleep muddled when I pad through to the main sitting area of our living room in a loose


    summer dress I changed into, rubbing my eyes and yawning like I didn’t just have myself the longest


    siesta. Blurry eyed, cooler due to efficient AC and generally in a happier mood now I have slept. I


    wander towards the long leather L shaped couch where Alexi is sitting to slide down beside him and


    curl up next to that sexy body of his.


    He’s on hisptop with his phone propped to his ear, leaning forward to the coffee table and has a


    brown file of papers open to his right. He’s working so I just lie down beside him and push my feet


    against his thigh to have some contact. I must have slept for a couple of hours at least as the lunchtime


    sun that was up when we got here is now lower in the sky which suggestste afternoon. I twirl my hair


    and watch him, feeling wholly content, sighing with just how quickly the resentment and scars from how


    he was towards me in the past are fading. My heart brimming with the adoration I feel whenever I look


    at himtely. He runs a quick gentle stroke over my foot to acknowledge my presence but doesn’t look


    my way.


    “What else did you dig up?”


    He’s talking to Mico I presume. I was a little shocked that our trip to Vegas was missing a ton of Carrero


    escorts until I overheard him and Gino, when we were heading to our rooms, talking about this hotel


    being secured by their Vegas rtives. Apparently, this hotel is connected to a branch that is being sold


    off to Carrero hotels and the security is already very Carrero embroiled from the other side of his family.


    His cousin Jake, along with his father and brother, are heading the takeover. Their family are merging


    two businesses into one and soon this five-star haunt will be emzoned with a gold pentagon and a


    giant C. It must be a massive undertaking as this chain of hotels was once the Carrero empire’s biggest


    competitor.


    They are slowly taking over the high-ss world of hotels, spas and luxury cruisers from what I hear.


    “My father is still siding with the board; my hands are tied unless something changes. She hasn’t done


    anything to warrant a heavy-handed retaliation, so they want me to find a peaceful resolution.” He


    sounds pissed, it’s subtle but that tension he tries to roll out of his shoulder highlights this is still a


    subject that’s grating on him. Alexi likes to be in charge, so his family mping down on the course of


    action he wants to take is seriously pissing him off.


    I don’t get why they care.


    She is a nothing woman trying to meddle in affairs she has no business in. Her family were ughtered


    and chased out of the city once before at their hands. I don’t get why they would stop him from getting


    rid of the problem this time when she has shown she is just as ruthless as her father was.


    “No. Don’t. We will be back the day after tomorrow. Wait for me before we finalise the details. I need


    time to think this through and figure out how to approach it. Tell Santagato I will see him on my return.


    Keep everything low key as though nothing is amiss. We act like nothing has happened.” Alexi nods a


    few times as though listening to a response then says goodbye and hangs up, the scowl on his face


    deepening to a full throttle frown. He puts his phone on the table and finally leans back to scoop up one


    of my feet inrge strong hands. Startling me with the sudden attention.


    “You feel better after your three-hour nap?” He pulls my leg so my foot ends up in hisp and rubs it


    gently, massaging my sole enjoyably. Obviously not in the mood to discuss his call or what I overheard.


    Alexi is deflecting and I don’t want to talk about it anyway. That bitch can wait until we go home.


    “Mmmm” His foot rub is divine, and I close my eyes to savour his hands on my body. Tingles creeping


    up my leg to my warmher regions. Alexi’s touch is an aphrodisiac and already my mind is picturing


    him naked. He has always been good with his hands, even when he was being a jerk. He has a


    confident, firm touch and is good at working kinks out of all sorts of muscles. Getting his thumb right in


    there and teasing my limb into submission.


    “Want to hang out here until dinner and have some fun or go act like tourists for a couple of hours?”


    I’m literally torn. The thought of getting back in bed with him is an obvious first choice, but I did just


    spend hours in there and feel a little cooped up and in need of air. I want to explore with him and


    behave like normal people for a little while. I love him more when he’s disconnected from his business


    face and out with me as just two people in love.


    Then again—sex. With my dominant porn star.


    Decisions, decisions.


    I never thought I would ever like a man being in full control in sex, by choice or crave it with him as


    much as I do. I always assumed that should I ever have feelings for a man he would be someone who


    submitted to me in the bedroom and I would call the shots in every way. It’s the only way I thought I


    would enjoy sex and feel safe with a man. Not Alexi. He is at his best when you let him take over, call


    the shots and manoeuvre you in any way he wants.


    I know I’m safe with him; he wouldn’t use that time between us to hurt me ever again. I would bet my


    soul on it.


    I trust him enough to know that we won’t go backwards. He could have punished me after leaving the


    club. He was beyond mad and it was a prime example of the time he would have in the past. He didn’t.


    Not even a little.


    He just wants to keep me safe and I need to stop being suspicious of his motives and rx with him.


    Seeing control when he is being cautious is my biggest w. He loves me. I need to just remind myself


    of that every second. Even if it’s hard to feel like it’s true sometimes. He gives me more than sex; he


    gives me him and tender moments, ess to his deeper gentle side. He gives me time away from his


    world so it’s just Lexi And Cam.


    I know I will easily get both if that’s what I want. Sightseeing with his alter ego and then sex. I’m starting


    to understand the power I have over him and how he rarely refuses my requests. He’s a soft touch for


    his little redhead and it’s very cute.


    “I want to have a soak in the tub, maybe after that, we can go wander and see some of Vegas. I feel


    dusty and sleep rumpled. You cane too if you like.” I throw him a sultry look, enticing him toe


    with me for some non-sexual intimacy and he continues to frown at me. Clearly has other ideas and


    sex was the answer he was aiming for.


    “Go run your bath, I still have some calls to make. I’lle keep youpany in a few minutes.” He


    lets go of my foot, leans over me so he can deliver a chaste peck on my lips at a full stretch and then


    moves back to return to his previous position, leaning towards hisptop. I can sense his tension, and


    this trantes to ‘go let me unwind for a minute, maybe have a vodka’.


    I roll off the couch, pulling my dress up as I do so and make a point of walking past the table and


    around it, so his line of vision catches me slowly sliding off the only covering I have on. A slow, sexy


    tease up and over my head that is meant to get him moving a little faster. I might not want sex right this


    second, but I do want him to follow and keep mepany.


    By the time I get back around behind the couch, I’m trailing my dress behind me saucily and naked as


    a newborn baby. A nce backwards, a sultry side look and lip bite, catch him watching me walk away,


    eyes locked on my body, and I wink at him naughtily.


    “I have more self-control than you think.” He points out and turns away with a smug smirk and picks up


    his phone. Makes a show of going back to hisptop, trying to prove a point and I stick my fingers up


    behind his back. Riled that he always has to show me he never going to be ledpletely by the nose


    when ites to me. No matter how good I am at it.


    I guess it’s mutual. I won’t ever by a ‘yes, Sir’ kind of woman, no matter how much I love him and how


    many times he makes me orgasm. I don’t think I would want him to be a ‘yes, Ma’am’ kind of guy either.


    Alexi is who he is, and his bossy dominant arsehole side is a huge part of what makes him sexy. If he


    got too soft and under the thumb, I think I would lose a lot of the sizzle I have in my pants for him.


    I exhale with defeat and just pad to the bathroom while shaking my head at him. Immediately turning on


    the taps when I get in and readying it for my soak. I drop my dress on the floor at the door and go about


    preparing myself in the nude.


    I tie my hair up on top of my head, cleansing my face in the mirror as my bath fills up insanely fast.


    Fogging out the reflection and filling the room with aromatic smells of the scents I poured in. A


    mountain of bubbles threatening to pour over the edge.


    I look fresh-faced and rosy-cheeked, and staring contentedly at myself I realise, for just a second, that I


    look different. It’s not a major change, subtle but there. A softer almost surreal difference to my face


    that I cannot put my finger on.


    I look young and healthy and somehow … glowing. It’s not the steam in the room or theck of


    makeup. I have no clue what it is, but I don’t recall ever looking this alive and bright-eyed and cheery


    when I’m not even smiling. I just look … happy. Youthful.


    I gaze for a long moment, zoning out in an empty nk daydream until the strong smell of my bath


    brings me back to the present and I realise it’s almost overflowing.


    I shake it away and turn to the tub and turn off the taps, climbing in and sinking down into the very hot


    water to rest up against the edge with the attached headrest. Settling into a veryfortable, soothing


    position when surrounded by luxurious heat and that floaty feeling that water gives you. Submerging


    weary bones into a fully pleasurable weightless heat. Sighing with contentment at the unique joy of


    having yourself a bath. The most rxing thing in the world besides orgasm afterglow with Alexi.


    “Thought you might want this.” Alexi startles me as he walks in, carrying red wine for me and brandy for


    him andys my ss on the edge beside my head. Coming to perch his butt on the rim of the tub and


    leans over me slightly, looming in and locking eyes. Still in his earlier outfit but his shirt is a little more


    wrinkled up.


    “Thank you. Now get naked and get in.” I smile at him adoringly, but he just frowns at me once more.


    Dips his fingers in the tub and then shakes them off with even more of a furrow of those ck brows.


    “I’ll pass. I have not taken a bubble bath since I was about five years old.” He gets up, walks to the


    edge in the centre where a little wall juts out to join onto a low surface around the edge of the room,


    and sits down properly with more of a butt resting spot, to watch me soak.


    “You’re not getting to sit and watch me if you’re noting in.” I point out. Annoyed that he thinks all I


    wanted was his presence in the room and not naked beside me. He has no sense of intimacy and how


    nice it might be to share a bath.


    Sex isn’t everything.


    “I would like to see you enforce that.” Again, with that smug tone and I can tell he’s in that obtusely


    yful mode, yet still has that simmering aggressiveness of being pissed off. It makes for a weird mood


    and it’s times like this he frustrates me.


    Petnt, childish and yet trying to be sociable.


    “Fine … I just thought it would be romantic.” I sigh heavily.


    “We already established that I don’t follow the normal trends of romance.” He sips his booze,


    undeterred by my obvious disappointment and I eye roll at him. Losing the good mood vibes and


    irritated at him for hisck of cooperation for something so dumb.


    “You know what? Forget it, I thought it would be nice. Go back to what you were doing.” It’s a huffy


    response, born of lingering tiredness from the heat and just fragile sensitivity for no reason. I think I’m


    still rattled from yesterday’s events and I’m being stupidly emotional. Can’t seem to get myself in check


    since we got on the flight this morning.


    Maybe that’s what downstairs with the receptionist was about too.


    Yesterday I could have died. Despite not having the normal reactions to severely traumatic events that


    most women have, they do still haunt me. Yesterday was a horrible day, with a frightening realisation of


    how easily my life could be snubbed out. Those men terrified me. If he had taken just a little longer to


    find me … it doesn’t bare thinking about. He came for me, but it’s still hanging over me like a dark cloud


    of regret. I was so stupid and almost handed myself over to certain death.


    I’m not pissed at him, I’m livid at myself.


    Alexi sighs heavily, stands up as if to leave, ruining what’s left of my mood as a heaviness drags my


    stomach to the base of the bathtub and I resign myself to tears. Because that’s what emotionally fragile


    and stupid girls do when their boyfriends unintentionally upset them.


    I stop mid internal rant at how much of an insensitive unromantic prick he is when he perches his ss


    at the end by my feet before unbuttoning his shirt slowly. Locking eyes on me and a hint of a


    begrudged smirk.


    “I’ll have to shower that smell off me after this. Why do women have to soak in floral scented bubbles?


    What’s wrong with normal water?” He’s grumpy, that hint of childishness breaking through because I


    won, and I perk up and can’t stop the smile widening across my face. All doom and gloom jumping out


    the window to be reced with a sudden rush of ‘I love you so much’.


    Definitely hormonal and emotional today.


    “Because it smells good and then so will I.” I grin at him, enamoured that he’s taking a dip with me just


    to keep me happy. Overwhelmed with a need to squish him in a grateful hug. Fizzing up inside with


    tion.


    “You tell my brother about this and I may smother you to death.” He pulls off his clothes quickly and I


    lean forward to perch my arms on the tub, crossing them, and rest my chin on the hollow as I watch the


    layers peel away to reveal all that muscled toned body and ck ink. Perving on him the way he did


    with me. Laughing at his threat and mentally filing it for future ckmail.


    “You’re such a baby.” I point out and bite on my lip to curb the hot urges that sh through me when he


    takes his boxers off.


    Even when it’s not erect it’s still impressive.


    “I’m not drunk enough to sit in there for more than ten minutes.” He warns me and then walks forward


    and steps in. Making ‘ahh’ and ‘ouch’ noises as his foot hits the water. I can only guess he’s a pussy


    when ites to hot water.


    I like my baths at skin boiling temperatures.


    “Jesus Christ, are you taking a bath or boiling soup? Cam, it’s like five fucking thousand degrees in


    here.” He snaps, dances his limbs about in it as he tries to get in properly and makes it way more


    dramatic than it really is. I just stare at him with one raised brow and immediately re-evaluate his


    manliness as he bops his butt in and out a few times before even thinking aboutmitting to full-body


    submergence. It just kills all that alpha prowess dead, and he may have scarred me for life.


    “Shut up and sit down.” I grab his hand as he ils his arms around and pull him to get him moving. I


    was hoping for an epic ssh as he fell in but he’s too strong, and all I do is tug his arm, like a child


    wanting Mummy’s attention.


    It’s painful to watch a grown man the size of Alexi, slowly lower his derrière into the bath for the fifth


    time, stopping and lifting with ‘ahh’ noises before his butt actually hits the base. Kills any sexual urges


    dead.


    “I’m starting to think you were formed in hell … this is not rxing. Pretty sure my dick will fall off.” He


    sulks when slowly leaning back, arms up in the air to avoid adding them to the burning pit of hell at the


    same time as his torso.


    Property ? N?velDrama.Org.


    Baby!


    “Jesus Christ. Its hot water, you absolute woman. Stop your moaning, lie back and chill out.” I assume


    the position as though demonstrating but he just sits as he is, reaches for his ss and downs it in one.


    Sitting stiffly upright and obviously afraid to lower any more skin into the water.


    “Now what?” he asks expectantly. Staring at me like a child who just finished his candy and isn’t


    satisfied.


    “Umm, you lie back, close your eyes and let the water pull away all your stresses. Soften the tension


    out of your muscles.” I look to the ceiling in exasperation and go back to my pre-Alexi invasion


    lounging.


    He mumbles under his breath, something about sex being the answer to that and women being crazy.


    He huffs, he sighs, and he turns the simple act of lying back into a monumental effort that has me eye


    rolling so hard I almost strain an eyeball.


    “You know you can just get out again if it’s that horrendous.” I point out, feeling irritated that what


    should have been something romantic turned into Alexi reverting to the age of five and me feeling like a


    mother with an unruly child.


    “It’s fine. I just need my skin to stop disintegrating, peeling off in chunks and then my skeleton can


    assume the pose.” He finally leans back and mirrors my pose, head on the padded waterproof cushion


    that is suction cupped to the edge and lifts one foot up so he can nudge me in the thigh and pushes me


    over further to one side roughly.


    “What are you doing?” I ask, lifting my head to fix my re on him. Annoyed that I’m now being kicked,


    and he is making this whole experience infuriating.


    “I’m bigger than you are, I need more leg room.”


    He shoves me again, bodily with his knee and hip and almost sends me under a mini wave he causes


    with the motion.


    Ugh!


    “Five minutes ago, you wanted to get out and now you’re stealing my space. This is not how I


    envisioned this going.” Sighing heavily, shaking my head at him as I strain to look him in the eye. That


    sinking feeling that maybe, call me crazy, he might not be the romantic type who enjoys shared bubble-


    bath time.


    Shock.


    “I don’t see how this is romantic. Women are fucking weird. Sex in water is dry and awkward and


    slippery. What’s romantic about getting naked and not being able to enjoy anything about it.” He


    genuinely sounds perplexed at this and that shrug sends me over the edge.


    “That’s it! Get out … I’m never doing this again. Honest to God! If I ever suggest a romantic bath again,


    like ever, then give me a good hard shake and remind me you’re a tosspot about it and a fucking baby.”


    I sit up, sending water sloshing everywhere and my wine ss falls in with the overflow, turning the


    area around me red for a second. It just adds to my annoyed sizzling temper, insides twisting with the


    anxiety his behaviour is giving me and ruining the calm I normally get from this pursuit.


    “Thank fuck.” Alexi darts up and sloshes even more water over me, soaking my hair that I was trying to


    keep dry and just stands in front of me in all his glory. A little lobster red from the chest down and


    oblivious to the fact he is standing bollock naked, staring, while I simmer and rage at him.


    “Can we go have sex now?” he asks innocently, and I throw my bloody head support at him, whipping it


    off its suction cups and aim right for his dick with aggressive intent. He dodges and bats it away and


    hits me with that devilish smile of his. Amused with his own behaviour despite my obvious rage.


    “Fuck off, you wanker.”


    “Enjoy your rose scented wine water. I will await you on the bed … take your time. I have third-degree


    burns to recover from.” He hops out, grabs a towel and saunters off with it, not even trying to cover up


    or dry himself and I flop back with an exasperated ‘argh.’


    “Don’t hold your breath. I happen to like long soaks that take hours!!” I yell after him, tone tight and


    snippy. Intent on punishing the sod for being his usual prick self.


    I won’t make the mistake of trying to entice that tosser into something I deem romantic ever again.


    Alexi cannot be coerced. I should remember that.


    He thinks I don’t know he deliberately goaded me into throwing him out; he knew exactly what he was


    doing. He wanted to act like he was making the effort and I did ask him, yet he’s really not romantic at


    all.


    Dickhead.


    I should have known better!