My first orgasm was graceless, a panting, bucking thing that came out of nowhere. I rode him as my body became sunlight, as starbursts exploded along my skin. His hands seared my hips with pleasure, and I called his name to the ceiling. Over and over, again and again, out of control, at the mercy of instinct.
When I opened my eyes, I found Alex staring up at me, his gaze singed with lust. “That was so fucking hot.” He rocked his cock deeper, grinning wickedly as I gasped. “And so was that. I like watching you lose yourself.” He thrust again, slowly slicking himself into me, gaining speed, faster, greedy, chasing his own want with such abandon I felt myself falling again, spiraling into ecstasy as pleasure bloomed across his face.
I finished with him, my head tossed back, his eyes closed as his lips parted. When his gaze finally met mine, he grinned. “I think you just earned a raise.”
I slapped his chest. “Not funny.”
“Are you sure? I thought it was and we both know I have a better sense of humor than you.”
I lifted my hips, then shifted off him, collapsing by his side. “There you go again, thinking you know all the things, when simple stuff eludes you. You know, like don’t break into your neighbor’s house or tell her secrets to your friends.”
Alex brushed my hair back from my face. “I know that you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I know the more I learn about you, the more I want to know. I know that I’ll do everything in my power to show you how amazing you are.”
His eyes glistened with truth and mine glistened with sweet tears, which I quickly brushed away as he headed for the bathroom to clean up.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Evie
The next morning I opened my eyes to find Alex kneeling beside the bed, watching me through his phone. Sunlight filled the room, catching in his curls and twinkling in his eyes. “Wait,” he said. “Don’t move.”
I jerked my face away from the camera. “What are you doing?”
“I said don’t move.” Alex shifted and the bed bounced. “That would’ve been the perfect picture,” he said with a sad sigh.
Something in his statement made me smile, and I peeked over my shoulder to find him grinning. “Why are you taking pictures of me in my sleep?”
“I figured I’d post it to Greta’s Facebook page so the residents of Wildrose Landing can figure out who won the pot.” Alex shifted again, his phone coming into focus as he set up another shot. “My money’s on Jude.”
I yanked the covers over my head. “Have you learned nothing? What is it about ‘I’m a private person’ means ‘please share pictures of me sleeping on the internet?’” I risked a peek out of the covers to find Alex crouching beside me, grinning as he closed and locked his phone. “Also, people were betting on when we’d sleep together?”
“You’re adorable, you know that?”
“You’re not too bad yourself.” I sat up and returned his grin. “You’re not really going to post those on the internet, are you?” As much as I wanted to be cool and nonchalant about the whole thing, the thought of my slobbering face squished against a pillow hitting Greta’s feed didn’t exactly make my morning.
“I’ll definitely be posting these.” When my jaw dropped, Alex laughed. “I’m joking, silly. These are private. If I had my way, no one but me would see you like this ever again. Your post-coital sexiness is mine from this point forward.”
With his curls crazed from sex and sleeping and a crooked grin sliding across his face, Alex looked downright edible. How was it that someone as normal as me had ended up in this man’s bed? What had I done to deserve the Alexander Prescott looking at me like I was the most precious thing he’d ever laid eyes on? He was a bestseller. Had friends and family who loved him. An entire town who cared about what he was doing and who he was doing it with.
I was just…me.
I curled into him. “Have you even seen this Facebook post everyone keeps talking about? I can’t bring myself to look.”
“Oh, I’ve seen it. And there’s more than one post.” Alex’s fingers flicked across his phone and opened Facebook. He took a quick look, then covered the screen as his brows creased. “You’re not gonna like this.”
I reached for the phone, but he jerked it away. “Come on, Alex. Let me see.”
“There’s nothing to see.” He hid the device behind his back, and I lunged for it.
“Then there’s no reason to hide it from me.”
Alex pushed me back onto the bed and straddled me. “If I tell you, you promise not to freak out?”
I shrugged. “I’ll try…”
Carefully, Alex pulled the device from behind him. “Greta posted a new pic this morning. It’s blurry, probably because she was standing on her front porch and zooming in to see us, but that definitely looks like you coming inside with me last night.”
“Please tell me you’re kidding.” I snatched the phone from him.
Alas, he was not kidding, though the pic was so grainy we could have been anyone, anywhere. I scrolled and found a few familiar names in the discussion. “Did you see this?” I pointed to a comment. “Izzy says ‘Can confirm the chemistry was off the charts.’ And Jude added ‘You all have me to thank for this.’” I dropped the phone and closed my eyes. “How are you so cool about this?”
“It’s not that big of a deal, Evie.” Frustration crept into Alex’s voice.
“It is to me. I’m a—”
“Very private person. I know.” He grinned as he gathered me in his arms. “You weren’t very private when you were shrieking my name last night.”
“That’s because no one was around to
