Alejandro opened the car door and took my hand, helping me out. He’d told Jacob to park down the block so that we weren’t pulling up in his fancy car outside a shelter where the residents had very little. The fact that he’d thought of that surprised me. Maybe he wasn’t such an uncaring monster, after all?
He wasn’t dressed in his usual suit either, but was wearing jeans and a polo shirt, so his muscular arms and some of his tattoos were on display. Even dressed casually, he still looked hotter than the sun.
He kept hold of my hand as we walked down the street. I swallowed as we neared the shelter.
‘Are you nervous?’ he asked me.
God, why did he have to know me so well! ‘A little,’ I admitted.
‘Do you think I’m going to embarrass you?’ he said with a cock of one eyebrow.
‘No,’ I replied. ‘It’s just this has been my world for the past eight weeks, and now you’re going to see it, and it feels kind of strange.’
‘It will be fine,’ he said and then he leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss on the cheek. My heart almost stopped beating. It was such a tender act that it unnerved me.
This wasn’t him. It certainly wasn’t him and me. We fucked and we fought. We didn’t do this real husband and wife stuff. Had I made a huge mistake bringing him here? I supposed it was too late now.
A few seconds later, we were standing outside the shelter.
‘You ready?’ Alejandro asked.
I nodded.
As soon as we walked through the doors, we were accosted by Kristen, the shelter manager.
‘Alana!’ she shouted as she pulled me into a hug.
I hugged her back warmly. I loved Kristen. She was warm and fun and kind, and she had devoted her life to helping other people. She stepped back and smoothed her hair back from her face as she looked at Alejandro.
‘Kristen, this is my husband, Alejandro,’ I said with a feeling of pride that completely blindsided me. What did I have to be proud of? It wasn’t like any of what me and him shared was real. But, I felt it anyway.
‘Kristen,’ Alejandro said as he took her hand and kissed it. ‘It’s a pleasure to meet you.’
‘Oh, the pleasure is mine,’ she blushed.
‘This place looks great,’ Alejandro said as he looked around. ‘You must be doing an excellent job.’
Kristen put an arm around my shoulder. ‘Well, there is no way we’d be standing in this fine building if it wasn’t for your incredible wife. I think she must be our guardian angel, because before she showed up, we were about to be evicted from a building that was, quite frankly, falling apart.’
‘Kristen!’ I said as I felt the heat creeping over my neck and cheeks.
‘She’s awful at taking compliments, isn’t she?’ Kristen laughed, and Alejandro laughed too.
‘Yes, she is,’ he said and winked at me.
‘I can’t thank you enough for bringing her into our lives anyway, Mr. Montoya. I honestly don’t know what we’d do without her. You must be very proud.’
Alejandro looked at me and smiled and I felt my heart hammering in my chest. ‘Oh, I am,’ he said and if I didn’t know him better, I would have sworn he meant it.
‘Alana,’ I heard a voice behind us shout, breaking the moment. I turned to see Lucy walking towards us.
Lucy broke my heart. Sixteen years old, pregnant and with no family at all. Not that anyone else knew she was sixteen and pregnant – she had false documentation stating she was eighteen, and I still hadn’t worked out what I was going to do about it.
I hadn’t been able to get details of the father of her baby, other than he was older than her and his name was Blake. But, he sounded like very bad news. I’d spent so much time with her over these past few weeks, and I was growing to care for her deeply. She was such a sweet kid who had been dealt a crappy hand in life.
‘Lucy,’ I said with a smile as I gave her a quick hug. ‘I’d like you to meet, Alejandro.’
‘Is this your husband?’ she said as she looked him over.
‘I certainly am,’ Alejandro answered.
Lucy turned to me and grinned. ‘Way to go, Alana,’ she said and gave me a fist bump.
Alejandro slipped his hand around my waist, skimming my ass as he did and sending a shockwave of electricity through me. He pulled me towards him. ‘How about you show me around this place?’
‘Of course, come on,’ I said and we excused ourselves.
I had almost given Alejandro the full tour, which had taken some considerable time as I’d had to introduce him to every single person we met along the way. He was charming to everyone and I saw a glimpse of how the outside world must see him – the King of L.A. No wonder he had people constantly fawning all over him.
We were walking down the hallway, when Alejandro pulled me into the store cupboard, closing the door behind us and pressing me up against it before kissing me greedily. His hand slipped over my ass and he squeezed hard.
‘Not here,’ I breathed as I broke our kiss.
‘I know,’ he said as he lifted his hand and gently dusted his knuckles over my cheek. ‘I just had to kiss you, that’s all. I can wait until we get home to fuck you, or at least until we get in the car,’ he flashed his eyebrows at me.
‘You have sex on the brain,’ I said although I pulled his body closer and could feel the growing hardness through his jeans.
‘I have you on the brain, Mrs. Montoya,’ he said as he pulled his hips away from me and nipped my shoulder blade. ‘And seeing how much these people love you is only making me want to take you home and remind you that you’re mine.’
‘How could I forget?’ I said, placing my hands on his hard chest.
‘So, how much is this place costing me?’ he said with flash of his eyebrows.
I blinked at him. ‘What?’
‘This new shelter. How much am I in for?’
Sometimes, I could hardly believe the arrogance of this man. ‘Nothing,’ I said as I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to create some distance between us.
‘Nothing?’
I saw the surprise on his face and felt the satisfaction at him being completely clueless for once.
‘I have fundraised for every cent in this place. I haven’t used any of your money. I don’t need your money, Alejandro.’
‘What? Why haven’t you at least asked for a donation from the business.’
I shrugged. ‘I wasn’t sure that you’d be interested.’
‘You didn’t think that I’d be interested in helping abused women and children?’ he said with a scowl.
‘No,’ I replied.
His face changed in an instant and now it was full of anger and fire. He reached behind me and opened the door handle. ‘Let’s go,’ he growled.
I stepped out of the store room and he followed close behind me. I was about to say something to ease the tension that was now between us, but before I could he’d pulled his phone out of his pocket and had it pressed to his ear. A few seconds later, I heard him barking orders in Spanish.
Kristen and another of the workers, Casey, approached us as Alejandro put his phone away and he smiled at them, his mask firmly back in place.
‘Alana, I need to show you the TV in the rec room,’ Casey said. ‘It’s huge!’ She grabbed my hand and I gave Alejandro an apologetic shrug and left him talking to Kristen.
Twenty minutes later, I was chatting to a few of the kids in the den when Alejandro approached me.
‘Alana, it’s time to go,’ he said softly.
I checked my watch. It was getting late and I supposed I’d taken enough of his time. ‘Okay,’ I said.
We said goodbye to everyone and then walked out of the building. I saw the car waiting over the road and went to cross but Alejandro grabbed my arm and shook his head. Then Jacob approached us, and handed Alejandro a set of keys.
‘Be gentle with her, Boss, won’t you?’ he said.
Be gentle with who? I swallowed. Did he mean me? Was I about to punished for my earlier slight against him.
‘Of course, I will,’ he said with a smile.
‘Night, Mrs. Montoya,’ Jacob said with a nod and then he jogged over to the car.
Alejandro took my hand and started walking down the street in the direction Jacob had come from. ‘Here’s our ride,’ he said as he steered me towards an old Mustang.
So the she Jacob had been referring to was a car. Alejandro had lots of cars – all high end and top spec. I wondered who this old beat up Mustang belonged to, and why we were driving home in it. Suddenly, I felt incredibly anxious.
‘Why aren’t we taking the car?’ I asked him.
‘Because I’m taking you somewhere, and it’s not the kind of place I want to go in a limo.’
He opened the passenger door for me and I climbed inside. I leaned over and opened the lock on the drivers’ door panel for him. He slid into the seat and ran his hands lovingly over the steering wheel. That was when I realized this was his car, and that he wasn’t about to push it over a cliff with me inside.
‘Where are we going?’ I asked.
‘You’ll see,’ he replied as he started the engine. The car roared to life and he smiled to himself.
Half an hour later, we had driven out of the city and into the projects. Alejandro pulled up outside an old fashioned diner and turned off the engine.
‘Why are we here?’ I said as I looked around. It was one of the poorest places I’d ever seen and not the type of place I’d expect Alejandro to even know about.
‘My mother grew up in this neighborhood. Born and raised here until she met my father when she was seventeen. When I was a kid, she still used to come back here every Saturday morning to check on her old friends and neighbors. She always brought me with her and I learned to play basketball on the court right over there. That’s where I first met Jax too,’ he said as he pointed to the court in the distance. ‘My father used to try and stop her. He said it was too dangerous. But she used to sneak here anyway. It may sound crazy, but we were probably safer here than we ever were in our gated mansion.’
‘I didn’t realize,’ I said.
He shrugged. ‘Well, it’s not something you’d know about. All of her friends and neighbors have moved on now, but she still does a lot for the place. She donated the money for that library across the street. And this old diner was going to go under, but she convinced my father to buy it and give the place a makeover. It’s operated at a loss every year he’s owned it, because the food is so cheap,’ he said with a chuckle.
I laughed too. ‘That’s not a great business model.’
He turned to me. ‘No, it’s not.’
‘I see why you brought me here,’ I said. ‘And I’m sorry that I thought you wouldn’t be interested in helping people.’
‘You don’t need to apologize for your thoughts, Alana. To be honest, I’m happy for the world not to know about that side of my family.’
‘But you wanted me to know?’ I said, and my heart swelled in my chest.
‘It seems so,’ he said as he ran a hand over his jaw.
Suddenly, it felt like everything was becoming too deep and meaningful, and I didn’t know how to be like that with him. I was scared that he would break through the last few bricks of my wall, and I didn’t know what I’d do if he did. To let him in completely … I couldn’t.
‘Would you like to donate some money to the shelter, Mr. Montoya?’ I purred.
He turned to me with a wicked grin. ‘If I promise to be your biggest donor, will I get any additional benefits?’
I placed my hand on his thigh. ‘What additional benefits did you have in mind, Mr. Montoya?’ I breathed as I ran my hand up towards his groin.
He groaned and shifted in his seat. ‘None that I’d like to indulge in sitting in this car in the middle of this neighborhood, princess,’ he growled. ‘Let’s get you home and get you naked, and then we can discuss my benefits.’
Then he started the ignition and pulled away from the curbside.
Alejandro had me pinned to the wall as soon as we got into the house. He reached for the hem of my dress, and then had it pulled up and over my head before I could even start to protest. My body was pressed up against the cool plaster as his hot mouth and hands trailed over my body before he removed my bra.
My heart raced and every nerve ending thrummed with need. Grabbing hold of my panties, he tugged sharply and the material shredded easily in his strong hands.
‘Alex,’ I gasped and he grinned.
‘You know how I feel about panties in the house, princess. But, as you were such a good girl today, would you like to be fucked in the hallway, or in our bed?’
Our bed! Not his – ours.
‘Bed,’ I whispered. He lifted me by my ass cheeks so I could wrap my legs around his waist and then carried me to the bedroom, all the while trailing hot kisses along my neck and collarbone.
When we reached the bedroom, he kicked open the double doors before storming over to the bed and throwing me down onto it. I bounced and landed in the middle with a giggle.
He stared down at my naked body and ran his tongue over his lower lip. ‘You are fucking beautiful, Alana,’ he growled before peeling off his polo shirt and tossing it onto the floor.
He slowly unbuttoned his jeans and peeled them down his perfectly sculpted legs, before kicking them off along with his sneakers.
I swallowed as he stalked towards me. He was always so fierce. He looked like he wanted to nail me into oblivion. He crawled over me, trailing kisses up my thighs before pushing my legs far apart and blowing cool air over my dripping folds. A few seconds later, I was writhing beneath him. Then his hot tongue licked the length of my cleft and I whimpered shamelessly.
‘I could eat your pussy all day long, princess,’ he growled against me before swirling his tongue over my clit.
He wrapped his hands around the back of my thighs and pulled me closer to him as he settled his head between my legs and began licking and sucking on the sensitive nub of flesh. I felt my climax building and building, and every time I got close, he moved lower, licking at my opening as I bucked my hips against his face.
‘Alex, please?’ I begged as he taunted me.
‘Don’t be so impatient,’ he growled before he pushed himself up on his forearms and crawled up the bed towards me. He pressed his groin into mine so I could feel his rock hard erection. ‘This is what you really want, isn’t it?’ he said as he rubbed his cock against me.
I couldn’t answer him because my mouth seemed to have lost its ability to form coherent words.
He ran his teeth along my jawline and I could feel the dampness of my arousal on his skin. ‘You want me to bury my cock inside your sweet little pussy, princess?’ he whispered in my ear.
‘Uh-huh,’ was all I could manage.
He lifted his head and looked into my eyes. ‘You were incredible today, Alana. What you’ve done for the shelter is incredible. I meant it when I said I was proud of you.’
I stared into his dark eyes and felt a sob catch in my throat. I couldn’t handle him like this – when he was sweet and charming and caring. The arrogant asshole who fucked like he was born for sex and sin, I knew where I stood with. But this man was someone else.
‘Wrap your legs around me,’ he said softly. ‘I’m going to fuck you like you deserve tonight.’
I wrapped my legs around his waist and he pushed himself inside me in one swift movement. I was so wet from his earlier teasing that he slid in easily, making me groan his name.
Then he started to fuck me slowly. So slowly that I felt every single millimeter of him as he moved in and out of me. He sealed his mouth over mine and kissed me at the same time, deeply and fiercely, while he continued the slow and steady pace with his hips.
I whimpered into his mouth as I clung to him. Every nerve ending in my body was screaming for release. His unhurried, yet deliberate rhythm kept me right on the precipice of ecstasy. This was like nothing we’d ever done before. One of his hands fisted in my hair while the other roamed over my body as he continued leisurely fucking me.
When he broke our kiss, he whispered in Spanish in my ear. And while I had no idea what he was saying, the sound of his voice vibrated through my body, as though he was perfectly tuned to its frequency.
I felt worshipped and adored by him. But surely that was all in my head?
Because this was Alejandro Montoya.
This was the man who had bound me to him through fear and intimidation.
This was the man who didn’t do love.
But this was the man I was losing myself to, and I didn’t know how to stop.
I felt my climax building and building and he kissed me again, even deeper than before. His tongue swirling against mine.
He kept me teetering on the edge of oblivion for what felt like an eternity as he maintained his steady pace, continuing to rub against that place inside of me that made me feel completely helpless to resist him.
I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks as my body took everything he could give it. This was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. If there was a heaven, then this was it.
I wrenched my lips from his as I felt my orgasm bursting through me like a river breaching a dam. There was a rush of warm liquid, stronger than anything I had ever felt before. It gushed out of me, soaking the two of us and the bed sheets. I gasped for air as my entire body shook and my head started to spin. What the hell was that? It was so freaking intense!
‘Fuck, Alana,’ Alejandro hissed through gritted teeth and for a second, I was worried that I’d done something wrong. ‘As if I don’t spend enough of my time fucking you, or thinking about fucking you, and now I find out you’re a squirter. Jesus Christ, princess, you’re going to be the fucking death of me.’
‘Is that good?’ I breathed as I tried to regain some sense of reality.
‘Good? It’s fucking incredible.’
He picked up his pace then, the wet sounds of him moving in and out of me reverberating around the bedroom.
A few moments later, he growled and cursed in Spanish as he found his own climax. I smiled as I watched him coming apart for me, his eyes rolling back into his head and his mouth open in ecstasy. He had lost complete control and I loved that I could do that to him.
As we lay together, catching our breaths, Alejandro draped one of his heavy arms over me and pulled me closer to him. He nuzzled my neck and I ran my hand through his thick, dark hair, curling a lock of it around the tip of my index finger.
‘So, fucking my girl nice and slow makes her squirt?’ he said with a soft sigh. ‘Does this mean I’m going to have to change my position on fucking as a whole now?’
‘No, I love the other way too.’
He groaned out loud before sinking his teeth into my neck. I threw my head back to give him easier access. ‘I’m going to fuck you every single way there is, princess, don’t worry,’ he growled. Then he moved his head to look into my eyes. ‘How the fuck did you end up with a monster like me, Alana?’
‘You stole me, remember?’ I said with a smile.
‘Hmm. And I’m never giving you back.’
‘Good,’ I whispered. ‘I don’t want to go back.’
I don’t know what flashed through his eyes when I said that, but it looked like a mixture of pain and sadness and I wondered if I could take back my words.
‘Lo eres todo para mi,’ he said softly. Before I could ask him what that meant, he silenced me with one of his deep, breath-taking kisses.
The following morning, Alejandro had left early for work. I looked at the empty space in the bed beside me where he should be and felt an aching for him that took me completely by surprise. The previous day had been incredible, and I wasn’t sure that any of my defenses against the king of L.A were still intact.
I walked into the kitchen to see Magda taking some fresh pastries out of the oven. ‘Magda, your cooking is going to make me fat,’ I said with a grin as I walked over and inhaled the delicious smell.
‘Dulce niña, you will never get fat. Magda will not let you,’ she said with a wag of her finger.
I laughed as I helped myself to a cup of coffee. Magda was sixty three years old and as fit as a fiddle. She did yoga every afternoon in the garden, and sometimes I joined her. Although I preferred Bikram to her Hatha.
‘Hey, Magda, can you tell me what lo eres todo para mi, means?’
She looked at me and her whole face softened as she smiled. I often asked her to translate the snippets of Spanish conversation that I heard around the house. I was going to learn the language eventually, but I hadn’t found a class yet.
‘It means, you are everything to me,’ she replied.
I felt my heart leap into my throat. That was what Alejandro had said to me last night?
Surely, I had misheard him? Or if I had heard him right, he must have been caught up in the moment. That was what I told myself, but despite that, I walked out of the kitchen with a huge smile on my face and a spring in my step.
I was everything to him.
