On Her Terms (The Arrangement Duet Book 2)

by Madison Quinn

  “NICHOLAS!” I pull her down hard at the same time that I thrust into her sending us both over the edge together. She continues to convulse around me, even as she collapses on my chest, with my hands firm on her hips, I move her against me, letting us both ride out the last waves of our release.

  I can’t believe I let that fucker deter me from making love to Kenzie. I vow in that moment never to allow anyone or anything prevent me from doing this ever again. When we’re together like this, everything is perfect–it’s as if the outside world doesn’t exist.

  Chapter 33

  Kenzie

  Wow… just WOW.

  There are no other words to describe what we just did. The last thing I expected tonight was to make love to Nicholas in the library. I don’t know why, but he hasn’t seemed interested in being intimate lately. I’m sure it had something to do with everything that’s going on, and the stress of trying to find out who is working with Richard. Whatever the reason was, I’m glad that we’ve moved past it. As I lay against his bare chest with his arms around me, I realize how much I’ve missed this connection. I’ve never felt so connected to someone, as I do with Nicholas, and each time we make love I feel even closer to him than before. I sigh when he wraps his arms around me, holding me tight against his chest as my fingers comb through his hair. I’m so relaxed I could fall asleep right here, but I know this can’t be entirely comfortable for Nicholas.

  “Do you want to go to bed… or did you still have work to do?”

  “I still have work to do,” he sighs. “But, I’m going to come to bed with you instead.”

  “Are you sure? I don’t mind—”

  “I’m sure, let’s go to bed.”

  I lift myself off of him, immediately feeling empty, and grab the closest thing to the chair to slip into which happens to be his shirt. As I finish buttoning the shirt, my eyes meet Nicholas’s, which are watching my every move.

  “Earth to Nicholas…”

  “You look so fucking sexy baby,” he tugs at the bottom of the shirt and brings me closer to him so I’m standing in between his spread legs. “I’ve never seen anyone look so sexy in my shirt before. Let’s go to bed so I can strip you out of the shirt.”

  While he slips on his boxers, I quickly find my pajamas that ended up between the chair and the door. Just before we head downstairs, we walk past the bedroom where we slept together for the first time.

  “Do you remember the night we slept together in there?” I ask.

  “The weekend I had that awful food poisoning.”

  “It was.”

  “I had such a hard time falling asleep that night…”

  “Because you weren’t downstairs in your own bed, instead in that room,” I gesture to the door just behind us.

  “No, because you were in here.”

  “I don’t follow…”

  “I felt this incredible urge to come in here that night… before your nightmare, I mean. Hell, when I came to bed, I even stopped at your door but convinced myself to go into the other room. But when you turned the shower water on… Fuck, it took everything in me not to barge in there.”

  “Really? You were… attracted to me even then?”

  I had no idea—I assumed he still thought of me as just a business arrangement back then. I had no idea he saw me as anything more. He kissed me for the first time that night, after my nightmare, but I thought that was more of a spur of the moment thing and hadn’t realized he was attracted to me before then.

  “Fuck, Kenzie, you’ve turned me on since the day I met you.”

  “The day I was covered in rain water and dirt on the side of the street?” Surely he can’t mean that day… he must be referring to the day we met at The Summit.

  “Yes, believe it or not after, that day all I could think about was getting you beneath me. I had all these images of fucking you, but something about the way you looked at me, made me realize that you would never be interested in a one night stand, which was all I could offer you at that time.”

  “Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t have been interested in that,” I agree.

  “I knew that… but it didn’t make me stop wanting you.”

  “I didn’t realize…”

  “That’s one of the things that makes you even sexier… you have no idea how truly beautiful you are,” his breath is a whisper against my ear, sending chills through my entire body. “Holding you that night in here, sleeping next to you… was the first time I slept peacefully I think in my entire life.”

  “That night… it was the first time I felt safe… ever.”

  “I meant what I said to you that night, Kenzie, I’m going to do everything possible to see that no one ever hurts you again. If your ex is behind the stories in the press and is using this as some way to worm his way back into your life, he will pay. No one will hurt you again.”

  “I love how protective you are. I know you’ll do whatever you can to keep me safe.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  Like every other night, I fall asleep wrapped in his arms, still amazed at how things have changed between us since the first night we slept in this bed together. I never would have thought that less than a year later, I would be head over heels in love with Nicholas and that he would feel the same way about me. I never would have thought that by signing that contract with Bridget, that my life would change this drastically. All I was hoping for was to not have to work so many hours each day, find a safer place to live and maybe one day go back to school. I never expected or even wanted to find love out of the arrangement.

  I know the smile is still on my lips when I fall asleep a little while later after Nicholas’s arm tightens around my waist essentially anchoring me to him. Making love in the library must have put my body into overdrive, as for the first time ever, my dreams are kind of erotic. We’re on his boat, the wind is gentle but cool against my warm skin. The boat rocks gently in the water, but he has anchored it in a secluded area where no one can see us. We’re both lying on the lounge chairs relaxing, listening to the sounds of nature, instead of the busy city that we left a few hours ago. He rolls onto his side, lightly caressing my body, slowly as he makes his way from my hardened nipples to my damp sex.

  I call his name when his fingers slip beneath my bikini bottoms, just as the rest of him moves to kneel at the bottom of my seat. I frantically look around, worried that another boat could come by at any point and see what we’re doing.

  Any logical thoughts leave my mind when I feel his mouth against my center. When did the bottoms of my bathing suit come off? His mouth is on me, openly kissing me, making me forget everything. My body feels like it’s on fire and not from the sun beating on us overhead. When he slips a finger into me and his mouth moves onto my clit, I nearly combust right there.

  “Come for me, baby… let me taste you,” a voice grumbles against my sex, the vibrations pushing completely over the edge.

  “Oh GOD!!!!!” I scream out—my eyes fly open, alerting me that I’m not on the boat, but instead I’m in our bedroom.

  “I’ve missed how you taste, baby,” Nicholas moans from between my legs, which is when I realize only part of my dream was actually a dream. His hands are gripping my thighs, holding me open to him, as he laps at the evidence from my orgasm moments ago. He groans as I pull him away from my sex and guide him next to me. He wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me against him. He kisses me and I taste myself on his lips, which is strangely arousing. I wrap my leg around his thigh, bringing his erection against my sex.

  “Kenzie…” Nicholas moaning my name has to be the sexiest thing I’ve ever heard.

  I reach between us and guide him into me, as I push my hips against him; he fills me immediately and completely.

  “You feel amazing baby, so fucking good,” he whispers holding me against him as he slowly moves within me.

  “I’ve missed you—I’ve missed this.”

  “Me too, baby. I’ll n
ever let something come between us again, I promise.”

  I want to ask what he means, but when his fingers tease my nipple, I forget what it was I wanted to ask him in the first place. We move together, as if we are one, both of us seeking out our own release while trying to bring the other pleasure. When his grunts become louder, his movements become more purposeful, telling me he is holding back his own release wanting me to come again. The fingers that were teasing my nipple, slip between our bodies to the spot where we are joined, easily finding my clit. A few strokes and pressure is all it takes for me to find my release. He thrusts into me several more times before calling out my name, and I feel his release deep within me.

  “Shit, Kenzie,” he pants.

  “That was… yeah.”

  “I can’t believe you woke me up like that! I thought I was dreaming,” I giggle.

  “I couldn’t resist,” he chuckles. “At some point during the night, the shirt rose up and I could feel your bare skin against me.”

  “My shirt just happened to move?” I smirk.

  “Okay, well maybe it had a little help.”

  “Just a little.”

  “I really don’t want to leave you, but I have an early morning conference call I need to get ready for.”

  “I have a meeting with Cara and Ginny later today anyway, that I want to—”

  “You’re going to the bakery? I thought we agreed that you would go after it was closed? I don’t think—”

  “Calm down,” I put my hand on his chest. “The bakery isn’t open on Sundays.”

  “Oh.”

  “You’re right though, if I were going to the bakery, it would be after hours. Ginny and Cara are going to come here so we can discuss the upcoming holidays.”

  “Does business usually pick up around the holidays?”

  “The catering side of the bakery does. Companies are having holiday parties and we cater a few private parties as well. I found a few ideas for holiday themed items that I thought I would try to make before they came. I don’t want anything too cheesy, but I thought we could offer something just around the holidays.”

  “I think that’s a great idea, Kenzie. Just let Hunter and Carter know if you need anything from the market, and they will pick it up for you.”

  “I know, I’m not going anywhere, you don’t need to worry.”

  “Can’t help it.”

  “You have a conference call on a Sunday morning?”

  “It was the only time that worked for everyone.”

  “That kind of sucks.”

  “Yeah, but if they agree to the proposal, it will be worth it.”

  “Let’s get washed up, and I’ll make us breakfast.”

  I spend the morning baking with Julie—even though it was her day off, when she heard me in the kitchen earlier, she came out to see what I was doing. Turns out she is a fan of Sweet Dreams as well, so she loved the idea of helping me try out a few recipes and designs for a few new holiday items. The struggle is to find something classy and elegant but what can’t take too long to make since we need to be able to produce these in mass quantities. The more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of offering something just around the holidays that hopefully people would look forward to at this time each year. It’s too soon to do something for Thanksgiving but with winter around the corner we have just enough time to come up with something to offer our customers.

  By the time Cara and Ginny arrive, we have the dining room table covered in samples, excluding the few that Nicholas and Carter managed to sneak whenever they came into the kitchen. It was great spending time talking with them about the bakery; it’s been hard not being able to be there every day, but I know right now safety needs to come first. Cara and Ginny reassured me that everything is going well, and that they don’t mind that I’m not able to be there every day.

  Cara was so excited when I offered her the manager position; she screamed which sent Carter and Nicholas running into the dining room thinking something was wrong. When they realized it was her screaming and that no one was hurt, they shook their heads, and returned to what they were doing. Even though, she had no idea this was coming, she brought along some ideas to the meeting to increase our online presence. Our goal is, by the new year, to have a completely redesigned website where customers could place large orders or email the catering consultant directly. We decided that while I’m working remotely, I will monitor the catering orders and will work directly with Cara to have the orders prepared. My holiday items were a hit and we chose several that we will be offering this winter on a trial basis.

  Ginny was impressed and actually had tears in her eyes by the end of the meeting. At first, I was worried that she didn’t like the direction we were taking, but she quickly explained that she loved to see the bakery growing. She admitted that her daughter had been after her for the last few years about developing an online presence but that she was too comfortable with where the bakery was at to change things. Even though she is moving away, it’s important to me that what made Sweet Dreams so popular be maintained. Her recipes and dedication to our customers will remain top priority.

  Chapter 34

  Nicholas

  “Where are we with the investigation, Carter?”

  “Richard Westbrook has not left the state of New York since we’ve had him under surveillance; if he is the leak, he’s not the one watching you. We haven’t been able to determine who is partner is.”

  “What are his financials like? Could he be paying someone?”

  “We’re tracing some funds that he has in an off shore account, but you know how difficult it is to obtain details on those transactions, sir.”

  Of course, I know—I personally have one myself for that very purpose. It was how I paid for my membership at The Blue Moon and to Bridget when I had a contract with her. By using the off shore account, no one could trace the money, which meant no one would learn that I was paying a service for Kenzie. Now it seems that fucker is using an off-shore bank account to do the same thing I did–to hide his moves.

  “Anything from Asher? He must be able to hack into the email account?”

  “He did and so far has only been able to find the emails sent to the reporter, which match the ones she provided to us. There’s nothing from another email address, so whoever his source is, they must be using an alternative email address to communicate.”

  “Tell Asher, nothing is off limits. He needs to do whatever is needed to find out who the fuck this bastard is working with. I don’t care the cost.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  “Has he found anything that can tie Westbrook to the email account?”

  “Not yet, sir.”

  “Normally I would insist that we keep looking, just to make sure we’re not overlooking someone by concentrating on him, but everything points to Westbrook being responsible.”

  “Agreed, sir. The only missing link is his partner.”

  “I assume he inherited money from his father’s estate when he passed?”

  “Not as much as you would think. It appears the senator left most of his money to several local charities and a very large portion to his longtime assistant—”

  “Interesting…”

  “Richard only inherited a small portion of his father’s estate, but it would have been enough to pay a partner.”

  “No other threats have been received? Nothing against PFS? No other red flags?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Kenzie hasn’t mentioned any other texts—”

  “She isn’t receiving them, sir, because Asher has changed the settings on her phone so that she no longer receives calls or messages from blocked or private numbers.”

  “So we don’t know if the texts are still being sent?”

  “We don’t, sir.”

  “Have you looked into Bree, like I asked?”

  Although Bree wasn’t the only woman I fucked at The Blue Moon, she was the one I refused to fuck the last time I was th
ere. I don’t know her well–hell, I can’t even tell you where she lives or what her last name is–so I can’t say if I think she would have sent those text messages.

  “It took some work to find out her identity before we could run a background check, but everything we have found has come up clean, so far. However, Asher believes the texts sent to Mrs. Parker were coming from a disposable cell phone, therefore it is unlikely we are going to find the phone registered to Bree that the text messages came from.”

  “Anything else come up about her that I should know?”

  “Nothing out of the ordinary, sir. Based on the text messages that Mrs. Parker received, I think it’s obvious whoever sent them was a member of The Blue Moon and likely knew you from there. But as you know, we cannot access their client list so we don’t have a full list of suspects.”

  “Keep an eye on Bree; I am fairly confident she would be the one behind texts out of everyone I was… with there.”

  “Understood, sir.”

  “I will be returning to work tomorrow, Carter. Make whatever arrangements are necessary, but I’m done putting my life on hold for this fucker. I have several events on my schedule that I can’t ignore any longer.”

  “Understood, sir. I have been in contact with Melody regarding your schedule and have already started looking into some of the events.”

  “Any that concern you, especially at this time?”

  “Honestly, sir, they all concern me to some degree, however, I think with extra security on site prior to and during the events, we should be fine.”

  “Hire whoever is necessary, but I’m done hiding. The press is getting suspicious that I haven’t been seen in public in several weeks.”

  “Yes, sir. We will be prepared for you to return to PFS starting tomorrow. What are Mrs. Parker’s plans?”

  “She will not yet be returning to the bakery, at least not during normal business hours. The risk is still too great—”

  “Agreed, sir.”

  “If she leaves Accord Towers, I want two people on her at all times—one needs to be Hunter. She is most comfortable with him, and he knows her well enough to know if something were to bother her suddenly.”