Knock Out (The Billionaire's Club: New Orleans)

by Mallery Malone

  The production assistant started the prep work, and Bas realized his torture had just begun. They oiled her up to highlight the definition in her muscles. Then they misted her to simulate perspiration shining on her already glowing skin. Then, oh, God, then she warmed up, demonstrating just how flexible she was as she loosened her body with stretches that had all eyes focused on her. Both the photographer and videographer had a field day as she launched into her workout. Arched back on the medicine ball for sit-ups. On her hands and knees, feet crossed at the ankles as she went through push-ups. Jumping rope. Working the speed bag then the heavy bag, fake perspiration giving way to the real thing. She was beautiful.

  He was doomed.

  Raphael released a low whistle as he stepped closer. “So that’s Renata Giordano,” he said, a wide grin splitting his face that made Sebastian want to split his lip. “I can see why you want to train her and make her our spokesperson. She’s definitely a hottie. Good thing for you we already had this photo shoot scheduled or you would have had to throw even more money around.”

  Sebastian clenched his jaw. He knew the other two would rib him over this; it was just the way they were. Didn’t mean he was handling it well, though. “I told you she’d be perfect. She’s right in the demographic we want to target.”

  “There’s something you want to target, and it sure as hell ain’t her demographic,” Gabriel said.

  “Oh it’s definitely her demographic,” Raphael drawled. “And the fact that she’s a fine piece of—”

  “One more word,” Sebastian interrupted, his voice soft with warning. “One more disrespectful word and I will drop you.”

  “So it’s like that, huh?”

  “It’s always been like that,” Bas growled. “She’s mine.”

  “Does she know that?”

  “I’ll remind her the moment this shoot is over. In the meantime if you want to keep that pretty face of yours as it’s currently arranged, I suggest you back the fuck off.”

  “I can’t back off. I’m supposed to be in the next set of shots with her.”

  “Raphael …”

  Laughing, Raphael raised his hands in surrender. “Peace, man. I’ve got plenty of options and I don’t have to try nearly as hard or pay as much to get in a woman’s panties.”

  “That’s because none of the women you choose are worth it,” he shot back. “Renata’s worth it. She’s worth everything.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Renata stripped out of her third—or was it fourth—outfit of the day, then stepped into the gym’s steam shower, a beautiful contraption for two built of redwood with lots of bells and whistles. After rinsing off the day’s sweat, she managed to turn the controls to the steam setting then slouched onto one of the bench seats.

  Willing herself to relax, she leaned her head back against the wooden slatted wall behind her, mindful of one of the ten spouts that ranged behind her. Her eyes slid closed as steam filled the compartment. Once Sebastian had showed her this indulgence, she knew she couldn’t stay anywhere else. The steam shower was a decadent luxury she used at the end of every workout.

  Renata’s body tingled with frustration. The source of that frustration was somewhere below her, dealing with the production people and his partners. She’d been a fool to think that she’d be immune to him. Her fingers were numb from stroking herself to completion whenever she could, fantasizing that it was his fingers in her pussy, his touch plucking her nipples to stiffness. His voice whispering explicit promises in her ear, tempting her to throw away caution and do all the bad things that had been so good with him.

  She shifted on the bench, one hand stroking her breasts, the other slipping down her belly to the juncture of her thighs. To the place that throbbed with want, the need to be filled. Bas, she thought, you really need to kick those people out and come up here and take care of me …

  The shower door opened. She slitted her eyes to see the object of her fantasies stepping into the shower, the steam doing little to shield his nakedness or his arousal. “Don’t stop on my account,” he said as he reached up to the shelf. “I’m enjoying the view.”

  She pulled her hand away. “Bas, I—”

  “Don’t. Stop.”

  Sebastian nearly bit his tongue at the sight of Renata fondling herself. He’d known she’d head for the steam shower after her workout as she did every time. It was time to act. Seven days of being a good boy had been six days too fucking long. Kicking everyone out had taken longer than he’d wanted, and he hadn’t given two fucks about the shit-eating smirks his partners had thrown at him. He’d just wanted to get back upstairs to Renata.

  He clenched his fists, aching with the need to cup her, to drag her close, to slide his cock deep inside her. Everything in him fought against the need to pick her up, back her into the wall, and fuck her like the beast he was. Doing so would definitely ease the ache in his balls, but it would also ruin any chance he had for more.

  So instead he made his way to the bench opposite hers. Conscious of her gaze through the swirling mist, he slouched as she did, acutely aware of the heaviness of his cock and the pain in his balls. He didn’t dare take himself in hand. Not when the sight of her had him so close to popping off.

  “Touch yourself, Renata,” he ordered with a rasp. “Spread your thighs so I can see how gorgeous you are.”

  She hesitated, eyes tightly closed. Even through the swirls of steam he could see her embarrassment, the tightening of her abdomen as if she prepared to escape. Like he’d let her leave them both unfulfilled. Not this time.

  “There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, sweetheart,” he told her, keeping his voice pitched low, soothing her. “Not as beautiful as you are, not as beautiful as your pleasure is. Touch yourself for me.”

  Her lips parted on a sigh of surrender, her hand once again sliding down to the thin strip of dark curls. As he watched, she circled her clit with two fingertips, once, twice.

  “Just like that, sweetheart,” he encouraged her, pitching his voice low. “Looking at you is like looking at a work of art. All that golden skin glistening with drops of water, your cheeks flushed with pleasure, and your luscious breasts heaving with every breath you take.”

  She shifted on the bench, her thighs falling open and giving him a perfect view of her slick heat. Damn him, but she looked so fucking hot that he wanted to grab her up and sink his cock so deep into her heat he’d be there forever. Instead he held back, the effort growing more difficult by the second. His cock hurt just looking at her. He needed her surrender, needed her to come to him willingly, needed her to make the conscious decision to choose him.

  “Think about how it would feel for me to cup your breasts in my hands. You’d like that, wouldn’t you? I can tell by how high and tight your nipples are. You want me to suck them into my mouth, don’t you? Want me to tease and lick and bite them.”

  “Yes,” she whispered on a little moan that shot straight to his balls. He could almost feel her desire riding the steam, teasing him as he teased her. She wasn’t going to run, not anymore. The back of her head pressed against the wall, her arched back jutting her breasts out toward him as if she offered herself like a feast.

  Need stabbed at him, short and sharp and deep. There wasn’t a minute in the last five years that he hadn’t wanted her. Even when he’d tried to lose his memories of her in other women, he hadn’t been successful. Now she was here, naked and wanting, and he’d be damned if he’d let her walk away this time.

  “Love those sounds you make, baby,” he said, his voice thick. “Now I want to hear you make them while you ride my cock.”

  Renata’s eyes snapped open, the bluntness of Sebastian’s words breaking through her hazy fantasy. He sat across from her, looking like some glistening fertility god, powerful and lusty and ready.

  “I’ve waited a week, Renata,” he said, his voice stark as he wrapped a hand around the base of his cock. “A whole week with this damn pole between my legs no matter what I try to
calm it down. Cold showers, jerking off—none of it eases the ache. Nothing can, except being inside you.”

  She licked her lips, her mouth-watering at the sight of him. “You … I didn’t see you with an erection during our workouts. I would have noticed.”

  “A cup, cutting off my damn circulation. But now … now I think it’s time to ramp up your workouts.”

  His voice had that dangerously soft timbre that reminded her of late night post-coital bliss. She forced herself to swallow instead of drool. “Ramp up to what?”

  “Something a bit more aerobic.”

  “Aerobic?” Her gaze dropped to his hand as it slowly traveled the length of his erection, long strokes that made her want to drop to her knees in front of him and replace his hand with her mouth.

  “Yes,” he said, and for a heartbeat Renata thought he’d read her mind. “A more vigorous aerobic exercise that ends with a deep, penetrating massage.”

  “Ah … oh.” Renata’s breath caught in her throat even as heat spread through her at Bas’s low, seductive rumble.

  “You remember, don’t you? The heights of pleasure, the sensation of being so thoroughly fucked it was a miracle you could walk the next day, let alone train.” Sky-blue eyes burned into hers. “I bet your body remembers. I bet you’re wetter now than you were a moment before, just remembering everything we did for each other. Tell me you’re ready to make new memories.”

  Like there was any other choice? “I’m ready.”

  He drew a deep breath. “There’s no turning back from here, Renata,” he warned her. “I want you and I’m going to keep on wanting you. Every chance I get.”

  “Should make for some interesting training sessions then,” she murmured, her insides warming at the hungry look he gave her. The longer he looked at her, the heavier and fuller her breasts felt, painfully tight with the need to be touched.

  He held out his hand. “Come here.”

  She rose to her feet, slightly unsteady with the need to be skin to skin with him. He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, drawing her close, then took her fingers into the warmth of his mouth, sucking her juices. Her knees buckled, but he guided her down until she straddled his knees. Mere inches separated her from the perfection of his hardness, rising like a mast between them.

  “Not yet, sweetness. Let me enjoy this moment of just touching you.” He reached out to cup her breasts, his thumbs brushing lightly over the distended peaks. “You’re perfect. Perfect and beautiful.”

  The first electric touch of his hands, the rough pads of his fingertips sent a zap of pleasure straight to her core. She’d been sleepwalking through her life, and his touch awakened her. Just Bas’s hands on her, hands that knew brutality but now touched her with reverent gentleness, and she felt more alive, more present, than she had in years.

  “Need to taste you,” he muttered, his voice raw and guttural. Sliding an arm around her waist, he arched her backward, then dropped his mouth to her left breast. She gasped as pleasure raced like a shock through her, every nerve ending coming alive. She whimpered with need, clutching at his wide shoulders in a futile effort to keep herself grounded. She was a fool for waiting. She’d missed days of this, days when she could have reveled in the passion that Bas gave her.

  The powerful suckling changed to a short, sharp nip of teeth to her nipple. The resulting bolt of pleasure-pain arced right to her clit, throbbing in time with her heartbeat. She couldn’t hold back the gut-deep moan of desire.

  “Yes,” he growled in approval, his fingers teasing and plucking her right nipple. “You like that, don’t you? Maybe I should tie you to my bed. No, tie you to that weight bench, spread wide for me, so I could do whatever I want, whatever I need.”

  “Fuck,” she whispered, because she couldn’t say anything else. The thought of being helpless and exposed, bound for their mutual pleasure, made her breathless.

  “That too,” he said against her breasts. “Definitely that.”

  He switched that beautiful mouth to her right nipple, laving her with warm strokes of his tongue. “I want you hot and wet for me, Renata. I want you to need this as much as I do.”

  She squirmed in his embrace, wanting to close the distance between them. She wanted this, desperately. It had been too long since she’d felt so passionate, so feminine. Only Bas could make her feel delicate, all the while reducing her to a bundle of sensation. “I do need it, Bas,” she whimpered. “I need you.”

  “Not yet.” He straightened. “But you will.”

  He lay siege to her mouth, lips and tongue demanding a response. Respond she did, thrusting her hands into his hair, opening for him, her tongue dueling his. She pressed as close to him as their bodies would allow, her nipples teased by the scattering of hair on his chest, her belly scorched by the hot hardness of his cock between them.

  He pulled her closer, one large hand splayed between her shoulder blades. The other slid between their bodies, down, down—oh, yes, please—until he cupped her damp entrance.

  Her breath caught as he pushed his blunt middle finger into her slit. “Good, you’re already wet. You’ll be able to take me with no problem.”

  “I’ve been thinking about you all day,” she confessed, riding his hand. “About how good it felt to have you inside me.”

  He gave her a dark smile, full of sensual intent. “You kept me waiting and gave me a serious case of blue balls. I should punish you for that, but I won’t.” He thrust two fingers deeper inside her. “Much.”

  She moaned, clutching his shoulders as he fucked her with his fingers. “Can you punish me after you fuck me?”

  “Definitely after.” His eyes glowed incandescent blue as he pulled his hand free, leaving her aching and empty. He reached for the glass shelf, then handed a foil packet to her. She slid backward then dropped to her knees, eyes level with his hardness. Her heart hammered in her chest as she stared at the decadent package that was Sebastian Delacroix. A perfect balance of strength and grace and masculinity, about to be hers.

  “Renata.” He waited until she looked up. “You keep looking at me like that, it’s going to be hard to hold back.”

  “It’s already hard,” she said, inching closer to him. Tension crept into the lines of his body as she gazed up at him then slowly reached out to wrap her fingers around his thickness. His nostrils flared just as she closed her fingers around him.

  His eyes shuttered on a groan as she pumped him, his hands gripping the edge of the bench so tightly his knuckles whitened. The feel of him in her hand empowered her, made her want to drive him as wild as he’d made her. “Are you ready?”

  “I’ve been ready since you walked into Hard Knocks. Ready for days.”

  “I just need to make sure,” she purred, then licked the head of his cock. His head dropped back on a groan as she licked up the salty flavor of pre-come seeping from the head of his cock. She parted her lips to take more of him, happy with his answering rumble of pleasure. He reached out to grasp her head, his hold gentle but implacable as his hips shifted once, twice. Pumping his cock deeper into the warmth of her mouth.

  “Christ, Rennie.” He pulled back with clear effort, his breathing haggard. “Your mouth is going to kill me. I don’t want pop off like a noob with his first woman.”

  “Good.” She tore open the condom. “I have plans for you.”

  “Thank God,” he breathed as she rolled the condom down his length. “Come here.”

  He reached down, clamping his hands beneath her armpits and lifting her easily onto his lap. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and planted her feet on the floor. Even through the condom she could feel his heat and thickness sliding against her outer lips.

  “Now, Bas,” she pleaded against his mouth. “I’ve been waiting for years. Don’t make me wait anymore.”

  “No.” He palmed her ass with one hand, held the base of his cock with the other as he positioned her. “No more waiting.”

  With her eyes focused on his, Renata low
ered herself onto his cock. A long slow glide that she felt with every pounding beat of her heart. The relentless intrusion made her yearn to close her eyes to focus on the feel of him filling her, but she didn’t. She couldn’t. Instead they stared at each other, caught in the erotic moment of finally, truly reuniting after so long apart.

  She sucked in a breath as she watched the pleasure glide over his features as he pushed himself deeper into her slick core, only letting it out when he’d buried himself to the root. She rested her forehead against his as their connection locked into place, the same overwhelming multiple-level linking that she’d felt when they’d first met, first had sex. The cell-deep awareness of him that felt like coming home.

  “Renata.” Wrapping his arms tightly around her, he pulled her close and repeated her name on a groan as a shudder wracked his body. “Good God, you feel good.”

  “So do you,” she breathed as her inner muscles flexed to accommodate him. “I’m ready for my workout, Mr. Delacroix.” Splaying her hands on his shoulders, she began to ride him, a smooth, steady rocking of her hips that slowly but surely drove her toward her peak.

  “Ride me, baby,” he muttered against her lips as he matched her rhythm. “I don’t know how long I’m going to last.”

  “There’s always the next round,” she told him, quickening her pace. She didn’t want him to hold back. An unrestrained Bas was the best lover she’d ever had. She wanted him to be as on fire for her as she was for him, just as wild, just as needy.

  One of his hands slid down between them, his thumb unerringly finding the engorged bundle of nerves sitting atop her entrance. He stroked her, strong circular motions just the way she liked, guaranteed to send her up and over. His tongue slid against hers, passionate, sliding strokes that mirrored his thumb on her clit. Her hips jerked in an erratic motion as pleasure spiraled higher, tighter, until she broke. She came on a long rough groan, grinding down on him as he devoured her mouth.

  With a soft curse he pulled her off him. He stood, set her on her feet, then turned her around. “Hands on the wall. Now.”