“Stand up, Ms. Kemp. Get your clothes on.”
Gina lay panting and wretched on the table. He did that on purpose. He teased her to the very brink of orgasm. He knew she couldn’t come on the phone with Maggie, and when she finally got free, he pulled back and left her aching for more.
She sobbed under her breath and straightened her clothes. She tucked her phone back into her bag.
Giles stood across the room with his back to her. She couldn’t see his face. Was he mad at her still? Was he as horny as she was? Did he want to hide his raging cock from her so she wouldn’t know how bad he wanted to come all over her?
She hooked her bra over her breasts and pulled down her jacket. She got herself together, and when she looked again, he stood at the door. He held it open for her and escorted her out to the elevator.
He didn’t touch her all the way down to the street. He didn’t even look at her all the way over the expressway and up the hill to the penthouse. He held the door open for her entering the building. They stood side by side in the elevator like strangers all the way up to the twelfth floor.
Gina stopped inside the penthouse foyer. It hadn’t changed. Once Giles found a style he liked, he stuck with it. The high ceilings still curled in their ornate plaster patterns of angels and nymphs. The palm trees lining the corridor led to the enormous living room leading to the private rooftop garden on the piazza. The city spread out all the way to the Bay beyond the windows.
Giles got her attention by rattling his keys in his pocket. She turned around to see him staring at her with that ferocious glare she recognized so well. He didn’t look at her or touch her on the way here, but the same dominating passion still burned in his eyes.
He could deny himself the luxury of touching her to maintain his composure in public. The moment he got behind closed doors, that mask vaporized. He became once again the devouring predator who stalked her. He scanned her up and down. “Take your clothes off, Ms. Kemp.” Gina’s jaw dropped.
“Here?”
“Right here. I want to see you.”
She could stare into his eyes until doomsday, and she would never read anything there but the simple fact. He had her, and he wouldn’t let her go until he got what he wanted from her.
She had to look down at the floor to get away from those eyes drilling into her soul. She couldn’t look at him while she exposed herself for his inspection. She started on the buttons of her blouse when his voice sliced the air. “Look at me, Ms. Kemp. I want to you to see me watching you.”
“Sir?” she squeaked out,
He didn’t respond. His direct gaze demanded she comply.
She fixed her eyes on his face, and when she did, her spirit sparked alight. Wasn’t she his? Hadn’t he already claimed her body and soul? He’d done her in his office, not just today, but dozens of times. What did seeing her naked have to do with it? What difference could it make in the end?
She tore her buttons open and peeled off her shirt. She slithered out of her skirt and kicked it away. She stood before him in her high- heeled pumps.
He traced her curves with his eyes.
Gina locked her eyes on his and bent her arms around behind her back to unhook her bra.
She shrugged out of the straps and dropped it on the pile of clothes. She looked up at him.
He tossed the keys in his pocket again, and she glanced toward the sound. That’s when she saw the bulge in his pants. He ate her up with his eyes. He followed every swing of her breasts when she breathed. He kissed her skin and nibbled her delicious folds with his insatiable gaze.
He swallowed, and his hands in his pockets inched just a fraction of an inch closer to his cock. “Turn around.”
She turned her back to him, but her heart pounded in her chest.
She was powerless before him. He could take her anytime, but he would tease her and string her along for ages before he fulfilled her craven needs. He would work her into a dripping frenzy before he released her on his demon cock.
He came up close behind her, and his warm breath shimmied over her. It tingled back and forth across her skin and up the back of her neck. She shuddered down to her saturated pussy. Dear God, let him touch her now! She would give anything for his hands exploring her insides and his tongue driving her wild.
Her heart sobbed when he moved back. “Walk downstairs. I want to see that ass.”
She stumbled a few steps forward, but once she got moving, her body took over. She strutted down the corridor to the stairs leading to the lower level. She climbed down below the living room to the master bedroom overlooking the Bay. Another rooftop piazza spread out below the living room. A bubbling jacuzzi glinted in the sun out there between the palm trees.
She couldn’t stop walking until he ordered her to stop, so she just kept going. She passed the king-sized bed with its goosedown coverlet and its puffy stack of pillows. She passed the big wall screen TV and the entrance to the master bathroom suite.
She knew every detail of the place, and she couldn’t set foot in it without this incredible erotic power sweeping over her. The place turned her on almost as much as the guy in it.
She sauntered all the way up to the big window and stopped without being told to. She couldn’t go any further without smashing her face into the glass. The sun shone on the piazza. The wind touched the trees.
What must it be like out there right now, with the sun shining on her naked skin? She could soak in the jacuzzi. Then she could sunbathenaked on the hot tiles. When she got tired of that, she could come back inside, take a shower, and curl up in that bed.
That bed turned her on like nothing else. That bed meant sex. That bed meant one orgasm after another, all night long. Even thinking about curling up in that bed with Giles turned her on.
As if in answer to her thoughts, he came up behind her. This time, he didn’t hold back. He murmured into her ear, “You didn’t do as you were told, Ms. Kemp.”
She shivered all over. His breath shot waves of heat into her brain.
He would punish her for disobeying his order. “Yes, sir.”
“You didn’t wait for me to tell you to stop.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You know what that means, don’t you?”
“Yes, sir.”
He didn’t move. His massive body pulsed with angry light behind her.
She had to close her eyes against the sunshine to cope with the intensity.
He lowered his voice to a menacing whisper, “Put your hands on the glass.”
She laid her palms on the cold surface. Goosebumps burst out all over her skin, but she wasn’t cold. Anticipation fired every nerve ending. What would he do to her? Would he spank her again? No, he didn’t repeat himself like that. He would come up with some new torment to make her beg for his mercy.
She pushed against her hands.
He leaned into her ear. “Higher. Raise your arms above your head.”
She slid them up. She had to bend forward to reach the glass.
“Spread your legs.”
She stepped aside, and her pumps made her ass stick out toward him. Of course. This was what he wanted all along.
He stood behind her. She was his prisoner.
He placed both hands on her hips. His hands warmed her against the tension. That warmth excited her all down her skin to her cunt. She felt herself get wetter and wetter all over again. He knew exactly how to tease her. God, let him touch me now! Please, dear God, let him touch me.
He stroked her hips in no particular hurry. He followed her curving waist a little higher and retreated when he got to her ribs. He eased down and cradled her ass before he came back up. Every time he went down and returned, he ventured a little further, up under her breasts, down to her thighs. He covered more territory, got a little closer to those erogenous landscapes aching for his touch.
She moaned and writhed, but nothing could make him relieve her anxiety. He wouldn’t cross the boundary to deliver her next climax. In the
end, he returned to her ass. He massaged her two cheeks and lifted them apart.
Gina’s head lolled on her neck. She sighed and groaned, but she didn’t bother to beg. What was the point? He wouldn’t do anything until he was ready. Begging wouldn’t make him do it unless he told her to beg.
Out of nowhere, his muscular arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her off her feet. He wasn’t wearing his jacket, and the crisp cotton business shirt scraped her delicate skin. He lifted her feet off the ground and set her down on his bare hips.
She hadn’t seen him open his pants. Maybe he stroked his bare cock all the way down the stairs to the sight of her ass bouncing back and forth. Maybe he yanked off behind her telling her to spread her legs.
His cock poked between her legs and laid its length in her puffy groove. The honey coated it, and her tender lips spread around it. He let her slip to the floor, and his shaft glided backward until the tip nudged her opening.
She gasped in shock, but he had his own plans all worked out. He planted his feet wide to enclose her legs. He locked her thighs around his thick cock, and her pussy was so damn wet that he pumped her full with her legs closed.
He kept his grip around her waist. He rested her weight on her hands and held her back against his plunging cock. He drilled her to her source on acres of her wet juices until he moaned into orgasm.
Chapter 8
Three hours later, the limo pulled up in front of Gina’s apartment building. She grabbed the door handle to let herself out. “I’ll email you later to discuss our next move with Southern Mining.”
He laid his hand on her arm to stop her. “Don’t ignore what we have together, Ms. Kemp. I meant what I said before. I want you to move into the penthouse.”
“I already told you I can’t do that.”
“That’s what you said. You keep saying you can’t. You have never once said you don’t want to. And you know I wouldn’t rather spend my time in the penthouse with anyone else. So let’s do this – for the both of us.”
“I do want to, but there are extenuating circumstances that make it impossible.”
He waved his hand. “That’s all nonsense. Nothing is impossible. Today was just a warm-up. After that session we just had, you obviously want me as much as you ever did, and I want you just as much. We could be wild, you and me. We could be going day and night.”
Gina chuckled. Mothers didn’t go day and night with anything unless it was feeding, comforting and changing crying babies.
“I mean it, Ms. Kemp. I want you to move in.”
She squeezed his hand. She really did like him, and it wasn’t all about sex. “I couldn’t move in there. I’m your employee. If I moved in, I would be….What would I be? I’d be your kept woman.”
“You wouldn’t be a kept woman because I would move in there with you. We would be legit.”
Her eyes widened as shock filled her. “Are you serious?”
“I’m drop dead serious about you, Ms. Kemp. I want to go all the way with you, in more ways than one. I want to be there for you when you wake up and when you go to sleep at night. I want to occupy your space and have you in my space.”
“What about your house?”
He shrugged. “That’s not going anywhere. If things work out in the penthouse, maybe you’d like to move into the house later.”
Gina pulled away. “Now I know you’re not serious. You can’t seriously expect me to move into your house. It’s….I mean, it’s practically a museum.”
He leaned forward. “I want you, Ms. Kemp. I want your days and nights. I want your free time and your bad hair days and your dirty laundry. I want it all, and I want you under my roof with me. I’ve made up my mind. I’ve had enough of living without you. Now you’re back, and I won’t let you go again, not even to go back to that apartment of yours.”
She stared at him, but she couldn’t think of one thing to say. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t be making the closest thing to a declaration of love a guy like Giles Pendragon was capable of. He couldn’t be claiming her as his own when he didn’t know she was the mother of his child.
She leaned over and gave him a kiss. “You’re really sweet. I love doing it with you, and I love working for you. I only wish it were possible, what you’re talking about. I wish I could accept.”
He sat back in the seat. “You didn’t say no, and I’m not accepting no for an answer. If you don’t come now, you’ll come later. That’s all there is to it.”
Gina’s face burned. She couldn’t say no to him. She couldn’t resist even this extravagant demand, but she had to run back to her baby. She picked up his hand and pressed a quick kiss against his knuckles. Then she ran for her life.
She slammed the limo door and bolted up the stairs. She burst into the apartment. There was Maggie on the couch in front of the big bay windows. She flipped the pages of a magazine and rocked the carry capsule with her foot. She smiled up at Gina.
Gina panted for breath. “Sorry I’m late. I came as soon as I could.”
Maggie put down the magazine and stood up. “Don’t worry about it. How did it go?”
Gina brushed her hair off her forehead. “It went great. It’s all wrapped up.”
Maggie headed for the door. “I better go.”
Gina fished in her bag and held out a handful of bills. “Here’s the extra I owe you, plus a bonus for being so awesome.”
Maggie waved both hands and laughed. “I couldn’t accept that.”
Gina shoved it at her. “Please take it. I feel awful for sticking you here while I was out painting the town red.”
Maggie’s eyes shone as she stuffed the bills into her pocket. “You didn’t have to do that. The extra hours is enough. You let me know anytime you need me to take care of her. She’s beyond perfect.”
The door shut behind her, and Gina gazed down at the sleeping baby. Beyond perfect? Maybe. Too bad Giles would never find out about her.
Gina sat down on the couch. She hadn’t kicked off her shoes thirty seconds before Winnona woke up. Here we go again. Winnona would be beyond perfect for a stranger and fall apart the minute her mother walked into the room.
She picked up the baby and laid her on her shoulder. She patted between her shoulder blades and shushed into her little ear. She paced around the apartment and made two-second stops in the kitchen to decide what to make for dinner.
She had the fridge open when Winnona started to fuss—again.
Gina pulled a bottle out of the fridge and stuck it in the microwave. She strolled out of the kitchen to make another lap when someone knocked on the door. Maggie must have forgotten something.
Gina added a little bounce to her step to settle Winnona until the bottle would be ready. She hummed in the baby’s ear and pulled the door open. She froze dead in her tracks. It wasn’t Maggie.
It was him.
Just for a second, she couldn’t move a muscle and stared at him in shock and disbelief. This wasn’t part of the plan. Not at all. Then Winnona barked a sharp cry in her ear, forcing her to snap her out of her trance. But her heart still pounded and her chest tightened.
This was it.
Here he was and he’d seen Winnona. She couldn’t undo it, and she didn’t really want to. She couldn’t stand lying and hiding away any longer.
At that moment, the weight of her secret lifted off her shoulders. A feeling of calm overcame her. She didn’t cringe in terror awaiting his wrath as she thought she would. The horse had left the barn. She couldn’t exactly dive for her apartment, slam the door in his face, and hide Winnona under a cushion, could she? He knew, and now she was free. She was free at long last to take her place in the universe as Winnona’s mother.
The microwave pinged behind her back.
Winnona’s mother had a job to do, a much more important job than anything he could ask her to do. She shushed Winnona and went to the kitchen. She took the bottle out of the microwave and cradled Winnona in the crook of her arm. She touched the b
ottle to the baby’s lower lip and started feeding her.
She looked up to find Giles staring at her from the other side of the counter. He looked back and forth between her face and the baby in her arms. “What in God’s name are you playing at, Ms. Kemp?”
Clear calm protected Gina from any upset. She was where she needed to be. The sooner he found out exactly what was going on, the better. “I’m not playing. This is Winnona, my daughter.”
His eyes widened. “Your daughter! How did you…? Did you screw around on me before you left?”
She swayed back and forth to soothe the baby. “I never screwed around with anybody but you, Mr.…” She paused to gather her resolve. “She’s yours, Giles. I got pregnant by you before I left for New Zealand. I never wanted to trap you. I loved her the minute I saw her sweet face. I don’t care what anyone thinks about this…not even you. You don’t know how many times I wanted to tell you, but it always… sort of never happened. One lie fed into another, and then I had her down there. Now you know.”
He stumbled back like he’d been shot. His mouth opened and closed without a sound. He stared in front of him, but he didn’t see anything.
Gina stayed where she was. She could weather any storm. She would protect Winnona from anything now.
He staggered across the room then teetered on his heels in front of the windows. The sun struck his hair and cast an angelic halo around him.
If he whirled around and cursed her, if he fumed and threatened her, she would handle it. She was Winnona’s mother. No one could take that away from her. She fully intended to raise Winnona herself.
He swayed one way and then the other. Then he collapsed onto the couch. His arms and legs hung limp, and his massive frame shrank down on itself. All the vital energy invigorating him drained away. He sat still and stared, a wrecked man.
Gina wrecked him. She wrecked him with her lies and her weakness, but she couldn’t care about that now. She couldn’t condemn herself for what she’d done. The past no longer existed. Only the future mattered, Winnona’s future, and Gina held that in the palms of her hands.
She regarded this shattered man from a distance. He’d lost everything in a single disastrous moment, but some crucial work still remained for him to do. Gina understood. When all hope seemed gone, when life dealt its cruelest blows, one touchstone kept her going. She knew this feeling and had gone through it herself. She could offer him a lifeline now.
Beauty and the Billionaire_A Bad Boy Romance Collection Page 12
