We greet each other. Reese goes to talk to her father, and I walk up to the bed and take a seat at Morgan’s side. She immediately reaches for my hand and squeezes it.
“Good to see you again,” I say.
I know it’s a cliché, but surrounded by all the white pillows and sheets, Morgan looks how I always imagined angels would. If you want to know what a woman whose heart is literally bursting with pure love looks like you only have to look at her.
She smiles up at me like a child, her face filled with a mixture of love, happiness, and pride and gestures around her. “You didn’t have to do any of this.”
“I wanted to. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do, and I want to keep you around me for so long as I can.”
“Oh, Drake,” she cries blinking back tears. “When you left that day, I wasn’t even sure you would be coming back.”
“I’m sorry. I was confused. It was such a shock, and I needed to speak to my Dad.”
“No, it’s me who’s sorry,” she shakes her head. “Reese told me what happened in your parents’ house. It was never my intention to drive a wedge between you and your family. I assumed they’d told you that you were my son. I should have known better after…”
She trails off, as though the words are still too painful to get out of her mouth. I smile at her. “It doesn’t matter anymore. I know the truth now, and that’s all that counts.” She smiles back at me, but I can see a hint of sadness in her eyes. I know how she feels. I haven’t spoken to my Dad or my adopted mother since yesterday. A part of me mourns for the loss of that family. I will eventually make up with them, but for now, the time I have with Morgan is very short, and I intend to make the best of it. When she goes there should be no regret in my heart.
Before I can say anything else, a doctor enters the room. He glances around at us all, and then focuses his attention on his patient.
“How are you feeling today, Morgan?” he asks, picking up her chart, and glancing at the notes.
“Much better, thank you,” she looks around the room at all of us, “now that my entire family is here with me.”
“Yes, family is a wonderful thing,” the doctor nods, smiling at all of us. “Soothes the soul.”
“It does indeed,” Morgan agrees.
“Can I speak to one of you for a moment?” the doctor asks, and I stand up immediately. If its news about her condition, it’s about time that I was the one to take that burden, but I look at Doug and he nods slightly as if to tell me to go ahead.
Reese and her dad move to Morgan’s bedside and begin laughing about something, an inside joke, no doubt, built from years of family. I feel a little stab of jealousy, but soothe it with the knowledge I still have time to make myself a part of it. The doctor smiles at me broadly as soon as the door clicks shut. Huh. That’s odd. Isn’t exactly the expression I associate with bad medical news!
“What’s up, doc?”
“We’ve got some great news about your mother,” he announces, and I can hear the bubble of excitement in his voice as he says it.
My head jerks back in surprise. “What?”
“We’ve reviewed her condition,” he goes on, “and we believe that the doctors at her previous treatment center may have misdiagnosed her condition.”
“What kind of mistake?” I lean forward eagerly, urging him to go on. Urging him to tell me what I want to hear more than anything in the world.
“We still need to run more tests, of course,” he warns, “but we are starting to conclude that your mother’s condition may not be terminal.”
My mouth drops open and I stare at him incredulously. No. Way. No fucking way. I can’t be that lucky. To be handed this, like some kind of redemption after everything that’s happened. I feel as though my heart is going to explode with joy. I fight the urge to throw my arms around him. I roll back my shoulders so I’m standing up straight.
“Thank you,” I nod, and glance over my shoulder at the closed door. “Do you mind if … do you mind if I tell them?”
“Of course not,” he smiles kindly. “But do let them know this is the preliminary stage. We’ve got a lot more to do before we can give her a clean bill of health.”
“I know,” I return his smile, so wide it feels as though my face will crack in two. “Thank you. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He nods a couple of time. “By the way, do you think my son can have your autograph. He’s nine years old and you’re one of his greatest heroes.”
With a massive grin, I take my baseball cap off, reaching over, pull a pen from the doctor’s coat pocket.
“His name is James,” the doctor says.
I sign my cap and hand it over to him. He is so eager and excited he literally snatches it from me, but I don’t think I have ever been happier to give someone an autograph before. He thanks me profusely and heads back down the corridor. I place my hand against the door, pause for a second, and then open it. This is going to be the best part of my day. My month. My year. My life. I step into the room with my family, and they all clock the look on my face at the same moment.
Chapter Twelve
Reese
Another morning, another unfamiliar place for me to wake up in, but this time, the fact I’m somewhere new doesn’t throw me. In fact, it sends a shiver of joy down my back. I turn over to see Drake lying next to me, fast asleep and sprawled across the luxurious covers of his massive bed.
It was last night that I officially moved into his apartment in the city. His place is great because it’s less than an hour’s drive from where Morgan is staying so I can be closer to her. I don’t know how much longer Morgan must stay in the hospital, but I hope she will be discharged soon. Now that we have found out her condition is treatable, I can’t wait for her to start living her life again.
Drake drove down to pick up all my stuff, and we took a road trip across the country together. It’s something I will remember forever. It was like a dream. The sun was shining, and the wind was in my hair. We talked, we laughed, we ate, and when we just couldn’t keep our hands off each other anymore, we stopped along the way and fell on each other like hungry animals. I still remember how I laid on my back on the hot hood of the car and stared at the blue, blue sky while he ate me out.
Just thinking about it now makes me feel that little flutter in my stomach again. Funny, but even though it’s still early days, we’ve already been through so much that it feels like we have passed years together.
When we got back last night I didn’t even bother to unpack. I managed to chow down some take-out before my eyes drooped shut. Drake carried me to bed and we had gentle sex. It was slow, languorous, and utterly delicious.
I stretch luxuriously and feel myself relax with satisfaction. This is it. This is what I’ve been looking for all my life. A new life in the city, and the chance to do whatever I want with it.
Drake rolls over and throws his arm over my waist. I turn to find him smiling wickedly at me. He lowers his mouth and plants a kiss on my bare shoulder. I shiver at his touch, even though the sunlight is streaming through the enormous window opposite the bed, and warming the room.
“Morning, Sexy,” I murmur, and flirtatiously flip myself over so I’m facing away from him.
He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me close so that I feel his erection pressing up against my ass. I bury my face into the pillow and smile to myself, shifting my butt back and forth against him. He lets out a small groan and kisses my neck, running his teeth sensually against my skin. I can already feel myself growing slick between my legs, and wonder if I just move myself this way a little, and then that, and then…
It worked. Before I know it, he’s inside me, with his cock firmly planted inside my pussy as he gently begins to move in and out of me. I bite my lip and close my eyes as his hand roams up to pinch and tug at my nipples. I feel his breath, hot and ragged, against my ear, and his cock, thick and strong inside me. I love the way he takes his time, taunting and teasing me until
he knows I can’t take a moment more of it.
“I could get used to waking up like this,” he murmurs softly, and I reach back to take his hand and guide it down in between my legs. I’m happy to hand over my whole body to this man, to let him take complete control and drive me to levels of pleasure I didn’t even think were possible before I met him. His fingers deftly find my clit, and I let out a small groan as he begins to work his magic. I turn my head to look at him. He smiles against my skin, shark-like, and thrusts so deeply into me it makes my mouth open in a soundless cry.
He holds himself inside me as he continues to play with my clit. My muscles throb and pulse around his morning wood. With a whimper of need, I press my hips as far back as I can, trying to meet him when he thrusts again.
After only a couple of minutes of him inside me, I feel my toes curling and my muscles tightening as my orgasm approaches. Already? I guess my brain has not woken up properly and is free from the fog that usually comes after a day of studies and all the shitty stuff that life throws at you. At this moment, all I have in my head is him, inside me, taking what is his.
“Ah!” I cry out as the climax begins, washing over me in mellow waves that arch my body and tightens my muscles.
“Jesus, Reese,” he growls in my ear. “You feel so fucking good when you cum.”
I only manage a small, incoherent moan in response, but he’s too lost in me to mind; thrusting and playing with my clit through it all. When it is, over I let my head drift down onto the pillow dreamily. He places his large hand on my hip to hold me steady and fucks me hard. Every thrust sends another little shudder of pleasure through my system.
A few seconds later, he finishes inside of me, his fingers digging into my hips, pushing himself as deeply as he can. He lets out a gasp, then flips me over in one swift movement. I look up at him. His skin glows golden in the morning light. He plants a kiss on the side of my mouth, pulls back, and smiles.
“Well, good morning to you too.” He raises his eyebrows at me, and I raise mine back.
We both laugh at the same moment, and he wraps his arms around me and draws me into his chest. I nuzzle into him contentedly. I know that things don’t get much better than this.
Chapter Thirteen
Reese
Feeling happy, ridiculously so, I put my key in the door and push it open. It’s been a week since I moved in with Drake and I’m still floating on a cloud of joy. The apartment is quiet. Drake is out visiting with his agent about a sponsorship deal for a new sneakers company. He’s glad to be back training again, even though he comes home every night exhausted. A couple of times he tried to sneak me into the locker rooms again, in the hopes of re-enacting our kinky first-time meeting, but we’ve had no luck so far. There have always been people around. Sometimes I wonder how fate works. How easily I got in and found him alone the first time, but now it’s almost impossible to find a moment when it is quiet.
I dump my keys on the side table and kick off my formal shoes. I’ve just returned from an interview at one of the colleges I hope to attend in the new year. I’ve always been wary about pursuing something away from Dad and Morgan, for fear that they would need me, or that something would happen while I was out of town.
But, now that Drake has provided Morgan with the best care in the world, I don’t have to worry about them like I used to. I just visited Morgan yesterday evening and she is improving in leaps and bounds. We could go out for a walk in the grounds of the hospital. It was slow, and Morgan needed to get back into the wheelchair half way through, but it was wonderful to see the color had come back into her face and the new bounce in her step. If all goes well, Dad will be able to take her home in a couple of weeks.
The return of her health has opened a world of possibilities to me, and I’ve been considering the college courses I want to take.
I put my bagful of glossy prospectuses on the table and head towards the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee. Later I will leaf through them, taking my time to decide what I want to study. I’m sure history and English Lit are on the cards, but I’m not sure in which combination, but it is months before the applications need to be in, so I’ll be able to take my time.
As I walk to the kitchen, I pass the living room and practically launch out of my skin. A man is sitting on one of the couches calmly reading a sports magazine that is open on his lap. A man I sincerely hoped never encounter again as long as I lived. Drake’s father.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” The words shoot out of my mouth before I have a chance to stop them.
He raises one mocking, condescending eyebrow at me. “Language,” he taunts, and I must fight the urge to lunge across the room and land a slap on his smug face right there and then.
“How did you get in here?”
He looks at me as if I’m stupid. “I’m Drake’s father. Obviously, I have a key.” He makes a dismissive movement with his hand. “And I thought it was about time I stopped in for a visit.”
“Does he even know you’re here?” I ask.
“No. I came to talk to you, actually,” he replies.
“Me? Why?” I demand suspiciously, crossing my arms in front of me to keep them from shaking.
“We have things to discuss.”
“What about?” I lift my chin up to meet his gaze. This is the guy who completely cut Morgan, one of the best people I’ve ever met, out of her son’s life. He’s an asshole. A deep, complete asshole, and I wanted nothing to do with him.
“About your relationship with my son,” he continues mildly. “I know you’ve been living here since… you came to my house, and I know he’s been using his money to pay for your stepmother in the hospital.”
“It’s his mother,” I snarl.
“She gave up the right to be called that. Didn’t she tell you she took the money and ran.”
“How dare you-?”
“I’m not here to discuss the past with you. I came to offer you more money than you’ll ever earn, no matter how many colleges you attend,” he says, standing up.
I gasp in shock. He thinks he can buy me off. “You want to pay me to stay away from Drake?”
He smiles mockingly. “I knew we’d come to an understanding.”
“Why?” I ask slowly.
“Because you’re bad for my son. Don’t get me wrong I’m sure you’re very attractive, but you’re not the right material to stand at his side at a society function. You’d be lost and he’d be ashamed of you. Whatever passion you think you have now will die away and you’ll be thrown by the wayside. This way you get something for your time and effort.”
His rudeness makes my blood boil. He doesn’t care about me or his son’s happiness at all, just like he didn’t care about Morgan. Well, I’m not going to stand for it. I don’t see why I should. I don’t owe him anything.
“Don’t talk to me like that,” I spit, so furious my hand is shaking. “Drake will be back any minute, and I don’t think he’ll appreciate the meddling you’re doing in his life.”
“He’s out seeing his agent, he’ll be gone for a while,” his father cut me off smoothly. How does he know so much about us, and what we do with our lives? It is unsettling.
“You need to leave,” he nods towards the door.
My eyes widen. “I do?” I exclaim. “Me?”
“I know my son might seem like he has his shit together, but he doesn’t,” his father goes on. “And I know that he feels guilty about you and your stepmother and everything. He’s trying to assuage his own guilt, and you and your family are exploiting that.”
“What the fuck?” I demand.
His lips curl with disgust at my language. “You must have learned it from your stepmother,” he sneers, his top lip curling with disgust as he observes me. “Being a money-grabbing slut usually takes more practice, but you seem to have got it down to a fine art the first time.”
My mouth hangs open. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. I stare at him, the blood whooshing around
my head in waves great enough to knock me off-balance.
Suddenly, the door clicks open behind me. I jump and whirl around. Drake is standing there staring at his father, his face black with rage. I have never seen him so furious, not even when he was confronting his father the last time. I swivel back around to face his father and see that his expression has dropped from smug superiority to confusion.
“How much did you hear?” his father asks, and Drake steps up beside me and takes my hand.
“Everything,” he replies, his tone low and menacing. “I heard everything.”
“Son, I’m just trying to do this for your own good,” he says, changing tack, pleading with Drake. “These women, they’ll bleed you dry-”
“Dad, this may come as a shock to you,” Drake interrupts him, “but I don’t give a shit about money. She can have it all as far as I’m concerned.”
His father goes white. “Drake, she’ll take everything from you-”
“Didn’t you hear me? I don’t care if she does!” Drake explodes, dropping my hand. In three strides, he is standing in front of his father. His hands are clenched tight at his sides. If it was not his Dad, he would have knocked him out by now.
“I thought you’d know better than that,” his father spat. “She’s not worth it. She’s nothing but a-”
“Don’t say it, Dad. I don’t want to lose the last bit of respect I have for you.”
“She’s a whore,” his father screamed.
Drake catches his father by the shoulders and begins dragging him towards the door.
“I don’t want to hear it!” He roars, opening the door. “I don’t want to see you here ever again; do you understand me?”
His father stands in the arch of the door frame and shoots a look at me. I know he blames me for this, but he has no one to blame but himself.
Submitting to the Billionaire: A Dark Billionaire Romance Page 31
