Page 120 of Your Sharpest Edge
I looked over at her, clothes piled in one hand, before turning back toward the door. “I do.”
Everything ached for her. Love was such a silly word in comparison to what I felt for Anastasia. I didn’t love her, I was consumed by her. I wanted to protect her, cherish her, help her in every way she wanted.
“No,” I shook my head. “I don’t just love you, Anastasia. I breathe for you and Damien. I always have.”
She turned toward me and took three steps in my direction before flinging herself at me and wrapping her arms around my neck. I dropped the clothes and grabbed her by her waist, very aware she was naked beneath her satin robe. She pressed against me as her lips collided with mine.
Her kiss consumed me. The way she smelled, the way her hair, which was usually slicked back, fell down straight past hershoulders in her ponytail. She had a beautiful, angular face, and her bright blue eyes were pools of desire. She was everything.
“You’re mine,” I whispered.
The elevator dinged, reminding us we were in the very public lobby as Anastasia pulled away.
I handed her the pile of clothes. “Hold these.”
She held them against her breasts, covering her nipples, and then dashed out, barefoot, through the marbled lobby. Her robe had come undone, and only the clothes were covering her bits.
“Miss,” someone yelled, “you can’t be naked in the hallway.” An exasperated sigh came from the front desk.
I walked leisurely behind her, shooting a warning glance at whoever was behind the desk.Do not fuck with her, or you’ll have to deal with me—that’s what I hoped my look conveyed.
Anastasia’s blonde hair bounced as she ran through the hallway down to the public elevator. She was breathless by the time the elevator doors slid shut, and as it ascended, Anastasia broke into a fit of giggles.
Her laughter was the best thing I had ever heard, second only to Damien’s. It was infectious and pure, a sound that seemed to light up the confined space of the elevator. I could listen to it all day. And she laughed all the way down the hallway.
44
stassi
Alex and I had spent the last twenty minutes in complete silence—not an awkward or uncomfortable silence, but the kind that felt natural as we both came down from a high. After checking my phone to confirm we hadn’t heard from Ledger, I was in the middle of the hotel room, grabbing a pair of shorts I remembered to pack at the last minute and slipping on one of Alex’s shirts that I’d stolen while he was in the bathroom.
Shuffling came from the bathroom before the door closed, and then Alex emerged, wrapped in a towel. His body was a work of art, with so much definition in his broad chest that I wanted to trace the contours to memorize how they felt all over again. He was such a contradiction—a thick, broad-shouldered man, yet the same guy who cried when Damien was born.
“Stole something?” He nodded to my shirt.
I sighed. “Yeah. Hope you don’t mind.”
He wouldn’t.
“I like you in my clothes.”
I walked over to him and grabbed onto the towel around his waist. “Alex,” I murmured.
“Mmm?” He pressed his nose to my cheek and inhaled.
“Thank you,” I said as he moved to nibble my earlobe. I leaned in to give his lips room to explore.
“For what?”
“Everything,” I muttered. “You gave me everything. I never would have been able to do that before, and tonight I realized that without you anchoring me there... You were exactly what I was waiting for, what I needed, just like you’d always been.”
I gripped the towel with both hands, feeling his length against my body. He was hard, but I didn’t need to feel him to see in his eyes how much he wanted me.
“You’re all I’ve ever wanted. I...” He paused. “I think I’d been trying to chase a high for so long before I saw you again. The moment I saw you in the park, I knew you were going to be mine. This time, it was going to be forever.”
Something kept me from telling him I loved him, but I couldn’t quite figure out what it was. Maybe it was my fight-or-flight instinct, the awareness that everything was temporary. Despite trusting him and feeling safe, despite him giving me everything I could’ve dreamed of, something inside me just... couldn’t allow me to say it.
“Tell me what you liked about tonight.” His tone was rough and gravelly.
