He was exasperated, but he would not back down.He hadn’t gotten to where he was in life by giving up.
He climbed down from the tree and began walking back to his clothes.He glanced at the mansion in the distance.He hadn’t even considered the other factors in his life.He would have to explain his business to her —how he had made his fortune.He shook his head.None of that mattered.The first thing he had to do was conquer the damsel.Once that was done, everything else would follow.
He would get Alice to be his Baby Girl and his queen.
Chapter Nine
Alice lay awake inbed.She stared at the ceiling.She didn’t know how long she’d been tossing and turning.She couldn’t calm her thoughts or her body.
She had gone to bed shortly after Nessa had arrived, complaining of a headache.Really, she just wanted to be alone with her thoughts.She was restless.She had tried journaling, but the words were not flowing so she’d opted to play some soothing music and try to get some sleep.It wasn’t working.Her thoughts raced in all directions.
First, she replayed the encounter with Axel in the bar.What if she had said yes to him then?Would they have ended in a back room?His hot mouth on hers.His firm torso pressed to her breasts.The space too small for them to maneuver but enough for them to satiate the heat coursing through them.
She groaned and turned to one side.He was a shifter.She wasn’t sure what that meant.The new species had come out recently and not a lot was known about them, except that they could change at will into other creatures.Some of them hunted.
Did Axel hunt?Where?And weren’t lions notorious for having a pride?He’d said he had one.The tattoo on his chest was the symbol of his pack.Weren’t male lions accompanied exclusively by female lions?Was that why he had been accompanied by those women at the bar?Were they part of his pride?Were the scantily dressed women lionesses at his beck and call?Where did that leave her?
It couldn’t be.Could it?He was too old for them.Old.Nessa had said so and she was right.Old enough to be your father.She didn’t know if that was the case, but she felt as if it didn’t matter.So, what if he was older?He had more experience, more knowledge.At his side she could navigate this world fearlessly.It didn’t matter that he was older.He was more mature.More worldly.She was the problem.She was too young.She didn’t have a lot to offer.She was a recent graduate, working to survive and little more.She liked to read, doom scroll through her phone, and occasionally hang out with her friends.What could she offer him that he didn’t have or that he could find elsewhere?He’d lived countless adventures, she was certain.She was boring in comparison.Nothing.She had nothing to offer.
She turned to the other side, brushing her breast in the process.
Except one thing.He seemed to be interested in that: her sex.She lay on her back.Why was she worrying about offering him anything else?He hadn’t asked.This wasn’t about love.It wasn’t about partnership.Heck, it wasn’t even about friendship.She didn’t know him, and he didn’t know her.There was only one thing that tied them together.Sex.
He had demonstrated an unabashed sexual interest in her.She could have a one-night fling.Right?She’d never had one before, but surely she could manage.It would have been perfect if Nessa hadn’t arrived when she did.With the momentum ruined she’d recovered her bearings and that brief moment where she’d felt endless peace in his arms, vanished.She couldn’t go on.All that was left of her encounter was a pair of wet panties and a sense of shame.But he was gone now and so was Nessa.She was alone in her room.She could dream.Pretend they would find each other again and when they did, he’d kiss her senseless.Her breath would be stolen from her lungs and her knees would buckle but he’d catch her.“Baby Girl,” he’d whisper.
“Daddy,” Alice murmured in the darkness of her bedroom.
He caressed her cheeks, his fingertips soft and arousing every inch of her body from the simple touch.She arched into him, silently beckoning for more.
“That’s my good girl.”He stopped at her neck.She glanced at him.Slowly, he reached lower, opening the first button of her shirt.She bit her bottom lip to keep from moaning.
He dipped lower.One by one, he popped the buttons, until there were none left.He opened her shirt, exposing her breasts.
“Beautiful,” he muttered.“Take off the shirt, Baby Girl.”
She would comply without a word, casting it aside.In her bedroom, she rid herself of her pajama t-shirt.