Masquerade Master

Chapter 4

We worked for a few hours and as nightfall encroached he started gathering all of our materials and began putting them away. I watched him flutter about as he reorganized it all, everything in its place and a place for everything. All that jazz. 

     "You're quite meticulous, Mr. Quinton," I stated while stirring the chamomile tea in my mug. 

     "Yes, well I like order. A clean area is a clean mind, right?"

     "Hmm, I don't think you can ever have a clean mind no matter how pristine your area," I chided, giggling softly at the face he gave me. He rolled his eyes as he slid the last notebook into place before walking over and closing his laptop.

     "I have a clean mind most of the time unless the situation permits an unclean mind. You're quite familiar with such situations, yes?" he asked, smirking as he bent down to place a kiss on my forehead.

     "I may know a bit about it but not much. I fear I hadn't the opportunity to delve as deep as I'd have liked," I gave my best posh accent and smiled as he gave me another eye roll.Alex stepped away to grab us another plate of baked ziti before plopping down next to me and turning on the large flatscreen TV mounted on the wall. That reminded me of my earlier thoughts and I glanced at him from the corner of my eye as I took a bite of ziti. What else did he do? He never gave me a straight answer and while I had opted to let it go earlier, it was now slowly nagging at the back of my mind.

     "You're staring, little dove. Something wrong?" he asked and I felt my cheeks warm at being caught.

     "No, no I was just deep in thought. What movie is this?" I avoided the real reason and pointed towards the TV. I didn't know where the curiosity went but something in his eyes made me swallow those questions that festered in my mind.

     "It's a new anime that just came out, it's a shojo so you'll like it. You sure everything is okay?" he pushed, cocking his head to the side as he maintained eye contact.

I nodded and attempted my best 'okay' smile. "Really, everything is fine, Alex. Maybe a little flustered still from earlier but I'm not complaining," I implored, smirking and sealing it with what I hoped would look like a playful wink. He seemed to take that answer and slowly nodded before returning his attention to the anime in front of us. It wasn't a complete lie though, even hours later my body was still buzzing from our bedroom activities. He was just that good.

The anime was good, it was indeed a shojo and I fell in love with the main character instantly. He was a total sweetheart with a brooding side and something about the dark and mysterious guy trope had me hooked. I was a typical girl I guess but being a romance author, it came with the territory. Alex was equally engrossed in it and that set off some butterflies in my tummy knowing he not only picked a genre I liked but also enjoyed this anime with me. Talk about some serious bonding time.

     "Oh come on! She totally saw him with her, his ass is grass." Alex's sudden booming voice made me jump and I clutched my chest and gave him an incredulous look. "Oh sorry, love. Didn't mean to scare ya, it just gets on my nerves when there are misunderstandings. It's hard being the audience when you know everything but the characters don't," he huffed. This man was really getting twisted over an anime and I was living for it.

     "You are just adorable, you know that?" I laughed.

     "Me? Adorable? With all this muscle, nah I don' think so."

I rolled my eyes and softly popped him on the shoulder and muttered, "If you say so, Mr. Manly Man." He chuckled and stuck his tongue out at me as I grabbed our plates and headed for the kitchen. He cooked so I didn't mind cleaning and because of his OCD tendencies, there wasn't much to clean anyway.

I washed the few dishes that were in the sink and as I dried my hands on a towel, I caught sight of a picture hanging up on the wall. It had a woman on it, she looked to be maybe in her late twenties, with a young boy sitting on her lap. Those heterochromatic eyes were hard to miss and I smiled as I deduced it may have been a picture of him and his mother.

     "That lovely lady there was my mom, she died a few years ago. Cancer's a real bitch," Alex said, spooking me for a second time tonight as he came up behind me. He wrapped his hands around my waist and rested his chin on the top of my head, his chest warm against my back. I could feel his heartbeat pick up slightly and on instinct, I brought my hands up to cover his and gently squeezed them.

     "I'm sorry for your loss, Alex. I know that pain all too well, I lost my dad a few years back. Car accident," I mumbled softly, sighing and holding his arms tightly around me. I wanted to comfort him as much as possible.

     "I'm sorry for your loss, too, love." He pulled away slightly and he turned me around before pulling me back in. The scent of his cologne was calming and I sighed in content as I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed. I wanted him to feel the comfort I felt being in his embrace and I think it worked.

He whispered, "You give great hugs, by the way, little dove." I smiled, inhaling his scent once more before looking up into his eyes.

     "I give the best hugs? Nah, you got me outmatched there buddy."

     "Well, I'm happy you enjoy my hugs as much as I enjoy yours. Now, what do you say to spending the night tonight? I know we already planned to hang out tomorrow and for the rest of the weekend but...I like how you feel against me. Cuddling never killed anyone right?" he proposed, pursing his lips as he awaited my answer.

My smile grew wider and I nodded, asking quietly, "Alex? Are you asking me out on a cuddle date?"

He chuckled and said, "Oh, am I? I guess I am. Sabine, would you like to accompany me to my bed, say 10pm?" His goofy personality warmed me in many places and I giggled as I accepted his offer. We made our way back into the living room to clean up any last remaining pieces of trash and then raced to his room. We acted like children and I loved every second of it.

I liked watching him go about what I assumed was his nightly routine. There was a domestic factor hidden in there and I just found it appealing watching him from the bed. The simple things like the way he folded and unfolded the few articles of clothing sitting on his dresser. Or the way he tidied up the room almost unconsciously like it was so routine that he didn't even notice he was doing it.

I enjoyed watching him get undressed though that was for an entirely different reason and when he beckoned me over to join him in the shower...well, who was I to tell him no. Everything seemed to be going smoothly without any disruptions until that pesky bar of soap slipped out of my grasp. This was the first time I had seen him completely nude and I was flabbergasted at how well defined his muscles were. He was not bulky but he wasn't skinny either, he was lean and with phenomenal definition.

     "If I bend down to pick up this soap are you gonna stick something in my ass?" I asked and chuckled before bending down to grab the orange block. I nearly toppled forward and my arm quickly shot out to catch me against the wall.

     "Not if you're clumsy like that, I wouldn't wanna hurt ya," he teased, laughing as I slowly stood back up, soap in hand. I rolled my eyes but laughed and ran the soap under the water stream to rinse it off.

     "What can I say, I'm falling for you...." I looked back over my shoulder at him and give a wry smile. Alex returns it with a smirk of his own before stepping forward and placing his hands on my hips.

     He leans in and whispers, "Falling, aye? I guess that makes two of us. How about I show you just how hard I'm falling for you?"

~I hope you are enjoying this book so far! There are exclusive bonus chapters to this story and many others as well as poems and short stories on my Patreon! Link in my bio to support me on my Patreon. Much more to come, stay tuned!- A💋~