The Alpha King Call Boy
Chapter 83

Alexander heard me sighing as we walked back from the car and asked what was wrong.

"My feet." I groaned. "I really hope this is not the norm now, for the whole rest of the pregnancy. They hurt so bad today."

Alexander frowned. "Stop for a second," he said. When I did, he swept me up into his arms in one swift movement, lifting my weight like I was a feather. He grinned as I looped my arms around his neck. "Does that help any?" he asked. "A little, yes." I let my head fall against his shoulder lazily.

"Tired?"

"Yeah. I think my body knows it's the weekend and just wants to be horizontal for a while, since I've got the time for it. I'd like to lie down and rest for a bit now if you don't mind."

"Not at all," he said. "Can I give you a foot rub?"

"Mmm." My eyes closed at the sound of this offer. "Yes please."

Of course, he started with rubbing my feet but quickly got carried away.

I was in a pain-relief kind of bliss with my eyes closed and my body relaxed as he massaged my heels, kneaded my arches, and gently stretched my swollen ankles. But he gradually started working his way upward, which I had certainly been anticipating. Alexander was a man of many talents, indeed. His hands were strong and found all the right places to push and stroke in order to melt away the tension in my muscles. He worked my calves after he'd done my feet, and even massaged all the muscles around my knees, a sensation I'd never felt before and which was absolutely amazing. And then he made it up to my thighs.

And started losing control of himself. The hands were still working, still focused on rubbing out my tense muscles, still feeling carefully for places that needed pressure and applying it evenly. But then his mouth got involved, too. It seemed to have a mind of its own. He held his open lips to the inside of my knee first. I shivered as his hot breath fell against it. Then, surprising me more than a little, he pressed his big, wet tongue flat against my skin and pulled it up the whole length of my inner thigh. My back arched fast, a reflex to the shocking pleasure, and he wound up with his face pressed to the crease of my thigh. He sucked air in hungrily, like my smell was the oxygen he needed to survive.

My hands went to the top of his head, my fingers widening to let tufts of his thick hair in between them. I didn't press him into me, but I didn't push him away. I waited.

I was surprised again when he slid backward suddenly, absolutely obliterating the moment.

My whole body trembled. Not in a good way. In cold, deprived disappointment.

Alexander gave me a conflicted, penetrating look.

"What?" I asked, more than a little frustrated.

"I should tell you something," he said.

He might as well have splashed a bucket of cold water over me.

"Okay." I sat up slowly, scooting back into a seated position against the headboard.

Alexander dangled one leg off the bed, folding the other in front of him. "I have something going on, something I need to do soon, and last night I told you I'd be open with you about stuff that affects us. Affects you." "Okay," I said again. I was getting impatient.

"I need to take a little trip," he said.

My stomach sank.

"I know," he continued, shaking his head. "I wish that it could wait, but it's something I just need to do. The travel could take two or three days. I want to get it over with as fast as possible, because I don't want to be away from you for long. Really, I wish I didn't have to leave you at all. But maybe we could talk about a time when I could do this when it'll impact you the least."

The feeling in my body was like having been offered a gift, then lifting the lid to replace a lump of coal inside.

Alexander leaving me for two or three days was going to make me ill.

"Is there a period of a couple days next week, when you think maybe you'll be very busy with work anyway?" he asked. "I know it's valuable to have our time together at night. I know that's precious and I'm taking it away. But, I also know you do have days when work keeps you at the office late, or you need time with Nina, and we'd only really have a few hours together anyway. Could we pick a day like that? I promise you, I will get back as quickly as I can."

It was a fair point. "Okay," I said once more. I was like a broken record.

Alexander scampered up the bed, coming to sit right next to me.

"I'm sorry about this," he said. "And you can tell me later, what you think about a day that would be best, that would impact you the least. And I'll devote as much time to you as possible in the meanwhile before I go. I'll put all my other stuff aside whenever you are free to be with me."

"It's fine. Next Monday would be alright, I guess. I always work long days on Mondays. And Nina works Sunday, Monday nights, can meet me up for early breakfasts Monday and Tuesday."

Alexander looked puzzled. I could tell he wanted to ask what Nina was doing for work in the middle of the night in the city.

It was really none of his business and also not relevant to the matter at hand. I felt like I only blinked at him, but Alexander's reaction told me my eyes might've flashed at him sternly, because he averted his own and wiped his mouth with his hand nervously. "Okay then," he said, taking the hint and bypassing the Nina thing. "I'll make the arrangements for next Monday."

"Okay." I rolled my eyes at myself. Irritation was making me much less articulate than I usually was. Alexander was still looking away, so he didn't notice.

He moved closer to me on the bed, then, and I felt his energy change. He seemed relieved that we'd reached an agreement about this unpleasant thing. More relieved than he should have been, because I hardly felt we were finished with the conversation. The question of why he just absolutely had to do this thing that could not wait was still unanswered.

His hand came over to my thigh, hovered on it gently. Maybe he was thinking we were just going to pick right back up where we'd left off.

I picked up his hand and set it on the bed. "I'll be right back." I said it as neutrally as possible, then retreated to the bathroom.

I took my time refreshing myself. When I returned, Alexander was sitting idle in bed and staring pensively at the wall.

"You alright?" I asked.

He had straightened out the bed linens and fluffed up all the pillows. He nodded as I climbed back into bed and relaxed against them.

"Yeah," he answered quietly. "I just realized I should really tell you more about the trip."

"Oh?"

He huffed out a hard exhale, then said, "I've been investigating my mother's death. I know it was publicly declared a natural death, but I have reason to believe there was foul play. I do not know exactly what happened. But I recently learned that there might be someone out there who can tell me. Who may have witnessed my mother being poisoned."

"Wow. Okay." I was going to scream if I heard myself say that word one more time. "That's... a lot to process."

Immediately something occurred to me. It was an incomplete thought, a troubling one I did not like and hoped was wrong. It arrived in my brain like a puzzle piece snapping into place.

Is my father involved in this? That's what I wanted to ask.

It felt like so long ago when I first moved in with Alexander. But I remembered quite clearly the moment, early on, when he had made a very ominous comment.

He had threatened to kill my father.

I did not ask Alexander for more details about it at the time. And I decided that I would not ask for them now, either.

Curiosity, a desire to know - that was one thing. Involving oneself in a potentially deadly situation was another matter entirely, and a much more important concern.

"I just thought that you should know," Alexander said. "I wouldn't be going if it wasn't something so important." He glanced at his watch. "Do you want me to let you get some rest now? I can occupy myself if you want me to leave you alone, let you sleep or read, or whatever, and we could meet up later for dinner."

"I do want to rest," I told him, "but you don't need to leave."

A tight smile pulled at the corners of Alexander's lips. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Stay with me. Please."

He reached a hand out and stroked my hair, letting his smile widen some. "Okay," he said. "You want another foot massage?"

I answered, "Okay." And then we both laughed. We'd said that word awkwardly, as we struggled through this conversation, one too many times for it to not be absurd.

This time, he didn't stay at my feet for very long at all.