The Boss and the Brat: A Billionaire Romance
Page 19
“So much has changed…” My panted words only encouraged him.
“I need you,” he whispered. “That hasn’t changed.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re mine.”
His.
Oh, that was a beautiful promise. Just the sort of whispered confusion which tumbled us into bed so many weeks ago.
“Trust me,” Cameron said. “Surrender to me.”
“I don’t know if I should.”
“You know what I can give you…” He slowed his movements, teasing my nub with a circle of his thumb. “Mansions. Cars. Yachts. You will want for nothing—especially since you’ve just given me everything.”
I didn’t understand. “The baby?”
“The baby.”
He returned to my slit, his words silenced as he swirled me into a dizzying pleasure.
I gripped the sheets in weakening fists. “Most men would be terrified by this news.”
“I’m not most men.”
“Yeah…you’re worse.”
His voice darkened with a seductive tease. “Go ahead. Pretend you hate me. But we were made for each other.”
“Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“No…” His fingers moved faster against me. “They make a baby.”
“This is a mistake, Cameron,” I whispered.
“Nothing about this is a mistake. You want me. I know you do. I can hear it in your moans. Feel it with your heat. Why fight this? Why fight us?”
And that was the dangerous question.
I never once feared how he might command my body. But even with the ultimate consequence of our nights together—a baby—hadn’t compared to my true fear.
What this man would do to my heart.
Yes, I wanted Cameron.
Yes, I needed him more than I ever thought I could desire a man.
But I had hidden the truth for so long that the lie had become comfortable. Safe and guarded.
The first time he’d touched me, I’d denied the spark.
The first time he’d kissed me, I’d fought the instinct.
The first time he’d taken me, I’d battled the surrender.
But no matter how much I wished our nights had been a foolish crashing of bodies and passions for our own selfish gains…
I feared it’d become something so much more.
I closed my eyes. “How can I be sure that you want me? How do I know I’m not just another challenge to entertain you?”
Cameron’s whisper banished my hesitations. He rose over me, shadowing me in absolute warmth and security as he removed the rest of his clothes. His breathing turned ragged as he stroked his hardness, straining toward my heat, desperate to be a part of me.
He guided my hips to him and wrapped my legs around his waist. His movements gentled.
“Let me show you how I feel…” His touch rendered me helpless and eager. “Because you’ll never believe me if I simply tell you the truth.”
He entered me in a slice of utter enchantment. My body arched, propelled to the aching peak of perfection once more. He filled every inch of me, each thrust expelling my doubts, worries, anxieties.
My shiver became a tremble, but I only offered him more. In his arms, the world fell away as he consumed me. He folded his hands into mine, pinning my wrists to the bed.
Not to dominate. Not to control.
But to hold me still as he proved his devotion and kept my body right where it belonged.
Under him.
Arched in pleasure.
And with every stroke, I felt him.
The promises he’d made, the words yet unsaid, the purity of our feelings that beat our hearts in unison.
The night overwhelmed me. I kissed him, whispering words I wished I understood, murmuring questions with no answers, and voicing insecurities all brushed away with his tender touch.
He grunted, sharp and fierce, taking me harder—fighting with himself and his every instinct to bury deeper into my softness. His motions turned frenzied, and finally, after so very long, I witnessed the breaking of the great Cameron Mitchell’s composure.
And it was his lust for me that rendered him undone.
“You’ve given me something I never knew I wanted…” His words ached with furious intensity. “Something I now want more than I need anything in this world. You have no idea what this means.”
The current of electricity shocking my core had stolen my words. I struggled against my panting breath to voice everything in my heart.
“You wanted a baby?” I whispered.
“Never knew it…never realized how important…” He slowed, groaning in his own frustrations.
“Are you sure you’re not in shock?”
“This is amazing, Kenza.” A shiver rocked his body, and he thrust completely inside of me, pinning me between his strength and the bed. “I’ve never felt this way before…never been so alive.”
“Cameron…”
He interrupted me, moving once more, building that intensity that threatened both our sanities.
Neither of us could hold back much longer, and yet he demanded something far greater than the crest of our bodies.
“Tell me that you’re mine,” he grunted.
“I…”
“You can’t hide it from me.” He rutted hard, bottoming out in my velvet tightness. “You can’t lie when I’m this deep inside you.”
He had no idea how right he was. Every thrust, every bump against the bed, every stolen whimper falling from my lips had only proven a truth I’d been too reluctant to share.
“Just take me, Cameron…”
The pleasure built too quick and consumed me entirely.
I sweated, my body twisting beneath his. Rocking forward to meet his thrusts. Squirming to escape from his unrelenting strength. I tensed on the edge of that unredeemable precipice and had only him to cling to—the man who would toss me so eagerly into the abyss.
But would he be there to catch me before I fell?
“Say it, Kenza…” Cameron fought himself, denying his release to force mine. “Say it.”
My heart tangled with my mind while every fiber of my being pleaded for me to stay silent—to deny this all and continue my fantasy of isolation and sorrow.
But he’d given me so much more. Pleasure. Excitement. Passion.
Words dissolved as my body tightened, and every filament of my soul frayed undone in a singular moment.
Cameron crested, slamming inside me with a jetted heat of wicked delight. His hips ground against mine as he ensured every drop of his desire tucked deep inside of me.
How could I resist this man?
The pleasure drowned me in waves of crashing light.
I came for him—a bright beacon of gentle demands.
Not stolen or taken, but comforted and protected.
The heat caressed my curves, bewitching me with such blinding torrents of bliss that I lost myself in the cocoon of safety that was his arms, his kiss, his embrace.
I offered myself to him this time.
Body. Heart. Soul.
Every part of me from fear to future.
He pressed his forehead against mine, eyes clenched shut as his body rolled with twitching aftershocks.
“Kenza…” he whispered. “You know I’ve been yours ever since the night we fell into the koi pond.”
I stroked his face, teasing the hard angle and roughened beard. He shifted, but he didn’t pull out of me. Instead, our bodies melded in messy, perfect heat.
“I have a confession to make…” I stared at this beautiful man and wondered how much more trouble he’d cause. “I don’t think you pulled me into that pond.”
“No?”
“No…” The truth enraptured me in greater pleasure, and I tugged him over me once more. “I think I jumped in after you.”
15
Cameron
Nothing ruined a great night of sex like a morning interrupted with a dozen furious text messages.r />
Mr. R had been a rather difficult stockholder before the incident with the board.
Now that’d he heard of Mackenza’s stunt and my subsequent, unplanned trip to Italy, my phone hadn’t stopped vibrating.
I thought you could handle her.
I trusted you to make the right decisions.
You will sell this company, and you’ll do it before she causes any more damage.
I pitched the phone across the room, aiming for the garbage.
I missed, and the phone screen shattered into fragments, but at least the incessant interruptions stopped.
It’d taken me weeks to earn the privilege of waking with Mackenza in my arms—and nothing, not work, not room service, and certainly not the bullshit of an investor-turned-bully would spoil it.
A man’s greatest treasure was sleeping next to the woman of his dreams.
A woman carrying his baby.
The thud of my phone breaking stirred her awake. She breathed softly against my chest, her fingers stroking deft circles around my abdominal muscles. The warmth of her touch eased the tension coiling my body. I relaxed, tugging her tighter against me as I rested against the pillow, eager to fall asleep once more.
Then…she opened her mouth.
Nothing like spoiling the moment.
“We should talk about it,” she said.
Sleep slurred my words. “Talk about what?”
She pointed to her stomach. “You do realize that this is a baby?”
Right now, it looked more like a deliciously bare patch of dark skin.
“I’m…aware of the baby.”
More than aware. My excitement tented the sheet. Mackenza scoffed, flicking at the bulge with an incredulous finger.
“How are you so calm?” she asked.
I twitched the erection, and it danced beneath the blanket. “You call that calm?”
She huffed and returned her head to my chest, the closest she’d ever stayed after a night of gratuitous, indulgent sex.
“I don’t understand you, Cameron.”
“I think you understand me just fine.”
“Right now, I’ve got a wrestling match in my stomach, pitting panic against terror. And I’m waiting to see which one clobbers the other with a folding chair. Winner of the match gets thrown up first.”
Poor thing.
I tightened my grip over her. “You have nothing to fear.”
“Yeah, sure. Easy for you to say.” Mackenza pushed off me, but she didn’t bother to cover herself with the sheet.
Her lovely curves were exposed to the dim, golden light peeking from the east. Milan might’ve been a beautiful city, but it looked even better when graced by an angel like Mackenza.
“Your part in this is over,” she said. “You get to sit back on your laurels for the next nine months.”
I peeked under the sheet. “And where exactly is my laurel?”
“Right around your fat head.”
“Huh.” I shrugged. “I thought it’d be closer to my fat cock.”
Mackenza groaned. “See. That kind of talk is exactly what got us into trouble.”
“Got news for you, Kenza. We’re not in trouble. This is amazing.”
“Ah, good.” She tip-toed her fingers up my arm, ending with a pinch over my bicep. “Then you can be the one to tell my parents.”
I sighed. “I’m doing enough for your father. Let’s not give him a stroke as well.”
Not sure what wrinkled more—the sheets or her brow. She nibbled on her pinky nail.
“I don’t even know where to start with all of this,” she said.
“Start by lying down, cuddling against me, and sleeping until we order breakfast.”
“I can’t—there’s just too much to do.”
“You sleep now. We wake up again. Fuck a little more. Sleep again. Eat some waffles—”
“Waffles?”
“The perfect post-fuck snack, second only to a thick cut ribeye steak. Say the word, and I’ll have some Wagu exported straight out of Japan and served in our hotel room by dinner tonight.”
Her eyes practically crossed. “I don’t want any meat.”
I gestured beneath the sheets. “Shame to waste this one.”
“Cameron.”
“Mackenza.”
She arched her eyebrow. “So, after you’ve had your fill of this carnivore Heaven, do you plan on returning to the office?”
“What office?”
She huffed. “You know—the business you’re hell bent on ruining?”
Right. Getting strong-armed by desperate investors apparently meant that I was ruining her company.
Not that she needed to know—especially as she’d become the focus of their most recent complaints.
“We can work remotely for a while…” I tangled my hand in hers, tugging her to my side. “Besides, I think this meeting is my most important of the day.”
“That so?”
“Let’s just say…I wanna do something outside the box.”
“Cameron.”
“I’d like to shift your paradigm.”
“Be serious.”
“Really…” I tickled under the sheets, aiming for the one special spot that made her squeal. “Focus on our synergy.”
She brushed me away with an awkward sigh. Her fingers slipped through her hair, taming the few wayward strands into her perfect bob.
“I’m worried.”
“I’m not.” My smile couldn’t comfort her. “What is it that scares you so much?”
“Would you like a bulleted list? Or maybe I should just get the gun?”
“Talk to me.”
She puffed a breath of air. “I mean…I don’t know what to do. I’m pregnant. Everything changes. Let’s just say I’m glad they give a girl nine months to prepare for this, because it takes me a full week to decide what color of sheets to buy.”
“Black silk.” I winked. “Easy.”
“What do I tell my parents? What do we tell the company?” She checked the bedside clock. “Do you even know what time it is in Ironfield? We might’ve lost another full day of work.”
“They’ll survive without us.”
“I don’t know anything about children,” she said.
“You don’t know anything about business either. Nothing stopping you from learning.”
“Where do I even start? What do I plan for? What happens when the world and the media learn that the great Cameron Mitchell is having a child? How do we handle telling the world about us? You dine with presidents, Cameron.”
“Then you can expect really epic baby gifts.”
“Do you know what happens when a woman goes into labor?” She lowered her voice and pointed low. “Do you even know where a baby comes out?”
“Under the porch.”
“What?”
“Well…that’s where my childhood dog had her puppies.”
I dodged a flying pillow and wrapped her in my arms, finally convincing her to rest against me. “You don’t have a thing to worry about, Kenza. I’ll take care of you. Handle everything.”
Wrong thing to say, apparently.
She scowled. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”
“Yeah…learned that a while ago. But you’re gonna have me, whether you want me at your side or not. I’ll be at your disposal, and you can do with me whatever you like…” I crossed my fingers. “Here’s hoping it’s something dirty.”
“Believe me, as much as I’d love to give you the orders…” Her voice quieted. “I’m not sure what to do. Everything I’d ever imagined for my future is just—poof. Changed. I used to be so certain of what would come tomorrow…but now, it’s all unclear.”
“Something wrong with spontaneity?”
“Only everything.”
“You don’t need a plan, Kenza. You’ve got me. Your father. We won’t let you down.” I tapped a gentle finger against her forehead. “And you can listen to yourself. Though I wish it didn’t work as de
viously as it does…you have a good head on your shoulders. You know what you need to do.”
“If that were true, I’d be in control of Maxwell Intimates now.”
“But we wouldn’t have met…” I grinned. “And you wouldn’t have fallen for me. No koi pond, no midnight liaisons, no baby. I think this is working out.”
Mackenza rolled her eyes. “You’ve only known you were going to be a father for two hours. That’s not enough time for the panic to set in.”
“I won’t panic.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Easy. “Because it’s you…and it’s me. You’re beautiful. I’m destructively handsome. Our baby will be a knockout.” I winked at her. “Plus, the kid will be a rich knockout. They’ll have all the wealth and privilege the world can offer. Want for nothing.”
“Great. The baby isn’t even the size of a dime yet, and already you’ve spoiled it rotten.”
She didn’t know the half of it. “Not just the baby. I’ll spoil you too. More than you’ve ever been spoiled in your life.”
And yet, Mackenza frowned. “I don’t want to be spoiled. I want to work. I want to put my name on something—leave a legacy.” She glanced away, picking at the imported sheets and thousand-dollar pillows. “I hoped you’d understand that.”
That was what I got for confessing my damned soul to the she-devil.
But she was right.
“I’ve spent the last fifteen years searching for my own legacy,” I said. “And I finally found it.”
She shimmied away from me as quick as her ass could scurry. “Don’t you say it, Cameron.”
“And you gave it to me.”
She covered her face with her hands. “You’re not serious. We’ve only been fooling around.”
“And it's time I change that.”
Her eyes widened. She stared at me, nibbling her bottom lip. “What are you saying?”
Hell if I even knew.
Two hours ago, my life had changed. Completely. And something I never knew I’d wanted—something I’d never even attempted to possess—had fallen into my lap so perfectly it must’ve been fate.
For so long, I’d looked for a damned purpose in my life.
A real happiness.
“You’ve given me something beyond anything I’ve ever dreamed.” I brought her hand to my lips, kissing her fingertips. “I’ve done everything—been everywhere—accomplished all that a man could dream. And it’s meant nothing. But, for the first time in years, I finally feel like I’ve found…” I shrugged. “Hope. Something new. A challenge I never thought I’d need.”