LAWSON (A Standalone Billionaire Romance Novel)

by Kristina Weaver

  The feeling is heady, and I wonder how I ever lived without this for so long. I’m no submissive in any real aspect of life, and I’m not about to walk that path, but I am so turned on by his aggression that I feel at peace even as my orgasm builds and threatens to erupt despite my efforts to stop it.

  “I can feel your sex pulsing, babe. You need to come, Nic?”

  “Yes,” I say, my voice strangled and breathless. The harder he fucks into me, the more it sends my face into the pillows with every hammer of his strong hips.

  “Good. I want you wild and begging before I let you take what you need.”

  “Oh God! Please!” I beg, fighting against myself even as the first warning ripple tingles low in my belly, signaling my impending orgasm.

  Another few hard thrusts later and I feel him ram so deep that I swear I feel him in my womb, before stiffening and releasing a stream of scalding hot seed.

  Just like that my control snaps and I come, screaming into the pillow as contractions overtake me and send me into a place I’ve never been before. When I finally come back down to earth, I’m lying on my stomach, my legs spread.

  Alone.

  I know this because I hear the door click shut quietly and then retreating footfalls.

  This is the part where I’m supposed to get pissed. Instead, I feel hot tears trickle down onto the pillow, as Minnie’s words echo in my head. If I was the one, if I was really the one whom Law wanted, I’m pretty sure he’d love me enough not to make me feel like a whore.

  That’s when I make my decision and fall asleep with a solid plan in mind.

  Love may not be everything it’s cracked up to be, but life is always what you make of it, and this time, I’m not willing to wait around for something that never existed.

  Chapter Thirty

  Law

  Things are going great, just as I planned, and as far as I’m concerned, my life has never been more under control. Nic is firmly in line and playing her part, and the business is even going so great that I hired Jared, another assistant, just to keep up with things.

  Wheeling and dealing may have not been my dream, but I can’t deny the rush I get every time I land a big deal or negotiate the hell out of a deal that was already fair to begin with.

  I’m enjoying knowing that I’ve not only cemented myself into a good place with the business, but that things are going so great that Dad and Nic have congratulated me on many occasions for my stellar performance.

  The only dark cloud was when Mom cancelled our impromptu nuptials on the grounds that she only has one daughter and she’s been dreaming of a magnificent wedding.

  Nic agreed, damn her. So now, instead of being married and having a solid hold on her, I’m sitting on my laurels waiting for them to set a date.

  I can still remember yesterday’s argument, and man, was it loud.

  “I’m not taking this shit a moment longer, Mom. The two of you need to set a freaking date and get on with things. It’s been two months, and I want to be married before we have another baby.”

  They’d both looked at me through narrowed eyes before sharing a look and then nodding. Nic looked away, avoiding my gaze, as my mom levelled a hard stare on me and told me to mind my manners or she’d box my ears so hard I’d hear bells ringing for days.

  “But Mom, be reasonable here. What if Nic’s already pregnant? Do you want another grandchild born—?”

  “If you know what’s good for you, boy, you won’t finish that sentence.”

  Now my mom is a tiny, unassuming scrap of a woman, but when she uses a certain tone, no man alive would risk his balls by defying her.

  Nic looked ready to spit obscenities at me, and Mom’s mouth was so pinched I feared for her cheeks if she sucked them any harder.

  “Now get this straight, boy. We’re planning a wedding. We’ll be ready when we’re ready and not a day before, so you can take your cheeky ass on to work and leave us in peace. Unless you would like to plan the wedding of my dreams while Nico and I take a well-deserved spa week?”

  Er, no, not happening, and not because I can’t rock planning a wedding. I am a rock star and could probably do that shit with one hand tied behind my back while running James at the same time. (Here’s where I pat my own back in admiration.) However, Dad will kill me if Mom is gone that long—not to mention that Cody will kick my ass, too.

  That kid. An animal when he’s annoyed.

  But if the looks didn’t prove it, his cheeky temperament would. Cody is a James through and through, and so like me I pity my poor mother having to raise a kid like me.

  So now, here I sit at work, king of all I survey, feeling at peace and content for the first time in a while, and I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop because—damn me—if that’s not the way that shit works in my life.

  That’s one of the reasons I haven’t allowed myself to settle for so long, because as soon as I relax and allow myself to feel happy, the bitch comes crashing down and I’m left feeling worse than if I never allowed the contentment at all.

  “Earth to Law.”

  I look up to see Justin Grove, an old friend of mine from Monaco, stroll into my office, a huge grin lining his handsome face, and I frown. I like the guy and spent three months with him exploring Mongolia and some of Siberia, playing at being an adventurer.

  But the guy is very slick, and he’s a part of my past that I don’t need intruding on my life right now. Admittedly, I’m not enthused about him showing up here, because it reminds me of a freedom I no longer have, and it scares me to think that one wrong move could mean I lose what I have now.

  But the temptation to be free again is not exactly a small thing to fight, and this shit is not helping.

  “Justin. Long time no see, man.”

  No sense in being rude—even though my first inclination is to boot his ass out of the building and run home to see my family to re-solidify my vow, a vow I made to myself to drop my shit and settle, no matter how trapped I feel.

  See, this is the part that I didn’t expect…fighting two halves of myself that are in such opposition that it’s hard to catch a breath.

  The guy saunters in; his dark, good looks, coupled with his green eyes, obviously got him in despite Peggy being sixty and happily married.

  I’ve seen this guy in action and no fucking way am I taking him anywhere near my Nic. I’ll kill the bastard if he so much as smiles her way. And I’ll definitely cut his dick off if my girl smiles back, which is bound to happen since the guy left the womb dripping in old world charm.

  “You look less than enthused to see me, old friend,” he muses, crossing an ankle at his knee, his mouth smiling sardonically at my scowl and my clenched fists.

  Goddammit, why now? Another month or so and I’d be married and chained to Nic. Why couldn’t the asshole wait to reconnect until after I’m married and tied down.

  “Not at all. Just wondering what brings the great Justin Groves to this neck of the woods.”

  He laughs at me and shrugs a shoulder in that smarmy way of his that I used to find amusing but now do not. The man looks like a slimy snake, relaxed, and at ease with himself despite not working a day in his life. His most lauded accomplishment is that he is a lothario and nothing more.

  Is this what Nic sees when she looks at me? I wonder. I feel my skin crawl at the thought of being compared to this guy. I can’t believe I was chomping at the bit just a moment ago.

  “Miss Sharp, he’s in a meeting!”

  My heart falls when my office door bursts open and my girl walks in looking like a million bucks, her curves and abundant cleavage spilling forth in a grey jersey dress that does nothing to hide her attributes.

  Justin turns, raises a brow, and starts smirking, causing my blood to start boiling.

  “Getting ahold of you is like trying to phone the President of the United States. I need to…oh hi! Sorry, I guess I shouldn’t have just barged in,” Nic says, smiling a little sheepishly when she spots Justin lazing back
in his seat.

  Her smile falters when her eyes meet mine, and I can almost see what I must look like. My jaw is clenched so hard I have no doubt she can see the muscle ticking there, and I’m breathing hard enough that my nostrils must be flaring like a rabid stallion.

  “Er, I’ll just come back?” she stammers, giving Justin another look as she starts backing away towards the door.

  “Oh nonsense! A beautiful woman should never be kept waiting.”

  I rise when Justin does and almost vault over my desk when he grabs Nic’s hand and raises it to his lips, his green eyes sending out a million messages that I know so well since I used that same oozing charm on many a female.

  Nic titters and blushes, her eyes dancing with mirth, as he steers her toward the sitting area and plays the gallant, putting his paws all over my woman.

  “Who is this lovely morsel you’re hiding from us, Law?”

  Swear to God, the Groves are about to lose their one and only heir, and I’m not kidding. I could beat him to death and hide his body without an ounce of guilt if the fuck doesn’t get his mitts off of what’s mine.

  Nic being Nic immediately senses my tension and smiles tremulously while Justin continues to scoot so close he’s practically sitting in her lap.

  “My fiancée, Grove. So I suggest you stop trying to look at her tits and move the fuck back.”

  What the—? I’m jealous? I haven’t been jealous a day in my life, and I hate the feeling. As rage and uncertainty pool in my gut, I grind my jaw and saunter over, giving Justin a hard glare.

  He starts at the news and then starts laughing so hard I feel my mind start splitting with the need to shut him up and get him as far away from my pure Nic as humanly possible.

  I don’t like him breathing the same air as my girl, tainting her air space.

  “You? Engaged? Are you kidding?”

  I frown, and Nic titters behind her hand, her eyes dancing with a mixture of amusement and glee at my discomfort.

  “No, asshole,” I say with a growl, shoving him off the sofa and taking a seat next to Nic.

  She frowns when I pull her closer, obviously confused by my show of possession since I hardly acknowledge her except when I’m screwing her lights out.

  Justin’s eyes dance, and I narrow mine, wanting to knock his teeth out so bad my fists ache.

  “Are you telling me,” he asks, giving Nic a sympathetic look, “that there is now a woman alive who’s foolish enough to believe that Lawson James, noted playboy and slut extraordinaire, is the settling down type? Forgive me dear, but what is your name?”

  “Er, Nic.”

  “Her name is Nicolette.”

  The growling thing is starting to work on my own nerves, but I can’t seem to stop as the dick smiles winningly and winks, making her giggle anew.

  She shouldn’t be laughing at this clown. All her laughter, sorrow, fuck every emotion she has belongs to me…and she knows it. And if this carries on, I’m going to drag her over my knee and remind her of that, after I drag her ass home and remind her of the list I made this morning.

  I don’t remember “Leave the house” being on the thing, and for that reason alone, she deserves whatever wrath I give her.

  For now though, I have this ass to get out of my life before I can remind my Nic why I’m in charge.

  Justin smirks again and shakes his head.

  “I never thought I’d see the day that Law succumbed to being leg-shackled to a female. Why, this man once seduced three—”

  I stop him before he can go further and ignore Nic’s giggles, as I drag her to her feet and pull her to the door.

  “Go home.”

  I can’t handle this right now with any semblance of civility, and I do not need her seeing a side of me that I haven’t shown her and have no intention of showing her.

  “But Law—”

  “I said get your ass home, Nic—and fucking stay there. We’ll talk about you showing up uninvited when I get home.” I snarl, hating it when her eyes dim, and she looks away with a sniff.

  “Fine. It was nice meeting you, Justin,” she mutters, pulling away without so much as a goodbye kiss.

  Can’t say I blame her, but that’s another mark against her record, and believe me when I say her ass is getting it tonight.

  “Goodbye Nic, I hope to see—”

  I close the door before he can finish the sentence and turn back to him with a glare.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?”

  Justin shrugs nonchalantly and gives me another smirk.

  “Melissa.”

  Dread unfurls in my gut at the mention of that name, and I feel that sinking sensation that tells me that things are not going to go well for me. See, I told you that I hate the rare times I feel happy.

  Something always goes wrong.

  Chapter Thirty-one

  Law

  “What about her?”

  Melissa St. Ives was the one conquest of mine that I regretted the minute I got between her legs. After drinking myself legless at a party in Germany, I met the English heiress and took on the challenge of seducing a woman who most said was unable to be seduced.

  I should have known it was a bad idea the minute she smiled her icy smile at me and accepted my drunken flirting, but hell, I was drunk and just too impressed with myself to allow the alarm bells much attention.

  I’d fucked her and sent her away. I only felt the barest satisfaction at winning the bet Justin and I had had, though honestly the feeling hadn’t been that great.

  As she left, even after I’d dismissed her like a whore, my usual modus operandi—and not something I am at all proud of right now—she’d given me a glorious smile and skipped out of my life as if nothing had happened.

  “She’s been looking for you, mate.” Justin chuckles, wiggling his brows at me. “And she has something to tell you that I don’t think you’ll want to miss.”

  Please Jesus, please just help me out here, I beg, feeling that dread morph into pure fear when the bastard smiles again and drops his bomb with so much delight it takes all of my strength not to lunge at him.

  “She’s pregnant and telling everyone within earshot that it’s yours.”

  ***************************************************************

  Nico

  Something is definitely wrong with Law. He hasn’t been to bed for going on four days now, and every time I walk into a room, the man jumps up and stalks out as if I’m bringing the plague in with me.

  I have to say that I’m a little hurt and feeling ten times the fool since I should have gone ahead with my plan and left his ass after the way he’s been treating me.

  I love him though.

  And therein lies my biggest hurdle because I keep making all these excuses for him. He’s just scared. He needs time. His got every right to still be upset about my lies.

  No matter how hard I try though, I know something more is at play, and I’ve been avoiding confronting him with it because I’m afraid that if we talk, we might not make it back to anything that can be considered halfway close to the marriage we’re headed towards.

  Cowardly, I know, but I’m reluctant to rock this raft with the sharks circling.

  When he strides into the bedroom late on this Friday night and just stands at the foot of the bed staring at me, I feel my stomach take a nose dive and pull the sheets up, feeling vulnerable and in need of protection for the first time in ages.

  I swallow past the dryness in my throat and offer a smile that I know is tremulous.

  “Hey, you’re home early for a change.”

  He keeps staring at me, his jaw clenched, and he shakes his head as if to dispel whatever he’s thinking about. He looks haggard and tired, completely defeated, and I jump up, going to him even knowing that the odds of him pushing me away are very high.

  Law won’t let me touch him in any way that isn’t sexual, and I know that my offer of comfort isn’t going to be well received. I go anyway, gasping when
his arms shoot out and he hauls me into his body, his strong arms closing around me so tightly I can’t breathe.

  His body shudders when I return the embrace, and I smile through a mist of tears, grateful for whatever it is he’s willing to give me.

  “Hey, babe, what’s wrong?”

  He shudders again and lifts me off my feet, his breathing ragged as he enfolds me, holding me like a lifeline.

  “Law?”

  I’m scared now because this is not the dominant, self-assured Law who has been walking rough shod over me for the last few months. Truth be told, and though it sounds weak, I like the guy who’s so confident that he’s hard to handle.

  That Law may be a dick, but he’s strong and sure and someone I know I can count on even if he doesn’t love me. This guy who’s clutching at me makes me feel lost and afraid.

  “Law, honey, what’s wrong?” I ask again, attempting to put some distance between us so I can see his face.

  After long minutes, he releases me, his fists bunching as he stalks to the bed and sits, his head hanging before he looks up to meet my eyes.

  “I can’t marry you, Nic.”

  Uh…but…

  I want to laugh and tell him not to fool around. I went to his office to tell him that I am pregnant and have been trying to tell him for days before Minnie pokes her head up from her wedding plans and notices.

  Women always know for some reason, and I wanted him to know first; I have, in fact, been dying to see the excitement on his face, almost as if I have finally done something to redeem myself.

  “Uh, are you kidding?” I choke out, taking a step back when he shakes his head regretfully and looks away.

  “No. I’m getting married to Melissa St. Ives. I met her a few months ago, just before Dad called me home and…we’re going to have a baby.” He chokes on his words, clearing his throat and meeting my eyes, his own blue eyes hard and unfeeling.

  I want to laugh at this. Is this some sort of cosmic justice? God’s way of punishing me for my mistake?

  “I…you…she’s pregnant?”

  I sound like a fool as I stutter on the words, but at this point, my lips are numb and almost uncooperative as I blink away the dizziness setting in. I’m gutted and…there are no words to describe the heartache I feel right now.