Solace in Scandal (27 page)

‘Do you really want to talk scandals, Caroline? Underhanded schemes?’

Alex stepped forward, dropping Elena’s hand. She reached for him, but the tables had turned. Hanson was now keeping his client away from the reporter. He’d planted his heels into the ground and was pressing his shoulders back into Alex’s chest to keep him off the nasty little journalist.

‘Is it true that you slept with the sixty-year-old station manager in Buffalo to get an anchor spot?’

The look of glee on the reporter’s face froze.

Vasquez had his cellphone out and was making his own documentation of the confrontation.

‘Alex,’ Elena breathed. She didn’t want to go down this road. They had to take the higher ground. She’d been dragged through the muck for too long. They both had. She hated what this was going to do to him. She knew how reporters twisted things around.

His voice dropped to a cutting tone. Ax, indeed. ‘I have it on good authority that you’re doing the same here. Is that how you plan to get to the top, Caroline?’

‘Cut,’ the woman hissed at her cameraman. She made a slashing motion across her throat. ‘Stop filming.’

The man merely stood there, gaping at her. Anger flooded his face and his brow crumpled. From his response, there might be some truth to Alex’s angry words.

Elena caught Vasquez by the back of his jacket. They didn’t need to stick around to see any more. ‘Go,’ she ordered. ‘Get us out of here. Now!’

Back at the penthouse, Elena thanked the bodyguards. They’d showed why Alex had hired them. They’d whisked them out of the zoo so fast, she barely remembered riding in the golf cart again. James had been waiting with the car running at the gate. They’d all executed their jobs with the utmost of skill, and she was grateful they’d been there.

But it was time for them to go.

She politely shooed them out of the penthouse and into the elevator lobby. Vasquez hesitated. He didn’t say anything, but he did lift an eyebrow.

‘I’ll be fine,’ she assured him.

Alex was inside the apartment and at the bar. He’d already knocked back one shot of whiskey. He was still steaming from the reporter’s ambush – not of him, but of her – and he wasn’t in good shape.

‘Will he?’ the bodyguard asked.

She nodded. ‘I’ve got him.’

She’d take care of him. All he’d been doing since they’d returned to the city was try to take care of her.

Vasquez nodded. ‘I’d like to post one man here and another downstairs.’

He lifted his hand when she started to protest. ‘In case any reporter tries to use the stairwell.’

She rolled her eyes. She hadn’t even considered the idea. It would be a long haul, but after tonight, there wasn’t much she’d put past the media.

‘OK. Thank you for everything.’ The security detail hadn’t only protected them physically. Vasquez had forwarded his recording of the incident to both Alex’s lawyers and his PR team during the ride home.

‘You’re welcome, Miss.’

She waited until the elevators closed before she went into the penthouse. She shut and locked the door behind her. Leaning back against it, she considered her options. Alex wasn’t at the bar any more. He was pacing across the living room like a wolf locked up in an enclosure that was too small.

He dragged a hand through his hair and shot her a look. ‘I knew I should have stayed away from you.’

She flinched.

His eyes held a wild cast, but he knew exactly what was going on. He knew the security personnel had left. He was on top of everything, but he’d lost the key with which he usually locked down his emotions.

‘Why?’ she asked, bracing herself.

‘Because I’m no good for you. I’ve dragged you back into this mess, when you’d nearly crawled your way out.’

She let out a breath, but her tension didn’t ease.

‘I had some part in the decision.’ As rapidly as he was pacing, she was holding just as still.

He pulled off his jacket and tossed it on the sofa as he strode past. ‘They’re never going to give up. They’re going to keep coming after me until –’

Elena pushed away from the door, her heart nearly stopping. Until what? Until he couldn’t take it any more?

He stopped abruptly, swore and pivoted in the other direction. ‘The only thing that might satisfy them is for me to repay the investors. I’ve tried to find a way to do that, but I can’t. I won’t sacrifice my own company. I won’t bastardise it, and I won’t jeopardise my people.

‘Damn him.’ He swept up the empty shot glass on the bar and slammed it down. ‘Damn them both.’

Elena cried out when the thick glass broke. ‘Alex.’

She rushed over so fast, she didn’t feel her feet touching the ground.

‘Careful,’ he warned, holding up his hand to keep her away.

‘You be careful.’ She caught his wrist and made him open his hand. ‘Are you cut? Did it get you?’

Amazingly, she saw no traces of red. Instead of shattering, the thick glass had cracked, and the web had widened near the lip. She dragged him around the bar, turned on the faucet and made him wash away any splinters that might remain. She threw the broken glass in the trash and patted his hand dry with a bar towel.

She let out a long breath when she finally assured herself he wasn’t injured. ‘Don’t scare me like that. None of this is worth it.’

‘But you are.’ He looked straight down at her. That muscle in his jaw was going strong.

She trembled, adrenalin and emotion pushing her to the brink, too. ‘You can’t let these things bottle up. The only way for it to come out is in an explosion.’

‘I can keep it contained if it’s just me, but they came after
you
.’ He cupped her face with shaking hands. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t get there sooner. I didn’t know that news crews could even get on the premises. It’s a public place, but the party was private.’

‘It’s OK.’ She laid both hands on his chest. It was one of the only ways she knew to soothe him, and he was further gone than she’d seen him in a long time.

Because of her.

She’d known she was the weak link, and tonight had proved it. That vindictive reporter had separated her from the group and gone after her with teeth bared. As calm as she was trying to make him, Elena felt her own hands balling into fists. ‘I’m OK,’ she insisted. ‘I’m not that thin-skinned. I’m angrier about the things the woman said about you.’

The wildness in him practically clawed at the surface. ‘You’re
not
OK.’

Gripping her by the waist, he lifted her and planted her on the bar. Bracing his hands flat by her hips, he leaned in so they were eye-to-eye. ‘After that stunt, that witch won’t work in this town again. My lawyers are already on it.’

‘The things she said about you and your grandfather!’ Elena smacked her hand on the countertop. ‘I wanted to claw her eyes out.’

The sound sliced through the air, and Alex paled. ‘The glass.’

Catching her wrist, he turned her hand to see. It wasn’t cut, but it might be bruised. She hadn’t realised how hard she’d hit the granite. Cursing the reporter’s name, he kissed her hand gently. He wiped the countertop down and braced himself again.

His weight was held on his arms, and all his emotions were right there on his face. His walls had crumbled and his defences were laid flat. The ferocity was still in his eyes as he looked at her, and the expression was raw. ‘They can say whatever they want about me, but I can’t deal with them going after you.’

His head dropped and Elena cupped the back of his neck. His muscles were strung like piano wire. She caressed them gently and he shuddered.

‘They can lock me up again, I don’t care, but I will not tolerate them hurting you.’

‘Alex.’ She couldn’t bear to hear that. Not that.

He took a deep breath that rocked his whole body. She kissed his temple and wrapped her arms around him. ‘She’s nothing. Don’t do this to yourself. She’s not worth it.’

Elena’s heart ached. They were caught in an impossible situation. They never should have come back to New York, but they couldn’t stay at the manor for ever.

Where was their place in the world?

There had to be one. She remembered the omega wolf she’d seen at the zoo tonight. It was at the bottom of the pack structure. It took nippings and beat-downs from the rest of the pack, but it was still loved. It was still included and valued. The world outside their door was trying to take her alpha male and reduce him to less than even that.

She couldn’t bear the thought of him beaten and broken.

Especially because of her.

She ran kisses over his cheek. Cupping his face, she brought his mouth up to hers. The kiss was soft and poignant. Gentle and heartfelt.

Words were barely reaching him. She tried to show him how she felt through touch.

He kissed her back. Their mouths moulded and their breaths meshed. His hands came up to cup her head. His fingers tangled in her hair as he kept the kisses slow and drugging.

There was no flashpoint, no rampaging drive to tear off each other’s clothes.

What they needed was to connect.

He stroked her hair away from her face. ‘I need to hold you.’

She scooted forward on the counter.

He didn’t even allow her feet to touch the ground. Sliding his arm underneath her knees, he picked her up and cradled her against his chest. Elena held him tightly, snuggling into his neck. Those jagged emotions were smoothing out, but his heart was still pounding. She could see his pulse. She brushed her lips over the fluttering vein.

He was twice her size and muscularly honed, yet she still felt the overwhelming need to protect him.

He carried her down the hall, his footsteps muffled by the plush carpeting. The only sounds in the whole apartment were the refrigerator humming and their breaths. That silence was punctuated when he carried her inside the bedroom and firmly shut the door behind them.

He used his foot, but he didn’t kick. That gave it all the more meaning.

He was shutting the world outside and locking them in together. Willingly. Intentionally.

She shivered.

‘Are you cold?’

‘No.’ She was moved.

He set her on her feet, and they shared another lingering kiss. Neither hurried as they undressed. As difficult as the evening had been, there should be scars and open wounds, yet all the hurting was on the inside.

He pulled back the covers and she slid in. She held out her arms and he came to her naturally. His athletic movement was so graceful. He turned out the lights and they lay facing each other.

His hand swept up her side and came to a rest on her breast. She ran her hand down his ribcage. So strong, yet so vulnerable. He only let her see that. As much as he’d fought against letting her in, he’d become crystal clear to her. Her palm found a resting place on his hipbone, and her fingers lay softly against his thigh.

He kissed her forehead and the tip of her nose before finally meeting her lips.

‘I’m sorry I’m not as strong as you,’ she whispered. ‘If I’d just ignored her or walked on by …’

His hold on her breast tightened.

‘I’m not strong,’ he replied. ‘I’ve been hardened. I don’t want that to ever happen to you.’

She sighed and kissed his collarbone. She felt such a connection with him like this. It was the calm in the eye of the storm. Rubbing her cheek against his chest, she thought back to when they’d first met. They’d somehow found a way to each other, even with all the obstacles in their path. They’d found the heart of each other. Why wouldn’t others do the same?

At the very least, why couldn’t they just let them be?

She stroked his shadowy beard and kissed him with more heat. They were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t. They might as well take solace in one another.

‘Do you need me, Siren?’

‘You know I do.’

He caressed her breast and stroked her down to her flank. Catching her knee, he pulled her top leg over his hip. The position was easy and free. Elena stretched and rolled her hips towards him. That same wicked hand glided over her bottom, and her toes pointed in pleasure when he explored the heart of her.

He rubbed her intimately, preparing her.

She bit her lip to hold back a moan, but it came out when he tweaked her sensitive nub.

‘Don’t hold back with me.’ His mouth covered hers and his tongue pressed deep. ‘Ever.’

She worked her hand between their bodies. She explored him fearlessly with palm and fingers. When her nails scraped ever so gently along the underside of his erection, he jerked.

It was enough for him.

They shifted on the covers until they were positioned just right. Elena hitched herself up and then he was there, at her entrance. Their mouths locked together and their fingers laced at her hip. With one long, continuous thrust, he took her.

Her moan was soft and airy.

He inhaled the scent of her hair.

And then they began to rock.

Slowly. Passionately. Their coming together wasn’t frenzied and feral, but that didn’t make it any less momentous. The need was just as strong, but it was accompanied by emotion and meaning.

Maybe it always had been.

Their bodies undulated together, finding a rhythm. They weren’t racing towards an end. It was all about the connection.

Alex groaned. ‘You are so tight, so hot. It’s like you don’t want to give me up.’

Elena tucked her face into the pillow. ‘I don’t.’

He felt so good moving inside her. Hard and thick.

Words fell into touches. Their bodies warmed and their skin clung. The air in the room became steamy as they rode one another. Sighs blended with grunts. Caresses stoked the fire.

When they came, it was as one. Their bodies arched. Their muscles tensed. Elena let out a soft cry and Alex whispered her name.

When they finally floated down from the high, neither was ready for it to end. They stayed connected, physically and emotionally, as the night darkened the room. They fell asleep in each other’s arms with the world held at bay. The night was theirs.

But they both knew that daylight would come much too soon.

* * *

Things changed after that. They worked from the penthouse the next day, and Elena made dinner for them the next night. The following day was the same. And the next.