ROMANCE: Billion Dollar Question (BWWM Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) (African American Alpha Mail Order Bride New Adult)

by Aisha Brooks

  “Care for drink?”

  “Bring me the strongest you've got.”

  “You'll have to settle for a beer for now,” she laughed. “If I bring you home trashed, I'll never hear the end of it. After the party if you want something harder I'll hand over the key to my liquor cabinet.”

  “If the driveway is just the beginning of guests arriving, I might have to take you up on that offer.”

  “I was hoping you would,” she grinned as she walked into the kitchen.

  Once inside the kitchen, she waited a few moments before opening the fridge. She wanted to give Eric a moment to collect himself. If she knew him better she'd offer a listening ear, but didn't want to over step herself. Sure, he may have had the nightmare on her sofa, but she had only met him hours before.

  After enough time had passed, she grabbed a beer for Eric and a bottle of water for herself and headed back into the living room. Eric was sitting with his eyes closed and his long legs stretched out in front of him. His arms rested behind his head. She watched the muscles of his chest and stomach slowly rise and fall. One day, he was going to make a very lucky woman a very happy wife.

  She sat down next to him and he opened his eyes. He grinned at her revealing a dimple on either side of his mouth.

  “You have beer, but you don't drink?” he said motioning to the bottle of water as she handed off the beer.

  “I do drink,” she laughed, “just not when I have to go to a party where I don't know most of the people.”

  “We should switch,” he laughed. “I'll pretend I don't know any of them and you can go around acting like you know everyone and get pissed off when they insist they don't know you.”

  “What are we having a contest of who can win their white jacket first?”

  “It might be quieter in a padded room than at home right now.”

  “Maybe we can sneak out early.”

  “I like how you think,” Eric laughed and playfully bumped his shoulder against hers.

  The party was worse than Celeste imagined it was going to be. It was standing room only and even then she couldn't move her arms to take a drink without touching someone else. She had planned to be a wallflower and just wait it out to the end, but Eric wasn't having any of it.

  As he was ushered around by his mother to talk to relatives and old friends, he took Celeste along for the trip. There were plenty of hushed voices of people reminding one another not to bring up the war or what he might had seen across sea.

  Eric gave her a knowing look and all she could do was roll her eyes at them sympathetically. His mother had outdone herself with dinner and kept offering Eric seconds and thirds. When desert finally arrived, most of the party goers were a couple beers in and had forgotten their vows not to bring up things he might not want to discuss.

  “So were the locals as bad as the news say?” an uncle asked.

  “Did you kill anyone?” a teenage boy asked from across the table.

  “You guys leave him alone,” an old man warned. “You don't bother him about the enemy. That's not the men who deserve to be remembered. You wanna hear stories you ask him about the men who served with him and gave their lives for this country.”

  “Actually, Grandpa, I don't want to talk about them either. I don't want to talk about any of it.”

  “People are going to keep asking until you give them answers.”

  “Well, screw them, and screw you all too,” he said standing up.

  Celeste reached out to touch his arm, but pulled away before she did. They weren't a couple. They were friends at best and near strangers. Eric took her hand before it reached the table. Her heart skipped beat as his strong warm fingers entwined through hers.

  “We're leaving,” he said.

  She stood up and his mother looked from him to her. Her eyes pleading with Celeste to smooth things over.

  “But you haven't finished dessert, Eric,” the older woman says.

  “I'll take it with me,” Eric said lifting an entire pie in his free hand.

  He led Celeste out the backdoor and across their lawns until they reached her porch. His grip was firm, but gentle.

  “I hope that offer for the keys to your liquor cabinet is still good.”

  “Only if you share your pie,” she grinned at him and unlocked the door.

  She laid the keys to the cabinet on the kitchen table and stepped out of her shoes. Eric rested his hands against the counter and took deep breaths.

  “Can I touch you?” Celeste said gently reaching out a hand.

  He didn't look at her, but nodded. She wrapped her arms around his stomach and rested her head on his back. His body trembled and she held him tighter. A few minutes later, he turned to face her and she took a step back.

  “Sorry, I'm walking all over your hospitality and I just met you today.”

  “Don't be,” she smiled. “You brought pie.”

  “Can I ask you something?”

  “Sure,” she said sitting down at the kitchen table.

  “Are you being nice because you feel sorry for me?”

  “I don't do pity, Eric,” she said. “I do respect and maybe even admiration for the men who serve our country, but I don't do pity.”

  “Thanks,” he nodded.

  “Besides not many women could pass up the chance to eat a whole pie with a sexy marine,” she winked at him as he sat down at the table.

  “So that's your plan then,” he chuckled. “You're going to get me drunk and seduce me.”

  “No, Eric, if I seduced, you'd be sober so you could remember every little thrilling moment.”

  He tensed and Celeste instantly regretted what she said.

  “Sorry,” she muttered getting up to get plates and forks.

  “Don't be,” he smiled.

  After the pie was gone Celeste pushed the key towards him, “It's all yours for tonight.”

  “I think you were right when you said stick to the beer,” he laughed.

  “Alright,” she said pointing the fridge, “it's all yours too, but just try not to eat me out of house and home.”

  They took their beers out onto the back patio and for a long time Eric was quiet. The sun was setting and his guests were beginning to leave. Several of them shook their heads and whispered to each other when they saw saw the two of them together.

  “They think we fucked,” Eric laughed.

  “I don't think that's what they're thinking,” Celeste blushed. “I don't think that's the first thing most people assume.”

  “Maybe not,” he laughed looking up at the sky, “but at least then I won't have to be angry at them. It's just messed up. The whole damn party was just a ploy so they could hear horror stories and go home tonight thankful that it wasn't them that had to go through it. They act like I owed them answers.”

  “You don't owe them a damn thing,” Celeste said. “You served your country. You did your part. They don't need to know the details. It'll only keep them up at night anyway.”

  “Did your dad serve?”

  “No, my brother. He was a marine too. He's home now and started his own business online.”

  “Is this where you suggest that we should get together and swap war stories?”

  “No, this is where I ask you not to bring it up if you ever meet him. He served his country. He did the right thing, but now he just wants to move on.”

  “I know that feelin'.”

  “So what do you want to do now?”

  “Tonight?”

  “Well, yeah, and tomorrow and the day after that,” Celeste laughed.

  “Damn woman,” Eric shook his head.

  “What?”

  “Your laughter is more intoxicating than the beer.”

  “I should bottle it then and become filthy rich.”

  “Then we could buy an island.”

  “And anyone who annoyed us could be put out to sea.”

  Eric was quiet for a moment and then locked his gaze to hers. She gave him a coy smile and w
inked at him.

  “This may be the beer talking,” he said leaning closer to her.

  Celeste tilted her head and parted her lips. How would it feel to be wrapped in his arms and have his lips pressed hard against hers? She blushed realizing that she was getting ahead of herself.

  “Would you slap me if I kissed you?”

  “I guess there's only one way to find out.”

  Sitting his beer aside, Eric closed the space between him. One strong warm hand caressed her cheek as their lips met. He was hesitant to open up at first, but Celeste wrapped her arm around his neck and parted her lips moving hard against his. Eric's tongue darted hungrily into her mouth and danced with her own. Her pulse raced and she never wanted the kiss to end.

  Celeste ran her fingers through his thick hair and she sighed into the kiss. Her free hand trailed over his chest and stomach reveling in the feeling of his muscles quivering at her touch. When the kiss broke she was wet and pretty sure that Eric was hard too.

  He stayed close to her with their foreheads touching. His eyes were still closed, but a bit of the tension was gone from his face. His fingers moved softly over her cheek as he opened her eyes.

  “That was nice,” he smiled. “Over there,” Eric paused for a second, “over there it's the little things you miss the most like a round of drinks or how carpet feels under your bare feet. How it feels to have an attractive woman flirting with you and how great it finally feels to kiss her.”

  Celeste kissed him again. This time she moved from her chair onto his lap. She was right. He was was rock hard. Eric wrapped his arms around her waist and deepened the kiss. His hands trailed up and down her sides before one came to rest on her breast.

  “We better take this inside,” she whispered not wanting his spying mother to bare witness to anything that might transpire between them.

  “I don't know where this could go,” Eric said twirling one of her red curls around his finger.

  “The sofa, the bed, maybe a table if you're feeling that freaky.”

  “I have nothing to promise you,” he said taking a deep breath. “I just got back and I'm going to be honest. My head's a mess, my dick is hard, and the sexiest woman I've ever met is sitting in my lap which is only making it worse. I want this, I want you, but I don't want to break your heart.”

  “Eric, I'm a grown woman. I know sex is sex and love doesn't always come into the mix, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy it.”

  She looked into his eyes and she could tell he was fighting with himself. His cock throbbed against her body and he wanted her. His body was tense trying not to buck against her, but she knew his control wouldn't last forever.

  “Look, I've had my heart broken before. I've been married and divorced. Sex can be just sex if that's what we decide.”

  “But what happens if we want more?” he asked.

  “Then we figure it out when it happens.”

  “Celeste,” he gave her another quick kiss. “You're unlike any woman I've ever met.”

  “I'll take that as a complement, but I'm wet and you're hard.”

  Eric rose to his feet taking her with him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him again. He carried her into the house and closed the door behind them.

  “Where's the bedroom?”

  “Upstairs,” she murmured and pointed to the staircase.

  Eric found the bedroom easily and flipped on the light. He lowered Celeste onto the bed and kissed her neck. His breath was warm against her flesh and she sighed in pleasure. She wrapped her arms around his neck and reveled in the feeling of his hard muscular body pressed so close to hers. His hands slid under her shirt and cupped her breasts through her bra.

  “Go easy there, solider,” she said putting her hand on his. “Those ain't sandbags.”

  “Sorry,” he kissed her neck. “It's been awhile.”

  He touched her breast again, more gently this time. His hand was large enough to cup its full heavy weight. Her nipple rose to meet his palm through her bra. With his free hand, Eric wiggled her shirt over her head and tossed it aside. His shirt soon followed. Celeste unhooked her bra and Eric helped her take it off. Straddled over her body he looked down over his body. His intense gaze left a scorching path of desire along her torso.

  Leaning forward, Eric licked the valley between her breasts before turning his attention to her nipples. One he rolled his thumb gently over and the other he sucked into his mouth. Slowly his tongue flicked back and forth across its sensitive peak. Celeste sighed in pleasure and arched her back. Eric kissed his way down her torso. Inch by inch he licked, sucked, and kissed down to her jeans. His quick nimble fingers made quick work of her fly and in one swift motion he stripped off the rest of her clothes.

  Celeste looked up at him as his smoky gaze grazed against her flesh. Her body quivered with desire for the sexy marine. She spread her thighs inviting him in. He cupped her mound sliding his fingers between her lower lips and brushing against her clit. His touch was soft, but firm as he explored her folds.

  “I want to taste you,” he said and buried his head between her legs.

  Celeste moaned as his tongue explored the folds his fingers had caressed. She rested her feet on his shoulders as his tongue teased and tormented her most personal spaces. His fingers probed into her body gently seeking out her inner warmth. Her body contracted around the digits.

  “If you keep that up I'm going to cum without you,” Celeste moaned.

  “Who says I'm only taking you there once tonight?” Eric asked and resumed his teasing.

  Passion and friction built between her thighs and spread like a wildfire throughout her body. His free hand gripped her hip holding her in place as she wiggled and moaned. There was no escaping the pleasure that he evoked from her. Eric sucked her aching pleasure nub into his mouth and sent her over the edge. She tugged at his hair as waves of climax washed over her. Eric continued licking and kissing her most intimate folds until she fell still panting for air.

  He crawled over her body and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss reawakening her desire even before she had time to cool down. Reaching between their bodies, she wrapped her long fingers around his thick organ. It throbbed against her flesh and she could feel years of longing that had been suppressed for too long. She walked her fingers down his shaft and his eyelids fluttered. He quivered with desire for her body and she wanted him more. She wanted to feel his thick manhood slide into her and fill her entirety. Celeste wanted to know how it would feel to be connected to this sexy and confident marine in the most intimate way.

  “Damn,” Eric panted and kissed her neck. “I don't remember the last time I was this damn hard. Over there, I just quit thinking about it. I mean, it would creep up now and then, but I'd put it out my mind. Now I can't stop thinking about it. I can't stop thinking about you: how you smell, taste, walk, laugh. Damn it, I want you so bad, Celeste. I want to sink into you and never come out.”

  “I'm yours for the taking, Eric,” she said wrapping her legs around his waist.

  Together they moved so that he was pressed between her legs. He rubbed himself between her glistening lower lips. Their moans mingled as their lips met in a passionate kiss.

  “I want you so badly, Celeste,” he murmured as he sank into her.

  His long thick organ made her feel fuller than she ever remembered being. He stretched her body creating a delicious feeling of friction and fullness. Her body contracted around him welcoming into her. His thrusts were slow at first as if he was hesitant to let down the wall he had kept in place too long. Then he rose to his knees and rested her feet on his shoulders. He still moved slowly, but the position allowed him to slide deeper into her body.

  “You're so tight. You feel so good, Celeste,” he panted as he thrust.

  Her body moved in time with his as his pace increased. He slid into her faster and harder as years of pent up passion flowed from him and into her. Her toes curled around the air as she gasped in pleasure. She w
as close to the edge again and her own passion was reflected in his eyes.

  Her nails dug into the bed as she orgasmed for the second time that night. Lowering her legs, he leaned down and kissed her hard. She wrapped her arms and legs around his strong muscular body as she returned the kiss. Eric thrust hard into her as he sought his own release. Her body tightened around his manhood as he slid into her soft folds again and again. Waves of pleasure continued to crash over her until her body trembled. Eric twitched inside of her panting in pleasure as he found his own release.