Best Friends' Reckless Cravings

7. Back Off, Lena

The way Alex stood in her doorway made Lena's pulse thrum low in her belly. She wanted to reach out, yank that tie loose, and drag his mouth to hers until he forgot whatever had him looking like he wanted to burn the world down.

But she couldn't, not with Sam still here, his presence a goddamn cockblock.

"Not at all. You came just in time. Sam and I just finished."

"Finished what?"

Lena let her fingers toy with the corner of her towel, tugging it down just enough to reveal fresh skin. "What does it look like, Alexi?"

Sam appeared beside her then, fully dressed now. He cleared his throat. "Uh, thanks for tonight, Lena. I'll get going."

"Not yet, handsome. You have to help me with my wounds." She smiled, licking her lips. "It's in a tricky spot."

"Leave." Alex interrupted, stepping inside and shouldering past Sam with a death glare that could have melted steel.

"Right. See you at work, Lena." Sam hurried out.

The sound of the door shutting echoed through her apartment. Alex stood with his back to her.

"What happened?"

"You mean Sam?" Lena wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling the chill of the air conditioning on her damp skin.

"You know exactly what I mean." He turned around, his eyes immediately going to the bruise on her face.

A sigh slipped out. The playfulness drained from her, replaced by creeping memories of steel against her skin.

"He broke in again."

Alex went still.

Lena nodded, and a shaky laugh escaped. "Turns out bail's a b***h. He had a knife this time. Couldn't overpower him like last time. He pinned me. And I... I couldn't..."

The memories made her body shake. His weight on her, the cold press of the blade against her throat, the way he'd laughed when she screamed. Her hand flew to her toweled stomach, pressing against the stitches she'd accidentally ripped just before Alex arrived.

Alex was in front of her in an instant. His hands cupped her face, thumbs brushing away tears she hadn't realized were falling.

He pulled her against his chest, one arm banding around her waist, the other cradling the back of her head. "I'm sorry. I should've been there."

Lena sobbed lightly into his shirt, her fists clutching the fabric.

Her mind raced with things she'd never tell him. How Theo had punched her until her vision blurred, how he'd stabbed a fork into her thigh just to hear her scream, how she'd only gotten free by driving it into his neck and leaving him choking on his own blood, how she'd tried calling Alex countless times from the ambulance.

"Do you know him?"

"Yeah." Her voice was muffled against his chest. "Theo Crane. He's a regular at Zentharis. Hit on me a few times and wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Okay you are DONE with that place."

"Excuse me?" She pulled back.

His eyes burned into hers. "You're not going back there. Your safety comes first."

Before she could argue, a sharp cramp lanced through her left hand—the one she'd broken when Theo threw her onto her coffee table. Lena hissed in pain, stumbling back, and the towel slipped from her body.

Alex's gaze flicked down to the towel pooling at her feet, then back up to her face so fast she almost missed it. His expression didn't change.

"You're bleeding."

"It's fine."

"It's not fine." He scooped her up easily like she weighed nothing. His arms were solid beneath her, his chest warm where she pressed her cheek. He set her gently on the couch.

His fingers hovered over the angry red gash on her thigh that had started bleeding again.

"s**t," he cursed.

Lena couldn't tear her gaze away from him. The way his brows furrowed, the way he rolled up his sleeves to his elbows. He was so f*****g hot like this, focused, intense, like he could fix everything with just a look.

He looked unaffected by her nakedness, but the quickened rise and fall of his chest, and the slight tremor in his hands told her he was fighting himself once again.

She wished he'd just kiss her, bite her, lick her. Instead, he got up, retreated to her bedroom, and returned with the first aid kit.

As he got to work, Lena couldn't help thinking:

"How do I get this man to drop the act?"

She'd said she'd make torture and make him beg, but she could go on her knees right now to beg for his touch.

"Why weren't you more careful?" he asked, dabbing antiseptic on her thigh wound, careful not to cause more pain.

"You mean why wasn't I careful while f*****g Sam?"

"I know you didn't sleep with him, Lena."

"Oh?" She couldn't hide her surprise. "What makes you so sure?"

His gaze flicked down for a second to her fatty mound.

"Because you don't look like someone who's been properly fucked." It came out almost a growl. "And because you don't have the balls to f**k someone who's not the one person you want."

Lena held her breath. Her core clenched on nothing, a fresh wave of wetness trickling down to her puckered rosette. She let her knees fall open farther, giving him a perfect view, and his pupils fixed on her core.

"Tell me... What does properly f****d look like, Alexi?"

At first he was quiet.

Then his hands clamped around her thighs, fingers digging in as he yanked her legs wide open.

"It looks like this," he rasped, "your pretty pink cunt gaping, slick and ruined, begging for more even after you've shattered. It means your thighs bruised from where I've held you down, your skin marked by my teeth, your voice hoarse from screaming my name." His breath ghosted over her peaked c**t. Lena's legs quivered, more gushes of wetness spilling from her.

"Oh... Alex..." she closed her eyes for a sec and squeezed her boob. "Call me your dirty girl. Call me kitten."

"No." He lifted his head, blue eyes feral like an untamed beast.

"f**k you!" she spat, while a grin crept onto his lips and he stood.

The denial only sharpened the edge of her need. Lena flipped and got on her knees, wiggling my cheeks at Alex.

She knew Alex was an ass freak. He's never mentioned it, but Nancy accidentally blurted it out once when they were together.

"Eat me, Alex. Lick me until I break." Her own fingers slid down to rub her c**t desperately. She needed that release. "Alex!" She groaned in frustration when she didn't feel him on her skin, plunging two of her fingers into her dripping heat.

Then... his palm connected with her right butt cheek in a hard spank.

"Ahh," she moaned, walls fluttering around her fingers. She should have known he wouldn't be able to resist that ass and used it from the beginning.

"Bad girl..." it sounded low in his throat, before delivering another spank, the sting blending with pleasure.

One more spank and her body seized, orgasm ripping through her.

She cried out as she came, and Alex, he didn't touch her after. Lena expected nice rubs to cool the sting and pet her, but when she looked back, she saw the disgust in his eyes.

Her heart dropped.

"I'll send a car to take you to the hospital and a hotel afterwards. You'll stay there until I find a place that's safe for you." He was walking away, the bulge still visible in his pants.

"Alex! I'm not taking your charity and you can't just leave after that!"

"Yes I can. There's so much at stake." He didn't turn back. "And you'll understand what I mean by morning."

Lena was confused, but understanding dawned the next morning when she woke up.

The news of the alliance between VossTech's Alex Voss and The White Group's Nancy White was everywhere.

Alex had finally made their engagement public.

"Back off, Lena," it seemed to say.

Lena was fighting back tears when an email came in: "Your employment has been terminated."

As if that wasn't enough, another email arrived almost immediately: "Your membership has been cancelled.”