Dirty Money

by Michelle Love

  With a nod, he says, “I’d like to show you where you’ll be staying. If you pass all the tests.”

  Shaking my head to rid it of the lusty fog he put me in, I go to him and take his hand. “Show me everything, Chris. My bedroom, the baby’s room. The room where we’ll be making him.”

  He stammers, “I suppose… Oh, my head’s so…”

  Placing my hands on his cheeks, I hold him steady as I say, “It’s okay. It’s been a long time since you’ve kissed anyone. I get it. It’ll all be okay, Chris.”

  “You’re the only person to ever call me that,” he says as he stares into my eyes. “I’m not sure why I’m even allowing it. But I will.” He takes my hands and holds them between us. “If we do this, we’ll be in each other’s lives forever. Can you put up with a reclusive grouch for that amount of time?”

  With a smile and a nod, I laugh. “I think you and I will get along just fine.”

  As he gets up, I step back and find him taking my hand. “Come on then, let me show you around the place. You’ll have an entire wing to yourself. I’d like to talk to you about how we’d take care of the baby. Do you feel confident in your abilities to take care of a newborn?”

  “I’ve never done it. But I think we could go to parenting classes together and learn how to take care of one.” I give his hand a squeeze. “That’ll be fun, don’t you think?”

  He looks a bit forlorn as he says, “You need to understand that I don’t go out to public places. As a matter of fact, I’ll be hiring the physicians to come here for your checkups, and the baby will be born here. If you think we need parenting classes, then we can get them online.”

  “My, you are reclusive.” I say as I go with him up a flight of stairs, entering a long hallway. At the end of it is another staircase. “This will be your wing. I’ve had the first bedroom here made up for the mother of my child. If you want things any different, then we’ll work on that as time goes by.”

  He pushes open a large, wooden door with all kinds of ornate carvings all over it and I see a gorgeous room with a large bed in the middle of it. Next to the bed is a little bassinet. “I see you’ve set it up, ready for baby.”

  Chris takes me inside as he gestures to the grandness of the huge room. “Do you like the cranberry color scheme?”

  “I do. This is more than nice. I can be comfortable here.”

  He pulls me out of the room and down the hallway. “These are all rooms, most of them are empty. You can do with them whatever you want. Just come to me, and we can purchase the things online, and you’ll be all set.” Up the stairs, we go until we reach the top and I see it’s one enormous open room. A balcony runs all the way across the back side that’s nothing but windows and a set of French doors that lead out to it.

  “My goodness!” I say as I see the moon shining on the ocean below. “This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. It’s safe to say, I’ll be wanting this furnished so I can spend the majority of my time up here.”

  “Then we can get to purchasing the furnishings for it as soon as you’re cleared and the contract is signed.” He takes me out onto the balcony where cool wind rushes past us. I run my arms around myself for warmth.

  When his strong arms come around me from behind, and he presses his body against my back, I feel safe and warm. His lips touch the nape of my neck as he whispers, “I can’t wait to have you here all the time, Quinn. Will you go to my doctor tomorrow so he can get the tests done? Then you can meet with my lawyer and sign the contract. You could be in here by the end of the week if you’ll hurry to do those things.”

  Turning in his arms, I run mine around his neck. “I will do that. Give me the information I’ll need to get to the appointments, and I’ll get there.”

  “My service will take you.” He pulls something out of the pocket of his jeans and presses it into my hand. “This is a credit card that you’re to use for everything. And I do mean everything. I want you to go shopping and buy yourself some new clothes and shoes and anything else you might want. Have the things sent here, and I’ll have Camilla fill your closets and your drawers. Get all the toiletries you want and anything else you can think of and have the things sent over.”

  “If the tests come back bad, then what?” I ask as he’s assuming they’ll come back fine.

  “Would there be any reason they wouldn’t?” he asks me with a frown.

  “I don’t think I have any sexual diseases. It’s been ages since I’ve been with a man. But fertility. Well, I’ve never been tested for that. I don’t foresee a problem but one never knows. I’d hate to have spent all that money and you have to send the things back.”

  “Don’t worry about that. Do as I’ve told you to. I’ll deal with things if the tests come back badly. And try not to think that way. I’m sure you’re fertile. I can almost smell it.”

  “What does that mean?” I ask as I wonder if I stink or something.

  “It just means I can tell you’re ready to conceive. Don’t ask me how. I couldn’t explain it if I wanted to. So, I’ll set you up with my doctor in the morning and have you here by the end of the week then?”

  “I guess so,” I say as I think about what all I’ll have to do. “I should be getting home and getting some sleep. It sounds as if I’m about to have a very busy week.”

  Taking me back inside, he leads me all the way to the front entrance. As we stop at the door, he turns to me. “This week will be busy, but then you’ll be here with me, and things will slow down. It’ll be an easy life you’ll lead as the mother of my child.”

  “Our child,” I correct him.

  He goes silent for a moment then nods. “Yes, you’re right. I should say that more often. I want our children to have both of us in their lives.”

  “Children?” I ask as this is new.

  “I’d like more of them, I’m pretty sure. And I’d like to have all of my kids with one woman. If that’s a thing you don’t want, then I need to know that now.”

  “Um, uh, I’m never to get married? Never to have a real love in my life?” I ask as that never occurred to me.

  “You can have your own personal life, Quinn. But while you’re with me, making the baby and pregnant with it, then I want you to see no one else. It’ll go like that with each child. When you’re not making a baby with me or pregnant with one then you can see whoever you want. Marry them if you like. Have kids with them if you want to. Only my children will always live here and I expect you to as well.”

  “I don’t suppose you could send me an email with all the stipulations on it so I can make a better decision about this, could you?” I ask as things just got real to me.

  When he touches my cheek with a soft caress, I have to fight not to just agree with him. “I’ll send you an email then. I hope you decide to do this with me. I think we’ll be compatible in many ways, Quinn.” One kiss he leaves on my lips, and then he goes back inside, leaving me alone.

  The driver gets out of the car he’s been waiting in all this time and opens the back door. “Did things go well, Miss Cantrell?”

  “I’m not sure. I thought everything was going well, but then I was jerked back into reality. I’m not sure if I can do this. Take me home, please.”

  With a nod, the driver closes the door behind me and gets into the car to take me home. As I look up at a light that’s come on in the turret, I see Christopher’s shadow as he comes to the window to watch me leave.

  Can I actually devote so much of myself to that man for the rest of my life?

  Christopher

  The tick tock of the Grandfather clock that’s in my study is beginning to get to me, so I leave that room to migrate to the next as I try not to think about the fact that Quinn has yet to call me.

  I sent her an email, detailing what I expect from her. As I was writing it all out, I could see how someone might not want to devote so much of their life to what I want. But I would be making a tremendously comfortable life for the mother of my children.


  While the sound of being the mother of my children, living with me until they’re all grown and on their own, plus coming to stay for every holiday where we’ll spend it together as a complete family, might sound a bit intimidating, I’d like to think that Quinn could see the big picture.

  She’d live a lavish lifestyle, free from worry. She could have another man if she saw fit to. After our business is taken care of, of course. All I’d be doing is making things freaking perfect for her, actually. And yet, she still hasn’t called, and now it’s nine in the morning, and I told her I need to set up an appointment with my doctor today and still no call.

  Just as I plop down into an overstuffed lounge chair, my phone rings. I see it’s her and answer it with a swipe of my finger. But I can’t seem to get myself to say a word.

  “Chris?” she asks. “Are you there?”

  “Yes,” I manage to get out. My teeth are clenched, so I don’t shout at her about making me wait.

  “Chris, I’ve been thinking.”

  “And?” I ask as I fist my hand, trying so damn hard not to yell at her.

  “You’re asking for a lot.”

  I knew it!

  “So, you’re out?” I ask as I close my eyes and wish like hell she’d say she’s not out.

  “Out?”

  “Yes, are you out or in?” I ask, getting frustrated with her.

  “I’m not exactly out.”

  Opening my eyes, I sit up and look up at the ceiling in a vain attempt to pray that this means she’ll do it. “So, what are you, Quinn?”

  “The contract needs to include an exit clause. Married people have divorce to get them out of something that turns into something bad. I want that same right. If things don’t work out, I want to get out of the contract.”

  I sit still as my stomach churns with anxiety. “Damn it! I need to know the woman I pick can give me all the children I want. I don’t want a bunch of kids with a bunch of different women.”

  “Hey, first, don’t yell at me. Got that?”

  She’s stunned me, and I find myself apologizing, “I’m sorry. I really am. But I want certain things, and need them that way. That’s all. I’m making things very comfortable for the mother of my children. I expect to be respected and honored and even obeyed.”

  “Those are marriage vows, Chris.”

  “Are they?” I ask as I’ve never even been to a wedding. So how the hell would I know that?

  “They are. You want a marriage, Chris.”

  “No, I just want a baby for now, and we can see if I ever want any more of them. I’m not saying for certain that I will. I just want that right.”

  “And what about me?”

  With a shrug, I ask, “What about you?”

  “What if I too want all of my children to have the same father and I want more kids, and you say you don’t want anymore?”

  “I suppose we can cross that bridge when we come to it. You’re kind of expecting me to see into the future.” I get up and start to pace as nerves creep up inside me and start to take me over.

  “Don’t you think I feel the same way? This is big, Chris. This isn’t anything to rush into.”

  “Then you’re not the one. I’m sorry for bothering you. I want a baby, and I want one, like yesterday. Get me. I don’t wait for what I set my mind to. If I did that, I wouldn’t have what I have now. I wouldn’t be the billionaire that I am. So, you’re on board or your out. Just spit it out, Quinn.”

  Silence meets my ear as she doesn’t say one word. I almost end the call, she takes so long to talk. Then I hear her clear her throat. “Christopher Martin, do you promise to treat me with respect at all times?”

  “I do.”

  She goes on to ask, “Do you promise to put me above all others?”

  “Except our children, I do.”

  “Do you promise to care for me as much as you’re able to and make my happiness a priority?”

  “I do.”

  “Well, that’s more than I can expect to get from anyone else. I’ll do it. Make the appointments. I’m in.”

  Breathing a sigh of relief, I end the call and make the appointment for her at the doctor then go up to my bedroom and lie down. My body’s shaking with anxiety. My mind is moving in sneaky waves as I think about what’s about to happen.

  Hopefully, by the end of the week, she’ll be in my home. We’ll be having sex like rabbits, making sure we get pregnant, and I’ll never be alone again.

  Good, Lord! What have I done?

  Quinn

  It’s done, the tests came back great, and I went to see Chris’s lawyer and signed the contract that holds me to him my entire life. He wants me in his life and our children’s lives for as long as we’re both alive.

  Another upside to this whole thing is that I became his heir. With each child we have, the percentage of the inheritance will change but I’ll always be an extremely wealthy woman.

  The car is dropping me off just as the sun’s leaving the sky. My things have all been brought over and my bedroom is filled with them. This is it. My life is about to change forever!

  I’m about to become a mother with the help of a man that’s a virtual stranger to me. That’s not intimidating at all, is it?

  When I get out of the back seat of the car, I find Chris opening the front door. No shoes, baggy black sweat pants, and a hooded jacket, unzipped with no shirt underneath it, are what he has on. The hood is pulled up, concealing his face and leaving me guessing at what his emotional state is right now.

  Mine is insane. I have chills, yet a heat is making me sweat as I walk toward him. My heels are clicking against the cement, and he says not a thing, once I get to him. He merely extends his hand, which I take, then he pulls me into the foyer and closes the door behind us. It locks with a loud bolting sound as he taps in numbers on a keypad on the wall.

  Not a word said between us yet, and he leads me out of the foyer, through a large living area, to a set of stairs I haven’t been up before. It goes to the wing opposite of the one he said would be mine. It’s his wing.

  He’s taking me straight to his bed!

  I can barely breathe. I need a drink!

  When he stops in front of a door, he turns to me and picks me up in his arms. I put mine around his neck then he kicks the door open and takes me into his bedroom.

  It’s masculine to the hilt. Only a couple of tall lamps light the dark interior. Chocolates and blacks are what he’s used to decorate with. A fire burns in an enormous fireplace in the corner of the gigantic room.

  The bed that’s in the middle of the room is tall and wider than any bed I’ve ever seen. I bet he bought the bed especially for making the baby. I bet he designed this entire room just for this.

  Taking me to the bedside, he picks up a remote that’s on the nightstand. With the push of a button, the lamps go out, leaving us bathed in the orange glow of the fire’s light. Another push of a button has a panel slipping back on the ceiling over the bed. A mirror that covers the entire bed is exposed.

  I’m awestruck and can’t think straight as he turns to me and starts to undress me. Still not a word said, and my body is hot with desire. My dress pools on the wood floor quickly joined by my bra and panties. I step out of my shoes then he leads me to the adjoining bathroom.

  It’s giant and lit up by dozens of candles. A shower has already been turned on, and steam fills the large tiled open area where jets are shooting out from virtually everywhere.

  He lets my hand go and gestures for me to get into the shower. I do what he’s silently told me to and find the warmth of the shower stimulating and the smell of eucalyptus welling up from the steamy floor.

  I can’t see a thing with all the steam, then he’s in front of me. His clothes are gone but the steam’s so thick, I can’t see more than his perfectly formed torso.

  From a recess in the wall, he picks up a bottle of shampoo and takes my hand, putting some in it. Then he puts some in his and puts the bottle back where he got it f
rom.

  Not sure what he wants me to do, I wait. When he puts his hands into my hair, I get it and put mine into his, rubbing the shampoo into his dark waves.

  There’s spearmint in the shampoo, and my head begins to tingle. When he takes my hair and pulls it back to rinse it under a waterfall type of faucet that’s jutting out of the wall, I feel like a goddess for some reason.

  He’s pampering me, a thing I have to admit I didn’t expect. Once my hair is rinsed out, he pulls my head back up, and I see the same kind of waterfall faucet behind him and do him just like he did me.

  After his hair is rinsed out, he reaches into another cubby hole and pulls out some body wash that he puts into his hands then rubs them together. Then his hands are running all over me. He drops to his knees, and I lose sight of him in the steam.

  I have to reach back and brace myself as his soapy hands run over my sex and then my ass. Up and down each leg, he makes long runs with his strong hands.

  There’s never been a time that I was so turned on. I’m already breathing heavily. Then his mouth is on me, and I moan with how good it feels.

  His tongue moves in circles around my clit. His hands grip my ass as he changes things into an intimate kiss that has me mewling like a kitten. He starts groaning with what he’s doing, and the vibration of that has me going insane.

  When his pinky finger pushes into my ass, a thing that’s never happened before, I fall completely apart. The climax he gives me has me shaking. My legs are going weak, but he doesn’t stop.

  His tongue moves up and down my folds then he dips it into my soaking wet canal and the groan he was making intensifies. I cry out with the way the orgasm keeps going on and on.

  Suddenly, his mouth is off me, and I feel his hands moving up my body. Then I’m picked up and taken out of the steamy shower. Wrapped in a warm, fluffy black towel, he takes me back into the bedroom where he lies me on the bed.