Being cooped up in a house with Lex is so much fun. I am learning a lot about this man. First of all he is not only fluent in French but Italian, Japanese and Spanish. I guess you have to know a few foeign languages for business purposes, especially if you do a lot of deals with other countries.

We spent two days traveling and seeing the city. I begged him to spend the rest of the week inside. Those days have been filled with cooking together, we tried out a few new recipes. I saw the rest of the house which is as gorgeous as the first parts I saw when I got here. Our nights are spent cuddling while watching the busy Parisian streets with the Eiffel Tower in our view.

I'd sometimes catch him staring at me with this doe eyed look in his eyes. Like he is doing right now as I come down the stairs with my hair products. I bought some of my argan oil so that I could help out my scalp. These braids will be the death of my hair follicles so I have to look after them.

His eyes follow me from where he stands next to the counter as I walk towards the couch. I lean the portable mirror against the coffee table leg and lay down the oil and mousse next to it.

I walk up to where he stands to take my steaming mug of hot coffee, the late afternoon sun streams in through the window. I welcome the heat as it tickles my exposed legs.

I'm wearing a pink cropped hoodie and a pair of black panties. My stomach overlaps a little over the waistband but who cares...I'm okay with my body, stretch marks, cellulite and all.

If someone told me a year ago that I would be this confident in my own skin, I would have laughed in their face.

I guess growth took its time with me. Plus the man who's currently stalking me like I'm his prey makes me feel like I am beautiful in every way.

I sit on the carpeted floor and start slathering argan oil into my exposed scalp as I look at myself in the mirror. A few seconds in and I feel Lex's hands cover mine.

"I'll do it", he simply says. My head turns to look at him, surprise clearly visible on my face.

He shoots me a small smile, clearly finding amusement in my disbelief. He switches on the TV and then turns my head towards the screen as his fingers make their way onto my scalp lines.

I must admit that he seems to know what he is doing, which brings a question to my mind, "Have you dated a black girl before?".

This elicits a chuckle from him, "No, I just watched you for a few seconds then I knew what to do and how to do it", he answers knowing where the question was leading to.

"Okay then".

My eyelids become heavy as he works on my head. I lean back onto the couch as I sit in between his legs.

Is this man even real?

Once he is done with the oil, I give him step by step instructions on what to do with the mousse. He follows them perfectly and in no time my scalp is in heaven. The braids look and feel new even though it's been a week and two days of me having them on.

"You gotta wash your oily hands",. He chuckles and walks over to the sink to clean his hands.

I watch him move towards me as he sits on the couch again. I have not moved from where I was. I kneel in front of him and I catch a grin fall upon his face.

"Thank you", I say with my hands on his knees. My fingers splayed out on his toned sweatpant covered thighs. He watches my every move as I slowly get up from the floor and place my legs on either side of him as I straddle his thighs and sit on his lap.

His hands find their way onto my underwear clad butt. His thumbs drawing lazy circles as they move down to my hips.

We stare into each other's eyes as our hands move and explore each other. His on my thighs and the sides of my butt. Mine moving under his tshirt, my fingers grazing his abs.

"You're unreal", I say to him. My words and The Vampire Diaries playing in the background are the only audible things.

This time I am the one that initiates the kiss. My lips slowly move against his as he kisses me back. We're not rushing, the pace of our lips the same as our hands.

I feel his fingers dig into my skin as he cups my butt cheeks. He grabs hold onto them as he deepens the kiss. He shifts us so that my back is on the couch as he hovers over me. My impatient hands fumble with the shirt he has on, he breaks away from the kiss to take it off in one swift move.

My hungry eyes travel down his abs to that sweet v-line that gets lost into his waistband. His lips are back on mine and his hands explore my body. He pulls the hoodie off me and I am left in just my panties and a sports bra.

He places kisses from my jawline, down to my neck and he licks and nips on my clavicle. Moans pour out from my lips. His movements falter when his hands graze my bra covered nipples.

My chest moves at a very fast pace as my breathing is fast and heavy because of the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

He gazes at me through his long lashes as he kisses my belly, "Not yet", he says and then pulls me up to straddle him once again as he sits on the couch.

"What?", I ask.. This man just teased me.

"Not now", he simply says as his knuckle softly brushes the side of my face.

I huff out a big sigh, "When then?".

"Soon".

My body is still buzzing with adrenaline and some other crazy hormones that my brain decided to excrete.

"Alexander, I'm horny",

Oooh girl, how brave of you, my subconscious comments.

Yeah, being sexually frustrated makes me brave. So what?

He grins at my words and his eyes darken, "I can tell", he says as he gestures to my hard nipples.

I fold my arms as I glare at him. I've never looked at him this way before, "Don't you want to have sex with me?"

He places a kiss on my lips, "Does it feel like I dont want to have sex with you?" he asks as he holds my hips and grinds his sweatpant covered erection on me. I let out a groan, holding on to his shoulders.

His chuckle makes its way to my ears, "Then why haven't we done it yet?" I ask him. I really need to know why he's been holding back lately. He said we'd go at my pace and as of late I've been handing myself over on a silver platter but he has not been budging.

The playful side of him vanishes as he becomes serious, "Look Rose", he takes a deep breath, "I've had a lot of sex with a lot of wo-",.

"-Geez thanks for telling me of your promiscuous past", I say with sarcasm dripping off every word. I grab my hoodie and slip it back on. Moving off his lap I march up the stairs to the bedroom. His voice calls me back down.

I can't believe he just said that!

I know he's had sex with a lot of women and that freaks me out. Those women were experienced and knew what they were doing. They're not a 23 year old who has only ever had sex once.

Sex that I hated.

Falling face first on the bed I groan into the one of the pillows that I pull towards me.

His presence permeates the bedroom as he stands at the doorway, "Rose?".

Turning my head towards him I just stare at his shirtless figure. He walks towards the bed and sits on the bottom corner. Worry and concern written all over his face.

"Baby, I'm sorry but I need to say this to you".

I move up and sit cross-legged, holding the pillow to my chest. A part of me thinks that it might act as a shield from the brutal honesty that's about to come from this man's lips.

The atmosphere in the room is thick with seriousness. I mentally prepare myself as I quietly listen to him speak.

"As I was saying, I've been with a lot of women.", I flinch again at this. But I don't say anything and let him cotinue, "But, with them it was only sex. There were no emotional strings attached to any of that."

"With you, I feel things for you. My feelings intensify everyday. I don't want to rush you into having sex. I like..." he pauses as he smiles at me, "I love what we have. I want when our time comes for it to happen to be special and be a great experience for both of us."

One of his hands holds onto my right knee, "Rosalie, I've never invested myself fully in a relationship like this before. I'm getting used to not being just physical but emotionally sensitive too."

He moves up the bed, his hand caressing my cheek as he looks into my eyes, "I want you. Badly too. But I don't want us to force the moment or feel pressured to get into sex. I know that it's not seen as normal to not sleep with the person you're with after six months but our relationship isn't exactly normal"

He chuckles at the last part.

It is true though. Our relationship didn't quite start out normally. He didn't court me or anything. The universe made it hard to ignore the immense emotional pull that we both felt for each other. Which by the way is entirely different from what I felt for Bryce. With him it was merely sexual attraction.

Reassurance floods towards me. His words really make me see things from his perspective, and I appreciate his honesty, as brutal as it may be.

"I understand. Thank you for explaining how you feel", I say to him. My index finger lazily traces the bulging veins in his hand that go up to his forearm.

"And sorry for being a horny spaz",

He laughs. A full on belly laugh that I love. The corners of his eyes crinkle, his head turned towards the ceiling as his shoulders shake.

"You're not a...horny spaz", he says trying to catch his breath.

I am though.

My eyes at everything except him as embarrassment hits me. I acted like a sex crazed freak ealier. That is a part of me that I only experience when I'm with him. He affects me too much.

I am brought back to reality by him pushing my back onto the bed. He throws the pillow to the floor as he crawls on top of me. My legs instinctively open for him to get in between.

"Are we okay now?", he asks.

I nod at him, my hands holding onto his biceps.

He leans down to place a tender kiss on my lips. It's slow. Much slower than any of our kisses have ever been. His tongue dives into my mouth as he explores and dances with mine in a slow, beautiful way.

His dazed eyes, filled with lust as they darken look at me once we break to breathe. Those plump lips curl up into a grin as he looks at me.

"What?", I ask.

"You're so beautiful Rosalie Jones. I'm a lucky man".

Heat rises to my cheeks. This man is a dream.

I watch him move off me and stand at the foot of the bed. He pulls my leg towards him. "Get up and get ready".

Confused, I stare up at him still on my back as my legs dangle off the bed, "Why?" I prop myself up on my elbows.

"Because I'm taking you to dinner".

"Oh really?", I ask excitedly.

This time he pulls me off the bed completely and I stand in front of his tall frame. "Yes my love".

Standing on the tips of my toes I loop my hands around his neck, well at least try to. I can only reach up as far as my height can allow me. "Okay". He places a chase kiss on my lips as he holds my waist.

I slide off him and make my way to the closet to pick an outfit. Before I reach the door his hand smacks my butt causing me to squeal.

He has never done that before and honestly, I kind of like it.

As I turn to look at him, he shoots me a wik and walks out of the bedroom.

I know he said that he is a lucky man. But I can't help but think that If anyone is lucky between the two of us, it has to be me.

I'm lucky to have you Alexander Cain.

***

He takes me out to this restaurant called Le Meurice which is the dining hall of hotel Meurice. From the moment we enter I can tell that this place is expensive and is where the rich and famous choose to eat.

The decor is gorgeous, the heavy damask curtains, crystal chandeliers and mosaic floors that scream culture.

The setting is so romantic and intimate with the round tables covered in grey and white cloth, the art that hangs on the walls and the beautifully painted pieces on the ceiling. It's almost as if we're going to dine with Marie Antoinette.

"Are you having fun?", he asks as we have dessert. The black suit he has on tonight looks so good on him. The jacket snug, as it hugs his broad shoulders.

I am about to answer when I feel a chill go down my spine. The hair on the back of my neck rises as I look past his shoulder to see a man with dark hair and the sharpest grey eyes I have ever seen stare at me.

A lazy grin on his face as he raises his glass filled with what I assume is scotch or cognac at me in the form of acknowledgement.

Alexander sees my face and turns his head to look in the direction of where the man sits. The man's grin turns into a wide smile as he locks eyes with Lex.

His table coincidentally is not so far from us so when he speaks we can hear him, "Cain", his deep voice has an accent to it.

I see Lex's jaw clench as he grits his teeth before his lips curl up into a sinister grin to match the man, "DiLorenzo".

DiLorenzo?

As in Matteo DiLorenzo?

He looks different from the pictures of him in the articles I've read about him. He is a very handsome man. Dark raven hair, neatly combed. Olive skin, he looks built but not too jacked. Pearly white teeth and a panty dropping grin.

As if seeing him is not enough, he stands up from his table and saunters over to ours. He looks about six foot in height. I watch him pull a chair and sit with us.

The tension in the air is thick as him and Lex stare each other down with those grins still on their faces. It's almost as if they are having a mental conversation.

Matteo's gaze shifts over to me "Matteo DiLorenzo", he takes my hand from the table as we awkwardly shake hands.

I fake a smile, "Rosalie Jones".

His eyebrow quirks up, "Oh, I know. The woman that captured the devil's heart", he shoots a wink at me before he gestures to a not so happy Alexander.

"What do you want Matteo?" Lex asks, the annoyance clear in his tone. I can tell that this man gets on his nerves.

Matteo feigns innocence, "Nothing Cain, just wanted to come and greet you guys.", I don't miss his eyes drinking me in as they travel from my face down to my cleavage.

I suppress a shudder.

"Besides, I think it is about time I meet the woman that has made an enemy of Belle Walker". He adds on.

Enemy?

She considers me an actual rival of hers?

Lex notices how uncomfortable I am, "What are you talking about DiLorenzo?", his jaw clenched again

Matteo smirks, "Belle doesn't like losing" he turns towards me again.

Losing?

She actually thinks she lost Alexander to me?

Like some prize on a gameshow.

"Last time I checked, she is the one that cheated on Alexander with you", my mouth rattles off. No longer uncomfortable, I feel my anger being sparked.

"Where is Belle anyway?", Lex asks Matteo. "It's uncommon to not see her hanging off your arm like some toy"

He continues, "Because that's what she is to you. A plaything".

Ouch .

This is him. The ruthless part of Lex that is feared in the business world.

It's my first time witnessing this side of him.

The Italian shrugs as he sips his whiskey that he brought with him from his table when he decided to come and interrupt our diner. "I haven't heard from her in months. We broke up."

"Broke up?" I ask.

Why wasn't this on any of the tabloids? She's in the public eye and this doesn't become headlining news? She probably paid people to keep it away from the news.

"Yes, that woman is crazy", I watch as he stands up. His face falls as his features become serious. "If I were you, I'd be wary of her"

"Is that a threat?", Lex brow arches questioningly at Matteo.

I feel the anger radiating off him.

The man fixes his jacket and brushes off the non-existent lint off his arm, "No, just a warning Cain".

"Nice meeting you principessa", he shoots me that grin of his before he walks away, out of the restaurant.

We're left in a confused haze. My eyes scan the long forgotten dessert in front of me as my thoughts wreak havoc.

Should I be worried?

"Nothing is going to happen. Trust that I'll always protect you", Lex's hand takes hold of mine over the table. We stare deeply into each other's eyes as his words wash over me. The reassurance in his gaze solidifying his promise to protect me.

"I trust you", I respond to him.