Billy grinned. “To talk, huh?”
Irritated with Billy’s insinuation, Ethan picked up his pace, not stopping until he reached his vehicle. “Keep an eye on things. I don’t wish to be disturbed tonight. For anything.”
“Yes, sir.” Billy broke off to the left and jumped into his own car.
Ethan had half an hour before he was due to arrive at Piper’s. He climbed behind the wheel, started the engine, and shot forward without regard for his grandfather's gravel drive.
Pulling up in front of Piper’s house, Ethan shut down the engine and willed his wolf to calm. The damn thing seemed to claw at him anytime Piper was near. And she was definitely near. He could sense her before he cleared his car door.
Ethan took a deep breath as he sauntered up the walkway to her porch. No shifters were in the area, nor had they recently been.
He rang the bell.
The door opened a moment later, and Ethan nearly swallowed his tongue.
Piper stood there, wearing a pair of white cotton shorts and a pink tank top. Her long auburn hair hung loose around her shoulders to frame her gorgeous face.
“Hi.” She stood there, holding the door open, but hadn’t stepped back.
Ethan’s gaze traveled down her bare feet and his lips twitched. “You’re not wearing shoes.”
“I was lying on the couch,” she shot back, the look in her eyes almost challenging.
Ethan’s wolf roared from within. Damn her for tickling his dominant side. “May I come in?”
“Yes, of course.” She stepped back, waving him inside.
The second he crossed over the threshold, Ethan toed off his running shoes, eliciting a twinkle in Piper’s eyes.
“Would you care for a drink?”
Ethan nodded. “A drink would be great.”
“Wine?” Piper inquired on her way into the kitchen.
He followed close behind. “You got anything stronger?”
“I have whiskey.”
Ethan stopped next to the bar, noticing two empty glasses sitting on either side of what looked to be brownie crumbs.
Jealousy crept back in. “Whiskey works. Am I interrupting something?”
“Pardon?” She glanced at him over her shoulder.
Not sure he wanted to know the answer, Ethan nodded toward the empty brownie plate.
“Oh, no. Rhonda was here earlier. She just left about an hour ago.”
Relief was swift. “Rhonda?”
Piper handed him the glass of whiskey she’d poured and half smiled. “Rhonda’s a really good friend. My home away from home a lot of times.”
Ethan hoped like hell that Piper had stayed at Rhonda’s the night she’d run out on him. “Is that where you went the night you left the penthouse?”
Pouring herself a glass of wine, Piper raised an eyebrow. “How do you know I went somewhere that night?”
“I came to check on you, and you weren’t here.”
Piper took a sip of her wine. “Yes, I stayed the night with Rhonda. Now, I’d like to hear why you thought you could buy me.”
She pulled no punches, Ethan noted. His wolf seconded that assumption if the heat forming behind his eyes was any indication. “I wasn’t trying to buy you for the reasons you obviously assumed.”
Placing her wineglass on the bar, Piper crossed her arms over her chest. “Why then?”
Ethan took a step toward her. “It was my egotistical way of trying to bind you to me.”
The sound of Piper’s heartbeat kicking up a notch reached Ethan’s ears.
“Bind me to you?” she whispered, lowering her arms.
He took another step. “It was wrong of me, I know. But I was hoping—”
“That I would continue seeing you out of gratitude?” Piper interrupted, effectively cutting off his words.
“No. More like that you would see the extent of my feelings for you.”
Her mouth opened but no sound came out.
Ethan moved in closer. “There are things that you don’t know about me, Piper. Things I’m not proud of.”
Chapter Twenty
Piper’s heart pounded out a tempo that matched the pulse beating in her throat.
Ethan had admitted to his motives for offering her the money. And though she knew he had skeletons she probably wouldn’t like, something about the sincerity in his eyes drew her in.
“I can’t take back the things I’ve done, any more than I can change who and what I am.”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Being with me probably isn’t smart on your part, but I can’t seem to stay away.” He closed the distance, both of his large hands wrapping around her upper arms.
Piper couldn’t think beyond the sensation of his skin touching hers, his breath caressing her face.
“Damn you, Piper,” he rumbled, slanting his lips across hers.
Piper’s body came alive in Ethan’s arms, the words he’d confessed barely registering in her muddled mind.
He pulled her close, his mouth moving over hers again and again.
Piper moaned, leaning into him, telling him without words what she wanted most.
The tremor that passed through his powerful body confirmed that he felt the same.
He suddenly bent and scooped her up into his arms, his lips breaking the suction they had on her mouth. “Tell me to stop, Piper. Tell me now before it’s too late.”
Wetness flooded Piper’s cotton shorts. She didn’t want him to stop.
She stared into his hooded gaze, her breathing uneven and choppy. “My room is upstairs.”
Ethan spun from the kitchen with Piper in his arms. He took the stairs two at a time, holding her as if she were weightless.
Piper laid her face against his neck, breathing in his masculine scent. She couldn’t seem to get enough of his smell.
He stopped at the top of the stairs, kicking her door open with his bare foot. He didn’t slow until he stood next to Piper’s bed.
Allowing her to slide down his body, Ethan set Piper on her feet, his glittering eyes holding her captive.
Neither of them spoke as he gripped the hem of his T-shirt and tugged it over his head. He tossed it to the floor and then reached for Piper’s tank top.
He hesitated, watching her as a predator would its prey.
Piper lifted her arms.
A growl of satisfaction rumbled inside his chest. He slowly dragged the tank top up over her ribs, her aching breasts, and finally her head.
“Jesus.” Ethan dropped her shirt somewhere on the floor near his, and brought his hands up to cover her breasts.
His thumbs coasted over her nipples, wringing a gasp from Piper. The sensation it triggered traveled with lightning speed straight to her center.
Piper’s eyes slid shut.
Cool air touched her breasts as his palms left her skin, only to be replaced by the warm, wet feel of his mouth closing over a nipple.
She moaned deep in her throat, her hands reaching for his shoulders to hold herself upright. She damn sure didn’t trust her knees in that moment.
Ethan sucked on the hardened tip the way he did everything else…with power and skill.
Piper’s clit began to throb with every pull of his mouth on her sensitive nipple.
She stepped in closer, seeking, craving. Hell, she wasn’t sure exactly what she sought. She only knew that Ethan alone held the power to relieve the ache pulsing deep inside.
Her nipple abruptly popped free of his mouth, and her eyes fluttered open in time to watch him free the button on his jeans free, jerk down the zipper, and drag them down his legs.
The sight of his thick erection straining behind the material of his boxer briefs stole Piper’s breath. She reached for him.
“No,” he growled, gripping her wrist. “Don’t touch me. I won’t last if you touch me.”
Piper’s inner walls clenched.
He peeled the boxer briefs off and stood before her in all his masculine perfection. Piper had
never known a male body could be so utterly flawless.
Ethan stepped forward, wrapped his hands around Piper’s waist, and lifted her onto the bed. “Lie back.”
With butterflies in her stomach, her heart pounding in anticipation, Piper laid back on the bed and watched him from beneath her lashes.
His fingers went to the waistband of her cotton shorts to drag them slowly down her legs. A low rumbling sound vibrated from his chest.
Piper lifted her gaze to his and stilled. Were his eyes glowing? She opened her mouth to question him on it, but then he dropped to his knees and pushed her thighs apart. Piper lost all thought.
The feel of his hot, wet tongue coasting up the inside of her thigh had Piper near panting in anticipation.
“You smell so fucking good.” The tip of his tongue circled her throbbing clit.
Piper cried out with the sensation of him teasing her most sensitive place. She could feel herself swelling, growing wetter, preparing to be penetrated by him.
“Ethan, please…”
He suddenly jerked back, gripped her hips, and flipped her over. “Don’t move.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Ethan was losing control. He could feel his eyes burning in their sockets, knew the shift would damn near be inevitable. He’d also seen the brief confusion in Piper’s eyes as she’d gazed into his own.
The feverish glow in a shifter’s eyes was usually the only warning of an impending shift before a wolf took control and emerged.
It had taken Ethan years to tame the wolf inside, to control his shifts and live a halfway normal life. But Piper threatened that control. Everything about her called to the wolf within.
Ethan wanted nothing more than to tame her, to sink his teeth into the fleshy pad of her shoulder and dominate her incredible body.
But the man in him, that part of him that craved her acceptance, her love, wanted nothing more than to pleasure her, to hold her close to his heart and never let go.
Her beautiful ass lay before him, smooth and tan. He ran his palms over the soft swell of her flesh, dragging them back down to her thighs.
She moaned as he pushed her legs apart and touched her heat with the tips of his fingers.
“Beautiful.” The guttural sound of his voice caught him off guard.
A light sprinkling of hair appeared on the backs of his hands.
Ethan’s heart began to pound as he fought to control the wolf clawing him apart on the inside, demanding to be free, needing to mate.
Piper arched her hips in invitation, and the wolf roared its way to the surface.
With a snarl of surrender, Ethan buried his face against Piper’s sweet, wet pussy and drove his tongue inside her depths.
A hoarse cry ripped from her throat to fuel his already frantic need to take her.
Ethan licked and sucked her into a frenzy, pushing her thighs farther apart to gain better access.
Her body began to shake, her hips bucking against his roaming mouth.
An animalistic sound came from Ethan’s throat as wolf and man battled for dominance.
Ethan released her with his mouth, placed his knees on the bed between her open thighs, and gripped his throbbing cock.
“You better hold on,” he demanded in a deep, guttural voice before thrusting into her waiting heat.
Piper cried out with his initial penetration, her hands gripping the edge of the mattress in front of her.
Ethan grabbed her hips, jerked her up onto her knees, and drove into her as deep as her body would allow.
His vision tunneled on Piper’s shoulder as the room changed to a light shade of red in his peripheral.
The sting of his teeth extending did little to slow his pumping hips, but it was the smooth skin of her shoulder that held his attention the most.
His wolf demanded the submission of its mate. And Piper was his mate, whether she knew it or not.
She turned her head to the side, the look on her face one of ecstasy.
Ethan dropped down over her, driving into her again and again.
He swiped his tongue over her neck, taking in her intoxicating taste.
His gums began to throb in time with his thrusting cock. His mouth opened against her shoulder, her scent filling his nostrils.
No, Ethan mentally growled, fighting against the urge to bite. If he bit her, he would lose her forever.
Jerking his face away from her shoulder, Ethan raised up, closed his eyes, and concentrated on the feel of her tight vaginal walls wrapped firmly around him.
Breathe through it, he mentally growled, his hold tightening on her hips.
And then she came.
Ethan could only hang on as she contracted around his swollen cock, her cries of release echoing inside his head to further tempt his tormented wolf.
His only release exploded from him with a force that buckled his knees. He dropped down over her, his hips jerking forward with ever jet of his seed that wrenched from his body.
In all his life, Ethan had never had to fight so hard to hold onto his humanity as he did this night.
With one last shudder, he lifted up onto his elbows to remove some of his weight from Piper’s back and brought his wolf to heel.
Regret was instant. He’d taken Piper almost savagely, foregoing any finesse he knew himself to be capable of.
He lowered his mouth to her ear, his breathing uneven. “Are you hurt?”
She shook her head, a languid smile touching her lips. “That was incredible.”
Rolling off her, Ethan brushed her hair back from her face. “I wanted to go slow with you.”
Piper reached up to touch his cheek. “I didn’t want slow. I was too turned on for that.”
His damnable wolf stirred to life once again. As did his cock.
The sound of the door opening downstairs brought Piper’s head up. “Someone’s here.”
“Are you expecting company?” Ethan asked, sliding from the bed to gather up his clothes.
A female voice suddenly called out from below. “Piper, honey, it’s Mom!”
Piper jumped from the bed, pulling on her clothes with a quickness that would have been humorous at any other time. She ran her fingers through her hair. “Stay here.”
As if he’d planned on going anywhere, Ethan thought with a grin. “Piper?”
She turned back as she reached her bedroom door. “Yes?”
“Hurry back. I’m not finished with you.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Piper took the stairs down to the kitchen to find her mother staring at the half-empty whiskey glass on the bar.
Bess looked up as Piper stepped into the room. “Did I come at a bad time?”
Piper blushed. “You didn’t notice the car parked out front?”
Her mother turned pink as well. “I didn’t pay it any attention. You’ve never had a man over before, I— Well, I-I’m sorry, honey. I’ll come back later.”
Following her mother to the living room, Piper touched her on the arm. “Wait. You came by for a reason. What’s up?”
“Oh,” Bess breathed, obviously mortified she’d caught her daughter in an undesirable situation. “I wanted to get your opinion on the invitations I had made for your father’s birthday party. It’s in four weeks. I should have gotten them done sooner. And I’m babbling. I’ll bring them by tomorrow…when you’re alone.”
Bess spun and grabbed the doorknob.
“I’ll call you in the morning,” Piper assured her, watching as her mother scurried onto the porch and down the walkway.
Closing the door, Piper engaged the deadbolt to prevent anyone who had a key from waltzing in unannounced.
She meandered to the kitchen, refilled their glasses, and carried them upstairs.
What she saw when she entered her bedroom, took her by surprise.
Ethan had removed the covers and pillows from Piper’s bed, and in their place he’d laid shredded strips of his T-shirt.
“Come here,” he demanded, his
hip propped against the corner post at the foot of her bed.
Piper swallowed hard, nervous yet more than a little curious.
She took a healthy swallow of her wine, set the drinks on her dresser, and moved to stand in front of him.
“Is everything okay?” he questioned, his arms crossed over his powerful chest.
It took all Piper had not to gawk at his massive erection. “It was just my mother. She’s gone now.”
“Remove your clothes.”
Her pussy clenched.
Pulling her tank top over her head, she dropped it to the floor and stepped out of her shorts. Ethan wanted her again, and fuck, but she wanted him just as much.
“What are you going to do?” she whispered, watching him push away from the post.
Instead of answering, he picked up a strip of the cut-up T-shirt and eased around behind her. “Do you trust me?”
She did trust him. Strange as it seemed. “Yes.”
“Then close your eyes.”
Piper did as she was told. Her lids drifted shut as he covered them with the cloth, securing it behind her head.
With her world thrown into darkness, Piper’s senses came alive. She could almost feel every breath that Ethan took, hear the whisper of cloth as he retrieved another from the bed.
He took hold of her hand and turned her around, helping her lie down on the bed and securing her wrist to the top of the post with a strip of the cloth.
Piper’s heart began to pound. She’d never been in such a position before.
Her body began to heat up with near frantic need.
Ethan gripped her other wrist, tied it with the soft cloth and secured it to the other pole.
The sound of his footsteps padding across the floor could be heard over the thundering of Piper’s heart.
He returned a moment later, tipping her wineglass to her lips. “Drink.”
Piper took a healthy swallow, feeling the cool liquid drip down her mouth as he abruptly removed the glass.
The feel of his warm tongue licking up her chin sent shivers up Piper’s spine.
He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth, capturing the remnants of the wine resting there.
Piper leaned into him, needing more, silently begging him to give her his tongue.
The Billionaire's Baby: BBW Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance Page 8
