“Thank you Mrs. Hunter. This is a fabulous party,” I say giving her my sweet smile.
“Have you tried the Prime Rib? It’s delicious,” she says eyeing Marcus’ arm which is wrapped intimately around my waist. The way he’s holding me screams that we know each other intimately.
“I’m in the mood for some dessert,” I say and then realize how bad that sounded as Marcus gives me a squeeze. He laughs and his Mother clears her throat uncomfortably. Good going Sophie, now you sound like a bimbo and I know I’m blushing. “No, I really mean, I want to go and check out the sweets on the dessert table,” I stammer out like a fool. Damn, I’m usually so polished, professional and refined in public.
“Okay, come on Sophie. Let’s get you some dessert,” he says winking to his mother as we scoot off.
“I can’t believe I said that, it came out so wrong,” I cry out as we walk away and head to the dessert table.
“Don’t worry about it, I thought it was quite funny myself,” he laughs pulling me in for a kiss. He needs to cool it with all of the public display of affection in front of his parents and the whole firm for that matter.
We take our plates back to our table and thankfully Christopher and his date are on the dance floor.
“Let’s dance,” Marcus says grabbing my hand. I look at him and can tell he is clueless that his Mother didn’t approve. Why do I even care?
When we get out onto the dance floor they’re playing The Way You Look Tonight by Maroon 5 and Marcus takes me into his arms and holds me close as we sway to the music.
“Are you having a good time beautiful?” he asks.
“Yes, Hunter always throws a wonderful Christmas Party,” I answer as he pulls me tighter into his hard arousal.
“Marcus, cool it with the PDA,” I whisper, moving away from him slightly as he tries to nuzzle into my neck.
“Why?” he asks.
“Please, it makes me look bad,” I remark and his body stiffens.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks genuinely clueless.
“It looks like I’m trying to sleep my way to the top, or that I’m some kind of gold digger.”
“Oh, I get it,” he clips out. When the song ends we head back to our table and I sit next to Tasha, away from the blonde. Marcus leaves me to go and work the room. He is mostly hanging out by the bar, pounding down drink after drink. He drinks too much when we’re out and it bothers me.
“You two are quite the couple now aren’t you? I saw you talking with Mrs. Hunter,” Tasha says.
“I can tell she doesn’t approve. No one is good enough for her son,” I sigh out, not sure why I even care.
“Ignore her,” Tasha says.
“Let’s go,” Marcus barks out when he returns to the table. He seems irritated and he has had one too many by this time of the evening.
“Bye, see you Monday,” I whisper to Tasha before I stand and Marcus and I walk out of the ballroom and head back to our suite. We hold hands as we stroll back to our suite and enjoy the moonlit night. Once we get back to our room he still seems a little agitated.
“What’s wrong Marcus?” I ask as I wrap my arm around him from behind. He’s standing at the bar making himself yet another drink.
“Nothing,” he says taking a big swig of scotch on the rocks, the hard stuff.
“Let’s go to bed, I want to ravage you,” he growls out. Taking my hand in his and leading me towards the bedroom of our bungalow. He takes me in his arms at the foot of the bed and kisses me hard while unzipping the back of my floor length gown. It puddles on the floor, leaving me standing there without a bra and just my G-string on. Goosebumps cover my flesh as Marcus cups and caresses both breasts then brings each nipple up to his lips. He takes a taste of each hardened nipple as he buries his face in them.
“Get in bed, you’re cold,” he commands as he starts to undress. I love to see his cock spring out from his trousers, it shows me how much he desires me.
He gives it to me good tonight, long and hard, like he’s angry. Rough sex, but I can take it, I like it.
I can’t believe Marcus crosses the line tonight. While he was buried deep inside me, he goes and tells me he loves me. What was that all about? I almost froze in mid act. I felt his words all the way down in the pit of my stomach. Of course I didn’t say it back, it scared the hell out of me. All I could do was look in his eyes as he was pounding into me, I became mute. Please don’t do this to me Marcus, don’t make me feel bad for not saying it back. I already told him I didn’t do love so why, why does he have to put me on the spot like this? He’s just supposed to be a good time and not get heavy on me. He should know better, he of all people, the first class playboy talking about love. Please spare me. Maybe it’s the alcohol talking or maybe he says this to all the girls when he’s buried inside them, that must be it. Don’t freak out Sophie, calm down and enjoy the ride, because what an amazing ride it always is with Marcus. I don’t want to talk about love, I’m not sure I’m capable of doing love. After he takes us both to oblivion and back, he rolls onto his back out of breath. Let me just say this about myself. I grew up in a household where we didn’t say I love you. Sure, I knew my parents both loved me, but we never said it to each other. That could be part of my problem with verbalizing I love you.
“My Mother gave me hard time tonight,” he sighs out staring at the ceiling.
“What do you mean?”
“She disapproves of me seeing someone in the firm.” I knew this, but I guess she came out and said something to him tonight.
“That’s no surprise to me. You already told me your Father warned you,” I say softly.
“Damn it, I’m serious about you and I want everyone to know it and accept it, even you Sophie,” he says boring his eyes into mine.
Chapter 4
Marcus
After the firms Christmas party I realized that my parents don’t want me getting involved in yet another office affair. Who could blame them after my last mistake. I dipped in the office pool last year and it didn’t end well. But this time with Sophie it feels different on so many levels. I did the chasing this time, plus she has gotten under my skin. I’m the one that wants more, hard to believe.
Tonight, I took Sophie out to dinner and now I’ve brought her back to my place. We engage in a night of passion, our sex is on fire, but she seems a little distracted. The next morning I wake up to her staring at me. She’s on her stomach, propped up on her elbows, watching me sleep.
“Good Morning babe,” I say, brushing her cheek with my fingers.
“Marcus, I’m late,” she tells me.
“What do you mean you’re late?” I ask, her comment has definitely woken me up. It’s as if I’ve been doused with a bucket of cold water.
“You know what I mean,” she says sadly.
“Late as in you might be….I thought you told me you were on the pill?” I ask accusingly.
“I am, but sometimes I forget to take it. Maybe that’s what happened,” she breathes out, obviously as distressed as I am. Fuck. My Dad warned me to be careful and I think he was intimating don’t let yourself get trapped. Now I see what a fool I’ve been. I can’t believe I let her tempt me that very first night to ride her bare, no protection. Shit.
“Not very sexy is it,” she says dryly. We both lie there in silence for a long time. This cannot be happening. Sophie would never try and trap me would she?
“Have you been late before?” I ask.
“No, I’m usually like clockwork,” she whispers dejectedly. I let out the longest sigh as I have this bad feeling in the pit of my stomach; I think I’m going to be sick.
“I’m going back to my place,” Sophie announces crawling out of bed. Did she not like my reaction? What was I supposed to say? I watch her as she walks to the bathroom to gather her things. I just lay there, staring at the ceiling, scared shitless is what I am. There is no way I’m ready to be a father, I can barely take care of myself, let alone another person. This cannot
be happening.
After she has packed up her things and gets dressed she comes and sits on the edge of the bed next to me.
“Isn’t there some pill you can take?” I ask gently.
“I checked into it, it’s too late to be effective,” she says. Clearly she didn’t want to get pregnant, but in my mind I question her motives.
“Let’s go to breakfast,” I offer.
“No, I need to get home,” she declines. I throw on some boxers to walk her to the door.
“See you tomorrow at the office,” I say kissing her. She’s down, she’s scared and I don’t know what to do to comfort her. Well, I guess I do know, but I’m still in shock so I let her leave.
Chapter 5
Sophie
Tears stream down my face as I drive home from Marcus’ condo. I don’t know what I expected from him. Certainly not a marriage proposal, but you would think he would try to comfort me a little. I just can’t be pregnant. Look Sophie, don’t panic yet. You could just be late. Once I get home and eat something, a little while later my cell phone rings, it’s Marcus.
“Hi Marcus.”
“Hi babe,” Marcus says on the other end.
“Yes?” I say curtly.
“I’m sorry about earlier today, you just caught me by surprise that’s all,” he apologizes.
“I know, I’m scared,” I admit, my voice is wavering.
“I know babe, we’ll figure it out if you are,” he offers in comfort.
“Well let’s not panic yet, I could just be late.”
“I’m going to come over later and take you out to dinner.”
“You don’t need to, I’ll be fine.”
“No, I’ll be over around 5:00.”
“Alright, see you then.” I have no one to talk to about this except Marcus and I don’t know if he’s capable of comforting me. I’m sure he wants to run the other way and I wouldn’t blame him one bit. With his family’s money, I’m sure he has to wonder if a girl would try and trap him. Why on earth was I stupid enough to be sleep with him without protection is beyond me. I haven’t been myself since my arrangement with Marcus. This will either bring us closer together or tear us apart.
Chapter 6
Marcus
When Sophie first told me she was late, I felt like the wind had been knocked out of my lungs and I was suffocating. Freaking out was more like it. She still hasn’t gotten her period and this may become a reality which I keep trying to deny is happening to us. These thoughts running through my mind the last couple of weeks scare the hell out of me. Ever since I found out Sophie might be pregnant with my baby I’ve had all this turmoil floating around in my head. First it was anger, like maybe my Dad was right in warning me that a girl could try and trap me, after all I’m a damn good catch. I never believed it of Sophie, yet immediately I did wonder. But then I slowly realized that I love this feisty, headstrong woman and whatever happened I would stay by her side. Even though I’m still not sure how she feels about me other than just a good time between the sheets, her boy toy. Oh, the irony of it all. Over the past two weeks, the thought of marrying her even popped into my mind. Who would have ever thought I would want to settle down, certainly not me. But Sophie, she challenges me every single day and that’s what I love about her, I love just being with her, aside from the mind blowing sex. I’ve even professed my love to her, but she won’t return the sentiment. I don’t know if she’s just not feeling it or if she’s just afraid to admit it.
We’re at my place tonight and we just finished dinner. Needless to say Sophie hasn’t been herself lately. She’s been preoccupied and who could blame her.
“We’ll get through this Sophie. I’m falling in love with you and I swear I’m not just saying that because …you know,” I say. She remains silent as usual.
“Say something Sophie,” I demand.
“I’m scared.”
“Of what, letting me love you?”
“Of that and being pregnant,” she whispers.
“Damn it Sophie, you’re just more afraid of being pregnant. Do you even care about what I just said to you?” Met with silence again, does she care one ounce about me?
“Marcus I do care about you,” she replies as if to appease me, after all I may be the father of her baby. Shit, that’s a scary thought. We both are so unprepared to handle the consequences of our actions.
“Look babe, I know neither of us expected this to happen, but we will deal with it together.” She’s not acting like a girl who wants to trap me.
Chapter 7
Sophie
I try to put this out of my mind. Marcus wants to take me to the symphony tonight. It will be a much needed distraction for us.
“You ready to go babe,” Marcus asks walking into my office.
“Yes, let me just log off and grab my purse,” I reply. We head out for the evening and have bad timing again. We ride the elevator down with Mr. Hunter. It’s awkward now the way Mr. Hunter looks at me.
“Sophie, son,” his Dad nods to us as we all step into the elevator.
“Where are you two off to tonight?” Mr. Hunter asks.
“The Symphony,” Marcus replies and I just try and put on my good girl smile.
Marcus takes me to a romantic restaurant in Downtown which boasts a magnificent view of Los Angeles skyline at night. We are dining by candle light and Marcus orders a fine bottle of wine.
“Your parents don’t like me now that they know we’re sleeping together. I’m not good enough for their precious son,” I say in a matter of fact voice.
“First of all, we’re doing more than sleeping together. I prefer to say we are seriously dating, alright? It’s not that they don’t like you per se. They just don’t want me dating within the firm,” Marcus tries to defend his parents.
“Well, it’s a little late for that,” I sigh out.
“Don’t be upset little one, they’ll come around,” he says reassuringly. I just try and shrug it off, this isn’t going to last forever so what do I care.
“Let’s not let my Dad spoil our evening together,” he says reaching for my hand across the table. Marcus can be so charming, I do have feelings for him.
“The view from this high up is breathtaking. I’ve never been here before, it’s such a romantic restaurant,” I say looking into his gorgeous eyes. He lightly strokes his thumb across my fingers. The way he is looking at me over the candle light makes me feel like the most desired woman on the planet. He’s so smooth, I wonder how many other women he’s brought to this romantic setting.
“I love you Sophie,” he whispers across the table at me, and I can’t help but swoon inside. It doesn’t mean I love him back, but I do swoon at the devilishly handsome playboy sitting across from me.
“Marcus, love is a big word for a big emotion.”
“I know, but I do.”
“I told you up front, months ago that I didn’t think I could do love,” I say softly.
“What happened to you, someone must have hurt you bad for you to say something like that?” he presses, as my gaze shifts down to my wine glass.
“Tell me babe,” he coaxes.
“It was years ago, I was young. Seventeen at the time,” I say remembering the pain like it was yesterday.
“Your first?” he asks gently.
“Yes.”
“I would never hurt you Sophie,” he says with feeling. All I offer is a half-smile.
“What time is it, do we need to get going?” I say wanting to drop this. Marcus checks the vintage Rolex on his wrist which was handed down to him from his grandfather.
“Oh yeah, let me get the check,” he says and I’ve succeeded in distracting him from asking me anymore about my past heartbreak.
*****
After we enjoy the Symphony Marcus drives me back to his sleek bachelor pad. Whenever I walk in there it just screams player’s lair of seduction. I can’t explain it. Whenever I lie in his bed and open his nightstand drawer and see the economy pack of c
ondoms a sick feeling never fails to wash over me.
However, I try to block all of these things out of my mind. He really does treat me well, like he genuinely cares about me. I almost believe him when he tells me he loves me. I think he truly believes he does, as much as someone like him can love. We both brush our teeth and get ready for bed.
He punches the button on his BOSE clock radio and his seductive music fills his bedroom, see what I mean? I hear the Happy love song playing and I warm inside knowing he added it to his playlist. He rolls on top of me and starts kissing me as his fingers start rubbing my sweet spot that always drives me crazy with want for him and him only. Tonight he sinks his fingers in deep and I whimper into our kiss as I writhe underneath him.
“You ready for me babe, you’re so wet,” he whispers, swirling his tongue in my ear.
“Always,” I murmur to my lover boy. He covers me with his lean, toned frame as I part my legs for him and he rises up on his knees and pushes the tip right into my entrance slowly I can feel his bulbous head penetrate me.
“Oh Marcus,” I let out a high pitched feminine whimper. I want all of him, filling me, right now.
“You feel so good baby,” he says finally sinking all the way into my depths. His stroking feels amazing, I love going bare with him, all of my senses are heightened. “Oh yeah baby.”
“Let me ride you,” I say sultrily.
“You sure that’s ok?” he asks.
“Why wouldn’t it be?” I ask questioningly.
“You know, just in case you are…” he trails off worrying about the baby.
“Oh yeah,” I purr out, as I pull him down to me and kiss him hard, I don’t want to think about it, I just want to lose myself in him. He is actually gentle and tender tonight. He’s not banging my head against the headboard, I think to myself wickedly. He’s pumping into me with slow and deliberate strokes as he rubs his thumb expertly along my sweet spot taking me close to the edge.
“Marcus,” I cry out as I get closer and closer to oblivion knowing he loves to hear me call his name, my naughty boy. He has me whimpering in the most intense pleasure imaginable. This is why I am so addicted to him.
Romance: Love Dies Hard 2 (Billionaire Romance Series) (Hard to Love) Page 2
