The Billionaire's Ultimatum: His Absolute Need (A BDSM Erotic Romance Novel) (Book One)
Page 17
"Did you like it?" I asked; a whisper. "I won't do it again, I swear, but did you like it?"
He patted my head and brushed my hair between his fingers. "It was exciting," he said. "I shouldn't say this, but I thought about it when, you know, tonight. The TV thing. Honestly, I'm just—I don't know why I'm saying this—but last night, that was indescribable. It was really amazing."
"But don't do it again," I said.
"No," he said. "Seriously, it was really good, but don't do it again."
A pause, minutes of nighttime passing us by. "Asher," I said, reserved. I felt awkward, but I needed to ask him this. If he was open with me, I felt like I should be able to do the same with him.
"Yes?"
"If Beatrice agrees with the child, the surrogacy and everything, do you think that—and I understand if you don't like this idea, but I just want to ask it—would it be alright if I visited sometimes? I wouldn't tell the child or act like a mother or anything, but I'd like it if I could come visit. Just to see."
He kissed my forehead. A light, simple kiss. "I think that's alright," he said. "You could probably babysit if you wanted. During the days, or after school. Now that I think about it, it'd be easier. If you want to, that is. I'd pay for your services, of course. Please don't take offense to that. I'm not trying to cheapen it or anything, but I feel like if you did that then I'd like to pay you. Even if it was something simple, like letting you stay..."
He trailed off, but only for a moment.
"This is an idea, and purely logical and unemotional. I want to preface it with that. But, if you stayed in the guest house, everything would be easier. You can do whatever you like, and I could hire another babysitter if you want to have an ordinary job. I'm all for woman's independence. You don't even have to do this if you don't want to. If you like, since it would make it easier for breastfeeding and everything like that, you could stay in the guest house, though. A live in nanny of sorts. I mean that in the most empowering of ways." He sighed, defeated. "I sound like a horrible chauvinist, don't I?"
"No," I said, kissing his cheek. "You sound like a caring, thoughtful person. You sound like you're thinking about what's best for your child and you're offering someone something very nice and wonderful, even though that someone only asked you for a simple request that you didn't even have to agree with. You're offering a choice, and women's independence is all about choices, right?"
"So you're saying I'm a great example of a feminist?" he asked, teasing.
"I don't know if I'd go that far, but I don't think you're a misogynist or a chauvinist by any stretch."
"Oh, good. I was worried for a second."
We lay in silence, thinking. About each other, maybe, or not that at all. I thought about Asher, at least, and I imagined at least a little part of him thought about me. Dazing, dreaming, closing my eyes, I cuddled with him and imagined possibilities.
...
When I woke up in the morning, Asher was gone. I yawned, stretching, and looked towards the bathroom, thinking I might see him there shaving, showering, or something. But, no, he was gone. Downstairs, perhaps? Making breakfast? Any moment now, after a knock on the door, he would swoop in while carrying a tray of food. Eggs, bacon, sausage, diced fruit with toast, pancakes?
"Jessika?" someone called out from downstairs. It wasn't Asher.
"I'm up here," I yelled.
"Alright. Are you decent? Asher asked me to stop by."
"Yes. It's fine."
I waited in bed, pulling the covers up high to cover all but my face, while Jeremy bounded up the stairs. Outside the door, he knocked.
"Come in," I said.
He entered, saw me laying in bed, and paused. "Oh. Were you sleeping?"
"I just woke up. Why?"
"Uh, no reason in particular. It's almost noon, that's all."
"What," I said, panicking. A clock, a clock, I looked for one, but apparently Asher never found it necessary to provide his guest house with a clock on the bedside table. "Is it really?" I asked, nearly forgetting myself and almost tossing off the blankets in a hurry to get up, showing Jeremy my babydoll-clad body.
"Well, it's nine. Close enough."
I fell onto the bed, relieved and exasperated. "Nine! Nine isn't noon, Jeremy. Noon is three hours away. Don't do that to me."
"Hey, look," he said. "Everyone wakes up pretty early here, so nine is practically noon. Asher left ages ago and he asked me to come by. He's going to talk with Beatrice a little more, but he's almost positive she'll agree to his little deal, so he wants to make sure you're ready. Nice guy, huh?"
"Ready for what?" I asked. "I don't understand."
"Are you serious?" he asked.
"Do I look serious?" I thought I looked pretty serious right then.
"It's hard to take you seriously when you're huddled up to your chin in comforters," he said.
"Oh. Well, yes, I'm serious."
"Listen," he said. "I don't know if you've thought this through, or if you're winging it, or whatever, but the whole egg donor thing? Surrogacy? There's doctors involved, right? And examinations? If you're staying here during the process, there's that whole 'getting your stuff' thing that people usually do. I mean, you have a home, right? Apartment, house? Something? Maybe you want to feed your cats? Tell your friends? Family? Whatever?"
"Oh," I said. Yes, I knew these things, but no, I hadn't thought too much about them. Truth be told, I was a fairly quiet person without a cat(or dog), friends that I spoke with but not every day, and family who was just about the same. They probably hadn't realized I was gone for a few days, let alone bothered to worry about it. Not that they had any reason to worry, anyways.
"So," he said. "You want breakfast? I'm your driver for the day. I'll bring you around wherever you need to go, help you out, that kind of thing. We have to go to a doctor and have them do a physical, though. Check out the parts, whatever. I don't know what you women do at the doctor."
"Right," I said. "Yes. I'll shower and be right down. Um, I'm kind of not wearing proper clothes, so do you mind?" I shooed him away.
"You're so difficult," he said.
"I'm not difficult!"
"You're so difficult and ungrateful!" he repeated in a playful tone, rolling his eyes. "What do you want for breakfast? How about French toast?"
"Yum. With strawberries and peanut butter?"
"You're one weird chick, but sure, you got it. Strangest French toast I'll ever make."
He left, closing the door behind him. I lounged in bed for awhile longer, letting my body fully wake up. Today was the day and I needed to prepare for it.
Everything, all of it, my arrangement with Asher and the start of a different kind of life. I supposed it wasn't entirely different, but this was all somewhat sudden. I wanted to do it, though. I felt almost like I needed to, as if there was a driving urge within me to perform up to par.
Except what was I going to tell my parents? Not that they had any real say in the matter, but I didn't know how to explain this to them. Oh, yes, so, mom? Right, I met a billionaire and he wants me to have his children. Not really in that exact way. It's for his wife, you see. Except don't tell Aunt Nell, please? She's kind of a gossiper. Yes, and...
Ah, well. I had time to think on it still. I'd ask Jeremy to bring me to my apartment first and then see what I needed to gather up. That would take up some time. And maybe I should ask him what to do, too? Jeremy seemed resourceful in those regards.
Everything was going to work out, I thought. Why wouldn't it?
...
"Do we really have to stop here?" Jeremy asked.
With breakfast finished, my morning preparations done, both of us were driving around the city on the way to my apartment.
"It won't take long," I said. "That's my favorite bookstore. I just want to grab a book."
"Right. Because Asher doesn't own enough books. I totally understand."
I sat up front this time, as opposed to the backseat when Jeremy fi
rst drove Asher and I to the Landseer estate. I rolled my eyes at Jeremy as he rolled his eyes at me.
"You don't get it," I said. "It's a different experience looking through a bookstore. It's not the same if you already own the book. Buying a new book is exciting."
"Technically you don't own the books in Asher's library," Jeremy said as a point of fact.
"Ugh! That's not even it," I said.
"Fine. We can stop here, but don't take forever. I know your type, you book people. Wandering through aisles of shelves for hours and then you forget what you were even doing beforehand. We have stuff to do today. You have ten minutes."
"Yes, sir," I said, offering him a disingenuous salute. "Whatever you say."
"Don't you sass me, girl."
I laughed. "This is fun. Are you going to come in? I'll introduce you to the owner. He's very nice."
"You have a cracked idea of fun," Jeremy said. Then he softened. "Yeah, let me park the car and then I'll be right in. Have to make sure you don't take forever, right?"
"Right," I said.
Jeremy let me out in front of the independent bookshop we'd been idling in front of forever. I waltzed towards the entryway, feeling light and springy, then swung open the door and walked inside. Robert, the owner, wasn't behind the counter, but that wasn't too strange. Sometimes he did things in the back, or went around re-organizing the shelves. I'd see him soon, no doubt.
I headed directly to my favorite section. It wasn't exactly my section, but it might as well be. Robert had it set up with books he thought I'd like, and he said that since he'd done it he'd seen an increase in sales. I didn't know if he was just being nice, or if his other customers really enjoyed my choice in books, but it was neat to have a section somewhat of my own.
Literary fiction, with some romance. I liked historical and contemporary, and sometimes fantasy ones. I really enjoyed Elizabeth Haydon, but she hadn't written a new book in forever. The occasional science fiction book was good, too, like Dune, but I wasn't too into the genre as a whole.
Unfortunately the shelves that usually contained the books in my section were empty. Some books lay in stacks nearby, presumably left there from some planned redesign of the shelves. This was both exciting and upsetting. I looked forward to seeing what Robert might change, and had a few suggestions for him, but that didn't help me right now. I sifted through one of the nearby stacks just in case I found something new and interesting.
I didn't, but it was nice to catch up on old books I'd read. I remembered the ideas in them, and the thoughts I had while reading them, like a memory within a memory. Yes, this one, a Glen Cook book I didn't actually think I'd like, but enjoyed very much. I'd taken it with me in the bath and read amidst bubbles. When the fantasy army started fighting off their magical enemies, I turned the hot water on to fix the temperature of my lukewarm bathwater.
It was fun to remember things like that.
I moved to a table with more stacks, planning to check through them, too. I stopped before I started, though, feeling odd. Something... oh, yes. Nearby was the curtained off doorway to the local book club's meeting room. And people were talking behind the curtain.
Nothing too strange, except it was a bit early for a book club meeting. Sometimes they did lunchtime ones for people who had long lunches, but still, it was barely past ten. When I listened further, it didn't sound like any book discussion I'd ever heard, either.
"You have to understand," a man said, "we need to tread carefully here. It's not something we can enter into lightly."
He sounded familiar somehow, but I couldn't quite place it.
"Why?" a woman asked. "Just do it. Figure out some plan. I'm tired of this. It's always the same. Always. Do you know what he did last night? He brought home some woman. He plans to have her act as a mother where I can't. I keep having to lie to him, and I'm tired of it. Do you know how much of a nuisance it was to pay off the doctor to say I was..."
"Shh," the man said. "Not so loud."
"There's no one here. It doesn't matter."
"The owner of the store is here."
"He's out back. And, if not, what of it? Do you think anyone will believe someone like him? He is beneath me."
Beatrice Landseer and... Solomon Royce?
I stood perfectly still, caught up in the moment. Panic and awareness blazed through me. I wasn't supposed to be here, I wasn't supposed to hear this. And, why were they here, too? I didn't understand.
"It's just so boring," Beatrice said. "Do you know how annoying it is? I make excuses to Asher, time after time, and yet he won't do anything about it."
"He's not going to divorce you, obviously. Even he knows that won't go in his favor. What grounds does he have for it, anyways?"
"If he knew, then he'd have plenty of grounds," Beatrice said. I imagined her grinning, some sly, sleek look like a wicked Siamese cat.
"Yes, and then you'd receive next to nothing afterwards. Just relax and be patient. I have everything under control. Asher's not an idiot, but he's too trusting by far, and he'll play into my plan exactly."
"Our plan," Beatrice said, sweet and seductive. She sounded so much different now; still the same voice, but with more emotion. "You won't leave me out of it, will you?"
"Of course not," Solomon said. "For now, just continue as you have been and we'll go from there. I won't have another 'business trip' planned for awhile, so I'll be able to set things up. You should do the same. Keep tabs on this new girl, too. Maybe see if you hear any rumors? If Asher's done anything with her, even something remotely incriminating, it'll work out in our favor later on."
"Yes, but I doubt he will. She seems dull. Though that type does seem to be his sort most times. His pet projects annoy me to no end."
"I know. I know. Soon. Don't worry."
I needed to leave. Beatrice and Solomon sounded like they were finishing up in the book club meeting room, and if they realized I'd heard everything, well, I didn't really know what they'd do. Something bad, obviously, but the scope of it was beyond me. I didn't even fully understand most of what they'd said, except for the obvious parts. Insinuations and assumptions and piecing together parts of their conversation only went so far.
I rushed to the bookshop door and tried to hurry outside, but a man blocked my way. Shit, oh God!
"You're sure in a hurry," Jeremy said as I crashed into him.
Oh. Oh! This wasn't terrible. Just Jeremy. "We need to go," I said. "Now. Hurry."
"What?" He gave me a funny look.
I pulled him out of the store, dragging him along. He seemed reluctant to come, but went nonetheless.
"Jessika," he said. "Seriously, what's wrong with you? You wanted to get a book and now you're pulling me away from the book store. You were only in there for like three minutes."
"I'll tell you in the car. Where is it? We need to hurry. We can't..." I looked over my shoulder just in time to see two people exiting the book store: Solomon and Beatrice.
A corner, somewhere, we needed to hide. I rushed to the right and pulled Jeremy into an alleyway. The greasy, stale air in the side street smothered me and I wanted to choke, but I carried on.
"I really don't understand," Jeremy said. He refused to move any further, holding his ground.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Beatrice and Solomon walking past the end of the alleyway. Beatrice tilted her head slightly, looking just barely at me and Jeremy.
Fuck! An excuse, we needed an excuse to be in the middle of an alley, to evade her scrutiny. I jumped into action and grabbed Jeremy's face in my hands, twisting us both to hide the majority of our features. I pulled him into an awkward kiss, shoving him against the wall.
Beatrice scoffed, sounding repulsed. Then the telltale sign of her departure, her heels tapping past the alleyway entrance.
Jeremy gasped, astounded. When I was sure Beatrice and Solomon were gone, I let him go, which worked out well because he pushed me away at about the same time.
"I'm flattere
d and all," he said.
"Don't be," I said. "It was a ruse."
"Right. Like some spy stuff, huh? Detective movies? You on the run from the law or something?"
"No. I'll explain it in the car. Where did you park? Can we get there this way?" I peered down the alleyway, reluctant to go back to the main street.
"Yeah," he said. "I guess."
"Alright. Let's go."
A million thoughts flipped through my mind as Jeremy led me back to the car. At first I was elated, overjoyed at the fact that Beatrice didn't like Asher in the least. That feeling soon faded, though. I was happy, but did I have a right to be? Asher remained—or tried to remain—loyal to Beatrice, and so it didn't matter what exactly she did to him, but how he felt towards her. Which I assumed would change if her plans were... if they were what? I wasn't quite sure, since I didn't know anything about her plans in the first place.
Though it sounded like her and Solomon were doing something more, too. An affair? Definitely a possibility, but even that seemed difficult to prove.
And then it dawned on me, as sure as that. I couldn't actually prove anything. I didn't have a recording of anything they said, and I didn't have any real credibility as far as anyone taking my word for it, either. If I came right out and accused Solomon and Beatrice of some kind of treachery, they could deny it. And then what? Well, if they had actual plans, they'd delay them, I imagined. Possibly doing something about me, too. I briefly imagined a mafia style murder situation, but I doubted that would actually happen.
Still, no matter what, I needed to figure out how I should approach this.
"We're almost there," Jeremy said.
I decided I needed to tell Jeremy, at the very least. He might know what to do, or he might think I was insane. I really hoped it was the first one.
His Absolute Impulse
"So, this is your apartment?" Jeremy asked me.
I tossed my keys on the kitchen counter and looked around. Sure, it was nothing compared to the Landseer estate, but I liked it. The living room, kitchen, and dining area were actually all one combined room, separated by a countertop. I sectioned off the living room and my circle dining table with a couch to elude to the existence of separate rooms, but it wasn't that great. It worked, and sometimes I had people over for dinner, but I kind of wished I had an actual dining room.