Alexander

8

After the long day of meeting the Dormers' extended family and reuniting with Rebecca and my grandparents, I was relieved to finally be able to settle under the covers of the heavenly bed.

I had been introduced to each of Alexander and Nick's cousins, their parents, everyone in-between, and of course Lily.

I could have admired Sara stand in the centre of attention as the beautiful bride-to-be forever, but small-talk with people who seemed all too similar and relatively uninteresting had drained me completely.

I had texted with my best friend in the city with a great deal of updates, but had now plugged my phone to charge for the night and closed my eyes in preparation of sorely needed sleep.

Just then as if on cue, the door of the bedroom creaked open. A funny sense of déjà-vu hit me as the outline of the familiar Herculean body came into view, light streaming in from behind him.

He stepped inside before I could protest and closed the door behind his intimidating stature, making sure to lock it. I sat up in the bed, holding the duvet over my bare chest. The moonlight from outside was enough to grant me a lovely yet flustering view: Alexander shirtless, wearing only sweatpants.

"I'm naked," I whispered urgently as he began walking over to the bed. "Why... why are you shirtless?" I muttered out, already expecting the presence of his buff body on display to be disastrous for my common sense.

"Some of us sleep half naked, Bella," he teased lowly. Instead of the bed, he made his way to an antique chest that was at its end, "but I don't mind you being naked. You should be naked in my bed all day."

I squeezed my thighs together, knees brought up against my front as I curiously observed him open the chest and take something out. In the moonlight I was able to make out the form of some sort of teddybear.

"It was very nice meeting more of your family today," I cleared my throat, trying to think of anything besides the fact that there was a sexy and shirtless man in my bedroom, that I was very naked, and lost all control of myself when he was near me.

"You're impossible not to like," he sent me a gorgeous grin. I watched intently as he then rounded the bed and seated himself down beside me casually, mirroring my position. His bent knees were more extended with his forearms resting on them. He held the bear in his big hands and examined it.

"This is Bubs," he spoke after a moment, low tone filling the otherwise silent surroundings. Fixated on him, I stayed silent and waited for him to continue. "He was a gift when I was Lily's age. All the toys in the world never compared to him."

"That's sweet," I commented hesitantly, "why are you telling me this?"

His head turned to me, dark eyes studying my features in the moonlight. "You wanted to talk talk."

A quiet laugh slipped my lips, "yes. And you're starting your life story right from the beginning, or detailing your favourite toys?"

"Whatever you want," he shrugged calmly, gaze returning to the bear. I was taken aback by how serious he was about this, remembering my weird notice of us not really knowing each other even after I had explained it off as nonsense. "Ask me anything."

"Oh, okay," I nodded, wracking my brain for a sensible question to ask him, "uh, what's your favourite colour?"

He chuckled lowly, sensing I had been put on the spot considering the circumstances. I held the duvet against myself tighter, feeling all the more yielding and compliant with him now that I was naked. My state didn't seem to bother him in the slightest, all the while his was affecting my concentration significantly.