Page 36 of X: Command Me through Alexander’s Eyes

Her answering laugh has a hollow ring, nearly smothered by the ding of the lift doors. “You can at that.”

“So is that what’s going on?” I pull her from the open lift toward a deserted alcove where we won’t be seen. “A misunderstanding?”

It couldn’t be that simple. Her tears tell me as much. “I wish it was.”

“You’re scared of me.” It’s my fault. Why wouldn’t she be scared? After I’d warned her to run? After I’d pursued her anyway? I’ve been as dogged as the goddamn paparazzi and my motives are even less chivalrous. “I tried to warn you.”

“Maybe I don’t understand,” she says to my surprise.

I grip her hip tightly, the need to touch her driving me and making it harder to think. She needs reassurances. I have no idea how to do that. Physically, I can protect her—and I will. But how do I prove she’s safe with me in other ways? How do I guard her heart from the world—and from myself?

“When I told you that I was protecting you from the reporters, how did you feel?” I ask after a moment.

There’s hesitation as she considers. “I guess that—” she pauses for what feels like an eternity “—I felt safe.”

“Why?” If she felt that way, there’s hope. She needs to understand. I need her to understand.

“Because you care.” There’s revelation in her voice.

There’s something else, though—a hint of sadness. I wonder what she’s faced. Who has let her down? Betrayed her? I decide, at that moment, that I won’t allow myself to do the same.

“I do care, Clara.” I hover over her, our mouths inches apart. Not so I can kiss her, but so that there’s no chance she doesn’t hear me. “I didn’t want you to experience being trashed by the tabloids.”

“So it wasn’t that you didn’t want to be seen with me?” she asks.

How could I have been stupid enough to not see this coming?

“Have you looked in the mirror lately? I can only assume you haven’t, so let me describe what you look like right now. Clara Bishop has large, gray eyes with fluttering lashes and a button nose. That would be enough to make her pretty, but then she has these pouty lips that make me hard. Her hair is silky and soft, and no matter how much she tries to control it, there are always some locks that escape to drift down her neck or blow across her face. I can’t help imagining letting it all down, watching it fall over her shoulders as she comes on my cock.” I press into her as a reminder of what she does to me. “She drives me crazy, and I honestly don’t care who knows it.”

“But you don’t do relationships, Mr. X,” she says softly.

“I don’t do romance,” I remind her gently, “but if you’ll let me, I will do pleasure.”

“There’s no one else then, Mr. X?” She’s taunting me with the alias, calling my bluff.

“Too formal, poppet.” I don’t know how to assure her that we are on equal footing—that we want the same thing.

“Okay, then. There’s no one else then, X?”

“I’m true to my word, Clara.” And I mean it with every fiber of my being.

She trembles but this time, it’s with fear. “But you want to dominate me.”

Someday she won’t fear it. I’ll help her—guide her there. For now…

“I want to give you pleasure. When you found out I was protecting you, it made you feel safe. That’s what I want to do.” I brush my lips across her jaw, earning a shiver of pleasure this time. “I want to show you that I can protect you while showing you the heights of pleasure you’ve never known.”

“I don’t know.” Uncertainty colors her words. She truly doesn’t.

I drop my head to her shoulder and consider my options. I can’t force her to understand, but I can give her time—and what she needs. Lifting my eyes to meet hers, I mean it when I promise, “You win.”

“I do?” She sounds surprised.

“We’ll do it your way, Clara. I want you. I want you any way I can have you.”

“You agree that I’m not your submissive?” she asks slowly.

“I agree not to push you, Clara—unless you ask me to…” I leave it hanging. Clara Bishop will ask me to dominate her body—beg me to. It’s as inevitable as my arrival here today. Neither of us can walk away from this. Not anymore.