Possess Me_A Billionaire Romance

by TN King

  Morgan

  He’d been ready to damn Marge to the seventh circle of hell for interrupting his morning run on the treadmill, but seeing Ellie again completely made up for it. He hadn’t been sure, when Marge had said young woman there to return his phone, that it was her… but he had hoped. Especially, when there seemed to be some hesitation in admitting her name, the play-by-play he had gotten to hear over the phone both amusing and reassuring.

  Seeing her in his doorway though, that was something else entirely. She was gorgeous, the kind that couldn’t be forced or replicated. She had been gorgeous even when covered in soot and grime from the fire the day he had rescued her though. In that flirty dress and those demure ‘come get me’ heels though- it felt like she was trying to drive him crazy. If she was, she was succeeding.

  The shower felt too cold suddenly, his eyes closing and his hand rolling down the front of his torso to better suds the body wash there. She looked even better cleaned up than she had sooty, which was exactly what he had been counting on. And her hair released from that ponytail that it had been in the previous day was an issue all of its own.

  His abdomen tightened, gaze dropping down to his fully erect reaction to thinking about her in those heels and that dress. “Calm down boy,” he joked. “We’ll have to take this slow. Don’t want to scare her away.” She was already such a skittish little thing, jumping and starting at the smallest of things. Beneath that exterior, though… it didn’t hurt thinking about all of the things that he wanted to do to her.

  He’d start by cuffing her slim wrists and hanging her from a height that forced her up on her tippy toes. Her muscles would be elongated and he could just imagine what the tension in her legs would do visually. He’d enjoy watching her squirm for a while, her chest heaving, and her skin slowly pinkening from a mixture of discomfort and desire. Then he’d start teasing her. He’d drag his fingertips lightly over her slim, delicate, arms down to her sensitive underarms, and even further down to her slender waist. And he’d kiss those sweet, rosy lips of hers. Then he’d—

  “Goddammit,” he cursed as his painfully erect cock demanded satisfaction. He could feel it throbbing, begging for a hand other than his own to be massaging it. Begging for the sort of action that he couldn’t provide for it. No time for that. Not even if he were trying to do it himself. Or rather, especially if he were trying to do it himself.

  He lifted his hand again and adjusted the water temperature to cold so he could finish his shower. He hadn’t needed to take a cold shower since high school and he could just hear Chance jeering in the back of his head about the fact that he was having to do so now.

  Ellie was waiting. The real thing. He intended to have that too—the real thing. Not just the fantasy of her that he had slowly been concocting since meeting her. Only to have the real thing he needed to woo her into it. He needed to lay the groundwork, she wasn’t like the other women he usually bed. He could do none of that from within the cold shower.

  Morgan rushed through the rest of the shower impatiently.

  After drying off and putting on a pair of casual dress pants and a smart looking dark blue polo, he opened the double doors leading back into the living area of his suite. He had been expecting to find her looking through his CDs, watching a movie, maybe even meandering around his apartment. He hadn’t been expecting to see her standing in front of the electric fireplace and admiring the art hanging above it.

  She was a study in pleasant surprises.

  “That’s supposed to be authentic Manet,” he informed her, coming up behind where she was standing to look at the artwork as well. “One of his earlier works. I’ve always admired his Olympia. This one is said to have been a discarded first attempt of that famous painting. I purchased it at a private auction from an Italian man who claimed his great, great grandfather actually studied under him. Don’t know how true that is, but I liked the painting so I bought it.”

  He watched as, out of the corner of his eye, she jumped upon hearing him. Slowly she calmed, listening to him and eying the painting speculatively as she did so. He hadn’t meant to surprise her, but he liked the fact that she was actively listening, and seemed actively interested, in hearing about the painting itself.

  “It’s very provocative,” Ellie finally said and turned her gaze towards Morgan. He couldn’t decipher the look on her face, he didn’t even know if she meant that to be a positive remark on the painting or otherwise.

  “That’s the point,” he joked, smiling provocatively himself. He wondered what she would say if she knew all of the provocative thoughts he had been having in his shower, especially the ones revolving around her. Moreover he wondered how she would react if he were to voice them.

  As if she could sense the direction of his thoughts, she shifted uncomfortably, looking from him to the door and back again. “Well, I should be going,” she blurted. “I just wanted to return your phone—and thank you, for yesterday. I never really got a chance to…what, with all the chaos and all. So, thank you. For you know… saving my life. It certainly wasn’t a small or ordinary feat.” She finally lifted her eyes to his, tentative smile stretching over her lips.

  Man, she seemed so sweet and innocent—it made him want her all the more. There was no pretense to her gratitude, no expectation, and he could tell. He wasn’t used to people treating him so objectively. He also wasn’t sure that he wanted for her to be. “You can thank me by joining me for breakfast. They have a wonderful restaurant on the twentieth floor that overlooks the city. I’ll call and have them reserve us a table out on the balcony.” He made it more demand than option, wording it so she would have less of a chance to back out.

  Again, she seemed to shift uncomfortably, biting her lower lip and tucking a strand of that chocolate hair behind one ear like she was playing for time. Or perhaps, thinking of a good excuse to turn him down.

  The action just seemed so unaffected, so sweet and Morgan resisted the temptation to move closer to her and touch her. She wasn’t ready for that, very obviously. Time. She was going to take time, he had already figured as much out, he just needed to allow himself the patience to allow it.

  “Okay,” she finally answered, hesitant even in the one word. “That sounds great, although really I should be thanking you by taking you out,” she reminded him, shaking her head.

  “You are,” Morgan assured her, grinning winningly at her as he pulled out his recently re-acquired cell phone. “Trust me, you agreeing is a huge favor to me.”

  He watched her hesitate again, a soft smile finally playing about her lips as she shrugged. “If you insist.”

  “I definitely do,” he promised, thinking about all of the other things he wanted to insist upon too.

  “I just need to…” she trailed off, looking around her in question before turning back to him. “Powder my nose?”

  That was an old phrase he hadn’t heard in a while. “Through that third door there,” he pointed, lifting the phone up to his ear so that he could make the reservations for them. Lucky for him he was a Hunt otherwise he was sure he wouldn’t have been getting anything so short notice.

  She smiled brightly at him, turning to head to the guest bathroom and Morgan couldn’t help thinking about her not needing anything else to make her look any more delicious than she already did. Whoa down, boy. Just take it slow.

  Ellie

  She double checked that she was opening the right door before stepping through, hand shaking as she closed the door behind her and put a hand up to her forehead. Holy crap! She was actually going to have breakfast with him. Out to breakfast even, and at a restaurant, not some to-go fast food joint that she threw change at while they ate in a car. She still felt too frazzled to decide whether or not this was a good thing. She’d felt edgy just being in such close proximity to him, and it had reminded her of all her reasoning for excusing herself.

  He was too pretty for his own good, and certainly too pretty for hers. She couldn’t seem to keep her thinking straig
ht when she was around him, her brain just trailing off. She’d had so many things she wanted to answer to his insight on the painting, so many questions she had wanted to ask, and all she had gotten out was the one lame line.

  She met her own frustrated gaze in the mirror and almost sighed out loud. It figures, she’d nervously chewed off all of her lipstick. It was a bad habit she just couldn’t shake. Her father used to joke that she’d do better coloring her lips in with a marker than wearing lipstick. Her hand dropped, digging around in her purse for the tube that she had found this morning to wear, only to remember that she’d left it on her dresser at home.

  “Crap.” Of course she had, she couldn’t have just been smart and included it in her purse with the million other useless things she carried around. No. It had to be on her dresser back at home. She did sigh then, using her fingertips to wipe away whatever might be left spotted on her lips.

  She couldn’t help pausing and looking around the palatial bathroom, she was in. It wasn’t the one where Morgan had just taken a shower in. No, this was the guest bath. Or at least one of them. Morgan’s suite included several bedrooms from what she had seen, each with their own private bathroom, she’d supposed by the size of the place. She couldn’t imagine such a thing though. This bathroom alone was bigger than her living and bedroom put together. It housed a hot tub and a separate shower that looked big enough for two people. It was huge.

  Pull yourself together, Ellie. He is used to living like this, don’t act like some poor little girl who’s never seen wealth.

  Even if she supposed that before now, she really hadn’t. She shook her head, again thinking of Pretty Woman. She was certainly no hooker though and she couldn’t imagine Morgan having to pay for a date. Then again, she hadn’t been able to imagine Richard Gere needing to either when she had seen the movie. She laughed lightly to herself, again returning her gaze to the mirror to check over the rest of her appearance before they left.

  Obviously applying a fresh coat of lipstick was out of the question, but at least her lips had a natural rosy color to them. Something that, vainly, she tried to further encourage by intentionally biting them as she looked over the rest of her. Her hair still held its curl, by the grace of God alone. The rest of her makeup was in place… Oh the damned belt. She reached down to fix it again, twisting it over her waist. The buckle had a habit of sliding to the side when she walked. She’d have to be mindful of that. Other than that, she looked as good as she could.

  She would have breakfast and an interesting conversation with hottie Morgan, and that would be that. She could do that much at least. So it might end after that. She might not ever see him again after that breakfast. That would be hard, and more than a little disappointing. But at least, she’d gone for it. Came all the way here and entered this world, where she knew nothing about anything. She may have been nervous but she had done it! Ellie kept the squee from releasing, squared her shoulders and then opened the door.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Palazzo Balcony Restaurant was the ritziest place Ellie had ever had breakfast, or any other meal for that matter. She had almost run into Morgan’s back on more than one occasion just getting to the hostess stand. If she had thought that the coffee bar downstairs was a sight, seeing this restaurant only proved to her just how far her naivety stretched when it came to such matters. The maître d’ led them out to a beautifully set table right on the veranda, fresh flowers flowing over the balcony edge and twining about the concrete columns.

  Nervously, she found her seat, falling somewhat ungracefully into it before the maître d’ helped push her in and silently disappear. Even while sitting, she could see the whole entire city of Philadelphia from the balcony, lights twinkling despite the early hour and sunlight reflecting beautifully off of buildings she normally no more than glanced at in passing.

  “Wow,” she whispered in awe, as if speaking any louder would disrupt the view. “This is amazing. I never knew the city looked like this.” The early morning sun was bathing everything in a pretty array of orange and red hues, Ellie only just keeping from putting her hand over her mouth in her wonder.

  “There’s a better view from the balcony in my room,” Morgan stated, sounding equal parts amused and proud. “I take it you didn’t go out there for a look?”

  Ellie shook her head, regretting that decision instantly with the view that she had here. She hadn’t even considered entering his room, it wasn’t as if she knew him well enough to just go poking around his apartment. Not that, seemingly, he would have had any problem with her doing so. She’d overlooked a lot, even that which she had been told to check out, because she’d felt so nervous and so intrigued by the Manet painting.

  “No worries,” he responded off-handedly, shooting her a dazzling smile across the table as he settled into his own seat. “We can always check it out afterwards.”

  He just seemed so easy-going and carefree, extending their time together so easily and without so much as batting an eyelash. And all over her appreciation of a view. Ellie had already liked the man but the more that they spoke, and the more laid back that he was, the more she felt drawn to him. It certainly helped to ease her anxiety. Her own smile was easier coming that time, watching as he shook out a cloth napkin to place over his lap.

  She didn’t even know of anywhere else, at least nowhere she frequented, that offered cloth napkins. She certainly wasn’t up to date on the etiquette of using them, so Ellie followed his cue.

  “So, since you’ve never eaten here before. I’ll tell what I always like to have.” It was said easily, lacking the condescension that she always imagined such a phrase might carry. He picked up the small menu on fancy card stock and pointed to the English Eggs on Toast. “Ever try this?” Looking questioningly up at her as he held the card out better for her to see.

  Ellie glanced at the menu, as it was mouthwatering from just the picture alone. “No, but it looks delicious,” she admitted.

  His grin widened, card placed carefully back, and his form relaxing into his own chair. “Best English eggs you’ll find anywhere in the city,” he promised.

  “Well, then that’s what I’ll have.” She set her menu down because she felt certain she had no idea what any of the other items were and eggs sounded like a sure bet. She hadn’t even been aware she was as hungry as she was until she had seen that picture, her stomach turning over demandingly.

  Morgan gave her an approving look from under his brows, lifting one hand to wave the server over to their table. “Good,” he approved verbally, lips twitching as she grinned at him. Near instantly their server appeared, book at the ready, and Ellie couldn’t help but admire his quick service.. “Two English eggs, please, a pitcher of OJ and a pot of black coffee.” He paused as if only just then realizing that Ellie may have another request, looking over to her and raising his eyebrows, “Is that okay with you?”

  Her smile softened again, appreciating his checking with her even when he certainly hadn’t needed to. She nodded enthusiastically, again noting the turn of her stomach at just the mention of the food. Apparently, she was very hungry then. “Yeah. Sounds great.”

  The waiter took the menus with a smile and retreated back into the kitchen, leaving the two of them to one another once more.

  Ellie took a sip of her water and looked back out onto the city, again awed by just the sight alone.

  “You should see it at night,” Morgan interrupted helpfully. “It’s not as impressive as New York, or Paris, for that matter, but still a sight to see.”

  “You’ve been to Paris?” she asked, turning her gaze back to him to find him smiling indulgently at her.

  “Yeah,” he replied easily, as if it were an everyday thing. “My work takes me all over the globe.” Again, it was just a matter of fact statement, as if tons of jobs afforded that kind of accommodation.

  It had never occurred to her to ask him what he actually did, she realized guiltily. She had been so caught up in the fire, and then his goo
d looks… She hesitated for a moment before carefully broaching it. “So, what exactly do you do?”

  “Cyber security,” he answered, not seeming at all put out by her questioning. “It’s actually a pretty lucrative industry. High tech is the way of the future and everyone needs protection from viruses and hackers. My company’s services sell themselves. I came here to Philly to close a deal with the Yamato group. That was the important meeting I had to go to.”

  “Wow,” she said, lamely, her eyebrows raising. She didn’t know who the Yamato group was, but everything he said sounded as impressive as everything else about him. She couldn’t help wondering what she could possibly say to impress him. Well, there was the incident she saw with the drunk and his ever threatening drumstick in her awesomely impressive world of bus riding, but somehow she didn’t think that would be fitting. She almost laughed aloud, but managed to bite it back, amused tilt to her lips the only indication of it at all. She was actually interested in learning more about him. “So, you arrived at your meeting all right?”

  If he hadn’t it would have been her fault, something else she would have to apologize to him for.

  “Yeah,” he said with a chuckle, shaking his head like he was still trying to figure something out himself. “A little late, but after I explained why, I think that pretty much made the sale for me. I guess I should thank you.” He grinned over at her, lifting one shoulder as if to say ‘what’re you to do’. “Everyone likes to hear about beautiful women being saved. When they’re getting to talk to the one who did the saving personally I guess it makes them feel as if they need to thank him somehow,” he joked, easily reclining back into his seat, and lifting his water to his lips.

  Ellie smiled, unsure of how she was supposed to respond and glanced away as she felt her cheeks heat up, but she could feel the weight of Morgan’s stare. Her chest tightened, a combination of nerves and shyness. “You definitely don’t have to thank me,” she finally demurred, her eyes still downcast. He, after all, was still the one who had saved her life, not the other way around.