The Millionaire Door Prize (Erotic Romance) (8 page)

It is Always Darkest
Before the Dawn

Xander put his arm around her, pushed the button to the top floor, and holding her to him, kissed her temple. “Just trust me, Alyssa,” he whispered, then rest his cheek against her hair. She clung to him faltering off balance in her state of unknowing. When the elevator stopped and the door opened, Xander helped her out. She took careful steps and held her hands in front of her.

“Trust me, I won’t hurt you
,” he promised, stopping after a short walk. Xander opened the door, had her step forward, then closed it. She reached for the scarf, but he took hold of her hand, leading her to the sofa.

Xander framed her face
with his hands; then he kissed her. Alyssa’s lips quivered under his soft warm lips. She looked around though she could not see, but still very responsive. “Alyssa,” he said, but his voice sounded . . . distressed. She reached for him, touching his face, his shoulders, then lowering them to rest at his bent elbows.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he mumbled, “but I need to let you know a few things.” The tone of his voice set her on edge. He watched her tremble before him, but inside he was now a frazzled bundle of nerves, biting at his lower lip and looking troubled. He swallowed his apprehension, drew in a deep breath, and blew it out.

“What things?” she asked
, retrieving her hands, but he was quick to take hold of them, pressing them to his chest. His heart raced beneath her hand. Xander removed the scarf. She blinked her eyes, looking around the immaculate room. There was a pristine, white sofa with a carved, wooden frame. Two matching chairs sat apart with a matching settee. The coffee table was glass, with a silvery finish and golden accents. The drapes were cobalt blue tied back with silver and white twisted cords. Underneath, shear curtains billowed from the cool breeze wafting in the open French doors of the balcony. Alyssa looked at Xander, not sure what to say and why they were there.

“Where are we?”

“The penthouse suite.”

“You’re allowed up here?” she asked
, smiling at the beauty that surrounded them. Just over Xander’s shoulder, she spied a huge kitchen area with a white-brown swirled marble countertop. Four barstools with white wooden backs sat like statues.

“This is my new
. . . place to live,” he said. She looked at him, furrowing her eyebrows.

“Why?”

“Because I have pretty much earned it.”

“I don’t understand.”

“The past few months have been a buzz around here in preparation of my twenty-fifth birthday.”

“Wow
, it sure was a buzz,” she said with a soft laugh.

“That was just the finish of it, but all the previous things were
. . . well my inheritance and my position.”

“Your
uncle gave you the hotel?” She sounded surprised.

“Technically he was just
. . . managing it for me until the time came when I was old enough for the responsibility.”

“This is yours?”

“Yes, does it change things between us?” He looked worried.

“Why would it change things?”

“Because money changes people; sadly not in good ways at times.”

“What does it have to do with me?”

“Because I want to share all of this with you. Like I said, I believe in my heart and soul that fate brought you to me for a reason. Right now I want to share all I have with you. You’ve taught me so much in . . . well . . . a day, and I don’t want to lose that,” he confessed.

“Are you asking me to marry you?”

“Do you want me to?”

“Ah, no
. Let’s just play it one day at a time.” She licked her lips, then bit at them.

“Then I guess tossing your pills in the garbage isn’t something I should do just yet
,” he dared to say.

“You what?”

“Not yet I didn’t.” he raised an eyebrow, daring her to challenge him on the idea of it. “You know, there is a ring that matches all of this,” he mentioned, kissing the back of her hand. Xander took her by the hand and pulled her out onto the balcony with him. She pulled back from him ,not budging. Her eyes were wide with fright as she eyed up the balcony.

“I’m afraid of heights
,” she said, looking horrified. Xander held her to him as she stepped onto the balcony.

“So your terms
, mademoiselle?” he asked as they gazed over the city, aglow with twinkling lights.

“I’m not sure.”

“What are you afraid of?” he asked. She kept staring with wide eyes at the floor of the balcony as if it would just drop out from under them. “What are you afraid of, my love?” he repeated. “Just talk to me, Alyssa. You need to learn to speak your mind. I am not patient all the time. I like straightforwardness. Only with you do I enjoy playing this cat and mouse game. It is teasing; it seems to create
sexual
tension between us.”

“It was only
. . .”

“Yesterday,” he supplied.

“Yeah, yesterday that it all started between us.”

“Do you regret a second of it?”

“No, none of it. Had I not returned to you, I would probably have crawled back to him.”

Xander nibbled at his upper lip
, opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. “Do you still have . . . feelings for him?” She smirked and shrugged a shoulder. “Why would you wish to endure a moment more of what he has done to you when you can stay here with me and be happy, be cherished, be loved?” he asked, using a knuckle to tilt her chin back toward him.

“I don’t want you to think that I am
. . . using you.”

“Why would you even say that
, let alone think it? You’ve done nothing like that. I brought you into my world because I wanted to help you. I think I’ve achieved that much, and not once did you use me. You took my virginity . . . well I let you have it,” he said, grinning. She blushed again. “This is the best birthday ever!” he proclaimed.

Alyssa rested her head against Xander’s chest.

“Now, for that question I asked you before you first made love to me,” he said, feeling her body tense. “So . . . are you willing to stay here with me?”

“Yes,” she whispered
, raising her head to kiss his neck.

“Okay
.” He swallowed. “Now, about your unless . . . terms. What do you want to bring to the table?”

“Will I still work?”

“No, I would like that you not. I’d prefer you to always be near me so if I get horny thinking about you, we can take advantage of
every
moment.”

She
exhaled a breathy giggle. “I’m a traditional girl. I’m not materialistic. I don’t mind elaborate gifts like what you gave me to wear, but I don’t live for it. Does that make me look bad in your eyes?”

“Never
! I will always ask before I go buying you the world.” He kissed her temple. “First thing is, you are getting a new phone—that
thing
is going in the garbage. You don’t want anyone seeing you with that dinosaur and whispering in pity about you.”

“I don’t do the bells and whistle things.
I talk on it, nothing more,” she stated.

“Fair enough
.”

“Will we be going to elaborate parties all the time?
I don’t mind them, but . . . well, I am a stay at home type girl; not so fancy and terribly shy.”

He kissed her cheek.
“You are just going to have to deal with it, but they are not a constant.”

“Then that means more dresses and jewelry
,” she whined.

“We
’ll buy as we go then. The jewelry can be borrowed. There is no need to buy it.”

“Okay, I can agree to that.”
She smiled up at him.

“And
just to let you know, you took your last pill today,” he stated, looking her in the eyes. Alyssa thinned her eyes staring at him in quiet thought.

“
Wh-What if I get pregnant?” she stammered.

“Then
, my soon-to-be-wife . . . you will deal with it. I want many children; not an only child, I want a lot. Does that scare you? If so you can leave now. I will not push things upon you that you don’t want or I don’t think you’ll love,” he said.

“Was that your way of proposing?” she asked
, startled by his boldness.

“No, of course not.
I want to make love to you many more times before I even let the thought cross my mind,” he said, winking at her and smiling that alluring tease of a smile.

“Maybe I don’t want to get married
,” she challenged.

“You want the whole package deal.
You want the romance, the love, and the endless sex, but mainly you want and need the love. You want that Hollywood ending just like me,” he said as though it were a matter-of-fact. She blinked her eyes to ward off her tears.

“Are you open to many different things
. . . sexual things, I mean?” she boldly asked.

“I am new to this my lady
; of which do you ask?” he said, mimicking his earlier British voice. He knew little about fetishes from videos he’d watched and wondered if she was leaning toward the most interesting . . . things he’d seen.

“Sort of a bondage
. . .
light
bondage maybe?” she said her voice quavered.

He raised an eyebrow
and gave her a devious, quite interested grin. She looked away. Xander touched her chin, bringing her eyes back to his.

“
Light
bondage sounds intriguing. It’s a start, and if we don’t bring our terms to the table, then we have no communication,” he said, kissing the tip of her nose.

Alyssa played with Xander’
s lapel somewhat in a trance, feeling the downy material under her fingertips. He watched the play of emotions on her face, the shy smile, her eyes darting everywhere in avoidance of the words that begged to escape her moist supple lips. She kept licking and opening them as if to speak, but no words emerged.

Xander’s heart raced wildly
, wondering why she was all of the sudden so bashful. She must have read his thoughts. Raising her eyes to meet his, she sighed and her sweet anxious smile caused his heart to nearly skip a beat.

“Are you ever going to
ravish me, because
you
dressed in
that
tux, me in
this
jewelry, and
this
place, are making me so
damn
horny!” she complained, her eyes taking him all in.

“Wow! Now those terms are a bit on the bossy side
,” he exclaimed. “I like. I like a lot.” He took her hand and led her to the sofa where he picked up the scarf and proceeded to blind fold her again. He then led her to the massive bedroom where he had her sit at the table he ordered brought up earlier.

He fed her fruit
, then kissed the dripping juices from her face, licking them up. Alyssa’s breath caught, and her body trembled with slight apprehension at his secret game. Xander set a strawberry in her cleavage and proceeded to bite at it, causing the juices to squirt everywhere. “Once I undress you, I will lick up the rest,” he promised, tracing his tongue along the swells of her heaving breasts.

Alyssa opened her legs
as if to offer him an invitation. Xander was pleased by her submission. Reaching under her dress, he touched his fingertips to her pussy.
Oh, man, is she ever wet!
He smiled when she spread her legs wider. Xander pushed up her dress. Reaching to grab her ass, he nudged her forward to the edge of the chair, and she obliged him. Xander stuck out his tongue and licked her wet panties, causing her to spasm and lean back. He did this a few more times, liking how she opened up to him and her legs quivered in sweet anticipation.

Xander picked her up
and kicked the chair out of the way so he could lay her over the bottom of the bed. He spread her legs and licked her pussy again. Alyssa wiggled all over the place. He smiled and reached for the glass of ice water on the table.

Xander poured the water on her
hot, wet pussy and she cried out. Her body shivered, and she burst into sweet laughter, gripping the sheets and exhaling in slow pants. He set the glass to the side and put his mouth on her pussy, breathing on it with his hot, moist breath. She moaned, begging for more. He pulled her panties to the side to lick her clit, which drove her even crazier, and to heighten that he slipped two fingers between her sweet lower lips deep into her. He grabbed the water and again poured it on her hot pussy making her cry out breathlessly. He tossed the glass to the side and went back to fingering her and licking her sensual clit.
That’s a glorious thing to watch,
he thought, pleased with himself when she came.

Alyssa
used her other senses to figure out what Xander was up to, her body shuddering in expectation of what he would do next. Xander pulled off her panties, tossing them over his shoulder. Xander had her sit up. She was still quivering. He helped her to stand.