The Billionaire's Surprise Babies

by Sophia Lynn

  "I love seeing you," he said, and she could detect a growl in his voice. There was desire there and more than that. There was a pride in possession, and though a part of her shouted that it should have frightened or disgusted her, it only made the heat inside her climb higher.

  As if in reward for her trembling vulnerability, he came to kneel behind her. He casually started stroking her inner thighs, but then he didn't stop when he came to the core of her. He paused, and for a moment, she didn't know what he was doing. Then his fingers came back wet, and he slicked his fingertips over her clit, making her buck with need. The thought of him damping his fingers with his own saliva to smooth the way made her shiver with need, and she almost glanced back at him again.

  Instead, she remembered and tried her best to make a soft, needy sound that told him exactly what it was that she wanted.

  "Oh, you're a beautiful thing, aren't you?" he crooned. "Look at you there, all lovely and wanting. I think that if a man had you for his wife, he would want to be very careful indeed. He would need to be stern to rein in those wilder instincts of yours and that natural willfulness, but no one could stand to see your spirit broken. No, a firm hand and plenty of rewards—that's what you need."

  They had spoken earlier that evening of discipline, but now she whimpered more loudly at the thought of a reward. Oh, yes, there were some things that she would be very good for indeed. She would be good, she would sweep and scrub and cook and clean, and if he was willing to touch her and to make her writhe in pleasure, she would do such a good job.

  "Is that what it would take to get through to you, darling?" he murmured, and now another finger was ghosting over her entrance, finding it moist and hot. One finger slid inside, and there was still a shiver of pain, but it ceased almost immediately.

  She moaned something in the affirmative, and he laughed, but now there was a strain to it. Cord was still clothed, and with a sudden flash of insight, Jordan realized that it was on purpose. If he were naked, he simply would have taken her. Now he had to wait, and being forced to pause gave him more willpower.

  "Ah, you would need a very firm husband, wouldn't you? He could wear out a handful of switches on your rear and not make a bit of difference. Even if you cried your pretty eyes out, even if you could barely sit down for the next few days, you would still be just as stubborn, wouldn't you?"

  "That's . . . that's possible," she said, and that first finger was joined with excruciating slowness by a second finger. She already felt impossibly full, but she knew that she could take more. There was an instinctive need for more, but right now, all she could do was rock on his fingers thinking of how exposed she was and how much she needed him.

  "And then one night, perhaps you would say something or simply a bare touch would reveal you. You are so beautifully sensitive, so wonderfully responsive, and then he would have it. The perfect way to keep you safe and to help you reach your full potential. Reinforce with pleasure, not pain, and how wonderful that would be . . ."

  His fingers pulled away, making Jordan squeak with dismay, but out of the corner of her eye, she could see that he was simply stripping off his clothes. He was magnificently erect when he was naked, his body as powerful as a god's, and she needed him so much that she could barely believe it.

  He returned to her, and his hands found her hips, lifting them up so that her back was arched and her rear was higher than her shoulders. She could feel him behind her, feel the power of his body and the heavy weight of his cock pressed against the back of her thigh.

  "Do you want me?" he said, all pretense gone. "Do you need this?"

  He laid hot, wet kisses down the length of her spine, and for a moment, all the warring sensations in her body were too much. She couldn't stand the idea of going one more moment without him, and so she forced herself to speak.

  "Yes, yes, Cord, please! Please, I need you, please!"

  The growl he uttered was pure victory. His hands slid down her sides to her hips again, and this time, it was to hold her still so he could plunge deep within her.

  That first stroke forced a shout from her lungs. She had a moment to be glad that there were no owners or other guests to hear her, and Cord paused.

  "Are you all right?" he growled, and she nodded, resting her head on her crossed forearms.

  "Yes, yes, just . . . please, don't stop."

  The sound he made might have been a laugh.

  "Little cat, I don't know if I could if I wanted to."

  There was something truly savage about the way he took her then. Before, he had tended to her pleasure as carefully as if it were a garden, but this was more akin to a storm at sea. He thrust his full length into her, pulled out partially, and then plunged again. it was as if he could not get enough of her body or the warmth deep inside her. She felt as if she was being overwhelmed, all the need and heat coming together to form a river of need that flowed through her. Her body was drawing tighter and tighter, and she was growing so tense when she felt Cord's body start to speed up.

  She gasped when she felt his liquid heat spread inside her, and she cried out as his hands tightened on her hips, holding her in place until he was done. Her own tension was still high and aching when he pulled out of her abruptly and tumbled her over on her back.

  "We're not done yet," he growled, and he came down to lie next to her. He took her lips in a vicious kiss that left her just short of bruised, and then his hand slid down her body. He fondled her breasts for a moment, pinching the nipples to aching peaks, but then he went after her true treasure. His hand was pressed hard between her legs again, and instinctively, she knew to arch up against his touch. Her climax thundered hard on the heels of his, and it struck with such a white hot heat that she screamed, her entire body arching as if she had been struck by lightning.

  Jordan wondered if she had blacked out for a moment. When she blinked, it felt as if several minutes had passed and Cord was kissing her forehead, his hand still nestled protectively over her soft flesh.

  "You are so lovely and so amazing," he murmured. "So beautiful when you’re twisting with need and consumed with fire . . ."

  She laughed a little ruefully.

  "I think you're exaggerating," she said. "I feel like a worn-out rag."

  "Far from it," Cord said solemnly. "If anything, I’m understating matters."

  Jordan shook her head, and after a moment, she burrowed closer to him. With a soft sigh, he draped his arms around her. She could smell her own scent on him, and his on her skin, and right then, she felt a strange and primal peace fall over her. She didn't think that she had ever felt so content or so calm.

  I should tell him everything, she thought, and the foreignness of that idea felt as if someone had thrown cold water over her.

  "Jordan? What is it? Are you all right?"

  She had sat straight up in the bed, and she wondered at how panicked she looked because Cord was looking alarmed.

  "Oh, it's all right," she said, and she managed enough of a smile that he at least relaxed a little, even if he was still eying her with concern.

  "Did we do something that was too much for you? Are you hurt?"

  "Not at all," she said, waving away his concern. "I'm new at this, not fragile. That was . . . that was amazing."

  That last part was the truth, and she was as earnest about it as she could be. At the very least, it seemed to calm Cord down enough for her to stand up.

  "Do . . . do you mind if I spend tonight in another room?" she asked. "I . . . I think I need my space."

  This time, there was no mistaking it. There was a flash of hurt through his eyes before he covered it up. However, all he did was nod.

  "Of course. There are any number of rooms to choose from."

  For a moment, it felt as if her heart was breaking at being held away from him, but she shook it off. If there was a chance that she was going to spill the beans about everything that she had worked on so carefully for years, she needed to be away from him. She realized that
she couldn't keep an instinctive guard over her tongue when it came to this man, so she had to make sure that the situation was fixed and stayed fixed.

  "Thank you for understanding. I can just grab the room next door," she said, and he reached up to give her a kiss. It was . . . all right. It was sweet and obviously done with skill, but it felt as if the heart and the heat had gone out of it. A pang went through her because that was not what she wanted at all, but she knew that she could not budge on her resolution.

  "Not a problem at all," he said with a shrug, and before she could think better of it, Jordan grabbed up a nearby robe to cover herself and left the room.

  The pleasure he had given her was already cooling, and even though she only went next door, she felt as if the loneliness that secretly twined through every part of her soul was growing very strong that night.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Cord slept dreamlessly, but he woke up in the morning feeling as if he hadn't slept at all. The bed felt unusually, unnervingly empty when he woke up, and after a moment, he realized why. He remembered the previous evening, when he had woken up with Jordan, and a part of him flinched.

  It's perfectly reasonable that she would want some time to herself, he reminded himself. She's had a very long forty-eight hours doing things that she's never done before.

  When phrased like that, it made a great deal of sense, but it still made him wince.

  Cord lay in bed for another moment, and then he went to shower. He was not a man who allowed himself to believe in ghosts, but he couldn't help but imagine her as she had been last night, naked and rising from the water like some kind of Venus. She might not have been the kind of woman he usually went after, but there was a primal beauty to her that went beyond anything he had ever experienced before. When he had seen her in that water, he knew that he had to have her.

  He washed and shaved, and then after a moment, he put on a pair of silk boxers and a crisp pair of jeans from his overnight bag. Despite the cool temperatures outside, it was still warm enough in the house, and getting dressed felt strangely final, as if he was separating himself from the night before. Somehow, that was not something that he wanted to have happen.

  She had said that she would be in the room next door, but when he went to it, he found that the bed was unruffled as if it had never been slept in. A thrill of fear ran up his spine, and Cord kept himself brutally calm as he glanced in the bathroom as well. There was no sign that she had ever been there, and alarm bells were going off in his head. He didn't run, but he walked quickly to the other rooms on the floor, throwing open all the doors to find them as empty as the first room.

  The panic in his head made his heart beat faster, and underneath that was an unaccustomed swelling of grief. After everything that they had done, she had left him. He was usually the one paying off the women to leave. This painful emptiness . . . it wasn't new, but it was sharp, and he knew that if he gave in to it, it could drive him to his knees.

  Cord dug his fingers into his hair, feeling as if he wanted to shout, but then he heard a rustling noise from downstairs. Scowling, he walked toward the staircase and was confronted by a heavenly smell of bacon and onions.

  Hardly daring to believe, Cord came down the stairs to the kitchen, finding Jordan in a ridiculously oversized men's flannel shirt. It fell to her hips, and there was a spatula in her hands. Her blonde hair was tied back from her face, and she turned toward him with a smile.

  "Hi," she said. "Perfect timing. I was just thinking about calling you."

  She had been down here. She hadn't been leaving him. She was just making breakfast. The surge of relief went through him so fast that it left him nearly lightheaded, and heedless of the cast iron skillet sitting on the stove, he snatched her up in his arms.

  "Whoa! What the heck, are you all right?" she exclaimed, but then she fell silent after he buried his face in the crook of her neck.

  For several long moments, he simply breathed in the scent of her, her skin, the smell of the soap she had used in the shower this morning, the lavender scent of the shirt she wore. It was as if everything had suddenly been set right in the world again, and he shook with relief.

  "Cord? Cord, are you all right?" she asked, her voice softer, and with reluctance, he let her go.

  "I thought you were gone," he said lightly. She looked dubious, but when she responded, her words were gentle.

  "Nah, I can't sleep all that late anymore because of the maid work. I got up, you were still snoring, so I tided up the room I used, took a shower, tidied that, and came down looking for breakfast. Look, the Tallcorns left us a caramelized onion, potato, and bacon pie."

  "Oh, that's what smells so good," Cord said, but he was aware that the smile did not necessarily reach his eyes. To his relief, however, Jordan didn't seem to notice.

  "Yep. Let's get some plates and forks while it's hot. It'd be a real shame to let it go to waste, I think."

  They sat down to breakfast together, and it was delicious, but Cord couldn't keep his mind off the panic he had felt when he thought that Jordan had run out on him. He wasn't sure he had felt anything as strongly in years, and when he thought of the last time that he might have experienced it, he winced.

  He listened and nodded as she talked about how beautiful the house was and how she wanted to at least look through the garden before they left, but he knew that at some point, he would have to confront the feelings that were already raging in his heart for the beautiful girl who sat across the table from him. Even now, he wanted to touch her, to grab on to her and never let her go.

  That was insane . . . wasn't it?

  ***

  Jordan enjoyed the best sleep that she’d had in what felt like years, but then she woke up at 5:30 in the morning, just as she did when she was back in the manor. After trying to go back to sleep, she got out of bed, and for some reason, she found herself peeping in on the room where Cord slept. She could hear the even rise and fall of his breath, and for a moment, it was all she could do not to go to him.

  That morning, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed with him, to feel him wrap around her, to feel his sleepy kisses that would slowly turn into more passionate ones, to feel him wake up and start to touch her in a way that had haunted her dreams.

  Stop it, she told herself sternly. What you need is more distance from him, not less.

  She had forced herself into the shower, letting the cool water wash away the thoughts she had for him. They couldn't wash everything away, however, and by the time she got out and instinctively neatened up the room, she felt as if she was exactly where she had started.

  I want him, she thought, but it was more than that. She wanted five hundred dollars. She wanted a slice of chocolate cake. When it came to Cord, want was a word that was far too pale, far too weak for what she felt. Need was far more appropriate, but deep in her heart, she wondered if it was even more than that. She had never felt what she felt for him for anyone else.

  Jordan stalked downstairs because she could not stand to be entertaining thoughts about that, not thoughts centered on the son of the man who had destroyed her family. She couldn't.

  Instead, she distracted herself with the food that Marie Tallcorn had left for them and worked on getting it heated up. However, in a kitchen as tidy as Marie and Jim's, there was not a lot to fuss over, and Jordan was alone with her thoughts.

  You are letting things get out of hand, she thought, but she had no idea how she was going to fix it.

  Cord had come down the stairs, and at first, she hadn't noticed how pale he was. Then his arms were around her and he hung onto her as if he were drowning. The first sensation that struck her was panic, and she couldn't figure out what was going on. Then he stepped back, and it seemed as if nothing was wrong, but she was growing to know him a little too well for all of that. There was something strange in the air between them, and she could not name it.

  After breakfast, Cord took her by the hand, turning it over to kiss her on the pa
lm. It sent shivers of heat through her, but there was something heavy about the gesture, something almost courtly. It reminded her of something a knight might do to his lady. She made herself remember, however, that Cord Everett was not a knight and that she was certainly no lady.

  "What is it?" she asked, searching his eyes for some sign of what was going on with him, but he only smiled at her. There was something vulnerable there that she had never seen before, and it tugged at her heartstrings.

  "Nothing," he said, but then he pulled her close. "I do want to explore the grounds and the forest beyond, and this evening, I need to get back to the manor for at least a short while. However . . . perhaps right now, we could go back to bed for at least a short while?"

  She was used to Cord as a man who took what he wanted. If he had wanted her in bed, she suspected that he would simply carry her there, sweeping her off her feet, or perhaps simply even taking her right there and then, making good on his threat about the table from the night before.

  Now, though, he was asking, and she somehow instinctively knew that he was asking for something else.

  "Yes, I think I would like that," she said, and she allowed him to lead her up the stairs.

  When they were in the quiet of the master bedroom, he laid her down on the rumpled covers and stripped the shirt over her head. His kisses fell over her body like rain, and when she tried to reach for him, he only pinned her gently. Instead, she had to lie still and take the pleasure that he was giving her even as his own body trembled with need.

  He brought her to the point of pleasure over and over again, pulling back just enough to make her catch her breath and curse him. Finally, just when she thought that she would go crazy with need for him, he rose above her and entered her slowly, his eyes dark with desire and fixed only on hers.

  This wasn't just sex, Jordan realized abruptly. They were making love, and she could feel the connection between them as her body tightened with pleasure. When her climax swooped down on her, she could no more stop the words from spilling past her lips than she could stop her body from shuddering or the tide from rolling in.