Billionaire Benefactor Daddy: A Single Dad & Virgin Romance Boxset

by Natalia Banks

  The sound of thundering music filled the dark, red-lit club, while flashes of yellow and blue burst from lights in the corners. Synthetic bass notes throbbed—a low repetition of three notes in a staggered rhythm—disjointed yet somehow locking into that pounding bass drum, pushing out of those speakers, through the floors and into Kerri’s legs, racing up through her calves and thighs and into her swaying hips.

  The tempo of the music seemed to line up directly with the beating of her heart—same pace and same rhythm—and Kerri knew Harden’s heartbeat was locked into her own. The two of them twisted and writhed together—his hips gyrating against his tawny thigh as he bent to let his own hips flex and thrust to that ceaseless drone of robotic hypnosis.

  Harden moved with amazing grace and agility for a man of his size and athletic power. And serious though he could often be, when on the dance floor, Harden had a way of being as uninhibited as anybody. And as much as Kerri loved to see his heroic face, the strong alpha male he showed to all the world, she had special love for the more tender man within—the sensual lover, the man embroiled in the music—jaw thrust, hands clapping, eyes locked on Kerri’s, as usual.

  And though they relished their dirty talk, Harden to say it and Kerri to hear it, this was a moment of wordless wonder—their eyes saying everything that was too loud and too pointless to utter with mere sounds.

  My God, how I love you, Harden said with his eyes.

  You’re the love of my life, Kerri’s hips and eyes and shoulders replied.

  I’ve got something special for you tonight, my love—something you can’t imagine!

  Give it to me then, right here and right now, you big bastard!

  No, Kerri, no. But think of my cock. You can see it, bulging, crawling halfway down my thigh. Think about how it’s going to be inside you soon. It may be an hour, maybe less, but it’s ready and waiting, and it has a secret—something that’s going to ravage you!

  Chapter 6

  Kerri did as she was instructed: disrobing and kneeling on the bed—posture straight, hands folded in her naked lap. Without a word, Harden set two small, gift-wrapped boxes on the bed next to her. He handed the larger, flatter one to Kerri. Without needing to be instructed, Kerri picked up the box and peeled off the silver wrapping paper and matching ribbon. The box wasn’t deep—only a few inches, but several more inches wide and tall, almost like a chocolate box.

  But this was no chocolate box.

  Kerri opened the lid to reveal the contents: a black leather collar attached to a long, leather leash. She looked up at Harden, both intimidated and confused, but he didn’t wait for her to ask and he didn’t offer any explanation.

  Harden took the leash, Kerri letting the box fall away. That hard, leather collar was thick and tight around her neck as he fastened it around the back. Kerri’s heart was already beating fast, the muscles around her throat constricting to protect her from this new and unnatural pressure.

  Harden asked, “You like it?” Kerri wasn’t sure how to respond. It was a bit frightening, but she also knew she could trust Harden, above all men. So the thrill was undeniable. The only truth she could confidently find was a nod, just as vague and subtle as her true feelings.

  Harden gave a slight tug on the leash attached to the back of the collar, and Kerri reacted quickly, back arching, a little gasp leaking into her throat, lips pouting, nearly quivering.

  Harden said, “You love it when I control you, Kerri. You love to be the puppet on my string.” This Kerri knew without a doubt, but Harden didn’t need to be reassured. He knew it too, with superb and terrible certainty. “We’ve been through a lot, baby, and you’ve come through it every step of the way. You remember the bottom of that gulch—you screaming out for everybody within miles to hear, to search for, to wonder and worry about? You recall me dragging you around, tying you up, forcing you to cum or not to cum at my command? You’ve turned yourself over to me entirely, and I’ve never let you down.”

  Kerri shook her head aggressively to agree with him.

  “You know I’ve got something special for you tonight, baby; I can see it in your eyes that you know; I knew it in the dance club that you were waiting for it—couldn’t get your mind off what I’d do to you tonight!”

  “God, yes, baby,” spilled out of Kerri’s lips. “Oh my God, yes!”

  So Harden gave another little tug on that leash, Kerri bending back even farther, back rigid and tight. His grainy voice returned to the corner of her ear as he leaned in close. “Is this it, Kerri? Is this what my cock was promising you?”

  Kerri opened her mouth to answer, but no words found their way out of her clenched throat.

  “No, Kerri, no,” Harden said, “this is only the beginning.”

  Harden swung the leash around, the collar sliding across the skin of Kerri’s neck until it was under her chin. One hard yank had Kerri bent forward, hands supporting her, suddenly on all fours like a dog.

  “You see how I can control your every move? You see how I can control who you are, what you are, what you’ll be? It’s all up to me, isn’t it, baby?” Kerri nodded, saying nothing. “Tell me!”

  “It’s all up to you,” Kerri pushed out, heart pounding, sweat already beginning to collect on the sides of her breasts.

  He licked his fingers and rubbed her ass hard, fingering her palpitating anus as it tightened, knowing what would happen next. “That’s right, my angel, that’s right,” Harden said, positioning himself behind her, once more dragging the collar against her clenched throat so that the leash was behind her.

  And so was Harden.

  His stiff cock parted her tight dark star, widening to wrap around his lick-lubed cock. The pressure was always a surprise—a sensation that made her feel like a virgin every time he did it, and left her feeling like a filthy slut by the time he was finished.

  He pushed in with his usual certainty, not waiting too long before consuming her with a steady rhythm, less chaotic than he would have been in her pussy. Harden knew just what each part of her body wanted, needed, couldn’t live without, and he was expert at delivering that and only that—never too much, never too little except when he was holding back, teasing her, taunting her, testing her, teaching her.

  And Kerri had the thrilling certainty that this would be one of those nights.

  In and out, that railing rod pushed and pulled, just a little shake sending tremors of joy through Kerri’s crotch, legs quivering beneath her. Kerri was rigid in that doggie-style position, adjusting to the newfound intensity and pleasure. Harden’s hammer was strong and stiff inside her, guiding Kerri’s every movement. He jutted forward and her body responded; he pulled back and she could only be drawn back with the power of his reverse thrust.

  Her orgasm stirred within her again, not another new orgasm but a return of the old—a single living creature with its own mind and heart and desires. And like Kerri herself, it was getting stronger with every challenge, more aggressive with every victory. But also like Kerri, the world was not its to control, and it would have to wait for its moment of pleasure, for as long as that masterful Harden dictated, and then only until his loving mate conferred. Kerri’s orgasm served their will, and it would have to learn that time and time again, each effort a joyous frustration.

  Harden pulled on the leash, tightening the tension in her back and in her throat, her breath coming harder, more strained as her lungs and heart battled for survival. Her orgasm saw an opportunity, but Kerri’s clenching muscles held it down—pinned—at the mercy of her will.

  “Is this it, Kerri, is this what you want, is this what you need?” Kerri did want it, she did need it. But she knew what Harden meant, and she had to shake her head. “That’s right, baby,” he growled, “because I got what you need, my sweet little angel; I got what you need right here.”

  Harden grabbed the smaller package and tore it open with one mighty hand, shaking the wrapping and the box away.

  He held his left hand out to reveal a small, black
device which fit in the palm of his hand—two silver nobs at the end.

  Kerri’s heart leapt in her chest, pounding in repeated terror as she shook her head, gasping and ready to refuse him. But Harden said, “Take it easy, Kerri, take…it…easy. I’d never hurt you, you know that. You do know that, don’t you?” Kerri nodded, but he said simply and calmly, “Say it.”

  “You’d never hurt me.”

  “That’s right. It’s a very light charge; I set it myself; I tested it on myself. It’s not going to hurt you, Kerri; I’m not going to hurt you. You know that, don’t you?”

  “I do; I know it. You’re not going to hurt me.”

  “That’s right,” he whispered. “Yes, baby,” even softer, “that’s so right.”

  He moved it behind her in a flash and pressed it against her hip. The shock bolted through her. It was a dull, hot roar in her flanks, the buzz rushing through her but leaving her unhurt, even as the blood raced through her veins.

  Harden railed her even harder, taking full advantage of her body’s stunned state. Her muscles twitched and stretched and pulled, tendons threatening to pop at various points throughout her body.

  Her orgasm was infuriated by the electrical assault, turned to monstrous proportions and impossible to control.

  Another electrical crackle underscored a second hit of electricity, racing into Kerri’s belly—her warm crotch, everything feeling more alive than it ever had, even as Kerri felt like she was about to die, to be reborn, and then die again in an unending cycle of reincarnated passion.

  Kerri’s legs shook, and air pushed out of her lungs, her heart feeling like it was going to burst.

  A third sharp hit pushed her juices to pour down her leg; the pressure and the vibration and the power was almost more than she could take. Her orgasm shook her as it splashed and burst and dripped—the pummeling and the nerve-numbing electrical shock sending Kerri Steele convulsing and finally falling back into her husband’s loving embrace, breath and motion coming to a merciful and perhaps eternal rest.

  And all Kerri could think was, What a fucking way to go!

  Chapter 7

  Harden rented a black town car and drove them both out to Paterson, New Jersey. There was nothing glamorous about the flat, low-lying buildings, power lines, drab little houses, and big shiny cars.

  Harden glanced at Kerri as she looked around with a quizzical expression. “Ever seen such a gorgeous place?”

  Kerri released an amused smile. “Guess I’m just a little nervous. I’ve never met a mafia don before, Harden, much less did I ever grow up with one.”

  Harden shrugged. “He’s just like any other man…only more so.” That didn’t seem to bring Kerri any comfort. Harden smiled and tapped her knee. “Kerri, he’s an old and dear friend. You should have heard how excited he was to hear from me.”

  “Even though he heard from you not too long ago.”

  Harden shrugged. “And I happened to have saved his life on that occasion—his whole family! And don’t forget, he owes me more than a few favors.”

  “Right. But didn’t you say yourself that he’s not a man you want to ask too many favors of? By that I assume you meant that he—”

  “I meant what I said, Kerri, I always do. You know that.”

  “Yes,” Kerri said breathily, “I do.”

  “But we’re not asking him for any favors, Kerri. This is personal; it isn’t business.”

  Harden pulled off the road and into the parking lot of a gelato shop on the main boulevard. Kerri read the sign, “Gelato?”

  “It’s gotta be one of Paulie’s joints, probably owns a ton of them all over the city.”

  “Are they all fronts?”

  “Most of ‘em, I’d think.” Kerri shook her head, but Harden said, “Hey, I’m sure he could have had us meet him at the strip club or the sandwich shop. But he knew we’re together; he’s old-fashioned like that.” Harden smiled.

  “I suppose that’s a good sign.”

  “You’re damn right it is. If he’d asked us to meet him at his cement factory outside of town, even I might have been a little worried.”

  They stopped the car, Harden escorted Kerri from the passenger seat, and he led her to the gelato shop. The bell on the door jangled with a light innocence that Kerri found particularly cruel-hearted, taunting, the first lie walking into the door. The place was filled with a swirl of scents: vanilla, strawberry, cherry, coffee.

  A skinny young man with olive skin and black hair stood behind the counter. “Welcome to Nanna’s,” he said with a crack in his voice. “What can I get for you today?”

  But neither Kerri nor Harden had a chance to answer.

  Don Paulie Santori stepped out from a little room behind the counter—arms outstretched. His round physique looked even more so by his abbreviated height; he almost rolled out of the back room toward them.

  “Don Paulie,” Harden said with a respectful tone.

  “Hard as stone,” he said with a smile. The two men hugged—tall and athletic Harden embracing his short, fat friend like long-lost brothers.

  “It’s steel now,” Harden said, “Harden Steele. And this is my lovely wife, Kerri.”

  “Ah yes, the legendary Kerri. You’ve been up to quite a bit of mischief, young lady.” Kerri smiled, but could find no answer that she could be confident delivering.

  Finally she said, “It’s such an honor to meet you, Don Paulie, and to have the opportunity to thank you in person for everything you did for us. We owe you our lives.”

  Don Paulie held his hand out to quiet her, glanced around, then turned and led them into the little office in the back of the shop. Harden glared at Kerri, who could only shrug. Once in the little room, with the door closed behind them, Don Paulie took a seat behind his desk, Kerri and Harden taking the two chairs on the other side.

  Don Paulie said to Kerri, “If anything, I owe you both my thanks! First that rat Chaz la Blanca tries to rip me off and set you up to take the fall? Make a dummy outta me, kill a friend in my name, against my orders? No, I don’t do business like that.”

  “We knew you’d never break your word, Don Paulie.”

  “Of course not,” Don Paulie said. “Least ways, not to you.” He turned back to Kerri. “And you, I hear you charred that bitch Angela’s brains yourself.”

  “It was a life-or-death struggle. I didn’t want to hurt her, or anybody.”

  “I understand that, dear, of course. But boy, did you ever scramble her eggs good. She’s sitting on a porch somewhere in Maine in a pretty sad state.”

  Kerri’s stomach dropped; she felt instantly nauseous. “How awful.”

  “She deserved it,” Don Paulie said. “That bitch was gonna come after me next, take down my whole family. But you two…you’re good, you’re very, very good.”

  Kerri and Harden shared a little smile.

  Don Paulie asked Kerri, “He tell you how we met? I was facing five guys, and here comes Harding—sorry, Harden—and he throws himself at these animals, throwing punches, wham, wham, wham—” Don Paulie threw a few punches at imagined enemies, smiling and shaking his head at the mere recollection. “Did they ever stomp us good!”

  Don Paulie and Harden shared a nostalgic chuckle. Don Paulie went on, “Still, it worked out for the best.”

  Kerri said, “I’ll bet they work for you now.”

  Don Paulie’s chuckle died away. “They work for the florist, pushin’ up daisies.” Kerri and Harden’s chuckle died away too. “And what about you, Kerri? I think it’s a shame how they ran you outta Hollywood.”

  “Not at all,” Kerri said.

  Don Paulie gave it a little thought, his round head bouncing just a bit on his fatty shoulders. “Maybe, if you want, we could still put something together: funding for whatever kind of movie you wanna make.”

  But Kerri knew exactly what kind of movie Don Paulie wanted Kerri to make.

  “Oh, um, with all respect, Don Paulie, I’m perfectly happy just to be Harden’s
wife.” Until I become the mother of his children, she wanted to add but bit her tongue.

  “No worries,” Don Paulie said. “Tell you the truth, I got a lotta bigger things on my mind anyway. If you started a movie tomorrow, I probably wouldn’t live to see the end of it.”

  “What do you mean, Paulie?”

  “Well, Hard, it’s…” Don Paulie glanced at Kerri. “It’s not something we should talk about, probably.”

  “She’s my wife,” Harden said. “I don’t exclude her from anything in my life.”

  Don Paulie sighed, glancing around and then back at Harden. “It’s…it’s about our friends. Y’know…the thing.”

  Harden nodded. “Yeah, I know, and so does she. How do you think we met?”

  Don Paulie’s eyes lit up as he turned back to Kerri. “You were…on the auction block?”

  “Only once,” Harden said, also turning to Kerri. “That I know of.”

  “That’s right,” Kerri said to them both, “just the once. And I’ll never do it again, if that’s what either of you are thinking.”

  “Not me,” Harden said, “that’s for sure.”

  “Nor me,” Paulie said, “it’s just…as long as you know what we’re talking about—”

  “Don Paulie,” Harden said, “tell us, what’s going on, what’s wrong?”

  Don Paulie sighed and leaned back in his little chair. “I had a friend… I thought of him as a friend anyway. I invited him to one of the local meetings. Turns out…he broke the rule.”

  Harden’s face went cold. “That’s bad.”

  “Yeah,” Don Paulie said, “the worst.”

  Kerri glanced at each man. “What rule? I don’t get it.”

  “The rule you can never break,” Harden said. “It’s the same rule outside the agreement, or anywhere in the Western world.”

  Don Paulie said, “Thou shalt not kill.”

  No more explanation was necessary, and Kerri could quickly imagine some enraged sadomasochist and his terrified female victim: the screaming, violence, and sex that became torture and ultimately bloody murder.