Taming Her Tycoon

by Yahrah St. John

  And so were his movements. Naomi felt him reaching between them to unzip his jeans just as he laid Naomi down onto the floor with only her robe to cushion her. He kicked off his shoes and pushed her nightie up and over her head. Then he was kissing and touching and caressing her all over. Causing her entire body to purr with delight.

  She heard the tear of a wrapper, but she was too engrossed in the sensual licks of his tongue on her breasts or the nips of his teeth to notice. She only felt. Felt him drive into her. She’d never been taken so strongly before; she couldn’t even cry out because all the air had been sucked out of her lungs.

  Lucius thrust into her with rapid, deep thrusts that were so intense they consumed her mind, body and soul.

  “Lucius...” There was almost a need for him to stop and let her catch her breath, but he was relentless as he awakened her body.

  When he reached his climax, Lucius shouted, “Naomi!” and collapsed on top of her.

  They lay breathless for minutes, still joined together. Even though she hadn’t come, Naomi knew he’d needed the release. Then she felt Lucius swelling inside her. He was still hard.

  She glanced up at him and grabbed both sides of his face as he started a new tempo. This one was slow with deliberate motions to send her into overdrive so she too could feel sensual bliss. So much so that when they both reached the peak and came spiraling back down to earth, Naomi whispered, “I love you,” right before she fell asleep with Lucius in her arms.

  * * *

  Lucius picked Naomi up as she slept, exhausted from his exuberant lovemaking. He carried her to her bedroom and slid her beneath the cool sheets, kissing her forehead.

  He shouldn’t have come here tonight. It wasn’t fair of him to use Naomi as a release for his pain. But instead of calling him out on it, she’d offered herself up to him as a salve. He’d made love to her with such intensity that the depth of their encounter had scared him. As a result, he’d heard words that he’d never thought he’d hear from a woman.

  Naomi loved him.

  He hadn’t imagined it. Although she’d whispered it, he’d heard her loud and clear. Which was why he had to leave. He’d been feeling an emotion some might call love, but it was just a sentiment.

  He had no place for love in his life. Look at me, he thought. I’m a disaster. I’ve a liar for a mother and a cheat for a father. What could I possibly know about love or give to a woman as special as Naomi?

  Picking up his shoes he’d discarded earlier, he quietly tiptoed out of Naomi’s house. And maybe out of her life.

  Chapter 16

  “Hey, man, how you doing?” Adam asked Lucius as he gave him a one-armed hug before walking inside his penthouse later that morning.

  “Fine.” Lucius closed the door behind him. He’d called his assistant earlier and advised her he would be taking the day off and was accepting no calls.

  “I doubt that’s true.” Adam turned around to face him. “I was there, remember? I heard everything.” He watched as Lucius strolled in and sat on the couch.

  Lucius rolled his eyes. How could he forget? Hell, the entire hospital had probably learned his mother was Arthur’s mistress and he was his illegitimate son. They probably would have learned a lot more if his brother, Max—or whatever Latin name they’d called him—hadn’t stepped in.

  Brother!

  He had a brother that he knew absolutely nothing about.

  He’d always wanted siblings. A brother or sister, he hadn’t cared. He’d just wanted someone to talk to, to confide in, who would be there for him. And all along he’d always had one. But thanks to his parents’ deception, he didn’t know him. And if the look Maximus Knight gave him at the hospital was any indication, he didn’t want to know Lucius, either.

  “What can I do? What do you need?”

  “Ha!” Lucius laughed out loud and jumped to his feet. “What do I need?” His voice rose. “I needed not to find out who my father was in front of a bunch of strangers! What I needed was for all this to come out years ago when I had time to prepare for the fallout, not when the man has a heart attack.”

  Adam released a long heavy sigh. “I know that, Lucius. But what’s done is done. There is no going back. All we can do now is damage control.”

  “Why?” Lucius laughed derisively. “I couldn’t care less what the world thinks of me. They already think I’m a spoiled playboy, a corporate raider—the title of illegitimate son won’t matter much.”

  “What about your mother?”

  Lucius eyes turned cold. “What about her?”

  “With Arthur’s standing in the community and the business world, the press are going to have a field day with this, Lucius. If they haven’t already. This story is juicy and certainly salacious. Not to mention your potential stake in Knight Shipping.”

  Lucius waved his hand in the air. “I don’t want his money. I never did.”

  He shook his head. He couldn’t think about that now. He was trying to make sense of the last twenty-four hours.

  “I know you don’t,” Adam replied, “but if something happens to him—”

  “Don’t you dare.” Lucius poked Adam in the chest, “Don’t you dare. I can’t hear that right now.”

  Adam threw his hands up in the air. “I’m sorry, all right. As your friend, I’m just trying to help, Lucius. But I have to tell you, I don’t know where to begin.”

  “Neither do I!” Lucius yelled. “My whole world has been turned on its axis, Adam.” He ran his hand over his cropped hair.

  Ding. Dong. Ding. Dong.

  Lucius stormed toward the door. “I told the guard I wanted no visitors.” He swung the door open and found his mother on the other side.

  She was wearing all black and sporting a large brimmed hat and sunglasses. She looked more like she was going on vacation than attempting to appear incognito.

  “What do you want, Jocelyn?” He held on to the door, keeping her outside in the hall.

  “We need to talk.”

  “That time has long since passed.”

  She snatched off her sunglasses. “That may be so, but I have some things to say, and you might want to hear them.” Being several inches shorter than he, she crouched underneath his arm and strolled inside. “Hello, Adam.”

  Annoyed, Lucius slammed the door and strode in behind her with his arms folded across his chest.

  There was a long, uncomfortable silence as he and his mother just stared at each other.

  Adam finally reacted. “Well, uh, I’m going to go—” he pointed toward the door “—to the office and do whatever I can to keep the press at bay until you’re ready to make a statement.”

  His words caused Lucius to look up from his battle of wills with Jocelyn. “Statement?”

  Adam nodded from the foyer. “You’ll need to say something, Lucius. This is big news. The press will be looking for a sound bite.”

  “And what do you expect me to say?”

  Adam shrugged. “I don’t know, you’ll figure it out. Ms. Turner.” He inclined his head to her and seconds later he was gone, leaving Lucius and his mother alone.

  “Oh, joy, what do we do now?” Lucius rubbed his hands together. “Oh, I know. How about you explain why you kept Arthur’s identity a secret? Or, I don’t know, why don’t you tell me why on earth you would choose to be that man’s mistress for decades? How about we start there?”

  “I know you’re hurt, Lucius, upset with me about the turn of events, but there’s so much you don’t know.”

  Lucius walked over to a nearby chair and sat. “Enlighten me.”

  “Very well.” His mother removed the large hat and placed it and her sunglasses on his glass cocktail table and sat down on his black leather sofa opposite him.

  Several beats went by before Lucius said, “
I’m waiting.”

  “May I have a glass of water?” She touched her throat. “I’m feeling a bit parched.”

  “Ever the drama queen.” Lucius rose and returned a couple of minutes later and handed a glass to her. “Let’s get on with it, Jocelyn. I don’t have all day, because I have to figure out how to fix the mess you’ve created not only of your life, but mine as well.” He sat down in the seat he’d vacated.

  She nodded and took a sip of water. “I met your father at a party after I’d snuck out of Mama’s house when I was eighteen years old. Arthur was everything I wasn’t. He was twenty-one years old and had just graduated from Stanford. He came from an upper-middle-class family and was going places. We were immediately drawn to each other and embarked on a passionate love affair that summer. Arthur talked to me about his dreams of owning his own business and being his own man outside his father’s control.”

  “Sounds romantic.” Lucius snorted, placing his right leg on his opposite thigh.

  She ignored the dig and continued. “I thought Arthur was going to marry me because we were head over heels for each other, but later I learned I was wrong. He was already promised to Charlotte Griffin, a beautiful debutante whose father was going to help Arthur get his business off the ground.”

  “So this boils down to money. He was a greedy bastard who left you pregnant and penniless to marry another woman?”

  His mother shook his head. “It wasn’t like that, Lucius. I’d planned on telling him I was pregnant with you, but that’s the night I found out about Charlotte. I loved him so much that I couldn’t stand in the way of his happiness. So I didn’t tell him I was pregnant even when your grandma threatened to disown me. And so Arthur married Charlotte and I had you.”

  Lucius eyes narrowed. “Sounds plausible, but that doesn’t explain why you were never around. Why you left me with Grandma Ruby.”

  “Honestly?”

  “That would be appreciated.”

  “I left you because I couldn’t bear to look at you.” She turned away from him and sniffed into her handkerchief. “Every time I looked it you, you reminded me of Arthur and the love we’d shared. It was too much. So I took the easy way out.”

  “That’s all fine and good, and maybe it explains your indifference toward your own child. But what about the money? Where did it come from? The boarding school, fancy clothes and vacations. It had to have come from him.”

  His mother rose from the sofa and walked over to the French doors of his balcony. She swung them open and sunlight flooded the room—in direct opposition to Lucius’s dark mood.

  He strode over to her and grasped her shoulders, “I asked you a question, Mother. And I want the truth. Finally. I think I deserve that much.”

  She nodded. “You do. And I’m here to give it to you and endure your wrath.”

  “My wrath?” Lucius released her. “I just want the T-R-U-T-H. Why is that so hard for you?”

  “Because,” she shouted. “I loved him. I loved him with all my heart and still do, but I could never have him. I was forced to live in the shadows and watch another woman bear his child. Watch him raise another son as his firstborn when it should have been you.”

  “And whose fault is that, Mother? Yours.”

  She stepped away from him. “Don’t you think I know that? I’m to blame for all of this. I should have told him when the summer ended, but I didn’t. And when we reconnected when you were five years old, I couldn’t tell him then, either. How could I tell him about the child I’d denied him? Oh, my God!” She let out a long sob. “Instead, I was selfish and rekindled our affair. I allowed him to lavish me with nice things, but I didn’t just take it for myself.” She turned to Lucius. “I used the money for you, so you could have a better life. But the joke was on me, because you wanted no part of it.”

  “That’s right, Mother. I hated the nannies and boarding schools you put me in because I wasn’t with you! Don’t you get it?” He pointed to his temple. “I just wanted a mother, but you couldn’t be bothered.”

  “I know that. And I felt guilty, so I cut things off with Arthur and tried to move forward with my life. How could I be with him when I was keeping this terrible secret from him? So instead I filled my life up with men and parties as an escape from my past.”

  “And, well, here we are,” Lucius replied. “We’ve come full circle, Jocelyn. And it’s all out there for everyone to see.”

  “Don’t you think I know that? It’s been my secret shame.”

  “So I’m your shame?” Lucius pounded his chest. “Thanks a lot. Now I know how you truly feel.”

  “No, no.” She rushed toward him. “I didn’t mean you, Lucius. Never you. I’ve been ashamed of how I treated you, of how bad a mother I’ve been to you.”

  “But you’re not ashamed of being his mistress?” Lucius asked, gritting his teeth. “Because clearly you didn’t stay away from him.”

  “No, I didn’t,” she admitted. “We kept in touch over the years. I suppose we could never fully let each other go. Arthur has never been truly happy with Charlotte even though she bore him a son. And a couple of weeks ago, when I came back here to see you, Arthur asked me to dinner. He was so unhappy and I guess one thing led to another—”

  “And you ended up in bed? Again?” Lucius shook his head. Never in a million years could he have dreamed up this story.

  “Yes.” She lifted her chin, meeting his icy gaze straight on. “It was beautiful and I won’t be ashamed, because I love him, and despite all the odds, Arthur still loves me.”

  Lucius clapped his hand. “What a touching love story you two have. But what about me, Jocelyn? Where do I fit in the picture? Do you mean to tell me that he has no idea of my existence?”

  Her face clouded with uneasiness, and he noticed her biting her lip as she looked away from his probing eyes. “Well?”

  She shook head. “No, he doesn’t know.”

  “That’s bull,” Lucius snapped. “A man like that had to have known. He had the means to keep track of you and I bet he did for years. He knew. And that begs the question as to why he never came forward to meet me, claim me.”

  “No, he couldn’t have known.” She shook her head fervently and her face flushed. “If he did, he would have contacted you.”

  “So naive,” Lucius said with contempt. “You—” he pointed to his mother “—I get. I was a constant reminder of a love you could never have. It would be easier to keep me at arm’s length. But him? The great Arthur Knight is a coward. He couldn’t face me man-to-man and tell me he’s my father.”

  “Don’t say that.” Jocelyn placed her hands over her ears. “He’s a good man.”

  “He’s a rich man that was afraid to lose his fortune if his wife and second son found out my identity. But wouldn’t you know, she knew anyway. It was just as easy for her to keep me in the closet, same as him. Because then Charlotte Knight got to stay in the lifestyle she’d grown accustomed to as lady of the manor. It’s all coming to me now. It was a win-win for all you while Max and I are in the dark.”

  “Max?”

  “My brother,” Lucius responded. “I saw him last night. Saw the devastation on his face to learn he had a brother he knew nothing about and the lies and deceit our parents have lived with for decades.”

  He strode toward the door and held it open. “Get out!”

  “Lucius...”

  “I heard what you had to say and now I want you to leave.”

  “But—”

  “Go, Jocelyn. Haven’t you done enough? You denied me my birthright, the father I’ve longed for my entire life, refusing to tell me time and time again when I pleaded with you. And now I find out he’s been right under my nose the entire time?” He laughed contemptuously. “I don’t want anything to do with either of you, ever again. I’m tired of the lies. It’s tim
e I start living the truth, my truth.”

  She grasped her hat, sunglasses and purse and headed for the door. “What does that mean, Lucius?”

  “I guess you’re just going to have to wait and see like everyone else.” And he closed the door behind her.

  Chapter 17

  Naomi couldn’t believe it had been two days since she’d heard from Lucius. He’d sneaked out of her house like a thief in the middle of the night, stealing her heart along with him. Why, oh, why had she been so foolish as to let her feelings slip from her lips? He had to have heard her whisper she loved him. That’s why he stayed away.

  Lucius didn’t do commitment. She’d known that from the start. He was a love ’em and leave ’em playboy. And she’d just been left.

  It hurt knowing that he didn’t feel the same way about her. She’d given him all of herself, and she’d thought that his coming to her after hearing such devastating news was his way of opening up to her, letting her in.

  She’d been wrong.

  Instead, she got silence. Her calls, texts and emails went unanswered. At first she thought he was just avoiding her, but then his assistant had finally taken pity on her and told her he hadn’t been into the office in days.

  The savvy media had put two and two together and realized that Lucius Knight was indeed Arthur’s illegitimate son. There was much speculation in the local paper about what that would mean for Maximus Xavier Knight, heir apparent to Knight Shipping. Would he have to share his inheritance if his father died?

  Arthur Knight was hanging on, but the prognosis wasn’t good, probably because the man couldn’t get any peace worrying about his entire life turning on its ear. Not that Naomi could feel sorry for him. He had to have known Lucius existed and had done nothing about it. Never acknowledging he was Lucius’s father was a pretty heartless thing to do.