Chapter 29 I can't forget!

Chapter 29 I can't forget!
“What’s wrong with me?"

The waves answered with their steady, indifferent rhythm. Sofia gripped the stone railing, her body still humming from Justin’s gentle lovemaking, yet aching for something darker. Something that once consumed her whole.

She closed her eyes and the memory crashed over her like the tide below.

Alex on his knees.  His tongue devouring her like a starving man.  The way he had thrust into her so deep and hard she saw stars.  The guttural groan he made when he came inside her, like he was pouring his entire broken soul into her body.

Her hand drifted down between her thighs without thinking. She was still wet, still sensitive. But this time it wasn’t from Justin.

A soft sob escaped her lips.

“I hate you, Alex. I hate how much I still want you.” she breathed into the night wind, behind her, the bedroom door creaked open.

“Sofia? Baby, what are you doing out here?” Justin’s voice was thick with sleep and concern.

She quickly wiped her tears and turned, forcing a smile as the moonlight painted her naked body silver.

“Just couldn’t sleep,” she said softly.

Justin stepped onto the balcony, shirtless in only his boxers, and pulled her into his warm arms. His body was solid and safe.

“You’re freezing,” he murmured, rubbing his hands up and down her back. “Come back to bed. Let me warm you up.”

He kissed her neck, right over the invisible mark Alex had left, and Sofia’s breath hitched. For a moment she imagined it was Alex’s mouth, rougher and hungrier. Guilt twisted in her stomach even as heat pooled between her legs.

Justin’s hand slid lower, cupping her ass as he pressed her against him.

“I can’t get enough of you. Even after all this time, you still drive me crazy,” he whispered, voice husky.

He kissed her deeply, tongue gentle and loving. Sofia kissed him back, trying to lose herself in it. But when he lifted her leg around his hip and slid two fingers inside her, she had to bite her lip to stop from moaning a different name.

“You’re so wet already,” Justin groaned in delight, mistaking her reaction for desire for him.

“God, I love how your body responds to me.”

He dropped to his knees on the balcony tiles and buried his face between her thighs, licking her with sweet devotion. Sofia threaded her fingers through his hair and closed her eyes.

But in her mind, it was Alex on his knees again. She came with a quiet, broken cry, hips jerking against Justin’s mouth while tears burned behind her eyelids.

Later, when Justin had carried her back to bed and fallen asleep with his arm around her waist, Sofia lay awake, staring at the ceiling. She placed a hand over her heart, feeling it race.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered into the darkness, unsure who she was apologising to.

Justin for lying with her body while her mind belonged to someone else. Or herself, for realising that the peaceful life she had fought so hard for was slowly killing the fire inside her.

And somewhere across the sea, Alex Maxwell was probably still awake too, haunted by the same night that refused to let either of them go.

Sofia turned onto her side, curling into Justin’s warmth, and tried to convince herself this was enough. But deep down, she knew the truth. It wasn’t.

“I have to forget him…”

Alex stood at the floor-to-ceiling window of his penthouse, whiskey glass in hand, staring at the glittering city below. Tonight he would forget her.

He had invited the woman from the charity gala, Elena Voss, a stunning Russian model with long dark hair and legs that went on forever. She was the opposite of Sofia in every visible way. Tall where Sofia was petite. Sharp cheekbones and red lips.

She was already waiting in his bedroom when he walked in.Elena turned slowly, wearing nothing but black lace lingerie that left almost nothing to the imagination.

“You kept me waiting,” she purred, stepping toward him with a seductive smile.

“Most men don’t make me wait.”

Alex set his glass down and pulled her against him roughly, crashing his mouth to hers. The kiss was aggressive, demanding. He poured every ounce of frustration into it, hands gripping her ass hard as he backed her toward the bed.

Elena moaned into his mouth, fingers working fast to unbutton his shirt.

“God, you’re intense,” she gasped as he shoved her onto the mattress.

Alex didn’t answer. He stripped off his shirt and trousers in silence, his body hard and ready. When he came down on top of her, he kissed her again, deeper, rougher, trying to drown everything out.

He entered her in one hard thrust. Elena cried out, arching beneath him.

“Fuck, yes… just like that.”

Alex fucked her relentlessly. Deep, punishing strokes. The bed slammed against the wall. He gripped her hips hard enough to bruise, eyes closed, jaw clenched.

But every thrust brought the wrong images. Sofia’s broken moan on their wedding night.  The way she had clenched around him like she never wanted to let go.  Her tears mixed with rain and pleasure.

“Harder,” Elena begged, nails raking down his back.

“Don’t hold back, baby.”

Alex growled and flipped her onto her stomach, pulling her hips up and slamming back into her from behind. He fucked her like he was trying to punish the memory of Sofia out of his body.

“You feel so good. No one fucks like you,” Elena moaned loudly.

He reached around and rubbed her clit roughly, determined to make her come, determined to lose himself in this. Elena shattered around him with a loud cry, body shaking.

Alex followed moments later, burying himself deep and spilling inside her with a low, guttural groan. But the moment it was over, the emptiness rushed back in worse than before.

He pulled out and rolled onto his back, breathing hard, staring at the ceiling. Elena curled against his side, tracing patterns on his chest with her nails.

“That was incredible, we should do this again” she whispered, kissing his jaw.

Alex said nothing, he felt nothing. No peace, no release, just a sick, hollow feeling in his chest. After a few minutes, he stood up and pulled on his trousers.

“You can stay the night if you want,” he said flatly.

“But I have an early meeting.”

Elena sat up, confused. “You’re leaving? Just like that?”

Alex didn’t look at her as he buttoned his shirt.

“It’s just a sex, nothing special.”

He walked out of the bedroom without another word, leaving Elena stunned and naked on his bed. In the living room, he poured himself another whiskey and stood at the window again.

“Fuck! Even this doesn’t work,” he whispered bitterly.

No matter how many women he took to his bed, none of them were her. Alex drained the glass in one swallow and closed his eyes.

“Sofia, what the hell have you done to me?”