How to Avoid a Billionaire

by Tressie Lockwood

  When he looked at her, she saw lust. “I was too rough. I’m sorry.”

  “No.” She wished she could reach his cock to put it back in, but she was at his mercy, spread wide for him. “I want it.”

  He placed both hands at her hips again and began raising and lowering her so his cock slid across her nether lips. She just kept herself from begging for more. The last time he raised her up, he brought her down on his shaft, and his member slid in as far as it could go. “If I move now, I’m going to come.”

  “I can get you hard again.”

  “Indeed?”

  “Yes.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Yes, you will. With that pretty mouth.”

  Their gazes locked, and he thrust in and out of her at lightning speed, rough and good, driving her crazy. The sensations were so powerful her head spun. She clung to him, listening to his grunts, feeling his pelvis crash into hers and his cock invading her heat. He held her in place taking all he wanted, giving her pleasure she had never imagined. When he thrust deep for the last time, he let loose an agonized cry. His cock throbbed inside her moments longer, and then he pulled out. He set her on her feet and removed the spent condom.

  “Wash me.” He handed her the gel, and she squeezed some into her palm. Even after coming the man was huge. She luxuriated in stroking him, running her fingers over the thick head and exploring down to his balls. Ryder stood watching, his knuckles on his hips as if he made sure she did her job right. When he rinsed the bubbles away, he turned off the spray and stepped out of the shower. Melanie followed and found herself enveloped in a waiting towel. They headed together to the bedroom, and Ryder climbed up on the bed. He lay on his back, and Melanie moved between his legs. With one of her hands wrapped around his cock, she marveled at how hard he grew. She leaned down to lick the tip, tasting come, and held his shaft up and lowered her mouth over the head. A moan rose in her throat and she sucked. Ryder pushed her damp hair from her face.

  “Good girl,” he coaxed. “Suck harder for me.”

  Melanie took him to the back of her throat and sucked hard. She let his cock slide from her lips, took him deep again and then licked the sides, feeling that thick vein she loved so much on a man’s shaft. Taking one ball into her mouth, she looked up at him and watched as his nostrils flared. His cock twitched in her hold, and she released his sac to take his shaft back in

  Ryder swore and reached down to raise her head. “Climb onto it, angel. I want to feel that hot pussy all around me again.”

  She sat up, and he grabbed his pants for another condom. He had it in place within seconds, and she straddled his hips. Her pussy was a little sore from their activity in the shower, but her juices had already started to flow again. She guided him in, sinking down and gasping at the unbelievable pleasure. Ryder whispered her name and caressed her thighs.

  “Bounce on it, angel.” His gaze lowered from her face to her breasts, and when she began to ride him, arching her back and raising her hips, his eyes narrowed. Her nipples tightened under his scrutiny, and she played with them, twisting them between her fingertips. Ryder looked like he was ready to come a second time, but he kept thrusting into her. Their movements were slow and steady, rhythmic and in sync. She squeezed her breasts, tantalizing him, knowing it got him off. He followed every movement, his breathing noisy. “Make yourself come for me.”

  She ran a hand down between her legs and touched just the tip of her clit. The sensitive bud responded with a pulse of pleasure that spread throughout her abdomen. Having him watch took the enjoyment up another level. She began playing with it, tugging and rolling the bud between her thumb and forefinger. Bracing herself with one hand on his thigh, she rode faster and stroked just above her clit in a circle. The sensations bubbled higher until she couldn’t stand it anymore. Her core muscles contracted, and she shouted through her release.

  Ryder sat up, dragged her off of him, and flipped her onto her back. He thrust a leg up and plunged deep into her heat. She reached for him, but he caught her at the wrists and pinned her down, pumping hard and fast. The mattress sank under his heavy form as he pressed her into it, ravaging her body nonstop. He had a way of making her feel helpless and sexy at the same time. His size, so much more than she was used to, blew her mind.

  “Don’t stop,” she whispered.

  “Never.”

  Melanie strained at his hold on her wrists. He clicked with his tongue and licked the pulse at the base of her neck. She arched into him, raising her chin. He nipped her skin with his teeth and pulled her arms higher. When he held both wrists in one hand and she couldn’t free herself, she hid the thrill it gave her. He leaned up, but he didn’t look in her face. His focus was for her breasts, and she shivered beneath the scrutiny, a feeling that intensified when he plucked a nipple.

  “So big and dark,” he mused. “Like berries. I wonder how sweet they are.”

  She shivered again. “Why don’t you find out?”

  “You tease me.” His voice lowered to a deep rumble, barely recognizable to how he had spoken earlier. “Do you think you can get away with that?”

  Her words were swept away from the instant his tongue swiped her tight peak, and then he pounded her into the bed, so cruel and wonderful. Another orgasm took her unaware. He used her body, took from it, and gave so much more. When he came and stilled on top of her she could have wept. In fact, she wasn’t sure she hadn’t. He released her wrists and rolled off her. Melanie lay unmoving with her eyes closed. The warmth and indentation in the mattress disappeared from beside her. She had no energy to see what he did or where he’d gone, and after a few moments, she slept.

  Chapter Three

  “Did you nail her?” Christian asked as he strode into the conference room.

  Ryder glared at him.

  His cousin laughed. “What? No one’s here yet. I want the details.”

  Ryder scratched his signature to another form and handed the stack to his secretary. He found it interesting that Christian viewed Jodie as nobody, but Ryder wasn’t worried about her spreading gossip around the office. Jodie had been with him for years, and she knew how to keep her lips sealed. That’s why he trusted her with some of the most sensitive information. Not everything of course, but a lot. More than one reporter had tried to bribe her for details on him, and Jodie hadn’t given in. He paid her well for her discretion.

  When Jodie left the room, pulling the door shut behind her, he faced his cousin. “She’s as good as mine.”

  “Bro, you have a devious streak. You don’t forgive easily.”

  Ryder brushed the description of his character aside. “This has nothing to do with forgiveness. It’s everything to do with people thinking they can come against me and not get burned.”

  Christian feigned a shudder. “More like frozen, man. You’re icy. I guess it can’t be helped though. You got it honest.”

  Even as Ryder discussed the previous night’s events with a show of being detached, he hadn’t been able to get Melanie out of his mind. He would let her cool her heels and wait for him to call. Three days should do it.

  “You’re insinuating my dad was at fault in the way he raised me.” Ryder placed his briefcase on the table and opened it. His notes for the meeting were on top, and he removed them then snapped the case closed. “There’s no one who knew business better—except me.”

  Christian shook his head. “Uncle Redd would be proud.”

  “You make it sound like I’m not out to impress my father.”

  “And his business partner and every tycoon he worked with.”

  Ryder eyed Christian, his annoyance level rising. Christian chuckled, holding up his hands in defense.

  “Kidding. You have to admit their influence shaped the way you view the world.”

  Ryder refused to agree out loud, but his cousin spoke the truth. Ryder’s mother had delivered him to his fath
er at the age of three and left him there. He’d never seen her again. Nor did he ever seek her out after he’d grown up. Back then, he had cried nonstop for his mother until his father sat him down and told him from then on he would be all Ryder needed. In retrospect, Ryder guessed he might have been better off with Christian’s mother or some other female relative. As Christian had said, he’d lived in a bachelor’s household, and he had learned up close and personal how to handle business and women from men who loved and respected one but not the other.

  “What I want to know is did you bed her?”

  Ryder sighed. “Who are you speaking to, Christian? Of course I did.”

  “On the first night. Every time. You never miss a beat, bro. I want to be you when I grow up.”

  “Funny. Now my sex life is off the table until we seal this deal. I want thirty-three percent market share from Holcomb, and you’re taking the lead to get it for me.” He checked his watch. “We have two hours before they get here. Impress me.”

  “Piece of cake.”

  Ryder spent the rest of the day focused one hundred percent on business. He coached Christian, four years younger than his age of thirty-five but with great potential. Ryder had every intention of molding his cousin in his own image and enjoyed every minute of guiding him. The problem he ran into when the sun disappeared below the horizon and he sat alone in his office was the return of Melanie to his thoughts. Last night had been—different. He had spoken the truth when he told her he’d never been with a black woman, but he expected to enjoy himself and did. Yet, her soft eyes and soft lips, kissing her, hell, talking to her was… He could only describe it as out of the ordinary. Not her, per se, but his reaction to her. He liked to think he had a sixth sense about the women he took to bed. He knew what would please them, and in that respect, Melanie’s pleasure came easily. However, his desire had ignited to proportions that felt out of control. He’d taken her so many times last night, and even when he’d left her sleeping to go home, he had wanted to stay. Not like him at all.

  Despite the oddness of his reaction, he had enough fortitude to ignore her for the required length of time. Then he would throw her a bone. She too would remember last night and want a repeat, but her focus might at first be on the date and talking. The sex would be secondary. As he pictured her face, the slanted chocolate eyes, the full lips, he considered where he might take her to dinner, a more upscale establishment than the one last night.

  His office door opened, and Jodie stuck her head in. “Are you going to get me that paperwork soon? Holcomb is asking about the CDA’s.”

  Ryder rubbed his eyes. He’d been thinking too much about Melanie. That ended now. “The CDA’s are standard. Why would he question them?”

  She shrugged.

  “Fine. Give me twenty minutes. I’ll get you the paperwork, and tell him I’ll return his call in ten.”

  Jodie closed the door, and Ryder got back to work. No more Melanie. He never let a woman interfere with work. In fact, since she’d had too much effect on him, he pushed his usual three-day callback to seven and dismissed her from his thoughts. Let that be the end of it.

  A week had passed since Ryder had had sex with Melanie, and not one of those damn days had he succeeded in pushing the woman out of his head. Even if he managed to forget her during the day, there were the nights of hard-ons. Erections he could deal with. He just beat his dick in the shower or in bed and fell asleep. The issue was her smile and her voice, the way her face lit up when she spoke, very expressive and more open than he bet she knew.

  He had come to the conclusion that the sex must have been so exceptional he’d attached more to it than it needed. The solution as he saw it lay in taking her to dinner again and having a repeat of their night in bed. That way, he could get her out of his system and realize it wasn’t Melanie herself that did this to him. Good sex could be obtained anywhere, and no woman was better for him than another. If she could satisfy his physical needs, he reasoned that would be enough.

  Zipping through traffic down I-77, he tapped the button on his headset. “Dial Melanie.”

  The line rang a couple of times, and then she came on. He ignored the odd sensation at hearing her voice. As he recalled, it was deeper than her picture gave the impression it would be but no less feminine.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Melanie. It’s—”

  “Oh, Ryder, how’s it going?”

  He grinned, hearing the excitement in her voice, and she’d either saved his number in speed dial or recognized his voice. “I’m good. Thanks. Listen, I’ve shifted my schedule around, and I’m open tonight. I was thinking I could take you to dinner. Somewhere better than that last restaurant.”

  “You’re open?” she repeated, and he thought he heard a little something in her tone. “I’m sorry. I can’t. I have plans.”

  He frowned and cut off the guy in the minivan. “You have plans? What kind of plans?”

  She chuckled. “A date, if you must know. I’d love to do it some other night though. How about Thursday? Friday would be better. I might even be able to get out of the office an hour or so early so I can get cleaned up first.”

  “Maybe. I’ll let you know.” He stabbed the button to disconnect the call. Now all traffic came to a standstill, and he squeezed the steering wheel until the leather squeaked. She had a date? A date! She’d in essence turned him down. He couldn’t remember the last time that happened. No, it had never happened, not even in school. Of course, back then he had never approached any girl he didn’t already know he could have. That was another lesson his father had taught him.

  He swore and peeled out of the lineup when he spotted a small hole in the next lane. Forty-five minutes later, he pulled into the reserved parking space with his name painted on the wall and headed toward the elevator. Christian met him as he headed to his office and dropped a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, bud, so where are you taking her tonight, or are you going straight to her place?”

  Ryder cut his gaze to his cousin briefly and then turned away. He slammed the door in the man’s face and locked it. A stab at the phone line produced Jodie’s cheery voice. “No calls!”

  “You got it, boss.”

  He dropped into his chair and shut his eyes. Melanie Cai did not know who she dealt with. But she would before long. He made a few phone calls, and a couple of hours later, a text came through to his phone. He frowned at the information but put another call through anyway. Another hour passed before Jodie buzzed him with a message that his eleven o’clock had arrived.

  “Prompt,” Ryder muttered. He stood and slipped his suit jacket on and buttoned it. The door opened, and the man walked in. Ryder examined him from head to foot, an African American with a tentative step but a semi-firm handshake. The suit looked cheap but not worn. Ryder knew from the information he had gathered that Antwon Jones was twenty-four and had graduated from University of Charlotte two years previous and had landed a decent position with a midsize firm. With the right carrot, Ryder had no doubt he could lure him away. Ordinarily, he wouldn’t have acknowledged Antwon, but he and Melanie had dated for several months, and their relationship had cooled. Antwon sought to rekindle it, which had led to his invitation to dinner tonight. Ryder couldn’t have that.

  “Mr. Neyland, it’s an honor to meet you,” Antwon gushed.

  Ryder nodded. “Please have a seat. Your name came across my desk recently, and I wondered if you would consider a proposition.”

  Being so young, Antwon couldn’t hide his excitement. “That would be incredible.”

  “You haven’t heard what I’m offering yet.”

  The younger man sat back in his chair, taking Ryder’s tone as a warning. “Uh, sorry about that. Like I said, it’s an honor.”

  Ryder waved his hand and opened a folder on his desk. Jodie had printed out the proposal, one he’d drafted not long ago. A few tweaks made it ac
ceptable for what he wanted to offer Antwon. He slid the page across the desk and waited while Antwon read. The salary and benefits were generous ones. He watched the younger man’s eyes widen reading the figures and how he suppressed the threatening grin.

  Antwon looked up. “Is there an interview?”

  “There are two caveats to this offer,” Ryder explained, ignoring the question. “Your new position is based in Aurora.”

  Antwon’s eyes bugged. “Colorado?”

  Ryder nodded.

  “And the other? You said there were two caveats.”

  “You leave for training this afternoon.”

  Antwon’s jaw dropped. He stuttered and scratched his head, studied the sheet in his hand again, and looked at Ryder. “I would need to give notice. If I leave without doing that, it’s going to reflect badly if I have to look for another job down the line. What about packing, finding another place to live? Sir, if I could have a few more weeks…”

  Ryder stood up. “When you walk out that door, this offer expires. The salary and the position are enough incentive to take this chance. If you do a good job for me, there won’t be a need to look for another position. I promote from within, but if you feel there’s something, or someone that keeps you from making this decision now, I suppose you aren’t the right man for the job.”

  “No!” Antwon barreled from his chair. “I’m your man. You accept, and you won’t regret it.”

  They both sat down and discussed further details, and then Ryder dismissed Antwon to make whatever plans he needed in order to move across the country on short notice. Ryder had given him names and resources plus an advance to get him settled without a problem, but made sure no time was left for him to make his date that night. Everything came together with the ease of a phone call for Ryder. He was used to ordering lives with the blink of an eye.

  Later, Ryder drove to his house in Mooresville, showered, and changed. Then he headed to Matthews to Melanie’s apartment. He didn’t bother calling ahead as he imagined she might put him off to save face. Outside her door, he rang the bell and waited. Not long after, she opened the door in a multi-colored minidress with kimono-like sleeves and a crossover front that showed off her generous cleavage. Black liner accentuated her unusual eyes and deep rose highlighted her lips. He frowned, taking in the entire package down to very high strappy heels.