Alexander (CENTURIES series: Book #1)

15

He had said it. The dreaded, but long overdue words; I love you.

I had been so scared to say it first. He was Alexander Stone, the player of all players, and a genius at that. He could play you like a violin and then spit you out and not give a damn. Admitting I had fallen so hard for him, a guy that had been my best friend for eight years... it was terrifying. There was no going back beyond the 'I love you.'

But when he said it to me, I realized I never wanted to go back. It was him, it was us. It had always been us. Saying those words made me realize something he had known for a long time; we had always loved each other like this – like more than friends. And tonight, despite how the night had started, we were going to show that love to each other. Truly. Properly.

This boy... I had woken up when I heard him shouting in his sleep – not mumbling; shouting. I'd tried that many times before and of course I knew what it was about; His dad.

Before we knew each other, back when his mother and father were married, he had been in a bad family situation. His father was a psychopath. A wife beater. He had left them both when Alex was just five years old. His father had beating his mother up real good and promised that one day that he'd come back for Alexander – or Theodore, as his father had named him. When Audrey moved away, she switched his name to Alexander and made Theodore his middle name instead. That's why he hated the name Theodore; because of his father and what he had done to them.

Not to mention two years later, Audrey got pregnant again with another guy who also left them, only this time leaving her with twins. Needless to say, that's what made Alexander the person he was today; emotionally distant. He didn't trust many people in his life, so he kept it shallow.

Until he met me; He let me in for some reason.

"Sophie," Alex looked down at me from above me, gently cupping my face. "You sure you want to do this?"

I looked up at the boy I loved and realized I even loved his demons. They were a part of what made him the person I loved. "Yes, I am. Are you?"

"More than anything." He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, the softness as surprising as ever. When he pulled away, I realized I was nervous for the first time ever being with him. But it was a good kind of nervous. "You OK?"

Of course he noticed. He brushed his thumb over my cheek when I nodded. "Yeah, just a little nervous, you know. Can you talk to me? Tell me some of your random shit to lift the tension."

A smirk twitched on his lips. "Random shit?" He mused while slowly trailing his hand down my neck to the curve of my breast. "Hmm... did you know that the word 'vagina' roughly translates as 'sword holder' in Latin?"

"What?!" I exclaimed, glaring preposterously up at him. "You're joking, right?"

"I never joke when it comes to sword holders."

Snorting, I felt how he slowly descended his lips to my throat, placing butterfly kisses to my skin. "Alright... what else you got, Stone?"

"Did you know that the average sized penis needs about 130 ml of blood for it to stiffen? And that sperm contains zinc and calcium which helps fight tooth decay?"

"Why are all your facts about sex?"

"Because that's currently what's on my mind." His lips moved down to my breasts and he watched them with an adoring look in his eyes. "God, you're so perfect."