No Excuses

by Nikky Kaye

  CHAPTER FOUR

  EVIE

  I never did find my underwear before I left Dominic Stone’s office. I managed to recover a little of my composure, though.

  What. The. Fuck. Was that?

  Granted, I didn’t have a lot of sexual experience, but that was one of the craziest, hottest things that had ever happened to me, and it wasn’t even the main act! Talk about jumping in at the deep end.

  It was so… raw.

  I was still a little dazed when Jake helped me into a cab, dropping a kiss on my cheek and promising to call me later. Dom stood on the sidewalk, rubbing his chin thoughtfully like a villain from a cartoon. His body language was stiff when he said goodbye, but I felt his stickiness between my thighs all the way home.

  Annie wasn’t home, thankfully. I didn’t think I could deal with her inquisition at that moment. My dress was wrinkled and my face hot, but hopefully nobody else could tell that I’d let myself be covered with the semen of two hot billionaire brothers, in their workplace. The more I thought about it, the more shocked I was.

  Oh my god. This was insane.

  I stood under the shower, feeling my insides pulse at the memories. The water wasn’t washing away the arousal once again building at my core. I drew my finger through it lazily, biting my lip when I touched my oversensitive clit. The clit that Dom and Jake had licked, sucked, toyed with and owned.

  And… a baby? He wanted me to be his baby mama? We never got to that part of the negotiations, being overwhelmed by the “compatibility” test. That wasn’t just selling my V-card; that was signing up for a whole other lifetime commitment.

  The scariest part about the idea was that it didn’t scare me.

  I stared at the floor of the shower, my hair falling in a wet curtain around my face. What did that say about me? Sure, women were surrogates and egg donors and all sorts of things. But was I so lonely, so desperate for family and longing for belonging that I would consider getting knocked up by a stranger for money?

  I had the feeling, however, that Dominic Stone wasn’t suggesting I simply be the, uh, incubator for his billion dollar corporate legacy. And where exactly did Jacob Stone come into this?

  The water ran cold as I stood there, lost in my head. By the time I got out and reached for a threadbare towel, I was shivering uncontrollably. With my hair wrapped up in a terrycloth turban, I snuggled under the covers and fell asleep, drained by the emotional and physical intensity of just an hour in the presence of the Stone brothers.

  When I woke up, my hair had dried into a troll doll style, and I was starving. I ate a bowl of cereal while checking my email at the tiny kitchen table, naked. Milk dribbled down my bare chest when I saw an email from Dom.

  I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of message a drop-dead billionaire would send after tag-teaming a strange woman in his office. It was a deceptively simple email, but it flooded my heart with warmth as clicking on it prompted my screen to fill with fireworks and butterflies.

  Dominic Stone made me come. Then he made me laugh. As my mother would have said, he’s a keeper.

  The thought of my parents saddened me, and I clicked on a folder where I had a bunch of family photos scanned and stored. I opened up a picture of my parents holding me in their arms. I must have been about a year old, and my image was blurred from my attempt to escape.

  I’d always been in a hurry to grow up, get away, and for what? To be alone? My throat tightened.

  Shit. What a Debbie downer I was being. I frowned. Weren’t orgasm endorphins supposed to last longer?

  I returned to my browser to see a new email from Dom. My heart thudded as I opened it. No fireworks this time, just an invitation to dinner the next evening. A frisson of something fizzled in the pit of my stomach.

  It was safe to say that the Stone brothers had made a dangerous impression on me.

  “So where do billionaires take their dates?” I teased as he led me to the waiting car.

  “Hmmm, where do virgins like to go?”

  I nearly tripped over my own feet, until he caught me.

  “I’m beginning to think that you don’t wear heels a lot.” He grinned down at me in the evening light, his olive skin burnished gold by the setting sun. That reminded me…

  “How are you so dark and your brother is so blonde?”

  His driver shut the door, enclosing us in the cool quiet of his limousine. Dom lifted up a bottle of champagne the same color as my short dress. I shook my head.

  “Simple,” he said as he put the wine back. “He’s adopted.”

  Well, that would certainly make the whole “sex together, sort of” thing easier, I thought to myself. “So your grandfather’s will—”

  “Puts it all on me. I’m biologically an only child. But you understand what that’s like.”

  A polite snort escaped me. “I think being fabulously wealthy might cushion the loneliness.”

  He arched an eyebrow at me. “Not if you wondered if all your friends were bought or rented.”

  I hadn’t thought about it that way. “But you had your brother.”

  “As much as anyone can have Jake. Ah, here we are.”

  I looked out the window. We were at a small amusement park in between suburbs, a popular destination for families. Right now, it was deserted.

  “It’s closed,” I pointed out.

  “Not for us.”

  Oh. The power of money. We both looked down at my hazardous heels and the satin dress that stopped three inches above my knees. I wasn’t dressed for this kind of date, but the intense, hopeful look on his face silenced my protests.

  Two hours later, I was hoarse and dizzy, but we hadn’t graduated past the kiddie rides. Dom found fiendish glee in ramming into me with a bumper car, and insisted on being my personal safety bar on the tilt and whirl.

  After checking his watch, he led me to a picnic table and helped me up on it. He laughed when I sat on my skirt so that the wind wouldn’t blow it up.

  “Who are you worried about flashing?”

  Okay, he had me there.

  Dominic chuckled and shook his head, clasping my hand in his as a popping noise interrupted us. He held our joined hands to the sky and pointed. “Look.”

  Fireworks exploded in the sky above us. They whistled and shimmered, in starburst patterns of changing color and twinkling waterfalls of light.

  “Email just isn’t enough,” he murmured close to my ear. “Sorry, no butterflies.”

  The dancing sparks were so beautiful and so close, I could swear I felt their heat on my upturned face. My eyes closed briefly as he kissed my neck. “You do know how to impress a girl, Mister Stone.”

  “I like to have the upper hand in negotiations.”

  I turned to look him in the eye. Behind his confidence was the very real awareness that I could easily say no—to all of it. Fear of my rejection was the only chink in his armor that I could see.

  “Why me?” I whispered. “I’m just… me.”

  “Exactly. It’s ‘just you.’ There’s something about you.” His forehead creased, and he traced a line down the bridge of my nose. “I hate that you’re alone. I feel like you need me. Need us.”

  Did I? Could I? From the moment the auction idea had crossed my mind, I knew that it would be hard to hang on to my inhibitions, or even the ladylike instincts that fought blindly against my sexual curiosity. But this…

  “I’ll take care of you, Evie,” he promised. “Both of you.”

  “I’d never give up my child,” I blurted out. Peaceful warmth grew in my chest at the idea of cradling a baby to me, its soft mouth searching for sustenance and tiny little fingers wrapping around mine.

  Oh god, I had to be insane for even considering this.

  “I wouldn’t ask you to. A child needs its mother. Don’t you wish you still had yours?” he asked.

  I froze, momentarily forgetting that I’d discussed my background in our emails. He was right. Even if I was seriously going to think about this, the
re were so many questions, so many hypotheticals.

  He pressed his thumb to the frown building between my eyebrows. “Stop it, Evie. Stop overthinking it. Why don’t we just start with the first part, and see where it goes?”

  The first part? Oh right, my virginity.

  “Are you…” I trailed off, not certain what to say. Was he sure about this? Good for the money? Going to be gentle? Clean? Protected? Planning to rock my world again?

  I shook my head, dispersing all the questions and fears. If I’d been bold—or stupid—enough to place the ad, then I’d have to trust myself to go through with the consequences. I was lucky to have someone like Dominic Stone respond. At least I knew he was on the up and up.

  Something occurred to me. It was like being struck by lightning.

  “Would you consider a loan?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “You mean, give you the money you need for nothing in return?”

  I blushed. “Well, you are a billionaire.”

  Clearing his throat, he looked off into the distance. “I don’t have as much power as you think. A lot of it is controlled by my grandfather and his lawyer. That’s why I want to claim my inheritance, free and clear—so I have independence and can make decisions, changes to the business.”

  “Changes to your life.”

  He nodded, his jaw tight. It was hard to imagine a man like Dom Stone powerless, but I realized that in many ways he was. We were both trapped, in a way. Maybe we did need each other.

  “Dom?” I squeezed his hand.

  He looked back at me, his gaze clearing of the mist of self-reflection. “Hmmm?”

  “Take me? Take me to bed. Take me to the car. Take me—somewhere.”

  His eyes darkened with anticipation and lust, sending a tremor through me. The fireworks above us had ended, but the ones between us were about to begin.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  JAKE

  I promised Dom I wouldn’t butt in. I promised.

  But somebody had to coordinate the well-compensated amusement park staff, and if it just so happened that I spied on my brother and Evie a little… then, well, that was just too bad.

  “She’s still on the fence, Jake,” he’d warned me earlier. “We don’t want to scare her off.”

  I snorted loudly when he said that. “You were there for that scene in the office, right?” My dick hardened with the memory of the sweet, peachy way she tasted.

  Only Dominic Stone could smolder with iciness. “Don’t,” he snapped. “She’s the one. Don’t fuck it up for us.”

  “’Us’ being you and me, or you and her?” His silence made me nervous. “Dude, we’re in this together, right?” We had been a team for nearly twenty years.

  I was a dumb, punk-ass kid when I was brought to the house to meet Asa Stone. The obvious wealth impressed the shit out of me—or it would have if I hadn’t been too intimidated to let loose on one of his solid gold toilets.

  It wasn’t until a lot later that I realized adolescent boys in the foster care system weren’t usually adopted by rich old dudes.

  But Grandad Stone wasn’t a pedophile. He just wanted to live in another century. Believe it or not, he arranged to adopt me to be a companion to his orphaned grandson, Dominic. Seriously, it was like buying a friend for Richie Rich! I couldn’t believe he could even get away with it, but money talked and ethics walked.

  To say that it didn’t go well at first would be an understatement.

  Basically I did everything I could to spend the old man’s money and fuck with the staff. I ordered an expensive dirt bike and rode it in the house. I had pizza delivered three times a day, then left the debris everywhere for the maids to clean up. I even jerked off in the pool and laughed as they tried to scoop out the splooge.

  Mostly, though, I made fun of the sad, dark-eyed little rich boy who’d been forced to share his wing of the mansion.

  At first, Dominic ignored me, humiliated by the realization that his grandfather had bought a brother for him. Shit, I would be embarrassed, too—if I wasn’t so happy that for once in my short life I’d landed on my ass instead of my head. His emo brooding and sulking didn’t bother me, as long as he stayed out of my way.

  One day, he didn’t stay out of my way.

  The tension between us blew up once Grandad tried to spank me after a particularly hefty credit card bill arrived. No shit, the man tried to take his cane to me. Like I said, though—old-fashioned, not kinky. In a rare display of defiance, Dom stopped him. Protected me.

  Then, after we escaped back to our rooms, he beat the shit out of me himself.

  The next day, we were both moving slower, but a mutual respect had been forged. Our truce over the next few years turned into a kind of friendly competition in how to be an asshole.

  Cheated on tests together, check.

  Volunteered together to boost our college applications, check.

  Tried out for the football team together, check.

  Fucked the head cheerleader together… check!

  It hadn’t happened a lot, but enough to make us quietly gossiped about. Instead of people being creeped out, though, guys were jealous as fuck and girls were lining up to take off their panties for us—as long as we didn’t tell anyone, of course.

  Yeah, right. The girls were usually the first to spread the rumors, after they spread their legs.

  Our twenties went by in a blur of babes and business school. We each had our strengths; his was the latter. In an uninspired fit of disobedience, I dropped out of my MBA program and enlisted in the army.

  Joining up just to irritate somebody is not the best strategy, just so you know. I’d gotten a bit too used to the cushy life, so basic training beat the shit out of me. But after a while, I discovered I liked the structure; liked the feeling of belonging and camaraderie.

  I also liked fucking around on leave, which shouldn’t have surprised anyone. What did surprise Grandad and Dom was the surprise baby I came home to on my next leave. Fuck my life.

  The second I saw her I was a goner. Her mother, I’m ashamed to say, was pretty forgettable. But the baby, my daughter? Well, the first time Stella held my finger it was like looking into the sun.

  So, home to finish the MBA and join the family business so I could support my little girl and her mother, who thankfully didn’t have any interest in rekindling our fire. It was back to business in every way, except for seeing Stella on weekends.

  Other than my daughter, some new tattoos, a few nightmares, and my ability to Ranger roll the fuck out of all my clothes, my service time could have been a figment of my imagination.

  Fast-forward two years, which I discovered goes by fast when you have a kid, and Grandad drops a cancer diagnosis on us. As if that weren’t bad enough, he let me know that the amended terms of his last will and testament shut my daughter out as a potential “heir.” Motherfucker. Dom told me not to worry, that he’d take care of it.

  Now, I leaned against a slumbering giant of a silent rollercoaster and watched Dominic reel Evie in.

  I was jealous; I could admit it. I just didn’t know whom I was really jealous of. We had an understanding—“it’s not gay if your dicks don’t touch”—but I’d never seen Dom be so possessive of a woman he’d just met.

  Evie was pretty hot, though. She had this thing going on where she was timid one minute and a raging cock slut the next.

  At the moment, my own jeans were getting tight as I watched her trail her fingers over Dom’s crotch. His back straightened like a steel rod had replaced his spine, and for a few seconds I thought something had gone wrong.

  The way he suddenly wrapped himself around her like a boa constrictor was both a relief and a warning. Evie was not going to be a casual affair.

  I palmed myself through my jeans in the dark as he lowered his head to her neck. In the night air, her moans were audible and her shivers authentic. I swallowed, saliva filling my mouth. After having fun with her at the office, I was dying to get another taste of that pretty pi
nk pussy.

  “Dominic, please? We can’t—” she gasped loudly. “Not here.” Her gaze swept around, but she didn’t spot me in the shadows.

  He growled something into her ear, and her eyes closed. The expression on her face was concealed, though, as my brother kissed her long and hard. His hands glided over her, stopping in places to squeeze her softest and most tender parts. Lucky sonofabitch.

  She was probably soaking wet by now, I thought to myself. Come on, Dom, what are you waiting for? My body throbbed in sympathetic arousal as I willed his hand to fly between her thighs.

  “Oh! Ahhh!”

  Bullseye. My hands curled into fists at my side as I imagined the slickness of her arousal on my own fingers. My touch would be less forgiving than his, my need more demanding.

  I closed my eyes, trying to remember the exact color and taste of her pussy. When I opened them, licking my lips, Dom had tugged her back to the car and was closing the door behind them. The driver stood about twenty feet away, reading a magazine.

  “Hey,” I said. “They don’t want to go home?”

  He raised an eyebrow at me. “Not yet, I guess.”

  A muffled thump came from inside the car. I could only guess what made it. How far had they gotten? The trusted family retainer and I shared a knowing smirk.

  “Is the screen up?” I asked.

  He nodded, tilting his head at me. “Whatcha thinking?”

  I fished out the keys to my truck and tossed them to him. “I’ll drive them home.”

  The liveried chauffeur held my gaze for a long minute then grinned. “Want my cap?”

  “Shit, no. You might have cooties.”

  “As you wish, sir.” He bowed slightly, giving me the finger, then whapped his thigh with his rolled-up magazine and headed in the direction of my truck.

  Oh, this was going to be fun.

  CHAPTER SIX

  EVIE

  Dominic Stone’s tongue was in my mouth when the car began moving. We were both lucky I hadn’t bit down in surprise.

  “Wha—?” He pulled back and spun toward the front seat. Rapped on the privacy window thingy. “Smith!”