CHAPTER 4


Alec's POV

I stood completely frozen in her kitchen. A bottle of orange juice poised in my right hand. Stupor splashed across my features. I set the bottle down hard on the counter and swore under my breath. I shook my head with one hand stuck in the tussled copper mess of hair atop my head. Is this really happening? I thought to myself bitterly. It was no secret that after our drunken hook-up that Belle wanted nothing to do with me. Which I both loathed and somewhat understood. But what made him any better than me?

The way she had been dancing and humming around her kitchen this morning…wearing an oversized t-shirt and short shorts…made me want to wrap myself around her and not let go. But of course I couldn't that. One night had ruined everything that we could have ever had. She was my friend. My best friend. She was a good and respectable girl, and I think she couldn't get past the fact that she'd had a one night stand with me. But if that was the case, what was Mr. Jolly Russian doing getting the royal treatment this morning? I thought for sure he would have been out on his ass after she woke up.

I shook my head and made a mental note to kick his ass at my earliest convenience. I made my way back to the living room to see Opal and Logan still curled up on the small couch passed out. Everyone else seemed to still be asleep, and my 'date' had been long gone before the sun ever poked its head out. I slipped my shoes on and decided to make a run for it as well. This atmosphere was suffocating me. I didn't want to see her face smiling at him. Or hear her laughing at his jokes upstairs. It was disgusting and confusing. And it made me sick to my stomach.

Belle's hand ran its way up my arm as her large chocolate eyes made contact with mine. She smiled shyly as she stood on her tip-toes to place a kiss on my lips. She broke contact way too soon for my liking and the distance was too much for me. I wrapped an arm around her, my hand settling on the small of her back. I pulled her into me and just held her there. I could feel the curves of her body pressing into me, and I had to repress a guttural growl from escaping my lips from the sheer overwhelming perfection of it all.

Her face was flushed, and her cheeks bloomed red as she blushed. I ran my other hand up her back. Up, up, and up, until my hand was lost in the curls of her chestnut brown hair. Her head tilted back to make eye contact once again, and in the process our lips found each other. I could taste the whiskey on her breath mixing with the bitter vodka taste of my own. It burned and tingled in the most sensual way. Our tongues dancing around each other and fighting each other for dominance. It was hot. My whole body was burning up, and from her touch so was she. Her hand played with the hem of my shirt, and with one more brief moment of eye contact we had an entire conversation. Understanding flooded her eyes as she slipped off my shirt.

I shook myself out of my own thoughts and sighed. This was beyond ridiculous. Why was I so hung up on a one night stand with that girl? I was Alec Tiers. I could have any girl I wanted. I could make any girl fall in love with me. I didn't need Annabella Sullivan. I didn't need her. But god I wanted her. I wanted her so bad that it hurt. Physically and mentally. I fished my keys from my pocket and clicked a button. The car unlocked in response and I slid into the driver's seat. The car hummed to life as I turned the keys and without another thought I took off down the street. I needed to get out of here.


Belle's POV

I laughed again. Cracking up at another one of Dimitri's jokes. His blue eyes danced as he looked at me, showing off his dimples as he smiled. I couldn't help but to smile back. How was he so fucking perfect without even trying? He was sitting on my bed, legs crossed, looking at me as I picked my way through the remnants of my scrambled eggs. I wasn't exactly hungry. I could still feel last night churning around in my stomach, so the thought of food wasn't all that appealing at the moment. An appetite probably wasn't something I was going to have much of today. With a swift movement he picked up my plate and his own, and murmured that he would be right back, and that he was going to run the plates downstairs.

As soon as he was out of eyeshot, I darted into the bathroom to assess what kind of mess I looked like. I blew out a breath as I looked at myself in the mirror. What a fucking train wreck. I ran a brush though my hair quickly and wiped the smeared makeup from under my eyes. I guess that's a little better. I ran back to my bed just as Harlow passed by my doorway. She gave me two thumbs up just as Dimitri passed her. He shot her a smile and said good morning. I smiled ruefully at her and ignored the rest of the gestures she was making behind his back, because the were becoming quite visually accurate.

"Would you mind closing the door, Dimitri?" He obliged. "So what do you have planned for today, handsome?" I asked, looking up at him as he sat back down on my bed.

"Unfortunately, I have to work." He said, searching my room for his discarded clothes with his eyes. My smile fell a little. Back to reality. Damn.

"Well…that blows." I guess he could hear the disappointment in my voice, because he looked over at me with a smile plastered on his gorgeous face.

"Oh, don't worry, Darling. You won't be getting rid of me that easily." His smile turned rueful as he plucked my phone from the bedside table and began tapping on the screen. His smile faltered for a moment, but after a few seconds his phone began to ring. "Now that I have your number, I'll call you when I get off work." God, he was perfect. Having finally retrieved his clothes, he slipped his pants and shirt on quickly, and placed a kiss on my forehead, and another on my lips.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Annabella."

"I sure hope so." I said slyly, as he opened the door to my bedroom and disappeared down the hallway. I didn't move until I heard the front door close followed by the sound of a car rumbling to life.

"Oh my gosh, Harlow!" I squealed, and within moments Harlow appeared in my room. Her small frame perched on my bed. "How perfectly Greek god-like is he?" I gushed.

"Perfection." She agreed, her voice light and airy. "He's quite the catch. When are you seeing him again?" She asked with a knowing smile.

"He took my number, and he said he's going to call me when he gets off work." I was a little embarrassed by my school-girl reaction, but my heart was hammering in my chest, and I couldn't help feeling like a little high school girl gossiping about her first crush. My fingers danced over my phone screen, navigating my way to recent calls so I could save his phone number.

"Well, don't spoil it." Harlow said sternly, as she looked around my room and down at my messy bed. "You two didn't… well, yanno…" she said beating around the bush.

"No way! Harlow, that's the best part." I said with a stupid grin on my face. "He took care of me all night. Helped me take my shoes off. And he just cuddled me until I fell asleep. Even with all the alcohol we drank…he was beyond perfect." Now it was Harlow's turn to squeal like a teenage girl.

"Bonus points for him then." She laughed and clapped her hands together. I tapped the screen of my phone a few more times before a symbol in the left upper corner caught my attention. An unread text. I ran my finger down the screen far enough for my recent notifications to display themselves. I didn't even have to click on the message to see who it was from and what it said. I had completely forgotten that Alec had texted me back last night while Dimitri and I drove to my house. The message was short.

I miss you.

-A.T.

There's no way Dimitri hadn't seen it. It was right there. I kicked myself mentally and resigned myself into acceptance if I didn't hear from Dimitri ever again.

"Okay, I need to get a shower." I groaned out. I scrambled out of my bed and lingered in the doorway to my bathroom for a moment as Harlow excused herself from my bedroom. What a rookie mistake. Letting him grab my phone before checking it first. Of course Alec ruined this for me too. Of course he did.

I turned the hot water knob and peeled my clothes off as I waited for the water to heat up. As I waited I was pulled into a memory I would rather completely forget.

I could feel Alec's hand hot on my skin as his lips crashed down on mine, and I suppressed the urge to moan. His hand moved slowly up my stomach, inching its way up, up, up, and burning each new section of skin it passed over. My head was spinning, but all I could think about was the feeling of his naked body pressed against mine. Then I felt his hand against the skin of my breast, and I writhed as his fingertips swept over the small mountain of my nipple. He was teasing me. I moaned and my back arched up against him, begging him to end the torture, when I felt his fingers replace themselves with his tongue. I couldn't stop the torrent of moans that came cascading from my mouth.

I couldn't help myself. My toes curled in pleasure as the tip of his tongue swept over my nipple again and again, teasing me more and more. I practically jumped when I felt him nip at it with his teeth, and he looked at me with a devilish grin.

"Belle…" he breathed, his voice was hoarse and rough as his lips crashed against mine again and his hands ranged south.

I yelped and pulled myself out of my thoughts as the water grew way too hot for comfort, and I jumped out of the shower. What was I doing thinking about those kind of things? It wasn't even worth a second thought. An accident that was. Accident, I reminded myself. I quickly threw my hair up in a towel and wrapped myself in another one. I silently spurned Alec Tiers for appearing in my thoughts once again. Was there ever going to be an escape from this fool? I shook my head annoyed as I paced back into my room and began searching for clothes. Today was going to be a good day. I was not going to let him ruin it. Not today.


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Poetic.