Free Saving Alexander by Susan Mac Nicol Page B

relationship in itself. He’s a purist when it comes to what he does for a living. He needs to be totally in control. He won’t like the fact you might be seeing another man, if it eventually happens.” Melanie spoke softly, her concern for Alex evident in her voice.
    Alex waved a hand. “Nonsense. I’m just a paying client, nothing else. He does what the customer wants and he’s got no emotional investment. What I do outside of Scarlet is of no concern to him.”
    Melanie was quiet for a while. Finally she spoke. “I disagree. But we’ll leave it there for now.”
    “I googled Sage.” Alex picked at a piece of imaginary fluff on the couch arm. “I remembered he said there was some invasion of privacy in his past life and I wanted to find out about it.”
    “And what did you find out?” Melanie made a notation in her pad.
    Alex looked down at his trendy designer loafers. “It was all over the news at the time. He found his fiancé in bed with one of his friends. He kicked them both out. A journalist who had followed him home caught it all on camera, him shoving the guy out of the apartment with his then-fiancé, both of them half-naked. The papers made quite a big thing about it. Apparently they were due to have their civil partnership in a month’s time.”
    He shook his head in sheer disbelief and continued. “Why would you want anyone else if you could have that man all to yourself? He split up with his current lover about eight months ago. He seems to have a run of back luck. I hope he’s not some sort of freak.” Alex smiled slightly.
    Melanie nodded her head. “Poor man. Maybe he just chooses the wrong partners.”
    Alex looked at her carefully. “He’s had some bad times too. When he was nineteen, both his parents were killed in a plane crash. His father was an amateur pilot and the plane they were flying in had an engine failure when they flew into a flock of birds.”
    Melanie pursed her lips as she looked at Alex. “So he’s had his fair share of drama then as well. Perhaps not as horrific as yours, but he knows tragedy and heartbreak. Perhaps that’s formed some sort of kinship between you.”
    She looked at Alex in compassion. “Have you thought about what you’ll do if this relationship goes to the next level and you decide to act on the attraction you both seem to have? What will you tell him about the scars you have? And if you’ve been to see Eric recently, how will you explain the marks away?”
    Alex looked down at his feet again. When he spoke his voice was sombre. “I have rules to help me with that, Melanie. No lights on, always in the dark. I try keep to my place where I can control the lighting. I insist on keeping my shirt on so no one sees the scar tissue. As for Eric—I’ll make sure I start to heal up. Eric can switch to the chamois flogger. I’ll limit where he hits me. It’s not ideal but”—he shrugged—“it sort of gets the job done. I’m thinking of jumping Sage’s bones soon, which, God help me, I really want to do. I’m not sure how much longer I can hold out. The man’s a bloody sex bomb.” His smile was twisted.
    Melanie was out of her depth. She had no idea that there were different types of floggers. But in some bizarre way, she knew Alex was actually moving forward. He’d actually accepted that he might start a normal relationship and was willing to take steps to reduce both the number of visits and his level of discomfort at the sessions with Eric in order to do so. That was definitely a step in the right direction. It still remained to be seen how Eric would feel about that. Melanie still had a feeling of unease, despite Alex’s assurances, that Eric might just be the thorn on the rose that ended up drawing blood.
    * * *
    Eric Rossi scowled fiercely as he readied himself for his session with Alex. He’d been given his new instructions by Madame and he wasn’t pleased with them at all.
    The chamois flogger, for God’s sake? You might as well