Temptation: a billionaire erotic romance

by Christine Elliott

  She kissed him long and hard, savoring the taste of his mouth. After all, this could be the last time she would have the chance. His tongue slipped into her mouth, teasing her. Her tongue answered his, savoring the taste of him.

  He pulled away and kissed her neck. He started at her collarbone, then kissed his way up her jawline, leaving her breaths hard and ragged. He nipped at her neck, leaving the softest blush of a bruise on its pale flesh.

  “Serena,” he groaned into her ear.

  She gasped when one of his long fingers deftly slipped into her panties, stroking her wetness. He wasn’t starting slowly tonight. He wasn’t building up the tension or letting anticipation smother her. He was taking what he wanted and taking it now. It did things to her she had never felt before.

  With no warning, she felt herself shoved back onto the bed roughly, one of Val’s hands pinning her down. Her heart raced. Here was his master side breaking out again, and she loved it.

  His eyes were on fire, and she could see his cock straining against his pants. She obediently remained on her back, vulnerable and open to him as he undressed. It was torture to be so aroused and have to wait for her master, but it was good torture, the kind that made release so worth it.

  Val’s strong hands spread her legs again, and he brought his cock against her. He let her quiver under the sensation of his thick cock teasing her, pressing against her for a few seconds but pulling back at the last moment instead of fulfilling her desires. She groaned underneath him, and Val laughed.

  “You’re so impatient, Serena,” he teased.

  He leaned forward, pressing his cock against her again. His hips bucked, thrusting inside her just enough to make her gasp but not enough to really fill her. She bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut, unable to handle it.

  Once again, he pressed his cock against her, but this time, he pressed forward slowly without pulling back. She felt his thick cock slowly filling her, and she whimpered as the smooth motion of his hips against hers drew her into ecstasy. She spread her legs wider, welcoming his body into hers as far as he could push it.

  Once again, she was reminded of how big he was—it almost hurt, his cock spreading her legs and stretching her from the inside. But like everything else with Val, the pain was pleasure. She wanted him to hurt her. She wanted him to hurt her so much she begged him to do it again.

  In one quick thrust, Val pounded into her, making her cry out. She dug her fingers into his shoulder as he began steadily plowing into her. Val forced his cock into her, taking from her what he wanted and leaving her weak and helpless in his arms. He pressed her against the bed with his whole weight on her. She gasped as he fucked her, unable to move or fight back. She was totally his. He owned her.

  Val’s rhythm became hard and fast, slowly increasing in intensity until it began to create pain mixed with the pleasure. It drove her wilder. His cock replaced any whip or tool he could use, stretching her open for him. His arms were his restraints, pinning her against the bed so that she could not move. He fucked her viciously, and she felt redness creep into her cheeks and moans creep into her gasping breath.

  Val leaned down and kissed her open mouth, biting one of her plump lips.

  “God,” he growled. “You’re so fucking sexy when I’m hurting you. Do you know that, Serena?”

  “Yes, Sir,” she cried. He moved his hips in a way that grinded them against her clit, and she cried out again. Val smiled. One of his hands crept down and began stroking her clit, teasing her as his cock pounded into her.

  He leaned forward and sucked on one of her breasts as he teased her. His tongue swirled around her nipple, and she felt his teeth press down on it. She tried to stifle her moans, embarrassed that he drove her so crazy, but she couldn’t.

  Val chuckled darkly.

  “Would you like to cum, Serena?” he growled into her ear. His hips pounded against hers and his ragged breath was hot against her cheek. She felt his teeth graze her neck.

  “Yes, Sir,” she moaned.

  “You know what to do,” he said, his voice ragged. His fingers reached down and pinched her clit, making her scream. She thrashed under him, barely able to handle the pleasure. “Beg me,” he said seductively.

  “Please, Sir,” she cried. “Please, can I cum, Sir?”

  He pulled back, grabbing her hair and pulled her up to him. She threw her arms back to steady herself, and he grabbed them, pinning them behind her. His lips found her neck, and he kissed it as he fucked her, keeping her bound to him through sheer strength alone.

  “Cum for me,” he ordered in a whisper.

  Instantly her body exploded in sensation, her orgasm rocking every inch of her. Val’s hips pounded her even harder, and the steady vicious hammering of his cock inside her was driving her even more wild. She clutched at the sheets, desperately trying to ground herself as she moaned and shook like an earthquake. She felt Val’s nails dig into her hips as he fucked her, and by his moans, she could tell that he was cumming too. The pain of his tight grip on her skin just added to the pleasure, drawing out her orgasm even longer.

  After a few moments, she began to float down back into reality. She focused on her breath, trying to tame it as her orgasm ended. She felt Val’s cock pull out of her, leaving her pleasantly sated, like she had just had a good meal.

  God, she loved him.

  Val crawled into bed with her and brought her to him, pulling a blanket over them to shield them from the chill of the cold room.

  She watched their chests rise and fall as they caught their breath, recovering from such an intense session of sex. The warmth of his body next to her mixed with the golden afterglow of her orgasm was absolutely heavenly. She buried her face in his chest, wishing this moment would never stop.

  But still, like everything good, it eventually had to.

  “Serena,” Val said quietly after a few minutes. He propped himself up against the headboard and looked down into her eyes. His face was concerned, his eyes sorry. “I need you to go.”

  She felt as if a boulder had been dropped on her.

  “What?” she breathed.

  She grabbed the blanket and brought it up to her chest, clinging to it like it was a lifesaver. She could barely understand him through her lethargic post-sex fog, but she knew whatever he was about to say, it wouldn’t be good.

  “You heard me. I need you to leave tonight. It’s not safe here, especially considering what I’m going to be doing tomorrow. Go back home, Serena.”

  “But Val….”

  “Do you not know how hard this is on me?” he asked, turning on her. Their eyes met, and Serena jumped. His gaze was burning and furious, but also pained. “Jesus, Serena! This is for your own good. Do you think I want to do this?”

  Serena turned her face away, fighting back the tears.

  Val groaned and tried to pull her to him again, but she resisted, wrapping her arms around herself. Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry, she shouted internally at herself.

  “God, Serena,” he breathed, “you have to understand.”

  “I do understand,” she said beneath the tears. “And I don’t care. I want to stay. I have to stay.”

  He threw the blanket off of him, rolling out of bed furiously. “No, you don’t understand, Serena,” he snapped. He stalked to the wardrobe and found his robe. “If you did, you would run away as fast as you could. I’m dangerous.”

  “I don’t care!” she cried.

  “You would care if you really understood,” he cried, whirling on her a pained expression. “You have no idea what kind of danger you’re in, what kind of trouble will come after. Once people realize how much I—” He hesitated. “How much I care about you, you’ll have a target on your head.”

  Serena jumped out of bed, tearing the blanket off of her and looking at him with wild, passionate eyes. Her mind was blank but buzzing, and all she could feel was the immediate urgency of needing to stay with Val. Nothing else mattered.

  “I don’t care th
at you’re dangerous,” she blurted out, unable to stop herself. And then she said the next thing, the thing she swore to herself she would never say in front of Val. “I don’t care that you used to be a criminal!”

  There was a moment of dead silence between them. Val’s face twisted, his eyes going from pain to fury.

  Shit, thought Serena. God, why hadn’t she listened to Jacques? Hadn’t he warned her about letting on that she knew about Val’s past? Who knew what was in store for her. She crossed her arms over herself tighter, bracing for the impact of what she had just done.

  “That’s what you think I am?” Val roared. “A criminal?”

  She flinched under his harsh words.

  “Val, that’s not what I mean!” she answered, her voice softer. Oh God, what had she done? “Val, please … I didn’t mean….”

  “And yet that’s what you said,” he said, whirling around to turn his back on her. He grabbed his robe from the wardrobe and began dressing, his harms tying the robe in furious, jerky movements. “If you think I’m such a criminal, Serena, you should really leave. You should know how dangerous I am.”

  “Val…. I know about Belladonna! Please!”

  He gave her a cold look. “The only people who know about Belladonna are me and Harlow.”

  Before she could get another word out, he spun around and marched to the door, his back turned to her and his expression unreadable. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to think herself away from the situation, like she could take past the last few seconds through sheer force of will.

  The door closed with a slam, making her jump. Val’s heavy footsteps walked down the hall, fading away until Serena was left totally alone in the silence of her room.

  For a moment, she sat on her bed, keeping her eyes shut and her arms wrapped around her. When she opened them, she saw that she really and truly was left alone. A coldness filled her heart. She couldn’t even cry anymore, just feel alone.

  A few seconds more, and she knew she couldn’t handle it.

  *****

  Serena awoke to the sound of her phone’s blaring text tone, one that Val had set earlier to make sure that she would always hear his messages to her. At first, she reached for it, but then giggled in her sleep grogginess and turned over.

  She mumbled something and yawned, burying her face into her sheets. God, it was warm. Warm and comfortable and delicious. She could stay here for the rest of her life, she was sure of it. Here in Val’s bed….

  Her eyes opened. Wait.

  Serena sat up, taking in her surroundings. No silk sheets, no massive window looking into the garden, no restraints…

  She groaned and fell back onto the pillows. Not Val’s bed, and not her bed in the mansion either. Of course it wasn’t. She had gone back to her apartment. How could she have forgotten?

  Serena pulled herself up, stretching and yawning against the sleep that clung to her eyes. The clock by her bed blared 11:00, and the noon sunlight was falling through the window onto her bed. Serena stumbled around, dressing and managing to wash up in her zombie-like state. She had never been a morning person, and the stressful events of the last few days wasn’t helping on that front.

  It wasn’t until she had had her first sip of coffee that the full reality of what had happened hit her.

  Her hands began shaking, and she found a seat at the kitchen table.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  She had gone and done the one thing that Jacques had warned her not to, and now he was right. Val was pissed. No, Val was beyond pissed. She wasn’t sure there was a word in the English language that fully captured how furious Val had seemed when she finally admitted the truth.

  Serena laid her head on the table and groaned. Why did this kind of thing happen to her? What could she even do?

  Wait.

  Serena sat straight up.

  The phone.

  God, she was an idiot when she was asleep. Someone had texted her on Val’s phone, and she was totally ignoring it. Maybe Val was calling? Maybe he wanted to talk about last night?

  Serena bit her lower lip. On the one hand, she was terrified of speaking to Val now that he knew she had broken his trust. But on the other, she had to. It was her only chance to talk some sense into him, to make him understand that she hadn’t meant to betray him like that. She had to convince him to let her see him again. She couldn’t live without him, and she knew it.

  Quickly, Serena scrambled over to where her cell phone lay on the bedside table. Her phone’s notification read:

  1 new text

  from Jacques Lepin

  Jacques?

  Serena bit her lip.

  She went to her messages and found the text from Jacques, sitting down on the bed and gathering her strength. She had the sinking feeling that this wasn’t going to be good.

  The text from Jacques read:

  We need to talk. I’ll be over at ten. –J

  She groaned. Yes, definitely a sinking feeling. Definitely not going to be good. She glanced at the clock and groaned again when she saw that it was 9:45. Here goes nothing.

  She wrapped her arms around herself for a moment, running her fingers down the soft wool of her robe. She imagined what it would feel like to touch Val’s silk robe again, but the shuddering coldness that grew in her hurt too much.

  Instead, she shoved it away. No time for self-pity now. What she needed to do now was get ready.

  In the little time she had left, she threw on a dress and raked a comb through her hair, making herself at least a little presentable. By the time she heard the doorbell ring, she looked as if she was a half-functioning, decent adult. She breathed a sigh of relief. At least Jacques wouldn’t know how badly she was crumbling on the inside. Or at least not completely.

  Serena marched to the front door and took another sigh, settling herself. When she opened it, she saw Jacques in his impeccable suit, holding a file in one hand. His eyes were concerned and his smile was weak and worried.

  “Good morning, Serena,” he said, giving her a short bow. It reminded her of how cordial he had been the first time they met. Thank God she had Jacques here. Sometimes he seemed like the only person she had on her side.

  “Jacques,” she said quietly. “Come in.”

  “You alright, Screamer?” he asked softly. He stepped past her hung his coat up on the coat rack, keeping his gaze on her, her expression concerned. “I can come back later if you aren’t ready. I’ll understand.”

  “No,” she said, shaking her head. “Come in, ignore me. I know I look like death,” she said with a weak laugh. “But I’m glad to have you. Would you like a cup of tea? Maybe coffee?”

  Jacques paused, then nodded. “I’d love one. Excuse me for making assumptions.”

  “No, no, you’re right for making them. I’m sure I look as terrible as I feel.” She led him to the kitchen that had been tidied up only moments ago. He took a seat at the table as she began pouring tea. “Anyway, there’s no point in crying. It doesn’t get anything done. Might as well go on with life.”

  Jacques gave her a small smile, taking the tea from her. “You’re a strong person, Serena. Don’t let anybody tell you any different.”

  She couldn’t feel any happiness at his compliment. Not when Val was totally out of her reach. She knew she would have to go back later, but she was dreading it.

  She took a seat across from him and watched him take a tentative sip of the tea. “Good,” he murmured. “You know, I might have to ask how you make it, it tastes wonderful, and—”

  “You don’t have to stall, Jacques.”

  He glanced up at her and sighed. “You’re right. Sorry, Screamer.”

  From inside the folder, he slipped out an envelope and slid it across the table to her. “From Val,” he said. She took it and examined the seal on it—Val’s seal. There was no signature on it, which stung. He hadn’t even given her a signature to remember him by.

  She couldn’t bring herself to open it. Instead, she kept it on the t
able and placed a hand over it so that she couldn’t see the seal that reminded her of the man she lost.

  “Is that all?” she asked. “He asked you to deliver a letter?”

  “No,” Jacques said, shaking his head. He placed his cup down on the table. “He also asked me to deliver a message.”

  He hesitated, his voice catching for a moment. Serena braced herself for whatever was coming. She had the feeling she wasn’t going to like it. Jacques looked at her as if she was a kicked puppy that he was going to have to kick again.

  “Serena … Val has asked me to tell you that….”

  He looked down into his cup, his voice pained, like he was struggling to go on. Serena sighed and placed a hand over his.

  “Go on,” she said. “I’m ready.”

  Jacques looked up at her with a pained expression.

  “He said he doesn’t want to see you again,” he said.

  Her heart stopped.

  “What?” she whispered.

  “He wanted me to tell you he wants you gone, and he doesn’t want you coming back. I’m not sure why ….”

  His eyes widened for a moment, and then they regained their sad expression. He reached over to place his hand on her hand.

  “No,” Serena said.

  “Serena, you can’t fight this.”

  “No!” she cried. “I … I can’t….”

  “He doesn’t want you,” said Jacques, his eyes sad.

  She felt something break in her.

  He leaned forward and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry I’m the one who has to tell you this, but it’s the truth. Serena, please. You have to understand, this is the only way.”

  She choked up, unable to handle it. How could Val be so cruel to her? How could he crush her like that?

  “He didn’t…” she choked. “He didn’t want to tell me himself? He didn’t want to come or call or … anything?”